/
Chapter 136: Under the Black Robe
Nemo was stunned in place, and those sharp black shadows instantly dispersed.
“Don’t worry about us.” Ann landed and blocked back his possible problems. “Forget Cross— You know me. I’m not considerate enough to die for your love life. We got a way, so get out of here while you still can!”
Nemo didn’t ask any more questions. He bowed slightly to his companions in the smoke.
The line of sight was obscured by smoke and the spells were subtly cut off by lightning. He was influenced by other magic arrays, so he still had no way to skillfully control his spells. Fortunately, at this moment, he didn’t need to attack. He just needed to purely escape.
It was dangerous to split open a rift blindly, but he couldn’t be bother at this moment. He just needed to make sure the rift wasn’t on the surface, and it didn’t happen to tear open any creature. As for himself— No matter what was on the other side of the rift, he wouldn’t die easily.
Nemo made a simple gesture, and a long rift was pulled out of the space in front of him. His figure quickly disappeared behind it.
“Okay,” Ann licked her lips and the smoke she raised finally dissipated. “Now it’s going according to the original plan, Cross.”
Not so long ago, in a room at the Roadside Town inn.
“…He cut off the communication.” Ann frowned at the communication crystal that quickly dimmed in her hand. “My intuition is telling me that kid is probably going to do something stupid. His attitude hasn’t been right these past two days. Even if you consider Oliver’s situation, it’s too wrong.”
“I’ve inquired. The Knights of Judgement is led by Lord Waldron.” The former knight commander’s expression tightened. “It’s impossible for Mr. Light to retreat after ‘handling’ the superior demon. That person has always been meticulous. He must’ve laid out enough defenses. Even for Mr. Light, it’s impossible to completely avoid conflict—”
“What? Do you think he’ll kill them?” Jesse was sitting on the table, stuffing a fried bean pastry with salt grains into his mouth.
“I don’t think so,” Adrian replied dryly while glancing at Jesse. “After all, the Knights of Judgement is there. Morally speaking, he can just stay out of it.”
“According to the nosy character of that little fool, the situation probably can’t be solved by the knights.” The female warrior looked out the window. The newly hatched demon was squirming in the forest, emitting a terrifying power. “What should I do, Cross? If I guess correctly, he probably thinks that he will be exposed.”
So he drew the line with them in advance.
“Mr. Light is indeed powerful,” Adrian’s expression became uglier, “but after all, he’s still just a civilian who has only experience several battles. He should not have the skill to deal with war-style attacks. Although I don’t think he’ll kill them…”
Conflict was inevitable, and whether it was Nemo Light or the Knights of Judgement, neither party was really “ready” for this battle.
“Not to mention the severity of this situation. If he really acts against the Knights of Judgement, then it doesn’t matter whether his identity is exposed or not.” Ann lowered her gaze. “Considering what happened to the Abyssal Church, he’ll be recognized as an ‘enemy’, right Cross?”
“…And Nemo took this into account,” she tugged the corners of her mouth helplessly.
Strictly speaking, the risk of exposure was already high. After all, in their previous mission, no one expected that things would turn out this way. Their mission to sneak into the Abyssal Church was beautifully executed, and the information was clearly kept in the Mercenary Guild. It was only a matter of time before Tumbleweed became targeted. Under the siege of the Knights of Judgement, Nemo’s identity was also at considerable risk of exposure.
Therefore, he completely pushed them out of this matter. As long as they insisted on not knowing, they could not be convicted.
When she picked the two of them up by the Border Forest, Nemo was still a shy young man with strange powers. Ann could see that he had been afraid that they would leave him because of those abnormalities.
But now in order not to implicate them, they were left behind by him first.
“I’ll distract them. That asshole kid wants to play a sad hero by himself? Fuck no,” Ann said sternly, turning to Adrian with a flat face. “You know, if I can get the Preceptor Bishop to recognize me, I should be able to buy some time. At least he won’t do anything to me— Forget about you. They’re dying to pack you back with them.”
Adrian Cross looked at her in silence for a long time.
“I’ll go with you. I know their offensive attacks, so I can delay them as well,” a few minutes later, he spoke while quietly looking sideways at the blond young man besides him. Jesse was sucking the salt grains that were stuck to his fingers. “So what are your plans?”
“Why are you helping him?” Jesse picked up another fried bean pastry from the paper bag and chewed loudly. “Isn’t this a great opportunity to see Mr. Light’s true nature? Forget Ms. Savage; I don’t think you’re the kind of person who’s easily moved.”
“That’s right,” Adrian’s voice was as cold as ever. “I don’t intend to ‘help’ Mr. Light.”
Indeed. He was completely different from Ann Savage. He didn’t intend to act for emotional reasons such as “friendship”. His reason should be colder and more negative…
To be fair, from the perspective of a guardian of mankind, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with the Preceptor Bishop’s caution, but Light wasn’t wrong.
Nemo Light wasn’t human, and he had no position to require Light to adhere to human moral standards, and he wasn’t qualified to do any test of nature— To look on with indifference to the suffering of others and even contribute to their pain, and pin everything on the hope that “the other party is a saint”. If the other party doesn’t hold true, they would shout, “I knew it would be like this” and “he doesn’t deserve to be treated well”, then logically began to deny and attack.
He had seen this before, Adrian thought bitterly. He had seen it countless of time by the side of his close friend Cahill Edwards.
Rather than expect Light to knock out his teeth and swallow blood*, he was more inclined to destroy the desperate situation that might be coming.
*(打落牙齿和血吞) Metaphor for extreme helpless forbearance. It symbolizes getting your teeth knock out but holding back the anger in one’s heart and swallow it into your stomach along with the blood. || It’s basically saying he doesn’t expect Nemo to just take what’s to come and let go of all grievances (no matter how unjust it would be to him).
“I’m just doing my job and protecting my compatriots.” Adrian picked up the metal bow on the table and then looked directly into Jesse Dylan’s eyes. “Seeing others in a desperate situation, instead of lending a helping hand, you judge that person’s ‘nature’. I personally don’t like this approach— After all, Mr. Light has no obligation to be merciful to mankind.”
“Wow, I really like this about you,” Jesse said affectionately, quickly stuffing the fried bean pastry into Adrian’s mouth, completely ignoring the frowning brow of the other party. “You don’t have to look so sad. Alas, I actually have a better idea.”
He grinned at the two of them, laughing like a fox who had stolen meat.
So far, it turned out that Jesse’s idea was indeed good— Except for a little awkwardness.
The billowing black smoke was dispelled by a spell and the restraint and interference arrays once again tied the black figure tightly and continue to nibble at the wide robe that condensed into a black shadow. The female warrior’s face was covered in soot, and she guided thunder and lightning to disrupt the knight’s formation. Adrian Cross generously pulled his bow and arrow to make sure that no attack successfully got near the dark omen.
These two people were so terribly strong, but they didn’t carry out any real attack. They just defended blindly. In front of the huge number of Knights of Judgement, failure was inevitable.
Felix Waldren, the Preceptor Bishop, was raging with anger.
Both of them were using surface magic. The dark omen really had human companions and the possibility of being a “lonely and powerful superior demon” decreased instantly. This made him breathe a sigh of relief. Felix originally wanted to issue an order to thoroughly investigate all groups and teams that had been active in the Abyssal Church and nearby, trying to find this possibility. Unexpectedly, they saved him a lot of time and sent the information to his doorsteps.
But after he saw one of them clearly, he almost had a heart attack.
“Temporarily suspend the dragon breath stone fort’s charging.” He pinched his brow fiercely. “Damn. Why is Cross with that dark omen? No… When did he regain his strength?!”
But even the famous “Shining Morning Star” could not use defensive magic to repel the experience Knights of Judgement. The attacks of the Knights of Judgement became more concentrated, and finally completely tore open the black robe condensed by the dark shadows.
“Oh— You guys have gone too far!” the man under the black robe sighed, and his voice was full of suffocation. “I’m obviously here to help.”
The dark omen revealed its true face, but it wasn’t as what they had imagined.
It was a blond young man who was a little too beautiful, and he even made an aggrieved look. He changed hands holding the staff that was emitting Abyssal magic from his right to his left hand, then use his right hand to flip everyone off.
“This is really too much!” he shouted.
Naturally, the Knights of Judgement who have been on the battlefield wouldn’t be fascinated by a man’s beautiful skin, but the face was really difficult to rile their fighting spirit, not to mention the man had stopped attacking. What’s more…
After the battlefield calmed down, the shadowy figure next to the man became more familiar. The tall man wore a stiff monk’s uniform, had firm eyes and deep brows, and a warm white light arrow on his metal bow. That was the role model they had dreamed of that inexplicably collapsed overnight— The former Chief Justice, Adrian Cross.
Such a strange situation.
Everyone was completely confused. The knights had to strengthen their restraints while lost, waiting for the next instruction from the Preceptor Bishop.
“Ms. Savage and darling Adri,” Jesse deliberately lengthened his tone, admiring the wonderful faces of the Knights of Judgement. “You can stop.”
The two warriors finally put down their weapons and stood beside the blond young man, surrounded by the Knights of Judgement. Seeing that the situation was stable, the Preceptor Bishop stepped to his feet and rose into the air, glaring down at the beautiful blond young man.
And the other party gave him an exceptionally bright smile in return.
“May I ask your excellency?” Felix coughed a few times, trying not to look at Adrian Cross. “You don’t seem to have any plans to fight. I hope from the bottom of my heart that all this is just an unfortunate misunderstanding.” Before he could relax his vigilance, the Preceptor Bishop took a deep breath. “May I ask a question— Why did you attack just now?”
“Jesse Dylan,” Jesse stuck a finger into his ear and dug it out nonchalantly. “Why attack? My God, you all surrounded me! You see, I just help you solve a big problem. No one likes to receive this kind of ‘thank you’, am I right?”
“The responsibility lies with me,” Felix frowned. “I’m sorry for causing you trouble, but please understand. After all, you just used Abyssal magic—”
“Do you suspect that I’m a demon? No, no, no. I’m just a good Samaritan passing by.” Jesse’s voice became more aggrieved. Ann, who lowered her face to the side couldn’t help covering it. “It’s just the effect of this staff. You can check it. I’m definitely not a demon. Absolutely not!”
“Then your disguise—” Seeing the opponent’s face lit up in an instant, the Preceptor Bishop subconsciously wanted to swallow back his question, but it was too late.
“Because I like to do good deeds without leaving a name. After all, I’m too strong, and it would always cause unnecessary trouble,” Jesse covered his chest as he said deeply. “You see, we just caught an Abyssal believer who did evil. Then I found out that something was wrong here, so I easily solved it. You should know how urgent the situation is, right? If you doubt me, that villain is still locked up in the Roadside Town inn.”
“Now that you found me, can we pretend that we haven’t met each other?”
“I’m afraid that won’t do,” the Preceptor Bishop said with difficulty. Mr. Dark Omen was too lively, and his brain couldn’t compute. “You have to… Come with us and let the Pope confirm…”
Adrian Cross instantly moved his gaze to the blond young man beside him. He was close enough to see the playful smile that suddenly appeared in the exaggerated expression.
“Alright,” Jesse Dylan said in very reluctant tone, “but I have a condition— If I’m not a demon, you have to make compensation.”
“Of course.”
“My companion doesn’t have to go with me, do they? I know you’re curious about my darling Adri’s situation, so I won’t push the issue on that, but the lady; there are still things in our team that needs to be dealt with…”
“…Let her go.” There was no aura of Abyssal magic on that woman and the Preceptor Bishop was too tired to tussle with the issue. The words “darling Adri” almost broke his nerves past its limits.
“Great,” Jesse threw the staff to the Knights of Judgement and in an instant sealing magic wrapped it in layers. “Let’s go then.”
The lights of Roadside Town were still flashing. The people didn’t know why the demon suddenly disappeared, but it didn’t prevent the grand festival from starting. The backyard of the Ramon’s inn was packed with singing and dancing, drinks, bonfires, and music filled the small area, giving off the atmosphere of joy like usual.
However, the son of the previous owner, the person who should have owned this lively area, had not been well in the past few days.
Three days ago.
The “corpse” in the weird condition didn’t lie on the floor for long. Not long after the invisible flame burned down the meteor hammer, heavily armed Gatekeepers entered the cell. They didn’t intend to take the weird knight away, but instead put the same restraint as his collar on the limbs of the unconscious body.
Finally, the unnatural sense of oppression in the cell disappeared. The death row prisoners in the cell stared at the visitors in silence while remaining motionless.
After doing this, the leader pressed his hand on the chest of the strange knight and fluctuation of magic instantly spread in the air. The originally unconscious person coughed twice and opened his eyes with great difficulty.
“According to regulations, I should have given you a recovery spell,” the Gatekeeper said gruffly, regardless of whether the other party really regained his consciousness. “But I don’t want to do this. Think about it again, 300,000. Kill someone at will, and you can still go to the mobile barracks.”
“Don’t blame me for not reminding you. Our combat zone is much gentler than the test zone.” He seemed to have thought of something and snorted with cold dissatisfaction before casually glancing at the dark cell.
The knight on the ground sat up with difficulty, lowered his head, as if looking at the new restraint on his wrist.
“…Besides, these wastes will die sooner or later. Some are prisoners of war while others are refugees with poor combat capabilities. Their country doesn’t need them, and their relatives do not feed them. It’s better not to treat them as human beings.”
The young man wearing a skeleton helmet stretched out his hand and held the blood-stained hilt of the sword.
The sound of breathing in the cell subsided, accompanied by the sound of small huffing and rustling movements. People subconsciously wanted to hide, but they didn’t know where to hide, so they could only stop breathing in vain. The value of this person was terrifying, and they had already experienced the abnormal fluctuation of his power firsthand.
Everyone knew very well that they were just consumables used by the Gatekeepers to sharpen this weapon. People more or less knew what had happened in the gladiatorial arena, and after receiving enough malice, the eccentric knight’s kindness and patience should have come to an end.
It was going to kill. Numb thoughts swirled in the heads of the death row prisoners, but no one could afford to mentally resist.
Yes, that’s it. The person in charge of the combat zone thought with relief. As long as this kid was willing to bow his head before the formalities were completed, he would still be a valuable asset to the combat zone. Bluntly put, they never thought he would be so stubborn and let people in the test area take advantage of this. Now this young man should know how strong he was, and he wouldn’t willingly submit to all this muck…
But the figure stood up staggeringly and didn’t look at him again.
The monster-like young knight retracted into the corner, holding his sword with both hands, and posing in a defensive posture. He didn’t attack, didn’t speak, and was silent like a stone statue.
The mole-like man in the corner let out a sob. The strong man who had lost his weapon clenched the remaining handle of the meteor hammer in his hand and said nothing.
The author has something to say：
Jesse: Let me tell you, you are besieging good people! Isn’t that right, darling Adri?
Preceptor Bishop: …You stop talking.
Jesse: I can go with you guys, but you have to pay for the mental damage first, right darling Adri?
Preceptor Bishop: That’s enough. You should really stop talking.
Jessie: Darling Adri~
The knight pretended not to hear anything.
————————
I’m… finally beginning to be unable to bear the separation of Nemo and Ollie. I always felt that something’s not right. _(;””∠)_