Chapter 317: Chapter 226 Wolf and Youlan
Hum!
A silhouette dashed swiftly across the high skies, reaching the distance in the blink of an eye.
Chen Lun’s “Variegated Wings” vibrated at a high frequency, and he flew forward without looking back.
His body had already failed to support the extreme state and was forced to return to its original form. Ignoring the overly girlish appearance of the wings, Chen Lun now only wanted to quickly distance himself from Sunflower City.
The moment he had thrown the “Cat God’s Spell,” he swapped places with a card first and then stored the coffin in his Blood Poem Ring at the fastest speed before soaring into the sky to escape swiftly.
‘No kill notification has come, it appears that old fellow is quite resilient… Perhaps the talisman attracted something other than divine punishment, otherwise, he would surely be dead!’ Chen Lun thought maliciously.
His body shimmered with a translucent green light, indicating that he was using the “Wake of Insects” bookmark to transform Sanity Value from statues to restore his own Life Force.
The battle just now had drained much of his health, but fortunately, he had the talisman, the great weapon, or else it wouldn’t have been so easy to escape.
‘It’s good that I’ve already reclaimed Mr. Bales’ body… Better leave this place first!’ Chen Lun thought as the wings on his back flapped even faster, making the headwind almost too strong to keep his eyes open.
The reason he had not chosen to flee through the Spirit World was his concern for ambushes, and with his velocity in the sky, few in the real world could catch up to him.
‘After delivering the coffin to the location Mr. Bales specified and completing this task, the reward, combined with the Experience Points I got from leading players to destroy three branches of the Red Apple Church, should be enough to reach Max Level…’ Chen Lun was filled with anticipation as he thought to himself.
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Half a day later.
Chen Lun appeared in the outskirts of Amber City.
To be cautious, he had flown at high altitudes for several hours, feeling sufficiently far from Sunflower City, before he entered the Spirit World to travel.
His prudence was justified, as, at that moment, the Spirit World near Sunflower City indeed hid many elite Transcendents from the Sun Church.
Unfortunately for them, they did not encounter the Dark Knight, nor did they see Chen Lun.
They were outwitted by thin air.
Shortly after.
Chen Lun arrived at a set of ruins.
It seemed to have once been a small town, but now only remnants of broken walls remained, covered by countless plants and herbs, revealing only a few traces of its past.
‘This must be the predecessor of Amber City… It is said that hundreds of years ago, there wasn’t a single large city in this area, but several dozens of small towns scattered around, which later converged to form Amber City.’ Chen Lun mused silently, recalling historical books he had read.
Time always erases the traces of mankind when one least expects it.
Rustle, rustle…
Just then, some noise came from the bushes on one side.
Chen Lun’s eyebrows lifted as he stopped in his tracks.
Spiritual Intuition did not issue a warning to him, so he guessed it must be some kind of wild animal.
As expected, a dopey black bear’s head popped out. After staring at Chen Lun with large eyes that conveyed a hint of confusion, it lumbered over towards him with its enormous body.
‘This bear… is a bit strange, it seems unaffected by my Charm, and even “Friend of Animals” doesn’t work.’ Chen Lun revealed a trace of curiosity.
Suddenly.
Growl!
For some unknown reason, the black bear became irate, swinging its paw to strike at Chen Lun.
Chen Lun frowned and backhanded the bear with a hefty slap.
Smack!
The bear’s head spun from the blow, remaining dazed for a long time, and its raised paw didn’t come down, looking for all the world like a primary school student eager to answer a question.
The next second, it turned tail and ran, whimpering softly as it went.
The more Chen Lun watched, the stranger he found it.
What in the world is this?
He didn’t pursue, now was not the time to be curious about a black bear. The main thing was to put Mr. Bales’ body back in its place.
Chen Lun shook his head slightly and continued deeper into the ruins.
After walking a bit further, he once again stopped, turning his head to look towards the right rear.
The black bear was back again.
Just as Chen Lun was about to raise his hand to slap it again, the bear began to speak:
“It’s me.”
That was Bales’ voice.
Chen Lun was slightly startled and cleared his throat, his raised hand… instead took off his hat as he bowed respectfully to the other party.
“Mr. Bales, how did you…?”
“I’ve been waiting here for you for a while,” the black bear said.
A hint of apology played in its eyes.
“With the passage of time, my memory has been getting worse, and I often forget who I am…”
Chen Lun was taken aback and then breathed a sigh of relief.
He was startled that the Dark Knight could suffer from intermittent amnesia, and he was relieved because:
‘So he probably doesn’t remember the big slap in the face I just gave him… right?’
Without delay, Chen Lun took the coffin out of the Blood Poem Ring with a thud and placed it on the ground.
Whether or not the other party remembered the incident, he decided to change the subject first.
“Mr. Bales, as promised, I have brought back your body.”
The black bear nodded, a hint of appreciation in its eyes.
“You’ve done well, Jack.”
He slowly stroked the coffin, letting out a deep chuckle.
“I appreciate it… Now, I can enjoy the upcoming battles to the fullest.”
“The Sun Church, the Moon Church, and the Shelter?”
Chen Lun spoke in a heavy tone.
The black bear looked somewhat surprised, but still nodded.
“Mmm…”
He sat down on the coffin with a thud and, after a few seconds of silence, began to speak in a low voice:
“I never told you the reason I was hunted…
I used to belong to the Moon Church, leading the ‘Purple Moonlight’ squad with the number 4, it was an unforgettable memory… And my beloved ‘Youlan’ Ouget, was a member of the ‘Lamp Protectors’ squad of the Sun Church.”
The black bear paused, seeming lost in thought.
“She was extremely outstanding, highly gifted, and quickly rose to [Sequence Six – Sun Priest], becoming the new squad leader…”
Suddenly, he turned his head to look at Chen Lun.
“You know, Jack, in fact, many years ago, the Spirit World was already in turmoil. Countless sources of pollution emerged without reason, even affecting our world… To prevent these pollutants from spreading on a large scale, the Empire convened the Seven Righteous God Churches, sending many elite Transcendents to the Spirit World.
But later…”
The black bear spoke calmly.
“Youlan died.”
Chen Lun listened in silence, aware of some background stories of the Black Knight, but never as detailed as being narrated firsthand.
At the same time, Chen Lun also knew that the reason the Black Knight defected and fell to his current state was indeed because of his wife, Youlan.
“My love died at the hands of a powerful polluted being, no, I should say a dark creature… Though filled with mysterious pollution, they come from a deeper world within the Spirit World, a world known as the ‘Dark World’.”
The black bear took a deep breath.
“At that time, I was determined to avenge her, but in the end, I failed… I was too weak, and even fighting until I was severely wounded and near death, I couldn’t kill it… Eventually, it was another ‘Lamp Protectors’ squad that came to the rescue, repelling it and saving my life.
Ha, the leader of that squad was named ‘Terence’; he personally took Youlan’s remains, and I could only watch helplessly, powerless to do anything.
Even when I later applied to my superiors to retrieve Youlan, I was ruthlessly rejected.
I didn’t take Terence’s insult to heart, but he shouldn’t have disrespected Youlan.”
The black bear chuckled softly, emitting a chilling sound.
“They said that it belonged to the Sun Church, and I had no right to possess it… Yes, I was just a squad leader of the Moon Church, how could I meddle with the artifacts of another church?
They are their tools, their weapons, their things… But never my beloved.”
The black bear stopped speaking and fell silent for a long while.
Suddenly, a beam of black light burst forth from its body and shot into the coffin.
Creak—!
The lid of the coffin was slowly moved aside, and a figure in pitch-black armor slowly stood up, with a wolf helmet on his head, hiding his appearance, but Chen Lun could clearly feel a suffocating rage.
The true body of the Black Knight, Bales!
His intangible oppressive force made Chen’s breath hitch; the other’s current strength was probably only one step away from a Saint!
“So I attacked the Sun Church branch and took back Youlan.”
The Black Knight rested on a pitch-black long sword and spoke flatly.
“Even if it meant becoming an outlaw for the rest of my life, it was worth it.”
A streak of golden light flew out from behind him, flickering a few times in the air before settling into his palm, turning into a pale yellow orchid.
The Black Knight gently placed the flower under the wolf helmet and sniffed lightly.
“This time, I will make those people taste pain, no one can separate us… and one day, I will kill Terence, even if he has now become one of the Twelve Bishops of the Solar Monastery.
I will also exterminate those creatures of the Dark World, for they destroyed everything!”
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Chen Lun was sitting on a train.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, he chose to take the train back to Amber City, giving himself some time to rest as well.
The past few days of travel and combat had tired both his body and mind.
Chen Lun gazed out the window, lost in thought.
He had completed the task after handing over Mr. Bales’ true body, and rewards had been settled.
But having heard the other’s past, he felt somewhat heavy-hearted.
Indeed, as Mr. Bales said, his defection sounded so ludicrous, yet Chen Lun felt a pang of sympathy, for there’s something pitiable about someone who is persistent in love, regardless of everything else.
He remembered the task he triggered before leaving from Mr. Bales—
[Triggered A-rank task: Wolf and Youlan!]
Task description: The Sun Church, the Moon Church, and the Shelter will launch a manhunt for Bales Wolf. You can choose to stand by and watch, or intervene and assist.
Youlan has passed away, but the ending for the Wolf may change because of your decision.
Should yearning ever suffice for sleep, let oaths sever the ties of memory.
Task reward: 40,000 Experience Points, 120 Gold Pounds, Bales’ Affection, and the skill [Bales’ Ultimate Sword – Youlan].
This task.
In the end, Chen Lun chose to accept it.
As he had once told Bales, the promises he made, he won’t just stand idly by.
‘Perhaps this will be my last task…’ he sighed.