Chapter 635 Challenge Gate [3]

War wasn't fun.

Kings and Queens stayed on the back line, protected by their troops. Meanwhile, those petty soldiers on the battlefield were merely pawns abiding by their wills.

These pawns obeyed orders as if they had no conscious thought of their own. They were mindless slaves.

One day, a pawn woke up.

He realized his strange situation.

He questioned morality. He questioned why he fought and who he was fighting.

That pawn left his post. He traveled across the battlefield, avoiding those around him until he reached its end. There, he met the King and Queen.

He asked the King and Queen, "why must I suffer like this?"

However, he received no response. Neither the King nor the Queen acknowledged his presence.

Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough to defeat them.

The pawn returned to the frontlines demoralized. From that day forth, he no longer fought. Instead, he walked and walked, hoping that one day he'd reach his destination.

***

The Royal Knights were always renowned for their grandeur on the battlefield and staunch loyalty to the royal family. They were the kingdom's first and last line of defense.

These knights were powerful, sure, but they had no lives of their own. Their every action followed a set pattern, never to be broken.

A knight walked his usual route through the palace halls. His eyes gazed through the adjacent window at the beautiful sight of the kingdom below. This was the kingdom he swore to protect.

Seeing it now, he didn't feel the same. He wondered whether the kingdom he'd been serving was the same one he grew up in.

Wrought with plagues and crime, the nobles and commoners always in stark opposition, this wasn't the kingdom he knew. After the Crown Prince took the throne from the old King, everything changed.

It was his duty to protect the Royal Family, but he could no longer place his faith in the Royal Family.

He wanted to see this kingdom prosper and grow. What he swore to protect upon being knighted was the kingdom first. Everything else came after.

He clutched the old pendant hanging from his neck. A bold idea came to his mind. As if possessed, he immediately acted on it.

That night, the knight silently made his way into the King's chambers. Looking at the sleeping man, he sighed.

In another dimension, this man could've led a simple life as a commoner. Without the allure of great power, he never would've become the corrupt man he was today.

The knight's sword, which had been swung for the Royal Family for years, finally returned to its roots. It slashed through the air for the kingdom itself, taking the king's head.

That knight fled the kingdom the next day. He wanted to see change, but he didn't have the ability to bring forth that change. He could only start the wildfire that soon spread across the kingdom.

He was a close aide to the Royal Family and understood its workings well. Now that the King died, the Queen would hold temporary power until a new successor was raised.

And while the Queen was just as cunning as the King, she held consideration for her subjects. She understood how to maintain power.

If it wasn't for her silent hand guiding the King, the kingdom would've fallen into ruin long ago.

Now, the knight trusted the Queen with bringing order to the chaotic kingdom. While she did so, he walked.

He simply walked and walked, hoping that one day he'd reach his destination.

***

The King was a good man, but he was not wise. He had the heart needed to rule, earning him the people's admiration, but he didn't have their respect. He simply couldn't do anything to aid the kingdom.

They'd been at war for years on end, yet the King had no way to end this conflict. People were dying by the day, yet he could only sit and watch.

He didn't want his position anymore. He didn't have the heart to let down these people.

His steps led him to a room he'd long forbidden. This was a place he never dared to enter ever since that day.

But now, he was back.

He pushed open the door. The room's stench permeated his nostrils the second he did so. But he didn't shy away.

He walked into the room and approached the coffin in the middle.

"Father, please forgive me," he said.

He opened the coffin's lid, allowing a decaying body to see the light of day. In the center of this body was a golden crystal.

The King reached into the body and took the crystal. Afterwards, he closed the coffin and left the room.

This crystal was the answer to his problems.

Therefore, he followed its light.

He eventually left the Royal Palace, left the capital, left the continent, and left the world itself. He simply continued walking.

He walked and walked, hoping that one day he'd reach his destination.

***

In the darkness of night, four figures unknowingly crossed paths. Their meeting was unlucky, fated, and even comical in a sense.

They each came from different backgrounds, different walks of life, with different experiences. Still, they felt an odd chemistry between them.

The group sat down at a bar and began to converse.

One was a soldier. He spent years in the army fighting without cause, but when he finally escaped that torment, he realized he no longer had a home to return to.

One was a knight. He spent his entire life protecting those he served, but in the end, he killed his liege with his own hands. He walked through life carrying the burden of his greatest sin.

One was an undeserving ruler. His insecurity took hold of his heart and led him to stray from the correct path. Despite his attempts at salvaging the situation, he led his country to ruin. He fled in shame and guilt, never to look back again.

The final one was a bard. He was a man who traveled far and wide, seeing everything there was to see. Compared to the rest, his life experience was grander and his worldview broader.

As he looked at his new comrades, he questioned whether their paths should remain untouched.

But he couldn't allow these new friends to continue on being self-destructive. As the trio got increasingly drunk, he entertained them with song and story. The night continued as if it would never end, but when it finally did, the trio passed out on the bar table, unable to move an inch.

The bard sighed. He stood up and approached the three, searching through their belongings. From each, he took a single item.

From the soldier, his sword. That sword which symbolized his endless struggle on the battlefield. Even after he left, he always kept it at his side.

From the knight, his emblem. His treason was for the greater good. To this day, his loyalty to the kingdom never wavered. But that loyalty lay in his sword. This symbol only served to keep him attached to the Royal Family. Perhaps he knew this, but refused to remove it out of guilt.

From the King, a golden crystal. This crystal was proof of his negligence. He allowed himself to be ensnared by its charm, giving him an excuse to escape the kingdom he ruined. But the bard didn't take the King's crown. The King was a man who wished for good but could only do wrong. Perhaps, one day, he'd mold himself into someone worthy of the throne. The bard instead took the crystal, the crystal that symbolized the weight of his sin.

Finally, the bard stepped back. There were three items in his hands, but something was still missing.

The hard put the sword, emblem, and crystal down on the table and sighed. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a small locket.

This locket was a reminder of who he used to be.

It was time to return to being that person.