Chapter 1252
What Haina Feared
Haina shook her head, bewildered. As a legitimate knight of the Knight Kingdom, she actually didn’t know why they were called that—was it simply because they rode camels? Shouldn’t they be called cavalry? Much like Avalon’s “Air Cavalry.”
Upon hearing this, “Encyclopedia” Prodhino sighed. He spoke to Haina, “Because the first Slave Knight was a knight of the Path of Power. This was during the era when giants still existed, a human knight captured by Anxi. He was a minor noble of the Hrasal Empire.”
“……And then?” Haina knew little about the era of giants.
“Then—he naturally didn’t want to remain a slave. But what could he do? So he told the slave trader, ‘Please let me join you.’ The slave trader was also surprised. He had seen slaves cry, beg for mercy, and attempt to escape or resist… but this was the first time he had seen someone want to join his group. He was indeed short-handed, as having an extra person when capturing slaves was better than not, and slave traders would clash with each other, always resulting in casualties.
“But he naturally wouldn’t easily trust the other party—what if this was just a trick? Perhaps he only wanted to retrieve his armor and weapons and then suddenly escape or attack.”
“……Indeed.” Haina nodded. She felt that if she were in a similar situation, she might also pretend to defect to the other party and then look for an opportunity to strike back. That could be considered a tactic.
“So, the slave trader demanded that the other party commit seven Great Sins—including killing unarmed elders, infanticide, abusing women, and trampling on the king’s portrait. Afterwards, he made the other party swear to voluntarily betray Hrasal, sever ties with his family, and send back the evidence of his crimes and the body fragments of those who died because of him to Hrasal.
“This knight, at this time, even dreamed… hoping his elders at home would rescue him. Soon, a stern letter was sent back. It was from an elder of his family. He severely reprimanded the young knight and had already publicly announced his expulsion from the family, stripping him of his noble status and all personal property. This announcement was already made public throughout the country when the letter arrived.”
Undoubtedly, this was an attempt to cut ties. He had committed heinous crimes; there was no saving him. It was better to preserve the family’s honor and sever ties before these matters came to light. Upon hearing this, Haina’s pupils trembled for a moment.
“It seems you understand,” Eivass said softly. “After realizing he could never go back… he fell. He became more ferocious, more cruel, and more reckless than those slave traders. Coming from a knightly background, he dedicated the entire set of mystical arts his family used to train knights to his Lord. Relying on his own valor, strength, and beauty, he quickly became the Lord’s male favorite, and was called ‘Slave Knight’ by people who feared and loathed him. Not only was he not angry, but he proudly accepted this title.
“Before this, the profession of knight was completely monopolized by the knight families of Hrasal. From then on, mass-producing knights became a possibility. Subsequently, this knight announced that because his family had betrayed him, he would make his arts available to everyone. The prerequisite was that the successor must commit at least one of the seven Great Sins he had committed—if he alone fell for the sake of survival, it could only mean his personal virtue was low. But if many people fell because of it, then his fall was nothing significant.”
“There’s one more detail,” Encyclopedia added. “According to our research, he required people to commit only one Great Sin to become a knight, not out of leniency. It was due to fear and selfishness. Because after he committed the seven Great Sins, he received a blessing from the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. He worried that if someone did the same things as him, they would gain the same power, thus diminishing the uniqueness of his own strength. Therefore, to hide the true secret of his power, he deliberately muddled the truth and made more people become knights by publicizing the details of the profession. From then on, ‘Slave Knight’ became a profession. This profession, besides gaining power from Supreme Heaven, even received a blessing from the Fallen Heavenly Envoy.”
“……Knights are such evil professions?” Haina found it somewhat unbelievable. “Then what did this Slave Knight do?”
Eivass said, “From what I know, he later returned with treasures of gold and silver, personally killed his father, and inherited his title. After that, because he attempted to ravish a noble widow in the church cemetery, he was destroyed by a Descended Envoy along with his soul… thus he did not survive to return to Anxi, nor did he become a demon.
“Later, the situation changed slightly. Due to the increasing chaos within the Hrasal Empire and stricter management of extraordinary beings… as people’s loyalty to the monarch decreased, at least ‘trampling on the king’s portrait’ became less unacceptable. Some young people who had not mastered knightly inheritance used this shortcut to become rebellious knights. Logically, they had no possibility of becoming knights, but they had no evidence of guilt, thus they were suspected of being hidden traitors, potential rebels against the king.
“But they claimed to have bought the knowledge, which was entirely possible. After all, the economy was poor at the time, many knight families had gone bankrupt, and some secret knowledge had leaked out. Thus, the king gathered all the potentially unreliable knights and exiled them to Avalon Island as ‘Pioneer Nobles’—the king granted them noble titles, on the condition that they could open up new lands for the kingdom.”
Eivass looked meaningfully at Haina, “Among these knights, there were two who definitely did not belong to knight families. One was a Descended Heavenly Envoy named Arthur; the other was a half-elf orphan named Lancelot. It could be considered that a malicious act brought about good results. —This is why Avalon was established and then subsequently became independent from Hrasal. Similarly, this is also why the Silver Crown Dragon was unwilling to call its own profession ‘knight’ and instead established a new profession.”
“Later, those Slave Knights lost their source of power—Supreme Heaven was dead, and the Silver Crown Dragon was unwilling to give them power. The Fallen Heavenly Envoy also disdained these unoriginal, trend-following fallen individuals… Thus, under the transactional contract of the Hourglass, the Lords signed new contracts with the Slave Knights… no longer requiring just one sin, but returning to the original seven, in order to make the Slave Knights completely opposed to the rebels. They sold their souls to the Lords, becoming slaves to the Lords for life, and in return received forbidden power from the Abyss Heavenly Envoy—even if they might never have met a Lord in their entire lives. They became true ‘Slave Knights.’ Not obeying a single Lord, but obeying all Lords, making betrayal of the Lords impossible. Each of them had fallen to the point of no return.”
Eivass chuckled, “Any Slave Knight, killing them all would not be a mistake. They might have been victims themselves, but from the moment they could ride camels, their hands were already stained with blood. And you—you are a powerful individual who almost brought down the Third Ring. Sitting here, I can feel the ground shake. How could such rabble possibly defeat you? Isn’t the intention of Aimel Nour sending them clear enough? —If someone provokes you, let them vent your anger. They are not good people anyway. From this perspective, Aimel Nour has indeed roughly guessed that my people did it… after all, I killed his other Chief Attendant. Have you seen him send anyone to discuss this matter?
Eivass lay weakly on the chair, taking a breath before looking at Haina, “You indeed lack the mindset of a powerful individual, Haina. What was your initial reason for obtaining extraordinary power, do you remember? Since you can’t out-argue those people, then simply stop arguing. You have already become a warrior, so why not be a bit more overbearing—do you remember Madam Lixia? Do you remember her conduct when she was an old woman?”
“……Wouldn’t that be too arrogant?” Haina hesitated. “She had achievements; many people admired and respected her. But I am still too young… and I haven’t accomplished anything…”
Eivass sighed. He finally understood. What Haina truly feared was being disliked—this was why, when she was student council president, although everyone liked her, her quản lý was chaotic, leading to criticism from professors. It was because Haina did not want to see negative reviews of herself. Whether from superiors or subordinates. She always seemed cheerful and serious, and despite being intelligent, she was always indecisive. Even if those people’s malice and jealousy would not affect her in the slightest, and perhaps were not even expressed, she was dedicated to changing others’ perception of her. When she was in school, she was interested in the Pelican Bar but never dared to go because she was afraid of being called a “bad girl”; White Queen District had quite a bit of entertainment, and students played wildly, but despite her popularity, she didn’t even have a close friend.
At its root, this was precisely because Haina cared too much about what others thought of her. It had even reached a somewhat pathological level… Eivass wondered if this had anything to do with Lancelot. Such a person, logically, could not be a leader because her heart was too soft. Although her personality was gentle, she couldn’t even be a qualified mother, teacher, or captain—because she was too easily accommodating to others.
But from another perspective, she was very suitable to be a spokesperson or an assistant. Because she could always take care of her image and keenly sense when others might be dissatisfied with her. Previously, Eivass had sent Lily out because he wanted Lily to mentor her and enlighten her. At that time, Eivass thought that Haina’s problem might be due to her not knowing how powerful she was, her personality being too humble.
However, looking at it now, it was basically impossible to easily change Haina’s personality. Not because she couldn’t figure things out, but because the problem was rooted deep within.
“……No wonder your talent for Path Adaptation is far stronger than for Path of Authority. This is indeed the logic of someone suited for Path Adaptation, and perhaps this is the path most suitable for you,” Eivass shook his head. “From another perspective, you are quite suitable to be a warrior—a ‘warrior’ in the traditional sense. You only accept orders without questioning.” Haina’s loyalty was undoubtedly unquestionable, perhaps even absolute loyalty… This was probably also the reason. If the Arbitration hadn’t actively chosen her as an arbiter, she probably wouldn’t have fought for power for herself and would have continued to be a minor supervisor in the Inspection Bureau. It was absurd—compared to her, Lily, as the carrier of the Grey Heavenly Envoy, seemed less like an adapter.
Haina’s problem could be easily solved. Just find her some battle exploits. Didn’t she want to be admired? Simple. In a chaotic world, nothing was easier to create than a “hero.”
“Now that you’re back, I’m going to seal the place completely. Protect me, Haina. Lily, watch the guests. I will not receive anyone until I complete the ritual. I will completely seal this building. Anyone attempting to enter or exit from now on may be killed by Twilight power. Do not touch the door.”
Eivass closed his eyes, suppressing the nearly overflowing twilight power within him. He was like a cup filled to the brim with water, about to spill with the slightest movement. He was now going to “give birth” to Amber. This required giving Amber a vessel—after all, he had no real reproductive capabilities. In front of Eivass were two Tarot Cards and an octagonal emerald green jewel. This was the vessel he had chosen for Amber.
