Chapter 57: With the Law in Your Face, Do You Dare Make an Enemy of the Empire? (Part 2)
Below the city walls, Kellan suddenly felt the air turn as heavy as lead, as though an entire mountain range had come crashing down onto his back!
NEIGH—!
The warhorse beneath him let out a pained shriek. Its four legs buckled, and with a heavy thud, it was forced to its knees by that invisible pressure!
And not just him!
The two hundred elite Temple Knights behind him all let out muffled groans.
Without exception, every single warhorse beneath them was crushed to its knees by that irresistible might!
In that instant, the entire knightly formation was forced into the most humiliating posture possible, as though paying obeisance to the young lord upon the walls!
“This… this is…”
All the color drained from Kellan’s face.
He had to use every ounce of Battle Energy in his body just to keep from being thrown from the saddle.
In his golden eyes remained only unspeakable shock and fear!
This power…
This terrifying authority that seemed fused with the land itself, that bent gravity with a thought and made law follow its will…
It was a Domain!
An Earth Knight’s Domain!
An Earth Knight not even twenty years old?!
How the hell was that possible?!
This was not genius. This was a monster! A god walking in the mortal world!
Kellan’s mind went blank.
At last, he understood why the undead messenger had fled in utter terror.
And he finally understood why the young lord before him had remained so composed from beginning to end.
Because he had the right to flip the table over!
Within an Earth Knight’s Domain, let alone Kellan’s two hundred men—even if Lord Augustus himself had arrived with the main force, he would never dare act rashly!
“Now.”
Caesar’s voice came down like a divine decree from the highest heavens, each word striking Kellan’s unraveling nerves.
“Do you still intend to enter my city and ‘inspect’ it?”
On the walls, Roland, Barrett, and every last soldier of the Black Dragon Guard were completely stunned.
Mouths hanging open, they stared dumbly at the two hundred once-unapproachable Temple Knights below, all kneeling as though struck by divine punishment, men and horses alike reduced to utter disgrace.
And their lord had merely stood there and spoken a single sentence.
At that moment, Caesar’s figure rose without limit in everyone’s eyes.
He was no longer a young noble.
He was a god.
A black god who ruled this land and held the power of life and death in his hands.
Thud.
Barrett’s knees gave out beneath him, and he dropped to the ground as well, his single eye blazing with a reverence even more fanatical than worship of a deity.
His whole body was trembling—not from fear, but from excitement.
Damn it, with a sovereign like this, what was there to fear about rising to glory?
Roland did not kneel, but the hand gripping his sword hilt shook violently.
As he looked at Caesar’s back, tears streamed down the weathered old knight’s face.
The lion of House Valerius… no, a black dragon far more terrifying than any lion had finally spread its sky-shadowing wings!
Below the walls, all was deathly silent.
Kellan’s lips trembled, yet not a single word came out.
Every shred of his pride, every trace of his superiority, had been crushed to pieces before this absolute power.
Only after a long while did he finally squeeze a few words out through clenched teeth.
“Honored… Lord Valerius…”
He lowered that arrogant head at last, his voice full of bitterness and awe.
“I… have offended you.”
Only then did Caesar slowly withdraw the pressure.
The Temple Knights below seemed to have been granted a reprieve from death itself. They all gasped for breath, while the warhorses beneath them snorted in panic and struggled back to their feet. And when they looked at the walls again, only fear remained in their eyes.
“I have no desire to make an enemy of the Church.”
Caesar’s voice returned to calm indifference.
“On the contrary, we have a common enemy.”
He had given them a way down.
Kellan instantly understood and hurried to seize it.
“Yes, my lord! Our common enemy is the undead! For my earlier recklessness, I offer you my sincerest apology! We hope to cooperate with you in purifying this land together!”
His posture could not have been lower.
“Cooperation is acceptable.”
Caesar spoke flatly.
“But the rules will be mine.”
“First, my city is closed to outsiders. You will establish camp three miles beyond the walls. I will provide the necessary fresh water and supplies, but the price will be market rate.”
“Second, we are equal allies. I respect the Church, and you will respect the dignity of an Earth Knight. Any military action must have my consent.”
“Third, and most importantly…”
Caesar’s gaze turned sharp as a blade.
“My people obey only my orders. I do not wish to see any charlatans spreading your so-called ‘gospel’ on my land.”
Kellan’s expression changed again and again.
This was cooperation?
This was clearly a treaty signed under the walls!
Camp outside the city like prisoners under watch. Pay for supplies with coin. And no preaching allowed?!
It was a humiliation beyond words!
But… did he have any choice?
He looked once more at the expressionless young man standing atop the walls and, in the end, could only force a single word out through clenched teeth.
“…Fine.”
“Excellent.”
Caesar nodded, apparently quite satisfied with Kellan’s good sense.
“Then welcome to the Wailing Wastes.”
“I hope our cooperation will be pleasant.”
With that, he no longer spared the Temple Knights below—whose faces were now darker than the bottom of a cauldron—a single glance. Turning away, he strode down from the city walls.
He left behind only a solitary, cold, and aloof figure.
Kellan gripped the reins so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms and drew blood.
As he stared at that city in the sunset, looming like a black beast, his heart filled with humiliation and unwillingness.
He had to report everything here to Lord Augustus at once.
An Earth Knight not even twenty years old. A madman who dared humiliate the Temple Knight Order to its face…
This damned wasteland, this entire chessboard, had descended into complete chaos.