Dark King

Snow lions went towards the barrier wall along the official road through the wilderness.

"Everything has been handled within the outer wall. We will just get you appointed now." Francis looked at Dudian: "I'll give you a mask to cover your face if you don't want to expose your current identity."

Dudian was silent as he looked to the path within the wilderness. He knew that there was no chance to enter the inner wall until his identity was exposed. In that case he could be abandoned as a pawn too.

The crowd reached the front of the wall after few hours of ride. They met monsters along the way which were beheaded by Francis. Their corpses were abandoned on the roadside.

Dudian put on the mask given by Francis.

Francis came forward towards the gate. There were two guards at the moment. One of them pulled the valve and opened the gates. Francis ordered the other saints to stay while he led Dudian through the gate. It was late and the time was about ten o-'clock in the evening. The curfew time applied to the commercial district too.

Francis went through the suburbs as Dudian followed after him.

Dudian breathed the air and felt his whole body relax.

About an hour later they reached a small town at the outskirts of the commerical district. The place was extremely dark. It was a luxury for most of the inhabitants to burn lamps over the night.

Francis put the snow lion beside a tree outside the town: "Let's go."

Dudian also tied the snow lion and followed after him into the town.

The residents of the town had long slept. The only thing they heard was the 'whining' of the wind. Once in a while blue leaves flew by them.

Francis looked around as they entered the town. He seemed to be looking for something. After moments his eyes locked in a remote house. The design of the house was simple and crude. It didn't stand out. However Dudian noted that the Francis's eyes were locked on to the fishes that were hung to dry in front of the house. He checked it too. They were rare blackwater fish.

There are many dark spots on blackwater fish's body. They feed on small fishes and its very difficult to capture them.

He looked at the house. Because of the thermal vision he was able to identigy four figures within the house. Two of them were asleep while the other two were in the basement.

Francis came to stop in front of the house with the blackwater fish and knocked the door.

Two people who were sleeping raised their heads at the same time. The ones in the basement also look up.

A figure came to stand behind the door. He lit up a faint light and unlocked the door. A gap was revealed and old man looked at Francis: "Who are you?"

Francis whispered: "The darkness is eternal!"

The old man's pupils shrank as he opened the door. He looked at Francis then saw Dudian behind him who was wearing a mask. He said in a low tone: "Come in."

Francis was the first to step in and Dudian followed after him.

The old man and the other two checked the place to see if someone was looking at the house. The old man gently closed and locked the door after he couldn't detect anything.

An old woman came out from the bedroom and said in a respectful tone: "Greetings Holiness!"

Francis nodded: "Where's Kerry?"

The old man who shut the door said: "Holy one please come with me." He led them to the basement as he ignited the oil lamp in the basement's wall.

The basement was very spacious. There were two figures in there. An old man and a young person.

Francis smiled when he saw the old man: "Elder Kerry. "

The old man checked Francis's dress: "The medal."

Francis handed out his saint medal.

The old man checked the medal and nodded. He handed it back and looked at Dudian: "It seems the one who will be replacing the elder is young."

Francis laughed: "There is no need to worry! Elder Kerry please finish as soon as possible as I will be taking you back tonight."

Kerry nodded: "Everything is prepared. The new elder has to report his code name. This is Hawkeye my assistant. He will help you understand your duties."

The elder pointed to the youth next to him.

Dudian saw that the youth wasn't wearing a mask. He had golden hair and looked handsome. However there was some kind of evilness in his eyes.

"Hello." Dudian said as he adjusted his voice. It was easy for him to control his voice.

"Hawkeye greets the elder." Youth smiled.

Francis said: "Alright. I'll be waiting for you in here. You must be back before four o'clock."

Kerry nodded and took out a mask from the robe: "I'll take you to your future office in the headquarters."

Dodian nodded.

Kerry, Dudian and the Hawkeye went upstairs to leave. The old man opened the door and trio disappeared in the darkness of the night. The old man closed the daughter as he smiled.