Kingdom's Bloodline, page 485
All of the Disaster Swords' gazes were fixed on Yodel.
"The only thing Ricky did not expect was that the hidden rat actually had the power to kill him." Klein watched Ricky's dead body on the floor. He was filled with hate. "He didn't even have time to send the ambush signal."
Thales looked at Yodel with an unpleasant expression, but he could only see the dark purple mask.
"Hey, masked person, did you know that?"
Klein's longsword quivered, and Thales could see his Power of Eradication building up in his body. It erupted in him together with his anger. "I promise you… I will make you pay for this."
The Disaster Swords moved into their battle formation together. The hall was filled with a murderous aura.
Thales instantly felt a headache building up because of this problem.
Yodel slowly looked up.
His faint voice came from behind his mask. "I know.
"I knew it since the beginning."
At the next moment, the torch in Yodel's hand was suddenly extinguished, and it fell to the floor.
The Masked Protector's entire body disappeared without a trace, as though he was morning dew. He vanished from their sight!
It was incredibly bizarre.
"He went into hiding again!"
The Disaster Swords were obviously experienced in this sort of thing. They were not confused by what happened before them. Klein roared, "Don't use your eyes! Use your Power of Eradication to sense his killing intent!"
At that moment, while using hell's senses, Thales felt goosebumps on his skin. He could feel more than a dozen Disaster Swords in front of him lifting their swords. They were all ready for battle.
Their Powers of Eradication spread in their bodies. Each was different. Some gathered at one particular spot in their bodies, some surged in them, some burned with a rhythm, and some of them was continuously produced in their bodies. However, they were all raging in them, full of violence and madness. Even Thales felt a strange prickly feeling in them when he looked at them from the distance.
It was quite different from ordinary people.
"Get the little one first!
"No matter what his tricks are, if he wants to attack, he must first show his body and his killing intent." Klein calmly ordered the mercenaries to surround the exit and to pay attention to every corner.
"The moment he shows up, he will greet his death," Klein observed his surrounding and said with a cold voice.
Thales eyelid twitched. He instantly had a bad feeling.
"Eighteen." Thales stepped back slowly as he counted the enemies in front of him. He moved his lips and whispered to the empty air.
"There are some elites among them who are even as good as Ricky, can you handle them?"
A distinctive and hoarse voice echoed in the air quietly, just like how it did six years ago. "They have numbers, a formation, they are prepared, and they know that I exist, if we try to break through them head on…"
Thales' heart sank after he heard what the other person meant.
"I am not the Kingdom's Wrath," Yodel said in a dejected manner.
At the moment, the Disaster Swords were on guard of their surroundings. They pressed in on them from all sides.
"So the answer is: no, I cannot."
Thales felt greatly dismayed. He frowned in anxiety, but he could only scratch his head and think of a way. "Well, then I'll try to…"
But Yodel continued speaking and interrupted him.
"But someone can."
Thales was stunned.
'Huh?
'Someone can?'
The next minute, a gust of wind howled.
*Thud!*
A mercenary carrying a torch staggered back. The torch fell from his hand. It crashed against the wall along with a piece of stone.
It was as if a gust of wind had blown against them, causing the remaining three light from the torches in the Disaster Swords' hands to sway!
"There!" Klein shouted. His sword flashed!
Thales only had time to see Yodel appear in the air. Their weapons clashed.
*Clang!*
The Masked Protector first forced one person backwards. He then retreated in a disheveled fashion when three Disaster Swords surrounded and attacked him.
After he evaded countless attacks, he rolled. His back touched the stone pillar in the hall. He had no way to escape.
"Surround him and kill him!" Klein's orders to kill him were merciless.
But the next moment, Yodel disappeared from the stone pillar again.
*Bang!*
A heavy hammer smashed violently against the stone pillar where the Masked Protector disappeared, causing pieces of rock to fly into the air.
"F*ck!" After he missed, Josef swore.
The Disaster Swords calmly turned back. They set up their formation, and waited for a chance again.
However, after a few seconds...
*Creak...*
A strange sound came from a spot not far from the distance!
All the Disaster Swords were stunned.
Klein furrowed his eyebrows. "What the hell—"
But immediately after, another Disaster Sword discovered their enemy's tracks. He shouted, "Over there!'
The mercenaries turned their heads together and found Yodel's figure on the wall at the back of the hall.
"Attack!"
Josef roared and led his people to rush forward. Four weapons attacked, throwing Yodel's movements into a mess.
But Klein saw much more than that.
He saw that the dark masked freak had let go of a hanging ring in his left hand. That handing ring was attached to the wall.
'A ring?'
Beside the hanging ring was an iron plate with words inscribed on it.
Klein's expression changed!
He subconsciously turned his head around and saw a familiar emblem on the stone pillar where Yodel had disappeared from.
The eye that meant, "Heading towards omniscience."
At some point of time, the rod-shaped, crystalline green key belonging to Ricky had been inserted into the center of the emblem.
'No.'
This was Klein's first thought.
At the next moment, the rough sounds of metal rubbing against the floor and the clear mechanic rumbles rose continuously!
*Creak—Creak—Creak!*
The Disaster Swords were shocked, and their movements were thrown into disorder. This allowed Yodel to escape again. He snuck into the shadows, and during the process, disarmed a torch from the Disaster Swords.
*Creak—Creak!*
The noisy and harsh mechanic rumbles lasted for several seconds, torturing everyone's ears.
*Bang!*
Then, it disappeared with a muffled sound.
It sounded like the blade on the guillotine falling to the end with a loud thud after it was risen to the top. And while it was brought to the top, the machine that symbolized death let out those blood-thirty creaks caused by friction.
Klein and Josef turned their heads around, stupefied. Under the dim light provided by the last torch, they looked to the back of the hall.
Disappeared.
Klein stared at the infamous Black Prison cell with his eyes wide opened.
Disappeared.
At some point of time, the mysterious bars that stood before the dark prison at the back of the hall to isolate and torture its prisoners…
Had disappeared.
Only a dozen round holes were left on the ground to tell them where they went.
The only thing left behind was quiet darkness. It provided off an eerie air of silence.
"Sh*t." Klein subconsciously blurted out. He did not even have time to care about Yodel's whereabouts.
The Disaster Swords subconsciously retreated and gathered together while they stared at the ominous darkness that should have been separated from them by those mysterious bars.
They looked at each other, at a loss for words. Many people felt inexplicable uneasiness in their hearts.
A second later, the sound of someone inhaling rose. It was long and drawn out. It slowly traveled into their ears from the still darkness. There was still no one who knew what was in it.
"Hah..."
The voice sounded slightly burdened. There was also a sense of urgency in that breath.
He sounded like someone who had not taken in a breath for a long time, and this was the first time he sucked in air.
Even the dim light flickered.
At that moment, the mercenaries who were immersed in their strange Powers of Eradication felt their skins crawl. Their hairs stood on end!
Their Powers of Eradication rampaged in them like restless animals.
'What—'
"Remain calm!" Klein clenched his teeth and ordered, "Stay in formation!"
Under their raging Powers of Eradication, mercenaries had to control themselves. They were forced to manage their uncontrollable anger and that strange fear that surged in their hearts.
Then, they looked at the mysterious darkness.
A loud exhale appeared from the dark.
Compared to before, this sound seemed to be rather withdrawn and calm.
"Huff…"
It also sounded rather dull.
Rustling sounds appeared from the dark.
Beads of sweat ran down from Klein's forehead. He held his sword hilt firmly and suppressed the 'Touch of Greed' surging madly in his body. He stared at the mysterious darkness before him warily.
'What the hell?'
He knew that there were not many situations that could cause a Disaster Sword's Power of Eradication to rampage in such a fashion.
'And just what…?'
At this moment...
"Ah…" A dull, uninteresting male voice rang from the darkness.
"I really should shave."
His accent was pure. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.
The Disaster Swords looked at each other in puzzlement and fear. Their breathing accelerated.
Klein's eyelids twitched.
The moment he heard this voice, he suddenly had a misconception that a terrible beast had just woken up from its hibernation in its cave in the darkness before them.
It let out its first lazy and displeased breath.
Klein tightened his grip around his sword hilt. He gulped laboriously.
"So..."
The dull male voice rang again. This time, there was a hint of life in his voice. There was even a jovial tone in his words.
"Do you all… have a razor?"
*Puff!*
A muffled sound rose. The only torch in the hall. Light vanished.
The entire hall, including the eighteen Disaster Swords, sank into silent darkness.
It was a darkness without end.
Chapter 424: Loyalty |
Thales had not experienced this feeling for a long time.
Gray. White. He walked in a monotonous gray and white world. The floor, the wall, the gravel, the dust, and even the air shone with a shimmering white light. It was as though the surrounding darkness had been swept away; there were no other colors.
The area around him was very quiet. Barely discernible shouts traveled into his ears. It was like he was underwater and was listening to the people on the shore yelling.
'It's just like… another monotonous, gray and white world.' The teenager was a little dazzled. 'It's not right.'
His vision was a little blurry and unclear. Sometimes, overlapping shadows would appear in his view. The dazzled Thales shook his head rigorously. He leaned against the longsword on the gray ground and tried to dispel the nausea. He then tried to regain his sense of direction.
He felt someone hold his right arm; a gloved palm with faint ripples spreading out from it seized Thales' arm.
"Concentrate." Yodel's voice traveled to his ears. He led him forward. "The Path of Shadows reflects reality. They will occasionally overlap, but will never meet.
"As we walk here, we will feel as though we are drifting on the sea. We will sometimes float to the surface, and sometimes sink into the water. You have to distinguish between reality and illusion. You must not get lost here."
Thales stumbled forward. He was dragged onwards by the only object in this world that had normal colors—Yodel. He tried not to look at the overlapping shadows in his monotonous surroundings.
'This is really bad.' He took a few deep breaths, but he felt that the the air entering the lungs was slightly unreal.
Thales watched in astonishment as he himself walked out of the grayish-white hall and headed towards the grayish-white tunnel. He watched Yodel carefully steer clear of the Disaster Swords who were also grayish-white figures in this world.
No one noticed them.
The teenager turned around. "Are we just leaving like that? Aren't you going to help him? Help Zakriel?"
Thales gasped. He felt that even the words he said produced a shallow echo. It was like he was in a dream.
"It is not my mission to subdue the enemies." Yodel shook his head. He kept his hand firmly around Thales' arm. Overlapping shadows could be seen on his purple mask in the the grayish-white background, forming a contrast. "For me, you are my top priority."
They sped up in the grayish-white world, walked out of the tunnel, and arrived at the stone steps.
A few mercenaries who were guarding the place seemed to have received some kind of signal. They rushed towards Thales and Yodel, then brushed past the two normal-colored people.
"Don't touch them." Yodel's warning was simple.
One of them seemed to have noticed something, he turned his grayish-white head around warily. His gaze swept past Thales and Yodel.
Thales did not dare let out a breath, but he only followed Yodel's footsteps and tried to avoid brushing the mercenary's sleeves.
After a few milliseconds, the mercenary shook his head. He let his guard down and caught up with his companions when they called out to him.
Thales only let out a sigh of relief after that.
"But Zakriel…" The teenager cast a worried glance at the road behind him. "He had been detained for more than ten years. Let's not talk about his mental state yet, his physical strength, power, and reflexes would all have dropped..."
Yodel still shook his head. He only uttered a few words, "That will not affect his fighting."
'Really?' Thales frowned and breathed out. "He is only one person, he has to face eighteen of them, and maybe even more."
Yodel seemed to not care about this issue. He just continued moving forward. "He will find a way."
Thales fell silent while suppressing his slight dizziness.
Yodel suddenly said, "We can't circumnavigate the area ahead. We need to become visible for a while."
Thales was startled. "What?"
His questions were soon answered.
Next to the narrow stone steps ahead were several corpses. Both mercenaries and Shadow Shield members could be found among the corpses. Grayish-white blood stained the ground. It seemed that the struggle between Shadow Shield and the Disaster Swords still continued.
There were three masked, black-robed assassins. They appeared to be the only ones left. They had put away their weapons and were doing the clean-up.
However, one of them suddenly raised his head and trembled.
*Clang!*
A shortsword pierced through his chest and came out the front. It was then extracted from his chest with a slick sound.
Immediately afterwards, a purple mask appeared behind his shoulder out of nowhere.
His companion was on high alert. He drew his weapon as soon as possible, but the masked ambusher was faster than him. The ambusher swiftly went towards him, then slashed him with the shortsword in his hand.
*Swish…*
The last action of this unfortunate assassin was to hold on to his throat, which was gushing out blood in loud squirts. He then fell powerlessly to the ground.
The last assassin who was a little further away turned pale with fright. He instinctively began to move backwards, but another longsword glinting with silver light had already sliced through the air in a graceful arc. Its momentum was great and the force in that swing was strong. It went straight to his head!
*Swoosh!*
The assassin raised two oddly-shaped swords with hand guards, and crossed them above his head. He was prepared to use that force when his feet slipped as he blocked the sword slash and rolled to the side.
Something unexpected happened. The longsword with its graceful arc changed direction mid-air. It changed from a slash into a thrust and was delivered swiftly.
*Swish!*
The assassin was in disbelief. He just watched with his eyes wide open as the sword bypassed his perfect block and plunged straight into his throat.
Thales took out his longsword with a steady pull, and looked in disgust at the blood on his sword.
Once he dealt with the two people, Yodel had rushed over, but he only stood at the side to watch the prince quietly. The gears behind the holes where his lenses were turned slightly.
"A beautiful blow." Yodel put away his shortsword, then said in a profound manner, "So, you awakened your Power of Eradication."
Thales did not answer him verbally, only nodded.
He had just executed two different offensive sword techniques in the Northland Military Sword Style: The Phillip's Cross Style, and the Ambushing Style. Both styles were connected by the Twist of Fate.
'But…' The teenager looked at the assassin's bleeding throat before him with mixed emotions. He watched him tremble and crawl on the ground, groaning as he waited for his life to end.
...The styles could not help him deliver an instant kill.
Thales looked at the despair in the assassin's eyes and sighed. At the moment he attacked his enemy, he remembered the fervent ardor and enjoyment shining in the Disaster Swords' eyes as they killed their enemies.
At the precise moment when the Sin of Hell's River surged through him and imitated the Twist of Fate, the faint emotion that constantly flowed within Thales whenever he fought reached its peak.
"Hah… I hate this." Thales shook his head, gritted his teeth, and tried to end the assassin's suffering. However, Yodel suddenly reached out and grabbed Thales' wrist.
Under the prince's puzzled gaze, the Masked Protector gently squatted down, thrust his shortsword forward, pulled it back, and took away his enemy's life.
