Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 228 Choice

Geb stared wide-eyed, pointed at the long-tailed monkey on Belle's shoulder, and opened his mouth, speechless with surprise.

Belle tilted her head.

"Huh? Is there something on my face?"

The long-tailed monkey's head popped out from above Belle's head, hanging upside down and staring into the girl's eyes.

"Ogg—" Belle was startled and was about to cry out when the long-tailed monkey's tail quickly spun around and clamped the girl's mouth shut like a pocket.

"Hmm!"

"Altom has long harbored resentment towards the gods; you must not utter their names near His shrine!"

Belle's mouth was tied shut like a goldfish by the monkey's tail, making her extremely uncomfortable. Gebu noticed that although the creature was a monkey, its voice was a deep, male voice, and it sounded somewhat familiar.

A golden mask? I was wondering where you were hiding, turns out you were waiting for me here.

Knowing that the Golden Mask had finally arrived, Gebu felt a little more at ease. Seeing Belle's disheveled state, he found it amusing and added fuel to the fire.

"Yeah, you shouldn't talk nonsense, you idiot."

"Beep beep beep, beep beep beep!"

Belle was furious when she heard this. She tried to speak hurriedly, but no sound came out; she could only make a "dudu" sound.

"What are you babbling about? Stop spitting all that saliva, it's bubbling up."

The monkey finally loosened its tail, and Belle blurted out in one breath, "—How dare you call me a goblin! If you hadn't mentioned that Magnu thing first, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Don't be rude to Geb, Belldandy."

"That's what the long-tailed monkey said."

"Yes, you're so rude, Belldandy. How can a witch from the Imperial Magic Academy be so ill-mannered?"

'

Gebu chimed in from the side.

"I----!"

Belle was speechless. Geb made a smug face at her, then said to the monkey, "It's been a long time since we last met at the Silver Moon Corridor. It's really not easy to get in touch with you."

"Goblin wizard Geb. I believe that since you have come here, you must have kept our promise and brought that thing."

"Of course. How do we deliver the goods? I give them to you, my dear foolish student, and you give me what you promised?"

Despite facing a powerful wizard, Geb showed no fear. It turned out that the golden mask belonged to the wizard Imint, who had appeared countless times in the Book of Sand. This was an unexpected turn of events, but the goblin wizard found it unsurprising.

The Golden Mask was clearly a powerful wizard, and the most famous wizard on the entire continent was Imint, who wrote the Treatise on Aether.

Belle looked puzzled and forgot to refute Geb's claim that she was stupid.

"Of course, I don't think it's that simple. You arranged for me to meet you here and at that time, you must want me to assist in this ritual: to break some kind of seal and obtain the shrine of this Devouring God, Altom." Geb smiled, then glanced at Belle. "It's obvious that this little witch can't possibly perform that ritual on her own."

"What little witch? I have a name, okay?" Belle muttered.

Using its long tail for balance, the long-tailed monkey nimbly leaped from Belle's shoulder to the ground. It drew a circle on the ground with its long fingers, and then drew a boat-shaped symbol inside the circle, like an open mouth.

"Yes. You guessed right, Geb. Your arrival here and your encounter with Belldandy was no accident. I need the potion made by the peacock, a second-circle wizard, and you, appearing here at this time, beside Altom's shrine—no, calling that shrine isn't quite accurate. It should be called the cage that imprisons Altom."

"cage?"

Geb and Belle asked at the same time.

"The Devourer is the first god recorded to appear in the world. He represents the destructive power of nature. Legend has it that Altom resided in the crater at the top of the World Ridge Mountains: the Mouth of Titan, and was closely connected to the primordial elements that formed the material world. Fearing the powerful and unstoppable destructive force, the gods tricked him into being sealed in a prison."

Geb looked at the obsidian cave where he was, where the outline of a giant skull was faintly visible in the stone.

"So, you mean this place we're in is the Devourer's prison?"

"Gebu said. He was about to continue when Belle suddenly interjected, "That old giant just said that Ortom abandoned His people, the giants. This led to the giants being driven out of the mountains by the dwarves, and then wiped out by the wizards. Hmm—I don't know if I'm right, but it sounds like Ortom didn't actually abandon the giants. On the contrary, did He hide His last divine power within the giants, and then as the giants died, the Devourer's own power weakened—"

Geb wanted to refute her, but after thinking about it, Belle's speculation did make some sense. This girl wasn't as stupid as he thought.

"No, that's not the case. Don't make assumptions without evidence. My students wouldn't make that mistake."

The long-tailed monkey's words silenced Belle instantly. She looked at her feet in embarrassment, her newly gained confidence shattered. Seeing the golden mask's harsh and unforgiving treatment of Belle, Geb couldn't help but feel sympathy for the witch.

"Within the giants lies a bloodline connection to the God of Destruction, like a key. This place is indeed intricately linked to Altom's imprisonment, but it is not the place of imprisonment—His prison is not on the material plane, but on the etheric plane. You two must have sensed it too; there is a powerful flow of ether within the ruins of Giant's Hill. This is an etheric spring, and the veil between it and another plane is very thin. This is not a coincidence; Giant's Hill is the burial ground of the giants, who have prayed to their god for thousands of years. Their connection with the Devourer has brought the two planes closer. Simply put, the giants used their yearning for their god to open a door to His prison here."

So that's how it is. Gebu thought to himself. No wonder there's an etheric spring in a place like this.

"You just said key, and now you're saying door." Geb looked at the giant in the distance behind him. The giant no longer made a sound, but just sat quietly in the corner, his shoulders slumped, staring blankly at the skeleton of his companion.

"In other words, the key to opening the Devourer's Prison is inside the chest of the last giant."

"You guessed right again. I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

The golden-masked man showered the goblin wizard with praise. Belle glanced at the long-tailed monkey with a hint of bitterness, and dared not utter a sound.

“However,” Geb suddenly changed the subject, “what good would it do us to open Altom’s prison? He is the god of destruction; even through the veil of ether, I can feel that terrifying primal power. Opening that prison would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.”

"Therefore, my goal is not to liberate Altom; no one can control that power. Releasing it would be tantamount to bringing destruction to this continent. However, the key that can open the prison of the ancient gods itself has unparalleled value."

Good heavens. So all that effort was for Gebu to come and rob a tomb for someone else.

"You mean we should kidnap this old giant and take him back to the Empire? Are you kidding me? Let's not even talk about whether he'd like it or not. Even if he cooperated fully, a giant swaggering through the human kingdoms would be hacked to pieces without getting a beating."

The long-tailed monkey didn't speak, but tilted its head and stared at Gebu with its big eyes. Gebu felt uneasy under that gaze, and his mood for joking vanished instantly.

"—Alright, alright, I know what you want is the molten blood from the giant's chest—just take the whole heart with you, okay?"

Geb waited a while: the long-tailed monkey neither answered nor refuted, which was taken as tacit agreement.

He continued, "What do you need for this ritual? What are the steps? Most importantly, does the giant need to be alive or dead? But removing the heart would kill it anyway."

"I'll only tell you this once, remember it well. Belle, come here too, and help Geb prepare. The first step of the ritual is to make the giant drink the Kiss of Kingslayer. Because the giant's skin is incredibly tough, its body indestructible, and it has extreme resistance to magic and poison, even the wizards of the Arcane Empire cannot kill them; they can only bury them underground with magic. Only under my special instructions can the poison made by the peacock temporarily weaken its body, giving you the opportunity to remove its heart. However, removing the heart is only the first step. Belle, you need to use the materials I've prepared for you to draw the alchemy circle flawlessly. You must solidify the molten blood flowing in the heart immediately, otherwise, that unstable ethereal energy will cause a huge explosion—"

"Wait a moment—I'll write it down!"

Belle stood there for a long time, unable to get a word in edgewise, when suddenly something came up for her. She quickly and frantically pulled out her notebook and started writing furiously.

Gebu memorized each step in his mind, and after ten minutes of talking, the long-tailed monkey finally revealed the entire method for preserving lava blood.

"—Finally, the magic circle will complete its loop, signifying that the lava blood has been safely sealed within the giant's heart. At that point, you can store it using a magical item with a pocket dimension. For example, the storage ring I gave you, Gebu."

Gebu listened to everything and was about to say he remembered it when the voice of the golden mask suddenly appeared in his mind through telepathy.

"But that's not all, Geb. What follows is for you and me to hear."

Huh? Gebu suddenly paused for a moment, then immediately looked down as if looking at the patterns on the floor, concealing the surprise in his expression.

"You may have noticed, goblin, that this alchemy ritual is missing a crucial alchemical seed. The method I told you can't complete the loop on its own."

"This magic circle is a forbidden legacy of the Arken-Opha Empire, capable of sealing fragments of an ancient god's soul—such powerful magic comes at a price—"

Wait a moment.

No way————

"A life imbued with magic—that's the price required for the magic circle to close. Belldandy must die for the ritual to complete. Show her no pity, Geb. Belldandy was born dull-witted; her magical talent could at best take her to the first circle, to a resident witch in a remote village, and to live out her days in mediocrity—but here, her life can help us accomplish something far greater. You are different from her; your talent surpasses that of any wizard I've ever seen. You will become part of the future, while she belongs only to the past."

"Don't waste her life, goblin wizard. Let Belldandy's death be the spark that ignites this world."

Complete this ritual, then bring back the heart flowing with molten lava blood. I will make you part of our Golden Mask Society's grand plan. You will gain power beyond anything you could ever imagine.

The goblin fell into a long silence. The golden mask felt a chill run through his veins at Belle's ruthless betrayal. So this is what a magic academy, these high-ranking wizards, really are?

It turns out that wizards aren't much different from goblins; they betray each other without hesitation or mercy—no wonder Belle rose to the second ring so quickly. It wasn't that the Golden Mask appreciated her, but rather that he had long been prepared to use her as a sacrifice.

Geb glanced furtively at Belle. The innocent girl was still diligently taking notes, her brow beaded with sweat.

How should I choose?

To save a girl's life, or to use her as a stepping stone to gain the favor of one of the most powerful wizards on the continent.

I----

"Hey, Golden Mask," Geb said to the monkey using telepathy, "If you were Belle, would you be willing to be used as human firewood, sacrificing yourself for some great cause?"

“Yes, I would answer without hesitation,” the golden mask replied. “However, not everyone can understand our thirst for truth. Most people’s pursuits remain at the primitive level of satisfying their basic desires. That’s why we can’t be completely honest with them. We have higher aspirations; we should guide ordinary people and help them make better choices—even if those choices seem ruthless.”

Is that so? Perhaps because of telepathy, the person's tone didn't reveal any extra emotion. But Geb seemed to sense that he wasn't lying: these words were the true thoughts of Golden Mask/Imint.

"Okay, I understand."

Geb responded.

The long-tailed monkey didn't move, as if waiting for the goblin's reply.

The goblin wizard lowered his head, not looking in the direction of the monkey or Belle, and said in a low voice, "Belle."

"Um?"

"Let's start the ceremony quickly, time waits for no one."

"well!"

When Geb looked up again, the long-tailed monkey had vanished. It knew the goblin had made the right choice.

The lonely giant, with a newfound sadness in his empty eyes, seemed to be mourning the fate of a stranger.