GDK 498: Old Scores to Settle
“Corey, long time no see indeed. But this time, we didn’t come to Kasi Empire to bother the Shrine of Ice, nor were we planning to publicize the doctrines of our Druidic Order in your Kasi Empire. It’s not necessary to muster such large forces just to welcome me, don’t you think?” This elderly known as Kelly looked at Ice Celestial Corey with a spurious smile, seemingly unafraid of this character who presided over the Shrine of Ice.
Han Shuo knew that Ice Celestial Corey’s influences were not limited to just within the Shrine of Ice. If Corey let out a word, even His Majesty the King of Kasi Empire himself was obliged to listen carefully.
That was because Ice Celestial Corey was precisely the oldest progenitor of the Pillon Royal Family!
For so many years, the House of Pillon retained their firm grasp of authority over Kasi Empire. Any rebellion within Kasi Empire could be instantly quelled whenever there was one. The reason for this was directly connected with Ice Celestial Corey. Even the incumbent His Majesty the King of Kasi Empire was well aware of the significance of Ice Celestial Corey to their House of Pillon as well as their Kasi Empire.
“Oh well, you can’t blame me for that. You wouldn’t easily leave the Druidic Order headquarters, but all of a sudden you’ve stepped into the soil of our Kasi Empire. It is unavoidable that I would assume you intend to take revenge on us!” Corey displayed the proper respect towards Kelly in their discourse. Although Corey had an ostensible motive to kill, he nevertheless remained courteous on the surface.
The Shrine of Ice possessed absolute autonomy within Kasi Empire. Ever since the establishment of Kasi Empire, the Shrine of Ice took the position of the state religion of the Empire. For many years, the Shrine of Ice had taken advantage of their unsurpassed influence in Kasi Empire and destroyed all other religious organizations with conflicting interest to its own.
The Druidic Order, as a religious organization whose influences could be found throughout the Profound Continent, was among those who suffered a catastrophic blow within Kasi Empire. Even until this day, there was not a single shrine of the Druidic Order within the land of Kasi Empire. All the more, followers of the Druidic Order rarely ever appeared in Kasi Empire.
These extremist practices of the Shrine of Ice had once greatly enraged mighty experts of the Druidic Order who had always been aloof from worldly affairs. Infuriated, they seemed to have fought against the Shrine of Ice in the dark. Han Shuo wasn’t clear about the particulars of the struggle, although he did learn from a certain record in the Dark Mantle that the Druidic Order had the upper hand for a short period of time.
However, as the elder of the Pillon Royal Family, Ice Celestial Corey had the backing of the entire Kasi Empire. The Druidic Order was without a doubt no match for the Shrine of Ice in the long run when the fight took place within Kasi Empire. Although the Druidic Order was once briefly on the winning side of the fight, in the end, their influences were driven out from Kasi Empire completely.
Just from the fact that one could, at that point, find not a single church of the Druidic Order within Kasi Empire, one could clearly tell that the two religious organizations were having clashings and as incompatible as fire and water.
Ice Celestial Corey obviously had to rush over when he caught wind of the arrival of Kelly, a character from the Druidic Order who possessed at least demigod strength.
All of a sudden, Snow Celestial Tiana, who had remained stationary on the rooftop of the auction house, announced with her tender voice, “Citizens of Kasi Empire, please evacuate from the auction house immediately. Auction items and programs remaining for today may carry on on another day!”
The clamor inside the auction house suddenly hushed following the appearance of those from the Shrine of Ice. When they subsequently heard Corey’s words, they managed to put the clues together and gradually realized what was going on. At the sound of Tiana’s alert, each and every one these people wore terrified looks on their faces, immediately leaving the auction house without saying a word.
Certain truly influential officials and big shots in Kasi Empire were very much aware of who was actually behind these fanatical devotees of the Shrine of Ice. They obviously wouldn’t dare offend this most enormous institution in Kasi Empire. Those lesser nobilities, although they were not aware of Ice Celestial Corey’s identity, they nevertheless dared not to offend the Shrine of Ice in the slightest, and hence obediently followed the instructions and left.
Besides, the circumstances in the auction house had completely changed in those few short moments prior. The battle had earlier been between just Han Shuo and sacred knight Sulo, and Han Shuo had yet to really make a lethal strike. Wanting to see more, spectators merely remained in their seats.
The moment these feverish disciples of the Shrine of Ice showed up, they realized that things were not as simple as they had guessed. Any citizen of Kasi Empire was vaguely familiar with the grudges between the Shrine of Ice and the Druidic Order. Many years back, the two religious organizations set off rains of blood and carnage in Kasi Empire. This information had been widely spread among many nobilities with the propaganda of a certain party.
Thus, for all these reasons, right when the crowd discovered that the matter had something to do with the many years of grievances between the two religious organizations, they instantly understood that there would be a bloody battle in this auction house. These people, being as high status as they were, we’re not about to risk sticking around in this place to suffer unknown dangers that could strike at any moment. It was the wisest choice for them to distance themselves from the auction house as much as they could.
The Druidic Order was a religion that professed faith in nature, and treasured all living beings. They would never, ever advocate to willfully slaughter the innocent. Hence, although Kelly and Lilian knew that Snow Celestial Tiana evacuated everyone in order to deal with the two without any hindrance, they nonetheless did not capture anyone from the general public as hostages to threaten the Shrine of Ice.
“Great, Great ancestor!” Braque was once informed by his father about the relationship between the Shrine of Ice and the House of Pillon. He had even seen the magical portrait of Ice Celestial Corey. When Braque just came down from the third floor, he suddenly discovered the person he saw was precisely the man that his father held in the same regard with a god, the legendary character of the House of Pillon – Ice Celestial Corey. Braque could not contain his surprise and let out a shout.
Although Ice Celestial Corey rarely ever left the Shrine of Ice, he was well informed about the births and deaths of the members of the House of Pillon. So much so that several of the major headcount changes were personally ordered by Corey himself, which was passed to the King of Kasi Empire to be executed.
When Braque’s yell in shock sounded, Ice Celestial Corey stared blankly at first, took a few looks at Braque shortly, and revealed a smile, saying, “You are little Braque right? Haha, you did pretty well, little youngster. Keep it up!”
“Yes, great ancestor. Great ancestor, you actually recognize me?” When Braque, someone who had always been heavy-scheming, heard Ice Celestial Corey commending him, he had trouble restraining his emotions and gazed excitedly at Ice Celestial Corey, completely forgetting who he was.
Ice Celestial Corey nodded and smilingly said, “Yes. You should depart as well. Don’t stay any longer inside here!”
If it had been anyone else, Braque’s own father or even the King of Kasi Empire who said those words to him, Braque would have demonstrated his stubbornness for a moment. But facing this most legendary character of the House of Pillon, Braque showed not the slightest resistance. He respectfully performed a family etiquette towards Corey, yieldingly answered ‘Yes’, and headed out most obediently.
From start to finish, Kelly and Lilian from the Druidic Order both helplessly looked on as the Shrine of Ice deployed their forces. Neither of the two interrupted the evacuation nor took anyone hostage to threaten the Shrine of Ice.
Such were the teachings of the Druidic Order. They weren’t the kind of people who would take any measure necessary to achieve their goals. Take, for example, when Lilian knew Han Shuo had Druidic Order’s ‘Hand of Goddess’, and under the circumstances that she thought Han Shuo was just a regular fatty, with a demigod existence accompanying her, yet, she earnestly made a gentle request to Han Shuo. She wanted to make an honorable transaction with Han Shuo to obtain the ‘Hand of Goddess’, instead of using Kelly’s mighty force to coerce Han Shuo.
The Druidic Order was a genuine religion on Profound Continent. They were kind, honest, not overly ambitious, impartial, and they revered nature.
Han Shuo observed for a while. On top of his interactions with great druid Caspian in the past, the Druidic Order automatically left Han Shuo a favorable opinion in his heart. If it weren’t for the fact that the Viride Leaf had an immeasurable effect for wood elite zombie, perhaps Han Shuo wouldn’t have made things difficult for them.
Sighing, Han Shuo took a look at Kelly, then turned to Ice Celestial Corey standing at the doorway, blocking the path. He suddenly came to a decision.
At this moment, many had walked out from the auction house. Even Braque, under the indication of his elder, Ice Celestial Corey, had headed out as well. When sacred knight Sulo discovered Ice Celestial Corey’s arrival, he made his salutations towards Corey from a distance. Soon after, when no one was watching, he signaled to Sophie, who was in disguise. That resoluteness in his ferocious gaze meant that he would not tolerate Sophie’s noncompliance.
Sophie, having received Sulo’s meaningful glances, understood that her father was truly enraged this time. She was well versed with her father’s temperament and knew that if she were to not obey Sulo’s instructions in such circumstances, she would face grave consequences.
Therefore, when the crowd started rushing outside, Sophie covertly signaled Han Shuo with her eyes. Afterwards, regardless of whether Han Shuo did receive her message or not, she sighed before squeezing through the crowd and headed out.
Needless to say, Han Shuo saw Sophie’s meaningful glances. Yet, his head was lowered with not a word or movement. For fear that Ice Celestial Corey would discover him, an enemy of even greater enmity than the Druidic Order, Han Shuo had, beforehand, concealed the enormous energy of his consciousness and very carefully hidden away the energy emanating from his being.
Having made up his mind, Han Shuo no longer remained on the same ground. While no one was paying attention to him, he put on a rather panicky expression and slowly paced outside like any other person.
That incomparably ferocious demeanor and that unreasonable, tyrannical appearance of his, all of a sudden vanished. It was as though he turned into the most ordinary fatty amongst the crowd, not the slightest bit of exceptionalism in sight.
When Han Shuo blended himself in among the crowd, walking outside in a seemingly cowardly fashion, Lilian the female druid revealed a trace of disdain as she gazed at Han Shuo’s figure from the back. She thought to herself, how could such a bossy and domineering character turn out to be such a coward when faced with the Shrine of Ice?
Kelly, however, who had been paying attention to Han Shuo all along, at first revealed a flabbergasted expression when he saw Han Shuo become so timid. But as Han Shuo inches towards the door step by step, the expression on Kelly’s face turned into something of a smile, but not quite, and looked at Han Shuo somewhat amusedly.