Chapter 55

If the dungeon of Maple Leaf Castle resembles an underground tomb, then the dungeon of Crescent Castle is simply hell on earth! The air is filled with the stench of rotting decay, and everywhere one can see rotting remains, dried bloodstains, and maggots wriggling all over.

There were also many large, glossy, smooth black rats.

These rats had red eyes, black‑and‑yellow teeth, and upon seeing people they did not flee but instead squeaked excitedly.

Obviously, they had grown accustomed to eating human flesh.

「Having such a creepy place underfoot, you can't even sleep soundly at night. 」

Luosen decided that once he dealt with Knight Ales, he would shut down the dungeon completely; and this underground space was not small, it could be put to good use.

Getting back to the point.

He used a Levitation Spell on himself, his gaze sweeping over cell after cell that resembled burial pits, searching for the imprisoned knight.

He saw many prisoners on the brink of death.

Those who could be locked in the castle dungeon at this juncture might include genuine criminals, but surely many were loyal diehards of the Old Baron.

Having no time to rescue them, Luosen cast a minor healing spell and a water‑condensing spell on each, just to keep them alive.

Soon he spotted the target of this mission.

He was a man in his early thirties, with a square, "national character" face; he was indeed tall, long‑limbed, and looked honest.

At that moment his eyes were tightly shut, his lips chapped, his complexion ashen like a corpse; he wore a prison uniform stained with blood, his exposed skin was swollen and bluish from the cold, his wrists hung limp, and his legs were twisted and deformed.

Looking closely, Luosen discovered that the man's tendons in his hands had been cut and his femur broken.

Were it not for the faint breath, he would be indistinguishable from a corpse.

「Heh~ I didn't dare kill him outright; I'll just torture him to death bit by bit. Once he's dead, those Crescent Knights will have pretty much adapted to the new order—who would really speak up for a dead, stubborn knight? 」

If this were Earth, Kaodelin would naturally be completely crippled.

But this world possesses miraculous healing arts.

As an extremely cautious mage, Luosen would hardly neglect studying healing arts; in the Natural Alliance, the nature school offers the most varieties and best effects of healing magic, especially for external injuries—if the victim isn't dead beyond recovery, it can be pulled back.

But the nature school is the signature skill of the Temple of Nature, not passed on to non‑official clergy.

Following the attitude of "respect the spirits and keep away," Luosen did not study nature magic.

He chose the slightly less effective Life School and Pure Water School, combined their strengths, and devised several highly effective healing techniques.

Although Kaodelin's injuries were severe, he could be treated with the powerful Fifth‑Circle healing art 'Levin's Light'.

Just from the name of the spell you can tell it's exclusive to the first puppet; the second puppet can't perform it.

The good news is that Levin No. 1 has been nearby providing escort.

After a short wait, Levin arrived at the dungeon.

After silently casting for about ten seconds, he lightly tapped Levin's staff against Kaodelin's lips and infused a large mass of fiery‑red, crystalline liquid.

He then drifted away.

Now look at Kaodelin.

Only to see that strange liquid entered through his mouth, quickly turning into countless fiery‑red rays that surged through his limbs and bones.

Immediately, his gaunt body visibly filled out, and his deformed hands and feet, aided by the reshaping force, returned to their normal shape.

About ten minutes later, Kaodelin exhaled a turbid breath and slowly opened his eyes.

At first his gaze was somewhat hazy, his eyes rolled blankly, then he saw Luosen and his expression suddenly tightened.

「Lord? 」

He jolted awake, sprang to his feet, and, using the faint glow of a Light‑Spell, stared at Luosen.

After three seconds he recognized Luosen's identity: "Young master, is that you?!"

His face was full of excitement; his gaze toward Luosen was filled with intense disbelief and a hint of awe.

Obviously, he too had been deeply influenced by Luosen's 'Leader Technique'.

Luosen also looked relieved: "It's me."

The Old Baron wrote in his letter that Kaodelin was a farmer's son, but from childhood he aspired to be a knight, studying martial arts on his own during farming off‑seasons and achieving some success.

Thus he was exceptionally promoted to become a personal guard.

When in a good mood, the Old Baron would occasionally give him pointers; no one expected that, relying on extraordinary effort and decent talent, he would progress so rapidly that by age twenty‑five he had become one of the three chief knights of Crescent City.

His talent was outstanding, his character steadfast and unpretentious, making him the Old Baron's most relied‑upon and trusted subordinate.

Now it appears he has not let down the Old Baron's trust.

And at this moment he is the sword the Old Baron left for Luosen.

Only then did Kaodelin notice the changes in his body; a quick check showed confusion on his face: "My body… my hands… my legs…"

Luosen explained: "I brought healing potions and cured your injuries."

Hearing this, Kaodelin went "plop" and knelt on the ground: "Thank you, young master, for saving my life, but you shouldn't have risked coming back, nor should you waste such a precious potion on me."

Luosen didn't argue, he simply said: "Kaodelin, I need you to help me retake Crescent Castle."

Kaodelin blinked: "Young master, just us two?"

Luosen shook his head: "No, a band of powerful warriors lurks outside the castle, but the fortress is sturdy and a direct assault is hard. We must find a way to open the gate and cause internal strife inside."

Kaodelin immediately grasped the situation, he said in a solemn voice: "Young master."

Luosen corrected: "In Dawn City I have already been appointed a new baron by the duke."

Kaodelin was not at all surprised by this; he had already been won over by Luosen's leader image.

He immediately changed his address: "Lord, Hanske and Goodman are traitors of Crescent City, with at least ten Crescent Knights following them."

He skipped the question of "whether to do it" and went straight to discussing "how exactly to do it".

Luosen immediately followed up: "Why did they betray us? Did my father mistreat them?"

Kaodelin shook his head: "No, Hanske should have been coerced, while Goodman was incited."

"Who incited them? Could it be Ales?"

Kao Delin shook his head again: 'No, it is a powerful Forest Spirit in the mountains and forests.'

'I don't know who this Forest Spirit is, nor whether it is male or female, which Forest Spirit tribe it belongs to; all the information I currently know was voluntarily disclosed by Alaise.'

'He said this Forest Spirit is extremely powerful and terrifying, a dreadful sorcery master; opposing him ends in death.'

Luosen's eyes narrowed slightly as he listened: 'Interesting~~'

He almost immediately recalled the strange metallic power he had felt on Dragon Sleep Snow Peak.

Sorcery is a term for many ancient arts, referring to some primitive arts with obscure principles and mysterious nature.

Currently, the vast majority of primitive sorcery has been deciphered by modern mages.

Without the abnormal power of Dragon Sleep Snow Peak, Luosen would never have taken this sorcery master to heart.

But now we must be more cautious.

After a moment of contemplation, he continued asking: 'Any other information about this sorcery master?'

Kao Delin nodded: 'This master provided a potion called "Dragon's Blessing".'

'After drinking it, one gains limitless strength, the body becomes as hard as steel, and the skin becomes as tough as legendary dragon hide. That night, I struck with all my might using a battle axe, yet I could only leave a faint scratch on Alaise's neck.'

Kao Delin is of high-level peak strength; even a full-force killing blow could barely break through defense. This potion's effect is indeed formidable.

Luosen immediately asked: 'Besides Alaise, do any other knights have this potion?'

'Yes. Gudeman and Hanske also have it. But I've been imprisoned too long, so I don't know about the others.'

This information is crucial; Luosen immediately gave a secret order to Laifu.

'Have Number One steal a bottle of Dragon's Blessing and try to dispel its effect. If the effect can be dispelled, abandon further theft; if not, steal all the potions.'

'Order received.'

At the same time, Luosen gave Kao Delin a vague explanation.

'I didn't come alone; I have several strong spies. I've already sent the potion information to them, so let's wait for their reply.'

Kao Delin, who completely did not understand magical principles, nodded reverently upon hearing this.

About ten minutes later, Luosen received a new message from Laifu.

'The potion's principle is unknown and cannot be dispelled; all finished products have been stolen, quantity twenty.'

Luosen secretly breathed a sigh of relief: 'This sorcery master indeed has a trump card.'

Fortunately, we came first to rescue Kao Delin; otherwise, during the castle seizure, twenty invulnerable, immensely strong barbarian warriors would appear, and even if we ultimately won, we would suffer heavy losses.

It was also fortunate that we brought Levin, who had already disarmed them beforehand.

He turned to Kao Delin and said: 'All right, the spies have stolen all the potions; how is your condition?'

Kao Delin slapped his chest firmly: 'My lord, I'm feeling great; feel free to give orders.'

Luosen was very pleased: 'Excellent.'

'First, we need to rally a group of loyal Crescent Moon Knights; do you have any candidates?'

'We do, but how can we reach them silently?'

'I will use invisibility magic.'

'Then there's no problem.'

Kao Delin immediately stood up: 'My lord, let's go gather the warriors right away.'

He led the way to the dungeon exit, saying as he walked: 'Alaise is a scoundrel; many brothers resent him in their hearts, but since there was no hope, they had no choice but to submit.'

'Now that you, my lord, have returned, you certainly don't live up to the legendary mediocrity—cough, cough—my lord, I'm not trying to belittle you; it's just that your reputation on the island was not good before.'

'I understand; my study of magic has indeed taken longer, but that's because the field of arcane arts is too profound.'

Kao Delin's face showed deep curiosity: 'Profound? My lord, do you have to read many, many books?'

'Yes. Many books.'

He asked: 'Are there as many as twenty books?'

On the island, books are rare; Kao Delin has only ever seen three books since childhood.

To him, twenty books is already a huge number.

Luosen couldn't help but laugh: 'Far more than twenty—there are 561 books, totaling 16.92 million characters.'

This is the number I personally read carefully; if we include Laifu's scanned records entered into the database, it would be frighteningly many.

'Hiss'

Kao Delin opened his mouth so wide it could hardly close, and the awe in his eyes overflowed.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the dungeon exit; this is the warden's room.

The door was half-closed; inside were four people: a warden, two jailers, and a young maid trembling with fear.

The only garment visible on the four people was a skirt, worn by the maid.

'Who is this guy?'

'He is Alaise's confidant; we need not be startled.'

Before the words finished, Luosen's dagger at his thigh flew into the room on its own, and all we heard was a few soft 'puff-puff-pff' sounds of blades entering flesh.

By the time Kao Delin followed inside, three of the four were dead, each with a dagger to the back of the head, while the maid had fainted to the floor.

'Knight, quickly put on the warden's gear.'

Kao Delin was secretly shocked by the young lord's methods, but his hands moved swiftly, and he soon donned the warden's equipment.

Among them were a pair of pigskin boots, the same pair he used to wear.

Soon Kao Delin obtained a rusted iron sword, a thick hide shield, and a set of worn leather armor, which greatly boosted his confidence.

'My lord, even truly loyal brothers who have submitted are not given important posts; they are either on patrol or standing guard, so we must go to the castle's outskirts to find them.'

Luosen naturally knew far less about the interpersonal relationships among the island knights than Kao Delin did, so at this point he naturally followed the expert's advice.

'You lead the way; we'll go invisible.'

Then, Kaodelin brought Luosen and quietly gathered allies inside Crescent Castle.

Just as they were acting secretly, Alais suddenly felt an inexplicable anxiety.

He immediately found his arcane expert: "Makanha, I feel something is off; quickly do a fortune-telling."

Makanha shrugged: "Lord, I already divined this morning; everything is normal today."

Alais grew increasingly irritable: "Just do the divination, hurry up."

"Well, as you wish."

Makanha took out the divination turtle shell and dice, after chanting "buzz buzz" a long string of divinatory words, he threw the dice onto the turtle shell.

"Lord, look, three sixes; today is a rare good day."

"I don't believe you; do it again."

Makanha had no choice but to try again: "Still three sixes."

Alais's heart grew ever more anxious; he paced like a trapped beast, then suddenly shouted at his attendant: "Go, bring my sister and niece to my side!"

"Yes, my lord."

The attendant immediately went, and about a quarter of an hour later he came running back: "My lord, something's wrong, I can't find them."

Alais jumped up in shock: "What do you mean? How could they possibly be missing when everything was fine?"

The attendant also looked puzzled: "I just can't find them; I've searched every corner, they're nowhere to be found, as if a dragon had eaten them."

Alais was both angry and startled, when suddenly a bright thought flashed through his mind.

"Could the Baron's eldest son have already returned?! And sneaked into the castle?"

Thinking this, he decisively ran into the room to fetch the potion.

As a result, upon taking it, he discovered his most relied-upon potion was missing.

He was so frightened he shuddered violently, almost wetting his pants on the spot.

After he turned around, he immediately let out a loud shout.

Enemy attack~~~

(End of chapter)