The Prince Of Magic

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The Master was Monji Gatou, and his Servant, Berserker, who was also known as the White Berserker.

Monji Gatou was a delirious fanatic who worshiped his Servant as his god, as all the religions that he had studied (he deemed) were flawed.

He had thought her incomprehensible behavior as Berserker class was a test of will, and he believed that he can save humanity through his self-made religion and strived to make his servant into a true deity.

Simply put, he was an overzealous heathen with a questionable mentality and cannot be reasoned with.

Willing as Hadrian might have been to speak to him since Monji d.e.s.i.r.ed to save the world, he doubted his words can get through the guy since he worshiped a being that was far from a divine entity.

That, and because he was quite willing to kill Hadrian in order to achieve his goal.

His servant on the other hand, had been reasonable enough to not kill him and Arturia when she regained her senses after their battle.

When they were pitted against one another in the war, Hadrian and Arturia had a difficult time in defeating Monji and his servant.

As he did with his previous enemies, Hadrian had done his research to know more about his enemy and his servant.

He had discovered that Berserker's True Name was Arcuied Brunestud, the lone survivor of the True Ancestor's royal line that was believed to be the foundation of the vampiric species.

True Ancestors are unique existences even among vampires, for they are incarnated nature spirits.

They are vampiric creatures from birth, however, unlike the Dead Apostles and other blood-s.u.c.k.i.n.g species, the root of their bloodl.u.s.t is psychological rather than physical.

Also, because they are part of nature, they have the ability to use the power of 'Marble Phantasm' to change the world around them accordingly to their thoughts.

They can be classified as a type of large fairy and their foundation is of a Mystery that cannot be reached through Magecraft. They are said to be Planet-class Spirits, which is a higher rank than Divine Spirits.

What makes them terrifying was that nothing, no spells or weapons, can permanently kill a True Ancestor, due to the backup they received from the planet as part of the Counter Force.

His grandfather got lucky when the power of the Second True Magic pulled through and allowed him to kill Crimson Moon Brunestud.

Hadrian though, had to nothing to rely on but his knowledge about his enemy, his code hack spells, his Mystic Eyes and his Servant, Arturia, during that time.

Killing a True Ancestor via True Magic was one thing, but trying to kill one without it was a different matter.

Long story short, Hadrian and Arturia won the battle against Monji Gatou and Berserker. However, it had been a close run.

Due to Berserker's true nature, Arturia's most trusted weapon, Excalibur, was almost useless during the fight, much to Arturia's frustration.

What gave them the chance to win the battle was because they had the fight on the inner side of the Moon. If it had been on earth, the entire situation would have gone differently and they would had been killed.

Still, the battle had been brutal and difficult regardless of their slight advantage. The Master may had been useless, but Berserker was not a joke.

Fortunately, luck had been in their favor and Hadrian carefully instructed Arturia to victory with his commands and with the help of his Mystic Eyes.

In that battle, Hadrian acts as her support with his spells and used his Mystic Eyes to see Arcuied's lines of death, her weak points, while Arturia was the knife to trace those lines.

Ironically, the one thing that he had thought to be his weakness had become the key for him to win and survived that battle, which was something that he can never forget. Although, the one surprising thing about that day was what happened in the aftermath.

Unlike Monji Gatou, who got deleted after the Moon Cell declared Hadrian and Arturia's victory, Arcuied Brunestud remained behind.

Hadrian remembered how shocked he was to see the pale woman still standing far away from them, dressed in her white turtleneck sweater and long purple skirt.

Before their last fight, Arcuied's appearance was quite fierce. Her long skirt was ripped, her gold shoulder-length blonde hair was disheveled, and the iris of her left eye was purple.

Upon regaining her senses after the battle, both her hair and eyes returned to normal, her eyes gained a bright amber color and her clothes had been repaired.

To Hadrian, what stood out about her was her vicious crimson eyes, which clearly hinted her true nature as part of the vampiric race.

Seeing her eyes then triggered a memory in his mind that allowed him to remember his grandfather, and the conversations he had with the old man when he was younger, along with the memories was his knowledge about True Ancestors.

When Hadrian recalled that particular information in mind, he was preparing himself for the worst possibility of fighting a True Ancestor at her full strength.

Hadrian and Arturia had beaten her, after all. Therefore, it would not be too far-off to expect that Arcuied might have intentions of continuing the battle on her own, just to get back at them.

What even caused Hadrian to feel nervous at that time was letting Arturia fight a powerful opponent that already knew their tricks and strategy.

Arturia had done her best at their first round, but it had exhausted her, despite her assurances to keep fighting. To their surprise, Arcuied Brunestud did not meet their expectations.

At first, she seemed to have intentions to continue the fight, but had thought better of it. When they asked her, Arcuied gave them a rather vague answer.

"Why? Hmm… perhaps it's because you remind me of someone I know. You smell like him too." Was what she said before she ripped the space with her claws and left the Moon.

Needless to say, Hadrian and Arturia had been speechless by her reason, but were grateful and relieved at the unexpected turn of events nonetheless.

After the war, Hadrian had a lot of time in his hands to reflect on his memories during the brutal event.

When he recalled her vague words, the first thing that came to mind was his grandfather since he was possibly the only one close to him to have some relations with someone like Arcuied Brunestud.

Although, he had yet to actually confirm this theory of his, considering as he had been rather busy traveling around the world in the past few months.

'Hmm, something to ask opa later then…' Hadrian mused.

He was brought back to reality when he heard Hugo speak.

"Yes, it is." Hugo nodded. "And it is also an honorary member of the 27 Dead Apostles. No actual reason was given why it was that, but I suppose the high rank Dead Apostles did it out of whim." Here, Hugo turned to Hadrian with a wry smile. "Young master, Lord Schweinorg is a part of their group, of which I'm sure you are aware of this."

Hadrian merely gave a nonchalant nod of acknowledge before Hugo continued.

"The Spider arrived here on earth sometime after Lord Schweinorg had defeated Crimson Moon. It landed on earth in a rather subtle manner, but when we discovered its existence and its location, we have always made sure to keep an eye on its movements. The idea of leaving it alone unsupervised was dangerous and unwise, given that the Spider is an Ultimate One."

Hugo stared at the massive fog in the distance with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Luckily for us, the Spider chose an uninhabited island to land, and so the High Council had decided to seal the island off from the rest of the world. The chances of letting its existence be known by the normal folk was simply too dangerous for us to let it happen. Therefore, we had to take certain steps to make sure that its existence never comes light." Hugo stated in a mildly grim tone.

In other words, the Mage's Association had to resort to every possible schemes to ensure the secret of the Spider's existence, which probably includes taking control of the media, manipulating the news, erasing and spreading false information, literally anything that they can get their hands on.

Hadrian had even heard from his grandfather that the High Council ordered magi of their selection to infiltrate all governments around the world to ensure that everything related to Magecraft was to be kept an utmost secret, including the knowledge of otherworldly beings such as the Spider.

Looking at the grim expressions of his retainers, they most likely arrived at the same conclusion as him.

"Does that also include the fog and those freaky clouds up there?" Yan asked, gesturing to the fog and clouds in the distance.

"Yes, among other things." Hugo smiled. "In fact, Lord Schweinorg had a hand in creating them."

Hadrian blinked in surprise, an action that was repeated by his retainers, who all turned to look at the Magus questioningly.

"Truly?" The young heir asked.

"Yes, truly." Hugo grinned, then it faded as a thoughtful expression settled on his face. "Although, I have no idea how he did it. Maybe you can ask the Chief Director about it later. I heard that he and Lord Schweinorg know each other way back before you were born, young master."

'Chief Director, huh. He must be the one with the mistress.' Hadrian mused.

"Anyways, that's a conversation we can continue for later." Hugo continued. "We're about to enter the fog."

With that said, he turned to look at the fog that was getting closer to the yacht.

A second later, everything dimmed as the yacht entered the dense smoke made out of powerful magical energy.

Not a moment later, Hadrian's sight brightened up, but it was not as it had been before. The sun was still present, but in the distance, there was an island of moderate size.

What made it different from the others were the large and tall pillars of crystals that can be seen from afar. They surrounded the island like trees, stout and quite noticeable.

It would have been a beautiful sight if not for the dreadful sensation lingering in the air. Instead, it made the island to be spectacular yet haunting in his eyes.

"Welcome to the Spider's nest, everyone." Hugo announced to his astonished guests.

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