Chapter 843 — Another Batch of Guests

For a band of fully armed holy-light warriors guarded every entrance and exit of the assembly hall—and the "appearance" of those holy-light warriors was... decidedly intimidating.

Half of them were giants standing nearly two meters tall—a startling height due perhaps in some measure to their equally startling silver-white armor. These fully armed men carried enormous warhammers, with metal prayer books bound to their waists by iron chains. They called themselves the holy-light priests of Cecil, and in Yuri's eyes the only connection these men had with "priests" was that sacred runes could indeed be seen upon them in no small number—runes stamped into their helmets with steel dies, or hung upon their armor with sealing wax and strips of scripture cloth. Rather than holy symbols, they looked more like the "marks of glory" a knight leaves upon his armor after felling an enemy.

And the other half of them—thank goodness—were women, of a somewhat more approachable air at least.

It would have been even better if these ladies had not been carrying war lances of uncertain power (or were they staffs, or long-handled warhammers? Or some other thing capable of cracking a man's skull open?), and had not been equipped with mechanical gauntlets glinting with cold light.

Semler, of the Sunburst Order, who had reached the White Sands Hills a day earlier than Yuri yet arrived at this assembly hall on the same day as everyone else, sat on a bench in the main hall and could not resist murmuring to Yuri beside him: "I find myself missing the 'miners' dormitories' of the White Sands Hills... at least the armed security of the mining company there looked a good deal friendlier."

"...I don't understand why the Domain—why the Emperor would arrange for these holy-light clerics to watch over us," Yuri said, a faint worry on his face, lowering his voice. "Could it really be as the rumors say—that He has thoroughly taken control of and remade the Evernight Church within Cecil, and turned them into His own 'loyal armed force'?"

"That seems to be the case. He would never stand with the 'God of Holy Light,'" Semler said in a low voice. "And I think..."

A heavy tread suddenly came from the side, cutting Semler's unfinished words short. A white knight, two meters tall and fully armed, came among the Sleepers and stood before the benches. From beneath the rune-covered helm came a muffled, deep voice: "You look pale. Do you require the Touch of Holy Light or a Prayer of Tranquility?"

As he spoke, the tower-like warrior hefted his warhammer, laying the killing weapon of astonishing weight flat across his palm, and began turning some switch on its haft.

Semler's expression changed at once. "No, we do not!"

He strongly suspected that the "Touch of Holy Light" the man spoke of was delivered with a full, sweeping swing.

In truth, as a Sleeper priest of the Yaoyao Sect's rank, the power he commanded was not necessarily weaker than that of these white knights who called themselves "priests," but the style of these iron giants was truly bizarre, and the surging holy power within them was indeed formidable. More importantly, this place was still under the very nose of the "Outland Wanderers," and every "guard" here had been sent by the Outland Wanderers. All these factors piled together left Semler and Yuri unable to keep from tensing.

"Understood," the burly, towering white knight rumbled, not pressing the matter. "If you have need, speak up at any time."

At last the iron tower departed.

Yuri and Semler both breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to each other with a helpless, bitter smile. Yuri muttered softly, "This place... is far stranger than I imagined back then."

At that moment Wendy, who had not spoken all this while, suddenly broke the silence. "Actually, I think it is fine. I mean, those armed nuns—do you not think there is a certain beauty to their equipment?"

Yuri's gaze toward Wendy turned strange at once. "Lady Wendy... are you serious?"

Fortunately, this bizarre topic, along with the bizarre atmosphere in the assembly hall, was finally broken the next second.

"His Majesty Gaoyang Cecil arrives—"

The attendant's loud announcement was like heavenly music at that moment, and both Yuri and Semler felt their spirits lift at once.

The Sleepers in the hall raised their heads one after another and looked toward the doorway. They saw the door open, and the white knights and armed nuns guarding it respectfully fell back to either side, forming a neat reception line. And there, a figure even more towering than the white knights appeared, his back to the sunlight, walking into the hall as though descending upon them.

The Outland Wanderer.

The real one, alive, breathing.

The Sleeper priests present felt a strange sensation rise in them all at once, as though some being out of a mythic world had suddenly come to stand before them, yet appearing in the guise of a mortal and harmless man. These priests, accustomed to weaving dreams and having just passed through great upheaval, were for a moment dazed, until Gaosong's voice suddenly rang out and dragged them back to reality—

"Welcome to Cecil, future citizens of the Empire—I hope most of you will successfully obtain that status in the days to come."