Published at 25th of March 2019 10:39 pm

Chapter 226: The First Pontiff

'Where am I? Am I in a dream?'

Rody struggled to open his eyes, but he felt lost. It was total darkness in front of him.

Rody could help showing a wry smile. 'Since I cannot see anything, what is the difference between opening and closing my eyes?'

Rody was not just surrounded by darkness. He could not even hear a single sound. The darkness was quiet enough to drive people crazy. In that darkness, a person could not see anything nor hear any sound. He would not even know if he would tread on a flat surface or walk off a cliff on his next step. At that time, regardless what was on his mind, there was only one answer.

The answer was…don't know.

Perhaps the unknown was mankind’s greatest fear. Some people might not fear death. However, it would be terrifying if they did not know how or when they would die.

Even if a person was prepared to die, the feeling he got when he closed his eyes and waited to be cut down only to find that the blade had yet to swing down could drive him crazy.

Rody sighed and was about to roar three times. Suddenly, he heard a heavy and hoarse voice slowly crooned.

"God said, ‘Let there be light’ and then there was light."

After those soft croons, the surroundings were filled with bright light. The white light was so bright that it forced Rody to close his eyes. When his eyes finally adapted to the dazzling brightness, he shouted, "Who is it? Who is speaking?"

The hoarse voice did not answer him but continued to softly croon, "God called brightness as day and darkness as night. He then separated brightness and darkness."

When the sound faded, the strong light turned dim. In that primal chaos, there was a strange sight as the day and the night constantly alternated. The sun and the moon alternately rose and fell as brightness and darkness came and went.

"Who? Who is it?" Rody could not help but roared in surprise.

Rody’s voice echoed in the space but that hoarse voice ignored him and continued to croon.

"God said, ‘Let there be life’. So God created wild beasts, one from each kind; livestock, one from each kind and insects on the ground of different kinds. This world thus filled with life."

An illusion appeared together with apparently some kind of mysterious voices. The birds in the sky, the beasts on the ground, the winged insects and fishes in the rivers…

The illusion was like a spectacular light curtain appearing around Rody in segments. When one appeared, another one would disappear. The scenes slowly unfolded.

Rody calmed down and no longer shouted. He sat cross-legged as he quietly watched the illusions around him. Suddenly, his heart stirred and he loudly asked, "So, what else did God say?"

"God said, ‘Let us create man in our image’. After that, there were humans in this world."

A gas-like substance suddenly appeared in front of Rody. That gas flickered alternately between black and white and between brightness and darkness. After that, as it churned it constantly changed shapes. In the beginning, it took on the form of birds and beasts, but with just a flash it would change into something else. After that, it slowly transformed into other shapes and then into a crude human shape. Finally, it stopped transforming. The crude human-shaped gas mass slowly became finer as the hands and feet gradually formed. That was followed by the body, head, hair…and lastly the face!

The figure looked like a very old man and he wore a grey and tattered robe. His white beard almost reached his chest. He had a face full of wrinkles as he calmly smiled.

He looked at Rody who was sitting cross-legged in front of him. He then slowly spoke in that deep hoarse voice from earlier.

He slowly said, "God created mankind to manage the fishes in the sea, the birds in the sky, the animals on the ground and all the insects on the ground."

He then stared at Rody and slowly said, "Hence, this world was born and humans became the masters of this world!"

Both of them looked at each other for a while and then Rody suddenly laughed as if he had just seen something ridiculous. His laughter became louder. He laughed so hard that his tears almost flowed out.

"Nonsense!" Rody suddenly stopped laughing and angrily shouted, "Mankind became the masters of this world? Ridiculous! Absurd! If God had taken so much effort to create this world, why should he let mankind dominate it? Does God have a mental illness? Is God crazy? Why did he not become the master on his own? If he was going to give it to others, why did he bother creating this world?"

The eyes of the old man in front of him turned sharp, but his face revealed a praising smile. He then slowly said, "God said to the people in the world, ‘Have faith in me and you shall have life. Have faith in me and you shall have health. Have faith in me and you shall have peace. Have faith in me and you shall have rest. Praise me in everything I have created!"

"Hahaha…" Rody laughed. "Look! That is the price! What do you mean mankind are the masters of this world? In the end, it is something that is bartered! Mankind are just puppets! Mankind is just God's puppets. They are actually slaves who are controlled by their master! When something becomes unsatisfactory, God will just take it all back, right?"

Rody sat on the floor and his laughter gradually stopped. He was contemplating as he touched his chin. Suddenly he looked bitter and said, "I suddenly remember about the people who raise pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep. They are fed and raised for one’s own benefit." He raised his head to look at the old man and said, "The relationship between God and man is just like that."

The old man did not reply and continued in that melodious tone, "The world is corrupted in the presence of God, the land is filled with sins. God said, ‘To those who rebel against God, I will take back what I bestowed’. Thereupon, it would rain heavily and the earth would be flooded for fifteen days. After that, there would be a drought for one hundred and fifty days. All people and living creatures on land would die, except the ones who receive God’s favor would be protected and live."

Rody laughed again. He clapped his hands and shouted, "Good! Wonderful! There are no differences between God and the Emperor of mankind! When they see disobedient subjects, the subjects will be charged for rebellion and slaughtered, leaving behind only the obedient ones!"

The old man no longer spoke and smiled at Rody. Rody lowered his head as he thought to himself for a moment. He then said, "Hey, old man, all the stories you told me are nothing more than just the teachings of God. I have read those before. Who are you? Where is this place?" Rody furrowed his eyebrows and continued, "I remembered I was fighting with someone at sea. I was then smashed into the bottom of the sea. After that…"

After that, Rody slowly stood up and laughed, "Don’t tell me that you are a sea monster."

The old man shook his head.

Rody sighed and said, "Well, I don't like to keep guessing."

The old man smiled and said, "According to God's teaching, page one hundred and seven: Those, in this world, who blaspheme and rebel against God will be deprived of his language. God said, ‘If you want to speak, you must praise me’."

Rody facepalmed and smiled, "Ah, I understand now. You are one of those who blasphemed God and as a result became mute. If you want to speak, you can only praise God. Otherwise, you cannot speak at all. Am I right?" After that Rody shook his head and continued, "No wonder you were only repeating God’s words." Rody found it more and more ridiculous and finally he laughed out loud. "That God is really despicable. Not allowing people to criticize him is one thing, but he actually thought of such a clever way to control us. He actually turned those who cursed him into mutes and then if they want to speak, they can only be allowed to praise God. Genius! What a genius! Such an interesting way to punish people!"

The old man was not angry. He just smiled and continued to watch Rody.

Rody laughed for a while and then sighed. "Well, old man. Where is this place? How did I come here?" Before the old man could speak, Rody facepalmed again and smiled, "I forgot, you cannot speak…Sigh. This is troublesome…Really!"

He then had a delighted expression and asked, "I suppose you know how to write? How about you write it out?"

The old man smiled and showed a helpless expression. He stretched out one of his hands and gently waved. A small patch of sand appeared on the ground in front of him. He then scribbled a few strokes on the sand with his foot. "Just ask."

Rody took a deep breath and asked, "Where is this place? How did I come here? Who are you?"

The old man looked at Rody and stretched out his foot to write on the ground. "Have you finished asking?"

Rody stared at him and replied, "For now, I will just ask this much."

Without saying anything, the old man then proceeded to write a few lines of words on the sand. As he wrote, Rody watched from the side and slowly read out the words. "The first question: the prison cell! The second question: too long…Hey, old man, what do you mean by too long? Is it too long that you cannot say it? Fine, then the third question: you are…"

Rody suddenly stopped reading. When the old man finished writing, Rody suddenly raised his head and stared at him with a surprised and unbelieving expression.

That was because the answer to the third question was clearly written on the ground.

"Moses, the first Pontiff of the Temple!"

…

"Stop the carriage, quickly!"

The carriages were moving quickly on the road. One of the escorts beside the carriages at the back suddenly shouted.

The Deputy Commander Bia of the Royal Knights of the Sauron Kingdom, who was in front, was impatient. However, he still ordered all his men to stop. After all, the King had ordered him to treat the guests from the Radiant Empire with respect.

"His Excellency the Earl seemed to have moved." The escorts around the carriage, dressed in the honorary guards' uniform, were the soldiers who had accompanied Rody to the Roland Continent.

Earlier, while guarding the carriage, they heard a burst of laughter from inside the carriage. That was His Excellency the Earl laughing!

Two of the Imperial Guards immediately jumped off their horses and rushed to the side of the carriage. They pushed open the door to look inside.

They saw His Excellency, who was unconscious for the past few days, lying there. Although his eyes were closed, he was laughing gleefully. The two happily surprised soldiers entered and heavily shook Rody. They also loudly called out to him a few times. However, Rody only continued to laugh. Despite the shaking, they could not wake him up.

The way he laughed, it looked like he was having a sweet dream.

"Your Excellency, could…could it be that His Excellency’s head was damaged during that battle that day…" One of the soldiers hesitated, then said.

…

"Haha haha…" Rody roared with laughter as he pointed at the old man and gasped for breath. "You are actually Moses? The most devout believer of God and the greatest leader in religious history, Pontiff Moses? You led your men across the Straits of Thunder and created the Miracle of Moses by splitting the sea?"

The old man did not get angry. He continued to smile as he looked at Rody and nodded his head. Rody finally could not laugh anymore and softly said, "Well, you are really not joking? Then, I find this really strange…If you are Moses, why did God punish you and turn you into a mute? Also, you said that this is a prison cell…Why did he imprison Moses here?"

"Blasphemed against God." The old man scribbled lightly on the sand.

"But…but aren’t you the most devout believer? Weren’t you the one who touched God with your devotion and was presented with a staff? Your staff is with me."

Moses shook his head and stretched out his foot to write again. "The staff is not with you. We are now inside the staff!"

Rody’s body shook as he stared at Moses.

…

"What is the matter with His Excellency?" The soldier supporting Rody gave a bitter smile. "Why does His Excellency's expression keep changing. One minute he is laughing and the next minute he seems to be astonished. Is he having a dream?"

A more experienced person beside him thought to himself for a moment and softly said, "How would I know? I suggest that when we reach our destination, we get two sorcerers to take a look at him. We are helpless with this kind of thing. Let us not act recklessly."

Commander Bia was getting impatient. His Majesty the King had given the order to bring the envoy to the King as soon as possible. However, those people were discussing endlessly around the carriage and Commander Bia had no idea what they were up to.

Bia jumped off his horse and ran over. He then shouted, "Everyone, it is getting late. We must hurry. I…"

The moment he said that, he heard a 'whoosh' sound in the air!

Bia then cried out and fell backward as an arrow struck his shoulder. At the same time, he heard seven to eight miserable cries as several knights were also struck by arrows and fell off their horses.

"A surprise attack!" The surrounding knights shouted as they drew out their swords and gathered nearer.

A few archers appeared in the trees on both sides of the road. About ten black-robed men with masks jumped down from the trees. They held shining swords in their hands as they shouted, "God protect my people!" They then rushed towards the chaotic formation and instantly they were engaged in melee combat with the Royal Knights of Sauron Kingdom.

"Sheet!" Rody’s Imperial Guards quickly surrounded and guarded the carriage. While closing the door of the carriage, they formed a defensive array.

A tall black-robed figure had already rushed towards them. One of Rody’s subordinates roared loudly and raised his sword only to hear the crisp sound of metal colliding. The warrior flew away sideways and landed on the ground a distance away. He struggled for a while before losing consciousness.

The other warriors were also experienced soldiers. Although they were surprised to be unexpectedly confronted by their formidable enemy, they did not panic. One of them shouted, "Everyone! Let us work together to get rid of this guy first!"

With a single order, the warriors automatically split up into two groups. Five of them stayed behind to guard the carriage while the remaining dozen went forward and attacked together.

Those warriors were quite skillful. They were carefully selected from the Palace of the Radiant Empire. However, the black-robed figure had terrifying strength. He effortlessly cut down half of them. One of the warriors was even split into two!

The remaining warriors became enraged. They shouted and fought back fiercely. In the face of their opponent’s attacks, they charged forward, even if it meant having to risk their lives to attack their opponents.

"Amu, looks like you are in trouble." A listless voice on a tree said as he looked at the tall figure surrounded by the enemy. That black figure was sitting on a tree branch. His legs swayed in the air as he mocked, "A few warriors are enough to tie you down! Haha haha."

"Shut up!" The surrounded tall figure cursed. His eyes flashed with an angry look and the sword in his hands suddenly burst out with a bright golden fighting energy. His body suddenly seemed to rise. He swung his sword, immediately cutting two of the warriors surrounding him into two accompanied by two miserable brief cries!

As the blood sprayed out, the person sitting on the tree trunk suddenly laughed gloatingly and said, "Aha! Amu! You are finished! Boss told us not to use fighting energy! You actually dared defy the boss’ orders! Hahahaha!"

The black-robed Amu became even angrier and cursed, "You don't help, but only know how to criticize! Not using fighting energy does not mean our secret is safe. However, if we kill all of them, then there won’t be any leaks!"

He did not stop talking and neither did his sword stop slashing. Within the short time he took to say those words, he had already killed another four warriors.

The remaining warriors were terrified. One of them shouted, "Go and help His Excellency to retreat quickly! We will guard the rear!"

Just as he finished that sentence, a dazzling gleam flashed by in front of him and he felt a severe pain in his arm. The man screamed and found that the hand he used to hold the sword was cut off at the elbow. The warrior was naturally brave. He roared loudly and pounced to hold the black-robed figure tightly. He then shouted, "Quickly retreat!"

After a loud bang, his body was suddenly torn apart. His flesh and his blood splattered all over. A golden fighting energy rose up. As blood splashed on the black figure's clothes, he cried out angrily, "Damn it. He actually dirtied my noble body."

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