Chapter 789 - 450: Bloodstained Knight (Part 2)

"The second step of the ritual is complete!" The voice of the Mimic Venerable King rang out.

The prophecy representing the "Princess" had already been fulfilled.

"Bang!" The door was violently slammed open.

The Baron, panting heavily, rushed to the rooftop. At this moment, he was drenched in sweat and his face was filled with urgency as he asked, "What happened?"

Xue Dili could only shake his head silently, and as he came to the edge of the Ancient Castle and saw the corpse on the flagpole below, he suddenly collapsed on the ground as if all strength had left his body.

A sound like a bull panting arose on the rooftop, and his heart was pounding violently, whether from fear and anger, or because he had exhausted all his energy rushing to the rooftop.

Now, however, his face was ashen. He leaned against the wall of the Ancient Castle, quietly gazing at the stars and the moon in the sky.

There were also stars in the Subspace, which was strange, but not entirely inconceivable. Xue Dili had observed that the stars in this sky were motionless, possibly just projections.

But now it seemed that he could only stare blankly at these things.

The next day, the "Princess" died, and the ritual was halfway through.

Next, it should be Xue Dili’s Death.

"Father, why did she go to the rooftop all by herself? Could it be that there’s truly an Evil Spirit haunting this island?" the Baron’s voice rang out.

On his way upstairs, he had been pondering, why?

He couldn’t fathom the key reason, why that clever woman would do something so foolish.

"Perhaps."

Xue Dili merely sat calmly beside the Baron and said, "I don’t have the ability to save others, but tomorrow should be my day of Death. I will go first to help you test out the killing method of this ritual. Watch my body and cause of Death to see if you can find any clues."

The Baron fell silent, and once again the atmosphere plunged into silence. After a long while, he finally said, "Father, there once was a war on this island, between the island’s Lord and another army..."

He slowly unfolded his conjecture, though Xue Dili knew it all.

In fact, Xue Dili had supplemented it on his basis, pointing out the four key figures involved.

The Princess, the courtesan, the island’s Lord, and the Empire’s military leader, a Priest.

These four were the epitome of the past story on this island.

A story almost laughable; the Princess didn’t want to marry the island’s Lord, so she had the courtesan replace her identity to marry him, which triggered a series of consequences.

The negotiations between the Kingdom Army and the island’s Lord were also sabotaged by the Princess, resulting in a nighttime slaughter between the Kingdom Army and the Lord. The wife the Lord had just taken as the Princess was also tied to rocks and drowned in the sea due to her role as the primary culprit.

However the Princess did not foresee that her intention to annul her marriage would lead to a real war, in which she herself got involved and fell off a cliff, dying on sharp stakes.

The Kingdom Army leader, in his advance into the Lord’s house, got burned to Death in a fire which nearly engulfed the entire island.

In the end, the Lord also disappeared without a trace, turning the island into a dead land, becoming the current "Resentful Spirit Island."

This was the story on the island, pieced together from the information Xue Dili gathered and the Baron’s conjecture.

Although not necessarily accurate, there might be many differences in details, but the general story of the island proceeded in such a manner.

Thinking about this, Xue Dili immediately said, "Then I will probably die in a fire tomorrow. I will stay away from the flames before dying. Watch how I end up burned to death; it’s the last help I can offer you..."

Just as he was about to get up and leave, the Baron said, "Father, thank you for everything you’ve done. Would you like to hear my story?"

"A monster’s story."

...

He was a Baron of the Empire, his parents gained their title through merit in war.

Although the title was the lowest, for him, it was a noble class others had to look up to.

This level of nobility didn’t differ much from a Knight, being equivalent to a Knight with their own small territory. His land was so small he couldn’t even afford soldiers, let alone Knights.

Thus, he was both the Baron and the "Knight."

Since childhood, he aspired to be like the protagonists in Knightly tales, defending his country, guarding his territory, rescuing the Princess, winning the beauty, and ascending in rank...

So from a young age, he played the hero like those in Knightly tales.

The Empire summoned, and he participated, becoming a logistics officer. Despite not killing the enemy, he accrued notable merits. Although these merits weren’t enough to promote him, they made it unnecessary for him to become a small rural Lord, allowing him instead to establish himself in the Royal Capital, becoming the city constable responsible for safety and supervision.

This was a lucrative job, the best his war merits could earn. Despite there being five city constables in the Royal Capital, at least he had the right to guard one section of the city.

There were opportunities to gain more merit, possibly allowing him to be promoted to Viscount, bringing further progress to his family.