Kingdom's Bloodline, page 219
Kaslan stared at Aida with an indifferent gaze.
"I heard that you were a senior member of the White Blade Guards." Snorting softly, Aida emphasized the word "senior". "'Ground-Shaker', right?"
"Even though you're wearing a cloak, I can see that you are an elf," Kaslan said slowly. His tone was stately and ruthless. "As an eternal being, you definitely have more experience than me."
Aida was immediately at a loss for words.
She exhaled in annoyance and whipped out her exquisite machete.
"I heard that you were the one who killed Xyra Darkstorm, the Human Slaughterer?" Aida said nonchalantly. "You're very powerful, aren't you?"
"That's the battle I'm most proud of to date." Kaslan nodded and walked closer to Aida.
"Of course, part of the honor belongs to this thing…"
The old man walked out of the corner and revealed himself completely. There was a long stick in his hand.
'No.'
Aida furrowed her brows.
'That's not a stick.'
"This was once my comrade and friend.
"Xyra Darkstorm died by it." Kaslan raised the weapon in his hand, showing its black and hideous head.
He then slowly said, "The Soul Slayer Pike."
Aida froze.
'Soul…
'Soul Slayer…'
The elf's face twitched.
The next moment, she forced a smile.
'Mother…
'F*cker.'
Aida inhaled deeply. She placed one hand on her waist and tried to appear relaxed.
"Oh, oh...
"Speaking of the Darkstorm Tribe that's been around since ancient times, in the past, it was a powerful tribe that had rights to contend for the throne." Narrowing her eyes, the elf chuckled unnaturally. As the old man approached, she got into a fighting stance without realizing it herself. "It must have been tough for you."
"You seem to be very experienced when it comes to orcs?" Kaslan said in a deep voice. His footsteps slowed down.
"The Darkstorm Tribe? Of course."
Aida waved her machete and positioned herself in such a way that she seemed nonchalant.
"The first tribe my father met when he led troops to aid the humans in battle was Darkstorm." The elf snorted softly. "When my father chopped off their heads…
"It was like chopping vegetables!" Aida rapidly waved her machete four times in the air.
"Chop, chop, chop, chop. Two heads with each swing!" she chattered nonstop.
Kaslan stopped walking. He narrowed his eyes to look at the machete-swinging elf.
He turned the pike in his hand slowly.
"Hey, I'm not lying!" the elf said loudly as she observed her opponent's posture and breathing carefully.
'Yes, I wasn't lying.
'Apart from one detail,' Aida thought.
'At that time…
'I wasn't born yet.'
…..
Lampard stood amid the ruins and furrowed his brows. He was as stern and silent as usual.
The ground in front of him was littered with dead bodies. Some belonged to the White Blade Guards and the others were of Black Sand Region's soldiers. Going back and forth, his subordinates were busy removing the dead bodies.
Covered in a gray cloak exclusive to members of the White Blade Guards, King Nuven's ice cold dead body lay beside the archduke.
Lampard lowered his head and stared at King Nuven. He placed his hand on the hilt of his worn saber with a complicated expression.
"We lost twenty-eight men," Viscount Kentvida approached Archduke Lampard from behind and said in a low voice. "Fifteen more are so gravely wounded that they need to lie down. Four sustained light injuries and are still fit for combat."
Lampard did not say anything.
"The White Blade Guards pledged their lives to launch a counter-attack. We underestimated their military power, and overestimated our own military power at the same time," Kentvida sighed and said. "The Dragon's appearance really shocked the soldiers. If we hadn't trained them and indoctrinated them over the years, I'm afraid they would have changed sides."
Archduke Lampard raised his head and averted his gaze from the king, who was also his uncle.
"More than ten White Blade Guards were enough to throw the regular border troops we take pride in into a panic." The archduke exercised his neck slowly and inhaled a mouthful of Dragon Clouds City's cold dawn air. "How did Charleton manage to break through these men's protection and assassinate King Nuven?"
Kentvida lowered his head.
"You know, they're the Charletons." The viscount nodded respectfully. "Fortunately, many of the White Blade Guards were killed, injured or lost amid the chaos brought about by the calamities."
"Forget it. At least we have confirmed our king's death." Archduke Lampard's gaze was solemn. He raised his head and looked at the tallest building in Dragon Clouds City.
"How much longer?" the archduke said flatly. His tone was stately in itself.
Kentvida bowed respectfully.
"Two hours at most," Kentvida quickly replied to the seemingly random question.
"The chief disciplinary hall and the Chief Garrison Officer will become suspicious when they don't receive the king's reply. They will then dispatch men to search for him in Shield District. Of course, Vlad's people can find ways to stall them, and the people in Dragon Wings Plaza and even Shield District can give them some trouble."
Kentvida seemed well-versed with everything. The archduke's chief advisor continued speaking.
"If there's no result after four hours, Prime Minister Lisban will sense that something isn't right. He will definitely start gathering his forces and even the regular troops just to control the chaos that may be caused by the king's disappearance. But he does not have the king's personal order. Together with the curfew issued because of the calamities, it will make gathering a large number of recruits impossible.
"However, if it takes up to six hours, I reckon that the truth will be hard to hide. The movements of our one thousand something men will also be detected. Lisban only needs to place an order, and the feudal counts outside the city who are still loyal to the Walton Family would lead troops and enter the city. It's impossible to fight head-on against them. Our soldiers are already emotionally unstable. In the blink of an eye, we would be utterly defeated due to our men's casualties, weariness and lack of morale.
"We only have less than two thousand men. Even if we manage to conquer a sturdy gatehouse, we would not be able to hold on to it for more than half a day." In the end, Kentvida concluded carefully. "We must fight a quick battle."
Archduke Lampard stood under the overcast sky and stared at the outline of Heroic Spirit Palace. His expression was still as cold as ice.
"Half a day." Lampard snorted coldly. "It's enough."
The archduke turned and flung his cape, revealing his armor. He walked with firm steps like that of a fighter in the direction of Heroic Spirit Palace.
Kentvida as well as the other subordinates led the soldiers and followed closely.
"Send a letter to the other units who are clearing up the mess according to plan. Tolja, Vlad, Kroesch; ask them to join Levan and Vick… They should almost be done preparing," the archduke ordered coldly as he walked.
"Whether it's by stealing or by brute force, we must take down the gatehouse between Axe District and Heroic Spirit Palace before eight!"
Kentvida nodded respectfully.
"Spread the rumors according to plan. This will buy us time."
Lampard strode past a soil pit and resolutely said, "By nine, or latest by ten, all of this must end!"
Kentvida nodded and gave orders to the person next to him.
A few seconds later, the military courier left.
"Another thing…" Kentvida said softly, "I just received news about the Prince of Constellation."
Archduke Lampard turned and looked at his advisor with an odd expression.
"It's them." Kentvida raised his head, revealing a strange gaze. "They sent word that they want the boy...
"Alive."
Lampard stopped walking.
He turned and looked in the direction Thales and Aida disappeared in, seemingly absorbed in his thoughts.
Chapter 192: Six-Fifty |
On an empty street at dawn, Thales raced down an alley, panting. He then came out to a wider roadway.
'Aida…'
Aida… should be fine. Despite how unreliable she seemed, she had taken down a supreme class Blood Clansman in the birch tree forest on her own.
'I can't be distracted. There's no use in thinking too much about it. It won't help...' Thales tried desperately to shrug off his worry.
He felt thirsty all of a sudden.
Thales scooped up a handful of snow out of habit; something he adopted as a child beggar during the winter. He then rubbed the ball of snow and stuffed it into his mouth.
Then the prince, whose jaw chattered in agony due to the snow, looked up at Little Rascal and asked, "Is this place West-Express Avenue?"
However, the latter remained speechless. Her head was lowered.
Thales melted the snow in his mouth and swallowed the water.
He stared at the dazed Little Rascal, feeling concerned.
The tragedy they witnessed in the palace, the havoc caused by the calamities, the assassination of the king and the blood spilled—this horrid day had terrified the poor child.
Everything that happened was too much for her…
Even he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
'How did all of this start?
'The moment Lampard sent his soldiers to escort me to Dragon Clouds City, he had planned all of this? His aim was to assassinate the king, and start a coup?
'How did he do it?
'If a legion of two thousand men were ignored because they came with him under the name of escorting him... then, when he brought the army into the city, did the vassals, nobles, citizens, soldiers, and officials not notice them?
'King Nuven appeared to be a brilliant king. The creepy old lady Calshan seemed far from harmless. How could the two of them allow such a flaw in the capital city's security?
'Unless…'
A horrifying answer arose.
'No way.'
He swallowed slowly and walked on, holding Little Rascal by the hand. He decided to think from a different perspective.
'I drew in the Mystics, didn't I?'
The fight between Giza and Asda wreaked havoc on Shield District. It demolished the entire area, and affected a significant portion of the armed forces in Dragon Clouds City.
That was why King Nuven left Heroic Spirit Palace and came to Shield District. 'So, the one who will take the blame for the king's assassination will be me?'
Thales was alarmed by his thought.
'If this was truly caused by the Mystics and me—how incredibly lucky Lampard was!'
Thales rubbed his forehead vigorously. His 'highly efficient brain', which had helped him greatly in the past was in distress.
He sighed, putting these concerns aside. He forced himself to stay focus despite the extreme fatigue and continued his journey.
This had to be West-Express Avenue. If he was not mistaken, this winding, empty street was Armor District.
Aida had mentioned that the blockade set up for the calamities lay beyond this path. He would run into people from the capital there.
Thinking of this, Thales hesitated.
She also told him that the patrol teams, or people who were dressed in patrol uniforms were suspicious. She was not certain how many of them worked for Lampard.
It was best not to trust them.
Even the ones who were loyal to Walton could easily divulge his information to Lampard.
The once-magnificent King Nuven could no longer protect them.
'Haih.'
How ironic. He was with the granddaughter of Eckstedt's king, but they ended up running for their lives in Northland's capital. They could not even find a person they could trust.
In such a critical time, it was best to seek help from a dependable individual, head back to Heroic Spirit Palace, back to Putray, and inform Walton's loyalists.
Thales stopped in his tracks.
He peered at a shop sign at the corner of the street, which was a few steps ahead. His expression changed as though something crossed his mind.
'When King Nuven can no longer protect us…'
There was a tiny, black dagger was printed on a shop sign before him, and below it was a tightly-shut, giant wooden window with a narrow door next to it.
Thales narrowed his eyes. He recalled a conversation he had in the past.
'"If you run into a dangerous situation that you cannot resolve no matter what in Eckstedt... a problem so great that even King Nuven cannot save you from…"'
Thales' eyes beamed.
That was it.
At the next second, he headed towards the shop's sign, dragging Little Rascal along.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Thales knocked on the wooden window under the sign with the dagger.
They might be under curfew and all the residents there had been evacuated, but if the shop owner was indeed just like he had heard and was often up to some shady business…
There was no response.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Thales knocked thrice again.
Still, no one answered the door.
The prince frowned, reaching his fist out once again.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Amid the increasingly loud knocking, Little Rascal recovered from her state of shock, and asked in a perplexing manner, "Uh… where are we?"
"A butcher's shop in West-Express Avenue," Thales answered briefly. "Anyone in there? We need help!"
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
He knocked a few more times.
Still, there was no response.
Thales felt the hope in his heart slowly sink.
'Haih.'
He stared at the shop sign and heaved a sigh.
The guy in there had most likely evacuated as well.
As Little Rascal eyed him weirdly, a disappointed Thales turned away from the butcher's shop, pulling her along.
After he took the first step however, he jolted and stopped walking.
"What's going on?" Little Rascal asked blankly.
Thales whipped around, and shouted at the shop sign.
"Six-fifty!"
There was no response.
Thales clenched his teeth, and shouted again.
"Hey, six-fifty! Six-fifty!"
Perhaps, he was yelling a little too loud. Thales began to pant, patting himself on the chest.
There was still no response.
The two of them were the only people on the empty street.
Thales lowered his head dejectedly.
'Forget it.
'Perhaps he…'
Suddenly, the sound of friction between wooden planks rang, followed by the sound of the door unlatching.
*Pluck.*
Little Rascal hid behind Thales out of instinct, whereas he looked up in surprise.
The wooden window was opened.
'Some…
'Someone's inside?'
In the window, a man with black hair and eyes, as well as flat, rounded facial features was glaring at them.
It made Thales feel his skin crawl.
'Wait a minute.
'He's a…
'Far Easterner?'
"Who are you people?
"How do you know about this?"
The Far Easterner clearly had a Northland accent. He sounded rather impatient, as though he was dealing with big trouble. "Six-fifty?"
Thales was startled.
'There's someone here…
'There's someone here!'
He gawked at the man until the latter attempted to close the window. Thales then recovered from his shock and excitedly said, "Wait… Umm… We are-We are Kaslan's friends!
"This code was given to us by Kaslan! He said that when we needed help, we just had to come here and say this code…"
The Far Easterner narrowed his already small eyes, appearing to be inspecting them closely.
"You-You are…" Thales scratched his head, trying to recall his meeting with Kaslan in Hero Tavern. A few seconds later, he managed to wring the words out of his brain. "It's Mister Gu, isn't it?
"We need help!"
The Far Easterner—Gu—remained silent. He stayed idly in the shadows behind the window frame, watching them.
"Please!" Thales was panicking slightly.
A moment later, Gu opened his mouth.
"Kaslan's friends, are you?" The Far Eastern man gave a light hum and slowly said, "Come in."
…..
At the intersection point of Armor District and Shield District, a duel between the supreme class fighters had begun.
*Whoosh*
A blade was swung with a swooshing sound.
Aida hopped into the air, charging at Kaslan.
Her machete drew an arc in the air, fleeting past the tip of his nose.
The former Commander of the White Blade Guards wore an emotionless expression, and leaned back calmly as he ducked the blow, which was aimed at his head.
The blade was merely an inch away from his nose.
"Getting your feet off the ground in a fight is suicide," Kaslan said flatly. He wielded the two-meter-long Soul Slayer Pike. His movements seemed effortless and swift.
The spear then began to curve as he swung it!
As though it had come alive, the spearhead slashed at the elf with a sharp swoosh.
Like many duels between supreme class warriors, the defense and offense positions switched within seconds.
"Your rule only applies to humans," Aida said with disdain in the air.
At the next second, she nimbly grasped the top section of the Soul Slayer Pike in one hand and applied some slight pressure.
The black pikehead of the Soul Slayer Pike swung past her ear.
Aida hung from the spear like a fluttering cloth, following Kaslan's movements as she danced in the wind.
A great force surged within Kaslan's arms, and the spear trembled!
Aida was shaken off the spear as if she had received a violent a blow.
Kaslan's spear did not slow down or hesitate. Like a viper that sprung up to strike, it shot through the air, targeting Aida's waist!
