The iron curtain fell completely. The light from the fire shone into the space behind the bars, revealing a figure half-kneeling on the ground.
Ricky and Samel stood in front of the cell and stared at him.
Thales narrowed his eyes and saw the person in the cell clearly under the flickering light.
It was a middle-aged man. He knelt on the ground behind the bars and placed his hands on his chest. His head swayed continuously as he mumbled to himself.
"Of course, I will bear my responsibilities, and I will face my sins …"
It was as if he did not hear the iron curtain fall, nor did he see the flickering light.
'No wonder Ricky said it sounded like he was praying.
'But …'
Thales stared at the man in a daze. 'What is he doing?'
Ricky and Samel looked at each other again. They were puzzled.
With faint emotions, Samel took a step forward and asked tentatively, "Zakriel … Zakriel?"
With his previous experience, he was especially careful this time. He did not even hope for a response.
But the man responded.
The man who was kneeling on the ground and mumbling to himself slowly stopped speaking.
He raised his head slowly. The movement of his shoulders was so slight that he looked like a porter who was carrying a heavy burden.
As he raised his head, Thales saw his face clearly.
He had brown hair, a long face, and sharp features.
He looked even younger than Putray, who looked like a little old man.
Obviously, compared to the seven miserable and filthy former Royal Guards locked up, this man took care of himself 'well'. At least his messy hair did not reach his chest, and the ends of his hair had traces of being cut. The beard on his chin did not look like a bird's nest either. Instead, it was only a few inches long. In fact, at first glance, he did not look sallow and emaciated.
In the center of his forehead, there was a clear'S 'brand on his exposed skin.
If it were not for his dirty clothes, stained face, and the smell that could not be underestimated, Thales would have had a hard time suspecting that the person in front of him was a prisoner.
The man stared at the light in front of him. He narrowed his eyes and looked puzzled.
A few seconds later, he raised his palm to block the glaring light. He seemed to have just come to his senses.
"Light … and sound?"
The middle-aged man revealed a dazed expression. He seemed a little slow.
"There's … someone else?"
But very quickly, the man hid his face behind his palms again. He pressed his head against the ground and curled up on the ground, letting out a painful cry.
"No no no …"
Samel and Ricky looked at each other in surprise, not understanding what was going on.
The middle-aged man who buried his face in his hands asked vaguely, "Is this another test for you?"
"Sa … you …" Samel took a step forward and stared at the reaction of the person in front of him in disbelief. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he still answered him.
"What test?"
In just a few seconds, the middle-aged man suddenly raised his head.
"The test before us."
This time, the long-faced man looked nervous. He finally shifted his gaze to the three visitors. "Three of them. They look like they're alive. Two of them are armed, and one is young and immature."
"What is this? An opponent that must be defeated, or a hostage that must be saved?"
"Or is it an illusion forged by hope to lure me into a trap of despair?"
The three people who were mentioned shuddered.
Very suddenly, the long-faced man's expression changed again. He turned to Ricky, who was outside the prison cell.
"Hey, are you a demon?"
The torch in Ricky's hand trembled slightly.
The Disaster Swords gritted their teeth and looked at their companions in confusion. "He's …"
Samel shook his head. His expression was grave, and there was pain in his eyes.
The long-faced man did not seem to want them to answer him. He took a deep breath, got up from the ground, and smiled.
"I have to admit that I always see them. They are the demons who bewitch people in legends, the monsters who never see the light of day in hell.
"Their claws are always scratching my heart. Their tongues never stop whispering in my ears. Their gazes are always hidden in the dark. Every minute, every second, they change their own scenes, trying to tempt me into falling into the abyss, into hell."
The man leaned against the wall and stared into the distance with a profound gaze. He seemed to be talking to them, but he also seemed to be talking to himself. "They will tell us to give up, accept it, and compromise …
"There's no hope in your world anyway …"
Samel could not take it anymore. He took a step forward, and the torch illuminated the man's face. He shouted his name loudly, "Zakriel!"
His voice was so loud that it shook the hall.
The long-faced man in the prison cell shuddered!
He froze for a moment. His dazed gaze slowly focused.
"Zakriel?" the middle-aged man repeated slowly, almost enunciating each syllable.
Samel gritted his teeth. An inexplicable resentment rose in his heart. He waved the torch in his hand fiercely, making it burn even brighter.
"Yes!"
Samel hit the bars with the torch, and sparks flew. "It's me! Samel!
"Wake up!"
Zakriel, the Knight of Judgment! "
The man named Zakriel froze.
He breathed slowly and asked in puzzlement, "The Knight of Judgment?"
But immediately after, Zakriel shook his head and laughed out loud. "In the past, yes. Over the endless years, the demons in my heart always liked to use this to bewitch me … The glory of the past, the regrets of the past, and the remorse of the past. But those were all fake. They lied to me, and wanted me to believe in them."
As he spoke, Zakriel seemed to have sunk into a mumble.
"Maybe I'm not perfect enough. Maybe I'm not determined enough. Maybe I'm not strong enough. That's why they're taking advantage of me again. They're trying to defeat me and defeat me … But at least I'm glad that I'm aware of their existence and that we'll have to fight each other."
The communication failed. Samel stared at the person in front of him in a daze. Beside him, Ricky let out a faint sigh.
Ricky suddenly noticed that Thales was staring at the man who did not seem to be in his right mind. His eyes were fixed on him.
He seemed to have remembered something.
But as Zakriel spoke, his expression slowly changed.
"But yes, I will pull myself together. I will remember that I once fought to the death against the most powerful enemy, and I once sacrificed myself for the noblest ideals. Everything before me is just a fork in the road when I am lost."
The middle-aged man's smile slowly disappeared, and his breathing quickened.
He seemed to have remembered something. He grabbed his hair with both hands and knelt on the ground again.
The man's lips trembled, and his entire body trembled.
"Wait, Zakriel, Zakriel, Zakriel?"
The people outside the prison looked at him, but they did not know what to do.
Suddenly, Zakriel's eyes lit up!
"Yes, Zakriel!"
Flames burst out of the man's eyes, and his expression instantly became incredibly savage!
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Zakriel roared furiously. He grabbed his hair, threw his head back, and shouted.
"Get the hell out of my head!"
His roar was very loud, and his movements were very loud. The three people in front of the prison had no choice but to subconsciously take a few steps back.
But Zakriel's madness did not end.
"Filthy, filthy monster! Despicable, despicable b * tch! Sneaky demon! What a crooked trick! "
The man in the prison scratched his head with all his might. He knelt on the ground, raised his head, and shouted in pain.
"I am Immanuel Zakriel, the glorious Rudollian! I am the noble descendant of the great Empire, who walks the land of chauvinism! I was born in the vanguard of the ancient knights under Great Emperor Camelot's command! "
Thales stared at the man's madness. He did not even pay attention to the words he shouted.
Then, Zakriel clenched his fists. A great force erupted from his muscles, and he punched the ground!
Dong!
Zakriel became crazier and lost his composure. His roars echoed in the hall, causing Samel and Ricky's expressions to change.
"I am Constellation's royal knight and honorary lord! The Penal Officer of the Royal Guards, the Watchman, the Guardian of the Throne, the Keeper of the Royal Treasury … "
Dong! Dong! Dong!
He pounded his fists again and again, and his eyes seemed to contain an unbearable anger.
"The world has given me the title of 'Knight of Judgment'. I will definitely punish those who commit crimes severely, and I will punish all who commit crimes!"
Zakriel cried out in pain. After a while, he seemed to be slightly tired, but he only stopped pounding the ground. Instead, he stood up and threw himself against the fence!
"What are you? How dare you, how dare you encroach on my spirit and will! "
Gritting his teeth, he stared at the empty, dark void. His hands, which were gripping the railing, could not stop trembling. "Ahhhhh!
"You're delusional enough to think you can destroy me!"
The three people outside the cell looked at the crazy scene of the prisoner in fear. They looked at each other and didn't know what to do.
"I will definitely defeat you, defeat you, and destroy you. I will not hesitate to perish with my enemy!"
Zakriel's madness seemed to have reached its peak. He held the fence and roared hysterically.
Finally, the light smoke between the fence and his palm turned into a bright light.
* Bang! *
After a loud bang, Zakriel, who seemed to have gone mad, fell to the ground and stopped moving.
The hall became quiet again.
The three people outside the cell held their breaths. They did not come back to their senses for a long time.
"I thought … I thought that Barney Junior and the others were serious enough." Samel turned his head around laboriously. "But I didn't expect that even such a strong warrior like Zakriel would become … become …"
He couldn't continue.
Ricky snorted softly and looked at the cell in disdain. He stared at the unmoving figure on the ground and finished Samel's sentence.
"Become a lunatic."
There was silence.
Then, a slightly childish voice broke the silence.
"Not a lunatic."
Ricky and Samel turned their heads around in surprise and looked at Thales, who spoke.
At that moment, the prince was staring at the person in the cell. His eyes shone with a deep pain that no one knew where it came from.
"He just … just lives in another world … a world different from ours."
Thales said laboriously.
His emotions were complicated.
Ricky cast the prince a few strange glances.
"He was locked up in solitary confinement for eighteen years." Samel sighed.
"That's not his fault."
However, a few seconds later, a dull voice that they did not expect rose from the cell again.
"Even if you lock up a coward for eighteen years, he won't become a brave man."
Compared to before, this man's voice was firmer and more dignified.
"But you locked up a powerful man for eighteen years and made him face his own heart." Zakriel crawled up from the ground again and supported himself against the wall with some difficulty.
"He will only become stronger."
The current prisoner, who was once the Watchman of the Royal Guards, Zakriel turned his indifferent and cold face around. His eyes were incredibly clear as he looked at them through the bars.
The three of them stared at Zakriel, who spoke again in surprise. They remembered his performance just now, and they stared at his posture in puzzlement.
Ricky looked at the prisoner, then turned his head around and asked Samel in disbelief, "He's … talking to us?"
But Samel only stared at Zakriel in the cell in a daze and did not answer.
Zakriel snorted coldly and glanced at the three people outside the cell.
There was no trace of the madness he showed just now.
Thales, who was under his gaze, felt his entire body tense up.
But the prince was not certain whether the prisoner was rational at that moment.
"Is there someone else?"
Zakriel's dull voice was a little deep, and it was filled with a rhythm that made people nervous. "So … I have a visitor today? That's rare. "
The three of them looked at each other. They were finally certain that the long-faced man was talking to them.
Samel stared at the prisoner, and shock slowly appeared in his eyes.
"Zakriel? Are you alright? "
"Don't worry about me. I'm very clear-headed now. It's just that I haven't seen the light for a long time." Zakriel frowned and patted the bars. He then swung his palms. He was obviously not very comfortable.
"This thing is quite useful."
As for what happened just now, it's just a daily process … It might look a little strange, but it's nothing. "
Indeed, at that moment, Zakriel looked very normal.
He was so normal that he was a little … unlike a person who had been imprisoned for eighteen years.
Ricky stared at him distrustfully and said in a slightly mocking tone,
"A little strange? Are you sure? "
"It's just another journey," Zakriel answered him coldly. He then looked at Thales in particular.
"It's just as you said, child. It's another world, a different world."
His gaze was very calm, but it always made Thales subconsciously clench his fists and tense his muscles.
'This person … In this state, he's the legendary …
'Knight of Judgment?'
But Samel and Ricky still looked at each other worriedly.
"Do you still need to ask?"
Samel lowered his head and whispered, "He might not even recognize me. I can't be sure if what he said in this state …"
But Zakriel obviously heard their whispers.
The Knight of Judgment chuckled softly in the prison. His shoulders, which were pressed against the wall, trembled slightly.
"Didn't I tell you a long time ago?" Zakriel exhaled while he leaned against the wall. He narrowed his eyes and observed his fingernails with the help of the firelight. He looked rather casual.
"Most of the time, you have to fight against yourself, and this enemy known as' yourself '… is very powerful."
He clenched his fists and turned to Samel in a profound manner.
"But you just can't give up, Colin Samel.
You can't. "
Samel's expression changed slightly. He seemed to have remembered something.
He sucked in a breath and took a step forward. He looked a little agitated.
"Zakriel, y-you still recognize me?"
Zakriel twitched the corners of his mouth. He unclenched his fists and began to look at the fingernails of his other hand.
"I know everyone in the guards, and I also recognize the brand on your face." He grabbed a tool that looked like a stone knife, and as if there was no one around, he gently ground his index finger.
"As I said, I am very clear-headed now. After all, the sounds of fighting coming down from the floors above are not common."
Ricky watched his calm actions, and his expression became even more solemn.
Zakriel blew at his fingernails, which were ground flat by the stone knife, and stared at Samel from afar.
"You just said that it was eighteen years, right?"
Samel's cheeks trembled.
'Eighteen years.'
Ricky and Thales moved at the same time. 'This is what I just said when Zakriel went' mad '. He actually remembers all of it?'
"So, fugitive Colin Samel.
"It's been eighteen years. They finally caught you and sent you down here to rot …"
Zakriel narrowed his eyes and looked at his old colleague.
"Or did you break the rules and laws again, and appear here not quite 'legally'?"
Thales sized up the legendary figure of the Royal Guards who did not seem to be normal again. He wondered what kind of person he was.
Samel pursed his lips. After the previous' reunion 'with the guards, he did not know how to speak.
Ricky, who had been suspicious all this while, said, "Very good, he can still talk.
Although he still doesn't look normal. "
He nodded at Samel. "Let's try."
When he heard the leader of the Disaster Swords speak, Zakriel's gaze swept past Ricky and Thales. His eyes sparkled, and he seemed to be thinking about something.
Samel took a deep breath and said in a tactful but serious manner, "Zakriel, listen, it's been eighteen years. You shouldn't be trapped here. We came here because —"
But Zakriel quickly cut him off.
"Prison break, rescue, treasure hunt, revenge, suicide, atonement, and answer questions." The former prisoner of the Royal Guards sneered. "There are only these few reasons why you came here."
He propped himself up from the wall and turned his head.
"I'm not interested in any of them," Zakriel said coldly without turning his head around.
"You can leave now."
At that moment, Ricky and Samel were stunned.
Both of them were rendered speechless by his uncooperative attitude.
However, Zakriel did not even look at them. He only showed the people behind him his heavy and dull back.
The three people outside the prison looked at each other at a loss.
In the prison, Zakriel stroked his rough chin and said softly with slight regret, "Ah, maybe …"
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