Chapter Seventeen: The Legend of Soren
2015-05-14
Author: Floating Tower
As soon as the plan for separate actions was proposed, the young paladin immediately wanted to voice an objection.
However, at that moment, the young priestess shot him a glance and said firmly, “Alright. Let’s do it this way. You two together, Deno, stick with Lanstert. I’ll be with Soren.”
The paladin opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the seasoned thief next to him.
He seemed to guess a bit of Soren’s identity; in fact, the seasoned thief had seen Soren’s curved blade several times along the way. As a fellow wanderer, he had some understanding of the legendary figures in their profession. After following Soren for a whole day yesterday, the more he looked, the more he felt that Soren was indeed the legendary Executioner, the most powerful Pirate King of the Southern Coast!
Opinions on this figure from the outside world were varied; some believed he was a tyrant, while others felt he was excessively ruthless.
But one thing was certain: anyone who angered this honorable Executioner would surely meet a disastrous end.
If the man before them was truly Soren, the mightiest Pirate King of the Southern Coast, then they better fully comply with his arrangements, because compared to this rapidly rising legendary figure, they were just a group of third-rate adventurers. The seasoned wanderer trusted his instincts and judged that there was an 80% chance this was indeed the Pirate King.
In fact,
He was not the only one who guessed this; the young priestess also suspected something.
However, she did not speak up because it was not the right time.
Soon, the group split up. Soren led the young priestess in from another side, while the others entered the town in batches. As the two moved together, their target became much smaller. The vigilance against outside adventurers was still high in this era; a party of more than five was easily noticed by those with ill intentions. The two of them entered the town effortlessly. They then arrived at a local inn, where the young priestess remained silent at the back, her expression somewhat complicated.
Yes.
Her heart was also very complicated.
Back then, she had looked down on Soren a bit, not because he was particularly detestable, but because she had taken a liking to Vivian, the little girl, and believed Soren’s petty thievery was beneath notice. In the end, she could not provide Vivian with a good life. So, she kindly proposed that Vivian become a priestess and tried to help Soren find a more respectable job.
Unfortunately, Soren refused without hesitation.
At that time, the young priestess viewed Soren’s behavior as being ungrateful.
But time proved that she was wrong.
Just look at Soren’s current strength and equipment. Every move he made displayed tremendous might, and everything told her that the inconspicuous thief of the past had changed beyond recognition.
He had not only become a powerful figure in the Legendary Domain; he might even be someone whose mere stomp could shake the Southern Coast!
Regardless of good and evil, Soren’s achievements had surpassed her imagination.
The young priestess pondered many things in her heart, and when there was no one else around, she finally mustered the courage to ask, “Soren, is the person from the Southern Coast really you? I always thought it was just a coincidence of names!…”
Soren did not answer, merely nodding gently.
The young priestess trembled all over, finally receiving an answer, but the shock in her heart was immense.
How much time had passed?
From the calamity in Amber City to now. She had started her adventuring life after her temple was destroyed, thinking her progress was already quite fast. Yet now, just shortly after becoming a full priestess, Soren had become the legendary most powerful Pirate King of the Southern Coast.
She suddenly felt the unpredictability of fate!
“Follow me.”
Soren glanced at the people near the inn, then quickly grabbed the young priestess by the hand and led her into an alley.
The young priestess was momentarily stunned when he grabbed her small white hand, but quickly reacted, saying, “Have you found those Fac? Where are they?”
“No.” Soren shook his head and said in a deep voice, “There are vampires here!”
Vampires?
The young priestess looked startled and murmured, “Vampires? Have they already spread this far?”
Soren’s senses were quite sharp.
As a top wanderer in the gray area, he had a decent understanding of dark creatures. Just a glance in the inn revealed one or two individuals with abnormal states; their skin was too pale. As residents of such a town, these people had to work hard every day. It was hard for someone who labored like them to have skin so pale. Furthermore, they appeared fairly robust, but their breathing was weak, unlike that of an ordinary person. Soren’s keen observation could tell that their chests rose and fell noticeably less than normal people, only about one-third the strength of an ordinary person’s breathing.
Breathing like that would likely leave them feeling a bit oxygen-deprived!
They were vampires.
Moreover, they should be newly transformed vampire thralls, still unaware of how to disguise themselves to appear more like ordinary people.
“Is it the Vampire Son?”
Soren’s brow furrowed, and he thought to himself, “His power has grown so quickly? He has even developed his minions to such a remote place.”
“Wait!”
“Luxury areas have powerful church organizations; these relatively remote towns are indeed where he can easily take advantage of the situation.”
In a prosperous area, the deity’s church divides the land, making it harder for the Vampire Son to infiltrate.
In contrast, these more secluded towns had weak defenses, making them easy targets for vampires to penetrate and gradually spread his faith to expand the number of the Vampire Son’s believers.
“What do we do now?” The young priestess looked at him and asked.
Soren glanced around, pulled her to continue walking, and said solemnly, “First, let’s find a place to spend the night. Vampires like to operate at night. I will track them to see what I can discover. If the Fac have also come here, they will definitely intersect with them.”
The power of the Vampire Son must be suppressed.
Recently, the news Soren collected was not very favorable for him, especially the rise of the Vampire Son, which made him feel a deep sense of threat.
“Alright.” The young priestess nodded.
…………
On the other side.
The separated group also prepared to circle around and enter Withered Leaf Town from the other side.
“What!?”
A look of suspicion appeared on the paladin’s face as he murmured, “You say he is the legendary Executioner—Soren? How could Anliya possibly know him?”
When he heard his companion reveal Soren’s true identity, even as a paladin, he couldn’t help but feel a cold sweat break out on his back.
That was the rumored most ruthless Pirate King!
Perhaps he had not engaged in cruel actions, but his style was extremely ruthless, and it was said that nearly a thousand people had perished at his hands.
The paladin was not foolish.
With so many evil acts in the world, it was difficult for them to manage, so the paladin’s code also warned against acting blindly.
If he had remained ignorant of Soren’s identity, he might have dared to fight. However, knowing who Soren was, he found no desire to battle in his heart.
Because they were simply not his match!
He even understood very well what kind of disaster would befall this adventurer party if they angered the legendary Pirate King.
“It must be him.”
The seasoned wanderer had a good attitude toward Soren, even expressing a degree of admiration, and stated, “No wonder he is considered one of the strongest wanderers in legend! To rise to the strongest Pirate King of the Southern Coast in just a few months! His strength can be said to be unfathomable; when he first fought you, he hardly exerted even a fraction of his power!”
Wanderers rarely gave birth to heroic figures.
This was mainly because wanderers had no advantages in direct combat, and their combat style was accustomed to assassinations, reconnaissance, and ambushes, so the vast majority of wanderers preferred to stay in the shadows, as it provided them a sense of security.
Soren was definitely an exception!
In recent centuries, very few wanderers had appeared in such a prominent manner, and he was akin to a wandering swordsman with a tough fighting style, much like a protagonist in the tales told by bards.
In fact,
Stories of the rise of the evil Pirate King, based on Soren, had already emerged from the mouths of bards, though mostly negative; people regarded him as one of the most fearsome Pirate Kings of this era!
Bards also would not be bored enough to depict a Pirate King as a legendary hero; the public’s understanding of him was more rooted in fear.
However, this was not the case among wanderers.
There were legendary powerhouses among wanderers as well, but many remained anonymous or were people whose appearances were rare, leaving only some legendary titles.
This also benefited their safety.
Soren was the only legendary wanderer who stood in the spotlight as a leader of a faction, and even organizations like the Shadow Thieves with a long lineage would not boldly let others know their leader like he did.
Basically,
Nearly half the world’s wanderers had heard of his name, and many held him in high esteem.
Because the notions of good and evil were already thin among wanderers; many were initially thieves, and there were even legends that this Executioner—Soren had once been an inconspicuous little thief.
The wanderers had a more positive attitude toward those who rose within the profession.
Thus, Soren’s reputation among wanderers was very high!
“Wait!”
The seasoned wanderer walking in front suddenly stopped, then quickly walked to a graveyard and said solemnly, “Look at these graves! The tombstones have been up for a long time, yet the soil has been freshly disturbed.”
Hearing his words, the others immediately became alert and hurried to the graveyard.
…………
(To be continued ~^~)
