Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 19, The King of Killers
Cesar stared at Linley suspiciously. “What? Can it be that the little girl of the Leon clan isn’t your fiancée?”
“Fiancée?” Linley mouthed the words.
Seeing Linley’s reaction, Cesar seemed to understand something. Laughing, he said, “Haha, how amusing, how amusing! Master Linley, I must say, that little Miss Delia of the Leon clan has spent quite a lot of trouble on your half. She’s spent a lot of time, a lot of effort, and also gold in order to buy that sculpture of yours, ‘Awakening From the Dream’.”
Linley stared questioningly at Cesar. “Mr. Cesar, can you perhaps tell me where you heard that Delia was my fiancée, and that we were going to get married?”
Cesar stroked his goatee. Delightedly, he said, “Mustn’t say, mustn’t say.”
But in his mind, Cesar thought back to the contents of the letter which Delia had her servant deliver to him. He mused to himself, “For a girl to have the courage to act in such a way shows that her feelings towards Linley are genuine. Best I not say anything, lest I end up embarrassing that little girl, Delia.”
Cesar knew that when a girl told him certain things, it would be rather morally wrong for him to spread it to others as well. He, Cesar...was a very principled man.
Linley buried his curiosity. After all, Cesar describing Delia as his fiancée was a small matter. This man in front of him was a six thousand year old freak. This was what mattered.
“Mr. Cesar, for you to be here with one of the medals of the Radiant Church, does that mean you have come to me on the business of the Radiant Church?” Linley intentionally tried to probe the reason the man had come.
Cesar sat down with a dramatic gesture, then shook his head. “The Radiant Church? Don’t lump me in with those fellows from the Radiant Church.”
“Then this medal?” Linley stared questioningly at Cesar.
Cesar casually said, “Oh. It’s from back when I killed that Cardinal. I figured this medal would eventually come in handy, so I took it from his corpse. On occasion, I’d take it out and present it. I’ve got to say, it really has come in handy over the years.”
“Killed a Cardinal, then casually swiped his medal?” Linley’s heart trembled, and he couldn’t help but feel cold.
This Cesar in front of him really was an extremely forceful person.
Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind again. “Linley, back when I was alive, Cesar had already entered the Saint-level. At that time, the Radiant Church wasn’t too powerful. After five thousand years, Cesar is definitely at an extremely terrifying level of power. The Radiant Church wouldn’t offend him just because he killed a Cardinal.”
“After all...Cesar is a Saint-level assassination specialist. A Saint-level combatant such as him is far more dangerous than your ordinary Saint-level combatant. What’s more, an assassination specialist, upon reaching the peak of the Saint-level, is even more dangerous.”
After hearing Doehring Cowart’s words, Linley began to understand.
In the past, when he was in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, he had encountered assassins as well. Linley knew very well that despite only being of the sixth rank as well, a specially trained assassin of the sixth rank could be far more dangerous than other combatants of the sixth rank.
Because assassins specialized in ‘ambush’ and in ‘one-hit kills’. When they killed someone, they acted with no scruples or honor at all.
Most Saint-level combatants, on the other hand, cared greatly about their personal honor and reputation.
A peak-stage Saint-level combatant who had no shame and who was an assassin possessed terrifying power.
“That’s the reason why the Radiant Church has never tried to recover the medal from Cesar. This is also the reason why Cesar is able to live so openly in the Holy Capital, Fenlai City.” Doehring Cowart sighed. “This Cesar is really living a rather comfortable life.”
Hearing these words from Doehring Cowart, Linley couldn’t help but feel admiration for Cesar.
“What, are you afraid?” Cesar saw that Linley had fallen silent. He couldn’t help but grin at Linley. “Relax, that was a long time ago. It has been quite a while since I’ve last killed someone.”
Quite a while? How long a period of time was that? Remembering that the man in front of him was a six thousand year old assassin, Linley wasn’t too sure.
“I’m fine. I’m just amazed by Mr. Cesar’s prowess, that you could kill a Cardinal of the Radiant Church, but still live openly here in the Holy Capital.” Linley smiled.
Cesar’s eyes lit up, and he clapped Linley on the shoulders, nodding. “Not bad, not bad. You really are a master sculptor; your mental fortitude is far stronger than most others. Despite knowing my power, you aren’t frightened in the slightest.”
“Master Linley, I’ve come to pay you a visit because I wish to ask something of you.” Cesar looked at Linley, speaking with sincerity.
Linley quickly said, “Mr. Cesar, please speak. As long as it is within my capabilities, I will definitely assist.”
But Cesar put on a stern look, saying, “Master Linley, I, Cesar, have always hated owing favors to others. Since I’m asking a favor of you, naturally I will assist you with something as well.”
Linley felt joy in his heart.
A favor of an assassin who had reached the Saint-level over five thousand years ago was priceless. In Linley’s mind, a thought quickly flashed by – Kill Clayde!
This entire time, Linley had been bitterly trying to come up with a way to deal with Clayde, or perhaps capture and interrogate him. Linley absolutely had to find out what happened to his mother. But in terms of both personal power and total forces available, Clayde was far more powerful than Linley. He had no way at all to deal with Clayde.
But now, Linley had a way.
“If I were to invite this Cesar to go kidnap Clayde, that shouldn’t be too hard.” Linley began to grow excited. This problem had already vexed him for a long time. It seemed as though he could resolve it now.
“Mr. Cesar, please tell me what you need.” Linley said seriously.
Cesar said boldly, “Fine, then I’ll just say it outright.”
Rubbing his goatee, Cesar’s attitude was that of chatting with an old friend. “I don’t have too many hobbies. Women, I like. In the past, killing was also a hobby. But after I got bored of killing, I began to take an interest in art. And naturally, I am most infatuated by stonesculpting, that highest of art forms. Master Linley...last time, I felt a great deal of regret for being unable to purchase your sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’. When I went back, I couldn’t even sleep well at night. After tossing and turning many times, I decided to come pay a visit to you in person.”
“Mr. Cesar, what are you trying to say?” Linley’s brow was furrowed.
He had already sold off the sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’. Delia had been the one to buy it.
“I was hoping to ask you, Master Linley, to help me carve a sculpture.” Cesar looked hopefully at Linley.
“Easily done.” Linley quickly agreed. Every day, he spent a few hours training himself by carving sculptures. To spend some of that time carving one for Cesar was an easy task.
“I have a few secondary requirements for this sculpture.” Cesar stood up, looking a bit embarrassed.
Embarrassed!
Right, this six thousand year old freak seemed a bit embarrassed.
“Mr. Cesar, feel free to explain.” Linley looked at Cesar with curiosity.
Cesar chortled. “Master Linley, I hope...this sculpture will be of me, and will capture my unique aura.”
“Use you as my model? Your unique aura?” Linley was startled.
Seeing the look on Linley’s face, Cesar quickly said, “What, will that be hard?”
“No. That isn’t it.” Linley shook his head, frowning. “Using you as the model is very easy. Having seen you once, it’s easy for me to remember what you look like. I can sculpt you without any problems. But it’s a bit more complicated to imbue the statue with your unique aura as well. This is because every person has a different aura at different times, such as one aura for when they are angry, another when they are happy, still another when they are sad, or wounded, or both angry and sad...”
Cesar immediately laughed. “Easy. The aura I want...is the aura I have when I am at my manliest.”
“Your manliest?” Linley looked questioningly at Cesar. “Mr. Cesar, when do you feel you are at your manliest?”
Linley was beginning to wonder if this six thousand year old freak had some mental problems.
Cesar said confidently, “I believe that I appear manliest when I am killing someone! My nickname is the ‘King of Killers’ for a reason, you know!”
Cesar, the ‘King of Killers’!
This was a very terrifying name in the Yulan continent. Neither the Four Great Empires nor the two major alliances wished to offend this individual. Even the four major assassin’s guilds, if they were forced to nominate the most outstanding person within their ranks, would without question select this person who had dominated the Yulan continent for over five thousand years. Cesar, the ‘King of Killers’.
A peak-stage Saint-level combatant, and specialized in assassination techniques! In terms of the numbers and complexity of assassination techniques he possessed, he had already reached the pinnacle of perfection in this field. Those people who had received some training from Cesar went so far as to say his assassination techniques had reached the field of artistry.
The strongest assassin. The King of Killers!
Although there were quite a few people in the Yulan continent who had become peak-stage Saint-level combatants, such as the Holy Emperor of the Radiant Church, or the Dark Patriarch of the Cult of Shadows, or that Lord Fallen Leaf of the Radiant Church. And of course, the Four Great Empires each had their own peak-stage Saint-levels.
But without question, every single one of these combatants were wary of the King of Killers, Cesar.
Because in terms of assassination, none of them could match him.
The power of the peak-stage Saint-level ‘King of Killers’ was simply too terrifying. Even the Four Great Empires and the two major alliances held fast to the principle of, ‘do not offend him if it is at all possible to avoid doing so’, much less the other major clans of the Yulan continent.
Originally, during the auction, Cardinal Lampson and Cardinal Guillermo had been prepared to bid an extremely high price so Linley would feel grateful towards them. But upon seeing Cesar make a bid, they were so scared they no longer dared to bid at all. Even that old servant of the Leon clan, Shaw, had been terrified upon seeing Cesar, the King of Killers. Afterwards, only after Delia had wrote Cesar a letter and obtained his agreement did Delia dare to make another bid.
From this, one could tell how truly formidable this ‘King of Killers’ was.
Despite him having a medal of a Cardinal for so many years, the Radiant Church had never tried to regain it, and allowed Cesar to use it to deceive others as he pleased without a peep of protest. This was their show of goodwill towards Cesar. As for that Cardinal he had killed, the only thing that could be said was that he died in vain.
“When killing someone?” Linley shook his head. “Mr. Cesar, I’ve never seen you kill anyone. How would I know what you are like when you kill someone?”
At present, Linley still knew very little regarding the names of the Saint-level combatants of the Yulan continent. Even the world famous ‘King of Killers’, Cesar, he had never heard of before.
“That’s easy. I’ll just show you right now what it looks like when I kill someone. Watch carefully.” Cesar’s attitude instantly changed.
“Wait!” Linley hurriedly shouted out in alarm. “Mr. Cesar, please don’t kill anyone in my home.”
“Who said I was going to kill someone? I’m just going to show off the way I look when I kill someone, that’s all.”
Cesar glanced at Linley rather sourly.
Linley laughed awkwardly.
In his heart, he was filled with a great deal of trepidation towards this ‘King of Killers’, Cesar. When he heard Cesar say he was going to show how he looked upon killing someone, Linley was instantly frightened and wanted to stop him.
“Watch carefully. Pretend my target is that flower vase in front of us.” Cesar said calmly.
Cesar’s previous attitude had totally changed. He became calm. In the blink of an eye, that lazy, indolent aura of Cesar’s totally disappeared, and he became someone without a hint of an aura, without a hint of power, without a hint of emotion.
Cold. Calm.
Linley didn’t see anything at all. He only felt the air tremble slightly, and then the flower vase in front of Linley suddenly started to disintegrate, one inch at a time.
Right. As clearly as can be, the flower vase had disintegrated, one inch at a time!
This sensation totally stunned Linley.
“So this is the King of Killers?” In Linley’s mind, he firmly memorized this moment. When making his move, Cesar’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. At that moment, Cesar had seemed totally emotionless, and he had coldly stared at everything in the manor. It was as though in his eyes, all life was nothing more a blade of grass.
Killing someone was nothing more than cutting a blade of grass.
But Linley also had the feeling that, when Cesar had made his move, all of his attention had been focused on that flower vase.
As though the entire universe had been reduced to the flower vase, and nothing else had existed.
That strange, bizarre feeling made Linley want to vomit blood.
“Did you see it?” Cesar once more became energetic and animated. Casually sitting down, he crossed his legs and looked up at Linley. “What do you think? Do you agree that I look the manliest at that type of moment? I’ve relied on this technique to win the hearts of quite a few young ladies, you know.”