Chapter 438: The Cruel Truth

"I just don't like wasting words on matters that are already settled."

The golden magical array faded slowly, and after its dissolution another Oma emerged in the palace's underground, revealing his true form; that heavy, aged voice seemed to recount distant, ancient memories.

"So that's it— even a phantom can't exist forever," Jiang Xia shook their head.

The other golden magician, whose graying hair was neatly slicked back, also wore a black magical robe, but compared with Oma's middle‑aged appearance, he was many ages older.

Phantoms live far longer than humans, and magicians should have means to extend life, yet this golden magician was already withered; even from afar one could smell the scent of imminent decay on him.

A phantom whose life was nearing its end, about to step into a coffin.

The old man seemed to need great effort even to speak, but that didn't mean his combat ability was weak; on the contrary, he could be called the strongest magician in the Magic Kingdom.

Combat ability is combat ability; lifespan is lifespan.

"Since you brought the Philosopher's Stone, I'll tell you," the aged Oma took the floor; regardless of which, he believed no one could stop them, so he openly claimed ownership of the Philosopher's Stone.

A greedy petty person remains a petty person even when aged; their nature doesn't change.

The greed revealed in his first sentence answered Jiang Xia's doubt; their covetousness for others' treasures was cut from the same mold, so the fusion of these two people was bound to succeed.

"My goal is to fuse and obtain immortal, ageless power, to regain youth; to achieve that I need a massive amount of magic, just as everything you see now is part of the plan."

The aged Oma spoke as if presenting a museum exhibit, describing his works: "Among them, the most important is the Magic Power Circulation System, a Tanatos vessel forged from the bones of magical residents, replacing money's circulation function—a crucial source of magic. Besides the circulation system, phantoms are also one source of magic."

"Phantoms also have their magic drained?" Jiang Xia clarified another doubt: why phantoms all seemed malnourished and feeble. It turned out they were siphoned dry during their creation.

"Not only that, I also intend to regulate the number of phantoms born to keep the Magic Power Circulation System stable. Though phantoms are a useful source, they disintegrate easily after being drained, their value is far less than humans', and too many phantoms cause chaos, since some are unruly."

Good fellow, that's the advantage of a dual identity: residents must surrender their internal magic while alive, and even after despair turns them into phantoms, they are drained of any remaining value.

They also periodically control population: when numbers are high, part of the populace is used to maintain and expand the Tanatos vessel's capacity; when numbers are low, they are allowed to develop naturally.

More tragically, everything about your life here is prearranged; once you lose hope of living, you may be forced into despair and become a magic‑providing battery.

The Magic Kingdom thrives with song and dance; everyone wields controllable magic, even near‑omnipotent power, and occasionally strikes phantoms weakened by drained magic to uphold their sense of justice—something ordinary modern people would call paradise.

Yet beneath this façade lies trampling of life; the golden magician fully objectifies humans, treating them as mere consumables. The buried skeletons in this realm number not in dozens or hundreds, but in tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands—massive quantities of expendables.

No natural disasters, all man‑made.

"I have another question: what do you need the Philosopher's Stone for?" Jiang Xia's face showed no change, merely asking.

"Obviously it's to restart the Witch Feast; the Philosopher's Stone is a universal magical gem— the stronger the holder, the more they can achieve, and the Witch Feast is no exception. No preparation is needed; once obtained, it can instantly turn every resident of the Magic Kingdom into phantoms," the two Omas said in unison. "As kings, we need an army to dominate the world; the phantoms born from the Witch Feast can be inscribed with commands of submission at the moment of despair, making me a ruler of two worlds, immortal and ageless."

Now Di Mu Zuo's ability to secure so many phantom submissions makes sense; Jiang Xia merely inherited his appearance and abilities, without inscribing any magic onto the phantoms.

At the moment the philosopher phantom died, the submission command it had written into phantom minds was already weakened.

Thus, when he summons phantoms, any action that clearly affects their instincts may provoke a phantom to defy the philosopher; however, Jiang Xia simply switched to another method of control—essentially the same.

Guleimlin, having not lost himself but become a monster between phantom and human, can act freely and choose according to his mood, though he is the only one of his kind.

However, Jiang Xia thinks that Di Mu Zuo, halfway through the Witch Feast, realized the magic obtained was insufficient to sustain Di Mu's resurrection, so he hastily inscribed a spell forcing the phantoms to submit.

"The story's over, so can you go die?" Jiang Xia said with a smile.

The two Omas heard Jiang Xia's words, exchanged a glance, then burst into hearty laughter: "You don't really think we're still two separate individuals, do you? We know the strength of our opponent, so we fused long ago; what you see now is merely my avatar."

Oma thought it must be the illusion of being split into two that fooled the white magician, who still believed he was the golden magician they could defeat before.

The reason for such laughter was that the white magician finally fell into their trap.

Would anyone really tell the enemy about their impending evolution and ultimate power?

If someone does that, it's not confidence, it's foolishness.

The more critical the juncture, the deeper it should be concealed; best to disclose only after everything is done and there's no risk of interruption.

Because at that point the enemy's information is already outdated; they might think they can stop my fusion, but the fusion was already complete. They wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal anything externally before the goal is achieved.

They're not those third‑rate villains who like to broadcast news upon achieving their goals.

Moreover, the fusion process began long ago; right after the white magician defeated Drake's phantom, that golden beam of light was actually the fusion light, and the massive orange magical gem that replaced the sun was the fusion altar.

Of course, only this way could the golden magician on Earth survive Jiang Xia's attack; because the ritual‑initiated fusion had begun, it triggered a magical array large enough to cover a city and a phenomenon massive enough to veil the sky.

Moreover, they had even invited Jiang Xia here; the golden magician on Earth was nearly eliminated in an instant. Without forcibly seizing the Philosopher's Stone's power, they would never have appeared before Jiang Xia.

As they spoke, the two figures vanished instantly, replaced by an entirely new magician.

"Did I ever say to send two people to their deaths?" Jiang Xia asked, puzzled. (End of chapter)