After Kayden mastered his skills, he vanished without a trace. If it weren’t for that old man who read the stars and Godefroid, he wouldn’t have even known that his master’s name was Eldridge.
“Eldridge!” Kayden murmured the name, then asked, “Are you sure the person you met was Eldridge?”
Zack Alfredson nodded affirmatively, saying, “I’m certain. It happened five years ago, and I still remember it clearly.”
“At the time, I had heard that a peerless expert was living under Aspen Heights, a man capable of curing the world’s strangest ailments. So, I went searching for him. But when I found him, he was on the verge of death, looking like he had suffered severe injuries.”
“I didn’t hesitate and tried to save him. But he refused my help, saying his time had come. Before he passed, he left me a message, telling me that five years later, someone would come looking for me and that I should relay his words to that person.”
“It was an eerie experience, as if that old man knew exactly why I had come. But I must admit, he was truly extraordinary. Five years later, just as he predicted, someone did come to help me.”
As Zack finished speaking, his eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Kayden.
“What did he say to you?” Kayden pressed, eager to know.
He knew of Eldridge’s abilities. Predicting something five years into the future was nothing unusual for him. Passing down his skills to Kayden and transforming him into a god of the battlefield was something only a remarkable person like Eldridge could achieve.
Zack Alfredson paused to think, then said, “He said something very strange. I’ve kept it with me all this time.”
He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Kayden. On it were written these words:
“The old age ends; a new era begins. The Five Ghosts have fallen. Hellblazer rises! Guard the nation’s gates, protect the borderlands, unite the great enterprise! Unfold the future, gaze upon past and present, as the Nine Stars appear and the Sage descends!”
Hearing these words, Kayden’s heart skipped a beat.
Maverick Quinn had once given him a note that mentioned “unite the great enterprise.” Now, Zack Alfredson’s message ended with “the Sage descends.” It all seemed like a prophecy about the future.
Could these old men really be capable of predicting the future? Kayden couldn’t understand star charts, nor could he fathom the art of foretelling past and future events.
The first part of the message clearly referred to Hellblazer’s emergence, implying that they knew in advance he would make a big move.
The latter part seemed to suggest that Kayden would eventually oppose them.
As for the final line, Kayden couldn’t decipher its meaning. It seemed to reference the alignment of nine stars and the descent of a sage, a grand celestial prediction. But such mystical matters were far beyond Kayden’s understanding.
“Mr. Scott, that’s the complex message the old gentleman asked me to deliver to you. But he also left me a simpler one,” Zack Alfredson added. “He said, ‘The only person in this world who can rival Hellblazer is you.'”
Kayden’s expression darkened further upon hearing this.
It felt as though everything had been calculated by those old men, as if fate itself were under their control.
“Hellblazer? In Mr. Scott’s eyes, he’s hardly a match,” Wood Faulkner suddenly declared sharply, her eyes gleaming with confidence.
Zack Alfredson’s face shifted slightly before he chuckled. “Well… Hellblazer should not be underestimated. Though I don’t know what you two do, the fact that you saved me makes you my benefactors. If there’s ever anything I can do for Mr. Scott, you only need to ask.”
After recovering, Zack Alfredson had investigated Kayden. Upon learning that he was once the renowned Defender, he couldn’t help but hold him in the highest regard. Even though Kayden had lost his position, he still carried an aura of defiance toward heaven and earth.
Kayden didn’t respond, offering only a calm, faint nod.
“By the way, Mr. Scott, may I ask what your relationship is with that old gentleman? It seems like the two of you share a deep connection,” Zack Alfredson asked curiously.
Kayden took a deep breath and answered, “He was my master.”
Hearing this, Zack Alfredson let out a soft “Oh,” nodding slightly. “No wonder. He truly was a remarkable man.”
“By the way, Mr. Scott, my grandson is getting married the day after tomorrow. Would you be willing to attend the wedding and serve as the officiant?” Zack Alfredson asked with a hopeful smile.
Kayden’s gaze drifted to a man in the corner-a fool gnawing on a lamb leg. His face was smeared with grease, and his disheveled appearance made him look dirty. The man was a fat, unattractive fellow, even bordering on ugly.
Kayden recalled his own three years of living as a fool. He couldn’t help but wonder if this man’s situation was the same.
“Sigh! My grandson was perfectly fine before, but he became like this two years ago. A monk from a nearby temple said that only marriage could cure him. I’m hoping this wedding will bring him back to normal. And if you, Mr. Scott, could be the officiant, I believe my grandson would recover even faster.”
The fool, named Ranger, grinned foolishly at Kayden. His smile was awkward and unseemly, but Kayden could understand the family’s desperation. After all, who wouldn’t want their child to be healthy?
“We’ll see. Tomorrow, I still have to attend the Rocco family’s auction,” Kayden replied.
“We’ll join in the fun as well!” Zack Alfredson responded enthusiastically.
After several rounds of food and drink, as Kayden prepared to bid farewell to the Alfredson family, a man in his forties suddenly arrived.
“Mr. Alfredson, my apologies for being late!”
The man’s appearance was imposing, with a commanding presence and a voice brimming with masculine energy.
Once he was seated, Zack Alfredson quickly introduced him. “Mr. Scott, this is Captain Mike Johnson, commander of the Western Frontier Guard. He came to see me after hearing that you saved my life. He’s hoping you might take a look at his condition.”
“Captain Johnson, this is the doctor who treated me, Mr. Scott.”
Captain Johnson scrutinized Kayden for a moment, then asked skeptically, “Mr. Alfredson, are you sure this young man saved you? There’s no mistake? He looks so young-could he really be a doctor?”
“Watch your mouth!” Wood Faulkner immediately drew two daggers, glaring daggers at Captain Johnson. “Who are you calling a kid?”
Captain Johnson, a man who judged by appearances, found it hard to believe that someone dressed as casually as Kayden could be a doctor.
Seeing Wood Faulkner’s knives, Captain Johnson sneered, “I’m talking about him. Isn’t he just a kid?”
“You fool! When Mr. Scott’s name was known across the land, you were still a nobody!” Wood Faulkner exclaimed angrily. To her, Kayden was a figure of greatness, and being called a “kid” was an insult she couldn’t tolerate.
Kayden raised his hand to stop her. “Enough, Wood Faulkner. Put the knives away.”