Chapter 148 (1): The Cuckold Comes
“What happened? I lost contact with my riders?”
Sebastian, while standing before the obelisk and waiting for the stone tablet to be unsealed, called out in shock. In addition to the riders he had put in so much effort to cultivate, he had also lost contact with all the skeletons he had summoned. Had they all died from a devastating blow?
No way! An attack that could kill all three of his riders would require incredible mana, and it would surely cause a great disturbance, but he had sensed nothing. He hurriedly looked through the eyes of the white skull. The skeleton soldiers didn’t matter since there was no shortage of disposable minions to sacrifice, but the skeleton riders were his masterpiece. He had to know what had happened to them.
In the sky, the white skull slowly tilted downward, allowing Sebastian to see the skeleton army. Leading the march were three skeleton riders, while the skeleton soldiers walked in sync in an orderly square formation, making their way to the obelisk at a deliberate pace. In their midst, a knight in black armor rode on his undead warhorse, his torn grey cape fluttering without wind. Seemingly sensing Sebastian’s gaze, the knight slowly looked up at him.
“Death Knight!” Sebastian called out in shock.
The Death Knight would indeed be able to take control over the skeleton army, but why was the Death Knight in Silent Hill, in this ruin? Why did he order Sebastian to seek out the stone tablet if he was going to come in person? It didn’t make sense!
“Has something gone wrong?”
Confused, the Bishop hurried toward the infantry square.
***
“O great Death Knight, Sebastian is here to give you my greetings.” Sebastian moved to the front of the army and pressed a hand to his chest in a show of respect. He didn’t feel resentful about losing the skeleton army.
“Sebastian, have you lifted the seal on the stone tablet?” Wayne asked coolly, looking toward the obelisk. The dense elemental waves were mouth-watering; had he not lost his salivary glands in this transformed state, he would have been drooling.
“Sir Knight, this subordinate has just finished the setup. It’ll take a little longer.”
“Good work,” Wayne said solemnly. “You’ve saved me a lot of time.”
“This subordinate dares not take the credit. It was you who provided me the right guidance, it was you who pointed me to the stone tablet, and it was you who gave me the elemental rings. I’ve merely been executing my mission.”
“Well said. I’ve witnessed your loyalty to the goddess. Later, I’ll personally make a recommendation to Her to secure you a spot in Her Divine Realm.” Wayne made empty promises easily.
“Thank you for your generosity. It’s only what I should do.” Sebastian was so deeply touched that he shed tears. While wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he sneaked a glance at the Death Knight. Something felt strange about their conversation. The knight seemed different—not in his appearance, or his undead horse and divine weapon, Shadow Nightmare, but in his voice and speech patterns... Had the Death Knight changed his tone again?
Sebastian had met the Death Knight twice in the underground catacombs in Palis. The first time, the Death Knight made a full appearance. His incredible presence deeply impressed and inspired Sebastian, leading him to create his skeleton riders after the Death Knight’s likeness.
The second time, the Death Knight summoned Sebastian and ordered him to seek out the stone tablet. He didn’t see the Death Knight that time, and there was a thick barrier between them during the process.
His voice was different during those encounters!
The first time, the knight’s voice was strong and assertive, making it impossible to deny his authority. The second time, his voice was gloomy and hoarse, chilling to the bones. This time, the voice was different again. While still haughty, it sounded much more friendly. It could even be described as upbeat, making the knight more humanlike.
Sebastian preferred this Death Knight. During their first two meetings, he had been stiff and antsy, unable to even act like a proper bootlicker.
He welcomed the Death Knight in the front, while the mages disguised as miners followed and bowed in deference.
“Don’t waste my time, Sebastian. Hurry and lift the seal of the obelisk.” Wayne ignored the sycophants, staring at the obelisk instead. The energy circuits on the four sides flickered in different colors, channeling the four elements to the obelisk nonstop. It seemed more and more like a destroyer of celestial bodies from sci-fi stories, able to destroy a moon with a charged shot.
“This subordinate understands.”
Sebastian shouted at his people to hurry, setting up another two magic circles to make use of all four elements in the ruin. Standing beside the undead horse, he frowned at two of the skeletons.
“Sir Knight, Oscar and Mana were elites the church spent years training, even earning the blessings of Her avatars. May I ask how they offended you?”
“I told them I’m the Death Knight, but they didn’t buy it. So, I proved myself to them.”
“...”
Sebastian’s mouth twitched. Even a blind person could recognize the Death Knight based on the great sword of Death. Why would the Death Knight need to prove anything?
However, he didn’t dare to call the Death Knight out for killing loyal followers without a good reason, so he told himself that Oscar and Mana had to have asked for a swift end by saying something they shouldn’t have said.
“Sir Knight, there are two mice in the west. One of them is a heretic of Nature...”
“I’m the heretic!”
“???”
“According to the goddess’s divine oracle, the holy war is about to begin. The stone tablet is part of the preparation for the coming war. I’ve come to Windsor to destroy the Church of Nature from the inside.”
Wayne lied blatantly, trying to extract more information from Sebastian. He was curious about the actual Death Knight’s situation. According to the Thousand-Eyed Demon, the Death Knight was under the control of one or more demons from hell, working for someone else while receiving payment from the Goddess of Death.
Back on Dragonheart Island, Wayne had failed to summon Shadow Nightmare because of the Death Knight’s intervention. And the knight showed that he could take the sword back at any time.
However, the Death Knight didn’t do that. He seemed lenient to others and allowed Wayne to play with his sword and ride his horse. With such generosity, Wayne would even suspect that he had a cuckolding kink. Something had to be amiss!
Sebastian was surprised by the Death Knight’s course of action, even finding it unnecessary. He put on a look of realization and said, “No wonder you’ve established a new base in Londan without this subordinate’s involvement. But if that’s the case, why didn’t you summon me to Londan, but had me go to Palis...”
“You have too many questions,” Wayne cut him off. A leader always had the final say. When they changed their order in the span of a day, it was called being flexible. When their mood shifted constantly, it was about using both the carrot and the stick. The subordinates should just follow their orders without getting nosy.
Sebastian stopped himself. Seeing his meek reaction, Wayne questioned bluntly, “While the seal isn’t lifted yet, let me test you. Repeat my order to you.” He looked down at Sebastian, the two orbs of white light in his eye sockets contracting suddenly. “Since you seem to like knights so much, I’ll turn you into one if you miss a word.”
Sebastian’s heart sank. Damn it, his supervisor had found out about him using his likeness without permission.
Sebastian hurriedly said, “All these years, I’ve been working in Windsor, staying away from Londan according to the church’s strategy. It wasn’t until Gaye relayed your order...”
The Goddess of Death wasn’t well-accepted in the Chosen Land. Outside of a few countries, the Church of Death couldn’t operate in the open, Windsor being no exception. While the faith of Death had a presence in the nation, its activities were all clandestine.
Sebastian was a Gold-rank mage and a Bishop, serving as the Church of Death’s top leader in Windsor. Following the church’s order, he was to stay in Windsor unless he had a good reason, and he shouldn’t enter Londan.
There was another order: to collect information on Londan and keep tabs on the situation.
The two orders weren’t contradictory. While Sebastian couldn’t enter Londan, he could plant spies in the institutions. Eclipse Town was close to Londan, and Mayor Wales was a pawn of the plan. Through the mayor, the church’s bribery reached the higher-class people. Then Mayor Wales demanded information about Londan with the record of bribery as blackmail materials.
There were many more pawns like Wales, so while Sebastian stayed out of Londan, his eyes and ears were all over the city.
The Death Knight summoned Sebastian to head to Palis, which made him violate the two orders: stay in Windsor and stay away from Londan.
Gaye was the top leader of the Church of Death in Franc. Due to the existence of the underground catacombs, any opponents worth their salt had been kept at bay by the Death Knight, allowing Gaye to easily expand Death’s influence.
Gaye relayed the Death Knight’s summon. Violating the rules, Sebastian headed to Palis and received the rings and the mission to extract the stone tablet.
“You told me that the stone tablet sealed in the obelisk is related to a hidden part of history. There was once a fallen god...”
“The God of Storm and Thunder!”