The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!
Chapter 138 - 23: Between Black and White

Chapter 138: Chapter 23: Between Black and White

"Six people wearing the armor of Holy Knight Gray, we interrogated them for three days, and not even a single result! My god..."

"Still not certain?"

"How can we be certain? No one has ever seen his true face, not even his lover. We can only investigate the past of these six individuals bit by bit."

...

"How do we write the report to the Cardinal Court? Tell the Holy Father that we captured six people but can’t identify if any of them is real?"

"Haven’t you considered another question? If he could get six people to wear armor identical to his in such a short time, couldn’t he also remove his own armor? He could stand right in front of us, and we wouldn’t recognize him."

"..."

"So what do we do?"

...

"Announce a lockdown! Strictly investigate anyone who can’t prove their identity!"

"But we don’t have enough manpower."

"Let Lusien V send people!"

"Gene II has already fled, Lusien V is pursuing him. He wants to take this opportunity to capture the entire Ailuo Peninsula."

"Have him come back! Immediately! Find Holy Knight Gray first, if you can’t, promise him something that can be reneged at any time!"

...

"The entire Buck Town has been searched with no results. The surrounding mountains and villages have also been searched. Lusien V has deployed all his troops for the largest search team I’ve ever seen. Yet still nothing."

"If we can’t find him here, then flip the entire Ailuo Peninsula! The entire Ailuo Peninsula!"

"I don’t think it’s useful, maybe we should consider other methods, like threatening him. His subordinates, including his lover, are all in our hands. We have enough leverage."

"Are we, Holy Knights, going to use such methods in front of everyone, is that appropriate?"

"Do you have any other methods? The Cardinal Court is pressing urgently, demanding we arrest Gray immediately. They cannot tolerate a completely out-of-control Holy Knight wandering about. The situation is worse than before, we don’t even know where he is! We must give the Cardinal Court a response quickly."

"..."

...

"Has he shown up?"

"No, I’ve stood all day like a fool."

"He’s a fanatic, if he knows his subordinates are about to be executed by us, he’ll definitely show up."

"Yes, you’re right, the problem is we must first ensure he knows. If he doesn’t know, everything we do is meaningless. Maybe he’s no longer in the Ailuo Peninsula."

"No, that’s impossible. He knows his lover is still in our hands. According to the Knight’s oath, he can’t abandon the others and escape alone. Unless he’s unable to make decisions himself."

"Unable to make decisions himself?"

"Kidnapped, unconscious, or simply dead, or perhaps he has completely turned to Hell."

"Dead is impossible, turning to Hell is impossible. If a Holy Knight dies or betrays, the Cardinal Court would soon be informed and wouldn’t keep pressing us. But the other two scenarios are indeed likely."

...

"So what should we do now?"

"Wait, keep watch over our captives and wait. Wait for him to show himself."

"What if he never shows up?"

"Then we wait until he shows up or people forget about this...I know that’s terrible, but it’s the truth."

...

The battle at Buck Town, where the four Holy Knights of the Holy Order besieged Holy Knight Gray, and the Silver Moon Knight Order was annihilated, spread across the continent like wildfire, causing a sensation worldwide.

This was the first time since the Holy Knight Gray’s Lion King City battle that the Holy Order proved its intolerable majesty.

But, was it really so?

The Holy Order’s previously declining prestige was indeed elevated due to this incident, but new problems were arising.

The day after receiving the news, Yilin, the Duke of Beishier Duchy, sent a strongly worded letter to the Holy Father demanding the immediate return of prisoners including Shelley and the entire Silver Moon Knight Order.

Of course, the Cardinal Court didn’t bother responding, not even a reply. Without Holy Knight Gray, Beishier Duchy was nothing in the eyes of the Cardinal Court.

A few days later, the enraged Yilin declared war on the Holy Order. The entire Beishier Duchy united against the Holy Order. Such an event was unheard of in human history. They expelled all clerics sent by the Order, established their own church, and declared the Holy Father had violated the will of the Holy Spirit, and the Cardinal Court was a rogue institution.

The small Beishier Duchy declared war on the Holy Order that symbolized the continent’s holy faith, this sounds still like a joke. However, the truth seemed otherwise. At least not as negligible as the Cardinal Court initially imagined.

Gray’s sympathizers, his supporters, and the existing anti-Order forces converged. Though not many, they did exist. They set out from all corners of the continent, trekking towards the only human nation opposing the Order - White City.

Among them was Isaac’s former Archbishop Dean.

The Cardinal Court seemed to have resolved a major threat and their prestige was enhanced. In reality, they faced an even more embarrassing situation. A new institution attempting to replace the Holy Order emerged, and their primary issue—finding the missing Holy Knight Gray—was still unresolved.

This was also unprecedented in human history.

By October, the autumn wind was bleak. When most people on the continent believed Holy Knight Gray was dead, he finally began to regain consciousness after being in a coma for over a month in the Casesis Mountains that form the border between Bert Duchy and Beishier Duchy.

...

Surrounded by hard stone walls, Gray still lay quietly, wearing his damaged armor, lying on a pile of already withered weeds in the cave, quietly staring at the pitch-black rocks above.

He was all alone, not even the Black Cat was by his side.

*He had a very long dream. He dreamed that when he apprenticed with the Great Lich Bruto, Bruto didn’t refuse him but took him in as an errand boy. Thus, he happily became a Skeleton Soldier, then an Undead Knight, following Bruto everywhere to stir up trouble, spending his spare time diligently learning magic.*

*Later, his magic improved, Bruto allowed him to build his own castle nearby. He started collecting skeletons, gathering stones, and built a castle just a bit smaller than Bruto’s, with his own laboratory and study, even though the bookshelves were empty with only a few books. But he finally had his own castle and Undead Army, and could start doing magic experiments every day, occasionally following Bruto to stir up trouble again.*

*A perfect life of a Lich, right?* *

*But he always felt like he had forgotten something, something important was lost, his heart felt empty. He kept asking Bruto, but the all-knowing, all-powerful Bruto couldn’t answer him either.*

*He could only search on his own, constantly searching, searching...until one day, Bruto dropped a book titled "Knight’s Guide to Growth," which he picked up. It was said other Lich had given it to Bruto, who found it uninteresting. Gray, however, diligently read it all.*

*Then, the dormant memories revived, he woke up, wearing cold armor, staring blankly at the hard stone wall before him, lying quietly, unconsciously recalling his past and that long dream.*

*What if...he hadn’t hung himself in front of Bruto’s bookshelf, what would have happened? What if he had continued to pester Bruto for apprenticeship, would Bruto have eventually changed his mind?*

*No one knows.*

*Life always has many crossroads, filled with different encounters. One can only choose a path and step forward, growing into the world’s only version of oneself. Whether it’s a humble only or a glorious only. This is the same for a Lich.*

*Time doesn’t flow backward, no one can turn back. Or rather, unwilling to turn back.*

The light outside the cave slanted in, illuminating part of it while making the other part even darker.

The now-skinny Black Cat walked in dejectedly from outside the cave.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Gray asked softly.

"Oh! You’re awake!" The Black Cat cried with joy, almost in tears, "When did you wake up?"

"Just now..."

"Hahaha, you scared me to death! I thought you’d never wake up! You scared me to death!" The Black Cat spread its four limbs and flew towards Gray, hugging Gray’s chest plate tightly and continuously wailing. Cats don’t cry, if they did, it would probably be in tears.

"Where is Tenidas?"

"Outside."

"Where is Vivian?"

"Also outside."

"Where are the others?"

"That, I don’t know."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Over a month, I guess. You know, Vivian refused to help me find food. My god, I’m a pet cat! A pet cat! She treated me like a stray cat! It’s really too much!"

Gray slowly stood up, holding the Black Cat with one hand and supporting himself on the rock wall with the other, moving bit by bit towards the entrance.

Although he was awake, his magic power hadn’t recovered, and his bones felt like they might fall apart at any moment, making "kaz kaz" sounds as he moved.

From afar, he could hear Vivian’s shouting.

"Bastards! These bastards! Bastards——!"

*It was nearly a scream of a shout, but it didn’t sound like she was in any danger, more like she was venting.*

"What’s wrong with her?" Gray asked the Black Cat.

"Who knows, I’m telling you, she doesn’t treat me like a person at all."

"But you aren’t a person."

"I mean, she doesn’t want to talk to me at all, even an extra word! ’Not treating like a person’ is just a metaphor! It’s a metaphor! You idiot!" The Black Cat was infuriated, stretching out its claws to scratch Gray’s face shield.

With great effort, Gray finally reached the cave entrance. In front of him was a forest. The dense leaves were right above his head, the sunlight scattering down, creating a speckled pattern, shining on the verdant grass below, looking from afar, like a rippling emerald lake.

The Casesis Mountains lie in the southern continent, almost devoid of autumn. Everything seemed so beautiful.

Vivian, standing outside the cave looking into the distance, was holding a stone ready to throw when she suddenly paused and looked towards Gray. "You’re finally awake?"

"Hmm." Gray nodded, "What’s wrong with you?"

"Nothing, just venting." Vivian casually tossed away the stone in her hand, took a deep breath, and said, "I can’t return to the abyss, an entire Angel Judgement Team is blocking the entrance, just waiting for me to walk into their trap. Hahaha. Maybe they’ll find this place soon."

Laughing, Vivian rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "It’s terribly bad, I feel I’m about to have bad luck. It’s all your fault!"

"Is it because you broke the pact to save me?"

"Could it be anything else? I’m a law-abiding Succubus!"

"Thank you," Gray said softly.

Vivian, who had been fierce, suddenly froze.