Kingdom's Bloodline, page 393
Thales turned his head abruptly. "But why were they…"
Silver Shadowman nodded his head. "You know, there's a very interesting thing..." The man's voice appeared somewhat relaxed at this moment. "Under this terrifying curse, these deceased souls still find it hard to part with the world of their former lives, even though they are never lucid.
"Not only are some of the most deeply-rooted emotions and obsessions difficult to forget, they become stronger with each moment, even mutating into something else that's even uglier. This 'something else' are their feelings and instincts, left behind by their memories and emotions.
"Such as…" Silver Shadowman gestured with his chin at the direction of the chaotic fight.
Thales observed those strange, new deceased souls closely. Suddenly, he came to realize something: Silver Shadowman had pointed at that giant deceased soul with the beast fang accessories.
He said softly, "Allow me to introduce to you Luke Sada Darkstorm... And its hundreds and thousands of little orc comrades."
Thales' thoughts stirred. "Darkstorm? Orc?"
Silver Shadowman nodded his head once more. "I heard a certain dead man say that it was some warchief of the Darkstorm tribe.
"He's also one of the glacial orcs who wreaked havoc upon the area to the south after the collapse of the Ancient Empire, and the main culprit of the hundreds of pillage and murders in the Northland province back then." The Silver Shadowman remained silent for a while. He then continued, "Before it died under the joint ambush by the Northlanders and the Mountain Elves, the people used to call it 'Hammer of the Storm'."
'Hammer of the Storm...' Thales looked at that deceased soul of the orc named Luke Sada in the distance, at how it fought against Cain Camur with its claws and teeth, just like a wild creature, and how General Linka was forced into a corner, looking incredibly disheveled.
Thales then seemed to sink into deep thought. "You can actually remember your enemy better than yourself."
The Silver Shadowman snorted softly. "This is why I, who was initially caught into danger, can still stand here watching the fight leisurely with you. And they can only rip into each other here, like the mindless fools they are."
Silver Shadowman turned around and pointed at Thales with his index finger. "Using all possible methods to weaken your enemy—such is war."
Thales furrowed his brow. He realized that the silver rays had begun to jump around the Silver Shadowman's head again.
[As if.]
"The first day I opened my eyes here, I began searching for a way to forever keep these deceased souls in check and to suppress them." The Silver Shadowman shook his head lightly. "One of the results is there in front of you."
The silver rays continued to bounce. This time, it displayed many more words.
[No such thing. He actually got beat up really badly on the first day. He could only disguise himself as a female deceased soul to save his own life.]
Thales moved his gaze away from the silver words. He looked at the Silver Shadowman with a strange expression. The man had currently put on the airs of a well-educated person.
'Really…? Disguised as… Ahem.'
Thales did his best to cast away the senseless thoughts from his brain and shifted his attention to the present. Two scuffling deceased souls flew about a meter away from them. They turned into black fog and disappeared together while screaming in pain.
"How insulting, this is supposedly the world after death…"
He watched the intensely escalating fight before his eyes and sighed. "And still, battle and conflict has never disappeared." Thales watched as a violent, deceased human soul bit off half of a deceased orc soul's face, and shook his head. "Even if they are deceased souls under the same curse, they are still... as incompatible as fire and water.
"They can only repeat the hatred and suffering they experienced when they were alive. It's just that now; their battles while they were alive have turned into battles between deceased souls."
This time, Silver Shadowman did not say a word. He paid full attention to the scene in front of them as thought it was the most entertaining show.
"We should go now, before the Mountain Elves come to join the battle as well," he said faintly a few seconds later.
Thales twitched. "Elves? There are also deceased elven souls here?"
"Yes." Silver Shadowman crossed his arms over his chest and snorted coldly. "Compared to the humans and the orcs, those long-eared elves are even more unique, and also even more troublesome. I'm not too good at dealing with them."
Silver rays morphed automatically above his head and formed two sentences.
[Because he disguised himself as their female leader before. And they even saw through his disguise.]
With a strange expression, Thales cast another glance at this great man beside whom had been dead a long time. This caused Silver Shadowman, who felt something amiss since a long time ago, to feel rather uneasy.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Thales moved his gaze away from above his head and shook his head in denial as if nothing had happened. "So even the elves were not spared."
"Yes. This curse is actually quite fair in this aspect." The Silver Shadowman paused for a moment and then shook his head faintly. He seemed to be sighing. "At least it's not racist. And we really must go now."
In the next second, Silver Shadowman grabbed Thales' left arm abruptly and pulled him back. Thales was startled and fell backwards, caught off guard.
He lamented his bad luck as he prepared to have the back of his head crash against the cave wall. However, he only heard a faint rumbling from behind and felt himself be dragged all the way back. The deceased souls who were fighting continuously before him grew smaller in his field of vision.
About ten seconds passed. Finally, Thales felt his arm relax; he was released.
Thales climbed up from the ground in a disheveled state. He noticed that he had stepped into a new place.
Although it was under the 'illumination' provided by Silver Shadowman, the so-called 'new place' was nothing more than another slab of rock under his feet.
But when Thales raised his head, he found to his surprise that the two cave walls before him were slowly drawing closer to each other, shutting the battlefield of the fighting deceased souls on its other end, making it disappear from his line of sight.
He blinked a good few times. 'Just now, Silver Shadowman took me… through the cave wall? What sort of power is this?'
Everything he had seen within these few hours: the deceased souls, the silver shadows, the curse… Regardless of which, all these things far exceeded his imagination.
While faint rumbling sounds still echoed in the air, the cave walls joined seamlessly together. It was as if it had never been split open before, not even a narrow slit could be detected.
"Go," the Silver Shadowman said slowly, "You should go now. Go back to the world you truly belong to."
Thales, who was so entranced by what he just saw, came back to his senses. The prince gulped. "Ah, yes."
'Yes, I should… I should go now. There are still many people… waiting for me.'
Thales sucked in a few deep breaths. He thought about his journey ahead and he sank into a gloomy mood.
"If I'm still… able to go?" He looked at Silver Shadowman doubtfully.
"As long as you want to." Silver Shadowman nodded his head indifferently. The rock formation began vibrating again.
"And from today onwards, I will seal off all possible entrances and exits here." As the rock formation vibrated, Silver Shadowman shook his head slowly. His words were laced with sadness and grief. "The Black Track will sever all passages leading to the outside world. Nobody will ever be able to enter this place safely again, nobody will ever enter this dark path by mistake, and nobody will ever witness such a saddening sight again.
"You will be the last one."
The rays on Silver Shadowman's body glowed faintly. He looked at the pitch-black cave ahead and fell silent.
Thales felt his chest tighten. But when he stared at the man and watched his facial features, which were still as black as before, he found himself unable to say even a single word.
"And you, Jadestar. You have to guard this secret in your heart, or simply forget everything here."
Thales was stunned. "What?"
"To keep from attracting even greater troubles." Silver Shadowman shook his head. "Bear in mind that not everyone who rushes towards the curse is here to eliminate or dispel it."
It took Thales three seconds to understand what he meant by "even greater troubles". He raised his head in puzzlement.
"That so-called 'Curse of the Iron Blood King', these deceased souls… They will continue to be like this, buried deep inside the Black Track, under Dragon Clouds City?"
Silver Shadowman caught on to what Thales was trying to ask with his keen intuition, and asked in response, "What do you mean?"
Thales recalled those layers upon layers of ghostly faces. He instantly felt nauseous.
"Sealing off the Black Track is perhaps a good method so that the people above wouldn't come down anymore. However, that general had said that one day, they'd eventually…" He spoke with worry laced in his words. Thales shot the Silver Shadowman a glance before saying in a quiet murmur,
"...have to return."
Silver Shadowman did not reply.
"Don't forget Dragon Clouds… your Arunde Castle." Thales looked at his face and asked hesitantly, "In the place above our heads lives thousands and thousands of people. We might even have to include the entire world of the living into that equation."
Silver Shadowman raised his head gradually and met his gaze.
"As strong as you are, it seems like you're already so wary of this curse," Thales asked with an anxious expression on his face. "And what if the curse gets stronger continuously, and the day finally comes where these deceased souls...
"...appear above ground?"
Chapter 350: Never Los |
Thales frowned and said, "Is there such possibility? What will the consequences be?"
Silver Shadowman remained silent for a long time. About ten seconds later, he then replied coldly, "That is none of your business, Jadestar."
Thales was rendered speechless, and he felt a little embarrassed. But he still sucked in a breath and looked at Silver Shadowman seriously. "I… I have friends above, in Dragon Clouds City. I would like to know; I think I should know."
Thales thought of Saroma and Gleeward. He even thought of the Shield District that was destroyed during the fight between the Mystics.
'Shield District…' When he thought of it, Thales could not help but tense up.
Silver Shadowman seemed like he was observing him, and after a few seconds, he said slowly, "What happens to this curse in the future is not something you should consider, it is also not something that you can control.
"But from what you saw just now, at the very least, I can still handle this current situation and prevent the curse from getting worse—I can stop the rise of the deceased souls." Silver Shadowman did not seem to find his words very convincing, so he subconsciously added another sentence, "I can still handle the current situation for a very long period of time."
Thales frowned deeply. "For a very long period of time? How long?"
He saw that after Silver Shadowman delivered that punch, the silver light had grown much weaker, and he could not help but sigh. "If someone like you who has such great power but also continuously weakening and disappearing, and the power that allows you to retain your consciousness and sense of self continues to fade, then just like what the general said…"
Silver Shadowman's dark eyes sparkled briefly while the silver light reflected on him.
"Once you can no longer suppress this curse and 'maintain the current situation'... Although I don't know what will become of the curse, I also don't know what the consequences will be, but above this place is Dragon Clouds City, Eckstedt, the Western Peninsula…"
Silver Shadowman did not speak.
Thales pinned his gaze on him. "Is there no other way, such as getting rid of it completely and solving the problem once and for all?"
Silver Shadowman seemed to have let his mind wander for a brief moment, because he was repeatedly mumbling what the prince just said, "Solving the problem once and for all...?"
The man's facial features suddenly became sharp and his words gew cold. "No. You and everyone else should just be as far away from it as possible." Silver Shadowman suddenly turned around, the stark contrast of the light and shadows on his face caused his profound expression, as well as his dazzling demeanor, to leave a chill in Thales' heart.
"Just leave the rest to me; leave it to me, and that would be enough. This is the best way I can currently think of," he said resolutely.
Thales frowned for a long time, but in the end, he still shook his head. "I don't understand."
Silver Shadowman let out a light snort. "You don't need to understand. Because you cannot do anything about this, Jadestar." He denied Thales' need to worry, snuffing it out like how he would nip a problem at its roots.
"Even if you worry, you cannot do anything. At least, with your current weak, young, immature, and useless self, you cannot do anything."
Thales was rendered speechless by that.
Cold light reflected off the darkness surrounding them due to the brilliant light shining from Silver Shadowman, a chill crept down Thales' spine once more.
Both of them stayed quiet for a long time.
Thales asked quietly, "What about you then? You are sealing the Black Track, but you just want to stay... stay here forever? Can't you leave... to where you should be?"
This question stunned Silver Shadowman briefly. "Me?"
It seemed like this was the first time he considered this question. He lowered his head, and pondered it for a while.
"I've been dead for a long time," Silver Shadowman said nonchalantly, "It has been so long. So long that I can't even remember how long it has been...
"But I, who has been long dead, can still remain existent without needing to rely on an empty shell. Other than the mighty being that allows me to continue to exist, the curse has, more or less, helped me manage this."
Thales' expression turned cold.
Silver Shadowman's words became dejected. "How ironic, right? I can only stay here, forever guarding this curse until the day I am destroyed with it," Silver Shadowman said quietly. "Or allow it to conquer me, enslave me, and make me assimilate with it."
Thales became dispirited. At that moment, he suddenly felt a little cold.
The man before him had to guard this place in such a manner? Since his death until now, and even far into the future, without knowing when all of this would end, he had to tirelessly guard this dark, humid, cold, still and quiet place?
"But that's not all, I am the only one who can suppress its power." Silver Shadowman's tone became firm and cold again, allowing no room for doubt and arguments. "I've always been here, so that I can prevent new deceased souls from being dragged into the curse and face this tragic end. I can stop them from becoming a new puppet or nutrients for the curse.
"As long as I live, the curse will not worsen, that is my purpose in staying here."
When he saw the man's resolve, Thales could not help but say, "Then how about you? When are you going to be freed? You will be kept here forever in solitude, and you have to face these deceased souls day and night; these rocks, this darkness, this curse. Day by day, year after year, century after century. And to live in fear, constantly on guard so that you can prevent yourself from losing your mind and falling into the enemy's hands. What would become of you?"
This time, Silver Shadowman remained silent for a long time. "I can see now, Jadestar…"
Silver Shadowman nodded slowly, the rhythm as he spoke slowed down, and his voice was deep. "At this point, you resemble Tor a little."
"Tor?" Thales did not manage to figure out who that name belonged to. "Who is Tor?"
Silver Shadowman shook his head.
"You don't need to worry about me," he replied in that cold tone he always used. "I have always been dead. My existence means nothing, my absence also means nothing.
"I only do what I can do, am willing to do, and want to do. That is all. Don't think of me as someone pitiful, and don't think of me someone noble, either."
Thales could only stare at him in a daze.
Then the man changed the topic of conversation. "But you are a living person, a young Jadestar, you have not reached the point where you should join us. You should not die today, and you should not die here, too."
His tone was a little gloomy. "We must eventually go our separate ways."
This small section of the cave turned quiet for a while.
"I know." The prince sighed deeply, and cast a glance at the expressionless Silver Shadowman. "But… but there has to be a way to solve this, right?"
Thales thought of something, then his eyes brightened. "I might not be able to do anything, but some people I know, some… of the existences I know have power beyond your imagination. They have great wisdom and sharp minds, maybe they… maybe they have a solution."
This time, Silver Shadowman stared at him for a long time. So long that Thales could no longer bear his gaze.
"You are not the only one who has had that thought," he said softly, and his words echoed in Thales' ears.
The man stopped staring at him, but he took a few slow steps forward. As silver light flowed from him, it made him seem even more unique and brilliant.
"But just as the Iron Blood King's tales marked the beginning of the rise of humans, here lies the Iron Blood King's curse, and it is also the genesis of all disasters."
Silver Shadowman raised his head. He turned his face towards the sealed, cramped, dark and dull rocky wall around him.
'The genesis of... everything?'
