Chapter 659: Confrontation 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After the two of them laughed for some time, Kabb picked up the coffee on the table and sipped from it.
"However, on that note, do you have clues about the Nighthawk King’s identity?"
Medis nodded.
"After you mentioned this point, I began collecting information about him from all channels. After analyzing the flight times and using our intel to thin down the possibilities, we have obtained a list of people in that period of time who might be the Nighthawk King. The information we got is slightly strange."
"Oh? How is it strange?"
"Judging from the flight intel, the Nighthawk King probably booked his ticket through someone else, but in the incident with the Stone Clock of Fortune, he did not hide his appearance, so after making some comparisons, we discovered the true identity of the Nighthawk King."
"Is it very surprising?" Kabb looked at his usually calm and cunning old subordinate and friend, somewhat surprised that this man would be shocked by the Nighthawk King’s true identity.
"It is rather surprising." Medis nodded, "Garen Thomas, twenty years old, a second-year student at Gullivier University, a very mysterious person, hard to trace, he’s the president of the combat-oriented combat club in school. His father is a university lecturer, his mother a psychiatrist, his family is a thoroughbred academic family, with nothing at all to do with violent groups."
"All the more reason for us to be wary!" Kabb said abruptly, "I’ve met someone like this before, one of the heads of an Italian mafia clan is also a teenage child, he looks cute and innocent, but he’s a young prodigy, ruthless in his methods, and anyone who dares to look down on them will pay a hefty price."
"Understood." Medis nodded,"Then what do we need to do?"
Kabb touched his chin.
"This Nighthawk King Garen, he’s probably the key to truly controlling the Nighthawks, have you heard the rumors about the Nighthawks?"
"Yes, do you mean the rumor that the Nighthawk King alone can control everyone in the Nighthawks using certain methods?"
Medis had evidently heard about this before. He mused quietly for a while, organizing his thoughts before he continued.
"The Nighthawks’ growth is clearly evident, it might look a lot hazier to other powers, but to large groups such as ourselves and the Primary Colors, it’s impossible to hide their growth patterns. It could be said that they could only break free from the White Phoenix and form the Nighthawks after Baldy Kaedun paid a visit to Grano, where Garen was, all those years ago. It is also highly likely that Garen took him under his wing since back then."
"Tell me, for a normal kid to control an international mercenary for so many years without the latter having any intention to rebel. What methods could he be using?" Kabb asked quietly.
"He could make an ordinary mercenary into a top-level elite in the mercenary world within a short time, besides." Medis continued, "The combat club that Garen joined also increased in strength exponentially after he joined, the previous pillars of the club made Garen their teacher, and are learning martial arts from him."
Kabb’s fingers and joints rapped the table rhythmically.
"In that case, it seems that this Garen has a method to quickly make others stronger, be it the Nighthawks, the combat club, or even himself. For such a young man in his teens to control an international mercenary group, he must surely have an absolutely powerful way to control them. Tell me, if we can find this manipulation method, as well as this strengthening method, wouldn’t we be able to create a powerful team that belongs solely to us in a very short period of time?"
Medis nodded solemnly.
"It is very likely."
"I will leave this up to you, Garen must have a secret! And it is surely something extraordinary as well, I have a feeling, we might be able to get something better than we imagined from him." Kabb said with a straight face.
"I’ll go investigate right now." Medis understood how important this was as well, and stood up, "I will try to communicate with him, maybe I can get more direct information."
"Go."
*******************
In the vast black cathedral
He was surrounded by blurry walls, and could only faintly see the patterns shaking and flickering.
Garen stood in the middle of the cathedral, there were many giant golden statues on either side of him, the statues’ hands held their large swords, their heads and gazes lowered, as though they were protecting something.
At the very deepest end of the cathedral, there was a huge green silk web on the wall. This web was actually growing and growing, like vines, slowly growing thicker and denser.
And in the middle of the web, there was a pitch-black human figure.
"Here again." Garen looked around him, confused.
This dream seemed so very realistic, so much so that he could barely tell if he was in a dream or not. And every time he entered this dream, even his connection with Black Sethe would be severed.
That black figure kept struggling in the silk web, roaring soundlessly, but it was useless, every time he struggled, he would still be held there by the silk webs, held firmly motionless.
Garen trod on the smooth black marble floor, walking towards the deepest end of the cathedral, and soon he was standing underneath that large silk web.
He looked up at the black figure, and reached out his hand to touch the silk web holding the man captive, but as with last time, there was something like glass between the web and his hand.
His hand could not touch the web directly.
"This is my second time having the same dream." Garen frowned, he looked all around him, but did not find anything else out of the ordinary. The black figure that was stuck there did not seem to see him at all, and kept struggling futilely, not even looking at him.
Garen turned around and looked towards the large cathedral doors, those were tall and pitch-black metallic doors, a full dozen meters or so tall, they looked heavy and sturdy, embroidered with many strange patterns.
"This is the last temple." Suddenly, there was a deep male voice from behind him.
Garen turned around abruptly and saw a beautiful woman in a white dress walking towards him slowly, the woman’s long hair danced, and she held a huge silver sword in her hand. The large, long sword formed a sharp contrast with her body, only over a meter tall, and made it hard to imagine that her petite body could drag that sword, more than three meters long, so easily while she moved.
"Nadia." Garen recognized her, Nine-Headed Dragon King Nadia.
"Speaking of which, even when we first met, we never talked properly face to face like this. You’re suppressing my tracking ability, so I had to figure out this method to get around this problem." Nadia obviously looked like a girl, but spoke with a man’s voice, giving off an extremely eerie impression.
"What do you want to say?" Garen said calmly.
"That old man hiding in your body, he’s the memory remnants of an ancient fighter, right?" Nadia said softly, "That sort of memory is the most untrustworthy, I was nearly trapped by this thing back then." Nadia seemed extremely bored, walking up to Garen’s side, and looking up at the black figure in the web.
"You must understand, even if you’re suppressing the time I descend upon you, that day will still come. Rather than waiting fruitlessly for death, how about you join me under my command? Abandon your physical form, such a thing is no more than a restriction to us, we exist merely in wills, and are that much freer than you imagine."
Nadia spoke alluringly in the Ancient Endor language.
"We are practically immortal, as long as our souls do not reach their limit, we will not die. In comparison, the limits of the physical body are far too insignificant. Even the best metals will rot. What’s more a shell of flesh?"
"What benefits will I get from becoming one of you?" Garen retorted.
"Oh, there are too many, many of the invisible creatures are everlasting, they have accumulated countless knowledge and experience, once you have cast away your body, it will be easier to communicate with and learn from them. Plus, by existing as merely a will, you can exchange countless knowledge in an instant, you can travel freely through dimensions, just like how I have pulled you in here now, when in fact we are miles and miles apart." Nadia replied casually, "Stronger, more perfect. Isn’t that what you’re after?"
"I have a soul with space-time attributes, all of that is meaningless to me. I have plenty of time to slowly accumulate sufficient knowledge." Garen was unfazed.
For some reason, neither of them had any intention of fighting here. They just stood there, talking to each other obediently and quietly.
Nadia laughed. "Your will is very pure, but you can’t do it just because you think you can." He(1) looked Garen up and down, and her smile deepened. "You seem to have a secret, or rather an advantage, this advantage makes you fearless, you do not sense danger in any situation at all. And you also have extreme confidence in yourself, this confidence is already bordering on ignorance."
"Ignorance?" Garen arched his eyebrows.
"That’s right, or rather you are blind to the world." Nadia’s expression was condescending, "I really want to know, what on earth could this secret of yours be?"
Garen’s heart was calm, his largest advantage was his terrifyingly powerful natural Ability, the power to turn anything in reality into attributes and skills.
Using potential points, he could constantly make himself stronger, power up his attributes, and the ability to turn things into skills saved him a lot of time, as for everything else, it was all built on these two matters at the core.
Be it his secret techniques, or the secret methods and secret skills, the core to everything was actually this Ability of his, it was his Ability that worked with his space-time body to give him constant power.
Nadia’s gaze swept over him, giving him a faint sense of a threat.
"Everyone has a secret, I am also extremely intrigued by the secret that allows you to grow exponentially stronger every time you die."
Garen’s tone did not change at all.
"Did you know?" Nadia said suddenly. "This is an ancient temple, it’s an illusory area projected by the Mother Stream in the world of dreams."
"So what?" Garen did not know what she meant by saying that.
"In here, Void Creatures can avoid being suppressed and hurt by the Mother Stream, because it’s just a projection, and also, those with space-time bodies can hunt each other’s cores…" She looked at Garen mysteriously, "As long as you get the other person’s core, you can obtain all of their memories."
"I really want to know, what is it that allows you to stay so calm, allows you to look disconcerted no matter what happens…"
Before she even finished speaking, all of a sudden, Nadia’s body turned into a white shadow, dashing at Garen.
Her large sword danced and spun, creating an extremely piercing wail, like a huge silver wheel three or four meters in diameter, sweeping towards Garen’s neck like lightning.
"Eight Directional Chain Slash!!" Nadia yelled, and eight sword flashes shot out from behind her again, the silver sword flashes surrounded the silver wheel, forming a giant silver flower that crashed towards Garen relentlessly.
The eight huge sword flashes followed the turning of the wheel, slicing towards Garen at high speeds, as though intent on cutting him into pieces.
Translator’s Note:
Not sure if it’s a typo or another gender-fluid character… Probably the former.