Don't Be Nervous, It Spoils the Flavor

A knight beneath the moon, silent night. It was quiet enough that the group could hear each other's accelerating heartbeats. It felt as though an icy skeletal claw gripped their hearts; every beat brought a surge of agony, and every pang sped the rhythm faster. Gazing at the Death Knight who had appeared without warning, Priestess Simone felt an indescribable terror welling from deep within. Her thoughts spun out of control, her reason swallowed piece by piece. Simone's vision blurred. Looking around, she saw a gloomy sky shrouded in drizzling mist. She and her squad seemed to have landed in a realm of death, where gravestones of every shape and size stretched into infinity. Ghostly fires flickered, and the chilly mist contorted into clawing apparitions that drifted slowly toward them. Simone found her body bound by something invisible—unable to move, unable to make a sound. She tried to channel her magic, but found herself completely hollow. With a jolt, she realized she was no longer on the God-favored Continent; Shadow Nightmare had exiled her to the realm of death. The divine realm of the Goddess of Death! According to church records, anyone slain by the Death Knight's blade could not preserve their soul; they were dragged to the divine realm of death to face eternal freezing. Her present condition matched the texts to the letter. *Am I dead?* *When did it happen? When did the Death Knight draw his sword?* Terror surged like a colossal wave. Simone's heart raced frantically, yet the warm blood within her ran colder and colder, until it froze solid along with her heart. Phantoms passed through her teammates' bodies, hauling away numb-faced souls one after another. Before her eyes, a spectral claw crept forward and pressed gently against her forehead. She knew there was no escape. Her soul and those of her squad would be imprisoned forever in the divine realm of death. Suffocating darkness closed in. In that instant, Simone's dread peaked. Her sanity snapped entirely, and with a shrill scream, she fainted dead away. Wayne stared speechless at the collapsed female mage. What was this? Knocked out cold by a mere illusion? If she feared ghosts that badly, why come to a graveyard in the middle of the night? A person's name carried weight, just as a tall tree cast a long shadow, and the Death Knight had a terrifying reputation. Simone was an office-dwelling administrator who believed she had run into the real deal. Overwhelmed by shock, she had simply passed out, completely unaware that it was merely a basic mental illusion. Her combat experience was abysmal; she had no business being on the front lines. By contrast, the elites from the Scalpel performed admirably. Caught momentarily in the illusion, they broke free at once, not a single one's mind compromised. Yet their opponent was the Death Knight. Even with professional training that taught them to stay rational against any foe, they could not dispel the dark cloud of fear hanging over them. "Jie jie jie jie—" Wayne let out a hearty laugh, sweeping his gaze across them. "Don't be nervous. It spoils the flavor. I don't care for souls that wet their pants." The skeletal voice was bone-chillingly cold, piercing their hearts like an icicle. Under crushing pressure, the elites made a snap decision and launched a preemptive strike. They knew all too well that once the Death Knight made his move, they might not even get the chance to strike back. Intersecting star patterns converged, and a warding barrier erupted from the earth. Its purpose was not defense, but containment—forming a seal in the blink of an eye to trap the Death Knight and his undead warhorse. Abin let out a furious roar, but Wayne waved a hand to signal calm. Intrigued, he studied the green barrier standing like a fortress wall, then rode forward and tapped it with a hand. Wayne was testing the limits of his Death Knight persona. Though Yulia boasted that his master was an all-powerful terror of heaven and earth, hearing tales was never quite the same as seeing it firsthand. Anyone could brag; whether it was an undead warhorse or an undead mule, a quick trot would tell the tale. A few free sparring partners had delivered themselves to his doorstep, and they looked quite capable. They would do. Wayne waved his hand, scattering a veil of gray mist. Death collided with nature's vitality, two opposing energies clashing violently. After a brief stalemate, death clearly gained the upper hand. Nature's robust vigor withered, and a massive gap corroded into the green barrier. Seeing this, the elites launched a fierce counterattack. Advanced spells of the Church of Nature were unleashed in rapid succession—Nature Wave, Bonded Life, Guardian Barrier, Rite of All Creation. Towering surges of magical power aggressively rewrote reality, conjuring a verdant magical forest across the desolate wasteland. Ten minds wove through the grove, reshaping the forest's form and summoning spirits of nature to erase the very concept of death in one fell swoop. Gray mist swirled around Wayne. The lush green scattered the instant it touched him, reversing course to extinguish the concept of the nature spirits instead. The difference in quality was like heaven and earth; no amount of numbers could change the outcome. Guiding his steed, the undead knight strode easily out of the magical forest. He drew his white-bone broadsword and slashed it through the air. A beam of sword light severed the ten minds anchored to the forest, breaking their spells while instantly dealing heavy blows to all ten Scalpel operatives. A single strike left them pale and powerless to fight on. Wayne was rather disappointed that he hadn't managed to test the persona's upper limits. Still, the act had to be seen through. Fixing his gaze on the ten operatives, he asked, "Who is the squad leader? Step forward." "..." x10. "Heh, after seeing your earlier display, I took you for brave souls unafraid of sacrifice. Yet faced with death, you cower all the same. The followers of the Goddess of Nature amount to nothing more." Wayne sneered. "I'll give you one more chance. Who is the squad leader? If they step forward, I will spare the rest of you." Silence lingered. Their nominal leader lay unconscious on the ground, leaving the operatives torn over whether they should wake her. "How dull. Your cowardice and fear have robbed me of the urge to swing my blade. Get lost, all of you. Your souls are worthless, unworthy of dying beneath this sword." Wayne sheathed his weapon, wheeled his undead warhorse around, and rode away. With a sharp whistle, Abin leaped high over the operatives' heads, wagging his tail as he chased after his master, vanishing with him into the dense fog. Having escaped with their lives, the elites felt both relief and deep humiliation. They turned their resentful glares toward Simone. This priestess was far too weak. Zero combat experience, wretched command adaptability, and worst of all, her sheer cowardice—fainting from fright before the enemy. The church had been disgraced today, mocked mercilessly by the Death Knight. She bore full responsibility. "Help Priestess Simone up. We will report this honestly to the High Priestess..." *** Wayne spent the first half of the night walking the dog in the graveyard and the second half walking his horse in the sewers, even finding time in between to trigger an elemental collapse. His nightlife was colorful and thoroughly fulfilling. Aside from his life essence remaining stalled at 95% with negligible gains, everything else was in fine shape. He was happy! According to the law of conservation of happiness, the total amount of happiness in the world remained constant; it never vanished, only transferred from one person to another. If you were suffering, someone else was certainly building their happiness on your pain. Take the High Priestess, for example—she was in deep misery right now. Not long ago, she had used the Church of the Earth's Core to bring down Sidney, an outside dragon suppressing the local snake to reclaim the authority of the High Priestess. A couple of days back, she had applied a little pressure to the remaining three priests and secured Simone's submission. Xifei hailed from the martial faction, firmly believing that formidable strength was the foundation of formidable power—might first, authority second. Simone, a career bureaucrat, did not align with her values. But she was pressed for personnel and had few choices, and she needed an example to lead the others. She had decided to grant Simone a chance: so long as she made no blunders, she could keep her priestly post. Everything had been planned out, only for the Death Knight to show up for real. Simone had humiliated herself right in front of the enemy camp, proving her utter incompetence beyond doubt and rendering herself unfit for the role of priestess. Xifei pressed a hand to her forehead and addressed the cowering Simone. "Submit a list recommending three candidates you deem suitable. From now on, you... will stick to desk duties. If I recall, your administrative skills are fairly commendable." Simone forced a bitter smile and offered her thanks, turning to leave the room. Rotten luck—she couldn't even jump off a building without someone kicking her heels on the way down. The High Priestess had given her an opportunity, but she hadn't seized it; the Death Knight had seized her instead. Returning with her life was already more than she could have hoped for. "By the way, based on the report provided by Scalpel, I suggest you consult a psychologist. Submit your medical evaluation as soon as possible," Xifei added in a strictly business tone. Simone's retreating back stiffened for a second. She breathed a sigh of relief only after Xifei finished speaking; so long as she wasn't being shipped directly to Red Leaf Forest Asylum for convalescence, anything was manageable. She voiced her thanks again and hastened her stride. Xifei watched the helpless priestess go, feeling utterly exasperated. She had hoped to set an example for the onlookers, but now it had turned into a colossal farce. To outsiders, it might even look like she had orchestrated the humiliation on purpose. Xifei could already anticipate that in the eyes of others, she was being branded an autocrat. Yielding or resisting would yield the exact same outcome. Without recruits, she could not cultivate confidants; without confidants, her grip on power would never be secure. With the Dark Knight running rampant, the Windsor branch of the Church of Nature had suffered devastating losses. The remaining elites carried some weight, but not much. Politically speaking, they were merely lucky opportunists who had scooped up the spoils of victory; their strength did not match their posts. Restoring the Windsor branch in the short term was unrealistic, but bolstering the Londan headquarters first remained feasible. Xifei's thoughts turned immediately to Paris. There were confidants and talent in abundance there; if she couldn't cultivate them internally for now, she could transfer fresh blood from outside. Head throbbing, Xifei picked up the telephone, only to set it back down moments later. Given the century of "friendship" between Windsor and Frank, injecting such fresh blood was hardly a wise move. Take herself: had she not been a Londan native, the headquarters would never have appointed her High Priestess. The mess was so massive she felt numb. After weighing her options, she placed a call to the headquarters anyway. The Death Knight had appeared in Londan, decisively defeating a branch priestess leading a team of Scalpel elites. Coupled with the Dark Knight lurking in the shadows and staging periodic raids, the Londan headquarters was hanging by a thread. To safeguard the church's interests in the Kingdom of Windsor, headquarters had to dispatch a contingent of elites. Headquarters was skeptical. The Death Knight could not possibly exist in both Londan and Paris at the same time; one had to be an impostor. Given the gravity of the situation, they decided to send a team of elites to Londan to assist Xifei in getting to the bottom of it. In everyone's understanding, the Death Knight would never leave the Great Underground Catacomb. The Death Knight in Londan was very likely a fake. The alliance of Death and Darkness was acting mysteriously, almost certainly plotting something. Thinking bolder, this was a conspiracy—a sinister scheme by the evil alliance. Once the Church of Nature focused all its attention on Londan, they would launch a full-scale invasion of Paris and claim the entire Kingdom of Frank as their territory. *** Elsewhere, upon learning that Simone had been punished, Priests Lawrence and Dana doubled over with laughter. "What did I tell you? That woman was never going to spare us," Lawrence mocked his former colleague ruthlessly. Naivety led to ruin; fools deserved no sympathy, and she had brought it all upon herself. "She thought she had won, only to be tossed out within ten days," Dana chimed in with a boisterous laugh. The two continued their visits to Sidney, attempting to coax him out of retirement to deal with Xifei. Three consecutive days of afternoon tea had yielded no results, but they had gleaned a rough idea of Sidney's intentions. With the Dark Knight in front and the Death Knight behind, the parachuted High Priestess was caught in a pincer between two knights. If she was lucky, she would lose power and step down; if she was unlucky, she would be slain outright by one of them. Sidney had no need to do anything—he could simply wait in peace. Sidney could afford to wait, but the two of them could not. Once the ten-day deadline arrived, they would have to pack their bags and clear out. To safeguard their authority, the pair resolved to gamble. They would track down the Dark Knight and guide him into a confrontation with Xifei. The Death Knight would do just as well; they weren't picky. "So where do we find these knights?" "Look for the followers of Death and Darkness. They've been remarkably active lately; they're bound to know something." "Agreed. I'll search for Death, you look for Darkness." "Deal. As long as one succeeds, we can drive that woman out of Londan." "Actually, there's another possibility: kidnap that woman's husband. I remember she has a daughter as well..." Lawrence suggested. "Forget it. The Landau family has murky ties with the Free Mages Alliance. The mages in their service are far more troublesome than the cultists of Death and Darkness," Dana frowned. Not only the Free Mages Alliance—the Landau family was also one of the fourteen Tulip Families. Digging deeper would inevitably involve the royal family, a third rail no one dared touch. Many believed that political power in Windsor was held by the cabinet and that the Queen was merely a figurehead. In truth, the Queen still held real authority in governing the nation. Lacking authority and choosing not to wield it were two entirely different matters. The Church of Nature's ability to establish a headquarters in Londan had everything to do with the tacit consent of the royal family. That had been long ago, when the Holy See of the Heavenly Father held immense power, gathering all faiths across the God-favored Continent under its banner. Beneath the encroaching weight of theocratic authority, monarchical power had waned, stirring discontent among the royal houses of various nations. The Windsor royal family had pulled an audacious maneuver, fostering the Holy See's domestic forces within Windsor and dangling the prospect of a state religion to entice them into breaking away from the headquarters' control. Amid the maneuvering of multiple factions, the Windsor royal family's gambit had not succeeded, but it had drastically curtailed the Holy See's domestic influence. Only afterward did faiths devoted to other deities rise up. The God-favored Continent had thus entered an era where multiple faiths coexisted. Having weathered turbulent storms without falling, the Windsor royal family was far more formidable than it appeared on the surface. One could treat the Queen as a figurehead, but one could never assume she was merely that. With centuries of hidden foundations, perhaps only the gods truly knew what manner of power the royal family commanded.