The Grand Iudex gave a short nod of acknowledgment to that short-haired woman, and as he got on the steps. approaching the altar, he turned one last time to Rhegnight to comment,

“It was not His Majesty that posed the greatest reluctance to my proposal. It was Master Artificer Parntheos.”

The man said this to clear some of Rhegnight’s misunderstanding, while also bringing up the name of the boy’s maternal grandfather.

And this reminded Rhegnight that he never got to know how that man had actually reacted.

And this time, the Iudex seemed to be in the mood to reveal it.

Thus stopping just in front of the altar, mere arm's length away from the swirling vortex, he recounted,

“After the reading of the Prism and numerous experts, as well as the fact my warning about the dragon was laughed at even by many of the Iudexes, the old man managed to apply large pressure on His Majesty.”

“First he called me a blatant fraud.”

“Then he urged His Majesty to put his faith on the Prism, the most sacred treasure of the empire instead of a ‘charlatan’ like me.”

Hearing the man before him be called such words made Rhegnight’s lip almost twitch, but when he thought about it, it really fit that old man’s eccentric style.

While the Iudex unaware or simply uncaring of Rhegnight’s thoughts continued,

“And lastly, he promised us various magical artifacts if the boy was simply kept under house arrest.”

“That last offer would have even moved the king if I had not given my own offer…”

“What did you give?” At the mere mention of this, Rhegnight could not help but suddenly blurt out, his dam of curiosity finally bursting after so many repeated strikes.

His heart had already thumped the moment he heard Master Artificer Parntheos was going to make tailor-made magical artifacts for all of them.

But since the king had changed his mind upon the Iudex’s offer, surely it had to have been something even greater.

Rhegnight could not wait to know.

But that alacrity was quickly extinguished as the Iudex gave the man a deadly glare for so rudely interrupting him, causing Rhegnight to sheepishly lower his head a bit, while the blue-robed man started again after a slight pause,

“Doesn’t matter. The king did not accept.”

“When he saw he was at a disadvantage, Parntheos directly threatened to nullify the alliance between the Stosleria Empire and Profound Architect Sanctuary.”

“This was not acceptable to His Majesty and a majority of the Iudexes.”

“So when Parntheos proposed, ‘Let the boy be thrown to the Ocean of Birthing Chaos. If he even survives that, it means the heavens truly want to destroy us. At that point, we can only accept our fate,’ the court as a whole agreed.”

And here Rhegnight would have to agree with the court as he nodded in solidarity.

The chances of a defenseless infant boy surviving that place whose mere winds tore Rank 3 and 4 mages like wet tissue paper were so infinitesimal, that it was basically zero.

The boy would likely die the moment the portal opens and he was ejected out, not even having the chance to hit the ground.

And even if a miracle did occur and he did hit the ground, so what?

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Who knew how high in the air the portal would open?

The boy would turn into a bloody pancake the moment he hit the hard ground.

Or if he hit the waters instead, drown and become fodder for fishes.

Let’s forget the question of how an infant can feed, clothe, and shelter himself.

The surroundings there were desolate and war-torn, filled with mad and vicious beasts, the lowest Tier among them being 5, all who were crazy and bloodthirsty enough to even eat their own young.

So what would they do to this stranger?

Thus just from these considerations alone, the number of consecutive miracles it would take for the boy to survive and grow up in that environment were astronomical, there had to be a miracle of a miracle of a miracle… of a…. miracle of a…..

You get the idea.

Miracles were called miracles because they happened only once.

Hence to forego such a convenient option and instead kill an innocent, defenseless boy right here just to be sure, and subsequently give up the enormous benefits the alliance with the most influential power of this realm would bring, the choice was a no-brainer.

Except for the Grand Iudex, all other Iudexes and the King himself choose the most beneficial route.

And all alone, mighty as the Grand Iudex was, he lost this crusade.

“I fear the boy is a Trojan horse sent by the dragons. Here to destroy the seal from the inside. What do you think?”

Hence he posed this question to Rhegnight, framed like so as he hoped to rope the most powerful man in the empire after the king and him to his side.

And how could Rhegnight not read between the lines?

But although he agreed to a large extent with this man and one of his own burning questions was positively answered, Rhegnight found the statement a bit forced. After thinking a bit he muttered to himself,

‘Didn’t you say the dragons cannot break through the wall? How can they corrupt the child of an Exalted Power’s king? With so many wards around? And even more, how can they influence your divination, nevermind the Prism’s?’

The man wanted to poke holes at the Iudex’s theory.

But foregoing all this, he simply gave a slightly forced smile and coughed,

“I think Master Parntheos is right. If the boy can even survive that, what more can we do? If it is written in the stars, then we can only accept.”

Rhegnight of course did not truly believe those words, but like the others, ruled by greed and opportunity, he favored their choice over the Iudex’s.

After all, if even the dragons were not a threat, then Rhegnight was inclined to think that the threat simply did not exist, for he had no knowledge of anything more terrifying.

To this response, the Iudex’s external facade did not change an iota, though he did sigh inwardly at these ‘humans’ lack of foresight.

But the decision had been made and all he could do was follow.

Thus having exhausted all the options to have his way, he silently summoned a white piece of cloth, sparkling with runes and wrapped by the boy in it, and then putting him to sleep with a casual wave.

This cloth was meant to protect him from the spatial storms during the traversal.

And once the preparations were complete and the coordinates checked and double-checked, the infant was raised into the air and with a push gentle nudge, pushed into the aqueous curtain, disappearing into it almost instantly.

But!

Just as the boy was about to be teleported, suddenly that short-haired woman who was standing close by, the one who up until now the Iudex and Rhegnight had merely paid token attention to, moved her left arm at a speed impossible for someone of her rank.

She was holding a circular ball of some kind, bronze in color, which she threw at an impossible speed toward the boy.

And it took the sphere less than an instant to arrive near its target, upon which it forthwith unveiled itself, colling around the boy to form an impossibly strong, impregnable protective cocoon.

And then it started to glow.

It grew brighter and brighter and brighter until the light was blinding…

*Boom!*

And then all of a sudden with no warning, there was a gigantic explosion, like a small nuclear bomb had gone off.

The blastwave tore through the sturdy stone of the teleportation portal like it was made of paper and then unleashed its vengeance on the surrounding earth and air, tearing them apart like shredded cheese and sending debris of stone, mud, trees, and even unrecognizable bits of human body parts, belonging to many of the weaker mages flying through the air in a chaotic maelstrom, causing massive damage and creating innumerable casualties.

“Hahahahaha,” And accompanying that dreadful sound that this laughter, sounding very pleased with himself.

Yes- it was ‘him’- self.

Because the laughter sounded very masculine.

And the fact that this sound could be heard so clearly even through the huge bang and chaotic explosion that was still tearing everything apart, just went to show the extent of the power behind the originator of it.

“*Hmmp!*”

“*Haaah!*”

But that turbulent storm could not last long.

For breaking out of their surprised shock moments later, both the Iudex and Rhegnight channeled their as vast as the ocean mana outward, engulfing the entire region with their own tyrannical pulses of energy, shrouding the storm with their magical energy and thus isolating it from the rest of the surrounding.

Then, once they securely caged the explosion, the two men brutally shrunk the enclosure down, crushing and squashing the chaotic storm like it was a bug, thus neutralizing it.

“Hahaha,” But even seeing this, short haired woman simply kept euphorically laughing, her laughter turning more and more masculine with every passing second, as her skin then began to peel off.