Chapter 6: Enemy
Azuka stared at his old enemy—the one he had never truly known.
He had never seen the other person look so young and miserable: the black-haired young man looked even more miserable than when he was just pulled out of the sea. Although he had not suffered any intentional abuse, the unconcealable fatigue still stained his cheeks. Only his smoky gray eyes reflected a bright and terrifying light.
He recalled the first real face-to-face confrontation in his memory, which was also the only face-to-face confrontation - the other party was sitting on the majestic throne. Even though he was covered with layers of thick and gorgeous scarlet royal robes and surrounded by knights with shining silver helmets, the king's thinness and weakness could not be concealed.
Yet, it was this seemingly frail new king who effortlessly slaughtered the entire royal court. The former king, Cassius II, and his queen, Esmeralda, were each pierced through the abdomen by the twin spears of the statue of the God of Light and Glory in Kite Heart Square. They struggled for a night before finally expiring. The pristine white sacred stone, stained crimson by the blood of the god's favored, lost its true color. Ten days and nights later, a massacre of the former king's family and followers ensued. Any ministers or priests who dared to dissuade them were guillotined. For unknown reasons, the Glorious Church remained silent, and from then on, the most powerful church on the continent of Ambrose became a puppet of the new king.
Strictly speaking, the new king slaughtered the enemies of the Natalin people, but the madness and tyranny they displayed afterwards were simply horrifying: the new king launched a war of annihilation, declaring that he would slaughter all believers in the world - and then, it was Azuka who personally cut off the head of the unbeliever and looked into those smoky gray eyes for the last time.
When the dust settled, he stood among the cheering crowd, holding up the head, pale and exhausted from blood loss, and was surprised to find that those beautiful smoky-gray eyes looked the same whether they were set in the eye sockets of a living person or lying in the skull of a dead person. He suddenly remembered that when he met those eyes, stripping away the turbulent emotions ignited by hatred, tension, and fighting spirit, the first thought that came to his mind was: That person looks like he's about to die.
——He is dying.
Only a person who is about to die but has no worries would have such indifferent and empty eyes, like a mercury mirror reflecting the dead state of all things in the world. So when Azuka saw the other person's current "lively" appearance, he was a little dazed.
"Is your sprained foot still healed?" The God-Favored One suddenly asked an unrelated question. "If you had applied the ointment Lambda gave you regularly every day, it should have healed by now."
The other person was limping when he walked.
The other man was visibly stunned for a moment, then frowned at him after coming to his senses: "The texture is disgusting, and it stinks."
Azuka: “…”
Is this guy a kid?
He suddenly felt like teasing his old enemy, so he adopted the tone he'd use to coax a child from his tribe and said jokingly, "Well, as long as you're willing to apply the medicine on time, I'll tell you what happened ten years ago. Deal?"
"I can easily gather this level of information myself," the other party said, pressing forward greedily. "How about a deal? I want you to let me and the three sailors leave Asachi Valley safely, and not harm our lives. Furthermore, we won't tell anyone what happened here, and you can sign a soul contract with us."
When signing a soul contract, the signatory will swear an oath in the name of his soul to the Okansele River, the birthplace of the gods. If anyone breaks the contract, the misfortune of the gods will befall him - no one knows what the so-called "misfortune" is, but no one who breaks the contract has ever seen the sun rise the next day.
For example, the widely circulated classic tragedy "The Okansele River" tells the story of a pair of impoverished lovers who, in the heat of passion, swore to the Okansele River their eternal love. However, as time passed, the man became wealthy and abandoned his lover, deciding to marry the daughter of a nobleman. On the wedding night, the heartbroken woman drowned herself in the river, while the unfaithful man, amidst prayers and pleadings with the gods, died in fear and remorse.
In short, the binding force of the soul contract on the natives of the Ambrose continent is terrifyingly high, and Nova believes that he has provided a highly feasible solution.
However, the God-Favoured One looked at him with an ambiguous expression for a moment, then replied gently, "No, you cannot leave on your own."
His tone was unusually gentle. "The Wall of Sighs not only blocked the pursuers, but also isolated the Natalin people. The fact that four of you survived after crossing that sea is already a blessing from the God of Luck."
"You can speak the common language and are a person favored by God. You must know how to communicate safely with the outside world."
"Yes, I know." Azuka smiled faintly: "But why should I tell you instead of imprisoning you here?"
"...I assume that your memory hasn't declined and your logical thinking ability is well developed?" Professor Brody stared at him gloomily. If the person in front of him was his student, he would have broken out in cold sweat under this stern gaze - but the bastard in front of him still looked relaxed and contented.
"That's not very polite, Professor."
The professor said bluntly: "I need to make sure that the person I am talking to is not a lunatic with no reason at all.
The other party still looked at him gently, as if looking at a unreasonable child.
...In the end it still came to this.
Nova took a step back calmly, then suddenly pulled out the tip of an arrow he had hidden in his sleeve and aimed it at the artery in his throat. The thin flesh immediately sank into the arrow, and bright red blood slowly seeped out.
"Let us go, or I die now," the black-haired young man said calmly. The pale blue veins on his arms bulged with force, but his gloved fingers didn't tremble or hesitate at all. "Before I die, I will definitely shout the word 'God's Chosen One' clearly and loudly."
Perhaps the empire today will not care about the remnants of the rebels three hundred years ago, but it will definitely go crazy because of the emergence of a new "God-favored One".
The valley was perpetually windy, and the brightly colored banners fluttered in the wind, announcing to the dragons that this valley, nestled between forest, ocean, and snow-capped mountains, was their home. The scarlet color trickled down the young man's raised neck, quickly drying on the ground, leaving behind tiny bloodstains.
Tick, tick.
Azuka heard the long-decayed organ deep in his chest beating faintly, once and again.
He suddenly laughed to himself in the eyes of another person who looked at him as a lunatic - yes, it was indeed him, his nemesis, the lonely phantom sitting high on the throne, but at this moment he dragged "Azuka" from the quiet void and made him fall to the ground.
Compared to the first and last encounter, the one favored by God is more familiar with the tactics and strategies of his nemesis: Nova Brody is keen on extreme pressure, loves life-and-death games, is weird and extreme, crazy and bold, but the other party can always see through everything and control everything like a god - choosing to be his enemy is choosing to enter an unpredictable nightmare.
He gazed into those beautiful eyes. At least for now, he could easily destroy the unconscious, childlike arrogance in his nemesis's eyes. But as he had said, this was due to "information asymmetry." Time had gifted him with so much. It was only a ninth-level bloodline spell, not something unbreakable.
This is not a fair duel. His enemy is still young, while his soul has experienced many vicissitudes of life.
The guy laughed alone for a while as if he was having a seizure, and then he sighed helplessly in the face of Nova's increasingly strange look.
"Okay, you win."
The other party spread his hands in a confused manner, and the calm and majestic divinity that he had when they first met disappeared at this moment.
"I promise I'll get you four out of Asachi Valley safely, but not now." Catching a glimpse of the black-haired youth's doubtful look, he added considerately, "Of course, that's on the premise that we've signed a soul contract. You can remove the arrow from your neck now."
"...Thank you for your understanding and kindness. In return, perhaps I can provide some assistance to the Natalin people's defenses." Nova slowly lowered his hand, but still stared at him warily: "Then shall we sign the soul contract now?"
…
The sailors looked at the freshly made soul contract in a trance.
"…This is what you call a 'plan'?"
The seemingly cold and arrogant professor would actually risk his life for such a poor person. This was something none of the sailors had ever imagined, and for a moment they were both surprised and grateful. But this method was really... a little subtle.
"Since I successfully achieved my goal, I don't understand what's wrong with this." Nova was a little dissatisfied. "This requires quick thinking and the courage to sacrifice."
"Indeed, we are all very grateful to you, sir. Without you, we would all have perished in the dragon's belly." Captain Scarpo was wrapping bandages around the young man's neck, using the same patience he would use with his four-year-old granddaughter. "But if possible, I hope you can prioritize protecting yourself."
Seeing that the professor was about to open his mouth to refute, he simply picked up the hard "bread" on the table and stuffed it into the other person's mouth, blocking the other person from saying anything else.
“…Hmm.”
The black-haired young man blinked his eyes, chewed a few times with difficulty, and choked and frowned at the "bread" that was mixed with plant tubers, ground seed shells, and perhaps even small stones.
The extremely poor diet in the valley is one of the reasons why Nova wants to escape from this hell without coffee - this staple food, called "Mara" by the locals, is not as good as the cheapest, salty, smelly and hard black bread in the bakery.
The Natalin people distribute enough food to keep everyone from starving, including outsiders. But if you're looking for a taste of the food, earn points by participating in hunts, mining, repairing houses, gathering herbs... There are so many ways to do it, you'll always find something that suits you. The dragons in the valley each have their own points, but they go to the Natalin people who raise them.
Even the God's Favored One himself was no exception - the professor first earned some points by helping to sort the herbs, and when he went to the barter office, he took a look at the record book and found that one of the people had more points than the others, but most of them were recorded under the dragon pattern.
The other Natalin people enthusiastically told him with gestures that it was the God's Chosen One and his dragon, Azra, the Wind Walker.
In the Assachi Valley, everyone is taking advantage of the dragon.
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