Chapter 020: A Clever Plan
At this moment, Tasia had completed another spell. After reciting the long magical incantation, she waved her short wand, sending several huge ice blocks plummeting toward the bottom of the lake.
A deafening explosion echoed as the lake surface, which she had frozen earlier, shattered, and water splashed several meters high. Yet there was nothing—seemingly, the tentacles that had emerged from the lake were just illusions. But now, two Temple Knights were gone forever, while the bodies of two more lay by the lake, their deaths utterly gruesome.
Everyone present felt a chill run down their spines. Though they had all braced themselves for the possibility of never leaving the Divine Palace, who could have imagined that four Temple Knights would perish here?
Tasia, on the other hand, was secretly relieved. For some reason, she even felt a bit grateful toward those Temple Knights who had come to spy on her bathing. If she had foolishly gone down to bathe without discovering them first, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Hearing the commotion, Alfred arrived with several Temple Knights. Seeing the scene before him, he was stunned and couldn’t help but ask, “Miss Tasia, what… exactly happened?”
Tasia frowned and remained silent. Under the protection of the two Temple Knights in front of her, she slowly retreated to Alfred’s side before saying, “There’s probably some magical beast in this lake. Four Temple Knights have already lost their lives.”
She refused to explain why she and the other Temple Knights were there, limiting her account to a brief description of what had happened.
Alfred’s hair stood on end. He couldn’t afford to dwell on the details. He knew that a magical beast capable of killing four Temple Knights so easily was certainly no ordinary creature—it might be some ancient beast. With the Divine Palace right nearby, his worries grew even greater. He quickly ordered his men to collect the bodies of the two dead Temple Knights and retreat to the camp. This time, no one dared to jump into the lake to bathe.
Du Fan saw that everyone else had returned to the camp before carefully getting up from the ground. This time, ignoring the pain in his flesh, he quickly pulled out a magic scroll of “Swift Movement” and applied it to himself before darting back to the camp. Only upon arriving there did he realize he was completely soaked. The events from earlier were still vivid in his mind, truly chilling.
Du Fan could imagine that if he hadn’t carefully used a magic scroll to conceal his presence, he would likely already be dead.
Before long, a Temple Knight came to summon Du Fan to discuss something. Knowing full well what had happened, Du Fan didn’t dare delay and quickly followed the Temple Knight outside.
When they reached the center of the camp, dozens of Temple Knights were holding their swords and staring in the direction of the lake, while Alfred and the others stood by the campfire with furrowed brows.
Upon seeing Du Fan arrive, they nodded slightly as a greeting, then Alfred took the lead in explaining the situation.
Although Du Fan already knew what had happened, he couldn’t let anyone know that he had also been eavesdropping on Tasia. So he could only show a shocked expression and say, “Such things can actually happen? Then, my lords, what should we do now?”
Alfred sighed and remained silent.
Tasia still looked like an icy beauty.
Nicholas, on the other hand, frowned for a moment before saying calmly, “If I’m not mistaken, this creature is some kind of aquatic monster called an octopus. It’s said to exist only in the sea, but I can’t understand why it’s here.”
Du Fan asked, “So how should we deal with this monster?”
Nicholas hesitated for a while before saying, “For such a water-type monster, as long as we can get it out of the water, its power will be greatly reduced. Then it will be easier to deal with it. But the problem now is… we can’t get it out of the water.”
Du Fan nodded slowly and said, “If we can’t deal with it, then we just won’t. There’s no need to waste our strength on this monster. After all, our mission is what matters most.”
Nicholas thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, “Otherwise, everything that’s happened since we entered this valley was destined. Since we’ve encountered this magical beast now, it must be related to the Divine Palace. Perhaps this is even a test from the Supreme God.”
Du Fan inwardly despised Nicholas greatly. Although he believed in the existence of gods in this world, he never thought that gods would watch over everyone. There were countless humans in the world—how much time would it take for a god to watch over each one? As for so-called divine tests, Du Fan basically didn’t believe in them either. In his memory, many of the so-called tests in the imperial capital seemed to be just elaborate schemes orchestrated by the Holy Church.
Seeing that Du Fan was silent, Nicholas continued, “Let’s plan to take action. I’ll fight too, aiming to deal with that beast as soon as possible, so we don’t waste time. We still need to enter the Divine Palace early tomorrow morning.”
Seeing Nicholas’s determined expression, Du Fan suddenly sighed and said, “Lord Nicholas, I think there’s no rush.”
Nicholas responded with an “Oh” and looked at Du Fan.
Du Fan spread his hands and said, “The fate inside the Divine Palace is unpredictable. We don’t know how many enemies are following us. If we go all out to fight this magical beast here, even if we win, we might lose access to whatever’s inside the palace.”
Nicholas nodded slightly. After a moment, he asked, “So what do you plan to do?”
Du Fan replied, “Didn’t I say before? We could assign people to deal with our enemies behind us. But it seems unnecessary now. With a little guidance, we can easily trap them in a situation from which they can’t escape. By then, after they’ve dealt with that beast, we can suddenly appear and take advantage of the situation—wouldn’t that be better?”
The remaining three exchanged glances, momentarily speechless. Though the plan was brilliant, it was too cunning and ruthless—something a follower of the Light God wouldn’t do.
Seeing their expressions, Du Fan cursed them in his heart for being hypocritical and shameless before continuing, “If you all think this plan isn’t suitable, then you don’t need to get involved. As long as you give me one Temple Knight, I can handle this alone. That way, even if I fail to complete the task, it won’t affect our strength at all. What do you all think?”
Nicholas and the others hesitated for a moment before finally nodding and saying, “So, what do you plan to do?”
Du Fan smiled faintly and replied, “You don’t need to worry about what I’ll do. All you lords need to do is find a safe place to watch a good show.”
Alfred and the others exchanged glances. Though they didn’t really believe Du Fan could accomplish much with just one Temple Knight, they realized that even if his plan failed, it wouldn’t have much impact on the overall situation. So, they nodded and agreed.
Alfred glanced at Du Fan and asked, “Lord Du Fan, then which Temple Knight do you want?”
Du Fan smiled gently, stroked his hand for a while, before whispering, “Ferei.”
The next morning, Du Fan sat at the entrance of the valley. He was seated on a sofa created by Tasia’s magic. Although such a large sofa in this valley entrance seemed a bit out of place, it was Du Fan’s request.
In front of him was also an antique dining table, with a set of luxurious tea sets on it. At that moment, Du Fan was slowly brewing some southern black tea contributed by one of the Temple Knights. Whenever the boiling water cooled down, he would flick his fingers, sending out a few small fireballs to heat the water again.
After taking a few sips of the black tea, Du Fan slowly stood up. After brewing a cup of tea for the empty cup across from him, he frowned and said loudly, “Since our distinguished guests have arrived, why hide? Are you afraid that I, Du Fan, have prepared some traps for you?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a faint sigh came from afar. Aldas, whose figure emitted a silver glow, slowly appeared in Du Fan’s line of sight. He seemed to be moving very slowly, but in less than a moment, he was already across from Du Fan.
Aldas sat down without hesitation, took a sip of the black tea in front of him, and said, “Good tea!”
Du Fan smiled faintly and replied, “Of course it’s good tea. After traveling through ice and snow for over ten days, suddenly having a cup of hot tea—how does that feel? Lord Aldas, are you excited or thrilled?”
Aldas shook his head slightly but didn’t answer that question. Instead, he asked, “Lord Du Fan, if I’m not mistaken, your strength should be at level three. But after I deliberately concealed my whereabouts, how did you manage to find me?”
Book 5: Convergence of Fortunes