26 Chapter 26 - Grand Commander Samo
"Alright, time to go back to the village!" said Theo after he felt that everything that was needed to be known to handle the machine has been passed on to the miners.
"Huh? Where is Sebastian?"
Only the Village Head was waiting for him. His butler was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he took a big dump?" thought Theo as his finger doing the 'L' pose on his chin and his right brows furrowed upwards.
Coughing dryly, the Village Head moved forward and told Theo that the butler had an emergency and will join them back later in the village. Thus, they move along without the butler.
...
On their way back towards the village, Theo couldn't help but to notice that, although the Village Head walked slowly with the help of his cane stick, this old man doesn't seem to be tired at all. This further solidifies his suspicion that the Village Head is no ordinary man.
He needed to know what sort of background is this Village Head hiding. As an ally of his, he needed to fully understand all of his cards before laying them on the table in the future. Gritting his teeth, he decided to ask the Village Head directly.
But as a Ruler, he needed to do it in a way that dignifies his being as someone powerful and domineering, capable of doing anything! Thus, he started his sentence in a round-about way:
"Old man, do you want to reach the peak once more?" Theo said while walking in front with his hands clasped behind his back, his head turned to look at his right, seeming to enjoy the view of the farmlands as he slowly breath in the cool fresh breeze.
Hearing this, the Village Head got startled. He seemed to vaguely understand what Theo meant, but decided to play it out first.
"Hmm..? I'm not sure what you mean Lord Theo..?" he replied with a puzzling look. However, deep inside him, a different sensation started to bubble. A sensation that is best described as 'Hope'.
Theo stopped walking and closed his eyes. He then smiled warmly and shook his head a bit. Then he opened his eyes slowly as he continued to look at the farmlands. This subtle and suave action of his rattled the hearts of Samo. In his eyes, the figure of Theo looking away at the farmlands right now had penetrate the crops at a cellular level, down to its roots to analyze their nutrients intake.
"There is no need for this play, old man Samo. You have hidden your true self well, but in my eyes, it is as clear as day." said Theo after a while.
The Village Head is silent at the moment. His mind right now was feeling conflicted, whether to remain ignorant or tell the truth. Although every parts of his body screamed to choose the latter. It was as if, should he choose to feign ignorance, then he would loose a once in a lifetime opportunity, forever!
"The truth is.. I have fallen in love with you Lord Theo.."
(Author's Note: HAHA! got you trolled! XD)
With a helpless sigh, the Village Head decided to tell the truth. After all, its not as if he was actually hiding it. Anyone who decided to head to a library and pick on the history book would soon be able to find his name as one of the seven Grand Commander of Sky Heaven's Templar!
Prime Reed, Grand Commander Samo of the Black Heaven's army!
It was arguably the most distinguished army of the Kalderan Empire back then. All of the soldiers were donned from head to toe with full-plated cold steel armor that is black in color! Wherever these soldiers marched, land seems to quake and the sky to rumble! Enemies would sound the full-scale retreat at the mere sight of this army.
In its final record, it was stated that, the commander of the army was given a royal decree by the Emperor himself to lead ten thousand soldiers to march head first into a stronghold that was captured by the neighbouring warring empires. A hundred and twenty-thousand enemy soldiers, of which over half of them was massacred in cold blood within mere three days of their occupation!
It brought enough time for the empire to send reinforcements to recapture the stronghold. In the end, only about forty thousand remained of the enemy, by which they retreated and went home in a crushing defeat!
However, the won battle comes at a great price. Of over ten thousand soldiers that went to the battlefield, only five percent survived the brutal onslaught!
Due to the valiant deeds done by the Black Heaven's army, the burial ceremony of the fallen was given the highest form of honor by the Emperor himself, their families were compensated with golds, and the survivors, were given the title 'Heroes'.
The event was so profound that it became the talk of the whole domains and states under various empires for months. Historians dubbed it as:
The Three Days of Heaven's Ruin!
...
As Theo heard these stories from the mouth of the Village Head, his smile seemed to be unchanging. His gaze remained profound and deep. His overall figure is as calm as the water in the lake pond of the winter. Devoid from any single ripple.
In reality, he was anything but the word calm. His heart was palpitating to its extreme! He himself was just someone who bullsh*tted stories about massacres and killings to act domineering as part of his Ruler's background, which is all f*cking made up. But this old fella in front of him, is the real deal! His very being and soul had already been baptized by the blood of his enemies!
Coming from the modern world, even the act of killing someone due to self-defense would get one into trouble. Thus, he had never killed anyone before no matter how deep his enmity was with certain people. It was just out of the question!
However, he himself is an act tough king! Thus, whatever the turmoil of his inner emotions does not even reflect onto his outward appearance even the tiniest bit!
He seemed to remain unfazed at all! Even if mountain Tai were to crash upon him at this instant, he would only need to breath out a little bit, and these frequent lines used in many wuxia novels would cease to even exist!
The Village Head was impressed when he saw how unchanging the expression of Theo right now. He recalled a saying before:
"The sword might have slashed down countless enemies before, but so was another sword, and another."
It meant that Theo and him belong into the same category of people. Coupled with the fact that he believed every single bullsh*t line Theo had spouted out. Thus, he felt a synergy or connection with Theo. He smiled wryly as he was expecting Theo to be shocked after he heard his stories, but it was contrary to his expectation.
"I see.. " said Theo after a while. Then continued with a commanding tone that is fitting of a Ruler:
"Then, I will be blunt. Pledge to serve under me, and I will soon bring out your peak strength and potential back for you!"
'Takk!'
The walking stick fell to the ground and rolled as the Village Head heard this. At first he thought that he must have misheard him! What form of bizarre heaven-defying magic could turn an old man back to his peak strength? It is simply impossible and goes against the natural course of time!
But thinking thoroughly, this lad infront of him is man who had performed miracles after miracles.
"Just maybe... only he can.. " thought the Village Head.
His breathing became haggard and he started to pant heavily, unable to supress the agitation he felt in his heart. He was too excited with such a probability!
"D-do you mean what you s-said? Lord Theo..?" asked the Village Head.
When Theo heard this question, his brows creased together.
"Hmph! Since the day the universe has given birth to me, I have never once lied. Don't even mention to me about reverting you to your peak status, although it would required some work on my part, it is still nothing!" harrumphed Theo, seemingly to act furious that the Village Head didn't trust him.
He thought that he needed to teach this old man a lesson by spouting some more cr*p! After all, regardless of his glorious past, he is still a 92 years old man, which is the tender age for one to become senile!
Age is scary indeed. He then continued:
"The most difficult thing I have ever done before, is resurrecting a human being from only his thigh bone that was left as a family heirloom for generations! Not a complete set of bones! You hear me?!"
"I had to pushed away the stars and forced the moon to loose its luminance and the sun to halt its warmth! I refined their essences together with the strands of time. Then, I compressed an ocean as big as 3 supergiant planets clumped together! After which they became the blood and soul!"
"Then, I slaughter a few thousand legendary primordial creatures to obtain their spinal chord, of which I refined them all to form the skeleton and bones of the person!"
"Finally, I battled the heavens itself to steal the 'Clay of Beings'. It lasted for seven days and seven nights. Deities and demons alike wailed as I toppled everything upside down! I mould the clay to form the flesh!"
Theo's face looked as serious as it can get. His hands still clasped behind his back, but clenched into a fist as if reminiscing these memories have riled his soul!
"In the end, I managed to resurrect this human being who then swore to become one of my attendants to express his gratitude! However, he was too lacking in qualities, thus I stationed him to become the eternal gardener of my residence!"
"The deity in charge of reincarnation got upset and went to me for a complain, after which I put a slap to his face two times left and right to become a permanent birthmark of his! Then, in my rage, I went to the heavens and slapped all his ancestors and his predecessors! Only then did I feel satiated. Hmph!"
By the end of his long speech, the Village Head was about to doze off completely. It was only thanks to his will of steel that was tempered from countless battles before that he managed to stay his eyelids opened!
"I see I see.. how grand my Lord! This old man does not dare to offend you! Please forgive my rudeness before!" said the Village Head immediately.
He couldn't care less of whether what Theo spoke was facts or fantasy of his own imagination. But at this moment, he had to suck it up and pretend to be interested in it.
All to reach the peak once more!
