Chapter 12: Fanatical Believer
Inside the dim civilian residence, Su Xiao held the black-robed man by the hair. The black-robed man, whose arms had been completely severed, stared blankly, clearly unable to accept the situation before him.
"I... lost?"
As the Cyan Steel Shadow energy within the black-robed man dissipated and the intense pain in his body subsided, he visibly regained some clarity of mind. His eyes first looked at Su Xiao, then shifted to the female spy lying on the ground.
The black-robed man was named Spike, a member of the Sun Kingdom's Divine Court, serving as a Bishop within the organization.
The Divine Court of the Sun Kingdom was essentially the nation's military force, corresponding to the military of the Geya Alliance.
When the Sun Kingdom resisted foreign enemies, divine authority superseded royal authority; during peacetime, royal authority prevailed over divine authority. To describe it in biological terms, the two were in a parasitic relationship—during war, royal authority parasitized divine authority; when war ceased, divine authority parasitized royal authority.
The Divine Court was responsible for training, commanding, and managing the military, while the royal family handled finances, civil affairs, and the like. If the two chose symbiosis, it was a win-win situation. If one side attempted to devour the other, such a thing would not happen—or rather, would not happen a second time.
Two hundred years ago, the Divine Court of the Sun Kingdom attempted to annihilate the royal family to seize sole power. After half a month of persecution against the royal family, the Geya Alliance's army directly broke through the Sun Kingdom, with the vanguard division even seeing the national flag flying above the Sun Kingdom's capital.
At the cost of nearly 700,000 soldiers' lives, the Sun Kingdom repelled the Geya Alliance, who left the Sun Kingdom's territory satisfied after taking vast resources.
With this painful lesson, the divine authority and royal authority of the Sun Kingdom went from mutual disdain to loving brothers, never again discussing the issue of separation.
That time, the Sun Kingdom being broken through was entirely expected. When soldiers were fighting on the front lines and the rear supply lines suddenly cut off, how could they not lose? If not for their vast resources, the Sun Kingdom would have been annihilated.
The military ranks of the Divine Court could be roughly divided into six levels:
- Junior Priest, Senior Priest: Corresponding to the Geya Alliance's company-grade officers.
- Bishop, Dawn Bishop: Corresponding to the Geya Alliance's field-grade officers.
- Envoy, High Envoy: Regular envoys had three ranks, corresponding to general-grade officers. There was only one High Envoy, the supreme commander of the Divine Court, who had virtually no combat power. However, the current High Envoy possessed terrifying strategic acumen, making him the most feared opponent of the Geya Alliance's President, bar none.
The royal family's relationships were far more complex. Notably, Skain, the current warden of Gakbak Prison, had a wife who was a princess of the Sun Kingdom.
Do not think this was absurd. That princess was captured by Skain during battle. When the current Sun King learned that Skain had married the princess, he was nearly enraged to the point of sudden death.
This was a serious matter. The child born to Skain and the princess was, by lineage, a branch of the Sun Kingdom's royal bloodline. The Sun Kingdom placed great importance on lineage. Therefore, even if Skain was captured on the battlefield, he could not be summarily executed or used as forced labor like other enemy soldiers. Instead, he had to be 'detained' with good food and drink.
Regardless, Skain was, after all, the son-in-law of the Sun Kingdom's royal family. Whether the royal family acknowledged it or not, the fact remained. If they refused to recognize it, the entire royal authority system could face problems.
Skain's move could no longer be described as clever. The Geya Alliance did not care whom he married, given his personal achievements. Moreover, the princess was taken by force—she was both a beautiful wife and a life-saving card in critical moments, provided Skain did not die directly in the chaos of battle.
Spike, whom Su Xiao had captured alive, was precisely a Bishop of the Divine Court, equivalent to capturing a Major.
As a Bishop, Spike lacked leadership skills, but his combat strength was not weak. The reason he was cut down by Su Xiao in less than a minute was, first, the extreme sharpness of Dragon-Slaying Flash. Spike had initially believed that Dragon-Slaying Flash could not break through the defense of Divine Power. However, after two slashes, he bid farewell to the imposing posture of crossing his arms, and the fist techniques he had trained for over a decade became meaningless in an instant.
When his arms were severed, Spike used an ability resembling divine possession, clearly about to unleash a finishing move. Sensing this, Su Xiao used the Dragon Shadow Flash ability to penetrate space, moving behind Spike and delivering a side kick to his tailbone.
If they had fought head-on with full force, Spike's chances of defeating Su Xiao were about thirty percent. However, when Su Xiao drew his long blade, Spike—who had never seen a 'Geya person' use melee weapons—wanted to see what Su Xiao intended to do. As long as Su Xiao did not pull out a firearm, Spike was unconcerned about his melee combat ability.
Spike learned a bloody lesson: never be curious about an enemy's abilities. In battle, one must use all their skills.
Drip, drip...
Transparent droplets fell to the ground. Spike's face twitched. This 26-year-old man was now in tears—not from fear, but from frustration. To put it in classical terms: after fourteen years of arduous training, all his efforts were wasted in less than a minute.
Su Xiao looked at Spike with some surprise. He truly had not expected that such a powerful individual would be in tears.
"Kill me."
Spike's eyes locked onto Su Xiao. He was crying, but there was not a trace of fear in his gaze. Those tear-filled eyes held only a desire to tear Su Xiao apart alive.
[Prompt: You have been affected by the effect of 'Follower's Tears'.]
[The Mind Blade ability has been activated. This mental-type control ability has been nullified.]
...
Seeing this prompt, a folding knife appeared in Su Xiao's hand.
Whoosh~
A cold gleam flashed past. Spike's vision went dark, but he was not blinded.
"Hahaha, you bastard."
Spike suddenly burst into laughter, somewhat manic.
"A fanatical believer."
Su Xiao finally realized that this Bishop named Spike was abnormal. He was most likely a fanatical believer within the Divine Court—not a fanatic of some god, but a devoted follower and adherent of the Divine Court organization itself.
There were two types of people in the world who were hardest to deal with: those unafraid of death, and mad devotees. Spike clearly belonged to the latter.
"The god told me there is light. The Divine Court conveyed this light. I stand upon the hall of the Divine Court, admonishing the world..."
Spike began muttering to himself, showing no intention of negotiating with Su Xiao.
"Ah!!"
Spike let out a scream. After a moment, he resumed his muttering.
Encountering such a thing, Su Xiao was truly troubled. The two he had captured alive were a spy and a fanatical believer. Su Xiao would rather interrogate the spy than attempt to extract information from a fanatical believer again.
Half an hour later, a truck stopped in front of the civilian residence. The truck bed was covered with a canopy of thick, dark green fabric.
Several men in various attire jumped out from behind the truck's canopy. They entered the residence and, after a moment, carried out two long cloth bags.
Bang.
The passenger door of the truck slammed shut. The truck, emitting black exhaust, lurched forward and slowly drove into the night.