Chapter 834
“You fellows. Who is the current head of the Knights of the Holy City Guild?” Chen Xiaolian looked at Ulysses and Lucius, who had only just gotten up, and asked.
He could see that these two had the highest status amongst all those present. As Mene had died, these fellows must have selected a new successor.
“I… am the current Guild Leader, Ulysses. This is our Deputy Guild Leader, Lucius.” Ulysses took a deep breath. He was doing his best to suppress the fear and worry within him.
He was already 43 years old. Back when Shen turned the entire Knights of the Holy City Guild upside down with his attack and snatched away the wings, he was only a fresh rookie.
He had personally witnessed how Saint Canaan, whom he had originally thought to be peerless, was defeated and killed by Shen.
And now, it seemed as though everything would repeat itself.
“Enough, no need to worry that much.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Since you are the decision-maker, I’ll just be frank. I just need you fellows to promise, to lend me this item for a while. After I’ve used it, I will return it to you.”
“Lend?” Ulysses clenched his teeth. “How can you guarantee that?”
“It’s very simple. If I really wanted to just snatch it away today, there would’ve been no need for me to exchange all this nonsense with you fellows.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged, his tone highly relaxed. “The strength to easily kill you fellows off is my guarantee.”
Ulysses fell silent.
Chen Xialian’s words were very unpleasant, but it was the most unassailable truth.
“Ulysses! Do you really plan on compromising with this sacrilegious devil?” one of the knights behind them shouted, but his hand, which was holding a sword, was quivering. “The sacred relic is a gift from the Lord. In order to defend the Lord’s glory, even dedicating our lives is nothing!”
“Enough, tell me your decision.” Chen Xiaolian simply ignored the knight behind Ulysses. His gaze rested solely on Ulysses. “I believe you are a very pious person, but you are not a madman like that Gattuso. You will make the right decision.”
“Since you said it’s a loan, there must be a deadline.” Ulysses hesitated for a moment and his tone began softening.
“One year then.” Chen Xiaolian casually gave a number.
He wasn’t lying. He truly intended on returning the pair of wings of this knightly guild after everything was over.
By accessing the information hidden within the wings, an ordinary Awakened could ascend in strength, becoming a peerless expert that even the standard [S] class expert could not catch up to, but that was not a big problem for Chen Xiaolian.
Firstly, for these fellows, not many could reach Gattuso’s level of religiousness, or rather, his level of madness. According to Shen, only one would appear in one or two hundred years. Even if he were to return the wings to them, they may not be able to produce another one anytime soon.
Secondly, even if one did appear, as long as he could resolve the issue with Shen, suppressing this one was not a big issue. If he could not resolve the issue with Shen, he’d be dead. No point worrying about what would happen afterwards, then.
As for the one-year deadline, Chen Xiaolian himself did not know how long it would take for Shen to break free. It was a casual statement that did not cost him anything. Even if he did delay returning it for that long, when the time came, he could just renege on it. Where would these fellows go to collect the debt?
“One year…” Ulysses glanced back at the knights behind him and the wings on the altar. Gritting his teeth, he slowly nodded. “Fine, I’ll give it to you.”
As a knight in service to the Lord, allowing the other party to take away the sacred relic was a monumental humiliation for Ulysses as well. However, he was still capable of distinguishing the severity of their situation.
Even if they were to reject Chen Xiaolian’s proposal, everyone here would be killed. In the end, the sacred relic would be snatched away all the same. If so, why sacrifice their lives here?
“As expected, I was not mistaken about you.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and nodded satisfactorily. Then, he walked towards the altar.
The knights had been standing upright between Chen Xiaolian and the altar, some with their hands pressing down the hilt of their swords. Rather, some had long since pulled out their swords. However, when Chen Xiaolian walked over, the few knights in his way involuntarily took several steps back, paving a path for him.
“Thanks.” Chen Xiaolian nonchalantly walked forward until he arrived before the altar. Taking the pair of wings with his hand, he then turned towards Ulysses and smiled. “By the way, I still have some things I want to ask you. I’ll have to trouble you to find a quiet room.”
…
“Ask ahead, then.”
In a small room within the highest level of the knightly guild’s castle…
This was a meditation room for the knightly guild. There wasn’t a single window there and the room was completely empty, save for a few linens placed on the ground and a shelf placed in a corner.
Not only did Ulysses have to hand over the sacred relic to Chen Xiaolian, he even had to answer his questions. And while there was no other choice he could take in this helpless situation, Ulysses still felt terribly humiliated.
“Don’t feel so agitated. Calm down. I’ve said it before, I will return it to you.” Chen Xiaolian leaned against the wall and smiled at Ulysses. “At least, it’s better than last time. I heard from Shen, the last time, he killed off a Saint that would only appear once in a blue moon, right?”
“Didn’t you kill Gattuso as well?” Ulysses replied coldly.
“That’s inside the instance dungeon.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged. “We were in opposing sides. What could I have done about it? Besides, you must know more than me just how crazy Gattuso is.”
Ulysses said nothing. He simply lowered his head.
“Moreover, I know that Shen very well. Unlike me, he’s not that easy to talk to. No need to even use your brain for it. Even your buttocks would be able to figure it out. Back then, he didn’t just kill the Saint, did he?” Chen Xiaolian ignored Ulysses’ reaction and continued speaking. “Interestingly enough, there is a slight difference about what happened according to the information I obtained from a different source.”
“Someone told me that Shen did not get both the wings because he made a bet with Hossein, best of three rounds. Although Hossein lost in the end, he still managed to force Shen to only take one of the two wings.
“The question I have for you is, which of these two pieces of information is the truth?”
“Who told you all that?” Ulysses abruptly raised his head and stared right at Chen Xiaolian. “Hossein himself?”
“Another friend, a guy who used to be in Thorned Flower Guild. According to him, this is what Shen told him.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “I believe him.”
Ulysses remained silent for a moment before replying with a whisper, “They’re all true.”
“All? So… Hossein is not the Saint, right?”
“No… back then, Hossein was our Guild Leader. The Saint of that generation was named Canaan.” At any rate, he had already handed over the sacred relic. Ulysses did not resist answering the question. “Originally, he was just a low-level knight. The structure of our knightly guild allows everyone to take turns to study the sacred relic. It’s just that the amount of time allocated is different for those at different levels. But for some unknown reason, those who could obtain Divine Revelation from the sacred relic were all low-level members.”
“The higher your position, the more things you have to worry about. Naturally, you guys will not have that much energy to focus on concentration.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Continue.”
“The first time Shen made contact with us, I had yet to become an Awakened. I haven’t even received the Lord’s call and join the Knights of the Holy City Guild. Due to that, I do not know the details of what happened back then. Later, I heard that there was once an evil disciple who wanted to snatch away the sacred relic from us, but was defeated by Saint Canaan.
“And then… Shen appeared a second time. At that time, I had already joined this guild, but I was only a most average low-level knight.
“This time, not even Saint Canaan was a match for him. As for the rest of us, while he did not go out of his way to kill us, many of us still died to him. Even the Holy Knights, Hossein, Mene and the others… they were grievously wounded.
“Just as Shen was about to take away the sacred relic, Hossein did something.
“He took the sacred relic… the angel wings, he inserted them into his own body!”
“I don’t think that would be useful.” Hearing that, Chen Xiaolian frowned.
“The Holy Knight Hossein himself knew as well that it was impossible to stop Shen.” Ulysses shook his head. “And there was no bet. He simply forced Shen to agree to only take one of the two wings and promise to return it to us in the future.”
“How did he force him?” Chen Xiaolian quickly asked.
Naturally, the wings themselves contained formidable power. However, it was not something that ordinary Awakened ones could easily control. In the past, Arte – with the support of many other knights – was barely able to bring the power of the wings to bear. Even so, he was quickly drained of his life force, which resulted in his death.
Moreover, the power of the wings was far inferior compared to the ability to read the source code hidden within it. At that time, Shen could already kill the Saint. Even if Hossein could borrow the power of the wings, it was impossible for him to face Shen.
Logically speaking, if Shen could kill the Saint, he should be able to snatch away the pair of wings as well.
Thus, it didn’t matter if it was a bet or some other methods. How Hossein could force Shen to make this promise was the biggest key point.
“The Holy Knight Hossein’s exclusive skill… its name is the Goddess of Dawn. It’s an [S] class skill.” Hossein had long since left their knightly guild. Thus, Ulysses had no scruples in telling it. “When necessary, he could combust all of his personal attributes, transforming them into the overwhelming power of the sun, a very formidable power. Its only weakness is… after unleashing this skill, the purified attributes cannot recover.”
What a coincidence. Chen Xiaolian smiled to himself.
This Hossein. It turned out the exclusive skill that he selected in the past was the same as his exclusive skill.
Additionally, Chen Xiaolian had also guessed what Hossein did back then.
Ulysses was still talking. “Back then, the Holy Knight Hossein, enduring the great pain wracking his body, informed Shen about his skill. If Shen were to refuse our request, he would unleash his Overwhelming Sunlight Purification skill.
“Hossein himself was uncertain if an attack of such magnitude could kill Shen. However, he had bound himself to the sacred relic. Thus, by unleashing the skill, the power hidden inside the sacred relic would be purified along with his own power.”
“He sure can gamble.” Chen Xiaolian praised Hossein.
Chen Xiaolian himself did not know if unleashing all the power hidden within the wings could hurt Shen back then. But he knew that, if it was possible, Shen would surely worry that the wings might be damaged in the process of Hossein unleashing his Overwhelming Sunlight Purification skill.
The power that was extracted was not important, but Shen would worry about potentially losing the information contained within it due to this.
“Shen accepted Hossein’s proposal. The two of them set up a best of three matches,” Ulysses whispered. “It’s just… despite borrowing the power of the sacred relic, the Holy Knight Hossein was still no match for Shen. He lost the first round. Should he lose the second round as well, Shen would obtain the whole sacred relic.
“During the final critical juncture, Hossein chose to unleash his exclusive skill, purifying all his attributes.
“When the Holy Knight Hossein unleashed his skill, his entire figure seemingly transformed into the sun, emitting light non-stop.
“The light kept going, as though there was no end to the power within the wings. After a long time had passed, it finally subsided. When the light dissipated, we saw the Holy Knight Hossein. His body was covered completely with wounds, both big and small. He was drenched in blood and his exhausted body seemed as though it would collapse to the ground at any moment.
“As for Shen, he stood before Hossein with a peculiar expression on his face.
“Just as the Holy Knight Hossen was about to fall to the ground, Shen walked forward to support him. Shen said that the second round was his loss.
“There was no third round, because Hossein had already exhausted all his power. He could no longer even stand up straight.
“Shen also did not take both the wings. Instead, following the previous agreement, he split the pair of wings and only took one of them.
“The Holy Knight Hossein, due to his actions of enduring too much power, nearly died back then. Thankfully, the Lord did not abandon His loyal servant and he was able to survive, albeit barely.
“However, he had purified all his attributes, turning himself into something of a cripple.
“With the Lord’s blessings, Hossein was later able to regain some of his strength, but… despite that, he could never again return to his original strength of an [S] class expert.”
“Alright, no need to talk about what happened next.” Chen Xiaolian waved at Ulysses.
Regarding how Mene caused a ruckus, killing Hossein’s wife and children, that was their own family issue. Chen Xiaolian had no interest in finding out about that.
The only thing he wanted to know was how Hossein had forced Shen to make the bet and actually go with it.
At present, it would seem like there was nothing he could refer to here.
However, Chen Xiaolian did also resolve a question in his mind. That was, Hossein was clearly once the Guild Leader of the Knights of the Holy City Guild. He was an expert who could face Shen, albeit barely. Why then – when Chen Xiaolian met him in the past – did his strength decline until he was even incapable of beating Tian Lie?
“As you requested, I have already told you everything you wanted to know.” Ulysses took a deep breath and stared at Chen Xiaolian. “You will keep your promise and return the sacred relic to us, right?”
“Don’t worry. Even Shen could do it, how can I fail?” Chen Xiaolian laughed and stood up from his leaning posture before waving at Ulysses again. “Goodbye.”
A green-coloured curtain of light descended from above Chen Xiaolian and he instantly disappeared.
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