Zakriel's words rang in Thales' ears. They echoed among the broken walls, but they sounded like a bronze bell being rung in a city tower. His voice lingered in the air and echoed.
'Sensory Mystic.'
The Knight of Judgment's words were so shocking that Thales only recovered from his shock after a while. He pondered over the horrifying meaning behind his words.
'Senses.
'What kind of name of origin is this?'
Thales thought in a daze in the silent dungeon.
'And she's … the queen of the late King of Constellation, Aydi the Second?
What's her relationship with the Bloody Year? '
Thales was shocked by too many things that night.
Thales did not even have time to care about the reactions of the people around him. He could only sense the people's emotions from the chaotic and rapid breathing around him.
Barney Junior was in a daze. Beldin tightened his grip on his weapon. Tardin and Nalgi widened their eyes at the same time. Bruley's panting and Canon's low whimpers rose into the air one after another. Samel's gaze was fierce, and Quick Rope bit his left index finger tightly, trying hard to make himself look inconspicuous.
"No, you mean, you mean …"
The Second Logistics Officer Sazel Naer's trembling breathing came from the dungeon.
Everyone stared at Zakriel in disbelief. His chest rose and fell, and his emotions became unstable.
"Impossible."
"When she entered the palace, we all saw Queen Fiosa. We all remember what she looked like."
Penal Officer Beldin's face was pale. He seemed to be unable to believe his memories of the past.
"Even when Prince Kessel splashed hot black tea on her during the wedding banquet, she did not …"
The Knight of Judgment snorted coldly.
"Really?"
The problem is, do you remember her face, or is it what the Sensory Mystic wants you to see? "
Beldin's gaze froze for a moment.
Zakriel questioned him coldly, "What are you talking about?
"Ask yourself, did you see Queen Fiosa, or the calamity Freuland?"
'Freuland.'
Thales took a deep breath as he muttered the name. Confusion flashed in his eyes.
'Freuland?'
Suddenly, Thales' memories trembled!
It was as if a bell had rung from the distant past.
Thales' gaze gradually froze.
'Freuland.
He heard that name before. '
Thales stared at the shocked crowd in confusion. He tried his best to remember.
He must have heard it somewhere, but at that time, he must have been doing something that he couldn't afford to be distracted, so he didn't pay much attention to it.
Where was it?
"His Majesty's queen, she's a, a …" Barney Junior's eyes were lifeless as he mumbled to himself, as if he was still digesting this fact.
Tardin's laughter could barely be heard.
"No, she hasn't done anything abnormal during her reign … She hasn't even killed a chicken!"
Tardin looked at Zakriel expectantly.
"Perhaps you've misunderstood, or perhaps you've mistaken …"
But the Knight of Judgment was obviously unmoved.
"That's what I thought in the beginning, and I also hoped that I was wrong."
Zakriel said slowly. There was a gloomy look in his eyes.
"More than anyone else."
His gloomy face, filled with despair and madness, made everyone's heart sink.
At this moment.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha …"
Everyone turned their heads around and saw Samel covering the brand on his face. His eyes were closed, and his shoulders were shaking. He laughed without a care in the world.
"Is this the reason for your betrayal?
The reason why we have to bear the guilt, stigma, torture, and pain for so long … "
There was misery in Samel's laughter.
"In the end, it was because the king married a woman of unknown origins?"
He smiled and shook his head, but there was no mirth in his cold eyes.
When he heard this, Zakriel's expression became even more gloomy.
"You don't understand." The knight shook his head laboriously.
* Clang! *
A sharp sound was heard. It was Barney Junior stabbing his sword into the ground.
"I really don't understand."
Barney Junior seemed to have suffered a huge blow. He used all his strength to squeeze out a few intermittent sentences.
"Regardless of who the king wants to marry, be it a calamity, a great dragon, or even an elf or an orc, no matter how absurd, strange, illogical, or unbearable it is …"
Barney Junior paused for a moment. His cheeks twitched, and he said resolutely,
"But that is His Majesty's decision!
If you are dissatisfied, if you have doubts, then protest and remonstrate with him in a dignified manner. "
The more he spoke, the angrier he became.
"That should not be an excuse for you to participate in the rebellion and collude with the enemy to kill the king!"
No one knew which word stimulated Zakriel's sensitive and unstable nerves. He grunted in pain and also slammed his battle axe into the ground!
* Thud! *
"I did it!"
Zakriel was like an enraged beast. The veins on his neck bulged, and his hair stood on end. His fierce gaze swept through the area like a blade.
Everyone was shocked by him.
"I tried to remonstrate with His Majesty and warn him of the threat that came from his bedside, but he always brushed it off with a smile.
"I tried to contact the nobles who were still loyal to the royal family and trusted by the king, hoping that they could influence His Majesty."
The Knight of Judgment paused between each sentence. His voice was filled with resentment.
"I tried to ask for help from the crown prince and Lord Hansen of the Secret Intelligence Department, but it was useless …"
When he said this, Zakriel showed a pained expression and shook his head while he trembled.
"It's too late."
Everyone looked at each other. Among them, Barney Junior and Samel's gazes were the coldest and most unforgiving.
The Knight of Judgment lowered his head. His tense shoulders and tone softened at the same time. There was helplessness and despair in his voice.
"I don't know when it started …
"His Majesty seemed to have changed into a different person. He was once gentle and tolerant, but he became tough, unyielding, and a man of his word …"
His confused gaze slowly focused, as if he wanted to seek acknowledgment from the people in front of him.
"You know it, you've seen it before …
"His meetings with the important ministers became shorter and shorter, and he summoned his private advisors more and more frequently …
"He began to alienate his ministers, ignore their advice, and even his family, who were related to him by blood. He took back the crown prince's position, reprimanded the second prince, who led the army, and demoted his brother, the duke …"
Thales, whose mind was shaken, could not help but frown.
The knight's complaints and bitter words continued.
"His relationship with the vassals worsened. He even scolded the Duke of the Northern Territory, who had always been on good terms with him, and issued orders to reprimand the disgruntled Duke of Blade Edge Field …
"He issued royal decrees in a domineering manner, and even convened the High Nobles Parliament to punish the loyal nobles, investigate the dissenting ministers, and believe in the deceitful and delusional people who incited national politics …"
Every word was hoarse, and every word was filled with pain.
"He ordered to increase taxes, expand the army, borrow money, and get rid of officials. Every order challenged the patience of every subject in the kingdom, be it those who were loyal to him or those who were disgruntled …"
As they listened to Zakriel's words, many of the former Royal Guards had melancholy and indistinct looks in their eyes.
"Until the people in the kingdom had no way of making a living. Emotions surged, the ministers and subordinates were divided, and rebellions rose everywhere. It destroyed his good reputation of 'Eternal Rule', which he had built up for decades."
When he said this, Zakriel's shoulders twitched. Like a terrified child, he said in a trembling voice,
"At that time, I knew …
"Our beloved King Aydi, the former King of Eternal Rule, was no longer our king."
The audience around him had different expressions. Some were angry, some were sad, some were hesitant, and some were sad. But all of them remained silent, as if Zakriel's words had poked at their weakness.
'He is no longer our king.'
Thales listened to these words in a daze, but he had a strange feeling.
'Their original King Aydi …
'How was he?
Or should I say, how should he be? '
Zakriel's voice grew deeper.
"He has been bewitched, coerced, and controlled by the most evil existence in the world."
His voice became downcast, and his eyes became dull.
He was like a weak traveler who had been trudging through the desert and had drunk his last drop of water before he finally fell before the mirage where his hopes were extinguished.
While the crowd panted in silence, Nalgi put down the torch. Zakriel's body drew a long shadow on the wall.
"Bewitched? By the queen? By the calamities? "
After a long while, Barney Junior squeezed out a sentence from his dry throat.
"How did you know?
You judged the queen's crimes and sentenced the late king to death based on a few words dug out from a pile of yellowed old papers? "
Zakriel snapped out of his daze and chuckled.
"How would I know?
That night. "
His gaze drifted about, as if memories had been evoked.
"That terrifying, rainy night."
The Knight of Judgment forced these words out of his mouth, and it sent chills down everyone's spine.
'Rainy night?'
"His Majesty dismissed all his followers, servants, and guards in the name of meditation, including the old captain and Barney Junior, who were in charge of the Supreme Shield and the Judgment Spear.
"And he held his new queen's hand alone and went to attend that unbelievable invitation."
The Royal Guards felt their hearts tense.
"What invitation?" Nalgi could not help but ask.
Zakriel's expression became dazed.
It was as if he was lost in the past and could not walk out of the shadow of the past.
"That night, I held the Supreme Sword tightly, and with its power, I followed them to the sacred Hall of Stars. I hid in the shadows behind the pillars, and I did not even dare to breathe loudly …"
The Knight of Judgment's pupils slowly shrank.
"Finally, I saw them."
The dungeon was very quiet. Only the waning light from the torch illuminated the dilapidated old walls of the Magic Tower. It was like the dead silence after a coffin was buried.
Barney Junior's expression was still stiff. Samel pursed his lips, and the others looked at each other in confusion.
Thales held his breath.
"Them?" Nalgi subconsciously asked with a tremble in his voice.
Zakriel did not look at him. He only nodded.
"The storm that night was so strong that it could even overturn the sentry tower …"
In the dark dungeon, Zakriel spoke of the terrifying past in a faint voice.
"On the balcony of the hall where lightning flashed, thunder roared, wind blew, and rain fell, two mysterious guests appeared one after another without warning."
'Mysterious guests.
'Appeared without warning.
'In … Eternal Star City eighteen years ago.
'No.'
Thales felt his heart begin to beat faster.
Zakriel's words were mixed with his uncontrollable breathing. They rose and fell.
"They were like the legendary gods who descended to the human world, but also like demons who woke up in a terrifying manner in the Abyss of Evil."
'Gods.
Demons. '
"Who are they?" Thales asked stiffly.
Zakriel suddenly lowered his head and cast Thales a cold glance.
It made the latter's heart skip a beat.
A few seconds later, a dry voice came out of the Knight of Judgment's lips, which were almost drained of blood.
"That man appeared in the rain. His posture was elegant, and his actions were calm. But his body was as dry as ever, and as clean as new. Untouched by the wind and rain, he arrogantly sized up Renaissance Palace, as if he was looking at a chess piece that would be eaten sooner or later."
Thales subconsciously tensed his body.
In the dungeon, the knight's former colleagues stared at him without blinking.
"And that woman …"
Zakriel shook his head. His eyes were filled with fear and wariness, which he only saw when he was acting abnormally.
"When the storm and wind hit her, the scene was unforgettable. It was as if the wind and rain had instantly sunk into her skin, which seemed to be alive. They were absorbed completely, and not a single drop was left behind."
Everyone slowed down their breathing, as if they were afraid of waking up a sleeping beast.
"They either respectfully or disdainfully called the queen by her real name: Freuland."
Zakriel shuddered for some reason.
"Similarly, our queen also called them by their names, as if she was reuniting with old friends.
"Those are two equally taboo names."
Thales squeezed his eyes shut.
Barney Junior interrupted the knight's narration with a panting voice.
"Watchman, you are saying, no, you are accusing His Majesty —"
But Zakriel's voice rose abruptly, and he spoke loudly.
"I saw it with my own eyes that night when it rained heavily!"
Barney Junior's words came to a halt because of his provocation.
Zakriel's face was illuminated by the firelight. Only the brand on his forehead was hidden in the darkness, revealing his usual determined and indifferent face.
"That night, King Aydi was the witness, and Constellation was the wager."
The Knight of Judgment's voice seemed to be infused with some kind of power. As he spoke, it caused the people's blood vessels to throb loudly.
"Your Majesty.
"Sensory Mystic.
"Air Calamity.
"Blood Calamity."
The firelight was dim. Zakriel no longer cared about the people's expressions.
He said coldly, "The unprecedented alliance between the Supreme King of Constellation and the three great calamities …
"And so it was formed."
At that moment, Thales opened his eyes!
He remembered.
'Freuland.
He'd heard this name before.
Six years ago in Dragon Clouds City, when Shield District was about to be reduced to dust, when he held the shivering girl in his arms with gritted teeth while he was caught in a confrontation between two terrifying existences …
"Have you forgotten the original purpose of our cooperation, Giza?"
At that time, the Air Mystic, who was elegant and had a cold gaze, said so.
"The cooperation between the three of us, regardless of whether it was my plan, Freuland's ideals, or your persistence, was all for the sake of the Mystics one day …
"… to break free from those shackles?"
'Yes.
Freuland. '
Thales was drenched in cold sweat, and his breathing quickened.
But the others had no time to care about his loss of composure.
"You don't understand what kind of taboo His Majesty broke."
In the underground prison, Zakriel raised his head and spoke coldly in front of the increasingly nervous people.
"He tried to touch the power that mortals should not covet, hoping to use it to rule the kingdom we are proud of, to rule the kingdom we built on the ruins of the Battle of Eradication."
The Knight of Judgment's complicated gaze swept past every listener, and finally stopped on Thales' face.
"In his speech, His Majesty even called them, the three monsters, his —"
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