Rise of the Legendary Emperor

Chapter 248: The calm before the storm

"Please, young master, save Miss Dante from House Morisse (cough)"

The old man coughed up more and his face started to turn paler. The stab wound on his body was worse than Knight thought as it pierced the old man's vital blood arteries.

"Uncle Fin!"

The old man overcame the pain and took Lia's hand

"Young master, I know its too much to ask, but please"

Knight sighed inwards and felt pity for the old man as he reached out and took her hands.

"She will be safe with me, old man, you can rest in peace" 

When the old man heard Knight's words, he let out a gentle smile as tears rolled out of his eyes looking at Lia.

"Don't cry Miss Dante, you need to be strong. I'm sorry that this old man failed to protect you but my soul will always be with you"

"UNCLE FIN! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

The old man however, slowly closed his eyes before taking a final glance at Knight. His last look was a plea to help her and protect her while Knight slightly nodded and sent the old man from this world with a peaceful mind.

"WAKE UP! UNCLE FIN!"

Lia violently shook the old man's body trying to bring him back from the dead.

"He's gone, Lia"

With a flick of his hand, he made a six feet hole under a large tree.

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"Can we go now?"

Lia was crying for half an hour at the old man's grave and Knight couldn't wait any longer. After hearing his voice, she finally wiped off her tears and stood up to leave the grave.

Since he had to take her with him, he took a large metal plank under his feet.

"Step on this and hold me tight"

She was grieving so there was no blushing or any kind of typical young girl expression on her face but she just did as she was told. 

"Grab me tight"

He said and grabbed her hands and wrapped them around his waist because he would be flying very fast.

"ah!"

She squealed when Knight took off from the ground at high speed and tightly grabbed on to him while flying.

After flying for a few minutes, he saw a small waterfall on the ground and started to slow down and descend.

"We need to change the way you look, do you have spare clothes in your space ring?"

"Yes"

She meekly said as they landed on the ground in front of a small beautiful waterfall in the middle of a forest.

"Take a quick bath and put on new clothes"

But she didn't move as she blankly stared at him. Knight rolled his eyes

"I won't look, now go before I throw you in the water"

He said and turned around to give the girl some privacy because even if she was grieving, she couldn't take a bath and change while a young man like him was watching.

Even though he wasn't watching her, he still kept scanning the area around them just to be sure. And after a few minutes, he heard the few steps of the girl behind him and turned around to see a beautiful brown haired girl staring at him with her blue eyes.

She was neither too tall nor too short but had the perfect height and gorgeous curves. Her beauty was on par with Amaryll, the prettiest girl in Everlight. The black long skirt and the white top perfectly complemented her figure and her fair skin.

It took a few seconds for Knight to process her beauty and the moment he did, he flicked his wrist as a black veil and a short dagger appeared on his hand.

"Here, wear this and cut your hair shooter with this"

"Yes, young master"

She looked at him like a scared cat and he hated the way she was addressing him but until he reached Everlight, he couldn't reveal his identity.

Taking the dagger from him, Lia quickly cut her long hair and shortened it to shoulder length and then, she took the veil and covered her face.

"Alright, hop in, next stop the lake town"

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Eventually, after flying for a couple of hours, both of them reached Lake town. The town mostly was constructed using wood and it was located in the middle of a large lake, hence the name. The lake itself was surrounded by tall icy mountains and green forests which made the town hard to attack from outside.

"Do you know this place?"

Knight slowed his flying speed when he saw the town and asked Lia who was pretty silent during the entire trip.

"Yes, young master, we supply...supplied ships to the town"

"Hope no one will recognize you"

He slowly started to descend while many people flew down to the town along with them.

"Did you hear? House of Morisse attacked and destroyed the House Dante"

"Yeah, I've heard, I never thought their enmity would result in the destruction of House Dante"

"It's all because of Lord Korneli and Lady Maiko, the moment they reached the Heavenly level, they ordered the attack on House Dante and I even heard they personally killed Lord Marcel and his wife"

"I wonder what happened to young miss Lia, she was one of the best shipbuilders of House Dante and a divine beauty of Riester"

Various conversations about the destruction of Lia's family were going on around Knight when he landed. He noticed the tears running on her face hearing all the people talk about her family and felt pity for the young girl.

At least she was not enslaved and chased for long like Arrora and if she served Everlight well, he would think about wiping the House Morrise from the face of this continent as a gift for her.

"Do you know anything about the old tomb and the skull island?"

He asked Lia to change her focus from all those conversations about her family's destruction.

"Yes, young master, what do you want to know?"

"How do I go to the skull island? The map I have says the island is only accessible by boats or ships"

"Are you going into the old tome, young master?"

Her voice abruptly broke as she was afraid to be alone thinking about the House of Morisse.

"Yes, I have something I need in there but don't worry I'll make sure you stay safe before I go to the tomb"

Unexpectedly his hand was grabbed by Lia when he said this as he stopped walking.

"Please...don't...leave me alone"

Her body was shivering and tears started to roll out of her eyes again.

"But"

"Please young master...I don't want to be alone...I'm scared...please don't leave me"

She tightly held onto his hands as she begged him. She seemed like if it wasn't for the large crowd on the streets, she would have knelt down.

Normally he would have outright refused her to tag along but now it was different. In this place, he didn't know anyone or a place to keep her safe, and considering this was the House Morisse's territory, they could have ears and eyes all over the place. So he knew that leaving her alone is not a good idea, besides she looked too sad and miserable.

 "Okay I won't, but we need to find a place to stay, do you know any?"

"Yes, yes, thank you"

Finally, a small smile appeared on her face as she pointed her finger at a building a few meters away from him.

"Let's go"

She didn't let go of his hands after he assured her as she tightly held his hand and walked beside him to the Inn.

"Welcome to the Ruby Bay, young master, young lady"

The two servants wearing red robes welcomed them and opened the door as the two of them walked into the Inn.

The Inn wasn't as fancy as the Hotel or the tea house they built back home. But the place seemed okay enough to bring a girl as there were many people who looked like nobles occupied the place.

"Can I have two rooms for me and my friend here?"

Knight walked to the girl behind a counter and asked her.

"I'm sorry young master because the old tomb in the skull island is going to be opened in two days from now, all the rooms have been booked,"

As she was talking, another girl came to her and whispered something into her ear.

"Young Master, it seemed one of our guests canceled their booking"

"One room huh?"

Knight asked and looked at Lia as the receptionist girl nodded.

"Alright, we'll take it"

"Wonderful, that'd be 20 gold coins per night, young master, breakfast, lunch, dinner included"

He nodded and took forty gold coins from his space ring and placed it on the table while the girl handed over him the key to his room.

"Thank you"

He took the key and followed the strip of light beaming out of the key. The room was not as bad as the rooms he used to stay in the divine continent. It had a large bed with clean bedsheets and less stained walls but he was not in the mood to reminisce about the room.

"Sit"

The moment he closed the door, he pointed at the bed and placed his hand on his ear.

"Catalie, are you there?"

He waited for a few seconds but there was no response from the other side as he sighed.

"Nicolas, can you hear me?"

Lia was confused looking at him talking to the wind 

"General Knight"

"Nicolas, can you lock onto my location and teleport someone back to Everlight?"

"Sorry General Knight, it was already too hard for the array to teleport you to the Elvelon Continent. We need more time before using the teleporter again "

"How much time?"

"A week"

"Shit"

"General Knight, is everything alright there?"

Nicolas panicked hearing Knight's curse 

"Yes, how are things back there? Where is Catalie?"

Before he came to the Elvelon continent, the little girl was unconscious in shock and he wondered whether she woke up or not.

"She's...still unconscious General Knight, we are all hoping that you would do a miracle"

Nicolas didn't give a solid answer to Knight's question. Back in Everlight, Amaryll was still crying, and all the cooking was now done by her two assistant goblins. And until now, Arrora had not moved an inch away from Don's body. Simply, the joyous castle was now turned into a silent grieving place where no one could smile or feel happy.

 "I will bring him back, don't worry about it"

As he said, Knight cut the communication and looked at Lia who was staring at him bewildered.

"Looks like you have to come with me to the tomb, Lia"