bookandnovel Chapter 269 The Roundabout 'Prophecy'
Chapter 269 The Roundabout 'Prophecy'
Chapter 269 The Roundabout 'Prophecy'
Prince Grove did not hesitate for long before agreeing to Evan's conditions, but at the same time added:
"However, this can only be returned to you after you complete the task!"
In transactions like this, advance payment is rare, and Evan hadn't expected Prince Grove to do so, so he wasn't disappointed and nodded indifferently.
"No problem, you can come to me anytime to sign the revised treaty. Whenever the treaty is revised, I will start preparing!"
"Oh, and there's one more thing I wanted to ask you. Did you know about the Witch Cult targeting my body in Tingen?"
Ever since learning about the Horn family's history, Evan had realized that something was amiss with how Mrs. Sharon had developed him.
Other organizations and individuals may not know the history of the Horn family, but there is no reason why the Witch Cult, which has continued since the Fourth Epoch, would not know, not to mention that the "Witch" pathway and the "Hunter" pathway are adjacent sequences and are inherently intertwined.
Based on the fragments he gleaned from Natasha, he deduced that Mrs. Sharon, due to her obsession with her female identity, had encountered problems in her portrayal and was thus abandoned by the witch cult as cannon fodder, and sent to Tingen.
Mrs. Sharon probably didn't receive a specific mission, but rather a relatively broad mission to recruit peripheral members, which naturally led her to recruit Evan Horn, who had an infinite yearning for the Extraordinary World.
This was a truly subtle and unexpected move. If Evan hadn't been burdened by the "City of Calamity" and turned Natasha against him, and if Evan hadn't learned about the Horn family's history, they might still be completely ignorant.
Now that it's confirmed that the Witch Cult's absorption of his predecessor was planned, what Evan most wants to know is what effect they want to achieve and what they want to do.
This task was assigned by Evan to Katarina, a direct descendant of the Witch Cult and Pelle's daughter, and his captive Natasha.
Two weeks have passed, and Natasha still hasn't been able to find out any relevant information from the sidelines.
Since it was difficult to gather information from the Witch Cult, Evan could only try to find out more from the royal family.
After all, it was the Augustan royal family that provided the Witch Cult with "Bonaparte's steadfastness" and helped the Witch Cult maintain Evan's male gender.
"Of course we know that this is actually part of our cooperation."
Prince Grove was unaware that Evan was the original Evan, believing him to be an incarnation of a sealed artifact. Therefore, he openly admitted without any attempt to conceal the fact that the Augustus family had been plotting against Evan's original self.
"The Augustus family wants to use Evan Horn through the Witch Cult to wreak havoc on the Fursac Empire? But why?"
It's obvious that the Augustus family used the Horn family to scheme against the Fussac Empire, but why did they let the Witch Cult get involved?
And wouldn't it have been a better choice to drag Evan into this mess, turn him into an "assassin," and make him a hunter?
Then, they use "Bonaparte's steadfastness" to help Evan maintain his male body. What's the point of going through all that trouble?
Prince Grove gave Evan a complicated look, then said in an ambiguous tone:
"Our original plan was to lead you into the 'witch' path and then keep you in male form so that we could control you, but of course, that was only a secondary reason."
The main reason Evan Horn became an Extraordinary being through the "Witch" pathway was actually to interfere with that prophecy!
"A prophecy? What prophecy?"
Evan frowned, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, and quickly asked.
"That was the prophecy that the late Earl of the Horn family received! Didn't you know?"
Evan never expected that he would end up on the prophecy that had brought the old Earl a lifetime of misery, the prophecy concerning whether the Horn family could be revived.
Do you also believe in that prophecy?
Evan began to understand why the Augustus family would cooperate with the Witch Cult to plot against the original owner of this body.
With Robert having become an extraordinary individual through the "Arbitrator" pathway, Evan, who is closest to the next head of the family, naturally fell into the eyes of the Augustus family.
Whether to verify the prophecy or to prevent it, they decided to guide Evan's original form into a "witch".
"Of course we believe that prophecy, because the 'prophet' who gave the prophecy to the old count was invited by our Augustus family!"
Evan was a little confused, then quickly realized what was happening and asked:
"Did you have that 'prophet' predict the fate of the Kingdom of Rune decades ago?"
Prince Grove said with an air of self-righteousness:
"That's right, my father paid a great price to have that prophet foretell the future of the Kingdom of Rune."
The "prophet" told my father that my brother would have the opportunity to realize his dream, but he would need Einhorn's help!
Then, at my father's request, the "prophet" made another prophecy about the Horn family, predicting that the Horn family would be revived and regain its surname!
"Then why has George III been openly and covertly attacking the old Earl all these years? Isn't this going against the prophecy?"
When people hear about prophecies, they usually prefer to believe them rather than dismiss them. Few people would go against a prophecy like George III did, since this prophecy wasn't like that of Xiong Ba, which predicted his inevitable defeat.
Evan was extremely rude in addressing Prince Grove as George III instead of His Majesty, which made Prince Grove frown involuntarily.
But then he thought of his old rival with whom he had dealt for many years, and felt that this was just the nature of a "hunter," so he explained without much concern:
"Because His Majesty did not believe that the old count was someone who could help him succeed, and the old count's underhanded actions seriously affected His Majesty's plans, so he had no choice but to abandon and suppress him."
Having studied the old count's life, Evan understood perfectly.
At the time, the old count was ambitious and believed that success would surely come to him. He used diplomatic means to isolate the Fussac Empire and tried his best to incite the Kingdom of Loen to form an "anti-Fussac Empire" coalition in preparation for profiting from the chaos. However, this seriously contradicted George III's plan to reform and prepare for the ceremony of universally elevating the "Black Emperor". He became a person against the trend, and ultimately his ambitions were not fulfilled.
There was another reason that Prince Grove didn't mention, but Evan guessed it: the young George III probably looked down on the declining Horn family, believing that the Horn family was not the "Einhorn" that could help him succeed, but rather that they might be able to revive the family by borrowing his "power" after he succeeded.
Because after the old Earl, who advocated a hardline stance against the Fussac Empire, withdrew from politics, George III took the initiative to make peace with the Fussac Empire and proposed to cooperate in dividing the still vast colonies left by Emperor Roselle to the Republic of Intis.
Initially, with George III taking the initiative to make overtures, the two countries did indeed enjoy a honeymoon period. However, the struggle for hegemony is never a zero-sum game, and soon their structural contradictions erupted. Under the instigation of countries such as Intis and Remnburg, their relationship deteriorated rapidly and never improved again.
At the same time, this series of events indirectly proved the correctness of the old Earl's foreign policy and also proved that the Horn family was the "Einhorn" mentioned by the "Prophet".
"But with the appearance of Robert, His Majesty believed that he was someone who could help him, so he kept an eye on him and provided him with assistance."
Robert Horn did not disappoint His Majesty's expectations. He not only achieved numerous military exploits, but also voluntarily left the military to enter politics, taking the lead in His Majesty's reforms and making great progress in the reforms over the past few years.
While His Majesty was overjoyed, he couldn't help but wonder: could the Horn family, who were not "hunters," restore their glory? Was Robert Horn the very Einhorn who would help him fulfill his long-cherished wish?
Prince Grove stopped there, and Evan understood George III's thoughts.
George III was not interested in the revival of the Horn family; he was only interested in Einhorn, which could help him achieve his goals.
At the same time, George III was not a man who would accept whatever came his way. The details of the prophecy were unclear, and it did not explicitly say that he would succeed. Moreover, he preferred to have everything under his control.
Therefore, he wanted Robert to become the "Einhorn" who could help him succeed, and wanted Robert Horn, the "Law Master" who was easier for him to control, to become the protagonist in the revival of the Horn family, and to become a knife in his hand.
Then we cannot allow any other members of the Horn family to rise to prominence.
So he had the witch cult guide "Evan" into the "witch" path, cutting off Evan's path, since a male "arbitrator" seemed more in line with the prophecy than a "witch".
Whether it was due to the corrective force of fate or some other reason, George III's plans failed, and after many twists and turns, Evan still became a "hunter".
Now Evan understood a little why Prince Grove's gaze had been so complex just now!
Because in the eyes of the Augustus family, their actions, on the surface, helped the seal of "Bonaparte's Guardian" to live, and the unexpected "resurrection" of the Horn family members made it possible for "Evan" to become a demigod through the "Hunter" pathway as long as he had the potion. In fact, it made "Evan" perfectly fit the prophecy of the "Prophet"!
This is probably why they so readily agreed to give the "Bonaparte's Steadfastness" seal as payment.
Because in George III's eyes, "Evan" could now become the "Einhorn" who would help him succeed, so of course he would invest in Evan just like he had invested in Robert before.
At the same time, Evan was certain that George III would remove the ceiling on Robert's head, because since the "Bonaparte's steadfastness" had been promised to Evan as an investment, the Augustus family's biggest constraint on Evan was gone, and they would naturally want to put another chain around Evan's neck and arrange a countermeasure.
No one was more suitable to keep Evan in check than Robert, who loved and cared for his younger brother.
As long as Evan shows even the slightest sign of breaking free from their control, all they need to do is expose Evan's identity, and Robert will naturally step in!
Robert might obtain the potion recipe for the next sequence, "Chaos Hunter," after his marriage to the royal family. This would indeed be a tremendous boon, allowing him to quickly ascend to the rank of Sequence 3 demigod simply by preparing the ritual. After all, Robert had told Evan that he possessed the corresponding extraordinary properties, but lacked the recipe, so he could only consider advancing through other means.
However, this also sowed the seeds of the potential exposure of Evan's identity.
Evan sneered inwardly, fully aware of the Augustus family's plans, but felt no worry whatsoever.
As long as George III is alive and the Kingdom of Rune still has value, Evan will not easily turn against the Augustus family, and may even show some obedience to them. Under such circumstances, the Augustus family naturally has no need to expose his identity.
At the same time, the Augustus family mistakenly believed that "Evan" was an incarnation of the "Bonaparte's Steadfast" seal, but in fact the opposite is true; that seal should be an incarnation of Evan.
This reversal of relationships makes the Augustus family's control measures unreliable, and Evan is confident that Robert will not be easily manipulated.
"Alright, you've asked me so many questions, and I've told you everything without hiding anything. Shouldn't you tell me something in return?"
Prince Grove told Evan all this not without reason; he also wanted to glean some information from Evan.
"Oh? What do you want to find out from me?"
Evan also felt that Prince Grove was too generous today, and there must be something hidden behind it, so he secretly became more vigilant.
"Did you know that Robert Horn has secretly formed an organization?"
The Augustus family, who had been paying close attention to Robert, indeed noticed his actions!
Evan inwardly gasped in alarm, but remained outwardly composed, because Robert had already guessed that his dealings with Ms. Amanda might not be kept secret from the Augustus, especially given the deteriorating relationship between the Fussac Empire and the Kingdom of Rune and the increasing importance of the Horn family.
Backlund is, after all, the territory of the Augustus family, and the Archangel Augustus I, a Sequence 1, is here. If they investigate carefully, they will surely find some clues.
"Of course I know about this. I've even attended a few gatherings of this small organization. Apart from Amanda, most of them are mid-level Extraordinary beings at Sequence 7 or Sequence 6. Oh, and I heard they recently recruited a demigod, but I don't know if it's true or not!"
Evan spoke with a straight face, half-truths and half-truths, not worried at all about being found out, because he wasn't lying.
He also had confidence in Ms. Amanda's methods of organizing the gathering and her anti-leakage measures, and did not believe that the Augustus family knew the details.
Prince Grove hesitated for a moment, then said:
"Find out more details as soon as possible; that's what His Majesty wants to know."