Elder Gu Ming’s voice echoed through the great hall, but Rody’s mind was spinning.
The King invited Elder Gu Ming and Fielding tonight on purpose!
What exactly was the King trying to do?
To be exact, tonight’s gathering was actually aimed at uniting everyone against the Temple! What was the King up to, by inviting the Temple followers to such a gathering?
"Puzzled?" Seth’s voice rang out beside him.
Everybody stopped talking the moment the Temple people entered, and Rody was not sure when Seth had moved to his side. But the Senior Prime Minister and the Crown Prince were not concerned with Seth. They exchanged a few glances; nobody could tell what they were thinking.
Rody silently stepped back and stood next to Seth, asking in a low voice, "You know what’s going on?"
Seth’s lips curled into a slight smile. He grabbed Rody’s hand and drew a few strokes.
Rody immediately realized that Seth was writing something on his palm. There were only two simple words he wrote...
"Compulsion!"
Looking at the smile on the King’s face, it suddenly dawned on Rody!
The King was forcing everybody to take a clear-cut stand!
All the while, the Temple knew that the kingdoms of the Roland Continent had peace negotiations with the Radiant Empire to form an alliance against the Temple. However, they dared not do this openly and everything was carried out under the table.
They had not shed all pretense of cordiality since nobody dared to pierce the veil.
These people in the hall were ambassadors from the various kingdoms. Even though they were here to have a peace talk with Rody and had formed an alliance among themselves, who knew what else were they secretly doing? Perhaps today they were all sitting here talking about how to fight the Temple but at the same time, their Kings had some secret dealings with the Temple as well!
In politics, who could be certain? One would do whatever is required to safeguard one's own interest!
Those glaring furiously at the King—hmph, why were they so mad? Most probably the rage was out of humiliation!
The King’s move was to force everyone to lay their cards on the table. To put it plainly, by inviting the Temple representatives, it was like saying to their face, these people had united against you! We were in this together!
By doing this, those kingdoms which were still sitting on the fence were forced to take a stand—nobody should have a foot in both camps!
Let them have no chance to switch their allegiance in secret!
No one could escape today! Those who attended the banquet tonight, all the ambassadors from various Roland Kingdoms, they were all against the Temple! Everyone here was co-conspirators!
"How brilliant!" Rody could not help but sigh.
When he finally figured this out, Rody sighed again. He smiled bitterly and thought, ‘If this was the case, then the King’s next step would be to set me up.’
Sure enough, just as he was thinking to himself, he heard the King calling his name, "Your Excellency Rody, let me introduce you."
The King seemed to be very happy. He had a friendly look on his face, beaming. "This is the Earl of the Radiant Empire, Rody!" The King then smiled to Rody. "These men are from the Roland Temple, Elder Gu Ming from the Elders Council, and Paladin Fielding."
The King paused, as if the situation was not complicated enough, he deliberately added, "Elder Gu Ming is also the teacher of the Black Veil Saint!"
Fielding, who was standing beside him, went stiff for a moment.
Gu Ming squinted his eyes and studied Rody for a while before he turned his head to the King and asked in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, before I came here, I’ve heard rumors that the Sauron Kingdom had some connections with infidels from the southern continent. Is this true?"
There was a dead silence in the great hall. Everyone heard Gu Ming’s accusation loud and clear.
His words had made the positions of both sides clear. If the King answered ‘Yes!’, then everyone here, as well as the powers behind them, were involved in the crime of 'colluding secretly with infidels’ and ‘conspiring against the Temple’!
Rody sighed silently. This was the King’s ultimate plan, to put everyone in the same boat!
Sure enough, the King smiled and replied lightly, "Yes, we are having a peace talk with the Radiant Empire. In accordance with the agreement we have reached, hundreds of thousands of loyal warriors from the Roland Continent can now come home!"
Everyone held their breath and nervously studied the expression on Elder Gu Ming’s face.
They were now mentally prepared for Elder Gu Ming to turn against them. It was not at all surprising if he angrily criticized the King aloud, or roar with rage...
But Gu Ming suddenly smiled!
A smile crept on his thin, aged face. He then sighed and turned, his eyes slowly scanning the hall, saying in a profound manner, "God is merciful, may He pardon the lost sheep."
The smile on the King’s face faded slowly.
Gu Ming was indeed a smart man. He understood very well that if he flew into a rage or stormed off in a huff, this would immediately push those sitting on the fence to the King’s side.
He seemed like just quoting a sentence from the Temple’s Classic, but on the other hand, it gave a slight hope to those powers which were still wavering …
Everybody in the hall had different expressions on their faces. Some had a complicated look as they scanned others around them, but nobody was willing to speak.
The King thought to himself sneeringly, ‘I have seen this coming! Tonight, if I do not openly defy the Temple, how do I force you all to resolve to align with me?’
With this decision in mind, the King cast a profound glance at Gu Ming, sighing deliberately, "Elder Gu Ming is indeed a kindhearted man...I intentionally invited you here tonight because I wanted to introduce you to this special guest from the Radiant Continent."
He pointed at Rody and said softly, "This is Earl Rody, the Commander of the Imperial Guards of Radiant Empire. He is one of the warriors of the famous ‘Lightning God’s Whip’..." The King stopped and turned his gaze to Fielding. He purposely spoke in a slow, deep voice, sounding each and every word clearly, "He is the bravest warrior under the command of the Duke of the Tulip Family!"
It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through the silent night sky, or a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil!
When the King mentioned about ‘Duke of the Tulip Family’, Rody could vividly feel the spitting flames from Fielding’s originally calm eyes.
Gu Ming was startled. He took a quick glance at the King and thought to himself, ‘Oh no!’
Sure enough, Fielding who had his head bowed and remained silent all the while suddenly looked up, his icy gaze locked onto Rody. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "Duke of the Tulip Family’s subordinate?"
Gu Ming sighed silently. Obviously, this cunning King invited him here tonight so that he could force those present to declare their hostility, but he did not foresee that the King would take aim at Fielding’s weakness!
He came to the Sauron Kingdom in the name of the Temple to deal with Black Veil Saint’s matter, but Fielding insisted on tagging along. A few Paladins, as well as Augustine, were already imprisoned for helping Black Veil Saint. Moreover, several guys from the Dragon Tribe had disappeared although he never liked those from the Dragon Tribe.
It was precisely because this matter involved Black Veil Saint that Fielding immediately halted his training and was determined to come along.
Gu Ming knew Fielding very well, so he was deeply aware of Fielding’s tremendous change. The ardent man who once valued dearly the pride of a knight had changed, and this was all because of Black Veil Saint.
The person Fielding hated the most right now was undoubtedly the Duke of the Tulip Family!
Sure enough, the King’s remark successfully caused Fielding to lose his cool!
"You are a subordinate of Duke of the Tulip Family?" Fielding took a deep breath and asked again.
Rody sighed. He knew that the King plotted this intentionally. There was nothing else he could do but nod, "Yes, I am."
Fielding’s expression dulled, but he suddenly asked, " The Duke of the Tulip Family, is he alright? I heard he was injured."
"He is fine."
Fielding nodded, his eyes locked on Rody’s face, "You’re out of luck. If you’re merely an infidel, I may have let you go today, but since you’re the Duke of the Tulip Family’s subordinate..."
"Fielding!" The color on Gu Ming’s face drained. This was definitely not the time to turn against them! By doing so, it will only strengthen the opposite party’s power! He tried to stop him.
Right now, Gu Ming deeply regretted bringing Fielding along.
"Elder Gu Ming!" Fielding’s voice was calm but cold. "Do not stop me. In fact, you can’t stop me at all."
"Your Majesty!" Gu Ming sighed and shot the King an angry look, "As one of the kingdoms under the Temple of Roland Continent, how dare you..."
The King stated calmly, "Of course I honor the Temple, but there are some with wild ambitions who seem to not respect the sovereignty of the Roland Continent!"
He stepped a few steps back. His eyes ran down the hall and declared loudly, "The kingdoms of Roland Continent reject those with evil intentions and wild ambitions!"
Gu Ming sneered, "It seems like I came to Sauron walking right into the trap? All of you are gathered here to conspire against the Temple!"
The King sighed, "Elder Gu Ming, I have always respected you. Besides, with the presence of Paladin Fielding, who would dare to disrespect you?"
All this while Fielding’s eyes remained on Rody’s face. He suddenly asked in a low voice, "Have I met you before?"
"..." Rody replied after a moment of silence, "No!"
Fielding continued coldly, "I can tell that you’re not weak, yet why have I not seen you in the battle of Thunder City?"
When Rody did not answer him, Fielding slowly stepped back and gave Gu Ming an icy look, "Elder Gu Ming, please step aside."
Although he was speaking to Gu Ming, those who heard his words retreated as well.
All of them knew the Paladin was going to start an attack.
A person with the rank of a Paladin was going to launch an attack, of course they would have to move out of the way as fast as they could! What if he accidentally hit them? They would have been seriously wounded or even die!
"Fielding!" Gu Ming could not hold in his anger any longer, "You! Are you not going to listen to me?"
Seeing that Gu Ming would not move aside, Fielding turned away from him and shouted at Rody, "You! Come with me!"
He strode towards the middle of the great hall.
Rody glanced at the King, and the King smilingly nodded at him.
"Bloody old fox!" Rody sighed silently. He then strode up the hall along with Fielding.
This was indeed the biggest hall in Sauron Palace. The great hall could easily accommodate up to thousands of people. At this point, everyone had retreated to the edge of the hall, leaving a huge space in the middle, except for Gu Ming who stood nearby, his face gloomy.
"I hope you do your best! Do not hold back in the duel!" Fielding said coldly, "If you lose, I will cut off your arms! But I will not kill you because I want you to go back to the Radiant Empire and pass a message to the Duke of Tulip Family! You tell him, if Black Veil Saint ever goes to the Radiant Continent to find him, I hope he will treat her well!"
Rody sighed.
Fielding continued, "If I lose...." He suddenly laughed apathetically and mumbled, "If I lose, then nothing matters anymore!"
Rody took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on Fielding, asking in a deep voice, "Where’s your sword?"
Though Fielding was wearing an armor, he did not carry any weapons when entering the palace as this was the normal etiquette.
Fielding seemingly laughed when he heard Rody’s question. He raised one hand and waved lightly, and one of the decorative battle axes originally hanging on the side of the walls flew right off into his hands.
"Alright, I have my weapon now. What about you?" Fielding smiled.
Rody was slightly taken aback, "You’re not going to use a sword?"
In his memory, that Fielding outside Thunder City had an excellent swordsmanship! In fact, on their first battle, Rody stood no chance against Fielding. Though at that time Rody had already achieved the level of Sacred Swordsman, he was still slightly inferior to Fielding in regard to strength, experience, or in the comprehension of martial arts. He had completely relied on the Mythical Dragon-fortified strength in his body to trump Fielding.
At that time, Fielding’s extraordinary sword skills left a very deep impression on Rody.
"No, I’m not using a sword." Fielding smiled and looked at the short battle-axe in his hand, "This will do."
Fielding noticed the surprised look on Rody’s face, and he said lightly, "When you go back, please help me thank the Duke of the Tulip Family. His advice regarding strength after the Thunder City battle was a great inspiration to me."
He stopped for a moment and suddenly gave the axe a light flick. He then mumbled to himself, "Why is it necessary to use a sword? Now any weapon can become my sword in my hands!"
Nobody knew how Fielding did it but inadvertently, a fierce murderous aura radiated from his body.
Once Fielding had gathered his momentum, the dullness surrounding him finally dissipated. Now, he looked like the Excalibur unsheathed!