Masked Knight

"Here…

"Here is where the true history lies!" The King’s voice sounded rather bleak.

After the stone gate was a space with a ten meters radius. Gems were mounted on the walls which gave off a gentle light under the effect of sorcery. There were also extraordinary bright murals on the wall.

The ceiling of the entire space was dome-shaped, at the center of which was a hexagonal sorcery array—Rody could clearly feel a gentle fluctuating wave from the sorcery array. What surprised Rody was the floor of the room...that was like a pool.

From the moment he first walked past the stone door, he could see silvery light flickering on the floor and the water was calm…The floor was actually filled with mercury!

There was a slate pontoon bridge in the middle. The slate pieces seemed to float on the mercury.

When the King and Rody stepped onto the slate pontoon bridge, the mercury on both sides of the pontoon bridge fluctuated a little. Rody could feel the place he was standing on was unstable. Obviously, those slates were suspended on the mercury by using some kind of unknown method.

Standing on the slate pontoon bridge, he was unable to come into contact with the murals on the wall. However, the murals could still be seen clearly.

The King sighed. "Rody, take a good look at the murals. You only have an hour! This place has been preserved for a thousand years using a sorcery array! It can only be opened for an hour per day. Once the time is up, we must leave to avoid the destruction of the sorcery array!"

Rody did not seem to have noticed the King’s words. He had already focused his whole attention on the first mural from the entrance.

The pattern on the first mural was very simple. Even the engraving skills used were relatively crude. It appeared to be the oldest. The pattern on the mural showed a picture that made completely piqued Rody’s interest.

At the bottom of the picture were differently dressed humans, men and women. All of them had respectful and devoted expressions facing the top of the picture as if they were worshipping—at the top was a white building. The building had a simple distant scene as the background. It looked like a sacred high-rise building and on top of the high-rise building was a small man.

That man was covered in a long white robe and naturally, his face was not clear. He opened up his hands as if he was embracing the whole world in his arms. Only his long hair was flying giving him a majestic look.

"What is this? Is he the God that those people were worshipping? Is that man standing in the building really God?" Rody asked with a frown.

"No!" The King sighed. "That man who was worshipped was not God!"

"Oh?" Rody was a little bit surprised.

The King then softly said as he sighed, "The man whom they worshipped was the founder and the first Emperor of the Shaka Empire, Julian!"

The King’s voice slowly echoed in that space. "This is the first mural, narrating the founding of the Shaka Empire! Now, the exact year of that time could no longer be found. This picture shows the first day the Shaka Empire was created and my ancestor Julian giving a speech to the people. His speech at that time was passed down!"

"What did he say?"

The King laughed bitterly and said, "He said that mankind should be united. Everyone should be free from birth and our souls should not be shackled or imprisoned! We should doubt everything and not blindly worship. Mankind should have an independent personality and soul...and not become slaves to God!"

Rody opened his mouth wide as he felt a little surprised. After a long time, he could not help but sigh. "Now I somewhat understand why Shaka Empire was destroyed. That was because your first Emperor had spoken such blasphemous words."

He then looked at the second mural.

The mural showed a large room. The entire room was circular and looked like a theater. It was surrounded by a lot of seats filled with people of different demeanor. Some of them were in luxurious attires and some in simple attire. However, everyone's expression was pious and solemn. In the middle was a small and tall platform. A white-robed man stood on the platform. The man was elegant and held his scepter high.

What surprised Rody was that there was a sentence written at the bottom of the mural.

"What do those words mean?" Rody frowned.

The King narrowed his eyes and slowly said in a low voice, "Matters related to mankind should be decided by mankind."

Looking at Rody’s astonished gaze, the King smiled and explained, "In fact, this mural's main point is that it recorded one of the very important historical events of the Shaka Empire. That is, the formation of a Political Council. The Political Council was a special political system of Shaka Empire! In Shaka Empire, the Emperor was a dictator! The Council represents the people regardless of whether they were nobles, civilians or even knights. Every class had their own representative participating in the Council. The man in the middle of the picture was the Emperor of the Shaka Empire at that time. He was listening to the opinions of the representatives from various classes and made decisions based on their opinions."

Rody gave a long sigh and replied, "This was really a strange political system!"

The King lightly said, "It was not strange at all! The founder of the Shaka Empire said that freedom and power belong to everyone. The Emperor was not an autocrat but rather a guide."

Rody glanced at the King. He then earnestly said in a serious tone. "Your Majesty’s ancestors have my highest respect!"

Unexpectedly, the King did not look proud at all but was somewhat sad instead. He just shook his head and did not respond to Rody's words.

The two of them continued to look at the following murals.

The third and fourth mural recorded more of the history of the Shaka Empire. There was nothing strange about it. The only thing that amazed Rody was the existence of the ancient Shaka Empire. The strange thing was that these murals did not mention anything about theology. Could it be that, at that time, God’s teachings have not existed yet?

The style of the fifth mural was totally different.

The first four murals showed harmony and peace and perhaps, a bit of prosperity. That was in accordance with the key ideas of freedom and equality of the Shaka Empire.

However, the style used on the fifth mural had undergone tremendous changes.

On the mural were a row of gallows. Black-robed men were seen hanging on the gallows...and at their feet were corpses.

The surrounding crowd that was obviously civilians were cheering.

What surprised Rody was that he found what the hanged men were wearing very familiar clothing.

Those black-robed men who were hanged on the gallows were clearly in the attires of priests.

What the hell! Rody was shocked. Did they really publicly hang the people from the Temple?

In Rody’s life, during the present era God’s teachings were the most divine authority. Only they could publicly hang people. The world had never heard of priests being publicly hanged in great numbers.

Below the mural was another line of text.

The King did not wait for Rody to ask. He had already started reading out the texts: "Mankind does not need the shackles to their souls! Anyone who tries to give our souls shackles should be prepared to be punished with death."

Rody listened to the King’s words. The shock he felt could not be described in words.

From the pictures and the texts, the Shaka Empire was obviously against the existence of God’s teachings. It could even be said that they regard God’s teaching and theology as an evil and heretical religion as ...

Perhaps, it could be said that the Shaka Empire was simply an empire that does not believe in God’s teachings. They do not believe in Gods.

"Shocked?" The King gave a wry smile as he looked at Rody and said, "Frankly speaking, I was also shocked when I first came here and saw these things."

Rody took a deep breath and then he forcefully exhaled. He still had a peculiar expression as he said, "During the era of the Shaka Empire, God’s teachings were the target of oppression, right?"

"Yes!" The King softly replied, "My ancestors believed that mankind was born free and that our spirits and souls should not be imprisoned by Gods. Although Gods were of a higher existence, they had no right to interfere with our world. That was why…" The King looked at the mural and continued, "God’s teachings were declared illegal during the era of the Shaka Empire. The Empire had a law that forbade it and all these fraudsters were hanged!"

Rody was silent for a moment and then he suddenly smiled.

His smile was malicious as he muttered. "That was a wonderful era."

…

"Oh? Is this your request?" The Crown Prince looked at Nedis who was smiling sweetly. He frowned. "Miss Nedis, you truly know how to give me trouble."

Nedis still smiled charmingly and softly said, "Your Highness, this matter should be something easy for you. Would you refuse to help your friend?"

Aven stood up and walked back and forth for a few steps and then stopped. He then stared at Nedis and said, "Is it so simple as to just carry some merchandise to the Radiant Continent?"

Nedis sighed. "Your Majesty, you also know that I have a lot of businesses at Roland Continent. However, the current situation at Roland Continent makes me worry. If war begins, the first to suffer would be business people without powers or rights like us. That is why I have no choice but to make this decision. I came here this time to wind up the businesses on the Roland Continent and then temporarily send stuff back to the Radiant Continent. However, with so many goods and properties, I can't send them all back by myself. Besides that, the King has issued a naval restriction. My ship will not be able to sail. Fortunately, you are the Commander of the Navy. If I don't ask for your help, who else can I ask?"

Aven still frowned and replied, "However, I cannot disobey the King’s orders! Miss Nedis, your plan to move your properties to the Radiant Empire, this decision...Hmph!"

"Your Highness!" Nedis became unhappy and said, "Are you doubting our friendship? Although I do not have big businesses on the Roland Continent, I have never paid less than one gold coin in annual taxes. Now that threat of war is looming, do you want to see your good friend suffer major losses?"

"Alright!" Aven hesitated for a moment and finally sighed. He then said, "I suppose you will soon hear the news. We have already reached a peace agreement with your country. There will be a large number of ships going to the Radiant Empire in the near future. At that time, there will also be a naval escort…I can only help you a little. When the time comes, you can send your stuff onto my fleet and they will then successfully reach the Radiant Empire...Miss Nedis, I am only helping you because of our many years of friendship."

Nedis gave a satisfied smile. She then said, "Your Highness, thank you for your generosity. In addition, I know that because of the current situation your country is preparing war funds. I, as a friend, am willing to personally contribute five hundred thousand gold coins! Please accept this small gift from your friend."

Aven looked at Nedis and suddenly said, "Five hundred thousand gold coins? Hey…Miss Nedis, I am now getting curious. How much are your properties worth on the Roland Continent?"

Nedis just smiled and did not give a reply.

The Crown Prince then shook his head. He smiled and said, "Alright! Since I have already given my promise, I will not break it. Miss Nedis, we have not met for a long time. Please stay in the capital for the next few days and let me fulfill my duty as a host. Also, Mister Darke, Miss Nedis said that you are a master in archery. I must definitely ask you for advice."

Nedis and Darke looked at each other for a moment. Nedis immediately smiled then said, "Of course! Your Highness Aven, I don't mind staying here for an additional few days. Anyway, I also do not have any intentions of going back immediately."

"Oh?" Aven smiled.

"That’s right!" Nedis pretended to sigh. She then loudly said in a joking tone. "You do not know. Currently, my enemies on the Radiant Continent are after me…Right now, I dare not hurry back."

Aven thought she was joking. He only gave a light smile without saying anything.

Darke glanced at Nedis helplessly—only he and Nedis herself knew that her words were not a joke.

Because of Nedis’ identity, the vampires of Radiant Continent were hunting her. This time, the purposes of Darke coming to the Roland continent were to accompany Nedis to deal with some of her business matters and also to avoid the vampires.