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Chapter 356: Heavenly Oath
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Being scolded like a young cadet in front of all of these knights made Draco burn in fury. But as he thought about exploding here, the Council Head stepped in as he patted Draco’s head and bowed together with him.
“Please, forgive my subordinate for his disrespect Sir Knight. He was only thinking about the safety of the innocent people in the vicinity.”
“Hmp.” Siva snorted and then faced the Human. “I have lost interest in playing pretenses here. I will admit that you are right. I want a meeting with who it is that is encharged of this city’s Alliance Staff.”
The man became dejected, “We’re not gonna be fighting, then?”
“Sorry. It’s not that I am underestimating you, but I really don’t have time for that. If you want a fight, I can introduce you to an idiot who’s always ready to fight anytime. I promise you, getting injuries is the least of yours and his concern.”
The man looked at Siva and then, with a flash of light, dissolved the quasi-Rune weapons as he laughed so loud and so joyfully that his face was pointed to the ceiling while his shoulders shook.
After this skit, he signaled for the two men to stand down so they, too, dissolved their hostility.
“Knight, I am called Gaspar and these are my two partners, Melchior and Balthazar. If you’re looking for representatives from The Alliance, you can be assured that we are them… here in the Capital of Jeremiah.”
Siva dissolved his hostility as well as he and the man named Gaspar met in the middle to shake hands as a sign of a gentlemanly treaty.
“Kingsley.” Siva said. “Call me Knight Kingsley as I have a name that might sound overbearing to you and may cause displeasure.”
Gaspar grasped the offered hand firmly. “Nice to meet you then, Knight Kingsley. Although we are yet to be called friends, at least we aren’t enemies either. Allow me to tell you this first, we really can’t give you what you demanded but we can talk about the matters you wanted to talk about in this elaborate hoax to summon us.”
Siva felt the ‘manly’ intent in this person as he bid a gesture of sincerity by looking straight on his mask to where he felt Siva’s eyes were.
“Actually, I only wanted to conduct an honest kind of business with you from The Alliance. But don’t worry though as what I am going to offer you will be far more valuable as an asset than your Battle-AI’s worth.”
The man raised a brow, intrigued, “Is that so? It seems that your AI is not Muan but rather... of the true Terrans in terms of quality?”
Gaspar implied something on his tone and his hand that grasps Siva’s tightened, telling Siva the man’s intent and sincerity on this transaction.
Siva took up the challenge. “It’s not about my own AI but rather what I have that will be of worth your and my own time.”
A silence descended between them and even the Council Head felt the air became chilly. It wasn’t a bloodlust-sort of feeling that could send chills to everyone’s spines but rather the scale of the two’s business proposals.
One contained the words ‘True Terrans’ and the other referred to an advanced ‘Battle-AI’ —in addition to the fact that they had considered the other party someone of the same level as them.
This was a transaction on the level of Overlords.
It was not a mere Country Leader-level such as a Council Head could manage to join.
—if so, why did we even have to gather all these resources for? Is he toying with us?
Draco wanted to cry out. He thought then, since the beginning, this Knight named “Kingsley” never treated them, the leader of the country his feet are stepping into, as personalities.
He, from the very beginning, had held them in disdain…
—if that bastard Zelga had never provoked this devil, we wouldn’t have been humiliated like this.
From a small incident, this issue became a large mess. Draco was really angry right now.
He looked around him.
These knights weren’t stupid. They, too, had now understood where the Council of Elders stand in the eyes of this Knight called “Kingsley”. They, the Council Elders, were nothing more than ants and they, the foot soldiers, were nothing more than a speck of dust with no count.
Draco was shaking in anger. His pride and ego is being toyed with by this White Knight.
—bastard.
—Bastard!
—BASTARD!!!
He cursed Siva from the bottom of his heart over and over again.
Then, before he could even begin to raise his head to glare at him, he saw Siva gestured his left hand towards the pile of resources.
And with a fluctuation of space… a portion of the treasures vanished.
“Eh?”
“Huh?”
“Just what…”
Everyone’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. Just now, with a simple gesture of a hand waving in the emptiness of air, the mountains and piles of resources they painstakingly gathered within two hours… vanished.
Not even the Humans from The Alliance were able to comprehend what had just happened.
Not only that, Siva only took a step forward and he zoomed out from in front of Gaspar, appearing 20m away from his previous location and followed by a sonic boom.
He then repeated the same gesture and the rest of the resources they gathered vanished into thin air. After that, Siva ‘zoomed’ in again to Gaspar’s location with a quick step.
“Where did—” Gaspar wanted to ask but Siva cut him off as he spoke to him.
“Let’s go, Mr. Gaspar. Time is wasting.”
“R-Right…” still confused, he then looked behind him to address his two companions, “Let’s go.”
The pile of resources, treasures that could make any country salivate, vanished in but a few moments.
Logic couldn’t properly explain what had just happened in front of them.
The knights, the High Magistrates, the Humans, even the Council Elders —they were caught off-guard by this impious phenomena towards logic.
“Just what did he do?” Draco couldn’t help but get wild thoughts with this, and, since he had already seen ‘Kingsley’ as an enemy, his thoughts also did not carry any hint of holding back. “It must be a Spatial Artifact of the highest kind. Kill him. I must kill him. I must get my hand on that Artifact!”
While Draco was on his greedy thoughts at the far back of his group, Siva turned to them one last time and glared at them as a group.
“Don’t think you’re off the hook yet. I will come back for that Master Blacksmith after I am done in my transactions.” After a pause, Siva released the full extent of his violent malice towards the group called the Council of Elders. “At that time, you can be sure that my wrath will be unleashed in this puny country of yours if you fail to meet my demand.”
It was a clear and unbridled contempt.
He just directly and openly threatened the bones off the very people that ruled a country.
This… was the shape of Siva’s resolve.
—I won’t show mercy…
—the innocent me doesn’t have that freedom.
—saving my brother needs an iron fist.
*****
Siva was not aware of Draco’s malevolent ideas and followed the three Humans towards the main entrance of the warehouse.
Gaspar faced him, “The walls, please…” and bid a prompt for Siva.
Siva didn’t move immediately and told him, “Let’s make the deal here.” He says, pulling out a piece of paper, it was the «Contract Paper».
Of all the items in Terroa, this item alone has the power to bind anyone and anything to any rules and conditions signed within its blank sides.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
He gave it to Gaspar then spoke as he pointed to himself with a gesture and then to the sky, “Let it be settled through the power of the Law of Heavens that I, in my identity as a Magic Knight, be punished by Heavenly Lightning if I do not follow the rules and conditions set in this contract if it will be signed.”
Gaspar and the others were startled to hear such unique set of words.
And yet, as soon as he finished speaking, there was the sound of crashing lightning outside the warehouse startling everyone into reacting afraid to its sudden boom.
“What is that?!” the knights were frightened.
It was a very loud and very sudden crackling of thunder that it sounded as if a lightning had just hit their vicinity.
The sound was so loud that they could feel it on their skin, the rattling echoes of the thunder clap even spread in the horizons, traveling further and further until there was no more.
Gaspar was also aghast. “What was that?”
Siva, though he himself wasn’t exactly aware how that system of [Oath to the Heavenly Laws] works, just detailed the information he could vaguely explain himself from his [memories]: “All living beings in this world is bound to the Heavenly Laws; their life and death are part of the Cycle of Rebirth and that this world in itself is also governed by those Laws. Promising an oath with the Heavenly Laws is an insult to its power so, if a soul utters promises, with the Heavenly Laws as a witness, breaking it will remove that soul from the Cycle of Rebirth and thus means that his soul will perish for eternity.”
Gaspar wore a look that told Siva he didn’t believe a speck of what he just said.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you expose my Invention and my AI’s existences.”
This was the summarization of Siva’s contract.
Gaspar believed that although he and Siva had an agreement as gentlemen, he had enough reason to demand the contents of this piece of paper.
Firstly, he could feel that although the difference between him and Siva in strength wasn’t that big, Siva is still a Terran. In addition…
“He has an Archmage as a support.” Gaspar made a quick glance to the clinging gracefully gorgeous woman beside Siva. He was but an Ambassador of The Alliance. In terms of rankings, he only has the same status of Lady Envoy, Eleanor.
The problem is that Siva is a “Lord” even to a big figure like Lady Eleanor.
It means his status is greater than him or her.
As much as he wanted to insist that he can make a promise not to divulge anything about Siva’s AI and the existence of an SS-Grade Invention that does not have the “data-encoding” of their PNFs, he had no choice but to acquiesce to his demand.
“You just had to follow the script in the contract and swear the oath. Then, sign it. I didn’t include any other clause there for any demand so you are assured that I will not mistreat the promise.”
Gaspar inhaled deep as he pondered over the clause of oath in the piece of paper.
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[Let it be established, with the Heavenly Laws as witness, that I —along with the other observers in my party within the grounds of my knowing, with the power and authority of my identity as the representative of the Terran-Human Alliance serving as shackle and a bind to my promise— be punished by Heavenly Lightning until true death if we as much as make any kind or form of attempt to disclose or even record clues about anything that has to do with what had happened here in this location I consecrate this oath, written or not, without the authority and approval of the subject and owner of such secrets; from this day forth until it is lifted by the owner of the secrets, or prior authorization have been granted for the dissemination of such secrets in a particular given manner; I hereby solemnly swear with my, and everyone who became witness to this event’s lives, on the line, that we’ll keep these secrets to ourselves alone and will not, in any other form or kind, tell it to anybody else… intended or not.]
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It was a lengthy oath and yet it was concise and to the point: Gaspar, and everybody else under their authority’s jurisdiction, isn’t allowed to tell anyone about Knight Kingsley’s secrets.
This included their Battle-AIs.
Just like how they heard the clap of thunder a few moments ago, this was the kind of vow that defies any known kind and form of science.
For Humans… this was one of those miracles that technology is yet to explain.
……………yet… to explain……
As they are yet to know the science and secrets behind this phenomenon, if they wanted to proceed from here, he will have no choice but to speak the oath.
In addition, in the following clause, Siva also had a vow of his own that he and anyone who had made the vow of initiation as part of the Magic Knight Corpse shall be subjected to Heavenly Lightning as well.
It was fair as far as the oaths are concerned.
“So?” Siva was positive that he had no holes on this proposition.
Cortana had analyzed the enemies and had thrown all kinds of baits and prompts for Gaspar.
He was programmed to believe the oath.
“How do I go with this oath?”
“All you have to do is sign it with Mana Signature and then speak the oath to finalize it. The contract will serve as our copies and the Heavenly Oath as our witness. We will not need any other reliable jury to judge who is a sinner since the Heavenly Laws will not tolerate oath breakers. Besides, the conditions are simple: just don’t tell anyone what happened here and there should be no problem.”
Gaspar coolly glared at Siva. His carefree attitude was something to be wary of since from start to end, although he did not make a move himself, he was apparently the one in control of everything.
The warehouse was in a lockdown.
The Council of Elders tied on their heels.
Even they, the representatives of The Alliance, were tongue-tied with the contents of his offer.
The only reason why Gaspar was entertaining the man is because of the orders of the Higher-ups.
“But this contract clearly says that [any witnesses within the grounds of my knowing and within the scope of my authority as representative of The Alliance] will also be subjected to the oath to the Heavenly Laws. Isn’t it unfair to them since they are not part of the event that took place in this place? And adding to that, the oath you promised earlier regarding the contents of this contract, it only says everything about you and no one else. I think this is an unfair contract.”
Gaspar wanted his stance known. The two of them may have landed on a mutual agreement of listening to each other’s proposals, but it doesn’t mean that he had acquiesced to Siva’s demands.
“You have no choice.” Siva said with a tinge of indifference and yet also layered with the pressure of his battle intent. “If you wanted to blame someone, blame the bastards who chose to offend me time and time again instead of quietly regretting their actions.”
When he spoke to here, both men looked at the direction of the Council of Elders —no, towards Draco who became surprised since he was still in the middle of scheming against Siva.
“See?” Siva laughingly spoke. “Even right now, he has yet to learn his lesson and is still planning his way to get revenge on me.”
Gaspar wasn’t stupid as he also saw the look of malice on Draco’s eyes when they abruptly turned to look at him.
He felt disappointed within.
The Council Head, feeling the layers of ridicule in the words spoken by Siva, looked at Draco who just then lowered his head as he clenched his fists, trembling in anger and humiliation.
He himself knew the man and so learnt of the hidden meaning on Siva’s words. Although Draco had bribed his way to the Council of Elders, his “secret” history of scheming against the former Grand Knights of the Wall of Jeremiah was one of his most notorious personas.
He wouldn’t take this lightly, he knew, and that’s also the reason why the Council Head felt that he and the rest of The Council of Elders, had already lost all their credibility and dignity in front of the mysterious White Knight.
“I will make sure that anything like this incident won’t happen again, Sir Knight.”
Siva scoffed, “I doubt it. That King Candidate is a bastard under Draco’s wings. I doubt this is the end of all these. But, well, I will welcome you all anytime. As long as you are ready to accept your punishments, I will gladly play with all of you.”
Cruel
This was a word that can be associated with this mysterious White Knight.
After saying it, he turned to Gaspar. “So? Shall we stay here and play poker, or shall we proceed with the deal?”
Gaspar, learning of Siva’s stalwart intentions did not have a choice.
In fact, they could have chosen to go against him and use a T-Device to escape this place and then report everything once outside. But if he did that, Jeremiah would burn from Siva’s anger and this incident might even be pointed against The Alliance using the given reasons of why all of this had even begun.
In the end, Gaspar judged that following the man and keeping his secrets a secret, was the wisest choice to do here.
He swore the oath.
A lightning bolt threatened to crash on the roof of the warehouse and the sound of a crisp crackling of thunder resounded throughout their skins.
Then, with a swipe of a hand, the contract floating in front of Gaspar flashed with a bright light. After that, a copy floated towards Siva and he took it, folded it, and stored it on his inventory.
“That’s it.” Siva joyfully spoke, “Now, we are just business partners from this moment onwards.”
Scarlet sensed the right timing and ordered that they release the barrier.
When the misty clouds surrounding the interior of the warehouse vanished, the commotional rackets outside came back like a tide of noises.
The warehouse doors opened and the people on the gates as well as the gatekeepers all looked at their directions with expectations.
“This way please.” Gaspar motioned for them to go to the parking bay where nothing was waiting.
“Shouldn’t we go to your office or something?”
“We are.” Gaspar said and pulled out an irregular-sized T-Device. “We are going there directly.”
“I see.” Siva thought and then motioned for his team to stay close to him as he put a hand on that soft waist of Scion.
She blushed under the mask but didn’t say a word or even made any sound. All these time, she was nothing more than an observer. Siva had told her to watch carefully and observe everything as much as she can. Because he had no other way to teach her on how to judge people but to show her what they are capable of.
“This wouldn’t take a minute.” Gaspar said. “Stay close to me please.”
Melchior and Balthazar stayed close so Siva and his entourage also made the same.
“Cortana…”
[I’m unable to scan the device but I can at least hear the place given our proximity, even if he tries his best to murmur the location.]
“Good.”
Gaspar didn’t know the thoughts of Siva and so he pressed the button but… didn’t say a word.
Siva was given a report and he sighed dryly.
“Of course he wouldn’t. If I can use you without moving my hands, why can’t they use their AI the same way?”
[My apologies, sir.]
“Nah, don’t sweat it.”
With a flash of light, the group disappeared. The people who were watching the scene could only lament at the fact that the event had ended.
*****
“They’re gone.” The Council Head sighed then turned to face Draco, “You’re not really planning to scheme against him, are you?”
Hearing this, the rest of the Elders in the Council frowned as they already had an inkling that Draco was indeed already scheming something against the White Knight.
Draco, with a look of utter rage and unwillingness clenched his hands and roared at the Head, “Are you just going to stand here and accept this kind of humiliation? We were treated like dogs! We were all roused as workers he can trample on his feet and extort all those resources! We toiled like his slaves… and then for what? Only to be put down and threatened? This is Jeremiah! This is the strongest country in the planet! Why should we bow our heads and submit to him?!”
There was clearly no kind of remorse or guilt on Draco’s expression. He had already succumbed to his anger and thought that he wasn’t the only person who should be angry and this humiliation.
Just like he claimed, this is Jeremiah. This is the strongest country in Terroa and they are the ones controlling Jeremiah, the Council of Elders.
Why must they bow their heads down against a single man?
All those resources he took were all going to be used for his country. They endured humiliation to the other countries and bought overpriced items while damaging their prides…
Why indeed must they accept it like this?
“I think you are mistaken about something here, Draco.”
This reply felt like a cold damp of water to him as he processed the implications on these words as well as the look of anger directed to him by the rest of the members of the Council.
“W-What do you mean by that?”
“Haven’t you realized it yet, Draco? This is clearly all your fault.”
The Council Head pressed a painful index on his chest that although it wasn’t physically painful to him, Draco still took a step back as that finger was pressed on his chest.
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Things before the King Test are getting messy…!!
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