Chapter 90: The Rejected "Deal"

  "I now understand why the temple sent out such a powerful lineup to hunt you down." Du Wei said with a bitter smile.

  Two of the strongest Temple Knights, a large number of high-ranking knights, and the Grand Inquisitor... Such an array can be said to be the strongest lineup of the Temple in nearly a hundred years.

  The reason is that Hussein found this secret too shocking!

  Throughout the Roland Empire, who does not respect the great founding emperor? Who does not revere those heroic figures in history who founded the country? Even now, in the imperial palace of the capital, in the bedroom of His Majesty the Emperor, there hangs a portrait of Aragon Roland from back then, as well as a massive oil painting of his mysterious and sacred Knights of St. Roland, which stirs up the winds of legend.

  Even in the era when the Roland Empire rose to power on the land of Du Wei, the empire faced its greatest crisis since its founding. The emperor at that time had publicly exclaimed: "If I could have a knight like Saint Roland under my command, just like my ancestor Aragon Roland, I would never let the empire sink to such a state!"

  If it gets out that the temple has been secretly cursing the souls of the founding emperor and those meritorious officials for hundreds of years, it will be a terrible thing!

  If such a thing were to spread... it would provoke the wrath of the imperial family and the indignation of the people of the empire, and in an instant, the temple's prestige, built up over hundreds of years, would be swept away!

  In this case, how can Hussein not die? He must die! Must die!! Bound to die!!! This is the so-called killing someone to silence them.

  "But now, I've told you this secret." Hussein sneered.

  Duvie language is sealed.

  He couldn't help but sigh: Curiosity kills.

  Even the proud Holy Knights' Corps, which he had personally cultivated for many years, and the most talented knight who had been entrusted with great expectations, could be killed without hesitation... Wasn't it just to cover up this secret? And what about himself? As a small noble, even if the Rorin family was deeply rooted in the empire... The temple would definitely want to silence Duwei as well!

  This secret, once known, is equivalent to seeking death.

  "Now, do you still want to hear more?" Hussein's voice was tinged with a hint of mockery, he had noticed the change in Du Wei's expression.

  Du Wei smiled bitterly: "Do I still have a chance to turn back? Please, I've been with you in this forest for so many days, if the Temple finds out, I'll definitely be on the top three of the silenced blacklist! Whether you speak or not, the outcome is already set. Since we've already started, might as well continue."

  Hussein's face showed a hint of appreciation, but his tone remained cold: "You like to look for trouble yourself, it's not me who's harming you."

  Hussein then sighed and looked up at the sky: "The badge of Aragon..."

  Aragorn is not only a powerful knight but also a great magician.

  He left a badge with a hidden magic array, and this magic array left a residual message from him. Hussein entered the inner hall that night, saw the cursed badges, and also got Aragon's own message.

  How did the founding emperor of the Roland Empire die? Hussein couldn't answer this question because Aragon himself didn't mention it in his will... This is a very simple logic: when Aragon left his will, he was still alive. A living person, how could he say how he died?

  However, the message implied a very important information, that is: when the founding emperor was still in power, at that time, actually, the relationship between Aragon and the Temple had been extremely tense... almost to the point of being irreconcilable!

  This is easy to understand.

  Aragorn is undoubtedly a heroic figure of great talent and a master of his generation. Such people are usually extremely intelligent and have a strong desire for power. He was able to rise from a declining noble family, then go on to conquer the continent, unifying the fragmented land and establishing an empire that had never been seen before in history. This is indeed a feat that has no precedent or successor.

  When such a super powerful figure unified the mainland and swept across the land, when he was about to grasp the great power and draw his sword to look around, thinking that there were no more opponents who could rival him... Suddenly, he found out that right next to him, there existed another divine temple!

  How can someone like him allow such a thing?!

  What is a temple? A temple is a religion, it's a belief! It's the supreme and almighty divine spirit's representative organization on earth! It represents the will of the divine spirit, represents the great divine intention! Just like having another emperor with extensive influence and authority across the entire continent!

  And such influence and authority are not abstract, but really exist! Aragon received strong support from the Temple in the war of unifying the continent. In order to win over the Temple, he even joined the Temple himself and became a Holy Knight. With the unification of the continent, Aragon relied on the power of the Temple to establish an empire, while at the same time, the Temple also relied on Aragon's iron hoof

  Shed divine glory all over the continent!

  Finally, according to the earliest agreement between the two parties: The Temple not only has its own armed forces (Knights Templar), but also has the right to collect taxes!

  With military power and taxation, it's almost as if a state within a state has been established inside the Roland Empire! All the subjects of the empire inevitably have dual identities: on one hand, they are subjects of the Roland Empire, and on the other hand, they are followers of the Temple.

  This gave the temple enough capital to challenge the imperial power of the empire.

  (Regarding this point, Du Weil thought of the Roman Emperor in his previous life who was forced to cooperate with Christianity in order to unify the empire. As a result, the emperor's power became more stable, and at the same time, Christianity also developed fully. Author's note: For those interested, you can refer to the history of the rise of Christianity or some relevant materials will be posted on this book's related posts soon.)

  Aragorn is a clever man and he quickly saw the danger of this situation or rather he had anticipated it long ago. However, he had been holding back before because the war to unify the continent needed the help of the temple. But after the empire was established, he could not tolerate that there was still an existence within the empire that could challenge the imperial power!

  Thus, the contradictions between the imperial family of Roland and the Temple have reached a boiling point!

  "How can one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's own bed?"

  Under Du Weis thoughts. The great emperor who founded the country at that time probably thought so.

  Moreover, Du Wei knew that His Majesty of Aragon was actually a devil worshiper!

  The various processes of the struggle that year must have been very bloody, must have been very dark, and must have been very intense... But now they are all unknown. The only thing that can be known is: the great Aragon was clearly defeated.

  Because the temple has existed until today and still subtly resists imperial power.

  But Aragon himself was secretly punished by the temple and suffered from the temple's secret curse for nearly a thousand years, his soul unable to rest.

  How did Aragon die? Du Wei didn't know, but he guessed that it was probably not a glorious death, or perhaps there were some things that couldn't be seen by others.

  Such a powerful figure, a strong man with the top strength on the mainland... The Temple of God would hate him to the bone. To kill him would be an extremely difficult thing.

  Poisoning? Assassination? Murder?

  Heaven knows.

  And... killing such a strong person...

  Du Wei didn't think anyone else in this world could achieve it! That's the strongest under the starry sky!! Who else can be stronger than him?

  Unless it is...

  Du Wei shivered!

  Was it the hand of God? Did God kill Aragorn?!

  Nothing is impossible. I've been to Devil's Island with Du Wei. I think this possibility is extremely high.

  "The magic circle left by that person contains three important messages." Hussein said: "The first one, he told me that only those with the blood of the 13 members of the Saint Roland Knights can resonate and open this magic circle. And I am a descendant of the Saint Roland Knights' bloodline."

  This is another astonishing piece of news.

  Hussein, with the blood of a member of the Order of Saint-Louis, he is a descendant of members of the Order of Saint-Louis!

  "I myself never knew this." Hussein smiled wryly: "My ancestors were a fallen noble family, said to have been glorious in the Imperial Founding War. The family was also prosperous later on, but had declined many generations before me... and by my generation, it had almost completely fallen apart...... You should understand how strict the Temple is when selecting Holy Knights. The Temple, worried about imperial power infiltrating within, has always refused to select children from any noble families to enter the Temple's Holy Knight Corps. They only choose some poor commoner children... And I remember that my family was very poor since I was a child. I never thought... My ancestors actually had such glorious achievements...... Oh heavens, Saint Roland Knights... The most mysterious and powerful heroes in Imperial Founding history! You can't imagine how shocked I was when the shadow of Aragon in the magic circle told me these things!"

  "I can imagine." Du Wei smiled wryly, interrupting the knight who was lost in thought. He asked cautiously: "Alright, this is the first message, what about the other two?"

  "Secondly, it's also related to you now." Hussein sneered: "Do you still remember the moves I taught you? I said before that this is the foundation of a certain mysterious internal energy. And this mysterious internal energy is the second message left by Aragon... Back then, Aragon himself relied on it to sweep across the continent, defeating strong opponents and becoming the strongest martial skill of the Knights: Stellar Internal Energy!"

  Du Wei swallowed hard and asked: "He taught you?"

  "It's settled." Hussein blinked: "And now, you've already learned the basic part. When you practice to a certain extent, I can consider teaching you the later part."

  Du Wei remained silent for a while before digesting the news, then he sighed: "What's the last piece of information? What is it?"

  "The last clue... leads me to find my fellow earthling."

  Hussein said here, suddenly revealing a hint of hatred: "Find other Aragon bloodline inheritors."

  Other inheritors?

  Duvy can imagine that Aragon left his powerful martial arts in the knight's emblem and passed it on to Hussein, who has the blood of the thirteen Saint Roland knights.

  So... don't forget Aragon also has unbeatable magical powers!

  "Could it be..."

  Just then, a sigh came from the woods.

  From behind the big tree, he slowly bypassed a figure, and he walked so calmly on the snow, his feet stepped on the soft accumulated snow, but left no trace.

  His whiskers were white, the hat on his head was pointed, and the white Taoist robe on his body was full of stains, even with some faint scorch marks. Two large holes were also worn under his ribs. Looking at his disheveled appearance, it was clear that he had been through a fierce battle.

  Weiwei An De teacher, had been holding onto Du Wei Di's old magic for a while now, and at this moment, he walked out of the forest. It was unclear how long he had been there or how much he had heard. His face was calm, but his eyes held a hint of bitterness as he walked, muttering to himself in a low voice:

  "It's me. I inherited Aragon's magical powers and became his successor, it's me."

  "That's right, it's this old thing." Hussein glanced at the old magician, seemingly not surprised by his sudden arrival, and said coldly: "He is my companion. But if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be so miserable!"

  The old magician looked somewhat worn out. He walked quietly to the two people's side and gazed at Medusa who was standing far away with her eyes closed, enjoying the sunlight. Shaking his head: "You've gone too far, alas... Queen Medusa! It's actually Queen Medusa! Everything is exactly as the prophecy said."

  Duvie immediately caught the old magician's words: "Prophecy?"

  The old magician ignored Du Wei's question and walked to Medusa's side. He looked at the beautiful female snake carefully for a while, then slightly bowed his head: "Respected Queen Medusa, greetings."

  Medusa's expression was calm and unruffled: "You've been here for a long time, eavesdropping for a long time... Do all humans like to do this kind of thing? Or... is this also a part of human nature?"

  The old magician was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly recovered: "Humans are far more complicated than you imagine."

  Du Wei frowned: "You don't seem surprised at all to see Queen Medusa. Have you cast some kind of spell on us? Or have you been secretly monitoring us?"

  "My dear little friend. I am not as wicked as you say." The old magician smiled wryly: "If it weren't for good luck, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to live to see you all today. Oh, about your affairs, I just met your friend Dandanier in the woods over there, and he told me everything."

  Hussein seemed to have no patience for this small talk, he glared at the old magician: "Old man, you're too late. Where did you run off to these past few days? Can't handle a few senior knights and magicians?"

  The old magician didn't care about the knight's gloomy face at all. He spoke in a very serious tone: "Yes, I almost couldn't come back... You should understand that the Temple wants to kill you and then be done with it. They... have already taken out the Elder Council members! I encountered several high-ranking knights, thought of a way to lead them away, but soon after, several high-ranking mages from the Elder Council appeared. If I hadn't hidden well, they would have almost discovered my trail and identity."

  "The elders have also made their move......" Hussein sneered twice, but the muscles at the corners of his eyes twitched, and his laughter didn't sound so natural anymore.

  "Your life is now very valuable." The old magician smiled and said: "I overheard their conversation, the temple officially announced your traitor identity two days ago, the crime is: attempting to assassinate the Pope, and killing two Grand Knights. The temple has been ordered by the Pope himself, you have become the number one wanted criminal on the entire continent."

  The knight hummed coldly.

  "Hussein, I know you're a proud guy. You don't fear being the number one wanted man on the continent. But you also need to understand that those old codgers in the Council of Elders aren't easy to deal with!" The old magician said, lightly shaking his robes: "Look, I encountered three guys and almost got taken down by them."

  "You're just being cautious and don't dare to reveal your true identity." Hussein said coldly: "I don't believe that even with the three elders' gang, they can kill you, this old undying one. If you fight back with all your might, even if you can't win, you should be able to escape."

  "Our identities are still useful to us, I'm not ready to openly oppose the Temple yet, otherwise it would be endless pursuit and killing." The old magician shook his head: "You need a hidden companion."

  Du Wei was unhappy.

  He suddenly coughed violently several times, drawing everyone's attention. Du Wei's face was displeased as he looked at the two men in front of him:

  "Alright! Both of you are top-notch experts on the mainland! One is the number one knight on the mainland! The other is a top-notch magician! Both of you are successors of Aragon... You want to be enemies with the Temple!"

  To inherit Aragon's will... you guys are going to do great things! But... "Duvie glared with his eyes: "But what the hell does this have to do with me!! You guys go ahead and do whatever you want! I'm not some powerful knight, nor am I a formidable magician! I'm just a small noble, a carefree and idle little noble who likes to mess around with trivial things! Why are you dragging me into this? Especially you, old...

  At this point, Du Wei suddenly remembered the scene where the old magician used that magical magic to slap himself. The original "old not dead" phrase was already on his lips, and he quickly changed his words: "Old... you! Why did you hijack me all the way to this godforsaken place? This place can freeze people's noses off! And you still want me to head north... what use do I have for you guys?"

  Silence...

  After a while, Hussein also coughed, and the knight looked at the old magician with a cold gaze: "This is what I want to ask too. Old immortal, why do you want me to take this little guy on the road and protect him?"

  The old magician's eyes twinkled. He suddenly gently removed his pointed hat, revealing a head of disheveled white hair. He tidied up his hair, then poured out the snow from inside his hat and sighed: "Well, I think it's also time to answer questions."

  The old magician looked at Hussein and then at Du Wei: "Little friend, this thing, Hussein doesn't know about it either. It's the question of where Aragon's power comes from. Others don't know, but you do, right? Because you've been to Devil Island, seen that old guy Chris, right?"

  As he spoke, the old magician suddenly raised his hand and a gust of wind shot out from his palm. The gust was extremely fast, and before Du Wei could react, it had already sliced through the air with a whooshing sound, cutting off the hat on Du Wei's head as well as the string that tied up his hair!

  Du Wei let out a low cry, his hair disheveled, and the "Devil's Horn" that had been hidden in his hair was exposed to everyone's gaze!

  Hussein took a glance and couldn't help but be moved to say: "What is this thing... You, there are actually horns growing on your head?! Aren't you human?"

  Du Wei glared fiercely at the old magician and said in a bad tone: "Of course I'm human! As for this horn... hmm, it's just something that enhances my magical senses. With it, I can use magic."

  The old magician smiled and looked at Du Wei, not caring about his angry eyes, and said lightly: "Okay, my little friend, now tell Hussein what you heard on the Devil Island about Aragon! I've never told him about this, he knows even less than you."

  Things on the devil's island are not too complicated, to put it simply, there is a demon servant locked up somewhere, a powerful and terrifying old guy who is good at finding humans on the island to make deals with.

  And Aragorn is one of them, Aragorn's powerful abilities are almost all obtained through transactions with the devil's servants.

  Du Wei was originally eloquent and had personally experienced it, so he naturally told that story with unparalleled excitement, stimulation, twists and turns, and emotion.

  Hussein was almost stunned! This is a great shock for the knights!

  The old magician had long guessed the knight's reaction and waited for Du Wei to finish speaking before saying: "In fact, I've been to that island too. I met Old Kris..."

  "Wait a minute!" Du Wei furrowed his brow, his eyes flashing with suspicion: "Old... you're lying! When I met Chris, he told me that the last human to trade with him before me was Aragorn!! After Aragorn, no one has traded with him!"

  "That's right, he wasn't wrong at all." The old magician chuckled: "I did land on that island and met Old Chris, the scoundrel... He was indeed a scoundrel, but a rather lovable one. I proposed a deal with him... But he actually refused."

  "Why?" Du Wei asked in a low voice: "He is even willing to trade with me, such a humble little guy. Why refuse you? Refuse a powerful magician?"

  "Because..." The old magician smiled: "I asked him for something, and he refused me."

  "What do you want?" Du Wei suddenly felt his heart beating faster! He had already thought of it!

  He guessed what the old magician wanted!

  "I asked him..." The old magician smiled, but his smile was very strange, his voice low and hoarse, with an indescribable flavor...

  "...I demand that you return to His Majesty of Aragon the heart of the land! Return that 'Heart of Kings'!"