The Holy Light Teaches Us to Be Honest, but I Didn't Lie Either

Oronaar City, the largest and most prosperous city in the Mac'Aree region, capital of the Eredar, was also the oldest surviving city in their entire civilization.

Although the Eredar originated in the Petrified Forest of Krokuun, it was here that the Primordial Sorcerer Augure had found the sacred Atama Crystal tens of thousands of years ago. The ancestors who left the forest established their first settlement here, then spread outward in every direction.

That legendary Primordial Sorcerer had used the power of the Atama Crystal to establish the first Eredar nation in history, officially beginning Eredar civilization.

They discovered the fertile Antoran Wastes, then developed exceptional seafaring technology over nearly ten thousand years and assembled fleets to explore the entire world. The Eredar spread across several other continents, but with the mysterious disappearance of the Primordial Sorcerer, their civilization soon fractured, followed by wars between the various Eredar nations.

It was a war that swept across all of Argus and brought about the collapse of the Age of Kings.

After the war, they united once more, reclaimed unity from the ruins of division, and reflected bitterly on their mistakes. They vowed never again to support kings, instead establishing a new system of "dual governance," determined to guide the people through the coexistence of wisdom and strength. Thus, the Eredar entered the current age of Second Co-Governance.

From that perspective, the Eredar were a people with both an exploratory spirit and plenty of martial vigor.

Unfortunately, the advantages of an immortal species were also its disadvantages.

In an eternal life without aging, marriage and family became unnecessary options in life. The difficulty immortal species faced in reproduction also hung over the Eredar like a curse. From the mythical age of the Primordial Sorcerer to the Age of Kings, and now the Second Co-Governance era at the height of their civilization, the Eredar population had never achieved any breakthrough growth.

Based on Dick's conversations with Warden Malderan over the past few days, the Eredar population was likely in the tens of millions, and it had remained there for a very long time.

For a race that had explored the entire world and established dominion over it, that number was truly pitiful. It was said that Grand Executor Velen had led by example to encourage childbirth. He had a happy family and one child.

But the other Grand Executor, Commander Kil'jaeden, was an out-and-out bachelor.

Not even the slightest scandal with any woman had ever surfaced throughout his life, despite the fact that there was never any shortage of ladies with exceptional looks and character around the commander.

Of course, rumors also embroidered moving tales of brotherly friendship between Commander Kil'jaeden and Grand Executor Velen, even fabricating stories of love between their souls. Yet even in the very open-minded Eredar society of today, anyone daring to spread gossip about leaders like that would be seized by the Assassin Court, shot first, and questioned later.

The main problem was that there was no evidence! Naturally, one could not slander others without proof.

Though come to think of it, evidence of that kind of spiritual attachment and admiration would be hard to find, wouldn't it?

"Dick? Dick, are you listening to the plan? Why do I feel like you've been staring into outer space ever since entering the city? For someone about to embark on a 'suicide' mission, your mental state is really awful!"

High Ranger Neri's displeased voice dragged the wandering Dick back to reality. Hiding atop a secluded tower in Oronaar City, he turned around and said apologetically:

"I just haven't left the Arcane Academy in a long time. Whenever I came here before, it was always at night, sneaking around to attend cultist gatherings. I rarely had the chance to appreciate the Eredar's most prosperous city in broad daylight.

Sorry, I got distracted."

"Maybe the pressure is too much."

An Eredar male warrior dressed like an assassin shook his head behind him and said:

"He'll be going to his death in a few days, after all. I'd be under a lot of pressure too."

"Indeed. Entering the Awakeners' gathering place alone, then turning the Enlightener against his most trusted disciple—neither job is easy."

Another female hunter-assassin wearing ruby goggles examined Dick skeptically and said:

"If this were assigned to some smooth-talking Arcane Mage, I might think there was some hope. But sending a rigidly honest warden to act as a persuader? That's a little absurd. Say, Dick, did you offend Officer Talgas?

Otherwise, why insist on sending you to do something so deadly?"

"Shut up, both of you!"

Captain Neri snapped at her team members, then said to Dick:

"Don't mind them! The Assassin Court is full of reclusive weirdos. They don't understand how to communicate normally. It doesn't really matter if you don't listen to this plan. You only need to handle your own task properly.

But Officer Talgas ordered us to follow your command, so you have to give us a focus for the operation!"

The valiant female hunter folded her arms and asked:

"Do you want us to protect you along the way and rescue you in the end, or—"

"No. Don't worry about me. Your sole objective is to make sure Archimonde dies in the chaos when the two factions begin fighting, then seize his soul stone and prevent him from reviving again."

Dick spoke very seriously to Captain Neri.

"I'll take care of my own life, but Archimonde must die!"

"Got it. Archimonde must have offended you."

The female assassin from earlier could not help commenting:

"The way you're talking sounds exactly like one of those avengers with a deep blood feud, willing to risk everything just to kill their enemy."

"Isn't that obvious?"

The other assassin chimed in like a straight man:

"We all read the case files. Mister Dick served Archimonde with complete loyalty, and that hypocrite still wanted to kill him to silence him. Who could put up with that? I couldn't! Not only would I refuse to put up with it, I'd definitely slip some laxatives into that bastard's tea."

"Those two subordinates of yours really are..."

Dick looked speechlessly at the two chatty assassins bantering back and forth like a comedy act, then glanced at Captain Neri, whose expression was so calm it was like her nerve endings had died.

He said sympathetically:

"It hasn't been easy for you either."

"Isn't that the truth? Officer Talgas keeps recruiting these oddballs, but their assassination skills are as impressive as their mouths, so there's no need to worry about the mission."

Neri flicked her well-maintained tail, then pointed toward the weapons case behind her and said to Dick:

"Our weapons are in there. Pick a few to arm yourself with. There are also Arcanite Crystal shields and phantom generators made by the master engineers. They won't be much use, but at least they can draw some fire for you in the worst-case scenario.

Though it's a shame the warden code forbids you from using poisons and cursed weapons. Otherwise... Hm? What are you taking that for?

Put it down!

That's a cursed blade. The Holy Light will burn you if you hold it."

"But my Holy Light Doctrine has already shattered, Miss Neri. Until I find my oath again, the Holy Light may not be able to control me for now."

Dick took a one-handed sword set with a dark gemstone from the weapons case, then picked up a half-body shield fitted with an Arcanite Crystal array. He swung them a few times in his hands, satisfied, then set them aside. Under the dumbfounded stares of the three high-ranking assassins, he took several bottles of poisons in various colors and tucked them into his pockets.

Finally, he picked up several bundles of gemstone throwing knives used by Eredar assassins.

These weapons were sharp but brittle. Once plunged into a body, they shattered and released the curse power within. They were vicious weapons made specifically for assassination.

Even just seeing an upright warden guided by the Holy Light holding something like that was enough to make any normal Eredar feel as if the natural order had been completely overturned.

"Hey! You warden..."

The chatty female assassin cried out:

"You really don't play by the rules!"

"And what you just said about the Holy Light being unable to control you is already enough for other wardens to call blasphemy."

The female assassin's partner also exclaimed:

"Did the Holy Light abandon you, so now you're just giving up on yourself? Hey, it hasn't come to that. We've seen wardens whose doctrines shattered before. Most of them regained the Holy Light's blessing after some time.

Don't give up on treatment!"

"You all have a rather shallow understanding of the Holy Light."

Faced with the shock of the three high-ranking assassins, Dick appeared utterly unconcerned. As he rearmed himself, he said:

"Perhaps because of my unique experiences, but in my eyes, the Holy Light is neither a commandment nor a restraint. It is a kind of power, and also a tool. It is no different from the magic in the hands of Arcane Mages or the blades in the hands of assassins.

Good people can use the Holy Light to help others not because the Holy Light teaches them to do so, but because they choose to do so themselves.

By the same logic, an upright warden might become the most terrifying madman after a terrible day.

Good and evil exist only in the human heart. Don't attribute your errors or your victories to the Holy Light. If I could only be a Good Person while holding the Holy Light, then perhaps I should never have possessed it in the first place."

"Gods, be glad the people standing before you are weirdos from the Assassin Court."

Even Captain Neri could not help complaining:

"If the priests from the Temple of the Naaru were here, you'd probably be tied to a burning stake this afternoon. And we would have the honor of witnessing the first heretic burned alive by fanatics thousands of years after Grand Executor Velen abolished cruel religious punishments.

Dick, don't say such things outside...

Even Grand Executor Velen would not agree with your wild talk. To the Eredar, the Holy Light, arcane arts, and even the older theory of elements are all faiths. Faith is the foundation of life, and the cornerstone supporting the order of the world. Even the most extreme Arcane Mage would not dare describe the relationship between the Holy Light and people like that.

How could a former warden say something like this?"

"But am I wrong? Blindly following the light makes us lose our own reason, and eventually we fall into some pit and are swallowed by shadows. Light and shadow give rise to one another. The brighter the light shines, the longer the shadows people cast within it.

The closer you are to the Holy Light, the more wary you should be of the shadows in your heart."

Dick snorted and activated the Arcanite Crystal array on his shield.

Amid flickering blue sparks, an energy barrier spread outward from the shield, blocking the space before Dick before he deactivated it again.

He had no interest in debating scripture with three assassins, so he ended the subject himself and asked:

"When do we move?"

"We wait for that."

Neri did not want to discuss doctrine any further either. She was a ranger working for the Assassin Court and did not live by the doctrines of the Holy Light, but Dick's words had still unsettled her.

She casually accepted the change of topic and said in a professional tone:

"Officer Talgas has already dispatched scouts to watch Archimonde's movements closely. Once he is ready to act, we will move as well. As you said in the plan before, the best outcome would be for Sarkir and Archimonde to destroy each other, solving two problems at once.

But you are the most important part of our operation, so I hope you'll use these next few days to rest and prepare yourself."

"You'd better write a last will too."

The female assassin added:

"If you die, we'll deliver it where it needs to go. Do you have family?"

Dick shook his head and said:

"I'm an orphan from Krokuun. My parents were shepherds there, and they died in an attack by a Shadow Panther in the Petrified Forest. I grew up in the Krokul Orphanage established by Governor Hutton. If I had to name family, it would probably be the old governor.

No matter how busy he was, he always made time to tell stories and teach common knowledge to children like us.

But he was not someone who followed the Holy Light. He was an elemental shaman, a member of the Eredar's oldest spellcaster tradition.

In our tough borderlands, shamans, Arcane Mages, wardens, and priests were not all that different. They were equally respected."

"True. Mac'Aree is far too urbanized. The people here are too restless to settle down and seek the ancient, traditional path of the shaman."

Neri nodded and said:

"In the more than one hundred years I've lived here, I've barely seen any shamans who truly knew their craft. Though there are shaman colleagues in the Assassin Court."

"You're only a little over a hundred years old?"

Dick looked at Neri in surprise and said:

"You seem so experienced that I thought you were a senior. I never expected you to be just a child who had recently grown up."

"Listen to you talk—blind... ahem, I mean, your horizons are too narrow! Our Captain Neri is the Assassin Court's most talented elite ranger!"

The chatty female assassin proudly defended her superior:

"She passed the ranger trial personally overseen by Officer Talgas in only three months. She's the Assassin Court's new legend, second only to that gloomy female killer, Akali."

"But that woman is insane!"

The straight-man assassin played his part perfectly, commenting:

"I heard Akali killed her parents with her own hands when she was young. That little lunatic's mind is seriously abnormal. Even Officer Talgas doesn't dare send her out casually. If Commander Kil'jaeden had not taken pity on her talent in the path of shadows, a little lunatic like that should have been burned alive by the priests!"

"That's enough, you two! Little Akali's affairs are the Assassin Court's top secret. Do you not want your tongues anymore?"

Neri finally could not endure her two living treasures of subordinates any longer. She drove them out with a vicious glare, then, as she was leaving herself, reminded Dick:

"Stay here for the next few days. We'll notify you as soon as there's news. Don't mind my subordinates' boasting. I'm really just a child raised by an ordinary old hunter.

I had it worse than you. I never even saw my own parents.

But precisely because of that, I cannot let other children like me lose their parents.

Dick, what we are doing is a good deed that protects our clan members. Whether you survive or not, I will consider you one of my comrades."

"Of course. I believe in your protective heart, Archbishop Neri."

Without turning around, Dick said:

"You will become someone important one day. Believe me, someday you will take up that heavy responsibility and become an arrow on watch over the people."

"What 'Archbishop'?"

Neri asked in surprise:

"There is only the rank of 'bishop' throughout Argus. Any higher, and one would be called an 'Executor.' Are you confused?"

"Heh, perhaps there will be one in the future. And perhaps you'll set many records? At the very least, I think you have the talent for it. But I need to rest now. Could you close the door on your way out?"

Several days later, just as Dick was gradually getting used to Oronaar City's gem-studded, resplendent temple-like architectural style, identical to that of the Arcane Academy, Captain Neri arrived quietly one evening.

Riding a flying ray, she brought the important news Dick had been waiting for.

"That hypocrite Archimonde just reported his mentor under his real name at the Seat of the Triumvirate. He shamelessly claimed that the information you risked your life to gather was a clue he had acquired by infiltrating the Awakeners' Cult himself. He even took the initiative to suggest to the two Grand Executors that he personally give his mentor a 'final dignity.'

Commander Kil'jaeden approved his proposal, but that disgusting hypocrite will never know that his 'perfect performance' tonight is merely a clown's farce before the curtain falls.

Officer Talgas has told us we can act!

Archimonde's followers are gathering at the Arcane Academy. They will depart tonight. You have less than four hours to persuade Sarkir."

"Enough."

Dick stood up, equipped his warhammer, sword and shield, and his "righteous poison throwing knives," then took one last look at the still-lively Oronaar Market in the evening.

He turned and headed down the spire's stairs, asking Neri:

"The people in the city... aren't being evacuated?"

"That would alert the enemy. General Elodus, who is responsible for this suppression operation, clearly wants a clean and decisive annihilation."

Neri loaded ammunition into her sapphire hunting rifle and said:

"Don't worry. Everything has been arranged with the capital district garrison. Once the two sides engage, Oronaar's old city will be sealed off immediately. Nothing dangerous will escape the encirclement. The priests from the Temple of the Naaru have also been mobilized to set up barriers as you suggested, preventing demons from leaving the battle zone and harming innocents.

But that means you'll be trapped in that 'arena' as well.

I'll ask you one last time. Are you sure you don't need us to protect you?"

"No. This is Diakum's farewell, and Dick's rebirth!"

Dick said in a deep voice:

"I'll earn my own life back! Besides, if I can't even survive tonight, wouldn't all those great goals I planned for my life be nothing but moonlight in water and flowers in a mirror?

Miss Neri, I don't even dare tell you my ambitions. I'm afraid they would scare you.

But the truth is, in that plan, a mere Archimonde is only the opening challenge of an opening dungeon."

"I don't understand. Maybe that's border slang from Krokuun?"

Neri flicked her small tail, removed a bundle of special Arcanite Crystal bombs from her slender lower back, and handed them to Dick.

"If you need to break out, throw these. But be careful. They're very powerful. One can blow up an arcane guard. You no longer have the Holy Light protecting you. If you get caught in the blast, I'll have no choice but to attend your funeral with a sorrowful heart, senior."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Dick put the bombs into his backpack, touched his cool-looking horns, and joked:

"My 'funeral' has already been held. It was in the Arcane Academy cemetery. A lot of students attended the memorial. I heard it was quite a large affair.

Ha. We'll meet again after the victory, little Neri. Good luck."

"Good luck to you too, Mister Dick."

Neri vanished into the shadows and watched Dick leave the tower. Riding a Talbuk through Oronaar's bustling streets, he headed toward the old city district. That was the Awakeners' Cult's stronghold in the Mac'Aree region, and the place where Enlightener Sarkir had frequently held lectures over the past many years.

Even now, Neri could not imagine that the arcane master she had once admired most would fall into a mad cultist in just a few decades.

It was said that it had been temptation from demons...

"Alas, could it really be as Mr. Dick said in his counsel to Commander Kil'jaeden? Have the demon legions of the starry sea and their villainous masters set their sights on Argus?"

Neri sighed.

"Those peaceful days I haven't had enough of... looks like they're gone for good."

Dozens of minutes later, at the entrance to the Great Lecture Hall in the old city district, Dick strode over, only to be stopped by several guards with gloomy auras before he could get close.

"Private grounds. Keep away, sir!"

The blade-wielding guards barked at him.

"Unrelated parties should go play somewhere else."

"Is that so? I don't consider myself unrelated."

Dick pulled back his hood right in front of them. Under the shocked gazes of the guards, he raised his head and studied the guards, who already carried the sulfurous stench of fel energy, with an unreadable look. At last, he pointed at one of them and said,

"I remember you. You were the one who slit my throat. Unfortunately, your technique was a little too crude, so I survived. But that's not a problem.

Move aside!

I want to see the Enlightener.

I have important information concerning the life-or-death fate of the Awakening cult. I know you're launching a coup at dawn, but forgive me for saying so: before undertaking something so grand, you ought to clear out the vermin within first.

How can we accomplish the great cause bestowed upon us by the 'Benefactor' while associating with vermin like Archimonde?"

"You..."

"What about me? Hurry up and report this! A dead man has come to inform on you. If the Enlightener refuses to see me, then wait to die beneath the blade of those closest to you."

Dick was both arrogant and frank. Unable to judge the situation, the guards sent the man who had slit Dick's throat back to report.

A few minutes later, a grim warlock dressed in a caster's robe came out. The scent of blood still clung to him. He looked Dick over from head to toe and said,

"Come with me. The Enlightener wants to see you. But let me make this clear first: no matter what news you bring, don't expect to leave here alive tonight. The sacrificial ritual has already begun. The blood of a high-ranking defender will be perfect for luring those hungry, savage things.

Diakum, you were once one of us.

It's time for you to fulfill your duty."

"Of course."

Dick strode into the lecture hall and said,

"That is precisely why I came. The Holy Light teaches me that I must not deceive the world with lies. Thus, what I bring is both truth and reality."

P.S.:

Thanks to brother "Sakurababy" for the Alliance Leader donation. The bonus chapter will be counted toward the release... I... you... sigh... everyone's generosity feels a little too heavy. I have no way to repay it except by giving it everything I have.