Masked Knight

"I’ll kill you! Kill you! Kill you!" Fielding, who was currently in a coma, yelled in a hoarse, stifled voice. He suddenly shouted, "Ahhh!" and sat up on the bed. His forehead was covered with sweat, and his previously naked upper body was wrapped in bandages.

He just woke up from a nightmare, sitting up abruptly and violently. This abrupt action caused him to feel extreme pain all over his body as if his bones were falling apart. He grunted; everything went black and he collapsed again.

It then came to his realization that he was lying on a soft, large bed in a clean and comfortable room. The bloodstains on his body were already cleaned up. The wounds on his chest, shoulder, and arm too had been dressed. The wounds which were poisoned by Ars.Lan using Dragon Saliva had stopped bleeding.

"Fielding, how do you feel?" Rody’s voice came from the bedside. Fielding struggled to turn his head and he immediately saw Rody sitting at the bedside, his expression gloomy.

"...Thank you." Fielding felt bitterness in his mouth, and he gave Rody a wry smile. "Thank you for rescuing and bringing me back."

Rody sighed, "Don’t talk too much. Your wounds seem a bit strange, so it took us a great deal of efforts to finally take care of it."

Fielding smiled bitterly, "Was it...her who treated me? Is she here?"

Rody was silent for a moment, a smile then spread across his face, "Yes. Mouse commented that your wounds are somewhat odd. A strange force was stopping it from healing and at the same time accelerating the bleeding. Initially, we tried several healing spells, but they were not effective. Luckily Mouse was here."

Fielding lay there, his eyes stared at the ceiling and mumbled, "Yes, Ars.Lan said that only those with advanced sorcery skills can handle this Dragon Saliva. My original plan was to go back and seek Gu Ming’s help..." He stopped here, and there was sorrow on his face.

Fielding glanced at Rody and explained, "Gu Ming was not only a person whom I respected. At the same time, he was also my Godfather."

Fielding paused and sighed, "Mouse, does she know already?"

Rody looked grave. He nodded and sighed, "She’s probably hiding in her room crying now. I think we should leave her alone for now."

Fielding shook his head helplessly. "Yes, Mouse was apprenticed to Gu Ming since young, I guess her mood now must be..."

Suddenly, a cold voice came from the door, "What about my mood?"

As soon as the voice rang, Mouse already appeared through the door and walked towards them. She was again wearing her iconic black veil. Her expression was cold, and she was once again the powerful, cold and arrogant Black Veil Saint. She was holding a silver bottle in her hands, and she walked up to Fielding saying coldly, "This is the Holy Water. Now that you are awake, drink it."

She paused, and then added coldly, "Your external injuries are healing well but if you do not wish to become crippled, you better don’t move and lie here for these two days."

When she finished speaking, Mouse placed the bottle at the bedside and turned around to leave without saying another word. Fielding suddenly shouted, "Mouse, sorry!"

Mouse trembled, and she turned to look at Fielding with a complicated expression. A painful look set across Fielding’s face. "It was all my fault! I should have been at Gu Ming’s side...If it was not because I left in anger after the duel, Gu Ming would not have been left alone. I came to Sauron with Gu Ming to protect him, but...but..." Tears trickled down from the eyes of this strong, tough man, and he suddenly tugged his hair forcefully.

Mouse’s expression changed. She glared at Fielding and spoke through gritted teeth, "Fielding, you should know how tense the situation is in the whole Roland Continent! The relationship between the Temple and the kingdoms is like a timebomb! In this situation, a small spark is enough to bring about a huge explosion! But you..."

"Mouse! " Rody abruptly stopped her in a low voice, his expression grave as he said, "Enough." Mouse looked at Rody with deep sorrow. The expression on her face made Rody’s heart ache. He sighed and held Mouse’s hands, saying softly, "Now is not the time to talk about this. Why don’t you go out first? I need to talk to Fielding."

After Mouse left, it was only Fielding and Rody again in the room.

"Tulip, what do you want to talk to me about?" Fielding was slightly calmer now.

Rody pondered for a moment before he grabbed a chair and sat at the bedside. He looked into Fielding’s eyes and said in a serious manner, "What are you going to do right now?"

Fielding’s gaze seemed confused. He then closed his eyes and shook his head lightly, "I don’t know."

Rody sighed, "You haven’t thought about it yet, but I have some ideas."

Rody paused and continued in a low voice, "Since Prometheus is now trying to get rid of you to come up with an excuse for war, you certainly can’t go back to the Temple anymore. Even if you go back, do you think you can testify against him? Although you’re a Paladin, to be honest, I think that you’re far behind Prometheus at plotting and scheming tactics! If you go back, you will die! I can even guess that if you go back, you won’t live long enough to the day of testifying against him publicly at the Elders Council! Moreover, even if you tell the truth, will they believe you?"

After a long silence, Fielding replied bitterly, "No, they will not believe me..." He shook his head, "Not only would no one believe this, even I myself did not believe that he would be so ruthless!"

As he was saying this, Fielding suddenly looked curiously at Rody and said in an unfriendly tone. "Why? Are you trying to draw me over to your side? Who are you representing? Sauron King or your Radiant Empire? " There was a slight hostility in his tone.

Rody immediately shook his head and denied, "Of course not. I know you are not a person with wavering faith. Even though you are estranged from Prometheus now, I believe you will not betray the Temple."

Fielding replied with silence—he was admitting it.

After a long pause, Fielding slowly replied, "Prometheus is Prometheus, the Temple is the Temple! I, Fielding, as a Paladin, will never ever betray the Temple! I’ve already made up my mind, no matter if it’s to avenge Gu Ming’s death or for the Temple’s safety, I must think of a way to get rid of Prometheus!"

His tone was calm, but Rody could clearly feel the cold, murderous intentions hidden in his words.

Rody suddenly laughed. In fact, he felt strange about his reaction. At this moment, how could he still laugh?

Or maybe, Rody had changed slightly.

"Fielding, I admire you very much but at the same time I sympathize with you." Rody’s tone was somewhat somber.

There was some self-mockery in the way Rody spoke. "A long time ago I was a fool who knew nothing and understood nothing. In my heart, I thought that everything in this world could be simply distinguished as ‘good and evil’! I had always strictly abided by the so-called ‘principles’ in my heart, but now I don’t think like this anymore."

He suddenly stood up and looked at Fielding lying on the bed, slowly asking, "Have you ever thought that in this world, there are many things that cannot be so easily differentiated? What is evil? What is good? What is right? And what is wrong? These things cannot be simply measured according to the standards in your heart."

He smiled faintly and continued, "At first I didn’t understand any of these, but when I first fought on the battlefield, I was a passionate young man. I naively thought that I can use my sword and my burning passion to defend my empire’s dignity! But, the first thing I was forced to do on the battlefield, was to kill the defenseless civilians of my empire with a sword in my hands!"

Rody’s expression was a bit sad, "If according to the original standards in my heart, I will definitely not do such things! Those civilians were forced by the Great Moon Kingdom to be their spies. From the point of view of the Empire’s law, they had committed treason, so they were evil! But according to their own standards, they were just trying to survive! At that time, I thought that as a proud warrior, my sword was supposed to kill ferocious enemies, not to be used against defenseless civilians!"

Fielding’s expression slightly changed, "So what did you do?"

"I ordered the killing of those civilians who committed treason! Although I pitied them in my heart, although I knew that they did this to save their loved ones who were kidnapped by the Great Moon Kingdom, I had no choice but to give my first killing order in my life!" Rody’s expression was calm—Fielding suddenly felt that the Duke of the Tulip Family who was standing in front of him right now, was so calm that it seemed somewhat terrifying.

Rody suddenly laughed. "Because I knew that if I don’t kill these civilians, the morale of my army will collapse! Lax military rules, irregular orders, how is this kind of army capable of fighting against the coyote in the battlefields? If the army collapsed, then more people will die!"

Rody sighed, "Executing civilians, if according to the standards of a warrior, it is wrong to do so, but as a commander, this act is inevitable! Can you say clearly whether what I did was right or wrong?" Rody glanced at Fielding.

Fielding was silent for a moment. He then sighed and replied, "I don’t know."

Rody smiled lightly, "That’s right, till now I myself don’t know if what I did was right or wrong, but the outcome was pretty good. I stabilized my army’s morale, and the empire won the war at the Northwest battlefield, saving the losing situation at the Northwest..." Rody’s gaze fell on Fielding’s face. "Similarly, this principle can be used on Prometheus...According to your standards, it is wrong for him to kill you and Gu Ming. It is a despicable act to achieve his goal by all means! But if according to Prometheus’ standards, he is doing this to unite the Temple against the enemy and to unify the voices of the Elders Council. If he succeeded, then he will probably become the second Pontiff in the Temple’s history! He could even build the first empire with a unified religion! If he really succeeded, people will only remember his great achievements. Who would remember the unscrupulous tactics he used to achieve this?"

Fielding’s face slightly changed. "You mean you hope that I will not go find Prometheus for revenge?"

"No. This is not what I meant." Rody shook his head and smiled helplessly, "To be honest, the person who wants Prometheus dead the most right now, is me!"

His tone gradually became serious and his expression grim, "The more I deal with this Chief Elder of the Elders Council, the more I feel that this person is terrifying ... Mouse has told me before about some of his experiences. I have to admit that he’s the most terrifying opponent I’ve ever met in my whole life! No matter when it comes to scheming, strategies, or his measures and wisdom, he is the best of the best!" He smiled bitterly. "I even have a weird feeling that, as long as this person is still alive, even if all the Roland kingdoms form a union, they are still no match for the Temple!" He suddenly mumbled to himself, "Although the Sauron King too has great talents and bold visions, compared to the mysterious Prometheus, he is nevertheless not his match."

"Isn’t that what you’re hoping for?" Fielding could not help but reply to Rody sarcastically, "Isn’t Radiant Empire hoping that we Roland kingdoms fight against each other; the bigger the fight, the better it is?"

Rody actually nodded, "You’re right! This is exactly the reason I came to Roland. According to our empire’s standards, internal strife in the Roland Continent will only bring benefits to us, but what we hope more is that the losing side in this internal strife is not the Sauron Kingdom! Because if the Roland kingdoms lose, with Prometheus’ ability, he might be able to truly unify the Roland Continent in just a few years’ time!"

"So you wish that the Temple will lose?" Fielding asked coldly.

"No." Rody suddenly smiled, "I do not wish for the Temple to lose...I hope that Prometheus will lose! You yourself said just now, the Temple is the Temple, Prometheus is Prometheus!"

Fielding was a bit nervous when he saw the smile on Rody’s face. He asked in a hoarse voice, "Okay, you’ve told me a lot but what exactly do you want to say?"

"You’re really stubborn." Rody sighed. "You’re as persistent and stubborn as I used to be! And refuse to be flexible." He smiled. "Maybe it’s because of this that I like you."

"So now you’ve become despicable and shameless? " Fielding asked angrily.

"No." Rody’s face was a bit sad, "I indeed have changed, but...this is because I’ve seen too much death! Seen too many close comrades dying in front of me!"

Both were silent for a moment; a strange atmosphere pervaded the air. The two, who originally had different stands, suddenly felt a sense of appreciation for each other. Fielding sighed and his expression softened a little. "Okay! Duke of the Tulip Family, tell me your true intentions."

"Go back to the Temple! " Fielding was shocked by what Rody said.

"Go back to the Temple? Do you really think so? Didn’t you just say that it’s dangerous for me to go back now? In order to silence me, Prometheus will definitely find a way to kill me."

"Exactly, because of this, you have to go back to the Temple." Rody said lightly, "Of course if you stay here, I can confirm that you will be very safe, but I don’t think you would like to stay here in any way, isn’t that so?"

Fielding was silent.

Indeed, Rody was correct. No matter what, Fielding would not want to stay here with the Duke of the Tulip Family. Fielding was very loyal to the Temple, so he was not willing to betray the Temple and stay with an infidel. At the same time...because Mouse was also here, Fielding who was proud and arrogant, would definitely not want to stay here.

"You go on." Fielding sighed.

Rody nodded, "You must go back to the Temple...Because if Prometheus wants to get rid of you, he has to assassinate you in secret because you’re a Paladin of the Temple! After killing you, he will then put the blame on King Sauron, just like Gu Ming’s death. This is the only way for him to kill you. As such, you have to go back and stay at the Temple. Prometheus will not have any chance to do anything to you under the scrutiny of so many people in the Temple!"

"Also, you have to keep silent! You cannot publicly fall out with Prometheus, nor can you testify against his crime! " Rody sighed, "I know it is hard for you to do so, but if you want to avenge Gu Ming’s death, this is the only way."

Fielding was quiet; obviously, he was struggling deep inside his heart.

"And then...when the opportunity comes, you get rid of Prometheus!" Rody’s tone was murderous. "Regardless whether it’s a public duel or murder, assassination...use whichever method you like! You have the power of a Paladin, no matter how powerful is Prometheus, he is only a sorcerer...As the Chief Elder of the Elders Council, it is impossible for him to kill you himself. The remaining strength he could use now, one is Augustine, but he definitely will not carry out this kind of deed, so the remaining one will be Ars.Lan. I believe with your power, as long as you’re careful to avoid being ambushed by her, it should not be a problem."

"Kill him..." Fielding’s eyes flashed. "It shouldn’t be impossible to find the opportunity since both of us are in the Temple, and during internal senior meetings, there are usually no guards around...If I suddenly attack, it’s not impossible at all...but...if I suddenly kill him before exposing his true colors, then wouldn’t I become a sinner?

"Do you care about this reputation?" Rody sneered, "This is what I was discussing with you just now. Your measuring standards! You said, sinner? What is a sinner? Compared to Prometheus, who among you two is a sinner? Yes, if you suddenly kill Prometheus, in the eyes of others, you, Fielding is a sinner who betrays the Temple! But in the long run, you’ve gotten rid of a person with wild ambitions who will endanger the Temple!" Rody paused and gave Fielding a meaningful look. "The key lies in which standards you use to measure this in your heart."

Rody looked at Fielding, who was silent, and added coldly, "I do not want to hide from you. The reason I wish that you would do this is because it’s in the interest of our Radiant Empire! You are free to think that I have no good intentions! So, Fielding, tell me your answer now!"

His eyes bored into Fielding’s, as sharp as a blade, and there was only silence in the room...

...

In the garden of the Summer Palace, flowers bloomed. Although now it was not spring when all flowers bloomed, as the King’s Summer Palace, flowers which bloomed during this season were planted in the garden.

The fragrance of flowers floated in the air, and clothing fluttered. A slender figure gently walked past the bundles of purple and red. This person was wearing an extravagant imperial dress, and her blonde hair was tied up at the back of her head, revealing her beautiful face. Her gaze swept around lightly, she looked peaceful with a faint smile on her face, casually taking in the beauty of the garden.

She held out her slender fingers and plucked a flower, playing it with her fingertips. Her smile deepened, and the colors of the flowers in this garden paled in comparison to her enchanting smile...

But, in contrast to this scene of beauty and flowers, a hoarse voice speaking in a strange tone rang, "Seth, is this plan your idea?" Old Mark strode forward from behind. He took a glance at a window on a distant pavilion and laughed softly, "That fellow must be persuading Fielding now following your suggestions."

The stunning beauty suddenly sighed. ‘She’ turned around and looked at Old Mark, shaking her head and sighing. "My dear Old Mark, you are such an unromantic person. Discussing plots and schemes in such a beautiful environment, don’t you think you’re spoiling the atmosphere?"

Old Mark dismissed his words. He then imitated Seth by plucking a flower and sniffed it hard with his nose, smiling wryly, "Hell, the fragrance here is so strong. I don’t understand why the Sauron royals love this kind of garden! Is there some problem with their noses?"

He paused for a while and laughed, ignoring Seth who was rolling his eyes. "Do you think that fellow can persuade Fielding?"

Seth was stunned for a moment, twisting a flower petal between his fingers. He then replied lightly, "Who knows? This is not what I should be concerned about. I’m just in charge of giving him ideas, whether or not he could realize my plan is not my problem."

Old Mark suddenly laughed, "To be honest, I’m curious about one thing...According to the kind of person you are, the plan you have in mind is somewhat unpresentable, even a bit despicable...You are duping Fielding to work for you! How did you persuade that silly lad to agree with this kind of plan? This doesn’t seem to fit his behavior! According to his character, he wouldn’t have agreed to do so."

Seth’s expression froze for a moment, then he smiled and said, "I didn’t put much effort into persuading Rody. In fact, we just had a discussion last night. I told him about my plan but at that time he left without saying a word. And then this morning, he suddenly agreed."

Old Mark seemed a bit surprised, "Oh? Seems like our silly lad finally understands the true meaning of ‘those who wish to accomplish great things should not be restricted by trivial matters’."

Seth suddenly glanced at Old Mark, "My dear Old Mark, I think from now on, we should not call him silly lad anymore...At least from what I see now, he is not that naive young man that he was before!"

He suddenly lowered his voice, as though mumbling to himself, "I don’t know why but recently the more I get in contact with him, the more I have a growing fear of him...This is really strange...I feel that this guy, Rody, seems somewhat dangerous..."

"Oh?" Old Mark immediately became interested, "You’re feeling scared? There’s finally human emotion inside you? This is good news!"

Seth did not answer. The scene in which a black flame appeared on Rody’s palm the other night suddenly popped back in his mind. The legendary ‘hellfire’ which could burn and devour everything in this world! A tinge of uneasiness flashed across his face.

And he remembered himself unconsciously commented ‘not human’.

Seth’s feelings were complicated. He could not help but said, "Good news? Not necessarily..."

There was a sudden hubbub of noises outside the garden. In the midst of the noises were the anxious voices of the Royal Knights guarding outside, "Your Highness...you...you... According to the orders of His Excellency the Special Envoy, no one is allowed into the Summer Palace without his permission. His Majesty the King has also agreed with his request, you..."

A majestic bellow was then heard, "Get out of the way!"

Immediately, a ‘burly’ figure appeared at the entrance of the garden; the expressions of the two Royal Knights at the side were awkward and anxious.

A figure who was one head taller than Seth stood in between the two knights. She was wearing an extravagant long robe, her hair hanging loosely at the back of her head and a ribbon was tied around her forehead. The size of the robe was obviously tailored to fit her large size, but it still seemed a bit too tight for her.

Even more astonishing was that this woman was wearing at her waist a huge sword which only the most ferocious warrior would use! However, this large weapon worn on her looked like a tiny toy when compared to the size of her body...

Royal Consort Rulan?

Rulan immediately saw Seth among the flowering shrubs. Her eyes, which were squeezed into two slits by the flesh on her face, glittered brightly. She gave out a few sharp giggles and ‘charged’ forward zealously.

Seth’s originally tranquil expression immediately looked as if he was slashed by a knife.

When compared to the ‘not human’ Rody, this Royal Consort was way more terrifying than Rody!

Rulan already came in front of Seth and she totally ignored Old Mark standing at the back. She looked as if she was preparing to give Seth a ‘bearhug’, but luckily Seth managed to take a step back, forcing the Royal Consort to give up this rare opportunity to ‘kiss the beauty’.

She held out a huge palm and held Seth’s hands, ignoring the expression on Seth’s face. She then made an effort to make her rough voice sounded more feminine, laughing ‘charmingly’ and saying, "Miss Nicole, are you enjoying the flowers here alone? Why don’t you let me join you...?"