Chapter 833

Jerusalem.

Inside a Gothic castle…

There was a very large library with bookshelves filling up over half its area. An altar had been built in the corner of the library.

A row of candles, each as thick as an arm, were lit on either side of the room and the shadow of the altar – cast by the candlelight – fell upon the floor, swaying erratically. Placed on the altar was a long, wooden box with its lid wide open. There, resting on the velvet within the centre of the wooden box was a pair of pure white wings.

There were two rows of men, each kneeling on either side of the wooden box and they softly chanted a hymn.

Some of them wore medieval armour from the Middle Ages while the rest wore monk robes. But all had their foreheads pressed to the ground. They gave off a very pious look.

“Ulysses…”

Two men in medieval armour were standing not far behind the two rows of men and they stood side by side as they observed the members who were devoutly praying. One of them turned his head and sighed softly. “Ulysses, it’s been half a year since Saint Gattuso died, but we still haven’t gotten a new saint…”

“The way I see it, there is no need for us to worry so much, Lucius.” Ulysses slowly shook his head. “To begin with, not everyone could receive Divine Revelation. Only the most devoted would receive the Lord’s favour of revelation. Furthermore, our knightly order has a history of 700 years, but we’ve had only four Saints thus far. Saint Gattuso had only just received Divine Revelation. I do not believe that one of us could become a new Saint within half a year’s time.

“Even without the appearance of a Saint, as long as we have the Angel Wings in our possession, we need not fear any foe. What are you so worried about?”

“But this time… it’s different!” Lucius’ brows were tightly knitted. “Ulysses, I keep getting a feeling… there is something very wrong with Saint Gattuso’s death. The Saints Mark and Terrence both lived past two centuries before dying naturally of old age. The only exception was Saint Canaan, all because of the Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild, the damned Shen…

“This time, both Saint Gattuso and our former Guild Leader Mene ended up dying inside an instance dungeon. This should not have been possible! Be it the monsters inside the instance dungeons or the participants in the other faction… who could have what it takes to kill off a Saint?

“Unless…”

“I understand your concern. The issue here is… Mene also died. We’ll never know just what transpired inside the instance dungeon.” Ulysses sighed softly. “But at the very least, I think… it’s unlikely to be Shen.”

“How do you know it’s unlikely to be him?” Lucius frowned.

“Firstly, Shen has disappeared after the attack on Zero City. We had made contact with the other Players who participated in the battle of Zero City and found from them that Shen has not re-appeared since. Even Thorned Flower Guild has split apart. If Shen managed to break out from whatever trouble he’s in, the first group he would go after should be the Starfall Guild traitors. But it’s been over half a year since and those fellows are still alive and well. Thus, Shen must not have re-appeared in this world.” Ulysses waved his hand. “Secondly, surely you did not forget how we recovered the sacred relic in our possession?”

“It’s Shen… he gave it back to us.” Lucius had to force those words out from his throat, one at a time.

“Although it is very shameful to say it…” There was a helpless and wry smile on Ulysses’ face. “This is the truth. Shen had killed Saint Canaan and snatched our sacred relic. And yet, after tens of years, he returned it to us. Bluntly speaking, he’s already lost his interest with this item. That’s why, we need not worry that he would come back to snatch it again…”

“But what if…” Lucius gritted his teeth. “The one who killed Saint Gattuso is not Shen?”

“That possibility does not exist.” Ulysses shook his head slowly. “Saints are those who have received Divine Revelation, the favoured ones of the Lord. With the exception of a devil like Shen…”

Bang!!!

Ulysses was halfway speaking when he heard a loud banging sound and two big door panels flew.

Struck by the door panels, the tall bookcases then collapsed like dominoes. The thousands of books that had been gathering dust throughout the years scattered all over the floor, causing dust to rise and fill the whole room.

“Who?”

Ulysses and Lucius pulled out a knightly sword each. At the same time, their bodies released shields of holy light and they warily peered through the open door.

The others who had been kneeling and praying devoutly while singing hymns immediately stood up and prepared for battle.

Dust permeated the library and all they could see were the rays of light shining in from beyond the library. The rays of light outlined a figure, which slowly walked into the room. However, they could neither make out his attire nor face.

Ulysses and Lucius gulped, saliva going down their throats.

This whole building was the stronghold of their Knights of the Holy City Guild while this library and the innermost altar was located in the most central spot.

Since recovering the sacred relic, their guild members would occasionally – depending on their rank – enter this altar everyday to study the sacred relic to obtain Divine Revelation. However, not once did they let their guard down.

At this very moment, however, their enemy had broken into the library. The people inside the library had not received any warning at all.

Their guild channel was silent. Not a single sound was made.

What kind of enemy is this?

Step by step, the figure walked forward and his face was gradually revealed.

It was a black-haired, East Asian youngster with a harmless-looking smile. He wore a T-shirt and jeans while his hands were empty.

“You… you are…”

Ulysses stared at him for a few seconds and was suddenly shocked.

He had recalled the identity of this youngster standing before him.

He was, back in a certain instance dungeon in Jerusalem, someone who had sided with the faction of darkness and opposed them.

Despite utilizing the power of the sacred relic, knight Arte had failed to defeat him. Instead, his life force was devoured and he died of rapid aging.

“Chen Xiaolian!”

Lucius overtook Ulysses and shouted Chen Xiaolian’s name. “What have you done to Petro and the others?”

“Don’t be so agitated.” Chen Xiaolian waved at them with a smile on his face. “I simply came here to borrow something from you fellows. Your guild members… they’re currently lying down outside, they just passed out.”

“Borrow… something?” Lucius and Ulysses raised their swords, aiming them at Chen Xiaolian. Then, with a cold grunt, they attacked simultaneously.

The two of them kicked the ground abruptly, dashing towards Chen Xiaolian with speed. Holy light gleamed across the surface of their swords and the two slashed towards Chen Xiaolian, one from the left and one from the right.

And yet, Chen Xiaolian continued standing there as the two knightly swords slashed towards him. He did not evade, nor did he try to parry.

Sword light flashed.

But the sensation of their swords slashing something was absent.

Charging forward, the two of them had arrived before Chen Xiaolian but their vision seemingly blurred as Chen Xiaolian suddenly appeared somewhere tens of metres away from them.

So fast!

No! It wasn’t him who’s fast.

That first thought had only just emerged from Ulysses’ mind when he immediately rejected it.

The collapsed bookshelves and the books scattered across the floor were at the same position as when he had just begun his attack.

Chen Xiaolian had not moved at all.

Instead, it was he and Lucius; upon arriving before Chen Xiaolian with their charging attack and swinging their swords, they instantly returned to where they had been standing earlier.

Space… Chen Xiaolian had distorted space!

His whole body broke out in cold sweat.

Lucius had yet to figure out what happened. With a roar, he leapt high up into the air once again and swung his sword at Chen Xiaolian.

Two beams of holy light emerged from the edges of his sword before intersecting to form a cross, which flew towards Chen Xiaolian.

When the cross arrived within one metre short of hitting Chen Xiaolian, it suddenly flashed.

Seemingly warping through the stretch of space that Chen Xiaolian was occupying, the cross re-appeared behind him and blasted a big hole through the wall behind him.

Since the very beginning, Chen Xiaolian had remained standing still, not moving a single finger while looking at the two with a smile on his face.

“Lucius, stop!”

Ulysses roared at Lucius, stopping him from continuing his attacks against Chen Xiaolian. His pair of eyes stared intently at Chen Xiaolian.

“Just… what is it you want?”

“Listen, I am a reasonable guy. I especially do not like killing people. As I’ve mentioned before, none of your companions outside have died.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged, a carefree look on his face. “I know, back then, Shen had broken in here and snatched it away once. He even killed off a good number of your men. However… I do not plan on doing that.”

“Then, what is it you want?” Lucius had also come to realize what happened earlier. He clenched his teeth and hissed, “We have already lost the sacred relic once before. Never again will we give it…”

But before he could finish his words, he suddenly felt a burst of force sweeping across his palm.

Chen Xiaolian had been clearly standing still at the same spot, not moving in the slightest. However, the knightly swords in everyone’s hands flew out of their grasps at the same time, drawing tens of arcs in the air before inserting themselves onto the spot of floor before Chen Xiaolian in an orderly manner.

An uproar broke out amongst the men standing behind them. Lucius’ and Ulysses’ hearts palpitated wildly as they looked at Chen Xiaolian in disbelief.

They still had a good number of spare weapons inside their storage gears, but they had fallen into a bewildered state. They did not know if they should bring them out or not.

“Gattuso and Mene… you killed them?” Lucius gritted his teeth. “Six months ago, in the Kyoto instance dungeon…”

“I killed Gattuso, but not Mene.” Chen Xiaolian gave them a full account of the truth. “That Gattuso… had gone completely nuts. Back then, Mene saw that he was no match for me and had wanted to let the instance dungeon end, but Gattuso, in order to stop Mene, killed him. However…”

Pausing, Chen Xiaolian continued, “Just put it on me. It’s fine. Hossein is my friend. He had once told me, if I could one day kill off Mene, he would feel very happy.”

“Hossein?”

When they heard the name once more, the eyelids of Ulysses and Lucius twitched. “Knight Hossein… is still alive?”

Regarding Gattuso’s and Mene’s deaths, the two of them – due to Chen Xiaolian’s appearance and display of power – did not feel too shocked.

“He’s alive. Rather, logically speaking… he’s living quite a good life.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Enough, I have some questions for you about that later. But now, let’s talk about your sacred relic.”

“The sacred relic has already been snatched away once before! Never again shall we lose it!” Ulysses shouted, but sweat was already covering his forehead.

“I… doubt that.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and walked towards the altar at the end of the library.

Lucius shouted and a war hammer appeared in his hand. Holy light condensed upon the head of the hammer and it smashed furiously towards Chen Xiaolian.

He knew very well how strong a Saint would become after receiving Divine Revelation.

Even more so, he knew how strong someone who could kill a Saint was.

But no matter how strong his opponent may be, he had to continue guarding the sacred relic to spare it from desecration.

“No helping it.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head and sighed softly. His finger gently tapped the head of the war hammer but he did not stop walking forward.

The instant his finger tapped the hammer, Lucius’ whole body froze, a look of utter shock and disbelief on his face. Half a second later, blood sprayed out wildly from his whole body. With a backflip, he fell to the ground.

“Heretic! You-”

Bang!

A knight had just shouted only for Chen Xiaolian’s palm to slap him across his face. His body was sent smashing into a bookshelf and together, they tumbled away.

“I keep saying it…” Chen Xiaolian turned, his gaze sweeping across the faces of all present. “I don’t like killing people, but that does not mean I will not kill, understand? I know that Shen had killed off a good number of people in the past when he snatched it away. If you fellows make me think that it’s necessary, I don’t mind repeating what Shen did here in the past.”

His voice was not loud. There was even a smile on his face as he spoke.

But when his gaze swept past them, everyone there trembled with fear.