'Brothers … killing each other?'
Barney Junior paused for a moment. His gaze was unfocused.
It was as if he was recalling the past.
When they heard this, the expressions of the guards varied.
Beldin and Naer were silent. Tardin snorted coldly. Bruley squeaked anxiously. Canon, who was walking at the back, even lost his composure and let out an "ah".
Nalgi held the torch in pain. The light flickered.
"Barney, please … after we go out, can we just … forget about it?"
Barney Junior's frown deepened. He seemed to be unable to understand.
"Forget … about it?"
Nalgi hummed in acknowledgment. His words traveled in the tunnel, and there was a vague emptiness in them.
"You know, find a place, live the rest of your life in peace, forget Zakriel, forget him …"
As he listened to their conversation, Thales suddenly felt that the atmosphere had become a little off.
As expected, in the next moment, Barney Junior's voice suddenly rose!
"Forget him?"
His footsteps paused for a few seconds. The group behind him was also thrown into disarray.
"What about the thirty-seven brothers who died in prison?"
Barney Junior snorted hatefully.
"What about the people who died in Renaissance Palace?
What about the old captain, Tony, and my father? "
He held his sword and shield tightly. There was indescribable misery and anger in his voice.
"What about His Majesty and the princes?
What about the blood that flowed in the kingdom? "
Nalgi fell silent for a moment after he was rebuked.
Beldin patted Barney Junior's shoulder worriedly. The latter shook his head to show that he was fine. He then continued walking and caught up with Samel.
However, just when the worried Thales thought that everything had returned to normal, Nalgi's faint voice traveled into his ears again.
"But Barney, have you ever thought about those who died? Maybe they …"
Nalgi paused for a moment before he said with great reluctance,
"Maybe they don't want to see us take revenge on each other and kill each other … Maybe they just want to rest in peace. They just want us to live in peace. They just want everything to go with the wind …"
Thales frowned.
The atmosphere was becoming more and more off.
"Nalgi," Tardin could not help but say.
"Stop talking."
Nalgi fell silent.
Barney Junior snorted softly.
"Gone with the wind …"
He stared at the torch beside him and slowly became perplexed. Then, he became determined.
"When my father's arms were broken, his blood was drained, and his eyes were wide open in pain like a stray dog on the roadside. When he lay on the floor that was dyed red and buried under the piles of dead bodies, he did not look like he had gone with the wind.
Barney Junior's words were filled with anger and pain.
The breathing in the tunnel became erratic.
"There's also the torture that the forty-odd of us have gone through over a dozen years, the pain that we've faced …"
"For more than a decade, the illusions you've seen, the past you've dreamed of, the future you've imagined …"
"Think about it again. Zakriel is the culprit behind all of this, but he escaped punishment, deceived the world, and got away with it …"
"Ask yourselves, Nalgi, you …"
"Can you really make all of this go with the wind?"
"Then, you can live the rest of your life in peace and confidence?"
His every word caused the guards to be slightly moved.
"No."
"At least I can't."
"And this is not a case of brothers killing each other."
Barney Junior said softly.
"When he, when Zakriel, abandoned his oath, betrayed the late king, and raised his blade against us …" Barney Junior drew his sword and said coldly, as if he had thrown away his last shred of emotion.
"He will no longer be our brother."
The coldness in and out of his words made Nalgi tremble slightly.
"We will do everything in our power to find him, capture him, and kill him, no matter where we are, be it in the mountains, in the oceans, at the ends of the earth, or in hell on earth." As he walked forward, Barney Junior's sword sliced through the wall, and it brought with it a sound that was as terrifying as his tone.
"We will force Zakriel to give us an answer and make him witness his own fate. We will see how his sins and debts in the past will be repaid one by one …"
At that moment, Barney Junior gritted his teeth.
"The traitor must pay the price."
Nalgi's voice rose again. This time, there was a hint of anxiety and pleading in his voice. "But, Barney!
"Be it your father or the old captain, they wouldn't want this kind of revenge …"
"Nalgi!" Tardin seemed to be unable to stand Nalgi's untimely advice anymore.
"Shut up!"
But Barney Junior's emotions seemed to have been stirred up by Nalgi.
He sneered and said, "Revenge?
No, this is definitely not just revenge. "
Barney Junior stared at the darkness in front of him with a frosty gaze.
"This is the responsibility of us survivors. It is our duty, our burden, and the meaning of our lives.
"Only by doing so can we face our hearts without shame or regret in the days and nights to come."
Nalgi no longer responded seriously. He only gulped and said in a downcast manner,
"Is that so?"
There was a hint of confusion and sadness in his voice.
At that moment, Samel stopped moving.
"We found it," he said hoarsely.
Thales was shocked.
He quickly raised his head, and only then did he realize that they had arrived at a brand new room.
The others also snapped out of the unpleasant conversation just now and looked around in surprise. Even as prisoners, they never had the chance to visit the bottom floor of the prison.
Under the illumination of the firelight, the room seemed very empty. There was nothing on the ground except for collapsed wood and stones. However, there was an empty shelf standing diagonally in the corner of the wall. The material of the shelf was unknown.
Obviously, there used to be countless shelves here, and they stored an abundance of resources.
The storage room of the Alchemy Tower.
But now …
"Where's the exit?" Barney Junior asked in puzzlement as he looked at the empty walls.
Samel's expression was solemn. He walked straight to the wall opposite the passage.
"Do you see this wall?
If Ricky is right, this is a door. "
Samel exhaled. Excitement rose in his eyes.
"The exit is hidden here. When the entire underground fortress is unfortunately lost, the remaining wizards will retreat to the storage room, and they will still have a final way to escape."
Everyone, including Thales, walked forward in amazement and touched the dusty wall.
It was rough to the touch, and it had a long history.
This huge, spacious wall that didn't even have any joints was actually …
'A door?'
"Now, we only need to find that special, hidden keyhole." Samel's tone was filled with hope.
"Open this door …"
He turned to Thales.
"Since you can let them out, Your Highness.
I believe that the key is definitely on you. "
Everyone looked at Thales.
Samel's invasive gaze made Thales very uncomfortable.
But with the urgent task at hand, the teenager only snorted softly before he took out the strange, long key from his bosom and handed it to Samel.
But an accident happened.
The moment Thales extended his palm, another hand swiftly intercepted him from the side!
Under the watchful eyes of the Royal Guards, that person snatched the key!
The sudden change stunned everyone.
* Thud! *
The person who snatched the key moved without hesitation. He knocked Naer and Tardin away, widened the distance between them, turned around, and raised his sword. He looked at the stunned crowd while he panted.
'What?'
Thales stared at that person in surprise.
He believed that it was not that the guards could not react, but that they did not expect …
'Why … is it him?'
But Barney Junior was the first to react. He instinctively shouted the name of the robber.
"Nalgi!
What are you doing? "
Before Thales' eyes, he was incredibly shocked to see the chatterbox of the Royal Guards. Nalgi, who had always seemed lively and interesting, was holding the key to the dungeon in one hand and the longsword in the other. He trembled as he stared at the other guards.
It was as if he had drawn a line between them.
'Tae Nalgi.
'It's him.'
"I'm sorry, Barney." Nalgi shuddered. His face was full of pain and hesitation. There was also a complicated hatred in his eyes. He stared straight at Barney.
"But …"
Nalgi's breathing trembled. His eyes were empty.
"But I can't. I can't let you open this door."
Thales noticed in surprise that Nalgi was very abnormal at that moment.
His humor and optimism when they first met were completely gone. His face was pale, and his gaze was dull.
It was as if he had become a different person.
Barney Junior stared at him in disbelief.
"What?"
Nalgi sucked in a deep breath with great force. His eyebrows twitched, and his cheeks twitched, as if he was fighting against something. The words he said were incoherent and illogical.
"I'm sorry! Everyone! "
He shouted until his voice cracked. The tip of his sword trembled as he pointed at everyone.
"But I can't let you, especially not Barney … go up."
This change of events caused the rest of the Royal Guards to be dumbfounded.
Samel's eyebrows were furrowed tightly. Tardin and Naer looked at each other worriedly. Bruley's whimpers became more agitated. Canon looked as if he had seen a ghost. Beldin clenched his teeth.
"Nalgi … What's wrong with you? Are you sick again? "Tardin tried his best to tone down the nervousness in his voice as he asked tentatively.
'Sick again?'
Thales' heart tensed.
Nalgi stared at the nervous Tardin. Pain and regret first appeared in his eyes.
A second later, his twitching cheeks curved, and he smiled strangely.
"Haha, maybe, but I think I … I can't take it anymore."
'Can't take it anymore?'
When they saw Nalgi's abnormal behavior, the Royal Guards burst into an uproar.
Beldin wanted to approach him quietly, but he was forced back by Nalgi's trembling sword tip.
"Nalgi, what happened?" Naer asked with a gloomy expression.
Nalgi shuddered again. He stared at the key in his hand before he looked at Barney.
"What happened? What happened? "
He raised his head and flashed an ugly and pained smile.
"I just … I can't, I can't let that idiot Barney go out and mess up everything … Everything is going well …
"I can't let him go up just like that … and do what he said.
"Whether it's for the living or the dead."
When Barney Junior heard this, he stared at Thales with a ghastly pale face.
Thales still stared at Nalgi in shock.
This former member of the Royal Guards was the first to come to him during the rescue operation.
'He was clearly very normal just a moment ago, wasn't he? He was still arguing with Barney about whether he should take revenge or let go, but why now … '
"Nalgi?"
Based on his previous experience of comforting Zakriel, Thales handed the longsword to Quick Rope and carefully raised his hands to show that he was not hostile.
He said gently, "Listen to me, calm down, okay? So what did you see … "
But it would have been better if he did not speak. The moment he spoke, Nalgi shuddered again and turned his head swiftly towards Thales!
"Your Highness, why?" Nalgi's face was contorted, and he sounded like he was about to cry.
Thales was stunned.
Before his eyes, Nalgi was staring at him with an expression that he could not imagine.
He looked like … a believer who was begging for salvation.
He also looked like … a powerless mortal who was disappointed in life.
His eyes were filled with despair and conflict.
He could not understand it.
"Why what?" Thales asked subconsciously.
Nalgi's face was full of despair, but he forced himself to laugh and said miserably,
"We were already prepared to spend the rest of our lives in this hopeless hell and die in silence …"
His voice grew hoarser, and he sounded like he was about to tear his throat.
"But why, why did you have to be cruel and indifferent here, in this hell?
Your Highness!
Why did you come to us?! "
The more Nalgi spoke, the more agitated he became. The tip of his sword trembled continuously, and Beldin had to pull Thales back a little.
"Why did you send us … back to this unbearably ugly human world again?"
Thales stared at him in a daze.
'Why?
What is he saying? '
"Nalgi!"
Barney Junior, who had gone through shock and puzzlement, finally could not hold it in anymore. His impatience turned into anger.
"Hand over the key. Don't forget, we are pressed for time, and we have a heavy responsibility!"
Barney Junior's eyes burned. He gritted his teeth and said,
"I don't care what kind of madness you are going through, we did not stand here for eighteen years just for ourselves. We did not live for our own feelings!
If you still have a shred of respect for the deceased and your brothers and sisters … "
But against everyone's expectations …
"Enough, Quill Son of a B * tch Barney!"
Nalgi, who had always been fearful and submissive to Chief Vanguard Barney, exploded in the next moment!
Nalgi was agitated, and he roared hysterically.
"You gutless bastard! Damn you, paranoid bastard! You are the most cruel and immoral murderer! "
Barney Junior was instantly stunned.
'Murder …
'Murderer?'
In an instant, the resolute and resolute vanguard felt his heart become a mess.
Under everyone's incredulous gazes, Nalgi's expression was ferocious, and he struggled.
"It has been eighteen years …"
He raised his sword, gritted his teeth, and squeezed out a few words.
"I've had enough of your self-righteousness and smart-aleck …"
Nalgi glared at the shocked Barney and pointed his sword at him.
"I've had enough of your incessant preaching and declarations, day and night …"
Nalgi sucked in a sharp breath, as if he wanted to vent all his discomfort and resentment.
He roared loudly, "I've had enough of your resolute, unyielding, and exemplary demeanor!"
Nalgi's eyes were red, and they were filled with tears. He breathed harshly. He seemed to be sobbing, but he also seemed to be angry.
The Royal Guards seemed to have never seen Nalgi like this before. All of them were caught off guard.
But when he saw him like this, Thales felt puzzled from the bottom of his heart.
'That's not right.'
The Sin of Hell's River surged into his brain.
Thales began to force himself to recall.
He recalled those abnormal things.
From the moment he came to the Prison of Bones.
All the factors, all the things, and all the logic …
'That's not right.
From the moment he saw Zakriel, Nalgi's attitude was very wrong …
'No.
'It's not just that place.
'Earlier.
Earlier! '
"Nalgi."
At this moment, Thales spoke in a daze.
"That song."
Nalgi's pained and struggling expression froze.
"What?"
His shoulders trembled violently. His expression changed drastically, and his breathing became irregular.
Thales remembered.
He finally figured out what was wrong.
In front of everyone, the teenager breathed absentmindedly. He enunciated his speculations clearly.
"Just now, Zakriel said that he was the only one who knew the truth …
"And all the misfortune started when he failed to dissuade the old King Aydi and stop him from marrying Queen Fiosa, a Mystic who claimed to be his old friend …"
Nalgi shuddered when he heard this.
"But …"
Thales' voice also trembled slightly. He seemed to have thought of something terrifying.
"But that song …" Thales stared at him in a daze.
"But when we met for the first time across the prison cell, that song you sang to appease Canon …"
Barney Junior, Samel, Beldin … The others frowned.
"That wasn't a coincidence, was it?"
At that moment, it was as if someone had pressed down on the air. Nalgi's breathing instantly calmed down.
In just a few seconds, Nalgi's expression changed from despair and pain to sadness and relief.
He closed his eyes and let his tears fall.
In the next second, Nalgi curled up the corners of his lips with great difficulty.
"You are very sharp, Your Highness."
Before everyone's incredulous gazes, Nalgi let out a forlorn chuckle as tears rolled down his face.
"No."
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