There Is Only One Truth

Wayne realized he was in deep trouble! He had no idea who the Death Knight was, but each title Yulia rattled off was longer than the last—clearly, the man was a major figure. Major figures tended to be petty, with a possessive streak a mile wide. And now he had pocketed the guy's gear and horse... Wayne wasn't a major figure and couldn't fathom what the man might think. But putting himself in the other's shoes, if someone were cantering along on his beloved little mare—clip-clop, clip-clop, snapping the whip—brandishing his sword all the while, and then had the shameless gall to come knocking and claim they were just helping him break her in... That was practically a death sentence! What was more, a knight of the Goddess of Death. Wayne remembered clearly that his initial brush with the magical world had been inextricably linked to the followers of the Goddess of Death. It was because of the mark one had left behind that three magical girls had shown up at his door in the middle of the night. After going through so much trouble to shake off the curse and launder his identity to blend into a respectable church, how had things come full circle back to the Goddess of Death? What was this—courting death, or flat-out suicide? Wayne moved to dismount, but Yulia flatly refused. She was no easy undead warhorse. He had drawn the longsword and mounted her back; Wayne was destined to be her master. "My only worry is that the Death Knight will track us down, act completely unreasonable, and misunderstand what's going on between us..." "Don't worry, he has no brain." "No matter how brainless he is, he still has a brain..." "No, he really has no brain. He even lost his head." "..." Wayne fell silent. Lost his sword, lost his horse, and even lost his head... the Death Knight was having a truly pitiful run of luck. He visualized the Death Knight's current state: under the moonlight, a headless skeleton—let's call him Skeleton A—groping forward with a white cane, a cold wind chilling his lonely heart as he silently called for his mount. It was as comical as it was pathetic. No wonder the Death Knight hadn't found Yulia for so long. He was so scatterbrained he had misplaced his own head—finding his horse would be a miracle. Wayne twitched his lips. In all honesty, he didn't want to give up the power already in his grasp. Especially while wearing the Death Knight's persona. When getting up to no good late at night—no, when doing vigilante justice under cover of dark—it offered the perfect concealment for his true identity. Killing multiple birds with one stone; the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks. The temptation was too great for Wayne to let go. He decided to take things one step at a time and keep riding for now! "Yulia, you mentioned the Great Underground Catacomb earlier. Could you elaborate on that?" Wayne had heard many urban legends about catacombs. The most famous underground cemetery was in Paris, Frank, converted from an abandoned quarry. It was said that millions of people were buried there, skeletons piled high as mountains, where a single strike of a pickaxe would unearth a gushing spill of bones. Londan had catacomb legends of its own, which had only become popular in recent years, originating from the night subway. According to eyewitnesses, a train would be running as normal when it suddenly plunged into a tunnel piled high with bones. The Londan Underground had always been a hotbed of urban legends—all sorts of bizarre tales, like a midnight train running straight to Hell, transporting the souls of the deceased with no return. Creepy as hell! Wayne couldn't make heads or tails of it. Astride the undead horse and walking his evil spirit hound, he circled the graveyard round and round. Three skeletons huddled together, looking for all the world like they were patrolling their domain. *** "Why would the Death Knight's warhorse appear in Londan? The Great Underground Catacomb is in Paris; under no circumstances should his steed be here..." "There is only one truth: the Death Knight is in Londan!" *Bang!* Xifei slammed a palm onto the table, her chilly gaze sweeping across the three priests seated around the conference table. "First came the rise of the Dark Knight, and now the Death Knight extends his claws into Londan. Your incompetence deeply shames me. Now, who can give me a reasonable explanation?" "..." x3 The three priests—two men and one woman, all appearing to be in their thirties to forties—remained silent at her words. The Church of Nature had cultivated its presence in the Kingdom of Windsor for many years. Because of its geographic position across the sea, headquarters had always attached great importance to the Windsor branch. The Church of Nature had established a branch headquarters in Londan as its permanent supreme center of power, where a High Priest oversaw the overall situation, assisted by four priests. For over a century, all had been peaceful—until the Dark Knight appeared in Londan! The earthly knight walking on behalf of the Goddess of Darkness possessed terrifying strength. He repeatedly wiped out strongholds belonging to the Church of Nature. The Church of Nature organized several encirclement campaigns, even inviting priests from the Church of the Sun and the Church of the Moonlight to join them, only for the many to fall to the one, making a complete embarrassment of themselves. In their most recent encirclement, the Church of Nature mobilized all its elites across Windsor, assembling everyone in Londan and vowing to wipe away their past disgrace. Over a hundred magicians proved no match for a single Dark Knight. The supreme leader, the High Priest, was pummeled half to death on the spot, very nearly leaving his life on the battlefield. The incompetent High Priest was transferred back to headquarters to recuperate. Darkness had corroded his mind and consciousness, leaving him more dead than alive; whether he could ever be healed remained an open question. Power in the Windsor branch fell firmly into the grip of the four priests. Parachuted in from above, Xifei was unable to issue orders—her decrees never made it past the doors of the High Priest's office, reducing her to a long-legged, busty mascot. The turning point came with the Church of the Earth's Core in Enrold Town—or more accurately, with Marshall, the legendary mage who proclaimed himself the Lord of the Void. Marshall had been a legendary mage of the Church of Nature's Windsor branch, boasting illustrious military exploits and widespread renown. For his outstanding merits, his contributions to the Kingdom of Windsor, and his peerless influence, he had been ennobled by the royal family. It was fair to say that Marshall was instrumental in the founding of the Windsor branch's Londan headquarters. For this reason, the Windsor branch gathered a vast following of Marshall's disciples and protégés. Marshall had a prized disciple named Sidney, one of the four priests of the Windsor branch, who enjoyed similarly prominent fame. Had his mentor not lost his mind and betrayed their faith—leaving a stain too dark to ever wash clean—Sidney would have naturally risen to the position of High Priest. According to the higher-ups, though Sidney's mentor had gone mad and caused an uproar by publicly abandoning the Goddess, Sidney remained a devout disciple of Nature; the church recognized his faith and permitted him to retain his crucial post as priest. Sidney was no child; he knew such words were mere lip service. His inability to become High Priest didn't stop him from wielding the High Priest's power. Joining forces with his three colleagues, he clung tightly to power, feigning compliance with the newly arrived High Priest Xifei while secretly thwarting her. Seeing Xifei utterly helpless, Sidney thought to himself that victory was firmly in hand. He hadn't rejoiced for more than two days before his mentor screwed him over again. When the Church of the Earth's Core sacrificial incident broke out in Enrold Town, Sidney was slapped with the label of having murky ties to the cult, suspended from his duties, and sent home to stare blankly at his owl. As for whether there was any actual connection, or whether Sidney had provided an umbrella of protection for the cult, investigations were still ongoing, and given the gravity of the matter, details could not be disclosed. However, Sidney's corruption, bribery, and keeping of mistresses had already been thoroughly exposed, with ironclad evidence beyond dispute. In the arena of power, the truth was rarely what mattered; what mattered was that Sidney was out. Xifei seized the opportunity to reclaim a portion of her authority. Having crushed the wicked ambitions of the Church of the Earth's Core, saved the townsfolk, and preserved the church's reputation, she received congratulatory cables and commendations from headquarters. Taking advantage of the momentum, Xifei suppressed the three priests that day and reclaimed even more power. She was a capable, shrewd woman who cut straight through tangled knots. Through the blunt and straightforward method of personnel reshuffling, she promoted a cohort of overlooked, frustrated figures across various operational departments, squeezing the three priests until they could barely breathe, leaving them with no choice but to band together to resist. Defeat was only a matter of time. The outcome had been sealed the day Sidney lost power. The three of them had only two choices: submit, or face a thorough investigation into their corrupt personal lives. Take today, for instance: Xifei had summoned the three priests to demand an explanation for their incompetence. The Dark Knight's might was unquestionable—they simply couldn't beat him, so the three priests could shift the blame onto the former High Priest: it wasn't that they were incompetent, but that the High Priest's strategy had been flawed. Yet they couldn't shift the blame for the Death Knight. If they couldn't even manage proper surveillance, what good were they? Just showing up to eat? The Church of Nature didn't harbor useless deadweight. If they weren't up to the task, they could be replaced by people who could not only clear their plates, but actually get things done. "I give you ten days. Find the Death Knight's warhorse and that blade, Shadow Nightmare..." Xifei's gaze swept over the three of them. With a sharp slap, she tossed three thick document folders onto the table. "Ten days from now, if you have not brought back the warhorse and the sword, I will contact headquarters and handle everything strictly by the book." A chill ran through the three priests. How long had it been? That venomous woman had already gathered evidence to frame them. What was wrong with a little graft? After risking their lives for the church for so many years, couldn't they earn a little hard-earned pocket money to improve their quality of life?