'A collective rebellion.'
Thales stared at Nalgi, whose breathing was unstable.
'Royal Guards? Rebellion? '
No one responded to Samel's heart-wrenching words.
Time seemed to have stopped for a moment. Everything stopped in the past and no longer moved forward.
It was only when Barney Junior inhaled and sneered in disdain that everyone snapped out of their shock again.
"Ridiculous." Barney Junior's voice sounded a little disheveled. "Nalgi, your shameless lies are just like —"
"Lies?"
Nalgi retorted loudly like an enraged animal, cutting off Barney Junior's unnatural question in his throat.
"Lies?"
There was a despairing coldness in Nalgi's tone, and it made everyone shudder even though it was not cold.
He looked around at his fellow guards, who all had different expressions on their faces, and said to Barney Junior with the ghost of a smile,
"Then take a guess, Barney.
"All these years in the dungeon, the thirty-seven brothers whom you said you would avenge and seek justice for, why did they pass away?"
'Thirty-seven …'
Without any warning, Barney Junior shuddered.
He was not the only one who reacted this way. Samel, Beldin, Tardin, Canon, and many others had different expressions on their faces.
Thales was still immersed in the shocking news of the guards' collective rebellion. He sized up the crowd again with a pale face.
Based on what Nalgi said, half of the Royal Guards knew about the king's assassination. Perhaps many of them were not participants, but at least, they were bystanders who did not do anything.
Then, in the Royal Guards, most of the participants and insiders who were no longer alive, what was their relationship with the Bloody Year, the tragedy of the royal family, and the mastermind behind the scenes?
In fact, these people who were still alive here, these people who swore the Praetorian Oath to be eternally loyal to the Minister …
Beldin, Tardin, Canon, Bruley …
Without realizing it, Thales' face turned pale, and he took a step back.
Nalgi's hoarse and pained voice continued.
"Do you remember Walker? He died during the internal strife in the first year. I guess he must have found out the truth later on and brought the matter to light … "
'Quick Knife Walker.'
Barney Junior's vision blurred for an instant, and the image of a slick and small man appeared before his eyes.
"Morion and Bug were innocent until they found out that their companions, who had been with them all the time, might be traitors, and that they had indirectly caused the death of the late king. These facts were unacceptable to them …"
Nalgi's words were weak, but they contained a shocking meaning. It caused the expressions of the guards to change drastically. Samel even exhaled in pain.
"Kamal knew about it, but he was too proud. He was so proud that he couldn't be loyal and guilty at the same time. Facing your merciless scolding, he still lived as if nothing had happened …"
Morion, Bug, and Carmyra.
Barney Junior's breathing slowly stopped.
Beldin's aura trembled. Tardin's eyes were filled with fear.
"There's also Larley, the big guy. I'm not familiar with him, so I don't know if he wanted to kill because he discovered the truth, or if someone else discovered the truth and wanted to kill him …"
One name after another floated in the air.
Nalgi's words were filled with misery, and he was sobbing.
"Gold and Skeleton might not have participated in it, but they always carried a deep sense of guilt, and it was difficult for them to get over it. Until the two bastards decided to throw everything away …
"Rogo was very determined in the beginning, but I guess the dark life in prison eroded his will …
"Cox was very calm, but in the end, he couldn't face the disappearance of so many people. He couldn't accept the fact that he had implicated them because of his own selfishness …"
As Nalgi spoke, the guards had long since lost their composure and were moved. Samel's eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, Naer stood dumbfounded, Bruley clenched his fists in pain, and Canon covered his forehead as he trembled slightly.
In the end, Nalgi, whose face was covered in tears, was practically roaring.
"How many of them died because they couldn't bear the pain of being imprisoned? How many of them died because they were wronged? How many of them actually died because they were filled with guilt and depression? Do you really not know, proud and resolute Quill Barney?"
As Thales listened to Nalgi's words, he felt increasingly depressed.
Back then, the forty-six Royal Guards of Constellation who were imprisoned because of shame, guilt, pain, crimes, and the unspeakable truth …
'How did they spend the past decade or so?'
"I …" Barney Junior opened his mouth helplessly, but he had no words to say. He could only gasp for air.
But Nalgi's words became sharper and sharper.
Nalgi gritted his teeth and said, "And you, you paranoid maniac, have been complaining about your injustice in front of them day and night for more than ten years. You've been cursing the damn traitors, and you've been spitting on shameless conspiracies …"
Barney Junior seemed to have remembered something. His expression became dazed, puzzled, and surprised.
A few seconds later, the emotions on his face turned into the deepest fear and panic.
"When you made a solemn vow in front of those thirty-seven people that you wouldn't turn back even if you died, threatened to dig out the truth, exposed everything, threatened to make the sinners pay the price, let our brothers avenge their humiliation, and even forced them to support you …"
Nalgi's tears flowed down uncontrollably.
"Do you really know what your seemingly righteous and loyal accusation and determination meant to them, who were already dispirited and unable to escape from their nightmares?"
At that moment, Barney Junior's body swayed!
He stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground so that he would not fall limply.
But the vanguard's face was already as pale as a sheet, and he was drenched in cold sweat.
"No." Barney Junior, who was almost absent-minded, was like a timid and helpless child at that moment.
"No!"
"You don't f * cking know what you're talking about, Nalgi …"
Barney Junior staggered a step back and shook his head madly. His emotions were filled with terror.
"Over the years, I watched them die, I buried them, I gave them a speech … For them, for the sake of clearing their injustice one day, I have been able to drag out my ignoble existence until now …"
Barney Junior's condition had almost hit rock bottom. He talked to himself like a madman, and he was not any less than Zakriel in the past.
The guards stared at each other in an almost absent-minded manner. They could read the reluctance and pain in each other's eyes.
But Nalgi, whose mental state was not much better than Barney Junior's, was clearly not prepared to let the vanguard go.
"Hahaha, are you saying that they are the only reason why you can continue living?" Nalgi laughed and cried as he mocked Barney Junior.
"But you don't know …
"Most of them carry shame and shame, guilt, self-blame, pain, and torture after they are imprisoned. They face their ugliest selves and struggle to survive. Every day feels like a year …
"And you, Quill Barney!"
Nalgi pointed at Barney Junior with hatred written all over his face.
"You thought you were encouraging them, saving them, and redressing their grievances …
"But in fact, you were constantly lashing at their hearts, reminding them, recalling them, and deepening their impression and shame of that night. You used your noble and loyal moral integrity and personality, your righteous slogans, and your determination to make them suffer even in prison.
"You forced them to have nowhere to go, and they tortured themselves …"
As he listened to Nalgi's words, Barney Junior was like an unfortunate traveler who fell into an abyss. He trembled in fear, and even his breathing became uneven.
"It's you!"
Nalgi's vicious accusation was engraved in his heart.
"It's you. It's you, one after another. Day after day, you used a method that seemed to encourage them, but was actually cursing them. You forced them into a dead end, and in the end, you forced them to die to free themselves!"
Nalgi's words were heart-wrenching. They echoed in the underground prison, and the expressions of all those who heard them changed.
"You are the real murderer of those thirty-seven brothers!"
Quill Barney! "
* Clang! *
While everyone's minds trembled, the sword and shield in Barney Junior's hands fell to the ground at the same time, and they trembled nonstop.
"No!"
Barney Junior covered his face with his hands in pain, and his entire body trembled.
"No … No, it's not me …"
His voice was timid and fearful.
In the face of Barney Junior in this state, Nalgi laughed loudly.
"And you, the young soldier, are still returning to the capital in a righteous and high-spirited manner to uncover the truth and seek justice for them?"
His smile slowly faded away.
"Stop joking, you son of a b * tch, Barney …
"You don't know that when you stood there and accused Zakriel just now, every word you said made me sick."
Barney Junior's moans became even more pained.
Thales watched this incredibly cruel confrontation with complicated emotions. The discomfort and puzzlement in his heart were tormenting him as well.
He remembered the brutal and merciless confrontation between the Star Killer and the Raven of Death in the Land of Barren Rocks in the City of Faraway Prayers.
But even then, it could not be compared to the scene before his eyes.
The other guards watched this scene in a daze. Even Samel was speechless.
For a time, only Barney Junior's pained moans could be heard in the underground prison.
He bent down and pressed his hands on his knees. He inhaled and exhaled mouthfuls of air, as if this was the only way he could obtain nourishment to continue living.
"But …
"All of you don't know, do you?"
Barney Junior turned to the others while trembling. He no longer had the calmness and awe-inspiring air of a vanguard. "That's right … It's impossible for all of us not to know about such an important matter …
"Tell me, he must have made this up …"
His tone was almost begging.
He hoped to get an answer.
But the answer was usually not what he wanted.
"I suspected it."
A deep voice rose.
But he lowered his head under everyone's gazes. His face was ashen.
"The order that day was too strange. It was too rare, but no one stood up to oppose it, so I …
"Later, when I was in prison, I also suspected it, but …"
He did not continue.
Barney Junior's gaze was first filled with shock, then despair grew.
Beldin stared at Naer in disbelief.
Another calm, frail, and frighteningly frail voice cut in.
"It's true."
Everyone turned their gazes to the other person.
"It's true … I know what Nalgi said."
The speaker answered with a lifeless voice.
Barney Junior's voice trembled as he looked at the speaker.
"Tardin? You? "
Thales furrowed his eyebrows. Tardin threw down his sword and spoke in a desolate and deathly manner.
"If they told me that this would happen, if I knew that Constance would … Then I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have …"
As he spoke, tears rolled down his cheeks.
"I wouldn't have …"
Tardin's throat seemed to be blocked. It lowered along with his head, and he no longer responded.
Samel stared at him in shock.
"No." This was the dumbfounded Barney Junior.
A third trembling voice rang out.
"It shouldn't have been like this …"
Thales turned his head. Canon was shivering as he leaned against the corner of the wall.
"I was the one who delayed them. I recalled the sentries and left the door open … But according to the plan, everything should have been simple and straightforward. It should have ended before they even realized it. Then, I should have died with the assassins. I shouldn't have lived until now …"
Canon's eyes were lifeless as he muttered to himself,
"I'm sorry …"
The light in Barney Junior's eyes gradually dimmed, as if his last glimmer of hope had been extinguished.
"Canon?"
Cannon let out a strained laugh.
"Nalgi was right. Samel was also right. This is our fault. We can't run away from it." He shook his head nervously and muttered to himself,
"We can't let Zakriel be alone … He's already shouldering too much …"
When Nalgi finished speaking, the dungeon was silent for a long time.
Then, Barney Junior's hoarse and numb voice rose again.
"Is there anyone else?"
A few seconds later, Bruley sobbed in pain and knelt down. He stuttered in pain.
"Bruley?" Barney stared at him in a daze.
Nalgi chuckled softly. His eyes were unfocused.
"This is why he can't speak anymore …" Nalgi said softly, "He doesn't have the courage to face it …"
The last hint of expression on Barney Junior's face disappeared.
"Tardin, Canon, Bruley, Nalgi …" The vanguard stared numbly at the four people in front of him, who were behaving differently.
"Over the past decade or so, thirty-seven people …
"Why … Why didn't you tell me the truth?"
His voice echoed in the four walls.
No one spoke.
Thales watched them with a depressed heart.
At that moment, it was as if nothing else mattered.
"The truth?"
The one who spoke was still Nalgi.
With a mocking gaze, he looked straight at Barney Junior.
"Barney, do you know who was the leader of the incident that year?"
When he said this, almost everyone's expression changed, including Barney's.
His almost numb and lifeless face twitched again.
Thales suddenly moved. He seemed to have understood something.
Nalgi bent down and laughed in pain.
"Barney … You pathetic fool. He really loved you, didn't he?"
There was deep hatred in Nalgi's words.
"That's why he protected you too well. You didn't know anything … Perhaps he was betting on both sides. He still hoped that after the incident, you could escape with your innocence and ignorance and stay in the palace.
"And even take over his position?"
Barney Junior's eyes suddenly widened!
"No, no …"
The vanguard mumbled.
A great wave of grief and despair came crashing down on him.
"That's right."
He heard Nalgi say coldly,
"That year, the person who led us to gather together, instigated us to let the rebellion in the palace run amok, threw us all into the endless abyss, and then escaped the final judgment alone was not someone else."
Nalgi gritted his teeth. The emotions in his eyes were indescribable.
"I hate him. I curse him."
He said hatefully,
"That's right, the vice-captain of the Royal Guards.
"Quill Barney the Senior.
"Your damned father."
* Thud. *
Barney Junior's weapon fell from his hand, and his knees touched the ground.
He knelt on the ground in a daze. His breathing was intermittent, and his eyes were empty.
From that moment onwards, there was no longer a hint of life on his face.
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