Chapter 497: The Archpriest
With both the right side and left side rooms explored, there was only one place left to go: the central room.
Of course, that was where the presence Lorelei detected earlier was. It was almost certain that was the Archpriest of the Midnight Syndicate we were searching for, and also an old friend to .
Well… maybe ‘friend’ wasn’t exactly the right term. Enemy would be more fit.
After making sure both i Gui and Amane were ready, we headed for the central room directly ahead of us. There was a door sealing it, and this one, unlike the one before, was unlocked—as if the person inside was inviting us in.
i Gui, Amane, and I exchanged glances, and I gently pushed open the door.
Inside, a man knelt on a cushion pad, ditating or praying. His garnts, however, were anything but what one would expect to be ditating or praying. He was clad in silver knight’s armor, from head to toe with not a single inch of his body exposed.
But more importantly… I recognized this man. That armor was unmistakable.
“… Well, well… long ti no see, huh?” I chuckled, folding my arms.
“Oho… you still rember ,” the silver knight said, arising from his cushion like he had expected us to co all along. “Long ti no see indeed. I was supposed to et you again in the Fortress, but… certain circumstances prevented from doing so.”
“Really? That’s cool,” I said, nodding as if I was intrigued. “But really, I don’t care. I ca here to abduct you. Need an Archpriest to enter Fragnt. That’s your rank, isn’t it?”
“… Technically, yes,” he replied. “But in reality, no.”
This made raise an eyebrow.
“Huh? What do you an?”
“Rember the certain circumstances I ntioned just now?” He laughed. “After returning to the Fortress, I was berated by my superiors for failing in my invasion, and was essentially driven out of the organization. I was blocked off from all future operations by the Bishop, and had nothing left but the few n I still had under my wing.”
“… And you repaid them by turning them into these corrupt monsters, huh?” I folded my arms. “Don’t think I haven’t realized by now.”
“And what of it?” The silver knight asked, stepping closer and shrugging as if none of that mattered. “Sacrifices are needed in the path of revenge.”
“Is that what you’re after?” Amane asked, narrowing her eyes. “Revenge? How utterly cliched.”
I decided not to ntion how my journey began as a search for revenge as well. But to contrary to our expectations, the knight laughed.
“My end goal? No. Revenge is a re stepping stone, the beginning. My ultimate goal… is to collect all four Empyreans’ treasures. Then, and only then, will I have the power to rule the world!”
Faced with this arrogant and determined speech, all we had to say was…
“… Even more cliched.”
“Hmph… you will never get it. Those people chose to follow of their own free will, and their noble sacrifices paved the way for my experints with the power I gained from the Empyrean of Earth. At last, I have discovered the thod to successfully fuse a god’s strength with a human body!”
“So those sli-like things were the introductory stage of experints… and that final gatekeeper we faced was the result of all this testing?” I shook my head in disappointnt. “You’ve fallen. You’ve fallen a long way.”
At this, the knight stopped.
“… What?”
“You know, back then, despite not knowing your na—and I still don’t—I respected you after our fight,” I said. “I’m not big on following codes of honor or any ‘rules’ in battle, but I respected you for doing your best to stick to your knight code even on the brink of death. I was looking forward to our rematch… but to think it would be a completely different man…”
“Shut it… I’m done following rules,” the knight growled, a dangerous aura rising from his body. “Look where following rules got … exiled, betrayed by the very organization I devoted my life to. Chivalry is long dead, Xuan Kai. But if it’s a na you want… you can call Steel.”
“So you still rember mine too,” I said with a grin. “Well, what do you say we settle this the old way, one on one?”
“Ha… you really are deaf, aren’t you?” Steel cackled evilly. “I just said… I’m DONE playing by the RULES!”
With a hysterical laugh, his body arched backwards as if trying to limbo underneath an invisible line, and suddenly, two slis appeared beside him.
“Get ready… Xuan Kai.”
I smirked. “How nice of you… this ans my allies can help out too now. Let’s go!”
*****
The battle began with a clang.
While Amane and i Gui each took on one of the slis, I drew my katanas and sliced towards Steel, who used the sa blade he had been using last ti we fought to parry and strike back.
Of course, since the last ti we dueled, both of us have gotten many tis stronger than we once were. I spent three years in the Void Realm cultivating, and Steel has now obtained the power of the Earth Empyrean, Terrarim. I don’t know how he managed to do it given the requirents, but there was no ti to worry about that now. My top priority was figuring out what exactly this power did, and that was why I was still holding back in strength for now.
“… Heh, you’ve grown stronger since we last fought,” Steel said as we exchanged blows and strikes.
I grinned. “Could say the sa to you. Too bad your personality changed.”
“Hmph… like I said… soone like you would never understand!”
He suddenly cut down with all his might, and rather than blocking, I dodged backwards swiftly. By now, i Gui and Amane had both finished off their opponents, and were now both facing Steel with .
“Ho… your friends aren’t bad either,” he muttered. “Summoning more imbeciles will only be a waste of ti. It seems I will have to deal with the three of you myself… heh, very well. You shall be the first ones to witness my true power… so behold!”
With an evil laugh, Steel’s body suddenly began morphing, mutating, much like the purple giant monster we fought earlier. However, unlike before, his body did not grow big. His armor didn’t even shatter. The power did not physically alter his body’s appearance in any way, and in fact, even his armor remained the sa.
There was just one difference, judging from appearance alone:
The ominous purple gas that was coming from his knight helt’s visor, and surrounded his entire body.
“Heheheheh… fight now, Xuan Kai.”
“… Fine, if that’s what you want,” I said with a smirk, then turned to i Gui and Amane. “Stand down. I’ll take care of this one myself.”
“What? But-” Amane began, but i Gui stopped her and rely said ‘understood, master’. She understood why I needed to do this, and she believed in my strength.
After all, if all three of us fought this man at the sa ti, there would be no point to all of this. After carefully analyzing Steel’s current ntal state, I judged that I needed to beat him in a duel and show him how weak he was. Otherwise, if we took him on 3v1, he would never submit to helping us, and would instead choose to kill himself instead.
I didn’t want to risk losing our key into Fragnt after coming all the way out here to get it, so this was the only way.
Drawing my blades, I prepared for the fight to comnce. But then…
“… Hey. I have a proposal, Xuan Kai,” Steel suddenly said, and I frowned.
“… If this is you trying to distract into letting my guard down, it’s not working.”
“That’s not it. I’m not that low… yet. This is a genuine offer,” he reassured. “I want you to work with , together. You’re trying to fight the Midnight Syndicate, are you not? So am I. I want revenge against those bastards… and since we share a common goal, why not work together?”
Hm… he certainly has a point. Like the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but…
“Be careful, Master. Lorelei senses he has ulterior motives,” a voice whispered to my in my head, and I smiled slightly.
As expected. But I can play into his trick…
“… Sure. But how do I know you won’t betray ?”
“Well, you’ll just have to take my word for it,” Steel replied with a low chuckle. “Trust is the basis of all partnerships, no?”
“… I suppose that’s true,” I replied, and held out my hand. “Then, shall we seal the deal?”
Steel gave a nod, a laugh, and walked closer to . Then, he placed his hand in mine, and shook it firmly.
And that is when…
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