Chapter 176: Chaos·The Beginning

  "You're the best news I've had all year." Seeing Ethan emerge from the teleportation array, Oufu's dwarf advisor breathed a huge sigh of relief. He had been pacing back and forth alone beside the teleportation array, his already exaggerated face scrunched up by worry and anxiety into a large, round bitter melon. Only when two blue teleportation lights flared up from the array did he finally feel relieved.

  Suddenly returning from the stormy city of Erathia to the starry Barbarian Highlands, Ethan's mood also lightened. He smiled and said, "If one teleportation scroll can be exchanged for the best news, then that in itself is good news."

  "From my personal perspective, this is good news, but from Oufu's perspective, it's not." Lord Bolgan sighed. "Fortunately, we were able to bring you back; otherwise, it would have been a truly huge loss. These two scrolls were obtained by Mr. Sedros at the cost of countless efforts, to be used as extraordinary strategic measures in extraordinary times. Due to the perennial war, Erathia's control over teleportation scrolls is very strict. They never imagined we would send two people to launch a surprise attack on their royal city. But now they are surely aware. Even if they don't shut down the teleportation array in the future, its defenses will not be as lax as they are now."

  Ethan was taken aback, only then understanding that sending Jessica back to Erathia was not such a simple matter. To waste a scroll that might have been able to turn the tide at a critical moment, all for an extremely slim chance of saving him, he had to admit that this was probably a bit of a "waste."

  "You said I'm the best news you've had all year. Are you saying that the death of Eschol isn't as good news as me coming back?"

  "The Cardinal's death is certainly beneficial to us, but it's far less beneficial than you, the captain of this secret unit, being alive."

  Ethan said to him with a hint of pride, "Seeing you so worried, let me tell you another piece of good news. On our way back, we killed a court mage named Saye, and General Orrin of the Kingdom's Knight Brigade might be in big trouble. They actually tried to kill that Temple Knight they disliked while hunting me..."

  Lord Bolgan listened carefully to Ethan's story of saving the female knight. A spark lit up in his ox-like eyes, but it then slowly faded as he fell into thought, finally settling into a bitter smile: "In the current situation, this really can't be considered good news..."

  "What do you mean? Why? I thought you'd be ecstatic to hear it."

  "Whether I heard this news alone, or the news of Eschol's death alone, I would be very happy. But the two pieces of news together are different." Lord Bolgan sighed, his large, pancake-like face growing even more worried and bitter. "Many times, the effect of things of the same nature is not just additive; they also influence each other. In other words, it's not addition, but multiplication. And when you multiply two negative numbers, the result is no longer a negative number."

  "Negative numbers? What do you mean?" Ethan frowned, looking at the dwarf before him.

  "If it were just the death of Archbishop Eschol, Queen Katherine should take this opportunity to weaken the Church's power in Erathia. This could have temporarily eased the pressure on Oufu. But now, that general's failed attempt to murder the Temple Knight has worsened the conflict between the Queen and the Church to the extreme, to a breaking point where it is completely irreconcilable. Celeste will absolutely not tolerate this situation. The Pope would rather give up Oufu than tolerate a rebellious Erathia. And Queen Katherine knows this too. So now, Katherine has only two choices: first, to completely break with the Church, or second, to completely submit to the Church." Lord Bolgan paused, his large, expressive ox-eyes looking at Ethan as he asked, "Which one do you think Katherine will choose?"

  "I see." Ethan thought for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. Then he asked, "Will the Church really turn a blind eye to the matter of her subordinate attempting to murder a Temple Knight?"

  "Won't they? They are all political veterans. Do you think they can't see the general trend and the stakes involved, and would instead waste their energy and time on such trivial matters?"

  "Then I've already told that female knight about Eschol's identity and had her bring the message back to Celeste. Are you saying that's useless too?"

  "I don't know what use it will have. I only know that they will absolutely not publicize this matter everywhere. So even if it's useful, it's probably of very little use." Lord Bolgan spread his hands, shook his head, and sighed. "Come, let's stop guessing about them for now. We still have our own matters to attend to."

  Celeste. The Radiant Citadel, in Lancelot's room.

  The Paladin frowned, looking at a pile of small items before him. Among them, a silver skull mask and two teleportation scrolls were the most conspicuous. On the two ends of the scrolls, there were two small purple skull symbols, respectively. The faint silver light emanating from the skull mask showed that it was actually made of mithril, and its craftsmanship and production methods were exquisite to the extreme. The magical fluctuations attached to it indicated that it was permanently imbued with some kind of magic. Whether as a magic item or a treasure, it was priceless.

  Of course, its most valuable aspect was not in the object itself, but in the significance it represented.

  "These were all found on Archbishop Eschol's body and in the hidden places of his room. I have had the scrolls and the mask specially authenticated... they are all real. And this letter," Talise took out a piece of white paper from her robe. There were only a few lines on it, clearly not yet finished. The Temple Knight held the paper as if it were a great effort, as if it were so heavy her strength could not lift it. Her fingers and even her voice were trembling slightly. "It was written to Norbolin. It seems to be discussing the reduction of this year's donation amount to the Church, because a large number of magic items are needed to make gargoyles and flesh puppets. I have already found several specialists in handwriting authentication to examine the handwriting on this letter. These... don't seem to be forged. It is indeed His Grace Archbishop Eschol's handwriting..."

  Lancelot sighed, his brows knitting together. He slowly shook his head and said to Talise in a low voice, "Do you know that by unauthorizedly collecting a Cardinal's remains and making presumptuous judgments, you have already exceeded your duties."

  Talise had not expected Lancelot to have such a reaction. She quickly said loudly, "But these matters are just too..."

  "Stop. Does anyone else know about these matters?" Lancelot said flatly.

  Talise replied, "No. These matters are just too shocking. Too... unseemly. I didn't dare to let anyone else participate. I only showed the handwriting specialists individual words; they didn't know the letter's content. Only I know about this now. I also didn't dare to send these things to the Inquisition or directly to His Majesty. So I came to show you first."

  "You've done well. In the future, you must also remember firmly: these matters and these things can never be known by anyone else again." Lancelot put away the mask and the scrolls, looked at the unfinished letter, and sighed. With a flick of his finger, that piece of white paper, enough to shake the entire Church, turned into a fine, dust-like powder that scattered down.

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  "You... you..." Talise's eyes widened in disbelief as she watched the Paladin's every move.

  Lancelot looked at his disciple. His expression and voice were equally calm and unwavering. He said softly, "You should also know that if these matters were to spread from the mouth of a Temple Knight, the harm to the entire Church would be incomparable to the rumors of heretics. This is that person's intention in telling you these things."

  "But this... this... are we to hide this even from His Majesty? That person said... said... Archbishop Adela... is the same as Archbishop Eschol. If that's true... isn't His Majesty in great danger..."

  Lancelot said flatly, "Do you think His Majesty needs you to remind him?"

  "He knows?" Talise's expression was more incredulous than if she had seen a mouse swallow an elephant. She was stunned for a moment, her gaze slowly falling upon her teacher. "You mean, these things are actually true? And you... you knew long ago?"

  "No, I didn't know." Lancelot shook his head. "I could only guess. It was only when you told me just now that I knew for sure it was them."

  "This... how is that possible. How could you allow... His Majesty the Pope... a Necromancer..." Talise was incoherent. It wasn't that she couldn't express her thoughts in words, but that she herself didn't know what the mess in her own mind was. She had already been shocked by her own discovery. Even though the evidence was indisputable, she still found it hard to believe. It was like a child who, even when faced with conclusive evidence, is unwilling to believe that a family member is a heinous murderer. But Lancelot's reaction now was not only a calm admission, but the implication behind his reaction was something even more unbelievable.

  The guardian god of the Church of Light, the man recognized on the continent as the only one worthy of the title "Paladin," was almost synonymous with the word "justice." But he knowingly allowed Necromancers to mix within the Church without doing anything. And according to him, not only did he know, but so did the Pope, the leader of all believers on the continent.

  Talise felt like she was going crazy. She had originally thought that the Cardinal's other identity was earth-shattering, but compared to this, it was just a single wave in a turbulent ocean.

  Lancelot naturally saw the confusion in his disciple. He did not explain directly but dipped his finger into the inkwell on the desk, coated it with ink, and then drew a line on the desktop. A thick, dark ink mark lay across the desk. Then he pointed to this black mark and asked Talise, "What color is this?"

  "It's black." Talise replied, looking at Lancelot. Even in her bewilderment, she could still distinguish this.

  But Lancelot shook his head and said, "No, this is actually the mixture of all colors."

  Talise nodded. One didn't have to be a specialized painter or artist; anyone with common sense knew that if you mixed all the color pigments completely, it would become a black, ink-like mass.

  A light sphere, a mixture of Battle Qi and white magic power, appeared on his finger. He then asked his disciple, "What color is this light?"

  "White light." Talise answered honestly.

  "No. This is the mixture of all colors of light. I have seen it with the dwarf craftsmen. If you refract it once with a triangular glass prism, the white light will scatter into the seven colors of the spectrum. And if you gather those seven colors of light together again, it becomes white light."

  Talise looked at Lancelot blankly. She could sense that there was a hidden meaning in his words, but she couldn't grasp it clearly.

  "Just like these seemingly simple black and white colors, in reality, the essence of anything is not that simple or easy to distinguish." Lancelot flicked his finger, and the ink on it instantly vanished. The white light sphere also dissipated into the air. His voice and gaze slowly grew grave. "To categorize all things under simple concepts is a very easy and convenient thing to do. That way, the complex and chaotic world can seem very clear, giving people a sense of security and direction. It's just a pity. The truth cannot be clearly resolved by simple concepts of good and evil."

  "I... I don't understand." Talise lowered her head. Although she could understand the meaning of Lancelot's words, she could not accept them.

  "I know you won't understand. Even I took a full ten years to understand." Lancelot gave a bitter smile. "To understand that there is no such thing as absolute justice and light. Just as the pitch-black night is actually the shadow of the day. The things in the world are all interdependent. Light and darkness are opposites, but from a certain perspective, they might be the same thing. Only in darkness can light be produced, and only light can create the shadows of darkness. It is unavoidable. What we can do is, in fact, to maintain a kind of relative balance, allowing as many places as possible to be illuminated by light."

  "No, that's impossible. Teacher, although I respect you very much, I absolutely cannot agree with your view." Talise suddenly raised her head, her eyes looking directly at Lancelot. The confusion and chaos in her eyes from moments before had been completely replaced by a light that was extremely firm, yet tinged with a hint of despair.

  Lancelot smiled faintly and said, "I am not teaching you now, just telling you my point of view. This should also be His Majesty's point of view, and it is indeed the truth."

  "That's impossible." Talise's body was trembling. It was even more severe than when she had just found the Necromancy mask on Eschol's body. Although she could not accept her teacher's words, she knew very well that Lancelot would not lie to her. This meant that these unbelievable things did exist, and were tacitly approved by His Majesty the Pope. For her, who had always distinguished between light, justice, and darkness, evil with absolute clarity, this fact was no better than the sky falling.

  The look in Lancelot's eyes as he watched Talise was full of compassion. It was as if he was looking at himself from many years ago. "Leave Celeste. Don't worry about the affairs of the Church for now."

  Talise was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said, "The war with Oufu is about to break out at any moment, and... since I now know these things, how can I leave?"

  "Whether you know these things or not, they have already existed for a long time. And it is precisely because you know them but cannot accept them that you will bring trouble upon yourself. I know your personality. You are absolutely incapable of keeping these things hidden in your heart. But if these matters were to leak out, you probably know very well what would happen. After all, the vast majority of people are just like you, unable to accept these facts." Lancelot shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Regarding the war with Oufu, your heart is now confused, and your faith has been shaken. It's useless for you to stay. Your talent is actually very good. You can't even defeat those whose strength is inferior to yours. Do you know why?"

  Talise shook her head.

  "This is because you lack the strength of your heart. No matter how good a person's mind is, or how high their martial skills are, it's not that big of a deal, because these are far from the decisive factors. As a person, the most important thing is the strength of one's heart." Lancelot paused, sighed, and then said, "You are different from the other Temple Knights. You have been in Celeste since you were young. Your entire life has been spent cultivating and learning magic and combat. But simple belief alone cannot bear the heavy weight of things like light and justice. I have always wanted to find an opportunity to let you leave here, to forget your identity as a Temple Knight and to temper yourself properly in the outside world. Now is the opportunity. You now know many things that you originally could not accept, and your heart is full of confusion. This confusion cannot be helped by anyone's teaching. It requires you to experience and comprehend it for yourself through success and failure, joy and sorrow. The courage of the young is a sword, a battle, the courage to challenge everything you do not agree with. But the courage of true maturity is the ocean. To face and embrace everything. Only then can it nurture life. When you dare to face reality itself, instead of dividing it into concepts you have already defined, that is when you will gain the strength of your heart. And only when you reach that stage will you understand the words I just spoke, and will you understand why His Majesty and I did what we did."

  Talise was silent for a long while, finally nodding. "I understand. Teacher. But where should I go?"

  Lancelot thought for a moment and replied, "Go east."

  The next day, just as Talise stepped out of the main gate of The Radiant Citadel, she met Archbishop Adela at the entrance.

  The red-robed bishop had clearly not slept all night. His expression was haggard and weary, and his usual gentleness and composure were nowhere to be seen. The sudden assassination of Archbishop Eschol, and the attack on Talise by General Orrin that she had reported, had caused an unprecedented turmoil throughout Celeste. However, due to the decisiveness and arrangements of His Majesty the Pope, who had hastily summoned the Cardinals for consultation overnight, these matters did not have much actual impact on Celeste.

  "Paladin Lancelot has already submitted an application to His Majesty to have you go out for training. To be honest, in such an extraordinary time, I personally don't think this is a suitable proposal, but I trust Lord Lancelot has his own considerations. Besides, His Majesty the Pope has already approved it, so I also wish you a smooth journey, Talise." Although Archbishop Adela looked very haggard, he still gave the female knight the kindest-looking smile he could manage.

  "Thank you." Talise did not dare to say too much. She just nodded.

  "Regarding the incident of General Orrin of Erathia attacking you, I was ordered by His Majesty to rush to Erathia overnight to inquire and investigate. Queen Katherine takes this matter very seriously and is also very apologetic. According to the investigation, General Orrin simply acted in a moment of carelessness in the dark, torrential rain. He has personally expressed repentance and regret for his mistake. Queen Katherine has also punished him. I hope you will not dwell on it anymore."

  "Yes, I understand." Talise nodded. If not for her conversation with Lancelot last night, she would surely have been surprised and argued about such a strange and almost comical outcome for this matter. But now she understood that behind these seemingly incomprehensible events, there must be a thousand and one threads. And now, unconsciously, she had a great deal of guard against this once-familiar red-robed bishop. She did not dare to reveal too much in front of him.

  Perhaps because he was not in high spirits, Archbishop Adela paid little attention to her reaction and continued, "Queen Katherine is also deeply saddened and enraged by the assassination of Archbishop Eschol. The culprit is now clear, and Oufu's actions are truly unpardonable. Erathia's army has been fully mobilized and will soon march towards the Barbarian Highlands with other religious nations. The eradication of that evil beastman nest is now just a matter of time." Adela threw his head back and let out a mournful cry, two streams of tears rolling down his eyes. His voice carried an undisguised grief and anger. "Lord Eschol, you are watching from heaven. I will definitely make them pay in blood."

  Talise watched Adela's back as he walked towards The Radiant Citadel, her heart filled with confusion and chaos. The once-familiar building and figure now seemed to carry a somewhat frightening sense of strangeness. She took one last look, then stepped out.

  At the same time, thousands of miles away in Oufu City, in the conference room of the city hall, Sedros, Gru, Lord Bolgan, and the chieftains of the various beastman tribes were all gathered.

  Although Sedros showed no expression, his usually resonant voice had become hoarse. He looked around and said, "I have bad news for everyone. According to reports from our scouts, the great army of the Church, led by Erathia, has assembled and is preparing to advance on Oufu in several columns."