Samel's face was ashen as he faced Barney Junior and Beldin's questions in Black Prison. He looked as if he had suffered a heavy blow.
As Thales watched this scene of brothers turning against each other, he suddenly gained a deeper understanding of the Royal Guards and the Bloody Year.
No matter who the traitor was, and no matter what the truth was, it seemed that the problem with the Constellation Royal Guards themselves had been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt when they faced that terrifying assassination in Renaissance Palace.
But that was not the point.
Betrayal was far more than just a matter of two people going against the same path or a process of good friends falling out with each other. Under the most obvious and superficial fuse, there was often a deeper truth hidden.
In Northland, Lampard's rebellion stemmed from the Born King's ferocious counterattack after he descended upon Eckstedt. The Secret Room's wavering was, in fact, a rational choice made after Eckstedt's royal authority declined. The Raven of Death's betrayal was also rooted in King Nuven's ruthless methods in the past.
In Constellation, the Duke of the Northern Territory's conspiracy to usurp the throne had always revolved around the Jadestar Royal Family and the Arunde Family's game against Broken Dragon Fortress and Constellation's Northern Territory. The collective conspiracy of the 'New Star' nobles, such as Covendier and Nanchester, reflected their expectations and ambitions towards the distribution of power in this country.
Even before Thales' eyes, this Blade Fangs Camp, which was chaotic and even convenient for foreign enemies to infiltrate the camp and land him in a predicament, was it not also a stage where the Baron of Blade Fangs Camp and the Duke of Western Desert, the regular army and the recruits, the Jadestar Royal Family and the nobles of Western Desert, Eternal Star City and the Ruins, the center of the kingdom and the western borders?
Then, what about the Bloody Year?
When he thought of this, Thales suddenly came to a realization. The split in the Royal Guards on the surface was not an exception, nor was it the main cause. It was just a reflection that reflected the greatest contradiction of that era.
In the turbulent waves of that era, even if these pitiful people persisted in their own hearts, they could only drift with the waves, unable to reverse the situation.
Even if they were peerless experts.
Even the king of a country.
Even if they were … Mystics.
There was a long silence in the cell.
Until Ricky's cold laughter rang out.
"Just as I thought."
Barney Junior, who was drowning in resentment and unwillingness, and Samel, who was lost in sorrow and despair, turned their gazes at the same time.
The leader of the Disaster Swords walked forward slowly and stood next to Samel.
"Do you understand now, Samir?"
As Ricky spoke, he suddenly raised his torch and illuminated the brand on the latter's face.
Samel, who had a desolate expression on his face, was stimulated by the fire. He subconsciously raised his hand to block it and took a few steps back.
"No matter how much you want to go back to square one, no matter how much you want to make up for your past regrets and heal the scars of the past.
Ricky said expressionlessly, "No matter how much you want to get rid of that ugly brand on your face."
Samel put down his palm pathetically and straightened his back again. His expression was one of struggle as he lowered his head and panted.
Ricky sneered. He suddenly pulled back his torch and turned around to light up the cell on the other side.
"But this is the answer."
The prisoners behind the bars also dodged the flames that Ricky deliberately approached in a disheveled manner. Only Barney Junior, who was breathing rapidly, stood where he was. He merely turned his face to the side, and his feet did not move an inch.
Looking at the few ragged and miserable prisoners, Ricky clicked his tongue and shook his head. "This is the answer of the past and yesterday to you."
Samel didn't say anything. He just looked at his once high-spirited colleagues in the prison who were now dirty and disheveled.
The past and yesterday.
He muttered in his heart.
"And who are you?"
Barney Junior looked at Ricky in disdain.
"Are you also one of those disgusting scums from Shadow Shield?"
Ricky stared at Barney Junior as if he wanted to size him up. But a few seconds later, he just smiled and shook his head.
"He can't make that oath." Ricky slowly put away his torch, making his face, which looked as if he had gone through many vicissitudes of life, shine even brighter. He gestured at Samel with his chin.
"Because just an hour ago, he kidnapped King Kessel's only son together with us."
"The last of Jadestar's bloodline."
When he said this, Thales' breathing froze.
As expected, the gazes of the prisoners changed at the same time.
"Wh-what?"
Barney Junior spoke slowly. His tone revealed his puzzlement.
"Jadestar?"
Thales immediately felt a few gazes pierce through the darkness behind the prison and land on him at the same time.
Marina, who was in charge of watching over the prince, felt an inexplicable pressure. It made the Disaster Swords around him surround Thales even tighter.
"Did you say … kidnap?" Beldin's voice trembled slightly.
"When did this happen?" Nalgi, who had been humming a little tune, had already climbed up from the ground.
He was in disbelief. "The new king has a son and a new heir?"
Outside the prison, Samel still did not say a word. His expression was one of pain.
"Kidnap the prince? You? Samel, is what he said true? "Naer widened his eyes. His cheeks twitched as he stared outside the prison in a rather neurotic manner.
"That teenager with a dejected face is the current Jadestar?"
"Hahahaha, how interesting." Tardin, who was beaten black and blue by his roommate, looked at Samel before him, then at Thales in the distance. His laughter was desolate, and the mocking tone became stronger.
"It's getting more and more interesting. Hahaha …"
Outside the prison, Samel lowered his head dejectedly and closed his eyes gently.
Thales was stunned as he watched their different reactions and endured their gazes from the darkness.
Barney Junior, Beldin, Naer, Tardin, Bruley, Nalgi, and Canon.
The former Royal Guards' gazes were very complicated. The prince could not tell what they were feeling at that moment.
Were they stunned, resentful, regretful, excited, or dejected?
Thales did not know.
He only felt that these people, the former Royal Guards, were clearly looking at the current him. Their gazes were fixed on him.
But it was as if they were looking at the past.
They were looking at the past.
Ricky, who had just revealed the truth, sized up Samel by his side. When he saw that Samel was still dejected, he could not help but frown slightly.
The silence and surprise inside and outside the prison only lasted for a short while.
"So, you really can't swear an oath, right?"
Nalgi sat back on the floor. His expression was calm, and there was a faint sense of relief in his voice. "Samel, I really hope that you know what you are doing.
Be it in the past or now.
Really. "
Samel's expression changed. He raised his head with a slight hint of hope, as if he wanted to find some comfort and understanding.
"Nalgi …"
But Nalgi shook his head.
"Don't talk to me. Go to Barney. The person with the highest position has the final say."
Samel's words came to a halt. He shut his mouth in disappointment and looked at the vanguard in front of him, Quill Barney Junior.
The shock in Barney Junior's eyes was slowly replaced by realization and indifference.
"So, this is the answer." The vanguard stared at the dejected Samel with a complicated expression.
"Regardless of whether you betrayed us in the past or not … After so many years, you are still a traitor."
At that moment, Samel's expression froze.
"So, what does this mean?" Barney Junior sneered and leaned against the wall. He no longer looked at his former companion.
"Give up on myself?"
Samel took a deep breath. He moved his lips, but in the end, he could not say anything.
Ricky, who had been watching this scene from the side, chuckled softly.
"What do you think, Samel?"
Ricky threw the torch down gently and let it roll on the dusty ground.
"Tell them this," Ricky said in a low voice.
"Then, defend yourself. Tell them that you are not a traitor. Tell them that you are still the good brother from all those years ago."
There was a faint hint of sarcasm in his tone.
"Will this make you feel better?"
Samel quietly stared at the torch under his feet. He watched the flames tremble on the ground.
"I have fulfilled my promise. I have given you the chance to face the shadows of the past." Ricky looked at the five prison cells in front of him again. He stared coldly at the seven former Royal Guards.
"But the question is, Samel, is this really the 'reunion' you envisioned?"
Samel's chest began to rise and fall.
The light from the fire was reflected in his pupils. It was weak and waning, like the last light in the darkness.
His dark back was cast on the wall by the torch on the ground. It danced back and forth, and it drifted about.
Ricky took a step forward and snorted coldly. "How is it? Is it filled with flowers, excitement, beauty, hope, forgiveness, and understanding?"
As he listened to Ricky's question, which was as sharp as a knife, Thales only felt uncomfortable.
"Now, Samel," Ricky repeated his question coldly.
"Do you understand now?"
Samel stared at the flickering light in a daze. He did not seem to notice it.
"I can tell. You are not Shadow Shield, my friend." Tardin sneered in the prison. "You sound like a brainwashed cultist."
'Cultist?'
Ricky was stunned at first. Then, he smiled unexpectedly.
He did not respond to Tardin's sarcasm. Instead, he continued to stare at Samel.
"The past is gone, and yesterday is hard to recall. 'Everything is as it was yesterday' is just a dream, a form of escape.
"Because you can never go back to the past, whether it is the people or the things that happened in the past."
Ricky seemed to have a profound meaning in his words. "Most of the time, you can't find the answer even if you go back to the starting point.
Or if you find the answer, it will only make you more desperate. "
The torch on the ground was still struggling, but it was getting dimmer. Even Samel's face was getting more and more blurry.
Including the ugly brand.
"We can only open up a new path and a new future." Ricky sighed.
"Only then can we surpass the terrible past."
Samel listened to Ricky's words in a daze. The flames in his pupils became smaller and dimmer.
"But this is our life."
Ricky raised his head and looked at the stone pillar in the middle of the hall. He stared at the emblem that resembled an eye. His gaze was slightly dazed.
"You can't save anything but yourself.
You can't grasp anything but the future. "
In the next second, the torch under Samel's feet was finally extinguished.
It left Samel's unmoving face and pupils, along with his dazed and pained expression, in the deep darkness.
They could no longer see each other.
"All of you are dressed like mercenaries." Nalgi sighed and lit up a simple lamp in their prison. "But no mercenary has the courage and means to break into Black Prison. Did something big happen in Blade Fangs Camp? Did they slack off to the point where they let you weirdos in?"
Ricky snorted softly and did not answer.
The sharp Barney Junior quickly reacted.
"What? Is the main force not here because there's a war going on? Who is it this time? The Eight Great Tribes of the Orcs or the Three Great Tribes of the Barren Bone Tribe? Or the Northlanders, or even civil war? "
No one answered them.
A few seconds later, Samel's figure slowly lowered itself in the darkness. The sound of a torch being picked up rose in the air.
With a thud, the extinguished torch was lit up again, and it was so piercing that the prisoners shrank back.
Samel's figure reappeared in the firelight.
It was as if he had returned to the bright human world from the darkness of hell.
"Barney Junior," Samel's voice rose faintly.
"You know, when you joined the Royal Guards, many people said that you only got in because of your father's connections."
These words floated in the air, and the hall fell silent for a moment.
Barney Junior was first stunned, then he sucked in a deep breath. "You …"
But Samel suddenly raised his head and said in a short and forceful voice, "And I am one of those people."
Barney Junior was stunned.
He suddenly noticed that at that moment, Samel no longer had that pained and remorseful expression on his face.
Instead, it was cold and resolute.
Even the brand on his face seemed to have become a lot fiercer.
"By the looks of it today, they were right all those years ago, Barney." Samel raised the torch, clicked his tongue, and shook his head. His gaze was cold.
"You didn't inherit any of Barney Junior's strengths.
The old captain gave up on you and chose Beldin to inherit the position of penal officer. How wise of him. "
Barney Junior frowned slightly. Across him, Beldin turned his head to the side.
"Because after being imprisoned for so many years, you are still an idiot," Samel said softly. His confusion and pain had faded away, and he was like a cold and hard rock, making others feel pressured. "You can't see things clearly, and you can't judge people clearly.
"A lunatic who lost his mind."
The guards and prisoners in the prison were all startled.
Ricky looked at Samel and chuckled silently.
"Ridiculous." Barney Junior sucked in a deep breath. His resentment and anger accumulated in him again.
"These words actually came from the mouth of a traitor."
But he soon realized that the topic of the conversation had changed.
A second later, Samel said a number coldly, "Thirty-seven."
Barney Junior was dazed.
"What?"
Samel waved the torch, making the flames burn brighter and illuminate the orderly skeletons in the cell. "You said that in eighteen years, you gave a speech for the deaths of thirty-seven of your brothers."
The prisoners frowned.
Samel's face was expressionless. "Back then, there were forty-six people who were sentenced to be imprisoned in the Prison of Bones."
Barney Junior's expression tensed up.
"Over the years, thirty-seven people unfortunately lost their lives. Seven of you survived until now. Including me, there are only forty-five." Samel's voice was emotionless, as if he was narrating someone else's story.
"There is still one person missing."
Behind him, Clay and Ricky both laughed.
Thales' eyebrows twitched.
Samel took a step forward and drew closer to Barney Junior.
"It's him, isn't it?
"He's not here."
Samel stared at Barney coldly. "I didn't see his name on the plate.
"You came in with him. Where is he?"
'Him?'
Thales' heart began to race.
'There's another person … Who is he?'
The hall sank into an unprecedented silence.
The prisoners' breathing became more rapid.
"I understand now."
Barney Junior stared at Samel in a hostile manner.
"You didn't come to rescue us, and you didn't come to see an old friend, did you? Coward, traitor," he said through gritted teeth. "As for those people outside …"
But Samel extended his arm. The torch passed through the gap in the bars and pointed straight at Barney Junior!
"Where is he?" Samel asked coldly.
"Bah." Barney Junior looked at the flames that almost reached his eyes and spat angrily.
Samel snorted coldly and turned to the other side.
"Beldin, you took over the penal officer position from him. You should know."
Beldin only shut his eyes tightly and shook his head.
Samel's expression was unhappy. He turned his head again.
"Where is he?"
He said coldly, "Bruley, tell me …"
But the robust Bruley only shook his head continuously in the prison cell. His face was ferocious, and he made muffled sounds from his throat.
"Don't look at him." Tardin, who was in the same cell as Bruley, crossed his arms and sneered sarcastically.
"Bruley can't tell you.
After he broke Larley's neck with his own hands, he couldn't speak anymore. "
'What?'
Samel frowned in a barely noticeable manner.
'The once talkative Bruley …'
He stared at the resentful Bruley from afar for a few seconds before he finally averted his gaze and stopped asking questions.
"You know who I'm talking about!"
Samel turned around and raised his voice.
"Ever since Captain Cullen and your father died during the Bloody Year, he became the most important person among the remaining Royal Guards.
"Among us, anyone can die, but he can't!"
Samel's tone was cold, as if he no longer had any illusions about brotherhood.
Barney Junior was puzzled.
"The Bloody Year?"
Samel snorted angrily and looked at him disdainfully.
"Yes, that year was the Bloody Year. From His Majesty, the crown prince, the princes, the nobles, and the commoners … All lives were plunged into misery and suffering, and only blood was left.
"That's what they called that year."
The prisoners froze for a moment. Their expressions changed.
Thales felt a little melancholic when he saw this.
'This group of people.
They personally experienced the horrors of the Bloody Year, but for eighteen years, they did not know what history and the outside world called that year. '
There was a slight melancholy in Samel's voice at first, but it soon returned to indifference.
"Tell me now.
"The strongest elite of the Royal Guards in the past, the former penal officer, and the current watchman of the Royal Guards." Samel stared at the remaining seven prisoners without compromising.
He said sternly, "The Knight of Judgment.
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