Chapter 44 - 44: Thirty-eight, who do you think you are talking to?
Chapter 44: Thirty-eight, who do you think you are talking to?
“`
“Why… is there no more noise?”
“Yes, has the battle ended?”
“Then why hasn’t the Knight Master returned yet?”
The knights who were left to stand guard at their original position exchanged glances with each other, vaguely feeling a sense of unease.
It was because the silence was just too profound.
Earlier in the battle with Ulu, Kelsay had brought down a house and the fight drifted further and further away, to the point that it couldn’t be seen from their position, leaving them only able to hear a series of explosions and Kelsay’s continuous shouting of “insect”, but this ruckus ended with the last explosion, and after that, there was complete silence.
They had thought the battle was over and the Knight Master would soon return with Ulu’s head, just as he had done countless times before.
But this time, their Knight Master did not return, and nobody could be seen in the darkness.
“Knight Master… couldn’t have lost, could he?”
And so, this dangerous thought involuntarily sprang to their minds.
“How is that possible? How could the Knight Master lose?! Lord Kelsay had just entered ‘Divine Blessing’ mode!” The adjutant shouted, denying these dangerous ideas of the knights, but after a brief silence, he slowly drew his sword, “But no matter what, we still need to confirm it. Leave two men… no, everyone follow me!”
The adjutant knew his last command betrayed the unease in his heart, but at the moment, he couldn’t care less.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on 𝑛𝘰𝘷𝗴𝘰.co
Although he was reluctant to believe that someone named Ulu truly had the ability to defeat Kelsay, especially a Kelsay who had entered “Divine Blessing” status, he now had to prepare for the worst possible scenario.
So he led his subordinates into the darkness, following the trail of the battle.
In the end, they found Kelsay.
But they only found half of him.
When they saw Kelsay, who still stood upright, kept in place by the yet-to-dissipate Magic Chains, but whose lower half had vanished, each knight’s pupils dilated with inexplicable terror.
“Quick, go report to Bishop Corey!” The adjutant immediately ordered in a hoarse voice, “Lord Kelsay is dead in battle! Priest Ulu has escaped!”
“Lord Kelsay is dead in battle! Priest Ulu has escaped!”
“Lord Kelsay is dead in battle! Priest Ulu has escaped!”
The adjutant’s voice, filled with fear, was like a stone thrown into water, stirring ripples after ripples, but it soon returned to calm.
…
And the instigator of all this was tremblingly walking on the town’s streets.
Ulu felt his body had reached its limit to the extent that if he didn’t lean against the wall, he simply couldn’t walk; he felt he had returned to the town completely on willpower.
“`
And then Bai Wei’s voice rang in his mind, “Someone’s behind you. You should hide.”
Ulu was startled, and he immediately ducked into the nearest alley, hardly taking two steps before he crumpled to the ground with a “plop,” like a dead man.
Soon after, the Knights of Rhein hastened past. Their faces were panic-stricken and their footsteps erratic; they clearly knew of Kelsay’s death by now and had no desire to conduct a major search like yesterday—when they would examine bodies laying by the roadside to confirm if they were truly dead.
If it had been like that, Ulu would have surely not escaped detection. Unbeknownst to these knights, the very person who had killed Kelsay was right under their noses, weak and pitiful. If only they had entered the alley, they could have easily captured Ulu… But there weren’t so many “what ifs” in reality. With Kelsay’s death, these knights had lost any will to continue their work. Only one or two glanced into the alley—fortunately, Ulu’s priestly robes were also torn and ragged—before hurrying to join the departing main force.
Hence, they also failed to notice that, although the “corpse” was lying face down, the left middle finger of the “corpse” remained rigid and straight, like a cold-hearted man with arms crossed, observing the changes in the outside world.
“Alright, they’re gone,” Bai Wei said indifferently. “Though I know you’re exhausted, you should leave quickly, before the Rhein Church appoints a new Knight Master… Of course, they may not appoint anyone and simply accept their fate, but you can’t bet on that possibility.”
Bai Wei had a good understanding of the structure of the Rhein Church, after all, in the game, the player’s starting identity was a Rhein Knight.
Each knight squad of Rhein operated around their Knight Master because they were the only one in the squad capable of entering the “Divine Blessing” state, the strongest combat force. The other knights essentially served as support to the Knight Master. Without the Knight Master, a knight squad would be in name only.
In this respect, the knight squads of Rhein were far inferior to the other three major Orthodox Churches. Concentrating the main combat strength on one person certainly had its disadvantages, but the upside was that the Knight Master as an individual was indeed very strong.
Honestly, just based on paper strength, Kelsay was absolutely stronger than Bai Wei making a First Rank descent upon Ulu’s body. In “Divine Blessing” state, he could even use Divine Arts, but he was killed by Bai Wei before he could cast them.
Setting aside the major influence of the emotions of arrogance and anger, Kelsay’s combat experience was far inferior to that of Bai Wei. Even with just verbal guidance for Ulu, Bai Wei was able to beat Kelsay, who was not in “Divine Blessing” state, until he was covered in lumps.
There was no helping it; after all, Kelsay… Bai Wei had fought him dozens, if not hundreds of times.
“Cough, cough, cough…” At this moment, Ulu slowly rose from the ground. His fall was not an act; he had genuinely passed out. “Oh…”
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
“How does it feel, the success of your revenge?” Bai Wei asked leisurely.
Ulu did not respond but stared blankly at the blood he had spat out.
It was black.
Bai Wei noticed this as well and “furrowed his brows” slightly, thinking it seemed like he couldn’t hide it any longer.
As expected, after seeing the pool of blood, Ulu murmured, “No, no… This isn’t caused by normal injuries. I feel like… like I’m about to die… Why…”
He spoke in a daze, then out of the corner of his eye, he saw his still erect left middle finger and suddenly understood everything.
“It’s you, it’s because of you!” he shouted, grabbing his left hand with agitation, “You’re the one corrupting my body! You’re the one stealing my life! It’s you, it’s all you! You’re deceiving me too, you’re also lying to me!”
Saying this, he looked around, then noticed a stone and immediately picked it up, seemingly intending to crush his finger.
But the next second, he was slammed against the wall by a great force, his throat locked by a hand.
His own left hand.
“You think…” Bai Wei said coldly, “who is it that you’re talking to?”