Chapter 21: He Was a Beast
Chapter 21: He Was a Beast
“Anyone else?” Sun Fei continued patiently.
“Besides those already mentioned, others of some influence include Best, the steward of the royal palace. He is Miss Angela’s father, Your Majesty, and thus your future father-in-law… However, right before the enemy laid siege, Steward Best left Shampoo City with a great deal of the palace’s treasures. No one knows what he was doing.”
Angela’s father?
Sun Fei paused in surprise. So Angela had a father after all? No wonder he had never shown himself. He’d left just before the enemy arrived, taking a large portion of the royal treasures… Was it an escape?
But Sun Fei’s first reaction wasn’t anger.
Instead, he felt a pang of sadness for Angela.
This kind and beautiful girl had been cruelly abandoned by her very own father right when she needed support the most. Surely, she was stifling her sorrow inside?
He suddenly felt intensely worried for that seemingly frail girl, Angela.
The night breeze blew past, carrying specks of light dotting the far banks of the river—endless flames from the torches of the enemy camp.
Sun Fei stood on the city wall and spoke a while longer with Brook. He was quickly getting a clear picture of Shampoo City’s internal power structure.
Clearly, from Brook’s description, Shampoo City might be a small kingdom, but its factions were tangled and schemed just as fiercely as those in super empires… This made Sun Fei suddenly feel his situation had become rather interesting.
“I didn’t see Bazel, Conca, or Oleg in battle today? Do they not join the fight?” Sun Fei remembered something and asked further.
“Lord Bazel appeared once on the city wall during the morning battle—when he brought you up, Your Majesty… Military Judge Conca was injured early on the very first day of battle. He’s been resting at home ever since to recover. As for Oleg the Prison Warden, I once suggested he join the fight. But Oleg believes his primary duty is guarding the prison and has no obligation to fight!”
“No obligation? I see…” Sun Fei silently noted those words in his mind, pondering for a moment before asking further, “So… what’s their strength? I mean, their personal strength…”
“Bazel is a commoner who neither masters martial skills nor magic. Military Judge Conca and Prison Warden Oleg are both One-Star Warriors… Still, in Shampoo City, only Lord Frank Lampard is the true powerhouse. His strength as a Three-Star Warrior places him among the top-tier guardians of the surrounding realms!”
Brook’s tone was filled with clear pride by the end.
“I recall Bazel’s son Gerger was a Mage, right?” Sun Fei grinned, forming a mischievous idea: “Send someone at once to deliver my order. Draft that Mage Gerger to the battlements to defend Shampoo City.”
“Your Majesty, Gerger has not yet reached the level of a stellar-ranked Mage; he is still, at most, a lowly Magic Apprentice… Yet even a Magic Apprentice can play a great role in battle…” Brook bowed respectfully as he responded, “As you command, Your Majesty. I’ll send someone to draft Gerger immediately.”
Clearly, Brook strongly approved of Sun Fei’s command.
“Hmm. Enough talk for tonight.” Having learned all he needed, Sun Fei chuckled and patted the ‘honest man’ Brook’s shoulder, “Let’s arrange for the soldiers to change guard shifts soon. Then go get some rest. I’ll keep watch tonight.”
“Your Majesty, how can that be? This is my duty—” Brook started in shock.
Sun Fei waved his hand gently, cutting him off, “Squadron Leader Brook, I heard the soldiers say you haven’t slept for two days and nights straight. That won’t do at all. Battles ahead might get harsher… Now, Brook, I want you to hurry and rest, gather your strength! Tomorrow you’ll need to fight and kill for me!… This is the king’s command! Obey it! Go now!”
Brook stood stunned.
The next second, the black-haired warrior dropped to one knee and gripped the longsword by his waist. Placing it upright against his chest, he pledged with the solemn dignity of a warrior, “By the God of War, His Majesty Alexander, my revered king, One-Star Warrior Godde Brook gives his life to you!”
……
After Brook departed, Sun Fei made an excuse to dismiss the guards accompanying him.
He patrolled the area alone, carefully observing the various fortifications and defenses of the city wall. Along the way, he offered reassurances to other defending soldiers. Amidst their grateful cheers, he finally walked alone atop the main gate’s watchtower.
Originally, this watchtower had been a small two-story building made of wood and stone.
Before the war, it was quite well-adorned, serving as a resting spot for guards and soldiers between shifts. But over the prior days of fighting, it had been utterly destroyed, leaving only crumbled stone walls. Starlight now poured directly through the wreckage, casting an eerie quiet.
Sun Fei entered and found a spot where he could see any movement below the city walls. He sat down to keep watch.
Several guards stood well beyond the stone ruin, standing vigil for their king.
“The situation’s dire,” Sun Fei thought anxiously. “We repelled the enemy today, but this won’t last. These mysterious black-armored attackers aren’t just well-equipped and trained; their numbers already overwhelm our defenders. If we keep fighting like this, Shampoo City will surely fall and be destroyed. I must find another way!”
He wrestled with his thoughts.
But racking his brain, no clever plan came.
Truth be told, in his former life Sun Fei was just an ordinary, barely-there college student—no assassin, no elite special forces soldier. He wasn’t even some cunning student union bigwig. Asking such a home-body to improvise ingenious tactics under life-or-death pressure felt a bit like wishing for the moon.
“Looks like my only option now is to focus entirely on boosting my own strength. Other things can wait.”
Abandoning that struggle for now, Sun Fei made up his mind. Closing his eyes, he focused inward, trying to connect with that icy, mysterious voice. He intended to enter the World of Diablo once more, to “level up” his powers.
But—
“Could not enter game space. Mental Power reserves insufficient. Please try again later.”
The emotionless voice responded swiftly.
Sun Fei’s spirit plummeted into dismay.
He patiently rested a while with his eyes shut, then tried again. The answer stayed the same. Ten more attempts with breaks in-between yielded no success either. That chilly tone persistently rejected him: “Mental Power reserves insufficient…”
Slipping gradually deeper into exhaustion through repeated attempts, Sun Fei drifted unknowingly into sleep.
……
……
South Bank of the Zuli River.
The main encampment of the mysterious legion clad all in black armor.
Located marginally forward within that black camp stood a tent clearly more vast and imposing than the others. Caught in the flickering light of surrounding torches, it resembled some lurking predator coiled deep in shadow, ready to devour anyone too near.
Inside the tent, though, warmth and light filled the space.
The silver-masked man seen by the riverbank earlier rested on a chair draped entirely over with immense, unknown dark Magical Beast fur. He looked utterly at ease: one hand casually upheld his masked jaw, the other gently swirled translucent red wine within an alabaster cup.
Positioned flanking him to either side stood nineteen Black Knights, standing rigidly as his guard.
At another table on the left side of the tent sat a hooded figure draped entirely in black—a Mage, as evident from the Magic Staff resting beside them.
A barely visible peculiar energy field rippled around this hooded shape, warping their outline and obscuring all clear detail. Though firelight inside the tent offered ample warmth, from this black-cloaked shape constantly emanated an unnerving bone-chilling cold.
At the silver-masked man’s feet knelt Lund—the Three-Star Swordsman grievously wounded earlier by Sun Fei.
Crackle… crackle…
Soft pops came intermittently from burning charcoals in a brazier, lending an eerie aura of utter stillness to the entire tent.
Finally, the silver-masked man lifted his head.
He glanced idly at Lund kneeling below. His tone was almost casual as he asked, “Lund? Report what happened today on that city wall. I’m quite curious: how did someone like you—a Three-Star Warrior—end up injured so badly?”
The Three-Star Swordsman knelt on one knee in the center of the crimson carpet spread over the tent floor, visibly mortified.
Strangely, despite possessing formidable Three-Star prowess himself, Lund seemed thoroughly intimidated by his interrogator. He hurriedly lowered his gaze to recount every detail of the wall-top battle that afternoon—making no effort to hide anything.
The silver-masked man had listened seemingly without much concern, yet all the while focused attentively only on his jade cup. Indeed, the intricately sculpted translucent surface seemed to possess some inexplicable quality that absorbed all his notice.
Only after Lund finished speaking, did those swirling movements of the cup pause ever so slightly. That silver mask tilted faintly in the torchlight before speaking softly. “I see. Hmm… an unusual affair… Lund, kneel no longer. Speak standing.”
The Three-Star Warrior released a pent breath—as though granted tremendous leniency.
Rising to his feet, he added one last detail: “Respected Master, your servant has one other observation to report: while fighting against that Three-Star Warrior of Shampoo City today, I noticed something else… something quite odd.”
“Speak!”
“Master, I sensed that the warrior, who utilizes water-attribute Battle Qi, seemed to be affected by lingering injury—his flow of Battle Qi came… faltering. Based on this judgment, it seems likely the man carries some long-unhealed internal wounds which now curb his powers… With your blessing, Master, I promise absolutely to cut his head off during our next duel and lay it at your feet!”
Lund declared all this with brimming confidence.
He clearly hadn’t grasped his master’s true focus.
Because the silver-masked man displayed not the slightest concern for Lampard—Shampoo’s strongest. Instead, his tone shifted purposefully yet subtly. “Lund… Regarding that heavily-armored bull of a knight who appeared afterward? What are your thoughts?”