Masked Knight

The spiral flight of steps led directly underground.

The width of the steps was just enough for two people to walk side by side. Rody and the King slowly walked down. Although there was no lighting from torches along the way, the design of the place seemed worthy of being the biggest secret of the Royal Family of the Sauron Kingdom. From the first step down the spiral staircase, the gems on both sides of the handrail lit up with a gentle radiance.

Rody immediately realized that that was a kind of illuminating sorcery array.

The flight of steps continued downwards. Based on Rody's mental calculation, they had been walking down for quite some time—at their walking speed, the depth of that secret underground place must be amazing.

In fact, all the way down, Rody was counting the number of steps in his heart. When he had secretly counted up until three hundred and thirty-three, he finally saw the ground below...and the end of the flight of steps.

The King smiled and opened up his hands proudly. He then said, "Welcome to the Palace Hall of the Sage King!"

In front of them was a big round vault-shaped door. The King suddenly laughed and said, "Earl Rody, please knock on the door."

Rody frowned but he still stretched out his hand to knock on the door twice...

The huge stone gate slowly opened from both sides. Rody was surprised to find two rows of fully armored warriors inside the room.

Although there were only a few of them, they were all wearing armors that made Rody felt strange. Its style was about thirty percent similar to the armors of the Roland knights. However, it only covered the critical parts...

Rody realized that these armors looked similar to the armor worn by that female Dragon Paladin that night. The only difference was that these people had helmets that covered their faces.

The King was forthright. He was the first to walk in, with big strides.

The moment Rody walked past the stone door, he felt like he had entered an amazing world.

This was absolutely a miracle!

The end of the space could not be seen with a single glance. All kinds of sculpture were in front of him. Each of those huge stone sculptures was about ten meters tall. They were a variety of shapes, wearing ancient armors and looked dignified.

"These were the ancestors of the Shaka Imperial Family!" The King solemnly introduced. He then slightly lowered his head and slowly walked by.

In the vicinity was a place that looked like a huge underground fortress. There was also a city wall that was seven to eight meters high in front of him. Under the city wall was a ‘moat’.

When Rody walked across the bridge, he could not help but look down at the moat. He saw a bright silver ‘river’.

"This is a moat. Our ancestors dug up this trench and put in mercury!" The King proudly said, "This strange silver liquid can actually kill a human! As long as someone were to fall into the moat and accidentally choke a little on the silver liquid, he would be dead!"

After passing through the city walls, Rody was surprised to find that it was a military fortress. The secret underground remains still had about a dozen fully armored warriors on the walls. Although the number was not big, it was enough for the wall that was only a few meters long.

Such an amazing heavenly place was found deep in the ground about a hundred meters beneath. Even Rody could not help looking surprised.

The King looked at the warriors on the wall and sighed. "These warriors are carefully selected elites from the Royal household of the Sauron Kingdom. Each and every one of them is as strong as a Paladin! They are all loyal to the Royal Family of the Sauron Kingdom as they were sent to this dark place since childhood. They accepted the education of the Royal Family and would die for the Royal Family!" After saying all that, the King sighed. "Unfortunately, these kinds of people are now difficult to find. In the entire 'Sage King Hall Royal Knights', there are only three thousand knights. These are the last people the Royal Family of the Sauron Kingdom could place their trust in."

Rody also gave a sigh. There was actually an army in such an underground world. One could only imagine how they were selected and trained...

From inside the wall, Rody could not help but look up at the sky. He was surprised to see stars and moon instead of a rock surface. That sky was so real to the extent that Rody almost believed that he was outdoors.

The King then explained. "The sky above is an illusion created by sorcery. It rotates between day and night."

Rody sighed. "This is indeed a major piece of art!"

The King smiled and said, "The Shaka Royal Family took a few hundred years to create this place!"

The buildings around them were constructed with stones and were entirely in accordance with the structure of the military fortress. Rody could clearly feel that if the outside walls were broken, the defenders could still use these stone structures as layer upon layer of defense.

At the innermost area, there was a smallish palace.

The palace was constructed with large black stones. There were no warriors guarding the place. Rody and the King went straight in but Rody was not naïve to think that there was no defense here. With his strength, he could clearly feel a faint murderous aura coming from all directions.

The King lightly said, "If I did not lead the way and if a person were to break in here, he would already be shot down by arrows before he reached this door. The Guardian Knights of the Palace of the Sage King do not only have warriors. They also have sorcerers. Although the sorcerers' strengths were not prominent individually, a long time ago, the Shaka Royal Family had discovered a way to combine the sorcerers' powers, substantially increasing the lethality of their sorcery. According to the ancient legends, they could even kill Paladins!" After saying that, the King looked at Rody.

Rody understood. Combining the sorcerers’ powers…Isn’t that the legendary combined sorcery?

After entering that small palace, Rody discovered that the doors of the rooms were closed.

"This is where the high ranked Guardian Knights and sorcerers live. The sorcerers are eccentric and are usually unwilling to meet people." The King smiled.

Rody sighed. "With this force, you are able to subjugate the dwarves with the planned sneak attack. Your Majesty, why do you still require my assistance?"

The King smiled and continued to lead Rody in.

In the main hall of the palace, the whole lobby was bright. There were a variety of strange gems of different sizes mounted on the wall. The various colors and types of lights mixed together and lit up the whole hall as though it was daytime.

Inside the hall, on both sides, were several human shaped stone carvings. The sculptures had different postures. Some of them were sitting while some of them were standing. The facial expressions of the sculptures were also different. Some were happy, some were sad. Some were laughing, some were angry. They were all wearing similar robes and clothes. Their clothes were strange and did not have any additional adornment. Almost everyone was wearing a robe with a simple belt and also a strange ‘hat’.

Rody could only describe it as a 'hat' simply because he did not know what plant was used to weave into something like a floral hoop and then worn on the head.

"That is something called an ‘olive leaf’! That kind of plant cannot be found anymore!" The King smiled and said. "These here were our great ancestors, the Royal Family of the Shaka Empire! In the ancient era of the Shaka Empire, the Emperor had no crown! The olive branches wreathed into hoops was the crown! According to the ancient legends, the olive leaf signifies peace."

The King smiled solemnly and pointed in front of him, at the largest statue in the hall. It was an old man with fluttering long hair and a dignified face. His upper body was naked, and his robes were tied around his waist. The muscles on his chest were well-defined. His eyes were looking in front. Perhaps, it was just an illusion, but Rody could not help but think that the man’s eyes looked sad...

The King sighed. "That was the first Emperor of the Shaka Empire! He was also my great ancestor!"

After saying that, the King slowly walked to the stone throne under the statue. He sat down and then said in a low voice, "In my name, summon my subjects!"

"Shaka!" Low echoes appeared from both sides of the hall, in unison.

Rody was astonished and he could faintly feel the fluctuations of sorcery. He understood that the echoes were the work of sorcery.

Immediately, an old man completely covered in robes walked into the hall.

"Your Majesty!" That old man lowered his head.

The King looked at Rody. He smiled and said, "This is the leader of the Guardian Knights of the Royal Family of Shaka Empire. He is also my most trusted person!" The King then gave a strange smile and sounded a little pleased with himself as he said, "He has another identity that nobody else other than me knows about...He is the leader of the Sorcerer’s Association of the Roland Continent, Master Sith."

Rody looked down at the quiet old man who kept his head low with a changed expression.

The leader of the Sorcerer’s Association!

'The Sauron Royal Family member…No, should be, this descendant of the Royal Family of the Shaka Empire. How powerful is he?'

Rody smiled coldly. "Your Majesty, it looks like the Sauron Kingdom has already obtained a lot of power. Do you still need me under such a situation?"

The King frowned but he did not speak. The one who replied was Sith. "Mister Rody, the Sorcerer’s Association looks powerful, but it is actually a loose organization. Even the president of the Sorcerer’s Association is just a distinguished name only. I am unable to direct all the powers of the Sorcerer’s Association. The best I can do is to foster more talents for His Majesty…"

The King sighed and then softly said, "Master Sith, Mister Rody is the first guest to come in here! I believe you have already arranged the first welcoming program for him?"

Sith replied expressionlessly, "It has already been arranged according to your orders."

...

"What is that kid, Rody, doing right now?" Sky lazily leaned against a long chair and stretched his lazy waist. He was actually lying down on the Emperor’s throne!

Andy sat cross-legged on the floor. His eyes were closed as he asked, "Are you worried about him?"

Sky gave Andy a glance. "Worried about him? Even if everybody in this world died, he probably would still be alive!"

Andy finally opened his eyes but gave a supercilious look. "Then what are you worried about?"

Sky did not seem to care and softly said, "I think the people at the Roland Temple must have already given him trouble."

Andy suddenly laughed. "What’s wrong?"

Sky shook his stout head. His whole body jumped out from the chair like a potato. "Old skeleton, aren’t you worried? It is not so easy to deal with the Roland Temple. In any case, there are a few Paladins...and also…"

Andy sighed. "When have you become so long winded? What are you trying to say? You better quickly say it all out."

Sky had a strange expression as he said, "The Roland Continent is not as simple as we imagined…The Temple may be nothing…However, that place was where humans originated from. There will definitely be a lot of strange secrets."

Andy smiled, "For example?"

Sky closed his eyes and said, "God’s Record."

He suddenly smiled as the fats on his face squeezed together. "I remember those days…I…Because of the God’s Record…"

Andy frowned. "God’s Record? Are you talking about that nonsense 'cannot see heaven, cannot see earth and cannot see people'? You have told me about this last time, but I do not believe in that nonsense...God’s teachings itself is a big lie…Hmph."

Sky sighed. "Yes, those really are lies…However, there are some things that cannot be explained."

Andy suddenly stood up and frowned. "Sky, what else have you not told me?"

Sky shook his head and said, "Nothing…Really nothing else to tell you…except…except for that one thing."

"What?"

Sky seemed to recall his memories as he said, "That year, I found an ancient record in the Roland Temple archives…It was regarding God’s Record! In addition, there was a forgotten secret…" He suddenly laughed and loudly said, "However, those are no longer important. Those are things that had been submerged for thousands of years. Now, we just need to pray that Rody does not get into trouble on the Roland Continent."

Andy frowned. "What records? You have never mentioned this to me before!"

Sky thought for a moment and said, "Sigh…It is alright not to talk about that record. Even if you were to look at it, it's useless…This is because the record is not complete! Nobody can understand it but…"

Andy asked, "But what?"

Sky laughed and approached Andy. He stretched out his hand to pat Andy’s shoulder and whispered, "The moment I read the record, I became inspired enough to come up with a preposterous idea."

"What?"

Sky heaved a sigh and said, "I have been thinking…If…I just say if…if this world was not created by God...God is not a creator but only a conqueror...Haha…Do you understand what I mean? If this world originally belonged to humans and God only conquered the humans. After that, God lied to the future generations claiming that the world and humans were created by God."

Andy froze for a moment and then laughed. "Interesting, interesting! Fatty, you are truly interesting!" His expression suddenly changed as he said, "Damn Fatty, quickly tell me, what did you see on that record?"

Sky closed his eyes and muttered, "Nothing…Just the war…"

"War?"

Sky nodded. "This is just an assumption. The Roland Temple concealed an ancient record. There was a passage in it that puzzled me. However, it has been a few hundred years. I cannot remember it very clearly...The sentence was like this: If there was a war again between humans and Gods... "

"Wait!" Andy suddenly shouted, "What did you say? What do you mean by there was a war 'again'?"

Fatty spread out his hands and said, "I do not know! I really do not know! That is what was written in the record! This is why I was confused. Would humans have fought a war against God, the creator of the world? That is just ridiculous. That is why I guess, unless...God is not the creator of this world!"

"What a joke…" Andy seemed to smile but there was a little bit of sadness in his smile. "What a joke…In this world, many truths are regarded as jokes before they are affirmed as true?"

Andy's eyes suddenly lit up as he asked, "You said that the records you saw in the Roland Temple mentioned about God’s Record? It also mentioned that 'íf there was a war again'?"

Sky nodded.

Andy suddenly had an odd smile. "So, I guess that this so-called 'God’s Record' could have records of that war between humans and God?"

The war between humans and God?

If God created the world and humans, then why was there a war between God and the humans?

Sky thought about it and then laughed as he pointed to Andy. "I already thought I was a heretic, but you are even crazier than me!"

Andy did not laugh. There was no smile on his face as he looked at Sky. "In fact, this is very simple. No matter what you say, you are still human! So quite often you cannot think outside of this world! You cannot think out of this circle. However, I am different. I can think of more things than you." He then faintly said, "This is because I am not human!"

He looked at Sky, then he smiled and said, "I am a spectator who observes from outside the circle!"