Chapter 518 - The Great Betrayal

"You can find Kar trapped inside the Calamity Gates," said Solomon with disinterest. "However, if you want the vessel, then you can find him beneath this hall."

The cooperation came unexpected to the newcomers, and the dashing man with brown hair seemed uneased. Finally, he walked toward Abraham and pulled on his shoulder, whispering something in his ears.

"It does seem odd," the man called Abraham muttered and gave a nod. "You seem expecting our arrival to the palace. Kar told you about my identity, right?"

"I believe he mentioned something about it," the king furrowed his brows as he tried to recall. "However, it seems of little relevance to me at the moment."

"I am quite sensitive to auras," smiled Abraham as he waved his index finger in a circle. "Yours reeks of death. It seems there is no will to live inside you. Have you sold your soul to the devil, Solomon?"

"The devil lives inside us," paused Solomon as he rose from his seat. This man got on his nerves for some reason. "You are another puppet, so who truly sold his soul?"

"My king," kneeled the brunette. "My name is Hurst, and this is my childhood friend, Abe. I came here to protect you from the creatures who wander in the capital, feeding on the knights."

"You don't understand, Hurst. This man is the one who lets those vampires out. This is his plan to strengthen them before the Seika arrives."

"The Seika?" muttered Solomon with confusion. "It cannot be. That man has disappeared, and this is the reason for this war."

"He will come here to punish the unsightly sins you have committed," grinned Abe as he walked forward. "I know what kind of person you are, Solomon. You will commit anything for your selfish cause, believing that it goes unpunished."

"I am a selfish man," admitted Solomon without much resistance. "The only reason that I became the king is that she believed I could bring this kingdom peace. Amon was more worthy than I am, but because my father is a demihuman, she believed that I would understand the pain of the weak the most."

"Ah, the most foolish of feelings, love," spat Abe while turning toward the brunette knight. "Make sure you never become this idiotic, Hurst. There is no value in anyone who revolves their lives around others."

"Are you the mentor?" muttered Solomon as he noticed the difference in their age. "You are a vessel who retained the memories of the past. How amusing. The Healer Guardian is listening to the wishes of a mere knight."

"The Healer Guardian...?" muttered Hurst with confusion before he turned toward Abe. "Are you not Abe?"

Solomon grinned as he felt like he struck the guardian where it hurts. After all, Abraham's words were not far from the truth. He has already realized how pathetic he was for never moving on from his first love.

"I am not, but I also am, Hurst. The Guardian, in other words, myself, took over my body four months ago during an expedition of mine. It was the same mission that your older brother saved me."

"A temporal fissure," muttered Solomon. "A phenomenon that represents this world's weakness. You managed to enter this vessel because of the fissure at that time. How does it feel, young knight, for your friend to turn out to be someone else?" asked the king, his knight.

The branches started wiggling as the vessel clicked his tongue. Solomon managed to unease Abraham, and it showed through his powers. The king stared at the young guardian with almost envy.

Lorius told him about this guardian. The Healer Guardian, no less. As long as something is still alive, this man can heal it, and it was a power that Solomon felt inferior for the first time in his life. If he had this power when she was about to die, it wouldn't have turned like this.

As the Ancient One explained, this man should be an ally. However, something about the knight he was with uneased Solomon. It was as if he saw the same thing that happened to him before when Ruki influenced his ideologies.

"I want to know one thing. You had that power all along, didn't you? Yet, we watched several people die helplessly, and I thought that it was because we couldn't do anything."

Solomon was amazed at the character of this knight. He embodied selfless acts for not caring about his friend's identity but the power he withheld. Finally, Abraham and his branches stopped moving.

"This is what I asked from the guardian. I could not care less about other people, but you two need to be safe," muttered Abraham with a sincere voice. "I would have been used in my weakness like a medicine."

The two did not talk further, and Solomon was getting bored of it. The selfless knight and his vessel friend were not people he wanted to make an enemy of because the latter was crucial to the plan.

The sound of footsteps came from beneath the hall before the ground split. A pair of blood scythes split the ground open as a man with long hair came out. Solomon looked behind him to see Lorius with a broad smile on his face.

"You are here," said the Ancient One as he spread his arms. "I was waiting for you to show yourself, God of Life. Those vampires I sent throughout the city worked well to lure you here."

"Are you familiar with this man, Abe?" asked Hurst with confusion as he grabbed his epic weapon. "It seems he is the one behind the vampires that are killing our knights."

"You are the vessel of Overlord of Vampires, Kar," smiled Abraham. "You did well to take the body of such a high-ranking person. However, it must have taken you a while before you managed to destroy his soul."

"A decade or so, nothing impressive. This man wanted power to overthrow the king himself, an ambitious fellow with a heart of selfless love, just like the one behind you. I am shocked, to be honest, that the Immortal is helping a human. You used to detest them, isolating yourself in a city of vegetation."

"The same as the era, I have changed," muttered Hurst as he looked down. "However, my standing remains along your side. Let me have my domain back, and the rest of the world is yours."

"The Great Betrayal," smiled Kar as he strode forward until he reached Abraham. "You have no shame for abandoning the world when it needed you the most."

"I am not responsible for the world," replied Abraham. "The true betrayal is none other than the two guardians and that man..." he said while gnashing his teeth in hatred.

"You are the same as ever." 

Kar seemed satisfied with the response before turning his eyes toward Hurst, who was looking at them with hostility. The vessel raised his hand as a blade of blood coagulated around his arm, ready to kill the knight.

"I need this man alive," replied the Healer Guardian, and Lorius looked at him with a frown. "His existence necessary for the soul to surrender without resistance."

"Ah, past attachments," Lorius stopped his attack. "I still feel nostalgic to them, even after the soul surrendered itself. We are being changed by what we want to change."

"All of us need to change," replied the guardian as he turned around and walked toward his friend. "My task is to protect this knight. I will do so until the soul resolves on its own."

"I need you for something," called Lorius to Abraham. "I need you for a revival."

The guardian stopped walking before he turned slowly to Kar. His expression was terrifying to behold as his aura exploded. The guardian's bloodlust was enough to turn the knights insane instantly.

"You want to create those cursed monsters again?"

His voice was low, and Solomon felt his heart shake. In the beginning, he thought that the guardian was no other than an immortal healer, but it might be different. The question made the king apprehensive because he knew it was about Ruki.

"As cursed as they are," smiled Kar. "Those creatures are still who they were before they died. I am simply reuniting a love," Lorius spread his arms with a grin.

"What about that man?"

The air changed again after Abraham asked. Solomon could tell that the Ancient One was displeased by the mention as his canines revealed themselves.

"I will kill him if he appears."

"If," said Abraham as he puckered his lips. "The Nameless should already know the future and the past, and that was the reason that we couldn't destroy it. However, exceptions always exist, and they still do, it seems."

Solomon was not following the conversation anymore, but all he could make out was that Lorius had nothing to say back. His heart felt as if it was being torn apart, but the king did not understand why. In the end, Abraham smirked.

"Fine, I will help you revive one person. However, I want to take the Creator to that place in exchange.. I want to see if he can still be changed."