Night arrived early. The cold wind tore through the forest, sending chunks of snow flying about the air. The white mass covered the abandoned corpses in the forest.
Arthur finally woke up. He saw a black roof and then a burning fireplace. The little hut was filled with a weird fragrance akin to a woman’s perfume. But there was no bottle in sight, let alone a woman.
He pushed himself up with his hands, wanting to remove himself from the simple wooden bed. But before he could even accomplish that, he crashed back onto the bed. Arthur’s head felt heavy as if he just was woken up to a bad hangover. His response was delayed and his vision was blurry.
He shook his head hard in an attempt to wake himself up. Despite that, he felt even more sluggish. Although his situation was crappy, it didn’t hinder him from recalling the events that led to this. He could clearly remember that Giovanna had contacted him to begin his plan to capture Xia Lei. But before he could even reach him, Xia Lei’s men were already waiting for him in the forest. They ambushed him and everyone else except him was dead.
“That bastard had tricked us since the very beginning!” Arthur thought to himself. Intense hatred surfaced in his heart, prompting him to shake his head vehemently. It didn’t take him long to notice that his brain was now out of control. His recalled memories were beginning to fade away and a weird inexplicable incident appeared in his mind. In that, he saw Jesus on a stake and then he saw the Red Rider.
Pant! Pant! Horse pants could be heard from outside the hut.
The door to the little hut was abruptly thrown open, allowing a strong light to enter the modest lodge. Accompanying it was the sound of metal clashing and war cries. It gave off the feeling of a war zone behind the intense ray.
“Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum!” Someone spoke.
Arthur subconsciously repeated after him. “Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum!” He had wanted to raise a hand and draw a habitual cross but found no strength to do so. He no longer had control over his body, let alone something as simple as supporting his arm up.
Voices rang from within the strong light.
“Look at that! Isn’t that the Red Rider?!”
“He’s just like a blaze in the wind!”
“He is going into the sacred city of Jerusalem!”
“Who is he after? I can’t see anything!”
“His armour is gone!”
Italian chatters echoed through the hut. Their voices were laced with anxiety and thrown into chaos.
Arthur wanted to prop himself up to see what it was but he couldn’t do it. At this very moment, a ridiculously tall figure emerged from the light. He looked about two and a half meters tall and he had brandished a sword. The sword was about as tall as a man. The man donned an odd-looking robe that seemed like it was made out of bed sheets. The garment was ill-fitting and huge.
The man was so huge that he could be considered as a titan from the legends.
The huge sword-wielding giant wanted to enter the hut but gave up as the door frame was too small. He would have no choice but to destroy the door frame to get in.
Arthur’s jaw dropped at the sight of the giant standing there, he could vaguely make out a mass of red behind the said figure. He deduced that it may be a horse, but it looked more like a ball of flames. Though so, that didn’t stop him from realizing that he was the Horsemen that symbolized war and destruction. It was the snippets of Italian conversations, the huge sword and the red horse behind it that brought him to his conclusion.
To see one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was certainly a miracle for a faithful Catholic.
Arthur wanted to scramble off the bed to kneel before the Red Rider. But even if he was before the figure, he had no strength to move from where he was.
“You sinner!” The Red Rider abruptly exclaimed in Italian, his voice was surprisingly loud. “The demons have destroyed your kingdom and I have been sent to fight for you. I lost my armour and am not able to return to heaven. I’ve been stuck in the mortal realm for a thousand years, when will you return my armour?! I’m losing my patience!”
“Oh God!” praised Arthur. “I am your faithful worshipper and I am your most loyal slave. We’ve been searching for your armour everywhere. We’re just left with the last piece.”
“Where did you hide it?” The Red Rider’s voice was stern.
“Malta Island, in the Holy Palace.”
“How can I retrieve my armour?”
“With Angelo’s eyes and a key.”
“Why is my armour missing a piece?”
Arthur exclaimed emotionally. “We’ve been searching tirelessly for the pieces. Through time, we pieced it back together. The armour is near completion save for its last missing piece. It’s in the hands of a Chinese, a sinful non-believer! He killed our knights and broke our promise! Dear God, if only you could help me capture him. I’ll be able to retrieve the missing piece and return you the complete armour!”
“Do you wish to kill him?”
“Yes, I want to kill him.”
“I’ll capture him and I’ll slaughter him personally then destroy his country. Now, you must tell me, where is the Holy Palace located on Malta Island?”
“My God! It’s located in the Hill of Crosses near the sea. Our ancestors built it to safeguard your armour and store resources for the resurrection of our nation.”
The Knight Hospitallers had built a nation on Malta Island but was defeated by the Turks later on. Before their fall, the territory was truly theirs. If the organization wanted to build any secret buildings on Malta Island, it would be easy for them. That area was essentially Malta Island’s most popular tourist attraction.
“How many people have you assigned to guard my armour?”
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“Ten smaller knight teams, one hundred knights and another ten holy knights. They’re all elites of our organization. My God, they will surely kneel for you when you grace your holy presence to them. If enemies come, they’ll reduce their bodies to ashes.”
The Red Rider fell silent. He then spoke up again, “You’re truly loyal, my slave. As a reward, I shall open up your path to Heaven.”
“My God, I have yet to retrieve you the last missing piece of your armour. I can’t go to Heaven yet. Please allow me to finish my mission before I go to Heaven.”
“There’s no need to. I’ll handle this myself. Here, I’ve opened up your path to the above. Go.”
“My God, where is this path? How should I get up there?”
The Red Rider suddenly brandished a pistol, aiming it straight at Arthur’s head.
“My God, you use a pistol too?” Arthur was surprised.
Bang!
As soon he uttered his last words, a bullet was fired out from the weapon, connecting to his brain.
This was the path to heaven. It was simple.
The eye-straining light suddenly ceased.
The giant at the door shrunk. If Arthur was still alive, he would’ve seen the Red Rider he kneeled to was just Xia Lei standing on a stool. The red horse behind him was nothing of that sort, it was merely a wooden frame made in the shape of a horse that was covered with a layer of red fabric.
An act like that wouldn’t be able to trick a child, but it was proven to be effective against a delirious fanatic.
“He’s dead,” said Tsukino Kyoko as she emerged from behind a wall in the hut. Following her were Yelena, Anjum Khan, Sa’im, E’er Demutu and Alessio. They were the ones behind the Italian dialogues just now.
“I didn’t want to kill him but he must die,” said Xia Lei.
Arthur was the only one who knew that the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team had wiped out all thirty of Knight Hospitaller’s elites. His presence would be a big hindrance to Xia Lei’s plan.
“What do we do next?” questioned Yelena.
Xia Lei instructed, “Get rid of his body. I’m going over to the wooden house by the lake.”
“Boss.” E’er Demutu was concerned. “Although you did help the four ladies solve the problem, they’re still members of the Knight Hospitaller. There’s no guarantee if they’d betray you again in the name of religion. Danger might be awaiting you over there.”
Xia Lei smiled. “I’ve already thought through this. I’m not that naive to the point of believing that they’ll pledge their loyalty to me as my knights.”
“Then why are you going back there?” questioned Tsukino.
Xia Lei explained, “I must go back. There needs to be a solid explanation for Arthur’s death. I can’t have them making assumptions that this was all my doing. To some extent, you’re all dead. You can’t appear together with me for now.”
“But if you head there alone, what would you do when the mercenaries and armed forces attack you?” blurted Sa’im.
“You don’t need to worry about this. Arthur’s dead and there isn’t much left of the Knight Hospitallers. The remaining people are not a threat to me. I’m now the one paying, the hired mercenaries and armed forces will be more likely to comply with me and not the four of them.”
“What next?” Tsukino Kyoko asked again.
“I’ll retreat with the four ladies, you all remain hidden for the time being.” Xia Lei turned to look at Yelena. “From now on, you’re no longer my secretary. You must now work for me in the dark until I accomplish what I need to do.”
Yelena nodded.
“We’ll meet again in China.” As soon as Xia Lei was done uttering that, he turned to leave the hut.
The six Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members had their eyes glued to his retreating back, which soon disappeared into the snowy horizon.
“Say, what do you think the boss is up to this time?” Alessio broke the silence.
“I know you want to say that he’s trying to woo the four of them.” Yelena grinned, “People always assume he’s a pervert, but I know that’s not true. The boss had never laid a finger on those four. He was just putting on an act to maintain the collaboration with the Knight Hospitallers. He needed their power to defeat the FA organization.”
“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s stop speculating his thoughts. He’s one of the smartest men I’ve met so far. If we could guess his thoughts, he wouldn’t be a good fit as our leader. What we need to do now is simple, we just need to dispose of the body then go back to China.” E’er Demutu clapped his palms together. “Alright, chop-chop. It’s time to work. Who’s going to move the body?”
The other five turned to look at him.
E’er was stunned. “No way. Have you all discussed this before?”
Everyone ignored him.