Did the Ryan of today still deserve his loyalty?
Alan had never considered this question before. Even though he had resolved to burn down the armory and halt the war, he had still believed he was merely correcting Ryan's mistakes.
Was simply correcting a mistake enough, though?
Alan could not help but recall that young orc shouting at him back then.
"My parents died in this city long ago! White-haired dogs of Ryan, kill me too if you have the guts! I will return to the embrace of the gods and wait for you invaders to rot in hell!"
The voice still seemed to echo in his ears.
Alan thought of that young soldier who had wanted to be discharged after the war, only for his own family to execute him on the spot.
When Alan left Ryan and arrived in the newly occupied lands of the Dwarf Kingdom, the original inhabitants were forced to yield their land to the incoming dwarves, cast adrift and homeless. No matter how the Dwarf Kingdom attempted to manage it, such crowding out of living space was inevitable.
Alan had lived there for a time, and the words he heard most often were not curses directed at the dwarves, but curses directed at Ryan for launching the war.
Everything had been fine—why march against the desert? Was it that the people of Ryan could not survive without the desert's gold?
Alan had no answer to that question.
Back when he still lived in Ryan, the reason he had heard was that a Ryan merchant had been oppressed by dwarves, igniting the fuse. Skirmishes broke out between the two sides, with casualties on both ends.
And then came Ryan's relentless invasions over all these years.
At the time, Alan had believed this was right—that the people of Ryan were far nobler than desert dwarves, and that a single Ryan life ought to be repaid with ten thousand dwarf lives.
Now, however, he realized that this was no different from the rule of the Demonic Dragon Tyrant of old.
History recorded that rebellions were ceaseless during the dragon clan's reign, yet if any dragon lost a single scale, they would slaughter every village nearby.
In the eyes of the dragons, a single scale was worth more than thousands upon thousands of lives.
The dragon clan back then had acted in the exact same manner as Ryan did now. Their faith had been warped in their fanaticism.
The Lord of the Dawn taught them to act with justice and to hold onto hope forever; he had never taught them to bring despair to others.
At this thought, Alan clenched his fists and said to Arthur Ryan, "Your Majesty, your descendants have turned the Ryan Empire into something unrecognizable. They resemble the tyrants you rebelled against more and more. If Ryan truly cannot turn back, I will use all my strength to overthrow this rotten empire."
By the time he finished, Alan was already kneeling on the ground, not daring to look up at the heroic spirit of Arthur.
Declaring to Arthur Ryan's face that he wanted to overthrow the Ryan Empire was perhaps the craziest thing Alan had done in his life. This was Arthur Ryan—the hero Alan had looked up to since childhood, the greatest saint. Did speaking like this count as blaspheming the hero?
Yet the reprimand Alan anticipated never came. Instead, Arthur Ryan clapped him on the shoulder and said, "If you can hold fast to your stance, Ryan might still have a chance of being saved. Alan, how do you intend to overthrow this empire?"
Alan looked up in shock. He had not expected the Holy King who founded the Ryan Empire with his own hands to approve of his stance. This was overthrowing Ryan, after all!
Beyond his astonishment, Alan fell into bewilderment once more, for he had no idea how to answer Arthur Ryan's question.
How to overthrow the Ryan Empire? It was the most powerful empire on the continent, while Alan was merely a paladin who had just stepped into legendary rank.
Alan replied in shame, "I... I don't know."
Arthur Ryan did not blame Alan. Instead, he comforted him, "There is no need to feel guilty. No school in the world teaches people how to overthrow a country. When I was your age, I was still idling on the streets, an immense distance away from reaching legendary rank. Your starting point is already higher than mine. I believe you won't be inferior to me.
"If you don't know where to begin, then tell me: why do you want to burn down the armory and granaries?"
Alan had no choice but to recount Ryan's imminent invasion of the Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn, explaining that this was the only way he could see.
Arthur Ryan shook his head, however, and said, "Although I don't know much about the Ryan Empire of today, I suspect such an action won't be very effective. Why didn't you choose an open and upright method?"
"Open and upright?" Alan furrowed his brow, perplexed. "Your Majesty, what do you mean by that?"
At this point, Anbaixiu cut in, "He's telling you to walk straight up outside Liuyan City and loudly proclaim that this war is wrong, urging that Iron-Blood General not to commit heinous war crimes."
Alan glared at Anbaixiu. "Can you stop interrupting and talking nonsense?"
Go shout outside the city walls? The Iron-Blood General would just order the magitech cannons to blast him to pieces. That would be even more useless than burning down warehouses!
To Alan's shock, Arthur Ryan did not dispute it. Instead, he nodded in full agreement: "This lich understands better than you. You should do just as he said: declare your thoughts and your stance to everyone without holding anything back. Of course, that doesn't mean risking your life to give a speech. Now is not the time to sacrifice yourself. But a paladin of legendary rank isn't that easily killed, right? Back when I entered legendary rank, ordinary dragons posed little threat to me."
Alan fell silent, unsure how to respond.
Only Anbaixiu twisted the knife without hesitation: "Oh Arthur, paladins today can't hold a candle to the paladins of the past. If you placed them in the Dragon War era, they'd be crushed by enemies tiers below them. A friend of mine slaughtered his way through the Ryan Empire, and they were completely helpless against him."
Alan glared daggers at Anbaixiu, but couldn't refute it.
That Headless Horseman was indeed the empire's disgrace.
After receiving the sword from Anbaixiu at the Silvermoon High Court, Alan had fought Gareth many times, yet he still failed to force Gareth to use his full strength, thoroughly suppressed by the Headless Horseman the entire time. Still, Alan hadn't been completely without progress. During their final bout, Gareth had finally drawn his weapon.
It was a four-meter-long blade blazing with purple demonic flames. With just a single slash, Gareth had sent Alan flying, leaving him lying on the ground for half a day unable to stand up.
Alan still remembered Gareth's parting words: "Give it another thirty years, and you should be able to give me a decent fight. Live well, kid."
Seeing Alan's embarrassment, Arthur Ryan chose not to trample on the young man's self-esteem alongside Anbaixiu. He shifted the subject: "It doesn't matter. Individual combat prowess is actually not that important. Alan, remember this: the strength of a single person cannot overthrow this empire. You need companions. By that, I don't mean mere friends, but people who share your ideals.
"If you never declare your ambitions to anyone, who could ever share your ideals? Alan, the first thing I will teach you is this: declare your ideals to everyone, and seek out your companions. If everything is as you say, then I believe there must be countless people within the empire who feel the same as you. Perhaps all they lack is an opportunity to spur them into rebellion, and you should be that spark.
"The power of conviction is far greater than mere brute force. Back then, our plan was to unite forces across the world to defeat the dragons and completely overthrow their rule. Some companions and I were only tasked with stalling the Demonic Dragon Tyrant so he couldn't interfere with other battlefields. Though I didn't see it through to the end, looking at it now, that strategy must have succeeded."
Hearing this, Anbaixiu said in surprise, "No wonder I always felt something was off when reading the history books. Why on earth would the Demonic Dragon Tyrant duel you one-on-one? Even if he lost his artifact, nobody on the continent could catch him once he flapped his wings and flew off. So that was his final stand to turn the tables."
Arthur Ryan shook his head. "Once our plan came to fruition, the tyrant had no chance of turning the tables. Even if he killed me, the outcome would have remained the same, because even more powerhouses were waiting for him. Without the backing of the entire dragon clan, and having lost his artifact that could reverse time, his only possible fate was defeat and death."
Having spoken of the past, Arthur Ryan turned back to Alan: "Alan, remember: your goal is merely to help more people understand your cause so they fight alongside you, but you must never think that you are the only one who can accomplish everything. You are just one member fighting for the world. You may possess greater abilities, but never overlook the role of companions, and under no circumstances should you regard yourself as the absolute center of it all.
"What truly grants strength is not you as an individual, but your ideals. People die, but convictions are passed down. Only when you achieve this will you stand a chance of overthrowing the Ryan of today. Think it over carefully, understand your own ideals, and pass them on!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, I..." Alan felt a lump in his throat, completely unable to speak. With tears welling in his eyes, he could only nod vigorously.
As expected of the Holy King. Previously, Alan had only thought about changing the world without knowing where to start, but Arthur Ryan had pointed the way with just a few words. What truly mattered was not any single individual, but finding more people who shared the same conviction.
Anbaixiu was also somewhat impressed. As expected of a rebellion specialist—this strike hit right at the crux of the matter.
Ryan was too powerful to be breached from the outside; external pressure would only cause them to set aside their differences and become even more united. It could only be dismantled from within.
Anbaixiu said to Alan, "Alright, now that you've learned your lesson, get to work. I won't keep you."
A spatial rift opened; Anbaixiu was ushering him out.
Alan did not leave immediately, however. Instead, he spoke to Anbaixiu with utter seriousness: "Could you... set His Majesty the Holy King free? Please."
Anbaixiu chuckled. "Sure. The price I quoted your father back then was one trillion gold coins, or the Dragon Tyrant Armament. If you can produce that, I'll trade with you anytime."
Alan gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, barely able to resist challenging Anbaixiu to a duel.
Other matters were one thing, but Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit was simply too important. How could His Majesty's heroic spirit be imprisoned by a lich?
Seeing the tension between them, Arthur Ryan hurriedly intervened, "Alan, don't be rash. I don't feel that this lich gentleman is imprisoning me. On the contrary, he rescued me from an endless cage and even let me see my old friend. I am very grateful to him. I understand your sentiment, but there is no need. What you should be doing right now is saving your world, rather than fretting over a ghost from the old world like me."
Alan remained silent for a long time. In the end, he turned and left Anbaixiu's private space.
Once Alan had departed, Anbaixiu could not help but say to Arthur Ryan, "I didn't expect you to speak up for me. I really did treat you like merchandise, you know."
Arthur Ryan replied casually, "I know, but I don't care much about your motives. I only know that you are helping others save this world. Master Ultraman, no matter how money-grubbing you appear on ordinary days, all of your actions can be called righteous and good. By the way, are you interested in putting your faith in the Holy Light?"
Anbaixiu: "..."
Chapter 326