Masked Knight
chapter-115

Chapter 115: Summit of Evil

Translator: Editor:

“Devil? Devil?” The man spoke hatefully. “The Devil! Hah! If we are the Devils, are those guys Gods? Hahahaha… This is really just like them!”

His laughter suddenly stopped as his voice turned cold. "In the Radiant God's teachings, wasn't there something like the Five Great Sins of the Devil? Cruelty, greed, deceit, fear … what else? Haha… in the end, who is the Devil? How many ‘heathens' have been burned at the stake every day? Is that not cruelty? Who collected so much of the so-called ‘atonement tax'? What is so good about ‘atonement tax’? How many ordinary civilians have lost their last piece of bread or coin from this? Meanwhile, the so-called ‘servants of God’ in carriages and wear silk clothing. They live in the largest houses and have lots of gold coins in their pockets! Is that not greed? There is also deceit! The so-called scriptures made them look like honest and merciful servants of God but they bully and oppress the populace. They even describe themselves as charitable and merciful. Is that not deceit? After that, there is fear…”

“Enough! Don’t speak anymore!” Rody spoke out helplessly. He faintly knew that this person was right, and he was also unable to refute his claims.

The man laughed and asked, “Duke, is there anything else you want to know?”

Rody thought for a moment and asked in a soft voice, “That ‘God and Devil’ war… what happened at that time?”

There was a moment of silence before the voice slowly said, “I do not know much. There are a lot of things that only the tribe elders would know. To begin with, these things have nothing to do with you. How about we discuss your cooperation?”

“Speak. What do you want?”

“We, the Silvermoon Clan, have already been in the mountains for thousands of years. We have been here longer than the history of the mountain people! However, we did not deal much with the others. The mission left to us by our ancestors are to survive in the mountains and wait for the revival of the True God Kara! The rise of the mountain tribes has caused us to lose our tranquility. A lot of things have changed in the past thousand years. Outsiders have all also started to consider us as the people of the mountains. Even the mountain people thought of us as one of the largest tribes! All this while, our Silvermoon Clan has guided the mountain people forward. We are the ones who made them strong… that is… until the emergence of this Wuya!"

Rody laughed and replied. “I understand now. You consider yourselves the servants of Kara and are more noble than the people of the mountains. That is why you consider the mountain people your servants. However, a wise person has suddenly appeared and the servants no longer listen to you. Am I right?”

Rody’s words were so impolite that the person behind him became speechless. After some time, he fiercely said, “Duke! Please do not forget! We are the only people who can help the Empire right now! If you wait for Wuya to unify the people of the mountains, there will be a second Great Moon Kingdom!”

Rody just shrugged and thought to himself. That is unlikely.

After speaking for a long time with Wuya, he believed that Wuya was not an ambitious person. There was also the prophecy that was weighing down on his mind.

“Wuya does not seem to have that ambition stated by you,” Rody carefully replied.

“Duke. You may think that the mountain people do not need to be feared. You may think that Wuya does not have the ambition… but what about the future? What about after Wuya’s death? The mountain people would be united under the rule of Wuya. However, would they be satisfied with being confined to within the mountain regions after ten to twenty years?”

Rody laughed and retorted, “Alright. In that case, would there be no threat if the mountains are left in your hands? After you control the mountains, would you be satisfied being confined to the mountains? Do you not want to leave the mountains and restore your former glory as Kara’s clansmen?”

“We will not!”

“What?”

A soft sigh came from behind before the man repeated, “I said we will not!”

Rody smiled and did not speak.

The man lightly say, “If you do not believe us, we can swear in the name of Kara!”

Rody laughed and answered, “Swear? Let me tell you. I do not believe in Gods. Much less the Devil!”

The man was silent and hesitated for a moment. He soon made up his mind and said, “Alright! We will not leave the mountains! This is because the Silvermoon Clan has our own mission!” The man took a deep breath before speaking in a dignified manner. “Our mission is to follow the will of the True God Kara, to defend against the Summit of Evil.”

“What? What do you mean by the Summit of Evil?”

The man chuckled before he replied, “That is the canyon you saw on the way here.”

Rody’s mind sank as he remembered the feeling when he stood at the entrance of the canyon, like a cold knife stabbing into his heart. He could not help but shiver as he murmured, “Summit of Evil? That is an interesting name.”

The man said again, “You are the Empire’s Duke of Tulip! As long as you can support our Silvermoon Clan, we are willing to ally ourselves with you! As long as you can help us defeat the Flame Tribe and Wuya, we will abide by our promise! The mountain people will no longer leave the mountains!”

Rody felt strange as he heard these words.

When he was on the way to the mountains, he had thought of methods to make the mountain people yield and stop their rebellion. However, after he arrived, things had developed beyond his expectations. The biggest problem was solved with little effort. Whether it was Wuya who was initially thought of as ambitious or the Silvermoon Clan, they both promised that the mountain people would not leave the mountains.

The biggest problem was actually so easily solved?

As Rody thought to himself, he suddenly remembered something and asked, “How many people does the Silvermoon Clan have? I heard that during the battle with the Flame Tribe, Wuya had exterminated you all on his own.”

The man sneered and replied, “Our Silvermoon Clan is the largest tribe in the mountains. We have four large villages, with a total of 150,000 people! Wuya had destroyed one of our villages and killed one of our Elders, together with over 30,000 people! The whole of the Silvermoon Clan had sworn in the name of Kara to kill Wuya!”

“Kill?” Rody could not help but coldly replied, “Although I have not seen Wuya’s power first hand, I heard that he was capable of destroying an entire village on his own.”

A breeze came from behind as the man waved his sword. He then spoke emphatically, “Kara’s people cannot be insulted! Even if are down to the last men, we will kill Wuya!” He then took a deep breath as he tried to calm down and spoke, “We also know right now that Wuya is seriously injured and does not have much strength!”

“Oh?”

“Yes. We dispatched a few people who were the most remarkable at concealment to try and assassinate Wuya! Although they all had failed, one of them returned with news that Wuya is currently very weak!”

Rody nodded and thought to himself. No wonder there is news of Wuya being seriously injured by an assassin. The news of the assassination is true, but the injury was not the result of the assassination.

Thinking for a moment, Rody replied, “I cannot promise you such an important thing right now. I still need to negotiate with your leaders.”

The man behind him also agreed. “We also do not expect the Duke to immediately promise us tonight. We just hope that you will not immediately agree to cooperate with Wuya! We will send someone to contact you.”

Rody coldly replied, “Good. I assume that if I intended to cooperate with Wuya, you would not allow me to leave this room alive.”

The man laughed. “Is the Duke still dissatisfied about what happened earlier? We were just testing your strength so that we know we are making a strong alliance!”

After a moment of silence, the man who was standing in front of Rody disappeared in a burst of light along with the blood on his face. Rody then turned around to look behind him. It was empty and did not show signs of any shadow.

The two people of the Silvermoon Clan were like ghosts. They came and went without a trace, leaving behind Rody alone in the room.

Rody felt physically exhausted. He had suffered two consecutive blows and even vomited blood from the earlier fight. In fact, it was not a light injury. After that, he had kept a calm face as he talked to the man and at the same time forcefully suppressed showing his own injuries. Once the two men had left, he felt his stomach roll about, and relaxing the control on his body, he sank to sit on the ground.

At dawn, Wuya had dispatched two mountain women to serve Rody. The two of them had entered Rody's room and saw Rody sprawled on the ground, asleep. The room was a mess and the wooden bench was broken. Traces of battle could be seen in the room.

Rody woke and jumped up. He laughingly said, “Do not be surprised. I am accustomed to fighting people in my dreams.”

The two mountain women then saw his wounds and the blood on his clothes before screaming...

That day, Wuya introduced Rody to the other tribal leaders. These leaders more or less glared at Rody with hostility. Rody secretly thought of the words of the Silvermoon Clan. Although Wuya did not have any ambition, he would not remain as the Tribal Chief of the Mountain Tribes forever. He was only a single person and would die in the future. The mountain people who hated the Empire would eventually rebel. On the other hand, the Silvermoon Clan was different. As long as the Silvermoon Clan survived, they would be able to control the mountains...

As Rody thought about it, he could not help but look at Wuya. He saw Wuya’s pale face and cold expression as Wuya calmly looked at the people present. Rody suddenly remembered and cursed in his heart. Wuya is able to read minds, and it would be impossible to hide what happened last night from him. He would know what I think just by looking at me. This is extremely bad!

The other tribes were noisy as they made a big fuss. Some thumped their chests, some stomped their feet, and some just glared angrily at Rody and Randt. The words shouted were probably not very good or polite words. However, Rody could not understand them and decided to ignore them.

Wuya coldly looked at the restless tribal leaders and stood up. All of them immediately turned quiet the moment they saw their Tribal Chief stand up and looked up towards him.

Wuya’s tone was cold and detached as he spoke something in the language of the mountain people.

Beside Rody was the mountain warrior Wuyu. Wuyu had been ordered by Wuya to be a translator for Rody.

“Everybody quiet down!”

“Since I am the Tribal Chief, you all must listen to me!”

“This is the Empire’s Duke of Tulip, the Empire’s most powerful warrior! His presence here is not to declare war against us but to negotiate for peace!”

“I know that some of you do not want to negotiate for peace! Some of you insist on fighting the Empire and attacking the Purple Leaf City! I also know that some of you do things behind my back. You secretly contacted the people outside the mountains and incited the mountain soldiers to revolt! I also know who is the culprit! When I became the Tribal Chief, everybody had vowed to obey my orders! Now, someone had betrayed me! This person must be punished!”

There was an uproar as a few old men stood up and shouted loudly. They probably did not say any good words, and Wuyu also did not translate it for Rody.

Wuya coldly asked them, “Do the few of you want to become a newly elected Tribal Chief? That is fine! As long as someone is able to defeat me, I will let that person become Tribal Chief.”

The angry old men immediately stopped shouting. They glared at each other with displeased expressions.

One of them seemed more intelligent and argued. Wuyu interpreted his words for Rody. “He said that the land outside was originally a part of our mountain. However, that land was stolen from us hundreds of years ago. Now that the mountain people have united, we must take back our land. Even the Tribal Chief should not object, otherwise, that person is unworthy to be the Tribal Chief.”

Rody snorted coldly.

Wuya gave Rody a glance and smiled as he continued, “You said that I am unworthy to be the Tribal Chief. In that case, tell me. Who is worthy of being the Tribal Chief?”

Although Wuya was smiling, his eyes were cold and there was an invisible presence coming out of his body. The presence was filled with murderous aura. One of the few people that stood in objection could not help but sit down.

Wuya slowly repeated, “Now the mountain people have elected me as Chief. That means that my words are orders! If I say fight, then fight! If I say to make peace, then make peace! Those that intend to object will need to ask the sharp end of the Flame Tribe’s spear!”

Rody sighed. He realized that negotiating with the mountain people did not require tact, grace, or strategy. You could only work from a position of strength. Only the strong will dominate.

When a few of the people who had objected started to cool down and to back down, one of them suddenly shouted loudly. Wuyu once again translated the contents to Rody. “He said that the Tribal Chief is bluffing. He said that the Chief had been seriously injured and that they do not need to be afraid of him. He then asked for the re-election of Tribal Chief so that the strongest of them could lead the mountain people.” Wuyu paused for a moment before cursing, “This old shithead!”

Andy suddenly sneered in Rody mind and said, “This fellow is doomed!”

Rody also nodded and thought that according to Andy’s words, Wuya was definitely as powerful or even more powerful compared to the Black Veil Saint, Mouse. With this kind of strength, it would be impossible for any of the mountain people to defeat him.

Wuya’s face sank and became furious. He then said, “Alright! You can oppose me as the Tribal Chief. In that case, go back to your tribe and prepare for battle.”

The person who called for the re-election immediately walked to the entrance. He looked back at his two partners and loudly shouted a few words. However, the two of them seemed to hesitate as they felt fear when they thought of Wuya’s strength. The man standing at the entrance spat ferociously before walking out.

The other tribes also looked at each other in dismay. When they saw the angry Tribal Chief, they lowered their heads.

Rody looked at the crowd and suddenly realized.

Wuya is using me!

If it was in accordance with Wuya's words that Wuya had no ambition for the outside land, there would be no need for a peace discussion. If he did not leave the mountains, the Empire would also be unable to catch him! However, he purposefully looked for Rody to have a peace discussion so that he could rein in the other tribal leaders that oppose him. He then took the opportunity to eliminate the other tribes that opposed him.

When Rody thought of this, he looked at Wuya with a surprised expression.

Andy’s voice slowly rang in his head. “Boy. It looks like you finally understand. You must understand that a person in a high position needs more than just individual strength! This Wuya can be considered to be an excellent leader! If the Silvermoon Clan was not here, Wuya would be able to conquer the mountains much more easily.”

Rody started to have a strange feeling. He then noticed that Wuya was looking at him. Wuya’s eyes were fixed on Rody’s face, and then he smiled.