Chapter 175: Dekan, Shijiang, and the Entanglements of the Holy Kingdom (1/2) |
Under the large tree in the backyard of the Lord's mansion.
At noon, the sunlight didn't seem strong. Only thin rays of sunlight passed through the gaps in the leaves, shining on Dekan and Cornelia.
“Phew, work's done.”
Dekan leaned against the tree, leisurely basking in the sun.
Cornelia sat beside him.
The two of them were as relaxed and comfortable as when they were teasing cats on the back hill of the academy.
Except this time, they had moved Countess Lilislina to the backyard to sunbathe with them.
They had spent a lot of time here, finally using 【Blood Purification】 to evaporate all the blood from Countess Lilislina's body.
Just like when they gave physical therapy to the boss of the ancient mansion on the barren mountain, Viscount Augustine.
Under the sunlight, Countess Lilislina was as easy to lull to sleep as a baby.
One was responsible for anesthesia, the other for treatment. After repeating this for dozens of sessions, they finally completely purified this vampire countess.
When a member of the Blood Clan's blood was completely depleted, no matter how strong her recovery ability and life force were, she could not repair the injuries on her body.
Apparently, 【Blood Purification】 was also a counter card against vampires.
Seeing that Dekan and Cornelia had finished their work and Countess Lilislina was completely still, the Lord who had been hiding in the mansion finally came out and walked over to Dekan.
“Lord Priest... is this vampire dead?”
The Lord asked.
“Yes, of course. You can rest assured, Mr. Lord.”
Dekan replied with a calm smile.
It was just like the professional smile of an expert, making the Lord feel incredibly at ease.
Earlier, when Dekan and Cornelia had successfully taken down all the vampires in the mansion, they had prioritized waking up the Lord.
Theoretically, as long as the caster of the mind control lost consciousness, the abnormal status on the controlled person would be relatively easy to remove.
However, the abnormal status inflicted by Countess Lilislina required high-grade purification magic to be easily removed.
Rank was a major weakness for Dekan and Cornelia.
But they also had their ways.
Sometimes, physical methods were much more effective than magic.
And Cornelia was a master of physical magic.
So, with a large bump on his head, the Lord was finally lucky enough to recover from Countess Lilislina's control.
While under mind control, although the Lord felt muddle-headed, as if in a nightmare, he had a rough impression of the cause and effect.
After he woke up, he quickly understood the situation even without much persuasion from Dekan.
There was no doubt that this strange priest and the nun who was always with him had saved the Lord's mansion and this city-state.
Although their style and methods were too wicked, the Lord knew very well what attitude to take towards these two.
After all, he was a man who knew right from wrong.
Besides, leaving aside whether these two were allies of justice.
At least no one who valued their life would dare to provoke them!
There was no doubt that these two were even more terrifying than the vampire countess who had given him nightmares!
“Excuse me, what should be done about the few vampires locked in the basement...?”
The Lord asked somewhat hesitantly.
He certainly hoped that these two masters could help him deal with these lingering threats as well.
But seeing Dekan and Cornelia looking like they wanted to take a nap and live a slow life, he didn't feel it was right to insist.
He could only ask so politely.
“Can't you just send those few to the Holy Rite Church in the city-state to be dealt with?”
Dekan raised his eyebrows and asked with some confusion.
He and Cornelia only planned to kill the boss themselves to prevent any further complications.
But they really didn't want to slowly redeem these elite monsters with huge health pools.
“Lord Priest, I no longer trust the Holy Rite Church in this city-state.”
The Lord said, his face filled with resentment.
“Then why do you trust me? Am I not also a priest of the Holy Rite Church?”
Dekan asked.
“No, you are different. You and High Priest Kevin are both priests from the north. You are truly noble priests, worthy of trust.”
Hearing the Lord's reply, Dekan was first stunned.
Then he became a little more serious.
He didn't expect that after the mission had ended, there would be such an Easter egg-like plot point.
Dekan realized that he wasn't a local priest, but had come from the Holy Capital?
Could it be that what he said when he was fooling the prisoners in the dungeon, “I am a close friend of High Priest Kevin,” was actually true in the background story??
What a blessed mouth.
“Please tell me everything you know, for example, about the problems with the Holy Rite Church branch in this city-state.”
Dekan began to draw out information from the Lord.
“...”
The Lord fell silent, as if there was something he dared not say.
“Please feel free to speak. I will not let anyone else know what you have told me, and I will take responsibility for anything that happens.”
Dekan felt particularly concerned about this information. He gently patted the Lord's shoulder and looked at him with a solemn expression.
The Shadow World had clearly ended.
Yet he could still continue to dig for information.
This meant that the story of the Holy Kingdom was probably far from over.
Moreover, Dekan highly suspected that the 【Mysterious Figure in the Barren Mountain’s Blizzard】 they had entered last time and this time's 【The Secret Tale of the Waning Holy Rite】 shared the same world background.
If this point could be verified.
Then it was very likely that Dekan would enter a Shadow World related to the Holy Kingdom again in the future.
Generally speaking, the Shadow Worlds that most challengers entered were random.
They might challenge Shadow Worlds many times, but they would never enter a Shadow World with the same world background.
But there were also challengers who would consecutively enter several interconnected Shadow Worlds.
It was as if these challengers had an inexplicable entanglement with this world's background!
It was less like they entered this Shadow World by chance, and more like certain fixed Shadow Worlds chose them!
Dekan hadn't felt it when he entered the Demon Academy and the ancient mansion on the barren mountain before.
But after entering this Shadow World, Dekan's feeling was very strong.
He seemed to really have some entanglement with the Holy Kingdom.
The Lord sighed, and as if he had figured something out, he clenched his fists and said in a low voice:
“Actually, it's not just a problem with the Holy Rite Church in this city-state. The entire southern Holy Rite Church is like this. I think the root of the problem is in the Holy Capital.”
Dekan: “The Holy Capital?”
The Holy Capital was the imperial capital of the Holy Kingdom, located in the south-central part of the Holy Kingdom.
Lord: “It is rumored that the north of the Holy Kingdom is currently engaged in a war with the demons, while the south remains aloof as if it has nothing to do with them. The Holy Capital is also doing nothing.”
“This attitude is just like they have given up on the people of the north. They only seek to protect themselves.”
“And this time, I've come to understand that the Holy Capital hasn't given up on the north, but is indifferent to the safety of all its people! It's the same even for the south!”
“And the ones who truly want to protect us are you priests of Lord Relun's faction from the north.”
“You are clearly fighting against the demons in the north, yet you still have to come to the south to defend against the Blood Clan. The Holy Capital will drag you down sooner or later!”
The Lord became more and more agitated as he spoke, as if he would say it all without hesitation, even at the risk of losing his head.
PART 2
Hearing the Lord's reply, Dekan nodded.
“Mr. Lord, thank you for your upright and brave words. I still have some questions for you.”
“Please ask away!”
So after some more questioning, Dekan roughly sorted out the background story before this Shadow World began:
High Priest Kevin was dispatched by Cardinal Relun to the south many years ago to guard the seal of Marquis Roderick.
Some time ago, the north heard some rumors about the Blood Clan, and sent another priest, Dekan, to the south to assist High Priest Kevin in defense.
As a result, as soon as Dekan arrived in the city-state, he heard the news of "Kevin's disappearance, the broken bridge" from the town.
Next, Priest Dekan followed the knight who had rushed from the town to the city-state for help, and headed to the town, thus starting this Shadow World...
Dekan now understood why, when High Priest Kevin had an accident in the town, he was the only priest from the city-state to investigate.
Because the priests of the southern Holy Rite Church were truly inactive.
“Rest assured, I will report the situation to Lord Relun.”
Dekan already understood that he was a priest of Relun's faction, so he updated his wording.
As far as Dekan knew, Relun was the youngest Cardinal in the Holy Rite Church and also the core pillar of the northern front.
Dekan didn't expect that his identity was not an ordinary priest.
But one with a powerful backer.
This backer named Relun, would he meet him in a future Shadow World...
“Cardinal... Relun...”
Just as Dekan was thinking, Shijiang's whisper suddenly came from his heart.
“What? Shijiang, you've heard of this name?”
Dekan replied with his thoughts, very surprised.
“No... I can't remember clearly... But it seems familiar. I may have had contact with this person.”
Shijiang seemed to be trying hard to remember.
The name Relun had triggered her memories, and some fragments of memory seemed to be being picked up and pieced together by her.
But the memory was like a damaged module; she couldn't find the key point and could only barely organize some of the previously insufficient fragments.
Her memory, like her soul, was incomplete and shattered. There were some things about herself that she just couldn't remember.
Especially about the first half of her life, she had no impression at all, as if it had been completely severed.
The only things that were clearly preserved were the most important memories before her death, and her comprehensive knowledge.
“I'm sure I've seen this human, Relun!”
Finally, Shijiang seemed to have discovered something and excitedly conveyed her thoughts to Dekan.
“!”
Dekan was also a little excited. He didn't expect to find a clue related to Shijiang's past in his third Shadow World.
“...Then it seems my entry into the Holy Kingdom's Shadow World is indeed related to you?”
Dekan asked.
Since Shijiang had seen Relun, it meant that Shijiang had been to the Holy Kingdom in the present world.
But that would have to be thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago.
That would also mean that the timeline corresponding to this Shadow World was actually thousands or tens of thousands of years ago in the present world.
It was a story that happened in ancient times.
“No...”
Shijiang suddenly denied Dekan's words, causing Dekan to frown slightly.
Why is it yes one moment and no the next?
If it's not related to you, could it be related to me?
However, Dekan only heard Shijiang continue to say:
“Coming to the Holy Kingdom Shadow World... is also related to you... I saw you... by Relun's side...”
Shijiang's words exploded in Dekan's ears like thunder.
“How is that possible...”
Even with his brain working at full speed, Dekan couldn't figure out what Shijiang meant.
How could he himself be related to the Holy Kingdom!
What connection was there between him and Relun, between him and Shijiang?
“Look.”
Shijiang tried hard to share a fragmented and pieced-together image from her memory with Dekan.
Dekan gradually felt that he could perceive Shijiang's memory.
It was an extremely blurry picture.
It seemed that two people were talking in a grand hall, surrounded by indistinct onlookers.
Of the two main figures, one looked solemn yet somewhat weary.
Presumably, this figure was Relun.
And the other figure seemed to be saying something to Relun.
Although the image was blurry, it was not hard to see that it was Dekan's likeness!
Dekan observed the image as if he had seen a ghost.
The only difference from the current Dekan was that the Dekan in Shijiang's memory had golden eyes.
And from Shijiang's first-person perspective, she was standing right next to Dekan.
The golden pupils of Dekan in the image, he was all too familiar with them. That was what Dekan looked like when possessed by Shijiang.
But here was the problem.
In the scene from Shijiang's memory, Shijiang was clearly alive and right next to him, so how did his pupils turn golden?
“Impossible, how could I appear in another location in the Holy Kingdom!”
Dekan felt his scalp tingle.
Shijiang's memory should be from a thousand, or even ten thousand years ago.
There shouldn't have been a Dekan back then, no matter what.
And, even if Dekan were to enter a Shadow World related to the Holy Kingdom in the future and meet Relun.
That would be a Shadow World!
A Shadow World was a parallel world replicated from the real world, other worlds, and world history!
It was absolutely different from the present world!
If this was Shijiang's memory from the present world, then it could only mean that Dekan had really appeared in ancient times!
“Could it be that I will travel back to ancient times in the future?”
Dekan asked, puzzled.
“Impossible, not even a 10th-rank could travel back ten thousand years and reverse causality.”
Shijiang answered with great certainty.
She had a clear understanding of the limits of the power system in this worldview.
“......”
Dekan and Shijiang were both silent for a long time.
They completely ignored the Lord who was waiting in the courtyard of the mansion.
For them now, figuring out this problem was more important than anything else.
“Then there is only one explanation,”
Dekan thought for a long time and finally conveyed his thought: "The Holy Kingdom has an inexplicable and profound entanglement with me, with you, Shijiang, and with our past and present lives."
Perhaps his meeting with Shijiang was not a coincidence.
But an inevitability.
The answers to these entanglements could likely only be found in other Holy Kingdom Shadow Worlds.