Chapter 505: Gift of Liberation

 Samwell walked in darkness.

Several candles burned along the wall, emitting a faint light, but here, the light seemed to be restricted in some way and could not illuminate a large area. It was blurry, as if separated by an invisible glass shield.

It’s also very quiet here.

 Only the sound of footsteps scraping against boots and stones was heard.

 A wooden door opened quietly, and Samwell walked in.

 But the faceless man who welcomed him in stopped at the door.

 Samwell ignored him and continued to move forward.

 There were some more sounds in the darkness, like someone murmuring and crying softly.

Going through another wooden door, Samwell heard the sound of running water.

At this time, he had arrived at an empty circular hall.

Countless statues stand along the wall, red candles swaying at their feet, like distant and dim stars in the night sky.

The one closest to Samwell is a three-meter-tall marble female statue. Realistic tears flowed from her eyes and poured into the stone bowl held in her arms.

Further forward is a lion-headed man sitting on a throne, with a blank face made of bronze and steel, a pale baby holding a giant sword, a shaggy black goat, a hooded man leaning on a stick...many more. There are many shadows looming in the darkness.

Samwell knew that these were statues of gods from all over the world. He also found statues of the Seven Gods here, but only the Stranger, which symbolized death.

 In the center of the circular hall, he found the source of the previous sound of running water. It was a huge pool, as black as ink under the dim candlelight.

 Sitting by the pool was a man wearing a black and white cloak. Under the hood was an extremely kind face.

 After seeing Samwell, he stood up, smiled gently, and said:

 “All men are mortal.”

 Samwell did not answer and looked at the other person next to him.

That man is clearly none other than the son of the Sea King, Bruce Antalion.

 Bruce also saw Samwell and immediately exclaimed:

"Why is he here? Didn't you promise me to kill him! Quick! Kill him quickly!"

 “Death has a price,” said the kind man.

 “Didn’t I already give you the dragon eggs?” Bruce shouted.

“It’s not enough,” said the kind man. “The one you want to kill is the King of the Seven Kingdoms, the most powerful man in the world. One dragon egg alone is not enough to buy his life.”

 Bruce was suddenly extremely frightened and angry:

"The most valuable thing to me is the dragon egg, and there is nothing else!"

"No." The kind man shook his head slowly, "You still have the most precious thing, which can be used as a sacrifice to please the God of Many Faces."

"What?"

 “Your life.”

Hearing this, the hope that had just appeared on Bruce's face suddenly froze.

Samwell watched the scene in front of him with great interest and did not stop him. Instead, he persuaded him:

"Bruce, you heard me, the God of Many Faces needs your life as a price. If I were you, instead of waiting to be killed, I would sacrifice myself and take a gamble to see if I can drag my enemies to hell."

Bruce looked at Samwell, who had a sarcastic and teasing look on his face, and then at the faceless man next to him, who had a kind face. Thousands of thoughts went through his mind in an instant.

 But in the end he did not dare to make a decision. He only heard him yell unwillingly:

 “Kill Caesar for me! I will give you all of Braavos!”

"You can't give us Braavos." The kind man still shook his head, "It does not belong to you. And the God of Many Faces does not need Braavos. The only thing you can please the gods is your own death."

"Yes." Samwell drew the giant sword from his back and slowly approached, "Make a decision quickly, Bruce."

Bruce looked at the giant sword burning with golden flames in Caesar's hand, and the dazzling light made his heart twitch.

 The terrifying coercion filled the air and hung over his head like a mountain, leaving Bruce with nothing but endless despair.

 He knew he had no choice.

 "Okay!" Bruce hissed, "I'll give you my life! You help me kill Caesar!"

Hearing this, the kind man smiled gently again. He took out a stone cup from his pocket, bent down and scooped out a cup of water from the pool of water as black as ink. He handed it to Bruce and motioned for him to drink it.

Bruce took the cup, his hands couldn't stop shaking, but he still didn't dare to put it into his mouth.

"Death is not a bad thing." said the kind man. "It is a gift from God to end our desires and at the same time end our pain. Whether we are lowly slaves or noble kings in life, we can all be in death. Find the true meaning of life.

 Drink, child, and taste the sweetness of death.

 Accept God’s gift. "

 In the soothing and intoxicating voice of persuasion by the kind man, the struggle on Bruce's face gradually faded away.

 Finally, he slowly picked up the stone cup and drank it in one gulp.

　　咚咚—

The stone cup fell to the marble floor. Bruce took one last look at Samwell and showed a strange smile:

 “Caesar, I’m waiting for you at the gates of hell!”

　　Samwell looked at the other party quietly and did not respond.

　It wasn’t until Bruce fell limply to the ground and completely lost his voice that he looked at the kind-faced Faceless Man again.

 But at this time, the other party's face had completely changed.

　　No, this time he didn’t even have a face.

Under the hood, there was only a yellowed skull, with a little bit of skin stuck between the cheeks, and a white worm twisting out of the empty eye socket.

"On the day everyone is born, the God of Many Faces will send a black angel to accompany us for life." The Faceless Man said, "When our sins become too serious, when our suffering becomes unbearable, This dark angel will take our hand and lead us to the land of night.

 The stars there will always shine brightly, and there will never be suffering or torture..."

 Samwell interrupted: "There's nothing there."

The white worms in the faceless man’s eye sockets twisted and seemed to be smiling:

 “Man, do you still remember your black angel?”

"If I really had such a black angel, I would have chopped it down long ago."

 “You can’t kill the Dark Angel. You can’t escape death.”

Samwell curled his lips and asked:

 “What about you?”

"Of course we can't either." The Faceless Man admitted frankly, "The God of Many Faces is fair. He grants everyone relief from death, and of course he will not ignore his servants."

 Samwell twisted the giant sword in his hand and said:

“Well, today I will grant you liberation on behalf of the God of Many Faces.”

"We will welcome its arrival with infinite joy." The Faceless Men said sincerely, as if they really expected Samwell to kill them.

"Okay! Then I will help you!" Samwell snorted coldly, then raised his sword and moved forward.

His steps were neither hasty nor slow, and his heart was full of vigilance, because the faceless man in front of him gave him a very strange feeling.

It can be said that among all the opponents he has ever encountered, the one who felt the strongest threat was the faceless man with the yellowish skull in front of him.

Even though his strength has now risen to an extremely terrifying level, even the power of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, cannot stop him at all.

 But this faceless one…

 But Samwell felt the breath of death.

Like darkness, it filled all around him, with no way to escape, no way to hide, and no way to start.

 【Dawn】No matter how sharp it is, can it cut through the darkness?

 Samwell felt confused for the first time, but soon he regained his confidence.

 Even if the opponent is as lingering as death and as eternal as darkness, he will still strike out with a sword!

Holding [Dawn] in hand, his mission is to tear this long night into pieces!

 Samwell stepped forward, the golden halo in his eyes burning like fire.

Threads of golden light emerged out of thin air from the surrounding darkness, and merged into the giant sword [Dawn] like a river flowing into the sea.

 The golden flame ignited, shining as brightly as the sun in an instant.

 A powerful and sacred aura spread rapidly, filling the entire hall in an instant.

　　哧!

Samwell swung his sword, and the golden halo was like a ring of ripples, dispersing to all the spaces in the hall at an extremely fast speed.

 Wherever he goes, everything is divided into two parts.

Even the darkness was torn apart at this moment.

At the same time, the cloak of the Faceless One was torn apart. The black and white cloak was reduced to ashes in the golden flames.

 But the yellow skeleton under the cloak disappeared, as if blending into the darkness.

 Samwell narrowed his eyes.

  He raised his head again and saw that there were a thousand faces looking down at him in the darkness.

They were hung on the wall, front, back, left, right, up and down. No matter where he looked...he could see faces.

He saw old faces and young faces, pale faces and dark faces, smooth faces and rough faces, freckled faces and scarred faces, men's faces and women's faces, boy's faces and girl's faces, even baby face.

 Some of them are handsome and some are plain, some are smiling and some are sad, some show greed, anger or desire, some are bald and some are full of hair.

 “You’re just pretending to be a ghost!” Samwell snorted coldly.

 Poof!

 In the darkness, Samwell jumped up with a golden sword in hand, pierced the chest of a faceless man, and then lifted it up.

 

Blood suddenly gushes out, and the entire faceless man's head and chest are broken open, and the mangled body slowly falls to the ground.

 Samwell kept walking.

A golden light flashed, and another faceless man suddenly froze, and then a blood streak appeared on his neck. His head rolled with a roar on the marble floor, leaving a **** trail.

　　哧! Chi! Chi!

 Samwell walked back and forth in the hall, and no one he met could resist the power of his sword.

Soon, the marble floor was covered with corpses one after another.

 Densely packed and creepy to look at.

 What’s even more strange is that the faceless men don’t seem to feel any fear when facing a **** of death like Samwell.

Perhaps, as they themselves said, death is relief and a gift.

Hundreds of faceless men, like moths to a flame, kept rushing towards Samwell to meet their death.

Such a strange and horrifying scene made Samwell feel a sense of fear from the bottom of his heart.

　　Do followers of the Thousand-Faced God really have no fear of death?

Even... longing for death?

Of course, the giant sword in his hand did not stop, and was still waving, harvesting the lives of one faceless person after another.

 Corpse piled up in mountains in the hall, and the rich smell of blood was almost suffocating.

 In this darkness filled with death and blood, something seemed to be sprouting and surging.

Samwell felt this power, and immediately stood up with his sword sheathed, his whole body tensed, and he watched intently.

　　Boom!

The entire Courtyard of Black and White trembled violently. It was the white dragon outside sensing the master's crisis and trying to destroy the building.

 Boom!

The huge stone hall buzzed under the impact of the giant dragon, and countless fine dust flew in the air.

The surviving faceless men in the temple no longer launched attacks. They stood in front of the corpses of their companions, with peaceful faces and their hands folded on their chests, as if they were praying or performing some ceremony.

 A figure slowly emerged from the crowd. Under the black and white cloak, there was a pale yellow head.

 “The cold wind of winter has begun to blow, the footsteps of the long night are approaching, and the final judgment is coming.” He intoned, “Caesar, are you ready?”

 Samwell squinted his eyes and said:

 “Who will judge?”

 “The gods, of course.”

“Gods?” Samwell sneered, “What qualifications do they have to judge all living beings?”

 “Caesar, do you remember who you are?” The Faceless Man suddenly asked a strange question.

 “Of course I am,” said Samwell.

 Boom!

 The hall shook again.

 In the darkness, there was a faint clicking sound.

Samwell seemed to be able to see cracks starting to spread on the stone pillars.

The Faceless Man didn’t seem to be worried at all that the Court of Black and White would be collapsed by the giant dragon, and still said in a calm tone:

 “No, you have forgotten who you are. Where is your dark angel?”

"What the hell, Black Angel." Samwell couldn't help but curse.

 But the next second, a darkness surged from the depths of his soul, suddenly overwhelming his consciousness.

When he regained his vision, he found that he had arrived at a castle with red tiles and white walls.

 This is Jiao Ling.

Samwell recognized the Tarly castle at a glance.

 This is where it all begins.

Hands of vision zoomed in, and he saw a fat boy with black hair clumsily sneaking into the kitchen, rummaging for food.

That's Samwell Tarly.

 His predecessor.

It was then that he realized that there seemed to be a vague shadow following Samwell Tarly.

 The black angel spoken of by the Faceless One?

But the next second, the shadow seemed to have encountered something extremely terrifying, and turned into black smoke and dissipated in the wind.

At the same time, the fat boy who was stealing food in the kitchen fell to the ground and seemed to have fainted.

"Who are you?"

 Samwell turned his head and saw the faceless man with a yellow skull appearing beside him at some point.

 The empty eyes were staring at him, and his eyes were full of scrutiny.

Samwell suddenly felt a sense of fear, as if his greatest secret was being exposed to others without reservation.

This feeling made him extremely panicked.

 But soon, he regained his composure.

  Restored the domineering power that the monarchs of the Seven Kingdoms should have.

 “I am Caesar!” he declared.

At the same time, he stretched out his right hand, pulled out the giant sword [Dawn] from the void, and then stabbed it out!

　　Boom!

 The golden flames exploded and swallowed the faceless man instantly.

The vision of Jiaoling rippled and dissipated like smoke, wisps of it dissipating into the darkness.

Samwell found himself back in the Court of Black and White, with the giant sword in his hand piercing the chest of the faceless man with the yellow skull.

The other party didn't seem to care about such harm, and his empty eyes were still staring directly at Samwell, as if he wanted to see him completely from the inside out.

Unfortunately, the golden flames swept up and swallowed him completely.

 Boom!

The hall shook violently, and countless stones fell one after another.

"Roar-"

A loud dragon roar echoed in the hall, and a familiar and hot breath came from above the head.

 Samwell looked up and saw Cleopatra finally overturning the dome of the Court of Black and White. The huge dragon head poked in, and its blood-red eyes glanced at the faceless men.

He smiled at Bai Long, then turned around and saw that the faceless man in front of him had turned into a pile of ashes, leaving only a pale yellow head.

 In the empty eye sockets, the white worms twisted for a while, and eventually turned into dots of white smoke, dissipating in the air.

 (End of this chapter)