'Farther away.'
Thales calmly watched the Knight of Judgment's axe blade disappear before his eyes along with the dim corridor.
He was slowly rising again.
It was as if he had lost gravity.
But this time, the prince managed to maintain his rationality in the void where time was unknown.
He tried his best to recall the anchor point and follow the teachings to stay true to himself.
'I just need to go further away.
'I don't need to … knock on the Door.'
He tried his best to remain calm and thought in his heart.
Countless scenes flashed through his consciousness: the dilapidated walls of the Abandoned House, the simple and crude back kitchen of Sunset Pub, the magnificent balcony of the Hall of Stars, the fluttering snowflakes in the birch forest, the fires in Heroic Spirit Palace …
'Leave the Prison of Bones, leave Blade Fangs Camp, and get as far away from Zakriel as possible.
'Go further!'
But just as he thought that, a strange burning sensation surged from his back!
It was as if someone had lit a fire on his back!
Thales' expression changed.
'No.'
At that moment, he instantly escaped from the state of "losing control"!
It was as if he had woken up from a dream.
His indifferent attitude disappeared, and astonishment filled his mind.
'No …'
In a fraction of a second, the burning sensation grew stronger.
It spread from his back to his entire body, and slowly evolved into a tearing and cutting sensation.
In that second, Thales could not help but grimace and cry out in pain!
'This long-lost but familiar feeling …
'Could it be …
'Sh * t.'
He remembered something, and his heart turned cold.
Thales, who was still suffering from the burning and tearing sensation, only felt his body become heavy. In the next second, he crashed violently against the ground!
* Bang! *
With a muffled thud, Thales could not care about his aching knees and forehead. He turned over like a madman and flung the backpack on his back with great effort!
'Damn it, damn it!'
It was as if it was a piece of burning charcoal.
"Damn it!"
Marina's angry voice rose in his ears, as if she had just come into close contact with the ground. "What happened?!
"Ahhh, the axe — OW!"
In the darkness, Quick Rope's panicked shouts came from beside him.
"Huh?"
There was a panting sound. It sounded like Quick Rope got up from the ground.
"Is this … Hell's River?"
Thales exhaled laboriously and felt the burning sensation on his back slowly disappear.
But another feeling spread to his nerves.
'Pain.'
The Prince of Constellation gritted his teeth as he gasped for breath.
"Yes, this is Hell's River … and I am your ferryman …"
He touched the ground and sighed in his heart.
Therefore …
They were not out of danger yet.
"Thales!"
When Quick Rope heard his voice, he was delighted, but then he became even more puzzled.
"But why, why can't we see …"
In his panic, he heard a soft scraping sound, and a sudden flash of light appeared in front of him, causing Quick Rope to instinctively shield his eyes.
In the darkness, Marina lit a small torch and cursed as she got up from the ground. She wiped the dust off her face and said, "Damn it!"
"What the hell are we …"
But she did not continue.
The strange smell in her nose and the surroundings allowed her to identify their location.
The swordswoman in red relaxed her neck, which was strangled by the Knight of Judgment. She frowned.
"We … are still in the Prison of Bones?"
Thales did not reply. At that moment, his face was pale and he was trembling slightly.
Quick Rope, who had regained his vision, put down his hand gently. He glanced at Marina, who was holding the torch with a dazed expression. Then, he turned to the teenager beside him, who was panting on the ground. His expression darkened.
"What happened just now?"
His confusion faded away. He helped Thales, who was obviously not in a good state, up from the ground and made the latter lean against the wall.
"Where's that uncle? And, and that masked friend of yours? "
Thales panted hard. He endured the increasingly intense pain and squeezed out a sentence.
"This is the Alchemy Tower's' little magic '. You can think of it as a mechanism in the Prison of Bones. It can transfer you to different places …"
Marina was slightly shocked.
Thales tried to force a smile.
But Quick Rope's expression was no longer as playful as before. The rookie mercenary squatted in front of Thales and looked at him quietly.
His gaze was profound, and he seemed to be deep in thought.
"Little magic?"
Quick Rope's expression made Thales remember the man's true identity.
"Yes, that's why I used it … Ah!"
Thales could not continue. The increasing pain in his chest made him break out in cold sweat, and his lips trembled.
'Sh * t.'
Even though he lacked references from other Mystics, whether it was the assassination in the carriage on King's Avenue six years ago, the Mystic Gun attack at Broken Dragon Fortress, the unexpected knocking on the Door at Giza in Dragon Clouds City, or Asda's warning before they parted, all these experiences made Thales learn one thing:
In the face of danger, unless it was absolutely necessary, one should not easily resort to using mysterious mystic abilities.
The burden and damage to one's body caused by losing control should not be underestimated. It would also gradually increase as the amount of mystic energy involved increased. Once it reached the point of knocking on the Door, the price that followed would be fatal.
That was why Thales was very grateful to Taurus.
This was the most mysterious Mystic he had ever met. He was also the Mystic who treated him the best.
It was thanks to his generous help and patient teachings that he managed to find the 'anchor point'. He was able to maintain his rationality while he was' losing control '(perhaps too much of it), and he was able to get rid of the dangerous predicament of having to knock on the Door when his mystic energy was activated.
But even if Thales successfully avoided knocking on the Door and avoided the heart-wrenching and excruciating pain of using mystic energy in the past, the price of 'losing control' was still not to be underestimated.
Based on his experience with Stake, he would not be able to stay in this amazing state of 'losing control' for more than a few minutes. He would be awakened by the sudden pain, and his strange ability would be interrupted.
But Thales knew that when he escaped from Zakriel's axe just now, it was not the pain from using mystic energy that interrupted him.
It was …
Thales clutched his chest and stared in disbelief at the other side. The backpack Marina returned to him lay quietly on the ground, revealing a small crossbow arm.
'Crossbow of Time.
'Legendary anti-mystic equipment.
'Damn it.
'I found the reason why they are still in the Prison of Bones and could not escape.
'Looks like next time, I definitely can't go into' losing control 'when I have this thing in my hands …'
When he thought of this, Thales felt a throbbing pain in his chest again. His expression twisted.
"You look … very bad?"
Marina noticed the prince's unusual pain. She walked towards him with a torch in her hand.
"Were you hurt by that lunatic?"
'No.
'It's just the aftereffects of forcefully using mystic energy and the rejection from the crossbow.'
Thales wiped off his sweat. He trembled and forced himself to curl up the corners of his mouth.
"Yes.
He was very heavy-handed. "
Quick Rope still did not say a word.
Marina bent down and picked up a silver longsword from the ground.
"This is Ricky's sword."
Marina's eyebrows slowly furrowed under the light of the torch.
Thales' heart clenched again.
Marina stared at him, and her gaze became colder.
"I saw the brand on that lunatic's face. It's the same as Samel's. What happened to Ricky and the others?"
Thales pursed his lips. While enduring the pain, he also had to deal with the person in front of him. This made him feel mentally and physically exhausted. He felt like his head was about to explode.
'What can I say?
'Sorry, your boss had a hole in his head by my friend?'
"He …" he hissed.
At this moment, Quick Rope cried out in surprise!
"No!"
The rookie mercenary widened his eyes and looked at Marina. He pointed at Thales on the wall and said in horror,
"He's … Your nose is bleeding!"
Thales subconsciously touched his nose. As expected, his hand was wet.
Oh no.
It happened again.
Feeling dizzy, he leaned against the wall, trembling as he slid to the ground.
Marina frowned.
Quick Rope turned pale with fright. He took two steps forward and supported Thales.
"What's wrong with you?"
"About that." The prince smiled weakly.
"Ha, the Jadestar Royal Family is more or less different from the rest."
Jadestar Royal Family.
When Marina heard this phrase, her face became gloomy again.
"No, we have to do something. He doesn't look good."
Quick Rope looked worried. He turned to Marina.
"This lady? Please keep an eye on this side, I'll go look for his luggage … "
Marina looked at Thales with a complicated gaze, then looked at the sword in her hand. In the end, she sighed and walked forward with the torch.
"A prince whose surname is Jadestar."
Marina whispered as she looked at the pained Thales.
"Just now, you saved my life."
"Why?"
Thales tried his best to curl up the corners of his lips. He was drenched in cold sweat as he squeezed out a few teasing words.
"Maybe, maybe because I don't like killing people? Perhaps, because you are a woman, and very beautiful? So, according to the knight novels, I was destined to get weak in the knees … "
'Then, I'll take you into my harem.'
Thales felt pain in his heart again. It was so piercing that he scrunched up his facial features again. He bit down on the joke that he was tired of living.
But Marina did not care about his teasing. The girl, who had a bad temper before, was not angry either.
She just looked at him quietly.
"You know, we have a grudge, whether it's the past during the Bloody Year or the conflict in the tavern."
Thales snorted coldly. He was tortured by the pain and did not care about his tone.
"So, I have to kill you? Or would they stand by and watch you get killed? "
Marina paused for a moment. She looked conflicted.
"But your father will."
The swordswoman in red hesitated and said, "Just like eighteen years ago, when he ordered my family to be hanged."
This time, it was Thales' turn to be speechless.
But in the next moment, Marina seemed to have made up her mind. She suddenly raised her head and looked at the prince with a burning gaze.
"Seiber Norfolk," the girl said softly.
"He is my uncle and a member of the Starlight Brigade. He was the personal guard of the late Duke of Star Lake, John, and the person who murdered him."
Thales was instantly stunned.
'Seiber Norfolk.
'And the Duke of Star Lake.
'What does she mean?'
Thales stared at her in a daze. With his attention diverted, the pain in his body did not seem so unbearable anymore.
"You …"
"Listen." Marina stared at him. Her eyes were eager, as if she was staring at a life-saving straw.
"If you return to Eternal Star City, Prince Thales, if you are really different from your bastard father, if you really care about the blood of the innocent …
"Then please investigate this matter and find out the truth."
Marina's eyes slowly turned red, and Thales was so shocked that he was at a loss.
"Find out the truth about Duke John's assassination in Zodra during the Bloody Year."
'Duke John …'
Thales frowned.
"My father, Lanzar Norfolk, was the heir to the Honorary Earl of Norfolk.
"Before he was hanged, he had been serving the Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Department in secret." Marina gritted her teeth and said in a trembling voice.
"On the third day of King Aydi's assassination, which was also the eve of Duke John's assassination, my father secretly released a messenger crow.
"This was the only clue I had over the years."
Thales trembled slightly.
'The Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Department.
'On the third day of King Aydi's assassination …
'In other words …'
"I have wandered for many years, and I am alone. I can only seize all my power and use all my means, but I can't find anything, and I can't do anything." Marina's lips trembled, and her chest rose and fell. She seemed to be suppressing her emotions.
"But you are a prince, the future king. You can definitely do more than I can.
"Please."
Marina's eyes were red, and she said the last word through gritted teeth. No one knew how much she had fought and struggled.
At this moment, Quick Rope's voice came from the luggage area.
"What did I find, Thales? You might need this …"
Another wave of pain hit him. Thales shut his eyes tightly and waved his hands with all his might.
"I'm fine. It's an old problem. I just need to rest —"
The next second …
* Bang! *
A muffled sound rose abruptly, and Thales opened his eyes instinctively!
* Clang. *
The light from the fire trembled and fell to the ground together with the longsword.
Marina lost consciousness and fell limply to the ground.
Beside her, Quick Rope withdrew the palm he used to knock her unconscious with a stern expression.
Thales was stunned.
At that moment, the torch shone on the ground, making Quick Rope's expression look so cold and profound.
"Quick Rope, you —"
Quick Rope did not answer. He only bent down quietly and picked up the unconscious Marina.
"Can you hold on?"
Quick Rope asked faintly and dragged Marina to the side. "Or are you going to die in the next second?"
Thales stared at him in a daze.
"Why —" The prince only managed to finish his question halfway.
He saw the thing in Quick Rope's hand.
It was a special black crossbow.
It was nocked and ready, ready to be fired.
"You're asking why?"
Quick Rope picked up the torch with one hand and walked forward coldly.
"So, are you going to tell me the truth?
Thales Jadestar? "
Thales gritted his teeth.
'The truth …'
Quick Rope held the torch alone, shook the crossbow in his hand, and stared at him coldly.
"What exactly is that ability of yours?"
At that moment, Thales felt his body stiffen, and his tongue become heavy.
In a daze, even the aftereffects of losing control were no longer as uncomfortable.
He only stared quietly at the solemn Quick Rope.
Quick Rope also stared back at him quietly.
After a while, Thales sighed under the light from the fire.
He turned his head away and spoke laboriously under the double pressure of the pain in his body and the stare of his companion.
"I told you, this is a rare type of magic. After Constellation occupied this place …"
Quick Rope sneered.
"Magic?"
"Magic, my foot. As far as I know, there is no magic that can suddenly move us from one place to another. Not even six hundred years ago."
His cold rhetorical question made the rest of Thales' words die in his mouth.
"Listen, Thales."
Quick Rope glared at him.
"I may have been preposterous when I was young, but I grew up under the education of the suzerain's family, and I'm older than you by a dozen years, maybe even more …
"Especially after I became the heir, I learned even more unusual knowledge."
Quick Rope squatted down gently. The look in his eyes was incredibly serious.
The fire drew closer, and the heat from the torch made Thales a little uncomfortable.
However, his heart was ice-cold.
"I know who that man is, and I know what he meant by those words."
Quick Rope said nonchalantly.
It was as if this was just a casual conversation between families.
But only Thales knew that at that moment, the aura Quick Rope exuded was so cold, his tone was so fierce, and his gaze was so terrifying.
"I also know why you suddenly turned from a weak youth into a cold-faced killer."
I even know why you're in so much pain now. "
At that moment, Thales felt as if he no longer knew the person in front of him.
It was as if the optimistic, open-minded, and slightly humorous mercenary Quick Rope had turned back into the merciful, decisive prince of the enemy kingdom who abandoned everything.
The returned Moriah Walton.
"More than six hundred years ago, there was an incredibly terrifying calamity in the Battle of Eradication. As long as it was on the battlefield, our ancestors would definitely lose every battle they fought, and there was no hope.
"Because that calamity could foresee the future, and it knew the unknown."
Moriah sneered.
"From the weather on the next day, to the angle at which the sun would rise, to the enemy's every move, to the future of the world, everything was in its grasp."
'Foresee the future.'
Thales breathed in a daze.
'There's such an existence among Mystics?'
Moriah shook his head.
"How can you defeat an immortal monster who has all the futures and possibilities in its hands?"
At that moment, Thales' breathing froze.
"Until the birth of this weapon."
Moriah sized up the black crossbow in his hand. The emotions in his eyes were unclear.
"Its user was a Northlander. After the war, he pledged his loyalty to Eckstedt and King Raikaru.
"Hence, many years later, this crossbow passed through Nuven the First's hands. As a witness to Raikaru's oath, he gifted it to the City of Faraway Prayers, which was the most remote and the most difficult of the Ten Great Territories. Even though I just recognized that this Dragon Spear is the most unique legendary anti-mystic weapon in the family's ancient records.
"Crossbow of Time."
In the next second, Moriah stood up coldly.
He held the trigger, raised his slightly trembling arm, and aimed the arrow at the teenager in front of him.
Thales' face was ashen. He could only press his hand against his chest.
"You're a Mystic, Thales."
Moriah's eyes sparkled, and he spoke coldly.
"A calamity.
Just like the calamity who destroyed everything six hundred years ago. "
Thales closed his eyes gently.
'Finally.
This day still came. '
"Just like six years ago." Moriah's voice trembled slightly.
"The one who destroyed Dragon Clouds City and killed my father …"
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