Chapter 276: Join Forces
Kimon"s Heirs of the previous and present generations gathered in a way that had never happened before. Asava stood next to Sila as he thought deeply about something. Meanwhile, Vlad rushed to Poluk and kneeled down. He kowtowed three times to show his respect.
Poluk smiled as he stroked his main disciple"s head.
"You haven"t changed at all," he continued, "We are technically dead people. There is no need to pay us respect anymore."
"What is the story behind this?" Sila asked. His question caused everyone to fall silent as they weren"t sure where to start.
After a short while, Divine broke the silence. "I have to say the story starts with your teacher, and heir to the Demon G.o.d, Mora."
"Teacher Mora?"
Poluk interrupted, "Don"t you think that"s too far in the past? This will take some time."
"Mn. We have to even if it will take a while. The time has come for Sila to be aware..." Divine stopped briefly before continuing, "...about the existence of the enemy."
"The enemy?" Sila wondered. "Whose enemy? Mine?"
Divine shook his head. "You got it wrong. I mean the a.s.sociation"s enemy."
"The a.s.sociation? You mean the Wulin Masters a.s.sociation? Do we have an enemy?"
Asava interrupted, "I have never heard anything about our a.s.sociation having enemies aside from small conflicts with some trivial groups. However, based on the fact that the three of you had to resort to faking your deaths... that means this so-called enemy is extremely formidable."
"You got it right. This enemy is so strong and shrewd, possessing great strength, influence, and wealth. Moreover, they always stay in the shadows, so very few people know about them."
Asava immediately asked, "May I ask whether this enemy has a name?"
Divine nodded. "They do, but I can"t tell you even that. That"s how scary they are."
"You can"t even tell us their name?" Sila wondered. How could there be such a mysterious foe?
Divine drew a picture of a dead tree on the floor, its roots looking just like electronic circuits. "Presently, our world relies heavily on technology. You can find electronic equipment anywhere in the world no matter where you look. The enemy has a lot of influence in this regard. As soon as their name is mentioned, their nearest agent will be alerted. If they have even the slightest suspicion that you are aware of their existence, you—along with the people you were recently in contact with—will be eliminated."
"...The most efficient way to keep a secret," muttered Asava. However, to think that "the enemy" would eliminate all suspicious people and recent contacts... that was too much. Even the h.e.l.l"s Gate Islands had a policy stating that they would a.s.sa.s.sinate only the target if possible.
"Talking about them in the game is too dangerous. If you want to know more about them, let"s talk later when everything is finished. We will have to logout and meet in a place devoid of electronic equipment," Viola added.
"The story I"m about to tell you is what I listened from Mora. Remember that it may not be accurate since the only witness of the event is Mora," Divine said before starting his explanation. "One day in the past, the previous Wulin Lord—Mora"s teacher, the Demon G.o.d Zenga—secretly obtained a letter of challenge. The contents of the letter both described in great detail the existence of the a.s.sociation and threatened to reduce it to rubble. By the way, this event occurred after the Demon G.o.d"s three disciples had gone their separate ways. Only Mora stayed with his teacher and accompanied him.
"Mora told us that the sender appointed the Demon G.o.d to duel in a certain deserted wasteland. Once the two arrived at the destination, the person awaiting them was only an ordinary-looking man around in his early twenties. He didn"t possess any inner force at all, or at least it was undetectable. This characteristic caused the Demon G.o.d to have great doubt. The surprising thing was that this man could fight equally against Zenga."
"A person without inner force could go up against the Demon G.o.d without being disadvantaged? That sounds unreal. Flaming Cloud Qi is hot, intense, and incredibly flexible. The Demon G.o.d Zenga was said to be extremely proficient at using the Flame Part. Ordinary people would feel their blood boil and die from a mere touch of his hand," Asava strongly expressed his doubt.
Divine nodded. "What you said was correct. However, based on what Mora told us, that man could really fight without showing any profound arts. The battle lasted two hours before the mysterious man made a mistake and eventually fled."
"Why did the Demon G.o.d let him go?" asked Asava.
"Because he was incapable of following the man. He maintained his peak form by stimulating Flaming Cloud Qi for two whole hours. Soon after the man left, the Demon G.o.d"s body was engulfed in flames and he died despite the battle ending with his victory. Sensing that his end was approaching, he imparted some dying words to Mora—the only person who knows everything Zenga said. Still, one thing was certain—there is a traitor in the a.s.sociation. Thus, Mora concealed his teacher"s cause of death, claiming that it was an accident, to prevent internal conflict."
"A traitor?"
"Yes. The Demon G.o.d said that the man had prepared countermeasures against Flaming Cloud Qi in advance. His flame couldn"t penetrate the man"s cloak at all. It must be clothing especially designed for blocking his attacks. Furthermore, the man"s reaction speed was several times greater than normal people, and his ability to predict the Demon G.o.d"s moves was too keen. He was sure that someone must have leaked his personal martial arts to the man beforehand. Although Flaming Cloud Qi was famous, only a few close allies knew the Demon G.o.d"s fighting style. It implied that the traitor must be someone very close to him."
Asava raised a question, "Isn"t that jumping to conclusions? It"s too soon to be certain that there is a traitor with just that."
"Good question, Asava. Listen on," Divine complimented his disciple for being skeptical. "Mora then secretly approached us three and begged us to disappear for the sake of becoming the a.s.sociation"s secret force while investigating the traitor"s existence. As everything was agreed on, we spent some years preparing our second personas while imparting our arts to our disciples. We then faked our deaths and disappeared from the world at the previously agreed upon time."
"So, who was the traitor, sir?" Sila asked. He was sure that people at Kimon"s caliber would have already found out the truth.
Contrary to Sila"s expectations, Divine shook his head. "We don"t know that even today. Well, Sanon is the most suspicious one since he is the Demon G.o.d"s last disciple who learned the least from Zenga. Furthermore, he often had conflicts with people in the a.s.sociation due to his different point of view and opinion. Thus, there was a time when we sent Saya to approach him. Still, we are not certain he is the traitor."
"Eh? But I heard that Sanon is aware that his wife..." Sila shot a side glance at Viola. "...belongs to Kimon, isn"t he?"
Viola said to no one in particular, "True is False. False is True. The more he thought he knew me, the more he would lower his guard."
"So? We got nothing in the end?" asked Asava.
Divine smiled. "That"s not it, Asava. At the very least, we have confirmed that the traitor truly exists. There was a certain event that happened six years ago. Saya pretended to leak the fact that she was aware of the traitor, and the news did reach the organization. On that night, the organization sent an Executive, whose authority is only second to the vice leaders, to take care of this matter personally."
"Executive?" Sila repeated the word. He felt this organization sounded like a company.
"That"s right. We used to be clueless about this enemy, but we later learned their structure from Saya. The organization consists of one Boss, one Right-Hand Man, one Left-Hand Man, and six Executives. Each of them is a wanted criminal in the present era being pursued by all countries. They possess different kinds of talents and fortes. The person sent that night was Faceless Viola, the master of forgeries."
Viola continued the story, "She was indeed skilled. Unfortunately for her, I laid a trap in advance. Otherwise, I would have been the one to die that night. After I killed her, I used Corpse-Disposing Powder then disguised myself as her, entering the organization. Viola had never revealed her real face to others and the Executives rarely communicated, so this plan worked."
Divine added, "On that day, Saya requested the a.s.sociation"s help through the Three Elders in order to probe their reactions. However, no help arrived. Worse off, the place that the a.s.sociation led her to was full of the organization"s traps. That means the traitor must be someone with the authority to influence an Elder"s orders... or one of the Elders themselves."
Silence filled the palace and remained there for a long time.
To break the awkward atmosphere, Sila opened his mouth, "Then... why did you come to Monster Soul?"
"For two reasons: taking a break, and work," Poluk replied as he shifted his gaze to the Slime King, "One of our tasks is gathering comrades to stand against the organization."
The Slime King quickly dashed their hopes. "I"m an outsider, not related to any of this. I will just pretend I didn"t hear anything. By the way, I"m not the one you are looking for."
The Slime King had known for a while that the Three Slime Guardians sought something from him. In any case, since the three didn"t request anything, the Slime King decided to remain silent. On the other hand, the three Guardians had long since realized that the Slime King was keeping a close eye on them, so they hoped for him to initiate the conversation. As it turned out, the two sides rarely talked to each other. They only managed to become closer when Sila entered the Slime Kingdom.
"We are aware that you are not the one we are looking for. However, you surely know his whereabouts and where the thing he hid is," Viola said calmly.
Despite being indirectly forced to answer, the Slime King didn"t feel angry at all. "It"s pointless. My older brother died a long time ago, and only he knew where the thing you are seeking is. Even I"m clueless."
Divine frowned as he spoke, "How could he have died when we still heard rumors about him making an appearance in the game, not that many years ago. In fact, that was the reason we decided to become Independent NPCs. Aside from Monster Soul, he has never appeared elsewhere."
"I met the Tiger G.o.d, by the way." Sila"s sudden words drew everyone"s attention to him, making him feel uncomfortable. "Eh... Did I say something wrong?"
"Sila, do you know the Tiger G.o.d?" Divine asked. They avoided mentioning the name to prevent Sila from learning too much. Unexpectedly, Sila had already been aware of the Tiger G.o.d"s existence.
The Slime King shrugged. "In the Dragon Kingdom, right? How was he?"
"I didn"t get to see him, sir. But, based on his voice, I think he seemed to be a bit unwell."
Coming across Sila"s information, the Three Guardians understood that the Slime King had lied to conceal his older brother"s whereabouts.
The Slime King showed a dry smile. "I didn"t lie though. He did die. I buried his body with my own hands."
"He instructed me to tell you something, Your Majesty," Sila said. The atmosphere seemed to be extremely serious. All eyes were drawn to him, making him feel tense. It was like their gazes had locked on to his lips, waiting for him to speak holy words.
"Um... he said Joshua broke a promise he made with him. Someone has practiced his Grand Deity"s Breathing. Please help him stop that person before they reach the last stage."
The Slime King"s indifferent expression crumpled, and he suddenly looked serious. "Grand Deity"s Breathing is not a combat art. No one should ever practice it."
"Did the Tiger G.o.d tell you anything else, Sila?" asked Divine.
Sila shook his head. "No, sir. That was all."
"Grand Deity"s Breathing? I have never heard of it before. Well, since it"s the Tiger G.o.d"s profound art, it must be an unequaled, matchless art. No doubt about it," Poluk expressed his opinion.
The Slime King shook his head. "No, it isn"t an excellent art as you imagine. The reason why my brother invented it was so absurd that you would struggle to believe it. Even I, the one closest to him, still found it unbelievable. I can tell you later if you really want to know more about it."
He turned to Sila, asking, "My brother must have wanted me to reward you in his place, right? What did he say?"
Actually, Sila wasn"t so shameless as to demand a reward by claiming that the Tiger G.o.d had promised him. Still, the Slime King was his blood-related younger brother. He naturally knew his older brother"s character. Hu Xian was the kind of person who absolutely refused to be indebted to anyone, no matter how small the debt.
Sila said in a soft voice, "He said I can have his old item. Though... honestly, you don"t have to give me a reward for something like this."
The Slime King explained, "Well, in fact, your reward for completing the slime quest is none other than his old item. With it, I guarantee you that no dragon will be your match. It was exactly because of this item that he was hailed as the Chaos Emperor Dragon. Wait just a moment."
"Yes, sir..." Sila nodded.
The Slime King left his throne and exited the room. As the room now only consisted of people of the a.s.sociation, Sila and Asava explained their intentions and the reason why they came to visit the Island of Beginnings.
Hearing Sila and Asava"s plan, the Three Slime Guardians gave strong nods in satisfaction.
"It"s a good plan. You can put the matter regarding the a.s.sociation"s enemy aside for now. They aim to strike us when we are weak, so our first priority is to quickly handle the internal conflicts. The later we crown the Wulin Lord, the riskier. We should take care of the selection quickly then unite our people. We will be ready to fight the enemy once the a.s.sociation is strong and stable."
"It"s decided then. Quickly eliminate the Heavenly Dragon Guild, so that we can prepare to fight the organization," Asava summarized.
"Is that okay with you, Miss Viola...? About Montra..." Sila asked in a soft voice.
Viola immediately replied, "The a.s.sociation comes first. In any case, he thinks that I"m dead, so there is no problem."
As everyone was discussing details about their next course of action, the Slime King came back into the room, holding a black metal box in his hand. He then handed it to Sila.
"Take it. The Tiger G.o.d"s old weapon—the weapon that once shook the world of Monster Soul."
Sila received the box with antic.i.p.ation, feeling thrilled. His mind wandered as he predicted what inside the box. What would he do if it wasn"t a sword? What if it was a strange kind of weapon he had never seen before?
However, once he opened the box, he couldn"t sense any power from the thing inside at all.
Could it be that it was so powerful to the point that his senses were unable to comprehend its strength? Just thinking about it gave Sila a sense of soul-stirring excitement. He gently held the item up in order to inspect it.
"A black feather?" Sila blankly looked at the bird feather in his hand. He span it around to find out how special it was. "Was this the Chaos Emperor Dragon"s old weapon?"
Silence temporarily filled the room until the King and his three Guardians burst into laughter simultaneously, making Sila confused.
Poluk was the first to speak, "Even when the four of us were here, he still managed to pull it off. This guy truly deserves my respect."
The Slime King"s lips curled slightly upward. "I admit I am clueless as to when it went missing. It could have been years ago."
"What happened?" Sila asked.
Divine explained, "A certain burglar has broken into our home. He is pretty famous, even. Asava should know about him as well, right?"
Asava nodded. "I can"t say I don"t know him. He is the martial world"s number one thief. No matter how modern the world has become, he still relies only on his two hands and his profound art to steal. More importantly, his personality is said to be mischievous as he often robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Unexpectedly, he also plays this game."
Asava took the black feather in Sila"s hand and spun it around. "His habit is leaving behind a black feather in place of whatever he stole. His name is Crow, the Sky Thief."