The air was cold, so much so that Sylvester found it hard to breathe. His body froze from the strange magic that the Shadow Knight used, and to even move an inch, he had to spend almost all of his strength.

He clenched his teeth in desperation. He already had an enemy sitting on his side. Now another one appeared, and both could kill him easily. But he still had a way out just for situations like these, although it was also self-destructive.

‘Should I use my last resort?’

“Why have you been following me?” He asked in a low roar.

The Shadow Knight approached Sylvester, coming to a halt a mere two feet away. The temperature plummeted to such an extent that Sylvester could feel his saliva solidifying, his body straining to preserve warmth in his bloodstream.

“A Half-elf, a preacher of Solis, a pretender.”

Sylvester panicked and did all he could to look to his left. Just because the bodies stopped moving didn’t mean they could not hear words.

However, the sight that greeted him was most unsettling, for the Winter Ghost seemed to be frozen solid, unlike himself. Even the eyes were frozen over, with a residual dusting of snow coating the face.

“He can not listen.”

Sylvester again pushed himself to look at the Shadow Knight carefully. His heart raced with frenzied beats. He was uncertain about the creature’s intent, whether it sought to take his life as it had previously done.

“What do you want from me?”

The Shadow Knight remained silent for a long time, and Sylvester could only gaze upon the enigmatic floating figure, unspeaking and unmoved.

“What you see is true, and what you do not see is also true. To learn the reality, heaven and hell, you must walk through. Seek the tree bluer than the sea—the crescent is the key, and discover why this world came to be like this—Who made it like this?”

Abruptly, the Shadow Knight turned around and started to leave the same way it came. The Shadow Knight’s sudden departure only served to leave Sylvester in a state of bemused dilemma. He was left with a multitude of questions, his mind awhirling with speculation as to the motivations behind the creature’s actions and the reason for its unspoken pursuit.

Nevertheless, despite the lack of clarity, Sylvester could not help but feel a sense of relief at having narrowly escaped a potential confrontation with the mysterious being. But he still dared to ask questions.

“Why are you chasing me? Why do you hunt me? I do what I do for my and others’ survival, not because I take sadist pleasure.” Sylvester tried to ask the creature, as he desperately wanted to eliminate the Shadow Knight as an enemy. “Which side do you serve?”

But, the Shadow Knight kept floating away and, instead of answering, gave another riddle in its whispering voice. “I serve life—We shall meet again soon, for I see a horde of darkness shroud your future.”

Eventually, the Shadow Knight glided effortlessly over the tranquil waters of the river before resuming its journey without pause. It appeared that the enigmatic creature had no further interest in pursuing Sylvester, leaving the latter to ponder his motivations in solitude.

Perhaps it was his recent valorous deeds in saving the Storst faction that had earned him a reprieve, but then, what of the horrific massacre he had inflicted upon the Borzol tribe?

The other theory was that it had something to do with him being a half-elf. But then, did that mean the Shadow Knight was an elf? The conundrum persisted, leaving Sylvester with but one more mystery to unravel.

“Meow!” Miraj’s call alerted Sylvester to his feet, and he jumped away as far as possible from the Winter Ghost.

Words came out of Sylvester’s mount on their own. “You need not do this, Guardian!”

“Maxy, he’s dead,” Miraj muttered on his shoulder again.

“What?!” Sylvester kept his senses sharp and smelled the fleeting scent of death. The bitterness from the Shadow Knight slowly vanished and revealed no new scent.

He walked close to the still-frozen body of Winter Ghost and noticed the man had turned into ice entirely. His eyes were open but frozen and seemed like orbs of glass. The white robes and the veil on the mouth were also frozen like a sheet of iron.

‘While I was expecting to fight for my life here, the opposite happened. But this isn’t good either. The death of the Winter Ghost means the last monastery in the west will not be manned. This also means the Church has become even weaker. Why did the Shadow Knight kill him? I thought he never takes any action against higher clergy.’

Sylvester didn’t react much to the man’s sudden demise. He had merely met him some time ago and never liked him or established a good relationship with him. Winter Ghost’s life and death were meaningless to him personally.

He sat down on the ground and clutched his head in his palms. In his past life, he had people helping him keep track of things when he was a spy, but here, he needed to traverse through a scheme, an attempt to his life, and giant conspiracies at every step. It was impossible to always keep track of everything.

‘Find the tree bluer than the ocean. The crescent is the key? Where could this place be? I don’t remember seeing anything crescent shaped on the map of Sol.’

Boom!

Abruptly, the earth shook, and two craters appeared behind Sylvester.

“Sylvester! Are you alright?” Lady Aurora rushed to his side. “I felt the temperature dropping and knew who it was.”

She wasn’t wearing armour or even proper clothes. On her body was just a long grey sleeping gown, and in her hand was the sword.

Gideon Gracia was there too. “What happened?”

Sylvester decided not to share what Shadow Knight said to him and pointed at Winter Ghost. “I-It came and tried to harm me, but Guardian Winter Ghost protected me. In reply, enraged, the Shadow Knight froze him to death. It wasn’t even a fight… That creature… It was too strong!”

Being a master spy, Sylvester orchestrated false emotions and made a story. It was best not to drag the situation as revealing anything would harm the image of the Church and expose its sickening infighting. Only the Pope deserved to know the truth, and he planned to do it later.

Gideon Gracia walked over to the body of Winter Ghost and tapped on it. “How can something be so strong? What is that thing?”

Nobody had an answer to it. To most, the Shadow Knight was just a story that put children to sleep, but the few who had seen it never joked about it.

Lady Aurora continuously eyed Sylvester, glaring at him. In response, Sylvester winked and calmed her down without saying anything. Aurora knew there was more to the story, but after being with Sylvester for so long, she had an idea of when to speak and when to let go.

“Let us bring his body back to the castle and transport it to the Holy Land,” Sylvester suggested.

“What about his snake?” Gideon Gracia asked. “That snake alone is a doom bringer.”

Sylvester looked towards the south, where he could see the head of the snake poking out of the snow in the distance. There was a strange sense of intelligence in the big eyes of Ashra, as if she knew her master had died, and there was nothing that could be done as she was frozen too.

“Let me go and talk to her,” Sylvester said and slowly walked to her without creating any hostility.

‘If anything, she’s a real victim in this. From what Winter Ghost said, Ashra had lived with him since she was small. This is akin to me losing Xavia… I wonder if she’s as smart as a human and feels the same pain.’

“Chonky, can you talk to her?” Sylvester inquired.

Intently, Miraj stared at the huge snake. “She didn’t see me the last time. But maybe she can hear me.”

“Then I want you to tell her that you are her friend, and if she ever needs help, she can come to the Frozen Town and knock on the gates gently and then wait.” He instructed. “She’s an apex predator, so there won’t be any problem as long as she understands the situation.”

“B-But… Why don’t we keep her?” Miraj asked.

“Where will we keep her? She’s too big for southern regions, and you can’t store her in your belly, either.”

With a sad face, Miraj looked at the giant snake with pity. “Then… She will be just like me. Alone and sad.”

Sylvester felt it too but in terms of scent. As he got closer to the snake, the more he smelled rotten flesh, a sign of sadness.

“I know how you feel,” Sylvester said in the snake’s direction.

“HISS!”

A raging, angry-looking hiss left the snake’s wide-open jaw. Her focus turned to Sylvester, and she watched him come closer. The more he got closer, the farther the snake moved back.

‘She’s scared of me?’

Sylvester stopped moving and let Miraj leave his shoulder. Jumping around, Miraj didn’t take much time to climb the snake’s back and reach her ear, which, unlike typical snakes, she had.

Soon, Ashra’s big ferocious eyes turned into confusion as she turned her head around to look for the origin of the voice. But the voice continued, and eventually, she nodded her head as if agreeing with something.

Sylvester was too far away, so he could not hear the exchange, but he could smell some surprise, hope rising and sadness decreasing.

‘I would have loved to take her along. But sadly, this is not a fairy tale. She will only become an oversized target for the many overpowered beings after my life.’

Tap!

Tap!

“Hmm?”

Sylvester was shocked to find another undead bird landing on his shoulder. He instantly knew it was from Emperor Lich, so he quickly caught the bird and took the parchment tied to its claws.

Woosh!

Unlike before, the undead bird flew away without taking a reply back. So believing it was one-way communication, he opened the parchment and read it. There were two parts.

“Bard of Solis, I am moving my castle away to the north. This little parchment was given to me a few months ago, meant to be handed over to you—May Solis reign supreme.”

‘How is he going to move that giant castle?’ Sylvester wondered and looked at the other side of the parchment, where a long passage was written. Just from the first three words, he knew who sent it, so he read it under his breath.

‘Dear Lord Bard, you are likely devastated by the time you read this. Losing the Duchy of Iceling, the Barbarians taking over, and your armies turning into undead—I pity your fate and openly accept your hate. 𝒷𝒹𝓸𝓿𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶

‘After years of planning and work, I’ve had Emperor Lich under me and the mountain barbarians agitated. As I said before, in this grand scheme, you’re a mere reactionary at the moment, chasing the shadow of a dream—too late to be in the game.

‘With this, I suggest you prepare yourself for the tough days ahead or come and join me as my right hand. I still very much desire a meeting with you. It’s quite dull at our high stage—Since it requires a brain to compete, not the talent of a mage.

‘Regards—Shadow of Masan, the mastermind behind your misery.’

Sylvester clenched the parchment and looked up at the cloudy sky. A deep frown adorned his face. Eyebrows so creased that even a lion would fear. But, the very next moment, something even stranger happened.

Sylvester bellowed in laughter.

“Hahaha…! I can imagine his rage.”

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