Chapter 260
Chapter 260: A Black Plan
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Sila stood alone on the roof where Vogue lost his life to Revin . The entire city was sleeping while covered in never-ending clusters of fire .
Revin’s stamina was limited . He seemed to be resting right now as the rate of fires being set had slowed down significantly .
As he observed the morning star in the night sky, Sila waited for the person who could help him solve the problem regarding Revin .
“So you came, Kraizer,” Sila said without removing his gaze from the sky .
The Master of Swords, Kraizer, slowly walked up to Sila . His giant katana was hanging from his waist . It seemed he preferred to have his weapon ready next to him instead of keeping it inside his system window .
“Hi, Sila . Tomorrow is an important day, isn’t it? Why are you still awake? Are you excited?” Kraizer asked as he returned the greeting .
Kraizer was among the first group of people who accepted Sila, so Sila felt especially intimate with him . He struggled to come to terms with using the man as bait .
“I have something I need your help with . ”
“About Revin, right?” Kraizer could read Sila’s intentions .
Sila nodded . “That’s right . I want you to challenge Revin to a sword duel, . but I will be the one to specify the time of the match . ”
“A sword duel with Revin is what he and I have to do regardless . We just postponed it because of some circumstances . Sila, what time were you thinking?”
“Tomorrow, midday . ” Sila’s reply was short, but Kraizer could understand the reason behind it immediately .
“That’s the time of the Dragon Kingdom raid, isn’t it? Are you planning to ban me from participating in this interesting event?”
“You have to self-sacrifice for the team’s common interest . Given his desire for the title Master of Swords, Revin won’t run away from your challenge . Challenging him at that time will prevent Revin from going to the Dragon Kingdom with us and attempting to stop our event . Also, the other benefit is that he will have to save up his strength before the match, and that will help reduce the damage to the city . ”
“You want me to abandon many dragons and end up with a lone dragon as my target? That’s a difficult choice to make . ”
Sila showed a mild smile . “Fighting in a battle against many dragons alongside a lot of other players, or a one-on-one duel with the Flame Monarch himself . Which appeals more to you?”
“Hahaha! That’s quite persuasive . ” Kraizer laughed heartily . “Don’t worry . As long as I get to kill a dragon, any is fine . ”
Sila nodded, before talking about the part which worried him . “Fighting Revin can be more dangerous than fighting an army of dragons . I have told you about the Gems of Catastrophe and their terrifying abilities . Revin has at least one of them with him . No player can stand up to its power . ”
Ever since Sila discovered that Revin had one of the Gems of Catastrophe in his possession, he had been making sure that everyone understood the fearsome powers of these items . Even though they doubted such fraudulent items existed, the fact that Revin could take down the Evil Eye King so quickly was sufficient proof .
Kraizer smiled . He tapped his katana hanging from his waist . “No one has ever stood up to my Heaven’s Sword of Punishment as well . ”
Sila didn’t smile back . Instead, he showed a worried expression . “I’m really serious about it . If—”
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Kraizer gestured Sila to stop . “It’s better if my opponent is strong . Otherwise, my title Master of Swords will be just a joke . Rest easy . I know what you are trying to tell me . However, if you say one more word, I will take that as an insult . ”
Sila swallowed his words into his throat and no longer gave Kraizer warnings . He knew Kraizer wasn’t arrogant . He was simply confident in himself .
“I will go along with your request . However, can you do something for me in return?” asked Kraizer .
“Please say it . ”
“About my match against Revin . Never mind if I win . However, if Revin comes out as the winner, his safety must be guaranteed . Don’t order your monsters to harm him . ”
Sila fell silent for a short period of time before giving his reply . “You have my word . ”
“There is nothing more, then . Revin is a fearsome opponent . I will have to start preparing myself . About the duel, I will send him a letter of challenge soon . ”
As their conversation had ended, Kraizer left after they finished talking, but Sila remained in the same spot and waited patiently . It was ten minutes later when he saw a difference in the city .
The flames throughout the city vanished . It seemed Revin really needed to preserve his strength for the upcoming match against Kraizer .
With this, the construction in the city could finally continue without problems . The monsters put their all into the restoration . The darkness of the night didn’t stop them from working .
Handling Revin was the easy part . Requesting Kraizer to help was just the first plan he was setting into motion . The next one was far more complicated because of who he was asking for help .
Sila took a certain Crystal of Connecting out . If Goddess’ Resonance was as terrifying as his teacher described, she would surely be able to hear him, given that Kimon was still within the city .
“Can we meet?” muttered Sila . One part of him wanted a certain person to hear his words yet the other part hoped they would go unheard . It was a complex feeling .
The crystal in Sila’s hand soon broke and disintegrated . A flash of light then appeared next to him, revealing the fragile body of someone who he hadn’t met for a long time . Her red hair was especially beautiful in the dark .
“What should I call you? Himeko? Or Nunthima?” Sila asked, his voice buzzing .
“I have no real name . Himeko is the codename my teacher gave me . ”
Sila nodded . “Is that so?” He stopped and took a deep breath . “I want to negotiate with Kimon . Please call your friends here . ”
Himeko seemed surprised . “Is that a good idea? Those two . . . ”
Sila could see in her eyes that she still cared about him . Her actions also implied the same . Otherwise, she wouldn’t have secretly helped him by keeping his position a secret from her friends when he was weak . Whether her care was fake or real, he intended to exploit it in order to have her act as a bridge between him and Kimon .
“I trust you, Nunthima,” Sila said, though his heart didn’t feel that way . He deliberately used the name Nunthima to remind her of the past memories they had shared together .
Himeko fell silent, then nodded once . Her neck showed faint ripples as if she was voicing something yet her lips were sealed . Sila tried to use his qi to eavesdrop but couldn’t hear anything, making him feel in awe of Himeko’s dark art .
Soon, two more people descended, standing next to Himeko . They were obviously Asava and Vlad .
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“I heard from Himeko that you want to negotiate with us, Sila? It’s great to meet you again,” greeted Asava .
“How is your injury, Asava? Hope I wasn’t too heavy-handed,” Sila replied . He tried to show his superiority .
Asava shook his head . A smile was hanging on his face . “No problem . No problem at all . Just think of it as a sparring match in which we both exchanged our moves . Exactly as you told me at that time . One wound for one wound . ”
Asava instead showed a humble attitude . His character was indiscernible, similar to Revin’s .
Sila put his guard up . Against someone like this, he couldn’t afford to be swayed by action or speech .
“It is as she said . However, I have two questions to ask before the negotiation can begin . ”
“I will answer if I can . Say it,” said Asava . Meanwhile, Sila took a side glance at Vlad who had been showing no expression so far . He was completely motionless as if he was a corpse .
“The first question is: Why do you want to support me rather than Montra?” Sila cut straight to the heart of the matter .
Asava stared at Sila for a moment before giving his reply . “Actually, both of you are related to the Hell’s Gate Islands, which makes you two good candidates for us . To be honest, we chose Montra in the beginning, but we later realized that he had never planned to restore the Hell’s Gate Islands . Rather, he considered us the bad roots of the Wulin Masters Association and planned to remove us once he gained enough power . Thus, we have to take action to protect ourselves by picking someone who is . . . more open-minded . If even this option fails, I guess we will have to separate ourselves from the association . ”
Asava was being honest . Sila was their last resort if they wanted to rejoin the association . Still, his words implied that he was ready to screw everything up if the negotiation failed .
Sila had some doubts regarding Asava’s words . “You said that both Montra and I are related to the Hell’s Gate Islands . True, the Flaming Cloud Dojo used to be a part of Kimon and my teacher inherited the art from the Demon God . But what about Montra? I heard the Sky Dragon Dojo was built in Sanon’s generation, wasn’t it?”
“You heard correctly, Sila, but you misunderstood . I said both of you are related to the Hell’s Gate Islands, not your dojos . Only Montra is related . ”
“What do you mean?”
“It is probably better to have Himeko explain this . Or not? What do you say, Himeko?” Asava turned to Himeko .
She stepped forward . “Montra is even more related to us than you, Sila . That’s why he was our first choice . His mother is my teacher . . . Heaven’s Heiress . ”
“What did you say?!”
“This is top secret . Only Elder Sanon and a few other people know about this fact . Heaven’s Heiress’s main role is a spy . Not many people in the association know who or where she is . ”
“Does Montra know about this?” asked Sila .
“I think he knows,” Himeko replied while nodding, “It’s possible that Elder Sanon told him . ”
“Where is your teacher right now?” asked Sila . This was the first time he heard about Montra’s mother .
Himeko fell silent, while Asava explained in her place, “She went missing while on a mission . For a spy, this implies two scenarios . One is that she is in a place where she can’t communicate, and the second is that there were complications and she died . Her mission started six years ago, so I personally think that she died . ”
“What was her mission?”
Asava shook his head . “There is no way I can know such classified information . By the way, what are we here for, really? Negotiation or interrogation? Could you please state your second question already?”
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Reminded by Asava, Sila realized that he had been distracted . “You’re right . My second question is: What exactly do you want from me?”
“That’s very simple . We want something Montra won’t give us, and that is the restoration of the Hell’s Gate Islands, for it to return to its glorious day . If you promise us that, we will agree to give you our full support,” Asava explained their terms . He stopped briefly before continuing as if he just thought of something more, “Oh, only from the shadows though . We don’t like showing ourselves publicly . ”
This was another topic that Sila needed to understand . “I heard that Kimon is the assassin organization within the Wulin Masters Association?”
“You’re right . We are assassins . We have been raised as assassins since birth . We have been trained to work when the association is in crisis, and to be forgotten when the association is flourishing . ”
“If I agree to your conditions . . . can you promise me that you will only kill bad people?” Sila tried to comfort his sense of justice .
Asava simply smiled . “Let me be honest . My answer is I don’t know . We are assassins who work according to the orders given to us . Whether the target is a good or bad person is not for us to judge . The one who judges them is there . ” He pointed his finger into the sky . “God . If they are good, they go to Heaven . If they are vile, they go to Hell . As simple as that . ”
Sila pondered about it deeply and for a long time . With Kimon’s cooperation, he would gain a great asset to oppose Montra . However, one part of him told him that this decision shouldn’t be done .
Seeing that Sila was taking his time to decide, Asava was calm . He silently waited for an answer without disturbing Sila . On the other hand, Himeko said, “At the very least, you have to listen to our part of the story, Sila . Us members of Kimon have made a living using our skills for assassination for many generations . We sacrificed a lot to support a member who was a candidate for the Wulin Lord position, yet the Demon God suddenly denounced us when he had obtained the authority . He shut down all of Kimon’s activities, and the damage of his actions dealt a heavy blow to us . If we don’t fix it soon, Kimon will disappear . ”
Asava added, his voice tinged with anguish, “Killing arts are all we have learned since childhood . Then what? The Demon God suddenly forbade us to do our only job . He even used his connections to cut us off from our clients . What was he thinking? Did he seriously expect us to say ‘Fine . Let’s quit . We will become fishermen to earn a living from now on . ’? Aside from killing arts, we have nothing . They’re our lifeline . Thus, if we are really going to disappear, at least the last page of our history will have to be dyed with blood and death . Even when Kimon no longer exists, our names will always be recorded and remembered in the association’s history . ”
Silence fell . The time for making a decision was short . The tasks of tomorrow were for the Sila of tomorrow . The important task right now was to win against Montra . . . with no regards as to what he might lose in the process .
“I promise . When I become the Wulin Lord, the restoration of Kimon will surely happen . You have my word . ”
Sila extended his hand, which Asava firmly took . He said with a delighted voice, “So the negotiation is successful . From now on, we will be like siblings . No, in fact, you were already a part of our family, the Demon God’s heir . ”
All four parts of the Hell’s Gate Islands had finally been reconnected . Asava wore a happy smile on his face like an innocent boy . Vlad maintained the same expression, while Himeko showed a faint smile .
“As we have joined forces, I have a request to ask of you for tomorrow . ”
“Say it, Brother . Please don’t hold back with your request . ”
“Kraizer and Revin will have a match tomorrow midday . I want you to wait nearby . When the battle ends, no matter who has come out a winner, I want you to take care of Revin . ”
It seemed Himeko had heard Sila’s conversation with Kraizer . She raised her voice . “But Sila, you said to Kraizer that—”
Sila gestured her to stop . “I know what I said to him . Revin is like Montra’s right-handed man, so this matter is far more important . Anyway, Kraizer asked me not to order my monsters to harm him . I’m not doing anything that breaks the agreement . ”
Asava agreed . He let out a cheerful laugh . “Hahaha! Indeed . You are quite sly . ”
Still, this wasn’t the end of Sila’s request . “ . . . I heard you have a method to track down the place that people use to log in . ”
“Correct . If we kill someone, we will get their location . ”
Sila took a deep breath . “It will be pointless if we don’t do it all the way . Once you kill Revin, I want you to log out and find him . He is not your match in real life . Capture him and wait for my future instructions . ”
“You are more of a crouching tiger than I initially thought . ” Asava’s smile didn’t seem to falter one bit . “We are assassins though . It will be quite troublesome to capture him alive . . . ”
Sila firmly shook his head . “He will be useless to us if he dies . No matter what you do, you must capture him alive . ”
“Rest assured . I have a method . I can do it using the Blossoming Part of Sage of the Six Disasters . I can even make him spill every kind of secret he knows, I guarantee you that . ”
“Just remember to keep him alive,” Sila repeated .
“He may lose one or two of his limbs, but he won’t die . ”
Sila wanted to argue . However, he was always an underdog, being overwhelmed by Montra . If he didn’t use this method, he wouldn’t be able to threaten Montra .
In the martial world, only the ruthless ones will survive . If he used Revin as a hostage, Montra would have no choice but to dance on the palm of his hand . Montra’s several plans would only end up in vain .
‘Montra once used Teacher to threaten me . Using Revin to threaten him will make us equals . ’
Even Sila himself couldn’t bring himself to buy his reasoning . Who could ever believe that what he did was equivalent to what Montra had done?
“Lastly, I want to borrow Himeko’s help in tomorrow’s raid . I want someone to find the location of two specific dragons in the Dragon Kingdom . This is also very important . ”
Asava waved his hand . “No problem . Just explain your plan to Himeko . For the time being, Vlad and I have to prepare . ”
The two of them left to the north, leaving Sila and Himeko with each other .
“I heard Kimon don’t like showing themselves in public . Your role is a spy . I take it that you can disguise yourself?”
Himeko nodded . “I will just use the original name of this avatar, then . ”
Then, she took out a green wig, contact lenses, and a mage staff . She donned them, along with changing her clothing to a magician’s long robe .
Seeing her new appearance, Sila was speechless . His forehead began to be covered in sweat .
“ . . . Miss Vata?”
“That’s me, Little Brother Sila,” she replied . Even her voice was exactly like Vata’s .
Sila’s expression suddenly turned grim . A certain possibility flashed into his head .
“Where is the real Vata?” Sila asked loudly .
This time, even though her appearance was that of Vata, her voice belonged to Himeko . “The best disguise is replacing oneself with someone who really exists . ”
Sila refused to let her explain it vaguely . “I asked, where is the real Vata right now?!”
Himeko replied in a sorrowful tone, “I’m sorry to say this, but… she is already dead . ”