Dark King

It didn't take long before they reacher another tall stone fort on top of a barrier wall. The fort was about fifty meters high and was designed like a hedgehod. It had sharp thorns stabbing out. There were few corpses hanging over them.

"The fort seems to be quiet long." Dudian said.

Francis replied: "Its not that long. This fort surrounds entire central zone. It is the line of defense. The strength of this barrier is much better than the barrier wall of the inner wall."

Dudian frowned: "Why inner wall stuffs itself within barriers one after another? Is it to protect itself from the monsters of the wilderness?"

Francis shrugged his shoulders: "Living inside the wall is always safer than living outside it."

"But what's the point of living inside the walls when you can't see the landscape outside the wall?"

Francis laughed: "It's just bushes and grass. What scenery are you talking about? There is nothing worth to look at!"

"You may percieve it as desolate wilderness but I think of it as freedom."

Francis didn't reply as they came to stop in front of the fort. There were soldiers wearing standard armor and standing in front of the gate. The gates of the fort opened as they were given access to the central zone.

There were several barracks and villages behind the fort.

Dudian asked: "I didn't expect to see a village in this desolate part of the central zone."

Francis answered: "Mr Dean there is no concept of 'villages' in the inner wall. The people who live there are the families of the soldiers stationed in the fort. These soldiers can't go back to the home for long so their wives and children have been transported to live in here."

Dudian's eyes lit up but he didn't ask for anything else.

The group passed through the roads over the hills. Half an hour later they came to see a towering mountain. There was a lively town at the foothills of the mountain.

"It's the St Paul branch of the Monastery. We will be going there." Francis pointed to the road leading to the top of the mountain.

Dudian quietly observed the place. The buildings within the town were scattered around. Francis didn't take Dudian into the town but they went along the road to the top of the mountain. They passed through a gate where two soldiers were at duty.

Both of them respectfully saluted Francis and others: "Greetings Saints."

Francis nodded as they continued along the road. They reached a square and all of them got off the snow lions.

At the end of the square there was a magnificent abbey. It was similar to western cathedrals that Dudian remembered. There were sculptures of two angels in front of the abbey.

"This is the courtyard. There are seminaries and other structures along the hillside." Francis introduced the place to Dudian.

Dudian found that the Monastery had the same institutions like the Christianity from the old era. They had seminary, hospital and other structures. Was it that the structures were passed down from the old era?

They walked down the stairs and went into a hall. This part of the abbey was extremely elegant.

"Come with me." Francis opened a door on the side and went in. There was a long passage behind the wall. They walked for more than ten meters and passed through several forks. Francis choose forks as if following a particular path.

It didn't take long when the secret corridor finished and a spiral stairs appeared in front of them. The place was looking like a maze.

"Why its so complex?" Dudian asked.

Francis indifferently smiled: "The Monastery contains the secrets of the universe. Taking you to the main hall of the abbey would be the same as blashpemy towards the god. I'm taking you to the investigation room for the interrogation. The place is called 'Asura's Hell'! You will taste it when we get there."

They walked down the spiral staircase. Dudian heard faint voices echoing from the chamber they were getting close too. The more they got closer the clear the voices were. They were actually screams of humans.

They reached an iron gate. Francis opened the door and they entered a court-like place. But it was much larger than the sentencing room of a prison. There were many instruments such as hooks, whips and etc that were used for torture. There was even a few instruments which had human hair and skin attached on top of them. At the side there was a big glass aquarium. There were human head, tongue, heart and other organs inside it.

There were blood stains spilled all over the walls.

Dudian wrinkled his eyebrows as he entered the room.

Francis saw the calm expression on Dudian's face: "Mr Dean seems to have been through some storms."

"There isn't conclusive evidence for you to torture me."

"I thought you were not afraid of it." Francis laughed.

Dudian indifferently said: "I'm not here to fool around."

Francis chuckled: "I hope you can maintain this attitude till the end. By the way I'm not the person who will investigate you but the elders of the St. Paul's Abbey." Francis looked at the guard inside the room: "Open the door."

The man was obese and had a round belly. He had a black mask covering his face. He looked like the butcher in the market. The man moved and removed string of keys from the shelf. He opened the key. There were blood stains and dust on the door.

Dudian looked at the prisoner inside the room. The man was whipped. Half of his scalp was missing while some of the fingers on his hand and toe were missing.

The door opened and led to another passage.

Francis led the way. They came to stop in front of a fork. One of the passage was much more bigger than other passages. The oil lamps on the walls were new too. There was wooden floor on the ground and a layer of carpet on it.

There was a big wooden door at the end of the passage. It was colored in scarlet red.

Francis knocked the door: "Francis is here."

A voice of an old man echoed: "Come in."

Francis pushed the door and turned towards the other five saints: "Go back and wait for me."

The others nodded and left.

Dudian had long detected the existence of two humanoid heats within the room. However he was startled as he saw Francis's care when stepping into the room. He followed after the captain of the saint team.

"Elders." Francis respectfully bowed after he entered the room.

The ground was covered with soft cotton carpet. The room was very spacious and the walls were decorated with lots of art work. There were skeletons in the middle of the room. At the end of the room there was a large bed. A man who seemed to be in his seventies was leaning by the bedside. There was a beautiful woman who was in his arms.

Dudian's face slightly changed.

Was they the elders of the Monastery responsible for the punishments?

"Is this Dean the little genius?" The old man stretched out his hand and took the glasses that were handed to him by the woman in his arms. He looked over at Dudian.

Francis replied: "Yes, elder."

Dudian was also looking at the old man. Their eyes collided. He felt a pressure from the man. Although the latter seemed like an old man but it seemed as if a giant was looking down at him. Dudian thought that the old man could see all the secrets in his heart just by looking at him.

Dudian was shocked. The main reason was that the heat emitted from the old man's body was no different from an ordinary person. But the woman in his arms was like a fireball. The heat her body emitted was much more terrifying that the Francis. Moreover such a terryfing woman was sitting on old man's lap and playing with his beard as if nothing was happening at all.