CHAPTER 75: KILL WITH A BORROWED KNIFE

Under the pressure from the two knights, the consciousness that had been secretly observing them retreated into the distance. To cover for his master, Wayne remained perfectly still, pretending to be more interested in the Darkness Knight. He struck a pose and faced his opponent, and only opened his mouth once he was certain that his master was safe:

“Leave it to me.”

They said at the same time.

As if I’d leave it to you! Wayne huffed inwardly, then pulled the reins and leaped into the portal Julia conjured. “I’m quite interested in the High Reverend’s head. If you want it too... may the best man win.”

The Darkness Knight said nothing. After the portal disappeared, he melted into the darkness, reappearing directly in front of the undead warhorse.

Wayne hid his surprise. Julia’s portal couldn’t teleport for a long distance, but the spatial magic was impressive enough; he didn’t expect the Darkness Knight’s teleportation magic to be its match. At this rate, they would catch up with Silvia in a few teleports.

Run fast, Master. Don’t look back.

“Keh keh keh, how interesting.” Wayne’s skeletal head opened wide and laughed out loud, attempting to draw the Darkness Knight’s attention once more.

What’s so great about a long-legged cougar? Real men should go for bones! The night’s still young. Why don’t we have a posturing contest and see who has better style?

The effect was lackluster. The Darkness Knight ignored him and stepped into the darkness covering the land to traverse the metaphysical space, shaking off Wayne in only a few flashes.

What a pain!

Wayne spurred Julia on in pursuit. He wasn’t sure how high Silvia’s ceiling was and if she was stronger than the Death Knight, but according to his supernatural sense, the Darkness Knight was undoubtedly more dangerous.

Perhaps it was partly due to the intense hostility radiated by Darkness Knight triggering his supernatural sense, but regardless, Silvia had been a good master to him and earned his respect, ranking slightly higher than Veryl in his mind; he couldn’t not intervene.

Even if that weren’t the case, the righteous Death Knight had to step in when a man in black stalked a beautiful woman late at night.

Two minutes later, the Darkness Knight approached the source of the consciousness first, but he suddenly stopped and slowly turned to face the rider galloping toward him.

“Since you’re so intent on taking the head of the Church of Nature’s High Reverend, I’ll leave her to you, but remember, Londan is my territory. Without my permission, no one may act recklessly in the city.” The Darkness Knight stated icily before vanishing into the depths of darkness with a single step.

What, you stop chasing when the prey’s right there? What’s that about?

Wayne didn’t understand the Darkness Knight’s behavior. Had his acting been lacking and led to the Darkness Knight noticing something suspicious? After a 0.01-second hesitation, though, he spurred the reins and continued toward his master.

At this point, he had to go after her even if he didn’t want to, or the Darkness Knight would spread rumors that the High Reverend of the Church of Nature had an affair with the Death Knight.

Wayne didn’t particularly care since he could just shed his disguise and be done with it, but his master couldn’t afford that. That kind of rumor would certainly affect her career, and he was counting on his master to rise through the ranks to eventually become the Pope, then promote him as her student so that he could enjoy an easy life of abundance and bed the holy maiden candidates!

The undead warhorse leaped out of the portal, its four hooves landing on the ground, sparking white light that spread in all directions like the ripples of a still water disturbed by a stone. He suddenly found himself transported to a different place.

The misty forest path was dispersed, washed away by the rippling waves. In its place, a broad street under moonlight rapidly extended to the front and the back. It was around thirty meters wide, with distinctly Gothic buildings on both sides, including a massive clock tower and a magnificent cathedral, the towering spires of which reached toward the clouds, their black tips piercing up like spears and swords.

The exteriors of the cathedral were covered with complex patterns of translucent glass. Through the windows, flickering candlelight could be seen dancing in the dark, and the melodious hymns of a choir could be faintly heard. The magnificent architecture looked mysterious and solemn under the moonlight. The sudden bell tolls added a layer of historical depth to the street.

A barrier?

Wayne looked at the endless street stretching in both directions. Straining his vision to its limit, he was surprised to see a figure on an undead horse in the distance—it was himself!

“Neat trick, but that’s it...” he said in a low voice. The Church of Nature likely knew the Death Knight well, and they were experienced in combat and proficient in the hundred and eight tricks to trap the Death Knight; that experience, however, ended up misleading them when the target was wrong. He wasn’t the Death Knight.

In terms of raw power, he wasn’t the Death Knight’s match, but in terms of skills, he had more countermeasures up his sleeve than the single-attribute knight.

Super vision!

Mana surged, and black smoke billowed like burning black flames. Two beams of white light shot out of Wayne’s skull and swept the scene like swords, finding the seam where the circular street was stitched together.

The two Gothic buildings of different heights were smashed together with a visible flaw. It was like an AI model that couldn’t draw fingers; the generated picture looked perfect at first glance, but on closer inspection, good lord, the devil’s got six fingers!

Wayne drew Shadow Nightmare, its blade reflecting the cold white moonlight onto his white skull. He urged Julia on, swinging his sword at the intersection of the head and the tail end of the street.

A thunderous crash rang. The scene before him shattered like a mirror, revealing a deep spatial passage. Without hesitation, he rode Julia forward and used teleportation at the same time, leaping out of the barrier before the spatial passage rapidly contracted.

This time, Wayne found himself in a lush green forest.

Countless towering trees stood like primordial titans with gnarled intersecting roots. The endless ranges of canopies stretched into the distance in waves. The scenery unfolded like a vast, majestic scroll painting.

The second layer of the barrier hadn’t been fully established yet. Several mages stared at the suddenly appearing Death Knight, dumbfounded by how quickly he had gotten out today.

The leading woman was breathtakingly stunning, with exquisite features like porcelain and cascading hair with a faint fragrance. Her form-fitting light green dress perfectly accentuated her graceful curves. When the undead knight looked her way, she hurriedly covered her face.

Wayne stared at her in surprise. Her mind felt almost identical to Silvia's—they could very well be the same person.

What’s going on? Is she Master’s twin sister?

She seemed graceful and elegant, appearing around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She couldn’t have been Master’s daughter; hence, he speculated about her being her twin.

But why cover her face? She’s not ugly!

Feeling regretful, the woman unleashed her Gold-rank mana, the resulting tides stirring up the green all around her and merging with the moonlight above, quickly completing the second barrier.

Cold moonlight shone down and morphed into intangible chains to bind the undead warhorse. Wayne’s sword-wielding arm felt incredibly heavy, and a strange, indescribable chill crept along his skeletal body.

“The barrier won’t hold him for long. I’ve planted the seed. Mission accomplished. Retreat.” The woman quickly gave the order and led her subordinates through a hidden door in the barrier.

Meanwhile, Wayne had sensed something appearing in his body, and not only could he sense it, but the Book of Greed could, too.

“Don’t eat it so quickly next time. At least let me see what it is.”

He complained. He was still wondering about the mysterious woman’s strikingly similar consciousness to his master’s. So much so that even he, her student, had been fooled.

“Just who is she?”

He marveled at the amount of hidden talent in Londan. Any random mage here was ridiculously powerful. He swung his sword to cut the intangible chains, riding Julia leisurely through the barrier.

Although it was merely an illusion, the scenery of nature was magnificent and vast, giving him a sense of tranquility that reached his very soul. Practicing communicating with nature here would surely be doubly effective. He was so tempted that he almost sat down and meditated then and there.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t!

The environment changed once more as Julia jumped out of the portal, her head sneezing with the force of her sneeze.

“Master, I’m allergic to pollen.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re so dead you’re all bones. How could you possibly be allergic?”

He patted her head. It couldn’t be an allergy, but perhaps a bad matchup with the terrain. Julia preferred graveyards in the darkness, not natural landscapes under moonlight.

“Who could she be?”

He wondered about the woman’s identity when he suddenly thought of something suspicious. While he and the Darkness Knight were facing off, a consciousness extremely similar to his master’s had interjected.

At the time, he had thought his master had gotten so excited about the infighting between Death and Darkness that she let a laugh escape, but now, it seemed that the person had intentionally exposed herself to draw the attention of both the Death Knight and the Darkness Knight.

What happened next confused Wayne. The person had done nothing after drawing him into the barrier... Oh, wait, she had done something. She planted something related to moonlight, which the Book of Greed quickly devoured and turned into nourishment for the little eyeball.

He first speculated that this was a conspiracy targeting the knights, and the Darkness Knight, having sensed something amiss, retreated decisively, leaving Wayne to walk into the trap alone.

“No, there’s someone else getting targeted!”

He thought of his master’s face. The woman hadn’t set up the ambush for battle; through her manipulation, she had made two enemies for Silvia: the Death Knight and the Darkness Knight.

Too bad she failed to consider the possibility of the Death Knight breaking the first barrier early and getting a glimpse of her true face.

“She can skillfully wield both nature and moonlight magic. Is she from the Free Mage Alliance? Or perhaps Londan’s Three Mages Alliance is dissatisfied with Master and tried to kill her with a borrowed knife?”

He pondered for a moment. The situation was becoming increasingly messy; he didn’t have enough information to make sense of it.

How troublesome!

Not only was Silvia getting into more and more trouble, but he, her student, was also getting dragged deeper into the mess.

The Death Knight’s identity was too entangled with too many parties. Every appearance attracted too much attention. Tonight, for example, he had drawn the scrutiny of several churches, and most of the participants were each church’s high-ranking leaders in Londan.

The more entangled the identity became with other factions, the wider its influence, and the more serious the escalation would become. Wayne decided it was necessary to set aside the disguise for a while, reducing public appearances or even refraining from making any appearance at all, keeping the skin on the shelf.

In others’ eyes, Londan’s Death Knight was the real deal, but Wayne knew very clearly that he had only drawn Shadow Nightmare with the Book of Greed’s help. He wasn’t the Death Knight and couldn’t handle the grudges and bad blood against the knight. If he kept this up, the situation would only escalate until everything came crashing down.

A cat couldn’t be kept in the bag, and a fake could never become the real deal. He had worn the disguise for his convenience, not to bring trouble upon himself.

“The sudden acquisition of great power had made me reckless. Bad Wayne. It’s time to return to being an unremarkable magic apprentice...”

He took a deep breath. The Death Knight’s identity had too great an influence on him, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. Tonight’s incident served as a wake-up call; mages should keep a low profile.

With power came ever-growing desires. He had become so intoxicated by power that he got carried away. His riding Julia across the river and tonight’s gathering were all unwise acts born from inflated desires.

He shook his head with belated alarm. Londan wasn’t the remote town of Enrod, governed by only the amateurish Geocentrism Sect. He didn’t even know what powers were at play in Londan, yet he came out and drew attention to himself. It was simply too foolish.

Look at the Darkness Knight. Look how low-key he had been! Except for coming out to meet his ally, he’d kept himself completely hidden from beginning to end, refusing to expose himself to the public’s view.

“Lesson learned. If I show off again in the future, I’ll be a real moron!”

Wayne gritted his teeth, vowing to learn from the Darkness Knight’s example and never make an appearance as long as he could stay backstage. Moreover, a disguise was meant for taking the blame rather than for showing off. Its power wasn’t his own. People could only depend on themselves, and self-improvement was the way to go.

Self-improvement didn’t mean not absorbing the external elemental particles, of course. He should still capture his share, or his old friends would be wandering the streets without a place to go.

***

The next day at dawn, when morning mist still lingered, Wayne dragged his weary body back to his detective agency. Last night, he’d returned to the sewers, channeling his frustration and anger to raid the gathering places of his old friends with the fire elements leading the way.

“These troublemakers are hiding themselves better,” he muttered. Fortunately, Firey had bravely reported to him and led the way, or Earthy, Watery, and Airy might have escaped.

After several nights of hard work, especially last night’s aggressive sweep, his stagnant life essence finally reached 96%. The progress wasn’t substantial, but it was still a gratifying step.

He sensed something unusual when he entered the agency.

The furniture remained as before, and the books and pens on the office desk hadn’t been moved, either, but he caught the smell of strangers—three, mixed with the smell of tobacco and alcohol.

He narrowed his eyes and checked around. Someone had visited his home last night, but the five hundred sillings in the drawer hadn’t been touched, meaning that the intruders weren’t after money.

Then they had to be after his body.

“I just want to meditate in peace. Why do people keep targeting me? Who is it this time? What enemy have I made now?” He hadn’t a clue. He considered setting a trap tonight to trace the intruders to their source, but after a moment of bemusement, he abandoned the idea. He turned around and walked to the phone booth on the street to call his master.

“The detective agency’s not safe. I’m being targeted. It may be the same person from before,” Wayne said.

“Impossible,” Silvia said. “Although he talks righteously and fools women with his silver tongue, he still has basic integrity.”

...Master, are you hearing yourself? That’s completely contradictory!

Also, who’s the big shot to you? Something sounds off!

“Do you have another safe house in Londan, Master? I’d like to meditate in a quiet place.”

“I have some. Sister will give you an address and have the arrangements made. You can move in this afternoon.”

“Thank you.” Wayne was delighted. It was convenient to have a wealthy master.

“No need for that between us. Work hard and meditate. Once you become a mage in your own right, Sister will need your support.”

Silvia reminded him again not to show his face for a while. Then she said, “I’ve got guests. I’ll contact you tonight.”