Rod was startled and then delighted.
It was shocking that he was going to et the legendary King.
The delight was that this basically ant he had passed the test, or at least that he was not going to die.
He followed the prison guard out of the dungeon, and a carriage adorned with fla patterns was parked in front of the prison.
The guard opened the carriage door, and as soon as Rod got on, the carriage took off into the air, flying deeper into the Royal City.
The inside of the carriage was fully enclosed. Rod couldn’t see anything and could only feel a strong pushback, proving that the carriage was moving fast.
After so ti, a slight sensation of descent occurred, followed by a gentle stop, and Rod knew they had landed.
The door was opened, and two priests in deep red robes bowed slightly.
"Mr. Rod, please co with us."
Rod stepped down from the carriage, a colossal building caught his eye.
It was oval, resembling an upright giant egg, its surface covered in dark red stripes.
Around it was an imnse square, the center indented, with high walls sloping outwards like an open bloom.
The priests stopped outside the high walls, gesturing for Rod to go in on his own.
Rod could only walk toward the building alone, the empty square made him feel like he was sinking into the center of the world.
The closer he got to the center, the more insignificant he felt.
By the ti he reached the building, he felt almost as insignificant as a speck of dust.
Below the building was an incredibly small door. Just as he was about to push it open, the door automatically opened.
An old man, who looked as if his skin were made of orange peels, walked out in a rage, completely ignoring Rod. His feet flashed with Spiritual Light, and he rose into the air, vanishing instantly.
Rod was sowhat envious; he still didn’t understand the principle of flying, and if he wanted to fly, he could only rely on the Spirit Boat.
Perhaps he could do it too after becoming stronger.
Just as he was about to walk inside, another person ca out.
This was a middle-aged man with white hair at his temples, steely eyes, and a thick beard, exuding a faint sll of cigarettes.
He turned his gaze towards Rod, not ignoring him.
"You are Rod, right? I am Dalin, the Chief Defense of the General Military Departnt. From now on, you will be dealing with . I hope you can demonstrate your true value and offer your soul for humanity," he said.
Rod was stunned, and before he could think of a reply, his body turned into a mist and dissipated into the air, as if he were rely a phantom or an avatar.
Then, another middle-aged man erged.
His face looked like a piece of cracked wood with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth that was a crooked crack.
Rod had seen this man before; he was Horus, the Archbishop of the Holy Church. He was responsible for all the work of the Church, making him the actual person behind the scenes, although the Pope was the King himself, indicating a complete monarchy system in Trolian.
Horus gave Rod a glance and said sternly, "The King is waiting for you, go inside now." A white light emanated from him, enveloping his form and turning him into a white shooting star that quickly faded away.
Rod had no choice but to walk inside alone.
Inside the building was a long corridor with no one guarding it; at the end was a heavy door covered in fla patterns.
Rod wisely chose not to push the door open, but instead slipped through the slightly ajar door.
The mont he stepped in, a wave of heat hit him. Rod felt as if he had entered a blazing furnace; the intense light made it difficult for him to open his eyes, and a strong repulsion was pressing against his soul, but a warm breath was also embracing him, greatly easing his discomfort.
A gentle voice ca from afar.
"Relax, don’t be nervous. The power of the Holy Fire is too strong, and souls seeing it for the first ti might not adjust well. Do not activate Spiritual Vision, do not call upon Spiritual Energy, imagine returning to the embrace of your parents."
Rod did as the voice instructed, and suddenly the familiar breath grew stronger, as if his parents ca to his side, and the light beca gentle, less glaring.
He opened his eyes, and at that mont, he felt as if he had entered the world of fire.
Till the end of his sight, there were rising golden flas, colossal pillars of fire seemingly supporting the world, scattering burning Golden Light across the universe.
And beneath this imnsely majestic blaze, sat an incredibly insignificant figure.
Despite his inconspicuousness, Rod recognized him instantly.
Was this the King?
Rod hesitated, unsure whether to salute from where he stood or to walk over.
But the next mont, he no longer had to ponder.
Before his eyes, the King had already appeared before him.
This was a tall man, age had left indelible marks on him, but his contours still showed that he had once been a quite handso man. He wore a robe adorned with white and gold fla patterns, and his head was crowned with a golden crown resembling a burning fla. A strong presence radiated from him, but his eyes were very gentle, looking at Rod with a light smile.
"Indeed, you have so talents," he said with a smile.
"Sit."
He sat down right there.
Rod breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly did the sa.
So, against the backdrop of the overwhelming Holy Fire, Rod and the King sat opposite each other, beginning their first conversation.
The King’s voice, like his eyes, was very gentle and careful, as if afraid that his great power might unintentionally hurt soone.
"Although this is our first eting, I have heard about your exploits many tis."
King spoke with a teasing tone.
"King of the Sewers, Cult Hunter, Common Lover of the Iron Cross District, Strange Fire Spark Collector, Endurance Fighter."
Rod’s face darkened instantly.
Aren’t you a king? How can you be so frivolous?
"These are all misunderstandings," Rod defended. "These are prejudices and distortions about ; I only occasionally go to the sewers, I have never developed more than platonic friendships with anyone."
King laughed. "Save those words for your Miss Qingyu; you’re the first person I’ve seen who could infuriate Ando to death. You should really thank her when you get back."
Rod was taken aback.
Ando? The old man with the orange peel skin? Qingyu infuriated him to half-death?
No wonder he looked so angry.
So Qingyu made a special trip over here?
Indeed reliable, I’m sticking with her!
"But, little Rod,"
King sighed softly.
"You’ve gotten us into a big trouble."
Rod imdiately said, "That Chief Judge must be a Doomsday believer; he is from the Descender Sect, has consud the shell of an Ancient God, possesses two Soul Traits, yearns to invoke the old rulers to relieve his pain and fulfill his wishes, and if you investigate him deeply, you will definitely find clues."
Surprise flickered in King’s eyes.
"How did you know?"
"He told ."
"So that’s why you dared to kill him?"
"Yes."
King’s expression grew complex: "But you shouldn’t have killed him like that, Ando is very angry about your public actions, although we have decided to release you, your punishnt will not be waived."
He pulled out a crystal from his chest.
"You have been charged with three cris of contempt for the law, and you must clear your responsibility within a year; until the completion of your redemption, all your honors are not allowed to be used, and all salaries and personal equipnt will be temporarily withheld."
"You will be assigned to perform high-risk missions, and when needed, the General Military Departnt will send soone to contact you."
Rod breathed a sigh of relief, the punishnt was not too severe, and it might even be an opportunity.
All that needed to be done was to create the "Resurrection Stone," and no mission would be too dangerous.
King handed the crystal to him.
"This is your Resonance Crystal; it records your sins and honors. Keep it safe; if you lose it, you’ll have to compensate a thousand silver coins to recreate it."
Rod carefully took the crystal and asked, "What if there aren’t enough missions to clear my sins?"
King chuckled: "That’s impossible; even if the missions aren’t enough, your other ritorious performances will reduce your sins, like capturing Doomsday believers."
Rod spoke a bit disgruntledly, "Does that Chief Judge count then?"
King shook his head slightly.
"Due to so special reasons, we cannot disclose Gregor’s information publicly. In fact, we’ve had suspicions about him for a while now, and though we couldn’t confirm his identity, we’ve noticed so abnormal behavior."
Rod furrowed his brows, a hint of anger in his heart: "Then why didn’t you arrest him? Or monitor him closely? Do you know how many people he has killed?"
King’s expression carried so indescribable sentint:
"Rod, you must understand, up to this mont, Gregor’s contributions still far exceed his sins, even including Sword Pass. This is his Resonance Crystal."
He pulled out another crystal and injected so Spiritual Energy; countless words appeared on the crystal.
They were records of Gregor’s past achievents, the green ones were his rits, and the red ones were his faults.
Each line was followed by a number.
At the bottom, it showed that his honors were 9109, and his sins 2211.
Rod glanced at his crystal, which had far fewer entries than his; at the bottom were several red entries for his sins, totaling an honor of 151 and sins of 1000.
King said, "I never agree with asuring a person by numbers, because that ans if you save a hundred people, you can kill a hundred, but these years, Trolian has been under too much pressure, and we had no choice but to use every bit of power we could."
"The Descender Sect is a very hidden sect; we wanted to use him to draw out more traitors. Too strict monitoring would not only be noticed but would also involve too many resources."
"The loss at Sword Pass is regrettable but also gave us a good opportunity, but by killing him directly, we lost our leads, which is one of the reasons why Ando is so angry."
Rod didn’t say anything.
King spoke softly, "In order to survive, we must give up so things."
Rod looked up and saw a fire flickering in King’s eyes.
"So, I hope you can grow faster; only with more rising stars can we stand proud on this land, have the dignity of people, and not have so many helpless sacrifices and tragedies."
An endless Holy Fire burned fiercely behind him, making him appear like so kind of solidified conviction.
Unable to restrain himself, Rod asked, "Then why don’t you stop the infighting among the candidates? Why have you withdrawn these years? Are your thousand wives fun?"
King’s expression grew complex, and he spoke softly:
"Little Rod, it seems you have so misunderstandings; I only have one lover. The bill about companions is an ancient tradition, which is hard to change imdiately. The competition among the candidates is intentionally indulged by the elders; they believe the King needs so non-violent ans to integrate internally, and competition helps to enhance their qualities, but overly vicious infighting is not our intention, and we will take steps to stop it."
"As for my conduct these past years, I cannot tell you for now; you will understand later."
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