"Who is this person?"
Sidney spoke with a cold face, quick and curt, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation immediately.
The Lord of the Void, former legendary mage Marshall, had once been Sidney's pride. He had felt immense pride in having a teacher of legendary mage stature. Later on, well, those in the know understood—he wished he could travel back in time and shoot himself.
Damn it, stop smiling; this rotten old bastard will get you killed!
Sidney wanted to cut ties with his teacher, but unfortunately, that was not up to him. Leaving aside the inescapable bond of master and disciple—where the teacher's stain became his own, unable to withstand the relentless attacks of political rivals—there was the simple fact that all his knowledge came from his teacher. The man could locate him anytime, anywhere.
Sidney found it utterly baffling. When other legendary mages went mad, they plunged headlong into the great cosmos of the Astral Realm and remained behind closed doors forever after, until their sanity dissolved completely into madness. But not his teacher. He had left behind the imprint of an idol, popping back home every now and then to catch up with his student.
When rumors first spread that his teacher had gone mad and betrayed the church, Sidney had been skeptical. He suspected it was political persecution, with the higher-ups engaging in the infighting they excelled at most.
His teacher was merely eccentric; at his core, he remained a mage of steadfast faith.
That was until Marshall's keepsake twisted into a golden idol, and he took a new identity, styling himself the Lord of the Void. Only then was Sidney thoroughly convinced. He tried throwing the idol away, but every time, it returned to his side.
At their first meeting, Sidney drew a firm line: a devout believer would never associate with a traitor. *Don't contact me anymore; I'm afraid the Goddess of Nature might misunderstand.*
The Lord of the Void smiled and gave Sidney an address where several crates of grimoires were buried, detailing how to advance from a Golden mage to a legendary mage.
Sidney could not resist the temptation. Though his mouth said no, his body honestly took him straight to the location. He unearthed the precious grimoires, and unable to discard the golden idol, he hid it in a void woven from his own thoughts.
At their second meeting, Sidney repeated the exact same line: *Don't contact me anymore; I'm afraid the Goddess might misunderstand.*
The Lord of the Void merely smiled again. This time, he delivered several sheets of parchment containing knowledge from behind the Gate of Truth, including the life magic the Church of Nature had been researching for so long.
Sidney fell silent for a long time, then shamefully called him "Teacher."
By the third time, the Lord of the Void began making demands.
Of course, he fancied himself an excellent mentor who cherished his student; he would never coerce him, and Sidney was free to refuse.
Sidney desperately wanted to refuse, but he knew he could not afford the price. If word got out that he was maintaining contact with a traitor, the church would never let him off.
At the very least, a wanted bounty issued jointly by several sects, attracting the sickening bounty hunters of the Free Mages Alliance. At worst, he would be escorted straight to Red Leaf Forest Asylum to enjoy a private room of his own.
Sidney knew Red Leaf Forest Asylum all too well. In that godforsaken place, even someone perfectly sane would go mad once locked inside.
At first, the Lord of the Void's demands were neither excessive nor difficult. But as they piled up, the Lord of the Void asked him to smuggle the idol out of Londan in secret.
Sidney immediately and vehemently refused—impossible, out of the question! Yet under the Lord of the Void's sneer, he lowered his head and silently took the idol to send it out.
He remembered clearly that the destination was not Windsor. But then the damned Church of the Earth's Core was established in Enrold Town, and they even went completely berserk, staging a massive sacrifice.
Back then, the Lord of the Void had told Sidney that this was a teacher's final request of his student, and he would never bother him again.
Sidney had remained noncommittal. Considering the idol had been sent away, it probably was the last time.
Today, the idol had reassembled.
That rotten old bastard is thoroughly wicked—not a single word out of his mouth is true!
Sidney was filled with deep regret. How great it would have been if he had never dug up those crates back then.
"His name is Wayne—at least, that should be his name. He's a mage apprentice, most likely a Londan native, and stayed in Enrold Town a while ago..."
The idol shimmered with light, projecting a portrait in front of Sidney. "Find him, but do not kill him. Bring him to me; I want to see him."
Sidney didn't ask why. He firmly memorized the face in the picture and lowered his voice. "Marshall, this is the last time!"
"Of course. I swear."
"..."
Sidney lowered his head in silence, his heart overcome with desolation. Just like infidelity, there was only either zero times or countless times—there was never a 'last time.'
No, he had to figure out a way. If he didn't shake off this bastard's clutches, only death awaited him.
It wasn't that there were no solutions—for instance, Red Leaf Forest Asylum. But pulling it off was too complicated, and one slight misstep would drag him down with it.
Sidney had considered it before but abandoned the idea due to the immense risks. However, the Church of the Earth's Core incident had left him rattled to his core. Compared to being dragged to his death by the Lord of the Void, the risk index of Red Leaf Forest Asylum dropped instantly.
Since the worst-case scenario was ending up in the asylum anyway, why shouldn't he take the initiative!
"Heh heh, my student, you seem troubled?" The Lord of the Void gave a sinister chuckle.
*You act like you don't know what my troubles are?*
Sidney said with a cold face, "I do have some troubles. For some reason, the Death Knight left Paris. He's currently in Londan, and witnesses have spotted his warhorse and sword."
"Impossible!" the Lord of the Void asserted flatly.
"Teacher, you seem to know something?"
*Teacher when he needed something, Marshall when he didn't—his moral baseline was remarkably flexible.*
Sidney raised a brow. The old bastard was undeniably a scoundrel, but one had to admit he was exceptionally sharp when it came to intelligence.
"The Death Knight's head was stolen. He is no longer his own master and has no choice but to obey another's orders. He has already betrayed Death."
The Lord of the Void grew fervent. "The once-invincible Death Knight is now nothing more than a manipulated prisoner. His honor, his pride, his freedom—all stripped away. My student, do you know how wondrous the world outside the God-favored Continent is?"
Sidney swallowed hard, thoroughly astonished by the Lord of the Void's words. He pressed urgently, "Where on earth are you? What have you seen?"
"Hahaha! I have seen the true essence of the gods. My student, your faith is worthless. Stop believing in—"
"Silence!"
Sidney's face turned livid. Turning on his heel, he strode away. "I will find that person for you, and I hope you honor your promise. This is the last time. Otherwise, I would rather drag you down to hell with me than remain at your beck and call."
"Heh heh heh—"
The idol's golden light dimmed as it muttered, "The Awakened are converging. Under His protection and guidance, faith in the gods is paper-thin..."
"My student, you had better step into the realm of legends soon. A new era is about to dawn."
————
*Clop, clop, clop, clop!*
In the fog-drenched cemetery, the crisp, ringing sound of iron hooves shattered the silent chill, injecting a splash of fresh vitality.
If you didn't look at the face, that was indeed the case.
If you did, the atmosphere only grew chiller.
Wayne wore the skin of the Death Knight, riding the undead horse, walking the evil spirit hound, swinging the bone longsword, and howling as he chased skeleton rabbits across the grass.
*Once you get a taste for coursing rabbits with hounds, there’s no turning back!*
Regardless of whether the Death Knight's aura of prestige had been dragged through the mud, Wayne was having fun. And since he was happy, Yulia and Abin were happy too.
*Swish!*
A flash of white light, and the skeleton rabbit instantly shattered to pieces. Three seconds later, the bones reassembled, continuing to hop through the grass.
Wayne grew a bit bored. He turned to look at the mounds bristling with tombstones. If he remembered correctly, earth burial was customary here, with the deceased buried facing east to symbolize resurrection at sunrise.
A sunrise was out of the question, though a fuzzy, overcast moon hung in the sky.
Wayne raised Shadow Nightmare high above his head. A flash of white light swept across, unleashing a surging, icy chill of death.
As ripples rolled outward, the graveyard fell briefly silent. The very next second, drafty figures responded to the call, shoving open decaying coffins and clawing their way out of the ground.
*Clack, clack!*
*Rattle-clatter—*
Beneath the hazy moonlight, the Death Knight sat atop his steed, dividing hundreds of skeleton soldiers into two opposing factions, leading one side into a clash against the other.
"Charge, boys!"
"Awoooo—" x N
Well, what else was he supposed to do—storm into Londan and bathe the city in blood?
"Master, your horsemanship is growing more impressive by the day. You truly are a genius," Abin praised. It was plain to see that Yulia was thoroughly enjoying being ridden.
"Not bad, mostly because I keep in shape. No excess fat," Wayne quipped, shaking his skull. The Death Knight disguise was great in every way, save for one: it lacked desires.
He hadn't understood yesterday, but today he had figured it out. He had no hormones; from top to bottom, he was nothing but an empty skull. With clever intellect occupying the high ground, worldly desires naturally vanished.
After fighting heartily for a while, Wayne cut down the last skeleton soldier with a slash. Feeling a bit bored, and figuring sharing joy was better than keeping it to himself, his gaze drifted toward the cemetery exit.
Was there any chance he could lead a legion of skeleton soldiers through the streets in the dead of night and personally forge a brand-new urban legend?
Chapter 63