Hasting

## [source]

legendary mage

The depths of the hall were almost completely dark, with a faint silhouette of a gloomy man seated within. This was the legendary mage who was constantly beside Rundstedt, Hasting.

Hasting looked tired, the dark circles around his bloodshot eyes almost purple in colour while his face was slightly swollen. Wet hair matted his neck and sweat-drenched forehead. sagging purple brows

Within his hand was a huge gold cup with a stinky viscous liquid. He was gradually sipping from the goblet, his heavy breathing starting to stabilise.

he three legendary beings in the city including Hasting had held off the enemy’s five until the black sorcerers ran out of energy. Even worse was that Hasting had no opportunity for rest after the war, forced to heal the warriors whose souls had sustained the most damage.

Even though Hasting was extremely eccentric and bad-tempered, his contributions to the city caused everyone to venerate him just like Saint Lawrence had been once upon a time. 5;94

refines souls

known for healing

Your Excellency, we have known each other for many years now. You should know the meaning of this demon to Hasting and the effort in the Land of Dusk. His Excellency is the authority on the study of enemy creatures, and time is the one things we do not have.

Afraid of Sharon

## Plot

“I’m… fine. I was just too happy; with this demon as a basis for research, I’ll be able to find the weaknesses of Daxdian royals. Then… I’ll have my vengeance…”

Hasting’s voice turned sombre as he reached the end of that sentence, and he turned silent for a while before sighing, “I wanted more than twenty years for this day. After all this while… Forbidden Eye should be alive, no? What am I saying, he was already legendary then, why would he die? The only question is whether he’s still at the Land of Dusk. I hope… he hasn’t left…” The last words were almost inaudible.

Hasting’s past was a mystery. Most of the warriors in the city only knew that he had come here more than twenty years ago, basing all his activities around the capital of the Unsetting Sun. Nobody knew of his status or accolades in Norland, and with his temperamental and merciless personality, no one wished to find out. 5;97

### **Requisition**

“No no no, you’ve gotten it all wrong,” Hasting gesticulated crazily, “You won’t even want to overrule this, Richard. Did you forget your little Waterflower is still with me?”

Richard’s hand froze in mid-air.

Marshal Rundstedt was startled, his expression darkening once more. If Richard was bribing in public, then Hasting was in the midst of blackmail! Either act was hard to stomach.

Sweat began beading down Richard’s forehead, the hand starting to tremble indiscernibly. No matter how many strange habits Hasting had, he was smart enough to know not to lie. It took a few moments, but the hand eventually slammed back down on the table. 5;99

It had been difficult to choose between a legendary mage and a future saint runemaster when they were arguing over a mere demon, but thankfully the situation had been resolved without them having to take a stand. However, everyone felt a chill in their hearts at the realisation that the best soul healer and only runemaster in the city were now completely at odds.

### **Diabolical Plot**

Hearing that Rundstedt had conspired to kill hundreds of Norlanders, Julian frowned, “It doesn’t make sense. The Marshal might have his own ideals, but he would still prioritize the overall situation. If not for the intervention from the Millennial Empire, the City of the Unsetting Sun would have fallen to the Daxdians.”

“And that was the plan,” Hasting nodded, “We wanted the city to collapse; it would have given us the entire Land of Dusk.”

“Continue.”

The soul mage pointed at the soldiers below, “We wanted them, we wanted the souls of the many powerhouses who would die in the City of the Unsetting Sun. There would be some Norlanders, but the Daxdians would lose far more people in their attack. I wasn’t relying on the city to exhaust their strength, but to get their souls. I already had a magical formation ready to collect the souls of the dead, and that battle gave me 4,000!”

Hasting then took a deep breath to calm himself down and reiterated, “Of course, most of those souls were from Daxdians.”

Upon his return to his island, Richard assembled the assassin unions of Norland and gave them a bounty on Weiss Hasting. His head would be worth two million gold, and live capture would be five. His family had different rewards based on their proximity and importance; while Weiss was a favoured nephew of Hasting’s, a single legendary mage couldn’t frighten assassin organisations that encompassed all of Norland.

Four organisations immediately accepted the offer, with two more asking for some time for research. However, this was enough to guarantee a favourable result. Things would have gone faster if he assigned Waterflower or Zangru to the task, but he didn’t believe a random noble was worth the time of his followers.

## References

1. ↑ Book 7, Chapter 191
2. ↑ Book 9, Chapter 66