Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Han Jin was infuriated with the thunderbirds as they were following him everywhere; no matter where he went, they would closely follow him. Han Jin couldn’t help but immediately jump into a pit that he had found nearby. The pit was only one meter deep, but its diameter was at least seven or eight meters wide. One after the other, large waves of birds fell into the pits. As soon as this happened, Han Jin immediately jumped out of the pit, and this time, it was impossible for the thunderbirds to follow him. They were bouncing around, but no matter how hard they tried, they still weren’t able to jump out of the pit.
Han Jin clapped his hands and let out a long sigh.
“Raphael? What’s wrong?” Gibran mocked. “What’s with that expression…?”
“I feel like singing.” Han Jin’s face had helplessness written all over it. Last night, Han Jin had slept separately from the rest of them. As the thunderbirds kept following him, they were worried that they might accidentally hurt the birds while sleeping. They had decided to build Han Jin a separate shelter, but in Han Jin’s opinion, it wasn’t even a shelter; it was a chicken coop!
Han Jin was already very restless with the situation, and Yalina made it worse as she kept bothering him. She repeatedly warned him to be very careful when he was sleeping and not to injure the birds. Han Jin was usually a very well-mannered person, but last night, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. With the thunderbirds harassing him the entire day and Yalina bothering him non-stop, he told her that if she was going to be worried, she could sleep with him for the night. Yalina became embarrassed and ran away in a panic, and hadn’t spoken to Han Jin up till now.
“Haha…” Cessacioun broke into a loud laughter. “I hope your singing isn’t as wonderful as Saxon’s.” All of them had experienced Saxon’s singing. There was once when Yalina had been angry with something, and whenever the birds chirped, she would immediately blast them with lightning. Moxinke came up with an evil plan and invited Saxon to sing, and well, it was so disturbing that he had almost got smoked by lightning.
“Don’t compare us.” Han Jin walked toward the campfire and sat down.
“You know how to sing?” Julia asked while smiling.
Han Jin wanted to reply to her, but Yalina, who was sitting next to him, suddenly stood up and sat down at a spot far away from him. Wiston and the others lowered their heads and concentrated on the barbecue as if they had seen nothing.
Han Jin cleared his throat. He knew that his words had been a little harsh last night and that he should find a way to apologize to Yalina, but for now, he could only try his best to change the topic and ease the atmosphere. “If only we knew that the thunderbirds would be this troublesome, we should have hatched them after returning back to the city. We can’t leave now, so what should we do? It’s impossible for us to stay here until they’re fully grown.”
“Can we bring them back using a space scroll?” Julia asked.
“No.” Kale shook his head. “Although the thunderbird’s are very small, there are too many of them. They might exceed the space scroll’s capacity.”
“Might? So… you’re just assuming?” Gibran asked.
“Mhm.” Kale looked over at Yalina and everyone else followed as well. The only person here who knew more about magical stuff than Kale was Yalina.
“Kale’s right.” Yalina had no other choice but to say, “I have read about this before, and we shouldn’t risk it. In case we accidentally disrupt the space scrolls, not only will the Thunderbirds be stuck, but we will as well.
“Then we really have to stay here?” Reg bitterly smiled. “Why don’t we go back to the city first?”
“Don’t listen to his nonsense. What does that guy know?” Yalina pouted. “We already killed the adult Thunderbirds, and with no lightning elements, the Thunderbird eggs would have rotten if we had gone back to the city.”
“If we had gone back the day before yesterday, that wouldn’t happen right?”
“Don’t forget where we are now! We’re in the southwest side of the Tarasha Mountains, and the monsoon arrives about a month earlier than where we’re from. What could I do by myself without the thunderstorm?! ”
Just as Han Jin and his gang were discussing the Thunderbirds, a group of people slowly approached the Thunder Valley. A swordsman in his thirties led the group. He had a pair of sharp, bright eyes, and distinct facial features. He gave out a very peculiar charisma. From his figure and gesture, he had a dignified impression like someone prestigious, but his mouth had a cynical smile that gave out a childish feeling.
The man next to him was a man wearing a black priest robe with white rims who was also in his thirties. These robes were not causally worn by just anyone. The Church had very strict rules on priest’s robes. The Pope wore a red robe, while an archbishop’s robe is black in color with white rims, and a priest’s robe is red with white rims. Surprisingly, this man with a commoner’s face was an archbishop.
There were about a dozen followers behind them. Although they were walking in a forest that was filled with dangers everywhere, they looked as calm as if they were walking in their own garden.
“Your Majesty, don’t you think it’s time for us to head back?” The Archbishop bitterly smiled. “We’ve been roaming around the forest for a few months, Sir.”
“What’s the rush?” the swordsman calmly replied. “We should at least hunt a few high-grade holy animals before returning. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing.”
“Your Majesty, that’s unnecessary. Your power has already been recognised by all the lords; no one dares doubt your strength.” The Archbishop laughed.
“Lords? That’s not enough.” The Swordsman looked back at him. “What’s the problem? You look reluctant.”
“Ah…” The Archbishop sighed. “Who would believe that someone like me who promotes love and justice everywhere would accompany you hunting.”
“I know that you don’t like it, but I do. Your teachings have always mentioned the importance of sacrifices. Well, you could sacrifice a little for me,” the swordsman smiled while saying.
The archbishop shrugged. “Your Majesty, I must say, your interest should be Iron Fist City, not here! Aren’t you worried that something might happen?”
“The ones who are supposed to be dead have already been killed; what other changes could there be?” The swordsman laughed. “Let’s not talk anymore about that depressing place. We came all the way here to relax.”
“Depressing?” The archbishop was stunned. Others may not understand the swordsman in front of him, but he knew him too well. They were childhood friends, and at the age of fifteen, the swordsman standing in front of him had already inherited the position of lord and personally led his own troop, setting countless glorious records. Up till now, a total of nine lords have lost their lives to him. For someone with such victory records and strength, why would there be any pain or depression?
“You don’t understand?” The swordsman narrowed his eyes. “Actually… I hate sharing power with others. Every time I see those churches, I feel very, very disgusted!”
The Archbishop’s body became stiff. He stared blankly at the swordsman as he was speechless.
The both of them stared at one another for a moment until the swordsman suddenly started laughing and patted the archbishop’s shoulder. “You, oh you… I was just kidding. Look at your terrified face.”
The archbishop showed a smile that was even uglier than crying.
“It’s been such a long time since we have known one another. Don’t you know what kind of person I am? My belief in God is unshakable!” The swordsman looked into the archbishop’s eyes. “Do you believe it?”
The archbishop didn’t know whether to nod or to shake his head. The swordsman’s ambition was wild and was a capricious man. His hands were covered with the blood of countless people and he was saying that he believed in God… what a joke. Nodding his head would go against his will and he didn’t want to unnecessarily flatter anyone, but shaking his head would hurt their friendship.
“Even I don’t believe myself.” The swordsman chuckled. ” But anyways, I still want to thank you, my dear friend. If it wasn’t because of the restrictions from the church, I would have become a psychopath.”
The archbishop sighed to himself and laughed along with him.
“Maybe this is what the Pope wanted,” the swordsman lightly said. “If a powerful empire were to start taking over the continent, it would definitely be a threat to him.”
The smile on the archbishop’s face became stiff again. This was an issue that everyone knew but kept quiet about, just like how all of us know how a human body looks like but that doesn’t mean we will run around butt-naked.
“It must have been tough for you over the past few years. You had to settle the dispute between me and The Church, and also had to satisfy the Pope as well. It’s been too tiring for you… as an archbishop.” The swordsman looked straight into his eyes and said word-by-word, “I owe it all to you!”
The archbishop suddenly felt his eyes turn wet because what the swordsman had said was the truth. On one side, it was the deep friendship since childhood, while on the other it was his firm belief. To be able to find a balance between these two really had been a difficult thing to do.
“Oh, by the way, the church said that martyrs usually go to heaven right?” The swordsman tried to change the topic.
“What?” The archbishop tried to suppress his excitement and smiled. “Now you’re willing to discuss this?”
“I’m willing to discuss this with you, but, I prefer to do it physically.” The swordsman moved his wrist, and his sword flashed out like lightning. His speed was at an extreme as he held the sword, stabbed it into the archbishop’s chest, and thoroughly penetrated it. He then followed by withdrawing it from his chest. The entire series of actions were completed in such an instant that even when the sword had left the chest, there hadn’t been enough time for blood to flow out of the chest.
The archbishop took a few steps back, covered his wound with his hands, and stared at his friend in disbelief. He really couldn’t believe it! The followers behind them are all in shock as well. They had never thought that their king would attack the archbishop of the parish, an old friend of the king who was as close to him as his family!
“You… you…” The archbishop pointed his trembling finger at the swordsman.
“I really don’t know how to repay you, so after giving it some thought, I decided that it would be best to just send you to heaven,” the swordsman bluntly said. “You should thank me. We had a great start, and we should also have a perfect ending right?”
The archbishop slowly lowered his head. He looked down at the blood dripping from his chest and then looked up at the swordsman. The emotional blow had exceeded the physical pain, and till now, he still didn’t know how to react to the situation.
“Heaven is a beautiful place, so it belongs to you. This world is a cruel place, so it belongs to me.” The swordsman sighed. “Let me give you one last piece of advice. Never point your fingers at a king! If he was able to become a king, he absolutely wouldn’t like the feeling of being manipulated, because if he was that easily manipulated, he would never have become king.”
The archbishop took a deep breath and suddenly let out a loud angry roar. A series of violent magic fluctuations came from the sky. Following that, a large white group of light that was even brighter than the sun appeared from the sky. The light was so bright that not only did the followers who were around them have to close their eyes, but even Han Jin and the rest who were about ten miles away couldn’t help but cover their eyes.
Immediately afterwards, the group of light exploded, and a virtual shadow that was entirely composed of the light appeared in the air. It was a figure about a hundred meters tall and had a pair of wings stretched out at about a kilometer in length. It was holding a sword with both hands, and the immense pressure that it gave off made it difficult for them to even breathe. The next moment, the virtual shadow dashed toward the ground and swayed its giant sword. The sword had a burning flame that almost split the sky in half, and it was pointed at the swordsman.
The followers around were all shocked. This was one of the banned curses from the light element – The Punishment of the Light Angel!
A loud bang occurred, and following it, large areas of the forest tumbled just like the sea’s surface. The exploded soil and stones all dashed upwards toward the sky. In the center of the impact, a neat circle had appeared and expanded at an incredible speed toward its surroundings. Everything that it touched – the trees, shrubs and turfs – were all completely shattered into pieces. In a blink of an eye, a blank area that was nearly a thousand meters wide appeared in the middle of the forest while the surge continued to travel outwards.
In the middle of the mess, there was a huge pit that was nearly a hundred meters wide. Their followers had already turned into ashes, but there were two peculiar-looking pillars in the middle of it all. Both the swordsman and the archbishop stood on top of the pillar.
The swordsman was surrounded by countless stars that were flickering. They were so densely packed that they formed a shield around his body, while the archbishop was standing in the middle of a round shield as well. The Punishment of the Light Angel came down from the sky. Since it wasn’t able to destroy their shield, then obviously the ground beneath them also couldn’t be destroyed.
“What a waste… you could have been the next pope.” The swordsman smiled.
The archbishop started coughing violently. Every time he coughed, he would spit out a mouthful of blood, and as the blood trickled down his throat, he would start coughing again.
“Actually… I didn’t want to kill you just now,” the swordsman slowly said.
The archbishop lifted his head and coldly looked at the swordsman while coughing. Why would he still believe what the other guy was saying?
“If I really wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have had the chance to release the curse,” the swordsman said while smiling.
“You… ” The archbishop paused for a while. It did make sense. With his opponent’s ability, he would have been dead with a single blow.
“But… Well, this curse was a good choice. You killed all of them without leaving a single trace… and no one will ever suspect me now. Haha, as I was saying just now, I don’t like sharing power with others, and the same goes for my secrets. I was still a little hesitant to kill them since they have been loyal to me for more than ten years, so I really have to thank you… Thank you so so much.”
The archbishop almost fainted out of anger after hearing what he had said. However, he still had hope. Since his opponent hadn’t killed him yet, it meant there were still some things that his opponent wanted to say. Perhaps… There’s still a way to make things better.
“Well, at least there isn’t anyone to stop me this time right?” The swordsman softly said, “My best friend was killed by Lola, and I led my troops to avenge him. Aren’t I such a righteous person?”
“Fuck!” The archbishop spat out a mouthful of blood. “Lord Lola has always been more pious to God than you ever will be! You think that the Pope will believe your lies?!”
“No, that’s not it. As long as my troops know that I’m the righteous one – or… at least that’s what they’ll think – it’ll be enough.” The swordsman shrugged his shoulders. “Why would the Pope stop me? No one would ever suspect our friendship, right?”
“Haha…” The swordsman grinned. “Even if Lord Lola wanted to kill someone, it would be you! Why would she kill me?!”
“Of course she’s here to kill me. You were just trying to protect me, but unfortunately, she killed you instead.” He scratched his head. “It isn’t that hard to understand, right? In order to help you rise to power, I have been wholeheartedly helping you. Everyone could see it with their own eyes. Lola wanted to become the next pope, so she had reason to kill you. All this makes sense right?”
The archbishop closed his eyes as he became even more desperate. Ever since they were little, he had already known that he was much weaker than the swordsman, but he never would have thought that he would die because of him as well.
“I really have to thank you again. Actually… you wanted to be the next pope right? You have been working hard for so many years and even managed to cultivate lots of cronies as well.” The swordsman laughed. “I’m sure that I’ll be able to easily persuade the Knights Templars to avenge you, and even the cardinals as well; you guys have had a very good relationship in the past. Well, of course, this was all credits of your hard work, but Lola’s power can’t be underestimated. So, as soon as Lola dies, and after I have demolished the Knights Templars, the Cardinals will not have much power left. Till then, I will be the remaining victor of it all. The Curia who suddenly lost all of its strength can only kneel down in front of me and lick my feet for mercy…” The swordsman rubbed his hands in excitement. “I am already looking forward to that scene!”
The archbishop coldly stared at the person standing opposite him. It was only at this moment that he realized he was wrong. As he knew that dying was already inevitable at this point, he became sober; the soberest he had ever been. Unfortunately, this had come a little too late. The person standing opposite him was a monster who could remain calm at all times. The excitement, joy, sorrow, and admiration, along with all the other emotions that had been exposed in the open before were just a disguise.
“A devil… you are a devil! I can’t believe that I have regarded a devil as my best friend all this time!” The archbishop’s voice became weaker and weaker.
“No one’s eavesdropping right?” The swordsman pretended to look around. “Since there’s no one else here, I’ll tell you a secret of mine. I really didn’t want to kill you – at least in the beginning, I didn’t. I killed you because I have realized what kind of person you are! Ever since we were kids, you have always been inferior to me, and obviously, you aren’t happy about that! Therefore, you kept all the humiliation deep inside your heart! I always thought that if I helped you rise to become the pope, you would also help me in return. However, I realised, why would you give me the opportunity to surpass you? All these years, you persevered and endured, and never gave up even as a supporting role. All this for what? Isn’t it so that you can be in the limelight for once?!
“I know your habits,” the archbishop coldly said. “You are about to kill me, so obviously you have to find a reason for it!”
“You have managed to take control over half of the Church in only five years. My old friend, why can’t you admit your ambition?” The swordsmanship laughed. “Such a hypocrite… you are such a hypocrite!”
“I was only trying to help you. Ever since we were younger, everything that I have done was to help you.” The archbishop closed his eyes; he no longer wanted to look at his ‘friend’.
“Praise the lord, you are such a mighty person.” The swordsman looked up at the sky with sincerity, and then looked at the archbishop. “Then, why don’t you help me for the last time. I really have no other choice; Lola’s power is too strong, and the lords have already formed an alliance. If I allow them a few more years to develop, it will be impossible for my dreams to come true. That old thing, the Pope, will be causing even more trouble for me! Your death… can bring me glory. Dear friend, I swear that this is the last time I beg you! I won’t trouble you again anymore in the future.”
“Stop pretending! You’re disgusting!” The archbishop screamed out loud with hatred. “You want me dead right? Come, kill me!”
“Oh my… how could you say such things? It hurts my feelings.” The swordsman scratched his head again as if it had really hurt his feelings.
“Someone will avenge me!” The archbishop’s figure shook as he could barely control himself. “I’ll be waiting!”
“Well, I can guarantee that it will never happen,” the swordsman wholeheartedly said. “After Lola’s death, I will hold a grand funeral for all the knights that have been sacrificed at Moonlight City. The Pope will definitely be there, and after that… I will have to hold an even larger funeral. Do you know what I mean?”
“You… you want to kill the Pope?” The archbishop stared at the swordsman in horror.
“Since the Church would be finished, it would be too cruel for the Pope to be alive alone. I’m a very soft-hearted person.” The swordsman smiled. “Don’t be too deceived about the Pope’s strength. Also, don’t you dare forget that I am a blade master that masters in the Galaxy Technique! Even the Absolute Barrier that you’ve set up now won’t be able to stop my skills. As for that old thing… if he lets me come as close as three meters to him, he will definitely be dead. Well, my dear friend, I have already satisfied your curiosity. Shouldn’t you be satisfied already?”
The archbishop’s face suddenly turned twisted as if he had seen something terrible. Afterward, his figure slowly fell down.
