Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

Chapter 356 Mist Empire’s Rise- 354: Twenty Percent Cut

Mist Empire's Rise-Chapter 354: Twenty Percent Cut

The spy took the money and immediately spilled everything—some noble lady had hired Troy. Following that lead, Luo Wei's information ended up on Zachary's desk.

That's why when he was locked up in Demon Island prison and Luo Wei claimed she was a princess from the Misty Plains, he'd called her a liar.

What kind of Misty Plains princess would need to hire a fugitive knight in the Western Continent?

At the time, Zachary felt insulted and deceived. Anger clouded his judgment, and he completely forgot that he'd originally wanted to work with Luo Wei. Every time she visited, he'd been stubborn and argumentative, nearly screwing himself over for good.

Thinking back on those few months made Zachary sigh.

It was embarrassing, really. He'd lived almost two hundred years, yet got played by a teenage girl. He'd lost all face.

Most people got more stable with age, but not him. He couldn't control his temper when he was young, and now he was even more irritable. There was truth to that saying: mystical smiths hammer their brains away along with the metal.

At least after chatting for a bit, he'd cleared up that lingering resentment.

Sighing again, Zachary brought up the reason for today's visit. "The mage sent me a message saying you have a large magic array that only I can activate?"

"Yes," Luo Wei nodded. "Patrick already tried. He doesn't have enough magical power, so I wanted to ask if you could help activate it."

Zachary looked surprised. "What kind of magic array is it?"

Even a high-level undead archmage couldn't activate it?

Luo Wei pressed her lips together. "It's a long-distance teleportation array. Mr. Bunian, I have a request—would you be willing to try activating it blindfolded?"

She knew Zachary hated deception, so this time she'd be upfront about what she could say and keep the rest confidential.

As it turned out, Zachary appreciated the straightforward approach. He agreed immediately. "Sure. When do we go?"

Luo Wei glanced out the window. Still light out. "Now works."

They could go now and still make it back for dinner.

The three of them headed downstairs. While the servants prepared the carriage, Luo Wei had Chris and Belial bring up some iced tea they'd made that afternoon. She and Zachary finished their drinks just as it was time to leave.

Zachary wasn't used to riding in carriages—he preferred horseback. But this wasn't the Northlands, and his appearance would only scare children, so he reluctantly climbed into the carriage.

Fortunately, Luo Wei's carriage was spacious. Three people fit comfortably.

Even so, Luo Wei was considering whether she needed another carriage.

If more guests came in the future, one carriage wouldn't be enough. Plus, it would be better to separate male and female guests—some noble ladies were particular about that sort of thing.

She'd already given Bella the small white carriage with the arched roof. Maybe she should buy a bigger one.

She also needed to modify the teleportation array at Star Luo Residence. Having people constantly teleport into her bedroom was awkward. From now on, outside visitors should teleport to the mulberry orchard villa, then enter the city from the suburbs.

Star Luo Residence was in the city center. People mysteriously appearing in the courtyard and constantly coming and going would raise suspicions.

Lost in thought, Luo Wei didn't look out the window. The carriage passed Troy on his way back to Star Luo Residence, heading toward the outskirts instead.

Only Yves, driving up front, spotted Troy. But he was busy with the horses and couldn't get distracted—he just nodded respectfully at Troy before cracking the whip and moving on.

Troy turned to watch the carriage's retreating form. After hesitating for a few seconds, he gripped his sword and chased after it.

There were two auras in the carriage, three figures. That undead mage was back, but who was the other person?

Troy found it familiar yet strange. That person gave him a dangerous feeling.

The carriage stopped in front of the mulberry orchard villa. The three of them got out and walked into the building in the fading light.

Before entering the basement, Luo Wei took out a cloth strip and had Patrick blindfold Zachary.

Just to be safe, she also sent Patrick a mental message: if Zachary tried to remove the blindfold, knock him out immediately.

This time, in front of Luo Wei, Patrick didn't pretend he couldn't hear. He obediently replied: I understand, Master.

Luo Wei pushed open the basement door. Patrick supported Zachary as they followed her inside.

The oil lamp flared to life, and the deeply carved magic runes on the floor appeared before her eyes once again.

Luo Wei walked to one side of the rune's center. "Here."

Zachary refused Patrick's help and walked over with steady steps. Feeling the grooved patterns beneath his feet, he stopped at the innermost circle of the smallest arc in the teleportation array.

"Here?"

Luo Wei stared at his feet. "One more step forward."

Zachary took another step.

Luo Wei: "That's it."

Zachary bent down and knelt on one knee, one hand on the ground. His other hand felt around to the central node of the runes, sensing the sluggish magical energy clogged within the teleportation array.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Exposing your back meant exposing your life.

Zachary felt uneasy. If these two wanted to kill him here, now would be the perfect opportunity.

But then he reconsidered—if Luo Wei wanted him dead, she could have done it on Demon Island. Why wait until now?

Zachary focused his attention on studying the magic array beneath his palm.

Patrick stood behind him, ready to strike the moment Luo Wei gave the order, his skeletal hand poised to fall.

Both sides were silent. Luo Wei and Patrick watched Zachary intently while Zachary devoted himself entirely to the runes. The only sounds in the basement were two sets of breathing—one light, one heavy.

Three minutes later, Zachary's breathing grew noticeably heavier. Veins bulged on the back of his hand, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

Luo Wei tensed up. Patrick hadn't reacted this strongly last time. Why was Zachary struggling so much?

Wait—undead probably couldn't sweat. They were nothing but bones.

No one knew how shocked Zachary was at that moment. Who could tell him who the hell had drawn this magic array?

His magical power flowed in like a fish jumping into a winding river—no matter how far he swam, he couldn't reach the end.

If he wasn't blindfolded, he could at least see how long this river was. But with his eyes covered, this massive magic array became unfathomably deep in his mind.

Without any reference point, he even felt like his magical power had stopped flowing. Even when he increased his output, it felt like he was pumping air into it. Otherwise, why wasn't the rune responding?

Only when his magic reached the next clogged node did he gain some sense of reality, knowing he wasn't doing this for nothing.

After breaking down the condensed magical element clusters, his power continued flowing, clearing the blocked sections.

Rich, gentle white light flowed through the grooves like milk, gradually illuminating the entire pattern.

Luo Wei held her breath, not daring to disturb the trembling Zachary.

The white light finally reached the outermost circle. The now-unobstructed magical power no longer spread like a one-way street but flowed along radial axes toward dozens of nodes on the outer ring, then split into two streams flowing in opposite directions.

The runes bloomed like flower petals, layer by layer. When they reached the final layer, the speed suddenly accelerated. In an instant, everything connected, forming an intricate and magnificent pattern. A dazzling pillar of light shot toward the sky.

The three of them were enveloped in white light and disappeared from the center of the teleportation array in the blink of an eye.

A familiar sensation washed over her. Luo Wei opened her eyes. The memory felt veiled, hazy yet clear, as if it had happened just before she opened her eyes.

"Your Highness, who are these two...?"

A puzzled voice spoke. Luo Wei turned her head to see a dark elf's dusky face.

"Your Highness?" The dark elf looked at her with concern.

Luo Wei snapped back to reality, remembering what had just happened.

"I'm fine. They're my friend and subordinate. I meant to bring them with me, but it looks like they passed out and couldn't teleport to the Misty Plains with me."

She knelt down and checked Zachary's breathing. Shallow and slow—he'd probably just been knocked out by the impact.

The dark elf knelt to check the other person. Just as he reached to lift Patrick's hood, he startled. "What is this thing?"

Luo Wei looked at the dark elf, paused, then said, "That's not a thing. That's my subordinate."

Dark elf: ...

He stared at the skeleton on the ground, confused. "Your Highness, your subordinate is very... unique. Is this some new species that appeared in the Western Continent?"

Luo Wei's tone was odd. "You've never seen an undead?"

"Undead?" The dark elf looked dazed. "I think I saw that name in some book."

He glanced again at the skeleton wrapped in black robes. He couldn't help himself: "Your Highness, why does this undead look dead?"

Luo Wei's face was expressionless. "Because he is dead."

The dark elf was shocked again. "He's dead!"

Luo Wei said flatly, "His name is Patrick Sandek. He used to be human. When he died, he became an undead."

The dark elf had a sudden realization. "I see!"

He'd once seen a dead deer in the forest. Wolves had eaten all its flesh, leaving just a skeleton—very similar to this undead's appearance.

With that thought, the dark elf suddenly understood how terrifying humans were.

When they were alive, they were cunning and deceitful. When they died, they could still become undead. No wonder the beastfolk couldn't beat them two thousand years ago—humans could still fight after death!

Didn't that make them unkillable?

Plus, undead didn't eat or drink, and they wouldn't cry out in pain when cut. Way better than fragile humans!

The dark elf felt deeply troubled. When elves died, that was it. Nothing remained.

Flower elves withered into mud, water elves became rain and mist, stone elves crumbled into sand, fire elves burned to ash, and wind elves turned into a breeze.

Only dark elves sleeping underground could maintain their complete bodies, becoming black elf statues that would never wake again.

If they could become undead after death, would they become as prosperous as the human race?

While the dark elf was lost in thought, Luo Wei walked over and pulled Patrick's hood back over him.

As she did, she noticed the blue flames in Patrick's eye sockets had gone out.

How do you tell if an undead is dead?

Luo Wei found this tricky. She asked the dark elf, "Loren, can you wake them up?"

The dark elf apologized. "Your Highness, I don't know how to heal humans or undead."

Before Luo Wei appeared, he hadn't even seen a human. Everything he knew about humans came from elf history books.

The books said humans looked similar to elves, but their ears weren't pointed, their legs were shorter, they aged faster, they were shorter in height, uglier in appearance, and weaker in body.

The first time he saw Luo Wei, he didn't recognize her as human.

Though Luo Wei also seemed weak, she didn't look ugly at all. Plus, she had those large white wings on her back.

If Luo Wei hadn't revealed that her avatar was human, the dark elf would have thought she was from the beast tribes.

No wonder he couldn't recognize her. In the era when he was born, the Misty Plains had been separated from the outside world for over nine hundred years. Aside from native creatures of the Misty Plains, he'd never seen any other races.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, the dark elf experimentally channeled a bit of magic into the skeleton. The dark elements inside immediately surged toward his finger.

"High-level archmage?" He withdrew his hand and told Luo Wei, "Your Highness needn't worry. They just didn't have enough magical power and got bounced out by the teleportation passage. Once they rest and recover their magic, they'll wake up."

Even a high-level archmage's magic wasn't enough?

Luo Wei was puzzled. "Then how did I teleport through?"

The dark elf answered without hesitation: "Your Highness is a divine avatar. Of course you're different from them."

Luo Wei: ... That was something she'd made up. She hadn't become a god yet.

Whatever. She couldn't let anyone know about that.

She changed the subject. "Loren, what level are you? Grand archmage?"

The dark elf lowered his head shamefully. "This subordinate is incompetent. After five hundred years, I'm still only at grand archmage level."

Luo Wei's mouth twitched. "Don't be so modest."

Consider the feelings of a beginner magic apprentice. Hearing stuff like that made her want to hit someone.

Besides, the fact that he hadn't broken through in five hundred years... He'd spent those five hundred years working for her, busy as a corporate slave every day. When would he have had time to improve himself?

Luo Wei looked away guiltily and changed the subject. "So this teleportation array only works for grand archmages? No one else can use it?"

"Only this particular rune works that way," the dark elf said. "If Your Highness wants to teleport others as well, I can modify it."

"How?"

"Remove the runes that automatically draw magical power from the teleportation array."

The dark elf explained: "The distance between the Western Continent and the Misty Plains is very far, so the teleportation passage needs to stay connected longer. If you don't channel enough magic when activating it, the passage will disconnect when it runs out of power."

Establishing a teleportation passage required magic. Maintaining the connection also required magic. And traveling through the passage required time.

Between two nearby teleportation arrays, the transfer time was so short it was negligible—people could be sent to the other side almost instantly when the runes activated, so maintaining the connection barely required any extra magic.

Long-distance teleportation arrays were more troublesome. Because the passage was so long, those few fractions of a second when activating the array weren't enough for someone to complete the journey.

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