novelVolume 6, Chapter The Second Week of Annihilating an Undying Lich: “Train One's Body”
| ← Ch.067 | Ch.069 → |
Volume 6, Chapter The Second Week of Annihilating an Undying Lich: "Train One's Body"
Translator: Takoyaki-kun
Stone and I waited for Storm at the Holy Temple's great hall before leaving together for the palace to see the king.
We didn't know why Storm was late. Normally, I would be the late one. Then again, Storm wasn't Judgment, so his being late wasn't a rare event. There wasn't a need to make a fuss.
Good. Since he hasn't arrived yet, and next to me was the easiest person to talk to, Stone, I put on my radiant smile and asked him, "Brother Stone, do you happen to have any of Brother Ice's sweets?"
Stone nodded and took out a small bag. If the Stone Knight's emblem wasn't on it, I would have thought it was mine and snatched it right out of Stone's hands.
So we have entered the era where everyone has their own bag? And there are even different emblems sewn on each bag, so there'd be no worries if someone lost theirs. Ice, you really are a great wi... father!
As Stone handed me a few chocolates, I quickly snatched them, threw a piece into my mouth, then immediately spat it out... Bitter, it was bitter, it was really bitter!
It was so bitter my face crumpled, it was so bitter it reached my heart, it was so bitter that even smiling at the scum of the earth everyday felt sweeter... It is way too bitter!
Stone, who was standing to the side, helpfully gave me a flask of water. I drank the whole flask of water before being able to roar, "What the hell was that?!"
"99% pure cocoa chocolate."
To hell with whatever percentage it is! "Is this even for human consumption? Are you trying to poison me... No! Are you trying to kill me with its bitterness?" I roared.
"Shh! Sun, elegance! The guard at the entrance is looking."
Elegance my as... The guard really is looking. I quickly pasted on a smile and spoke, "Brother Stone, Sun is truly terrified, as Sun is unaware of when his actions fell short of the expectations of the God of Light, causing Brother Stone such bitterness and grievance, but if it wouldn't cause any further pain, may Brother Stone explain so as to allow Sun to understand his failings?"
Stone smiled forcefully and explained, "Knight-Captain Judgment doesn't like sweet things, so Knight-Captain Ice would specially make these sweets that aren't sweet for him."
Can they still be called sweets if they aren't sweet? Bitter sweets shouldn't exist anywhere in this world! I kept on smiling, but my voice dropped at least three octaves, "Brother Stone also eats these 'sweets'?"
"No, they are way too bitter, I couldn't possibly eat them." Stone replied honestly.
With my eyes narrowed dangerously, Stone immediately confessed everything."Knight-Captain Judgment said you're on a diet. So to prevent you from sneaking off with sweets, he replaced my chocolates with the bitter kind yesterday. He also told me to say, 'If you don't want to suffer the bitter consequences again, then don't eat somebody else's sweets. '"
Lesus Judgment! I'll remember this! I'll, I'll... I can't do anything to you.
When I measured myself this morning, the circumference of my waist had actually increased by zero point three inches! I normally buckle my belt on the third hole, but now I'm on the last... If this goes on, I'll have to make another hole in my belt!
"Bear with it for now! Captain Judgment is doing it for your own good. Your face is already beginning to look like a baby's, and if this goes on, you'll become Sun-faced!" Even though you're the Sun Knight, it wouldn't be too good if you became Sun-faced." Stone patted my back to comfort me and then said, "It's about time, should we go look for Storm?"
Sun-faced! I hurriedly touched my face... Phew! It's still oval-shaped and has not turned into a circular Sun-face. To prevent myself from becoming Sun-faced, it looks like I'll have to stop eating sweets. I dejectedly replied, "Okay, let's look for Storm."
The most common place you'll find Storm is in his room, so that was the first place we went.
I knocked on the door but discovered that the door wasn't even closed. It opened with one knock, so I directly pushed it open and went in. The moment we went in, we saw Storm lying on the bed with his hands on his chest as if he were in the middle of buttoning his clothes... but his eyes were closed.
Stone's face became grave as he asked, "Sun, do you think he was taking off his clothes and fell asleep halfway last night, or was putting on his clothes and fell asleep halfway this morning?"
"That's not important!"
"Ah... Do you still want to bring Storm along? I think it'd be a bit cruel to wake him up right now."
"Is anyone else free lately?"
Stone thought for a while and replied, "Everybody's been busy lately."
"Then, let's go by ourselves." I had no choice. It'd be too cruel to wake up somebody who fell asleep changing clothes! Even I couldn't do it.
"Hm? Sun, I- I'm getting up."
Turning around, I could see Storm's eyes only a quarter open, and he was trying his best to lift himself up with his elbows.
I extended my hand to close Storm's eyes— one second, two seconds, three seconds... When I took my hand away, he was already asleep again.
"It's pretty difficult to be tired to this extent, " Stone muttered.
I lifted Storm's leg which was hanging off the bed, placed it back on top, helped him take off his unnecessary clothing, and covered him with the blankets. After leaving the room, I wrote a note on the door saying, "Storm in deep sleep, all trespassers will be struck down with lightning by the God of Light - Sun."
Stone asked surprisingly, "Sun, why are you suddenly so nice to Storm?"
I placed my hand on Stone's shoulder and said seriously, "Brother Stone, please think about it, if Brother Storm doesn't get enough rest and dies from overwork as a result, how are we going to deal with all the documents in the coming sixteen years?"
Stone thought about it, and then added on the door, "And will be cut into pieces by my broadsword."
When we arrived at the palace, we were immediately welcomed by Elijah, who looked like he came specially to meet us.
Upon seeing him, Stone began to poke at Elijah, "So Elijah, you can't wait for the wedding, huh?"
Elijah blinked and then grimaced, "I'm afraid the wedding is going to be postponed."
We were taken aback upon hearing this, and Stone immediately asked, "What happened?"
Elijah shook his head."Let's not talk about that for now. Sun Knight, Stone Knight, please follow me quickly. His Majesty has been waiting for some time."
Waiting for some time? Stone and I looked at each other, doubt written on both our faces. We shouldn't be past the agreed time yet.
Elijah was in such a hurry that he turned around and left immediately after he finished speaking. Stone and I could only hurry after him. When we reached the audience hall, we found that the king wasn't the only person waiting. Even Silent Eagle from the Cathedral of the Shadow God was present, and he hadn't come alone. Beside him were around twenty dark knights and ten people wearing robes, the kind that priests might wear. Could they be shadowpriests?
His Majesty couldn't be wanting the Cathedral of the Shadow God to give a wedding gift too, could he?
Although courtesy demanded the Cathedral of the Shadow God to present a wedding gift, they normally wouldn't give very much anyway. After all, the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound has long held the light in high esteem. Within the kingdom, forget even mentioning establishing a division of the Cathedral of the Shadow God— not even a single believer could be recruited. So, to the Cathedral of the Shadow God, the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound was of absolutely no use to them. Things like wedding presents didn't need to be too extravagant.
Apart from Silent Eagle's group, there were also two entire rows of people whose faces and apparel were all very unfamiliar, so they probably didn't belong to the palace.
"They have the Kingdom of Kissinger's emblem on them, " Stone said quietly.
I nodded. The Cathedral of the Shadow God and the Kingdom of Kissinger have both sent so many people here at the same time, not to mention His Majesty's face looks really terrible! I doubt this has anything to do with the wedding, so what exactly is happening?
At this point, the younger knight-confidant next to the king took two steps forward, but His Majesty actually raised his hand to stop him, and then he looked directly at me... Wait! Why are you staring at me? I hadn't done anything lately, right?
His Majesty personally spoke, "Sun Knight, the Kingdom of Kissinger has sent a messenger bearing news. They say that the Demon King is about to be born in Leaf Bud City."
I stared blankly. Awaitsun had also spoken about this before, but I didn't think that they'd tell the king too. Aren't they afraid that their spokesperson will be surrounded by the army? The Demon King is not exactly a popular representative of the gods.
"They also want us to put forth our best effort assisting the birth of the Demon King."
After saying this, His Majesty looked like he was about to explode, and I completely understood his feelings. If somebody told me that the Demon King was about to be born in the Holy Temple, and also wanted me to help it happen with my best effort, I'd throw them into the Judge's Complex and tell Knight-Captain Judgment to service him well.
I pondered for a while before replying, "Since Silent Eagle is here, it would be wise to ask him to inform us of more detail. Sun believes that if the dark knights' leader dares to stand upon the God of Light's territory and speak of the birth of the Demon King, there must be a good reason."
Hearing this, the king frowned, but remained collected, and then glanced at his knight-confidant by his side.
The knight-confidant quickly shouted, "Silent Eagle of the Cathedral of the Shadow God, you better start explaining the situation in detail!"
Silent Eagle revealed a puzzled look and asked, "Your Majesty, the truth about the Demon King is a hidden secret passed down through the royal family of each kingdom from generation to generation, so how is Your Majesty unaware of the truth?"
Passed down to every generation, but the last generation... The king was silent and I was too, but we were probably both thinking the same thing—We'll have to send somebody to strangle the former king later!
I've heard that the former fat pig king had always been a person worth strangling since he was young. Luckily, he had one merit— cowardice! Not only was he afraid of his mother and his wife, he was even scared of his son!
Even though he was personally a mess, he had a competent mother, and then he married a competent wife who gave birth to a competent son.
When he was young, his mother helped deal with the kingdom's politics. And since he was scared of his mother, he never dared to go too far. After his mother passed away, the queen took on the role and started managing the kingdom, and once she grew older and later passed away as well, there was still the son to take over!
However, the prince still had the status of "son" at the time and didn't dare punish his father too much, so the fat pig king's situation was allowed to worsen. Still, the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound was held together in such a way over the years. Apart from the treasury becoming empty and the royal family gaining a low reputation, the kingdom wasn't too greatly affected.
But evidently the king and I underestimated his father's dangerousness... He was even capable of forgetting to tell his son the secret passed down through generations of the royal family! We really can't face our ancestors if we don't strangle him to death!
Right now, I only saw Silent Eagle's puzzlement, the knight-confidant at a loss, and the king with a poker face, but if you looked carefully you could see the corners of his mouth twitching. He might be assassinating his father tonight.
In order to stop the awkward situation from continuing, I spoke, "Sir Silent Eagle, Sun believes that His Majesty wishes you to explain to Sun. Due to Sun being unaware of these events, as only His Majesty is aware of the secret passed down through each generation of the royal family, could you please explain to Sun in finer detail, so as to allow Sun to understand the situation's origin?"
Hearing this, the king furrowed his brow, but color returned to his face and he glanced at the knight-confidant next to him.
The knight-confidant quickly shouted, "Silent Eagle of the Cathedral of the Shadow God, start explaining!"
Awaitsun turned his head to look at me and answered, "Yes s... No problem."
Like hell it is! Luckily, you managed to change your speech partway. If the head of the Cathedral of the Shadow God were to speak so respectfully to me in front of the king, I'll strangle you to death on the spot!
Unexpectedly, once Silent Eagle opened his mouth, what he spoke of was a distant myth.
A long time ago, in the age when the gods were competing for followers to establish their faith, they found that the holy element attracted more followers than the dark element, and people appeared to prefer the nature of the light. And so, they all used a large amount of the holy element. This included the God of Light, the God of War, and other gods that no longer exist.
However, the power of the gods upset the balance of the world's elements.
Due to excessive use of the holy element, the dark element began flowing and gathering, slowly forming places such as lands of darkness.
Grass no longer grew in places that became lands of darkness. Instead, these places produced endless undead creatures.
These lands of darkness were only a warning; when the dark element collected to a critical point, the world would begin to be swallowed by darkness.
The lands of darkness grew larger and larger, the continent was overrun by undead creatures, living creatures were forced to migrate again and again, and land that could support life continued to decrease.
Faced with the collapse of the world, the gods knew that they could change this only by discontinuing the use of the holy element, but some gods, such as the God of Light of the holy element, were simply unable to use the dark element. However, even the gods that were able to use the dark element refused to give up the holy element and use the dark element, as it would undoubtedly cause a heavy loss of followers.
When things were about to get completely out of hand, the Shadow God decided to clean up the mess because he was a god who was almost completely of the dark element. His forte made it easier for him to solve the problem compared to the other gods.
He decided to create a "vessel, " a vessel which would specialize in absorbing the dark element, allowing the vessel to absorb the excess dark element. The vessel would first restore balance to the world, and then slowly use up the entirety of the dark element.
In order to absorb and use up the dark element, the vessel's power was so great that it went against the gods' contract. However, the world was imbalanced and near collapse, and only the Shadow God's vessel could save the world, so the gods turned a blind eye to the breach of contract by the Shadow God.
Although the gods did not stop the Shadow God, the people became afraid. Most of them didn't understand what was happening, and they were scared of the dark element that was constantly gathering. They even blamed the existence of the lands of darkness on the Shadow God, believing that the Shadow God wanted to create a weapon to destroy the world.
People gathered and started waging a series of wars against the Shadow God.
In the chaos of war, the vessel that was finally nearly completed was broken into three pieces, and so the Shadow God left in anger.
This continued until the world began to collapse. A few people who knew the truth implored the Shadow God for forgiveness and salvation. In the end, the Shadow God helped after all.
He tore off a fragment of himself and split it into three, each of which became a guide, to find the three pieces of the vessel and recreate the vessel, thus saving the world.
After finishing the myth, Silent Eagle explained further, "The people who entreated the Shadow God became the founders of the Cathedral of the Shadow God, as well as the first dark knights and shadowpriests, and the vessel is the representative of the Cathedral of the Shadow God, the Demon King."
"You mean the gods almost destroyed the world, while the Demon King actually saved it?"
Silent Eagle stared coldly at the knight and said, "If the Demon King only brought disaster, do you think that the Cathedral of the Shadow God could have survived for so long? Due to the geography, over half the disaster brought by the Demon King is inflicted on the Kingdom of Kissinger, but they have always kept their faith in the Shadow God and supported the existence of the Cathedral of the Shadow God. Would the citizens of the Kingdom of Kissinger naturally enjoy disaster?"
To the side, the people from the Kingdom of Kissinger also stared coldly at the knight, their demeanor also proving that Silent Eagle wasn't spouting nonsense, surprising the knight-confidant, who was at a loss for words.
Silent Eagle turned his head to face the king and loudly said, "When the world begins to be swallowed by lands of darkness, due to the geography, the Kingdom of Kissinger will be the first to become a kingdom of death. This is why the Kingdom of Kissinger is willing to endure the disaster brought by the Demon King, as well as the reason they have believed in the Cathedral of the Shadow God for so long. But, Your Majesty, you should not rejoice either, for when the Kingdom of Kissinger becomes a complete kingdom of death, the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound and the Kingdom of Moon Orchid will, at the very least, have already transformed halfway into kingdoms of death!"
His tone was heavy when he said this, and a "Disrespectful" from the knight-confidant was stopped halfway by the king.
Silent Eagle half kneeled, and although it was a posture of requisition, his tone was by no means compromising.
"Your Majesty, for the sake of the world, the Demon King must emerge! The Kingdom of Kissinger will use all of their power to ensure that the Demon King is born. In addition, the Cathedral has already sent a messenger to the Kingdom of Moon Orchid, and the Queen of Moon Orchid has also stated that she will fully support the birth of the Demon King."
Hearing this, the king's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and he sat supporting his forehead, due to what was most likely a headache, and then his line of sight fell upon my face. His brow wrinkled, most likely an indication that he wanted to inquire further.
I thought for a while and opened my mouth to ask, "If I may be so bold, Sir Silent Eagle, how will the Demon King be born?"
Silent Eagle turned his head to look at me and explained, "The vessel was originally broken into three pieces. As a result, there will be three Demon King candidates. They will fight under the leadership of the guides, and the winner will absorb all three pieces, thus becoming the new vessel, the Demon King."
At this moment, Stone shouted, "But why do you have to do the fighting in Leaf Bud City? The population of Leaf Bud City is high, and Leaf Bud City is the capital of the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound. No matter what, you shouldn't have chosen this place!"
Silent Eagle only weakly replied, "I am very sorry, but the location is not determined by us. We only located the place and have come to notify you to conduct preparations in order to minimize damage."
He paused, and said in a low voice, "In the past, in order to prevent the birth of the Demon King from getting too complicated, we would refrain from publicly announcing the location of the Demon King's birth. However, this time we learned that the location would be Leaf Bud City. The Cathedral and the king of my kingdom discussed this matter over and over, finally deciding to inform your kingdom, so that your kingdom may make preparations to prevent massive damage and harm."
After the king stayed silent for a while, he turned his head to speak with the older knight-confidant next to him, who moved forward to announce, "Because the messengers from the Kingdom of Kissinger have come a long way, today's discussion shall end here so as to allow them to rest. The discussion shall be continued another day."
Anyone who heard this could obviously tell it was an excuse to disperse the meeting. The king immediately stood up and turned around to leave. Servants led Silent Eagle and the messengers from the Kingdom of Kissinger away to rest.
I was originally planning to gather up the Twelve Holy Knights to tell them about the Demon King and discuss some strategies with Judgment. However, Elijah came up to me and said, "Sun Knight, please follow me to the study. His Majesty wishes to see you there."
"Very well, " I answered and turned to Stone to say, "Stone, help me ask Silent Eagle for a time and place to meet. Make it within these next few days, the sooner the better."
Stone nodded, "Understood."
I followed Elijah to the king's study, but he didn't come in with me. He only said a greeting, and then closed the door to the study.
The only person in the study was the king, who had already changed into lighter clothes and wasn't even bothering to wear his crown. He was standing in front of a tall window that stretched from the ceiling to the floor, looking outward. The scenery outside the window was very nice, the view encompassing most of Leaf Bud City.
I walked forward until I was three steps away from the king and opened my mouth to say, "Your Majesty, Sun has come at your summons."
The king remained silent, but I didn't say anything more, only waiting quietly for him to speak.
"Sun Knight... If what Silent Eagle said is true, do you think I should evacuate the citizens of Leaf Bud City?" Not waiting for my answer, he continued to mumble to himself, "But the population of Leaf Bud City is high, how would we evacuate? And to where do we evacuate? With everybody gone, the capital will become a dead city, in which case wouldn't the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound already count as a kingdom of death?"
After saying this, he turned around and stared at me. The king's face looked a bit different. He should be younger than my teacher, but he appeared to be much older, and the wrinkles between his brows were deep. He perhaps scowled like this often.
"I thought I could allow the citizens to live peacefully, but now they are only left with the two choices of dying or becoming nomads. Sun Knight, tell me. Which choice should I choose?"
Seeing the king's face full of grief and remorse, I immediately kneeled down, raised my head to the king, and said, "Your Majesty, you truly are a king that can give the citizens of the Kingdom of Forgotten a peaceful life! Please believe that Sun will do his utmost and won't allow the citizens of Leaf Bud City to be inflicted with a shred of harm!"
The king looked at me, his face slowly regaining color, and said, "Hearing that you will do your best puts me at peace, although your methods are a bit absurd... Cough! No matter what, you have always been able to resolve many problems. As early as ten years ago, Neo already conceded this point. The situation this time is serious. If you need anything, tell me directly. Apart from my life, there isn't anything I can't give you."
The final few lines, the king spoke them a bit jokingly.
Although the royal family and the Church normally had quite a few disagreements, not to mention that I had also caused the previous king to step down, and then intervened between the princess and Son of the War God's marriage... But when it came to dangerous times, the king still decided to trust me.
If you were to claim that the previous pig king had any accomplishments, it would be giving birth to a good king!
After thinking for a while, I immediately made a request, "Your Majesty, Sun humbly requests of you to temporarily hand the command of the royal knights to Sun."
The king nodded and said, "No problem. How about this, I will also make Elijah your direct subordinate. Recently, his reputation within the royal knights has been very good. With him around, it will be easier for you to mobilize them."
He truly is the king, to be this thorough. The royal knights truly might not be accepting of me being temporarily in command, but with Elijah around, I could save myself a lot of trouble. I nodded, and requested again, "And please also give the evacuation decision to Sun."
After speaking, I waited for a while, but the king didn't give me an answer. He only smiled at me, but I truly didn't know what I had said wrong.
"Grisia."
The king suddenly said my name, but I wasn't too surprised, since I had only been the Sun Knight for four years. To the king, "Sun Knight" more or less, in all likelihood, still meant my teacher Neo.
"Yes, crown prince... I mean, Your Majesty."
When I finished speaking, I immediately made an expression of fear from saying something wrong. The king laughed with a "Ha" and brusquely said, "Checkmating me in return and still feigning ignorance! You are much more successful at being the Sun Knight than Neo was."
I smiled, but I still said, "With the God of Light as the witness, how could Sun dare to checkmate the king? Even more so Sun wouldn't dare to compete with Teacher Neo."
The king rolled his eyes at me, and that made me remember days from long ago.
In the past, Teacher often brought me to the palace for afternoon tea, which was why I would often see the prince, who was always busy and in a hurry. Still, he would at least appear one or two times out of three to tea.
Teacher often directly called the prince "Archer, " and sometimes he would even use "Archie." The prince who was called "Archie" would return the favor and call Teacher "Nee-nee."
They would always start debating within three sentences. By the tenth sentence, they would start arguing, and around the twentieth, the prince would drink his black tea in a huff, and then say he needed to go work.
When leaving, he would purposely ruffle my hair as a rebellious demonstration against my teacher, and then Teacher would pinch the princess's cheeks as revenge. Those two were so childish that I wanted to roll my eyes at them.
"Although it wasn't for a long time, I still watched you grow up, especially because Neo would complain about you all day and night. I've heard so much about you that I could recite everything smoothly. Do you know what Neo's most common complaint was?"
I honestly admitted, "My sword skills."
"That was a common complaint." The king laughed and continued, "But, his most common complaint was that you were unfathomably considerate. Often, when he only delayed for a bit, he would find that you had already solved the problem."
Teacher, your delays often lasted from ten days to half a month, all the way until danger was already licking at your feet, and then you would finally deal with it... And by dealing with it, half of the time, you would still dump it on me! Of course I would rather prefer dealing with the problems right from the start while they could still be dealt with easily!
But, what is the king bringing up Teacher for? Weren't we talking about the birth of the Demon King?
I used a puzzled expression to look at the king, who lightly said with a smile, "Although my father wasn't a good king and isn't even a good person, he is a good father, which was why I couldn't bear to force him to abdicate even when he has not been suited for the throne for a long time."
It really has been a long time, since the fat pig king had already been incompetent from the day he became king!
"Also, the situation regarding my sister and Elijah can be said to be resolved satisfactorily."
After saying this, the king walked closer and spoke quietly next to my ear, "Since there wasn't any damage caused, and I also received a good assistant, the matter concerning the Church 'once' sending a spy in, I'll let that pass."
"..." As matters stood, pretending would be useless, so I could only brace myself and say, "Sun thanks Your Majesty for being so magnanimous."
"I have finally managed to get you, who would rather face death than admit anything, to admit this one thing!" After speaking, the king laughed loudly. He laughed for a long time before he regained his composure.
The king spoke in a commanding tone, "Following this, you will have Elijah reporting to me regularly. I will decide if evacuation is necessary. If evacuation is truly necessary, the king of the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound will order the evacuation himself, forcing the citizens to leave Leaf Bud City. No one is allowed to disobey!"
I was stunned for a moment and quickly spoke, "But..."
The king interrupted me sternly, "Sun Knight, remember! The one responsible for Leaf Bud City is the king of the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound, not you!"
Startled, I quickly lowered my head and replied affirmatively.
Suddenly, the king placed his hand on my head and while ruffling my hair, said, "We will each do what we can! Really, I will ensure that the preparations for evacuating are done well. I won't ever allow the citizens to have nowhere to go to. Which is why you shouldn't sacrifice yourself to do your job well. Neo hated this the most about you. His hatred for it was even higher than being called 'Nee-nee. '"
Your Majesty...
"Understood!"
After I left the study, I planned to go back to the Holy Temple, not only to discuss the Demon King with Judgment, but also to ask Stone what time he had helped me arrange... But when I exited the palace, I immediately saw Stone and Silent Eagle.
They quietly stood to the side, without conversing, clearly waiting for me.
When I walked over, Silent Eagle smiled and said, "Sun Knight, rather than choosing a date and ending up having clashing dates, why not let us talk immediately! I want to discuss with you... the cooperation between the Cathedral of the Shadow God and the Church of the God of Light. I hope that both sides can patrol together. With the protection and healing of the holy knights, as well as my side's powerful offense, patrolling together can create a good result."
After saying this, he went back to being silent and simply smiled at me.
I turned to speak to Stone, "Knight-Captain Stone, you should have a lot of work. Go back to the Church first! Remember to tell Knight-Captain Judgment about the Demon King."
Stone furrowed his brow but still said, "Understood."
Luckily the person here was Stone, who has always been easy to get along with and who doesn't like to trouble people. If it were anybody else, they might not allow me to be alone with Silent Eagle, in case I would try to hide something from them.
After Stone left, Silent Eagle and I also began to leave the palace. No one usually hung around the palace, so there wasn't anybody near us, which was why I spoke directly to him, "Sir Silent Eagle, if you have anything to say, say it! Don't speak about team patrols anymore. I will send my vice-captain to speak with you about that later."
Smiling, Silent Eagle replied, "Call me Awaitsun. You gave me this name, sir, and I am already used to using it. Even Alice has switched to calling me Awaitsun instead of Eagle."
"You're actually happy with this name?" I said unhappily, "Have you forgotten that this name is a reminder for you to wait for my revenge?"
Silent Eagle laughed lightly, "Of course I remember, but this name cannot be any more appropriate. I really have been waiting for you this entire time, sir."
Waiting for me? For what... This fellow's words are always unclear and he always speaks halfway! If he weren't Silent Eagle, one of the leaders of the Cathedral of the Shadow God, and if I weren't currently wearing the Sun Knight uniform, preventing me from doing anything that doesn't match the image of the Sun Knight, I would have exacted my revenge right now!
Unable to take revenge, I could only coldly say, "Your Shadow God truly is a god belonging to the attribute of darkness. He has already decided to save the world, yet the three Demon King candidates must first slaughter each other."
"The Shadow God doesn't intend to have the Demon King candidates kill each other."
Awaitsun hurriedly clarified, "Actually, the guides were originally sent to choose the most suitable Demon King candidate out of the three together. It's just that due to the passing of time, God's fragments have been in this world for too long. The guides are no longer impartial, always believing that the one they have found is the most appropriate, just like how a mother would always think that their child is the best, even if they commit heinous crimes. Which is why in the end, only through killing can they become the Demon King."
I remained silent, not knowing how to react, but the next second I realized that my hand was on my chest without my knowledge. Underneath the clothing there was a hard object—the necklace with a lich sealed inside of it.
"Now, it is instead up to the Cathedral of the Shadow God to choose the most suitable person and help them become the Demon King. But because of this, the three guides no longer have any affection for the Cathedral of the Shadow God. They would never reveal the identities of the candidates to the Cathedral of the Shadow God." He stopped, then with a smile, said, "Generally, it would be so, but there is always the possibility of an exception."
He stopped in his tracks, turned to look at me, and smiled."I will help you, sir."
I clenched my fists and opened them. Words were already near my mouth, but I swallowed them back down. Although I already had a premonition of the truth, as long as I hadn't heard a completely definite statement, I could continue to trick myself into thinking it was all a misunderstanding, that I was wrong, the truth couldn't be like that...
"Sir Silent Eagle's hand of friendship has brought warmth to Sun, though Sun does not currently need Sir Eagle's friendship, but Sun has still taken it to heart."
Evidently, Awaitsun sensed rejection from my "Sun Knight's speech"— or maybe he simply didn't understand what I had just said—either way, he fell silent before saying, "If any threats appear, I will send someone to warn you, but my people may not be able to sense all of the dangers, so please pay attention to your own safety. If you require any assistance, please do not hold back, I am yours to command. Thus, Awaitsun now bids farewell."
It appeared that Awaitsun was going back to the palace, which was why he turned around to walk back the way we came. As he walked by me he stopped for a moment, and in a low voice, imparted, "The Demon King is powerful to the extent of breaching the contract of the gods. Even when currently split into three, the power is still terrifying. Therefore, please be prepared. The others might not be against becoming the world's strongest, the Demon King."
After speaking, Awaitsun began to walk again, but it wasn't until his footsteps became distant that I woke up from my daze and began to walk towards the Holy Temple. But I had hardly traveled a few steps when a person suddenly jumped down from the roof of a building by my side.
The jump scared me, and I was extending one hand and even readying a Shield of Earth, when the other party called out to me.
"Sun, it's me."
Stone? After recognizing him, I recalled how he had jumped down from the roof. I suddenly felt shivers down my spine, and although I opened my mouth a few times, I didn't know what to say, so in the end I blurted out uselessly, "You didn't return to the Church?"
"Yeah."
I fell silent, and then asked, "You purposely pretended to leave, then eavesdropped on the roof?"
He even had the distance grasped well. Normally, my sensing can only go upwards with a radius of three meters above me and about ten meters in front of me, so just now I was completely unable to sense anyone on the roof.
Stone hesitated, then nodded.
I took a few breaths, clenched my teeth, and asked, "The conversation just now... You understood all of it?"
He nodded and answered, "Comparing it with past events, I think I understand about eighty to ninety percent if not a hundred."
"Then are you..." Scared of me?
The last three words, I couldn't say them. What if he said he was scared? No, with Stone's personality, he probably wouldn't say anything that would hurt someone that much. At most, it would be "A little bit" or, "I don't know, " that kind of neutral answer right?
In the end, the words I blurted out changed, "Do you plan to go back and tell the others? Can you give me a few days?"
But Stone replied, "I won't say anything."
Surprised, I asked hurriedly, "You're not going to tell anyone? Then what were you eavesdropping for?"
He quickly explained, "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. I was just worried you would go back to your old habit of doing something dangerous by yourself. Your bad record isn't only just a few years long."
So that's how it is. Stone really isn't someone who would eavesdrop. Eavesdropping is more along the lines of something Metal would do!
I hesitated, "But, you wouldn't be able to hide anything from Judgment, right?"
After all, the Stone Knight was still the direct subordinate of the Judgment Knight. Although my relationship with Stone wasn't bad, it probably wasn't better than his relationship with Judgment. On top of that, the situation this time was truly too serious.
"I definitely won't tell!" Stone stubbornly said, much to my surprise, "I believe that everybody would prefer to hear the truth directly from you, not indirectly from what I heard here, which is why I definitely won't tell! Even Knight-Captain Judgment won't hear a single word from my mouth!"
I remained silent for a while before saying, "Stone."
"What?"
"You're really stubborn."
Stone stared blankly, and then immediately denied, "Nonsense! I'm not stubborn at all!"
Hah! I laughed, "No no, you're really stubborn."
"I'm not stubborn!"
"Very stubborn."
"I'm definitely not a stubborn person! Tell me, which part of me is stubborn!"
Seeing Stone on the brink of going crazy, I changed the subject, "We should return to the Holy Temple. We need to tell everybody about the Demon King quickly."
"Don't go! Tell me! How am I stubborn, how?"
"Time to go back to the Holy Temple!"
I turned and left, completely ignoring Stone's clamoring behind me.
Whose fault is it for eavesdropping and then saying he would never leak anything? With his stubbornness, even if I angered him, he definitely wouldn't talk about my conversation with Silent Eagle.
Which is why I will definitely exact dire revenge on him for eavesdropping!
"Sun! Stop now and tell me!"
| ← Ch. 067 | Ch. 069 → |