Chapter 287 (1): The Five Chosen Knights United in One

It was August. The Darkness Knight led a busy life, commuting between the seal sites of the Sun Knight and the Moonlight Knight, either getting beaten up or lying flat while waiting to get beaten up the next day. In comparison, Wayne had a much easier time. Apart from dealing with Veronica, he spent the rest of his time training and playing cards.

He trained in swordsmanship with Moula and archery with Darienne. Moula was an exceptional teacher who did not hold anything back from his successor. By contrast, Darienne’s teaching was only perfunctory. Every day, she ended the lesson quickly and urged Wayne to join her in a card game.

That day, Darienne unsurprisingly lost all her chips and, having secured Wayne’s promise to play cards with her daily, agreed to teach him archery. Since Wayne wasn’t her successor, Darienne wasn’t particularly invested in teaching him. She only wanted him to show up on time to play cards.

Wayne didn’t ask to touch White Night Creed immediately. Only after becoming close card friends with Darienne did he begin the second phase of his plan.

The Moonlight Knight’s ice queen persona was just that, a persona. Darienne turned out to be a straightforward woman who was a total tomboy. It was especially pronounced when she was playing cards. She would flip the table at the slightest irritation and showed no shame about being a sore loser.

Perhaps because she had gotten closer to Wayne, she had been flipping the table more and more lately. She often thrashed Wayne with the excuse of teaching him archery when she was miffed about losing at cards.

“Not bad, your aim is getting better.”

In the glacier zone, Darienne called an end to today’s practice. It was about time for card games.

“Seriously? I’ve only practiced for half an hour.” Wayne wasn’t actually interested in archery—it had never been what he was after. With a disgruntled look, he said, “Darienne, have you noticed that my daily practice has been getting shorter?”

“Really? Must be your imagination.” Darienne shrugged. Her shamelessness made her seem particularly approachable.

She was a silver-haired beauty with both looks and dignified grace, ticking all the boxes to be Wayne’s first love, but once they got closer, she dropped the pretense like she was too lazy to keep up the act.

Wayne had commented on it to her face, and Darienne simply said that she had only removed her mask because she now saw him as a friend and thus showed her true side to him; he should be happy about it. He should even thank her!

“Darienne, I suspect that you only want me to play cards with you.” Wayne shrugged in resignation. “Since you don’t want to teach me archery, I’ll learn swordsmanship from Mr. Moula. I’ve got nothing better to do. Might as well do something productive to spend my time more meaningfully.”

“Playing cards with me

is

productive and meaningful.” Darienne grabbed Wayne and said shamelessly, “I’m making a great contribution by guarding the seal, enduring boredom with no entertainment whatsoever. Playing cards with me relieves my stress, which means that you’re also helping with protecting the world.”

“So playing cards equals protecting the world. I learn something new every day!”

“Congratulations on a lesson learned.”

Wayne rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Be serious. I really want to learn archery. I’m Mr. Moula’s successor, and seeing the Darkness Knight getting stronger by the day stresses me out, okay?”

Makes sense!

As the next Nature Knight, Wayne belonged to the same generation as the current Darkness Knight. Setting aside the sealed vassal of the ancient god, it was inevitable for them to come into conflict in the future.

Darienne pondered and saw the point in his concern. She said regretfully, “I’ve taught you everything I can, Wayne. The Moonlight Knight’s archery can only unleash its true power with White Night Creed. You’re not my successor, so even if I taught you, you wouldn’t be able to learn it. Even if you learned it, you couldn’t use it.”

“How do you know I can’t learn it if you don’t teach me?”

“Ha.” Darienne looked at him with contempt, drawing White Night Creed from the void. The light-silver longbow appeared noble and elegant just like the ice queen she was, embodying both beauty and power.

Until she opened her mouth, that was.

“What are you doing?” Wayne took a step back when he saw the bow.

“Don’t you want to learn it?” Darienne raised an eyebrow. “Take it. As long as you can win over White Night Creed, I’ll teach you whatever you want to learn from now on. I keep my word, no take-backs.”

“Those words ring a bell. I think I’ve heard the same promise more than a hundred times. Oh, right, it’s at the card table.” Wayne called her out mercilessly. “I’m the Nature Knight’s successor. There’s no way I can win White Night Creed’s recognition. You’re clearly humoring me.”

“I’m just making you face reality!”

“Oh, now you’ve done it. Fine, I’ll show you.” Wayne snatched White Night Creed, raising the light-silver longbow above his head. “See, I’ve gained its recognition. Now teach me your actual archery.”

“Don’t be silly. You’ve touched Elemental Mantral before, so you must know that I haven’t released White Night Creed’s power. Otherwise, you’d be rolling on the ground in pain.” Darienne crossed her arms, not the least bit concerned that the divine artifact would be taken away.

First off, Wayne was the Nature Knight’s successor, making him one of their own, and they were card buddies. Moreover, the binding relationship between a chosen knight and their divine artifact alone prevented White Night Creed from being stolen.

There was nothing to worry about!

“Then unseal it. Once I prove myself, you’ll teach me archery.”

“No can do.” Darienne shook her head. “You can’t take Moonlight’s power. You’ll get hurt.”

“I’ve accepted Moonlight’s power a long time ago. To tell you the truth, I’ve dabbled in all three major faiths in the Life Alliance...” Wayne’s form shimmered, transforming into a perfect elf. Holding White Night Creed, he looked the part of an elven archer.

Darienne’s eyes lit up. She circled Wayne, rubbing her hands together. “I didn’t know you were so talented. Tsk, you aren’t bad looking, either. No wonder you’ve gotten Senna wrapped around your finger.”

The card buddies talked about almost everything. Darienne knew all the gossip surrounding Wayne—about his fiancée, Veronica, and his great dragon mount, Senna. The two of them even shared the same dragon blood.

Darienne wasn’t a nosy person, preferring card games over gossip. Every time the topic came up, though, she couldn’t help but want to hear more.

“Don’t get curious about that. It’s a headache for me, okay?”

“You’re clearly enjoying it, Little Pervert.”

There’s nothing little about me!

As platonic card buddies, there were things that would be inappropriate to put into words, so Wayne kept his retort to himself. He said seriously, “To be frank, I used to belong to the Church of Moonlight. A Moonlight mage planted a seed of mana in me.”

“What? Really?”

Darienne had been enjoying the gossip as a bystander. When her church was suddenly brought up, she pressed for more details.

Wayne recounted the complicated story: “Back when I was only an ordinary person, the mage, Kristen, adoptive daughter of Moonlight’s priestess in Londan...”

“I saved High Reverend Filomina, so out of gratitude, she taught me the elven divine arts...”

“So you see, I have a deep connection with the Church of Moonlight. Kristen and Filomina often lament that if the Church of Nature hadn’t snatched me away, I might have become the next Moonlight Knight instead.”

“Outrageous! Stealing from the Church of Moonlight? Who did it? Does she have a death wish?!” The white-haired knight flew into a rage, declaring that she would find the bandit and shoot them.

“It was my master, Silvia. She’s Veronica’s mother and my mother. She raised me as her son.” Wayne warned, “We’re friends, so you should speak with more respect about my mother.”

“Your mother isn’t my mother. She stole my successor. Am I not allowed to call her out?” Darienne seethed. “Have her join our card game next time. No, get her here now. I’m going to make her lose so badly that she has to take off her pants!”

That would be difficult. She’s too lucky, and she doesn’t even have to play seriously to make you lose all your clothes.

Wayne grumbled internally, appeasing Darienne and telling her not to get angry; women who were prone to anger aged and wrinkled faster and started losing hair early. They would soon lose their beauty.

The words found the wrong target. Darienne didn’t care about any of that.

“What’s saying all this now going to do?” she scoffed. “You’re already the next Nature Knight. Even if I give you White Night Creed now, you couldn’t possibly gain the goddess’s recognition. What were Kristen and Filomina doing? Why didn’t they properly protect...”

She paused, her expression becoming suspicious. “Filomina is definitely loyal as the High Reverend that headquarters sent to Londan. Even if you saved her, she couldn’t possibly teach you faith-based divine arts unless... What was she trying to do? Draw you back to the Church of Moonlight?”

“Yeah, she tried really hard, so did Kristen. You shouldn’t get angry at them.”

“How hard?” Darienne made a strange face. “There’s no one else here, so tell me honestly. What exactly did they do for the church?”

Wayne said nothing, but his silent stare said everything.

“Shameless!”

Darienne condemned Wayne for his dishonorable conduct first before praising Kristen and Filomina profusely, acknowledging them as the goddess’s most devout followers.

“Too bad they were late. If only I knew you before Moula did.” Darienne sighed. She had taken a liking to Wayne for being a good card player and a source of entertainment.

“Why not try? What if it works?”

“How could it possibly...” Darienne waved her hands repeatedly. When Wayne didn’t seem intent on giving up, she decided to make him by proving it impossible with real action. “How about this? I’ll unseal White Night Creed little by little. If the pain becomes unbearable, say it immediately. Don’t try to tough it out, or I won’t be able to explain myself to Moula.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be reckless.”

“You better not.”

Darienne was worried that Wayne would push himself past the breaking point and turn her and Moula into bitter enemies. Holding White Night Creed with one hand, she put her other hand on Wayne’s shoulder, slowly releasing the restriction on the bow.

Wayne closed his eyes, feeling moonlight flowing into his body like water. Given his magical talent, his imitation of an ancient god’s esoteric form, and his wisdom and aptitude, mere White Night Creed...

Move, Book of Greed!

The mana in his body turned light-silver instantly as he accepted White Night Creed’s power fully. Darienne sensed the changes happening to him, stunned. Her thin lips parted more and more as she muttered, ‘unbelievable’ and ‘impossible,’ making her seem more adorable than frosty.

“Wayne, how do you feel?”

“Nothing.”

“How can you feel nothing?”

Darienne didn’t believe it. She gripped the longbow, confirming it was the real deal, and then she gradually released the seal on its power. Even until she fully unleashed White Night Creed, she didn’t hear a single cry of pain from Wayne.

It actually fucking worked!