Chapter 766: Goddess of Murder and Assasination
Although it was only a short glance, Zhang Heng’s astute observation still granted him some information. After the old trainer asked him the crucial questions, Zhang Heng also recalled more details.
“She… seems barefooted. She has a dagger in her hand. There is an eagle head carved on the handle of the dagger. Other than that, there is also a bunch of keys strung on rattan hanging around her waist.”
“How many keys are there?” the old trainer continued to ask.
“I didn’t count, three… no, it should be four,” Zhang Heng paused. “Apart from the corridor that connects the hot pool and the sudatorium, are there other exits?”
“I often come here to take a bath. As far as I know, there is no second way out,” replied the old trainer.
“So, you are saying that she just disappeared out of thin air?”
The old trainer did not answer Zhang Heng’s question this time. Instead, he uttered an unfamiliar name, “Kreis.”
“Who is this?”
“The black-robed woman you met,” the old trainer said, “According to your description, she should be Kreis. She is known as the goddess of murder and assassination. And she is in charge of the delicate balance between everything. She spends most of her time balancing chaos and order. You seem to be in luck. Kreis seldom shows up in front of mortal beings. There are only a handful of people in this world seen her before. As for her face, it’s better for you not to see it. Those that had seen her face are no longer in this world.”
“Why haven’t I heard of her name before?” Zhang Heng frowned.
To figure out the old man’s identity in the Tang suit, he had spent some time studying ancient myths. Hence, he knew a thing or two about the beliefs of the ancient Romans. The kind of gods that they worshiped here was rather complicated. Many old Roman gods came from Greek mythology. With the continuous expansion of the territory, other beliefs spread into ancient Rome. For instance, Jewish Christianity and some ancient religions in Egypt even worshiped the barbarian’s ancestors. Among them, however, Zhang Heng had never heard of the name Kreis.
“As I said, not many people can see her.” After the old trainer finished speaking, he stared at Zhang Heng again.
However, contrary to his expectation, Zhang Heng did not show awe or doubt when he heard what he said. Instead, it reminded him of something, “I remember now. This is not the first time I saw her.”
“Huh?”
Considering the historical background of the game, there was usually a god hidden behind each quest. For a brief moment, Zhang Heng wondered if he had really met the goddess in charge of his dungeon. He then recalled where he met her before.
“I saw her on a long-necked wine bottle during the celebration when we became official gladiators of this arena,” Zhang Heng said, “Interesting. So, the people have already started to play around with ideomotor phenomenon in the second century AD.”
Zhang Heng had used this psychological trick once in the Whistleblower quest. He used it to implant the idea of going to the ski resort in Léa’s mind. He did not expect that someone would use this trick on him.
And the other party’s ideomotor phenomenon was undoubtedly more stealthy and advanced.
“Kreis is just a made-up goddess, right? The figure I saw outside the door was you. Judging from how much you sweat, I think you just entered this niche not long ago. I should have thought of it. Since this place has only one exit, after eliminating all the irrelevant people, the only person left would be my answer… But the simple ideomotor phenomenon is enough to make me hallucinate. There must be other means to make me hallucinate.”
Zhang Heng lowered his head and thought for a while, “It’s the wine. Someone must have put something in my wine, right?”
Zhang Heng recalled the female slaveholding the amphora. She was the one that served him earlier. At that time, only Varo and he were standing there. Varo wanted to drink the wine from the amphora, but soon, another female slave fetched him a new bottle of wine. So, in the end, Zhang Heng was the only one that drank the wine from that particular amphora.
At that time, he felt that the taste of the wine was a little strange. It seemed like it was mixed with some kind of herb. However, that was also his first time drinking wine from the second century AD. Hence, he did not think much about it at the time. After what happened to him afterward, Zhang Heng quickly found the source of the problem.
The old Persian trainer quietly listened to Zhang Heng’s analysis. “I didn’t find the wrong person. You are the one we are looking for,” he said after a while.
“We? Oh, so you do have an accomplice.” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
“I prefer to call them companions,” the old Persian trainer said. “Also, after watching the battle during your final assessment, I think you were concealing your true strength in the battle, right? You even managed to fool Gaby. He was the one that discovered Sethnets back then. And he turned Sethnets into the trump card of the Victor Arena. However, it seems he has failed to discover your true form.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Since there were no witnesses or physical evidence, Zhang Heng would never admit to it.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell Gaby about it,” said the old Persian trainer. “You don’t need to be so wary of us. We are not hostile.”
“You guys just drugged me, and now you are telling me that you are not hostile?” Zhang Heng said, “To make me believe in what I saw, you even went as far as making up the god of murder and assassination.”
“I didn’t deceive you.” The old Persian trainer blinked. “At least not Kreis. She is indeed the goddess we worship.”
“But you say she is the god of murderers and assassins.”
“Yes. We are killers and assassins,” The old Persian trainer said, “I come from an ancient and mysterious organization. Our history is longer than Rome. It wants all the back to thousands of years, but we have been laying low during this period. In this regard, I think we still have some common language… If you want to ask me why I am here, the answer is simple. I am a friend of Gaby’s, and he invited me to train those gladiators for him. Most of the time, I’m only responsible for Habitus’s training.”
“You are the one that taught Habitus’s footwork?”
“Most of it, yes. But he also made some improvements to meet the needs of gladiator performance.”
“Then I suggest you continue training him because I heard that he wants to be the trump card of the Victor Arena,” Zhang Heng said politely, “You should focus on him instead of disturbing me.”