Cthulhu Gonfalon

Sui Xiong looked peacefully at Roger’s body. After Roger died, his soul fell into the underworld was sent to hell to be punished. Seeing this, Sui Xiong shook his head. He turned around and looked at the legendary wizard Green.

“Now it’s your turn!” Green’s face was gaunt and full of gloom. He had been silent ever Sui Xiong captured and defeated him. When he saw Roger, his most brilliant disciple dying in front of him, he kept his composure. But now, under threat, he said, “do you really want to fight against the Commonwealth of Mifata?”

“Oh?” Sui Xiong replied, without betraying his attitude.

Bleakly, Green replied, “As far as I am concerned, you are just a demi-God whose magical energy all comes from nature. Which means that it would take a long time for you to grow stronger. There is a chance that you may only gain a bit more power, even after a thousand years. The president of our federation is also a demi-God, and would become a real God in less time than that. The God of Mystery, or the God of Intelligence and Magic, has promised me that the president would be granted the Wizard priesthood as soon as he was apotheosized. Since you have already started a feud with the Commonwealth of Mifata, you are bound to be killed by the future God of Wizards!”

Sui Xiong didn’t reply. Instead, he began to draw a complicated magic design with his tentacles.

“We have many research materials about natural energy. Being the senator of this federation, I can get you these materials,” Green said. “There are two paths you can choose. Being killed by the future God of Wizard, or cooperating with me. The decision should be clear.”

Sui Xiong nodded. “Do you have more to say?”

“Seriously?! You won’t even think about what I just told you?”

“Haven’t you realized that you’ve neglected something?” Sui Xiong said. “In fact, I don’t want to get myself into trouble. Think carefully. Have you neglected anything important?”

Hearing this, Green became nervous and began to go over what Sui Xiong was referring to. He started repeating to Sui Xiong the benefits of him cooperating, trying harder and harder to persuade him. Sui Xiong’s face fell as Green spoke.

At last, he could take no more and shouted, “Enough!” Sui Xiong wrapped Green in his tentacles, then flew them to the outside of town. “I should never have believed you could possibly reform yourself!”

Sui Xiong waved his tentacles, releasing the energy of the spell he just charged. The energy turned into a blue halo that covered Green Tree Town. Soon the halo disappeared. In the blink of an eye, it was as if it never existed.

“What on earth do you want? Just spit it out!” Green was getting more and more nervous and shouted, “If you want a good deal with me, you should at least show me what you’ve really got!”

“Shut up!” Sui Xiong yelled. He waved his tentacles and transformed many tree leaves into a ball, and stuffed that ball into Green’s mouth.

Soon, they came to an open space outside town. Sui Xiong looked around and nodded happily. This open space wasn’t narrow. It wasn’t an important intersection either, which was a perfect place for him to do what he had planned to do.

“Don’t say I haven’t given you any chances to change your ways!” Sui Xiong said to Green. “I gave you one, but you failed to catch it.”

Green had been tightly wrapped up in Sui Xiong’s tentacles. He tried to get out, but couldn’t, and since his mouth was blocked, he could not speak. He was breathing heavily and his face turned red from the effort. Regardless, he could do nothing to get himself out of this situation, since his ability to practice magic had been sealed by Sui Xiong’s power.

“You are a selfish person who thinks of nobody but yourself.” Sui Xiong sighed, continuing to criticize Green. “You never cared about those innocent people who were hurt by your evil students and sons, and it is all because of your bad education that they have become thugs. I think you really never cared about those people, you never gave a sh*t about them.

“Just now, when Roger and Kahn were sneak attacking us, you must have known that already; or at least, you must have known that Kahn planned to sneak attack us. Meanwhile, you did nothing to stop them. Maybe you are right. They went looking for trouble themselves, so you think there is no need for you to help them. Besides, when I punished and killed them both, you didn’t respond.

“I know you can’t talk anymore, and I am not going to have you speak. Your selfishness and shabby tricks really disgust me!”

Sui Xiong threw Green onto the ground, jumped into the sky, turned into a puddle of water that sank into the earth, and changed a great amount of ground nearby into a muddy swamp. Then, the swamp began to slowly rise. It gradually formed a small hill that was just like an upright palm. The hill then fell to the ground and covered Green.

Seeing a small hill falling down to him, Green was so terrified that he immediately closed his eyes. He was not crushed into pieces. Instead, he saw he was kept in sheer darkness. Many small lights gradually appeared and many complicated magic arrays formed one by one. Then he found he was standing in the middle of the magic array. The space was big enough for him to stand up and walk around in a few steps. That was all. Obviously, he was underground.

When the small hill fell to the ground, it blended with the earth before it really solidified, becoming a huge hard stone.

Inside the small hill, there was a tiny room where numerous magic arrays existed. This hill blocked all the connections with the outside, so Green could not ask for help. The magic arrays inside the hill could also sustain Green’s life. If he felt lonely, well, this magic array would project a scene of the Green Tree Town for him to see. Moreover, whenever there was a wizard doing a bad thing in the town, Green would feel the same pain and suffer with the victim.

It was basically impossible for others to get him out of this small hill. The hill was especially enhanced by Sui Xiong, and was hard as steel or iron. If one ever wanted to use a weapon—for example, an ax—to hit the hill, they would only see a spark. No mark would be left on the surface. If someone tried to save him by a spell or a powerful magic sword, the hill would only absorb the energy and enhance the magic array.

Even so, since nothing in the world is absolute, there was a chance that there would eventually be a powerful man who could destroy the hill. But even if he managed to do so, he still could not save Green. When the hill collapsed, the magic array would explode, so both Green and the person who intended to save him would die on the spot. Besides, Sui Xiong left a message for Green explaining how this magic array worked, and warning him of the danger he might meet.

“You need to know that it is neither my power nor this hill, but your own evil thought that has imprisoned you. In fact, when you can thoroughly rectify your errors, realize the mistake you have made and abandon the depraved way of life and return to the path of virtue, the hill will collapse.

“Don’t count on me to save you. I myself cannot control the magic array. The only one who can save you is yourself.”

Green sat on the ground and began to ponder carefully while watching the scene projected by the magic array.

Why on earth did he imprison me here?

He wanted me to abandon the depraved way, but what is this so-called ‘depraved way’?

What on earth have I done wrong?

Meanwhile, Sui Xiong had already left the Green Tree Town and moved toward to the south.

“I never thought Your Majesty would let that legendary wizard go,” Ray said. “I thought you would kill him.”

“Do I look like a vicious person?” Sui Xiong replied.

“It is not about whether you look like a vicious person or not…” Ray thought for a moment, then said, “I think you are someone who would take up the cudgels for the injured party, and you would definitely kill a bad guy who has done a terrible thing.”

“You are right…”

“Could it be possible that you have been deceived by that old man?” Steele, who had become a red pig with a pair of wings, took out a wooden plate and wrote, He must be lying! on the plate.

“Yes, he must be lying!” Ray nodded. He almost drove Sui Xiong off his head. “There is not a single God who would get involved in a fight with others for the sake of a mortal!”

“I am such a God!” Sui Xiong said.

“Ha, ha… you are indeed.”

Sui Xiong laughed and then slowly explained to them. “Haven’t you noticed that the Green Tree Town has been developing well?”

“Yes, that’s true.” Ray thought for a while and nodded. “But I don’t think it has anything to do with Green. Rather, it has a lot to do with the chatelain and those government officials.”

“It has a lot to do with the chatelain and the government officials? How about the common people… As for who has made this town as bustling as it is now, this is a rather complicated topic, I will further elaborate on it in the future when I have the chance.” Sui Xiong laughed. “I mean, the protection that Green has been providing is a necessity for the development of this town, although he has made a huge mistake, his contribution is still great.”

“That’s why you haven’t killed him?”

“Yes. I hope he can correct his errors and become a decent legendary wizard,” Sui Xiong said. “He is really talented, and if he can become decent and teach his students and sons to do something that is good for the whole society and the people, this town will be more prosperous and more people would benefit.”

“What if he continues to behave like he was before?” Ray asked.

“He will correct his errors.” Sui Xiong laughed. “As a legendary wizard, he has enough time to repent his sins.”

Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, was a figure featured in a body of legends, which could be traced back to the period of the Song dynasty. He always acted in collusion with other evil creatures. Whenever he was annoyed, he would go to heaven and cause turmoil. He had warred with God several times, and those wars had made many people suffer. But even he, an evil figure who would most probably be depicted as a devil in a knight’s novel, could correct his errors after being imprisoned in the Wuzhi Mountain for almost five centuries. In this light, Green would definitely change too.

A legendary wizard could live for a very long time. Green was just 600 years old; after being imprisoned in this hill for another 500 years, he would just be over a thousand. Even then, he could still live for a long time. If he still behaved as he did before, then he would die on that hill!

The two were talking, laughing while walking casually toward to the south.