This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Cindy, and StellarAshes.
Silver Moon Knight
“Kaiser.”
Concentrating on painting with magic elements, Kaiser was startled by this yell that the Mona Lisa in his hands abruptly gained a mustache. He became so angry, he grabbed his hair and turned his head to yell, “What the hell, do you have any idea what time it is, what are you doing yelling so loudly in the middle of the night?”
Meinan, Purity, and Daylight all stood by the door, with an expression on their faces, paled and filled with terror, indicating the bad news. Even the always resolute Daylight had knitted eyebrows.
Seeing that even Daylight was there, Kaiser knew something was definitely wrong. While Meinan and Purity might do something as boring as waking him up in the middle of the night to pee, Daylight would never pull that kind of prank. Besides, their expressions were definitely not feigned.
“Fine, what happened this time?” Kaiser asked a bit helplessly. He already knew in his heart that this was no ordinary bad news.
All three looked at each other in dismay, then finally stepped aside in silence, revealing behind them a man dressed in a strange black-and-white long robe, wearing gold-framed glasses and a tightened expression. It was a rare expression to be seen on the Sorcerer who always laughed unscrupulously.
“Uh-oh, even Mizerui is here…” Kaiser moaned as he cradled his head. Under these circumstances, he knew this had something to do with that certain someone — the guy with silver eyes. Ever since Kaiser knew Liola, he had never seen Lady Luck smile upon Liola.
Mizerui sighed, and his tight expression relaxed slightly. He spread his arms, and grudgingly said, “Yup, even I am here, so you know things are severe.”
“How severe?” Kaiser suddenly asked with anticipation: “Was Aklan conquered?”
While Meinan glared snappily at Kaiser, Mizerui raised his eyebrow, and shook his head.
Kaiser continued to ask, unrelenting: “Then did Miluo’s army reach the Commerce Alliance?”
This time, Purity puffed out her cheeks.
Seeing Mizerui’s face full of the “you obviously know” expression, Kaiser finally gave up lying to himself and moaned, “Fine, fine, what’s wrong with Liola now?”
Mizerui didn’t answer directly, but instead spoke as if it were someone else’s business: “The Dragon Emperor has finally announced an heir. Fourth Prince Liola, who has just returned, is now the Crown Prince.”
“Crown Prince?” Kaiser suddenly stood bolted upright. With a frown, he tried desperately to discern the Dragon Emperor’s intentions. How could he actually keep his foretold killer, his son, by his side, and even designate him as his heir? How can this be possible… unless, the Dragon Emperor was one hundred percent sure he could completely control Liola.
Kaiser abruptly raised his head, wanting to convey to his companions his speculation, but the other three were already looking at him uneasily. Now Kaiser finally realized that he had unconsciously murmured his thoughts.
“I had just heard the news from mama, and before I even had the chance to tell you guys, I ran into Mizerui.” Purity paused, then said hesitantly, “I heard that the Dragon Emperor even bestowed Liola-dage with the title of Silver Moon Knight, could they have made peace?”
“Silver Moon?” Kaiser and Daylight blurted out in unison.
“Yeah,” Meinan interjected. “My father received the same news. Rumor has it that during Liola’s Knight rank appraisal, he scared off a bunch of people by defeating ten of the Dragon Empire’s Gold Knights, thereby becoming a new Rank-X figure in the world. The Dragon Emperor gave him the title of Silver Moon on the spot.”
“Ten Gold Knights, nine of which were severely injured, three of them had almost died. The only person with minor injuries was Cappuccino,” Mizerui stated the truth calmly.
Everyone frowned, and Purity asked with a stutter, “Al-almost died? Impossible, Liola-dage wouldn’t kill anyone.”
Mizerui’s eyes lightly glanced over everyone, “Perhaps Liola wouldn’t, but Silver Moon’s moves were all fatal.”
Meinan paused, and he immediate saw Kaiser and Daylight’s heavy faces. Obviously the two knew the answer. He asked his companions puzzledly, “What special meaning does ‘Silver Moon’ carry? What does it have to do with Liola?”
Kaiser glanced at Meinan, and pouted, as if he was unwilling to speak of the name, “Silver Moon… is Liola; it was Liola’s name when he was an Assassin.”
Meinan and Purity were both confused. Even if so, what of it?
“I don’t like the name ‘Silver Moon’.” Daylight frowned, and hesitated to speak, “My master had spoken of Silver Moon. He was the top Assassin. Everyone in the Martial Arts World would turn pale whenever they heard of his name. No matter who his target was, he never hesitated, and he always attacked fatally. Some people said he had no heart at all.”
Kaiser frowned, “Yup, even my malicious great-grandfather said, being the puppeteer that he was, even he didn’t want to look at Silver Moon’s eyes, because it made him feel like he wasn’t looking at a human eyes…”
“What are you guys talking about?” Purity asked while baffled, “Are you guys talking about Liola-dage? Why does it seem like you’re talking about someone else.”
“No, Liola isn’t Silver Moon.” Kaiser said firmly, “He isn’t anymore.”
Daylight nodded seriously. Having been to the other world, no one understood better than him and Kaiser how much different Liola was now compared to Silver Moon.
“Perhaps he is again.” Mizerui said lightly.
Kaiser and Daylight suddenly widened their eyes and glared at Mizerui. Despite how quiet his statement was, the shock value of what he said was too immense. The two opened their mouths again and again, but no words came out, especially when Mizerui’s eyes showed a deep self-blame and sadness. A foreboding feeling overcame the two.
“What happened to Liola exactly?” Meinan broke the silence, “No matter what happened, we have to at least know, so we could come up with a plan.”
“I was careless.” Mizerui sighed, and said with self-blame, “At first, Dragon Emperor wanted to use hypnosis to control Liola, but I uncovered the plan, and Liola returned to his old self. I thought if he was alert, and with the Dragon Cross Necklace with him, then it would be impossible for the Dragon Emperor to control him. Coincidentally, because Miluo seemed to be ready to make trouble, I went to help Qiusi investigate, therefore leaving the Dragon Continent…”
“I had never imagined… The Dragon Emperor would actually use a Magician’s power. The Dragon Cross Necklace only had the power to resist Dragon Emperor’s power, but it was powerless towards anyone else. I had forgotten Liola wasn’t familiar with magic, so he might not have suspected anyone using magic against him, in the end…”
Everyone’s face changed. Kaiser, on the other hand, didn’t find himself surprised. Perhaps when he heard the title of Silver Moon Knight, he had already guessed it; if he weren’t controlled, why would Liola bring back the name he was trying to avoid like the plague?
However, with a last bit of hope, Kaiser still asked, “He was controlled?”
Mizerui didn’t answer, but instead frowned, until the eight eyes staring at him were about to burn through his robe, then he said with uncertainty, “Should be, but his situation might be a bit more severe…”
“Does he not remember us?” Kaiser frowned. Since things had already happened, all he could do now was ascertain what happened, then devise a plan.
“He remembers. He remembers me, you, and everything that happened.” Mizerui answered eloquently, as if he thought remembering wasn’t something good.
“Was only his body controlled?” Kaiser relaxed his eyebrows. If that were the case, things would be much easier.
Mizerui suddenly became quiet. This silence felt like a heavy weight on everyone’s hearts, until Kaiser couldn’t take it anymore; he suddenly jumped up and yelled, “Mizerui! I don’t care what you’re thinking about. Tell us quickly and clearly what happened.”
“Problem is, I don’t know how to tell you!” Mizerui suddenly yelled back, and everyone was stupefied. They had never seen Mizerui lose control like this, and even Mizerui, himself, seemed surprised. He bit his lip tightly, and there was tightness about his face as well. His otherwise careless attitude had now turned into an unapproachable coldness.
“Mizerui-dage, d-don’t get angry. We’re just really concerned about Liola-dage. It’s almost been two weeks and he hasn’t came back at all. Now with the news of him being controlled, we’re really worried…” Purity’s eyes were filled with tears. Her voice choked more and more as she spoke.
Hearing what Purity said, Mizerui’s tightened face relaxed a bit. He sighed, “Sorry, I really don’t know how to describe his situation. He didn’t lose his memory, nor was he following simple orders as if his body was controlled. However, he does indeed obey the Dragon Emperor now, and he never mentioned anything about you.”
Mizerui paused a moment, then hesitantly continued, “In fact, after I found out something was wrong, I’ve only observed him, but I never spoke to him. I, I…”
“You don’t want to get close to him?”
Daylight finished his thought for him. Everyone, including Mizerui, all turned their heads to look at him. He stated calmly, “It is an nonexistent existence, to the point where one couldn’t even call him cold. His eyes had no coldness, or I should say, there is nothing in his eyes. It’s a kind of “void” eyes. He no longer acts like a living person, but instead a statue, one moving statue no one wants to get close to, never mind talking to it.”
Hearing such a description, Mizerui’s eyes seemed surprised. This was indeed the feeling Liola gave him now.
“This is the description of Silver Moon.” Daylight was silent for a while, and continued, “This is what has been said by the people from the other world who had seen the true Silver Moon.”
In fact, this was what Yulie relayed from Yandi. These words had, at the time, gave Daylight quite a shock. He had thought Liola was cold enough, but it wasn’t until hearing what Yulie had to say about Liola, did he know that Liola’s coldness had already made plenty of progress. At least he was like a living person rather than a statue.
“A moving statue?” Meinan frowned, trying to imagine what Liola looked like, but he couldn’t possibly associate a moving statue and void eyes to a person.
Though Kaiser had not heard Yandi’s words, but out of these companions, he was the first one to see Liola. Although Liola had already been “personified” by Anise, but his eyes were still missing the fluctuations of a normal person; therefore, he could imagine what a walking statue would be like.
“Let’s go bring that guy. If it was the work of magic, perhaps I have a way.” Though having said this, Kaiser didn’t feel confident at all. Despite his progress in magic, he still specialized in attack magic. He didn’t have the slightest grasp on magic that controlled people. But seeing everyone’s faces, he bit the bullet and said it first.
Everyone nodded. Truth was, everyone was worried sick in the past week. Now that they’ve received the bad news, their determination to bring Liola back was stronger than ever.
Mizerui’s face suddenly changed, and he hurried to stop them, “No, you can’t go…” Before he even finished, everyone looked at him with determination, as if the looks carried the meaning of “don’t try to stop me”.
Mizerui felt a serious headache coming onto him. He paced back and forth impatiently, while his thin finger constantly tapping his forehead, hoping to think of a good way to bring Liola back. However, no matter how much he thought, he didn’t see even the slightest possibility of taking Liola away from under the constant eye of the Dragon Emperor.
Mizerui sighed, “No…” Seeing their eyes and their unwillingness to give up, Mizerui added immediately, “At least not yet.”
“It’s impossible for you to take Liola out of the Dragon Continent, even I couldn’t do it with teleportation. Dragon Emperor isn’t to be underestimated. I guarantee that the moment you take a step onto the Dragon Continent, you will have no chance of escape. I think, perhaps the Dragon Emperor even hopes for you to go there, so he could catch you to threaten Qiusi and the Red Commander.” Mizerui said as he looked at Meinan and Purity, and sure enough, their expressions changed.
“Then Kaiser and I will go. Even if we’re caught, we can’t be used to threaten anyone. As long as we could see Liola, perhaps we could wake him up.” Daylight said with determination.
Now, even Mizerui began to examine this possibility. After thinking about it for a while, he raised his head and looked at Kaiser and Daylight, “Are you sure you won’t regret this? If you are caught by the Dragon Emperor, even I wouldn’t have any way of saving you. You may end up in jail, or tortured, or even dead…”
Kaiser’s face sank, and then he murmured, “It’s probably all of them. We’ll be thrown in jail first, woo, I hope their jail has decent food. Then we will be interrogated and tortured… What kind of torture would they use? Whips, pulling off nails, hot iron, slow slicing, woo, but what do they want to know anyhow? I don’t know anything, so there is nothing I could say, and as such, I will definitely end up killed. I wonder how I will die… I hope they don’t bury me in the sand, then cut open my scalp and dump cement in it, that would be a horrible way to die. Getting disembodied by horses pulling on my limbs wouldn’t be much better either. In that case, perhaps getting decapitated would be the best way to go…”
“K-Kaiser…” Daylight dumbfoundedly stopped Kaiser from continuing.
Mizerui also had cold sweat running down his back. Fortunately, Kaiser wasn’t the lead prison guard in the Dragon Empire, otherwise he would seriously reconsider his own undercover missions. He said with a bitter laugh, “So you’re unwilling to go?”
“I’m going! Do I even have a choice?” Kaiser snapped back, then added abusively, “I don’t believe those stereotypical Knights could think of more intense tortures. Worst case scenario is having my corpse cut up or skinned, I, Kaiser, fear nothing!”
“Kaiser, go and save Liola-dage.” Purity movingly grabbed Kaiser’s hand, and promised with seriousness on her face, “Purity will definitely learn sewing. When the time comes, I will be able to sew you back together to a complete Kaiser.”
“Damn you…”
Meinan heavily nodded, “Mhm, it wouldn’t matter if you get skinned either. I’m good at drawing, and I will definitely draw a super-duper handsome face on top of your bloodied muscles that can be used as your face.”
“You two…!”
With a hideous look on his face, Kaiser held up his giant gun and approached the two. Meinan and Purity immediately ran behind Daylight’s back.
Acting as the “meat shield”, Daylight didn’t know what to do. Kaiser was so angry now that he suddenly went to the other extreme and burst into laughter.
Kaiser said with sincerity, “I also know how to barbecue. Do you want to try how it feels to be cooked by a cannon? It should be very fun. You know, my white flame can, in an instant, cook your entire body; crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and even your bones will be soft enough to chew. Tsk tsk, I heard a man’s meat is chewy, and women’s meat melt in your mouth.”
With a pale face, Meinan gulped, imagining his meat being chewed. Purity, on the other hand, was about to cry, and her face was full of repent, “K-Kaiser, we were just joking!”
“It’s too late…” Kaiser laughed sinisterly, then walked closer and closer to the two…
“Okay, stop playing, don’t forget Liola is still being held by Dragon Emperor.”
Daylight solemnly interrupted the three in the heat of it. Hearing Liola, all three of them went quiet, and all their eyes returned to Mizerui. Daylight looked at him seriously, and said firmly, “We must go save him.”
“Of course, us four must go save him.” Meinan especially emphasized “four”.
“You and Purity can’t…”
“Of course we can!” Purity immediately interrupted Mizerui, “At least if I can go, we can use black hole to escape.”
“Or use black hole for suicide.” Kaiser added with a bitter look on his face.
Purity touched her head in embarrassment, “That’s the last resort.”
Meinan also said calmly to Mizerui, “I must go. If Liola really turned as emotionless as you said, then he will likely attack us. I believe none of us could be comparable to Liola in terms of speed, so only my comprehensive shield could block him, then we could think of ways to return him to his senses.”
Mizerui frowned; it did seem like a reasonable plan. Even if they had no choice but to push Liola into a black hole, it would be better than leaving him by the Dragon Emperor’s side. However, how could he possibly sneak these four into the palace to see Liola? Mizerui unconsciously said his question out loud.
“Oh, someone could help us.” A smile grew on Kaiser’s face. Seeing Mizerui’s skeptical eyes, he added, “There are people we can absolutely trust. I can even guarantee they would want Liola return to his old self, and they would even oppose the Dragon Emperor because of it.”
“Who?”
Kaiser’s eyes were brimming with light, “Lanski and Jasmine.”