Even though he was prepared for this, Thales still tensed up when Zakriel appeared.
He still chased after him.
The Knight of Judgment.
At that moment, he was the greatest threat in the dungeon.
Zakriel did not seem to be in a good condition.
The knight was already in a sorry state. At that moment, his eyes were half-closed. He seemed to have suffered a great deal of damage from the flash grenade just now. His footsteps, which were once as steady as an abyss, now needed the support of the wall and the weapon in his hand to stand properly. His right shoulder was wrapped in thick bandages, and there was a patch of blood on it.
But even so, no one dared to underestimate him.
Zakriel gritted his teeth, held the wall, and stepped into the storage room.
He was like a beast that gradually revealed itself in the darkness.
"No, f * cking …" Quick Rope nervously raised his crossbow, but before he could fire, Thales pressed his hand down!
"Calm down."
Thales held Quick Rope's arm tightly and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Not now."
Not only Thales and Quick Rope, but Samel, Beldin, Naer, and the others also had unpleasant expressions.
"Hahahaha, 'Say no more'?"
Nalgi recovered from his daze and smiled sadly.
"No." Nalgi's expression changed. He swept his gaze over everyone.
"Everyone here has the right to make me shut up."
Nalgi raised his trembling finger and pointed at the Knight of Judgment.
"Except you.
"Zakriel."
Zakriel stopped in his tracks.
He was already covered in wounds as he stood by the door. He looked at Nalgi, who looked as if he had given up everything. His gaze swept past the group of his former colleagues, who were dejected and dejected, and were unable to get up.
The prison was very quiet. Only the pained or rapid breathing of the people could be heard.
Zakriel shook his head slightly and looked away.
"Nalgi.
You're tired. "
The Knight of Judgment murmured softly, as if he was coaxing a child.
But Nalgi did not appreciate it.
"Yes, I'm tired."
Nalgi took a few steps back and smiled brokenly.
"I've had enough of your arrogance and arrogance, Knight of Judgment."
Zakriel frowned.
"You don't want to tarnish the royal family's reputation, but you can't bear to expose us shameless traitors." Nalgi's breathing became more rapid.
"You always want to find the most comprehensive solution."
He narrowed his eyes, and there was despair in his voice.
"But do you think that you are shouldering all the sins and the pillars that are about to collapse by yourself? That no one's honor has been tarnished and no one's reputation has been damaged? That you are silent and carrying the heavy burden alone is a great sacrifice, and that you are worthy of everyone?"
Zakriel said nothing.
Barney Junior was still kneeling on the ground in a daze. Beldin looked nervous, and Samel was silent.
Nalgi began to tremble.
A few seconds later, the resentment he had suppressed for who knew how many years erupted from his throat.
"F * ck you!"
"You damn bastard, arrogant watchman Zakriel!"
His curses echoed in the storeroom, causing the torch in Samel's hand to flicker.
But no one made a sound, including Zakriel.
As he stared at Zakriel and Nalgi, who had a mental breakdown, Quick Rope gulped and poked Thales nervously.
"What did I say? I knew it. These lunatics are unreliable …"
However, Thales only looked at the people in the field with a complicated gaze and did not say a word.
'Yes.'
He stared at Barney, who had a mental breakdown, and Nalgi, who had lost his soul.
'But if it weren't for these unreliable lunatics, we would have become part of the Prison of Bones a long time ago.'
"You thought you were protecting us, protecting those who have passed away …"
Nalgi's eyes were red. He roared at Zakriel, who had a melancholic expression on his face, like a wild beast.
"But you don't understand!"
Nalgi's voice gradually became softer, but the difficulty and despair in his words became more obvious.
"You sacrificed yourself for others and took responsibility for your own crimes. You are great, glorious, selfless, a hero …"
The poor prisoner of the Royal Guards collapsed and knelt on the ground. His weapon and the key slipped from his hand at the same time.
"But you, a selfish bastard who calls yourself a saint, threw endless self-blame, guilt, and torture back at us! You made us play the ugliest roles on the stage, and face the painful reality that you could not face! "
Nalgi hit his chest hysterically.
"We!"
Zakriel lowered his head and remained silent amid the deafening accusations. It was as if he did not exist in this world.
Nalgi seemed to be tired of cursing. He collapsed on the ground, and with a hoarse voice, he mumbled absentmindedly,
"You and Barney Senior, both of you are executioners who kill without spilling blood …"
This sentence made Barney Junior, who was kneeling on the ground, shudder.
Nalgi sobbed and said,
"The only difference is …
"Barney Senior made us hate him …
"You, you made us … hate ourselves."
Nalgi lowered his head and buried his face between his hands. His shoulders trembled.
A few seconds later, Zakriel raised his head in the seemingly endless silence.
He extended his hand in Nalgi's direction in a daze, but his hand trembled halfway, and he slowly lowered it.
'The past cannot be changed.
'But at least …'
Zakriel averted his gaze, as if he did not dare to look at Nalgi again. Instead, he staggered towards Thales.
This made many people nervous!
"Barney, Barney, wake up!"
As Zakriel drew closer, Beldin, who was the person with the highest position after Barney Junior — even though he had been stripped of his position a long time ago — anxiously shouted the vanguard's name, hoping that the latter would do something.
But Barney Junior's gaze was unfocused as he knelt on the ground, as if he did not hear him.
Zakriel glanced at Barney Junior with a deathly still gaze. When he saw the brand on the latter's face, he immediately averted his gaze.
'He's gone.'
Zakriel said to himself in silence.
The resolute and unshakable vanguard, Quill Barney, was no longer here.
He turned his head around dejectedly and continued to move forward.
"Damn it!"
Beldin cursed and gave up on waking Barney up.
He frowned and looked back. Other than the absent-minded Nalgi, Canon was kneeling on the ground and sobbing in pain. Bruley covered his head and closed his eyes tightly. Tardin was dejected and did not move.
The veins on Beldin's hands tightened.
'No.'
The truth of the past caused everyone, including him, to be in a state of chaos. His colleagues who had gone insane made him at a loss, and Zakriel, who he once looked up to, was a stranger to him.
Behind him was the Jadestar bloodline, which he swore to protect, even though they had long since tainted this mission.
'What should I do?'
In the face of his disorganized colleagues and Zakriel, who was getting closer and closer to him, Beldin, the only one left among the guards, finally made up his mind and raised his weapon after a few seconds of hesitation.
"Naer, Samel, help me!"
He summoned Naer, who was still somewhat normal, and Samel, who had a grave expression on his face, and tried to organize his final defense.
Naer sighed and walked to his side.
Samel hesitated for a moment before he threw down his torch and raised his longsword.
Zakriel continued to walk forward, swaying step by step. He ignored Beldin and the other two, who retreated as if they were facing a great enemy.
Thales slowly furrowed his eyebrows before he slowly relaxed them.
"I understand, Commanding Officer."
Beldin raised his axe and stood in front of Thales. He hissed at Zakriel.
He hissed at Zakriel, "You might not be that traitor. At least, you are not the only one. Perhaps you have your own difficulties, and we no longer have the right to criticize you."
Beldin gritted his teeth.
"But no matter what happened in the past … you cannot touch this child."
As he walked forward, Zakriel's face was completely illuminated by the torch on the ground. The brand on his forehead became even more obvious.
"Look at them, Beldin."
The Knight of Judgment stared at Barney and Nalgi, who knelt by the side, with a dejected look on his face. He looked as if he was about to break down. He shook his head with a sad expression.
"Trust me. Bury everything here …"
"This is the best way."
Zakriel drew closer. The blade of the axe in his hand reflected a cold light.
Thales could not help but bite his lip when he saw Beldin, who still stood in front of him despite his poor condition.
At that moment, the Knight of Judgment suddenly stopped moving.
Beldin, who was extremely nervous, exhaled.
Zakriel furrowed his eyebrows and slowly turned his head around.
Barney Junior, who knelt on the ground absentmindedly, extended his hand and grabbed the knight's calf weakly.
"Zakriel, tell me."
The pale Barney Junior raised his head and glared at Zakriel with bloodshot eyes. His voice was half-pleading and half-questioning.
"My father … Why did he do this to me?"
Barney Junior looked as if he had just woken up from a nightmare. His expression was absent-minded.
He stuttered, "Vice-captain Quill Barney … What kind of person is he?"
This sentence caused the expressions of all the prisoners to change at the same time.
Even Zakriel was dazed for a moment.
The dungeon was silent for a few seconds.
"He was a good man." Zakriel lowered his gaze and reminisced about his old friend from a long time ago. There was respect in his voice.
"He was just born in the wrong era."
Barney Junior instantly shuddered.
Once he finished speaking, Zakriel took a light step forward and shook off Barney Junior's arm.
Barney Junior was immersed in Zakriel's words. He was dragged by Zakriel and slowly fell to the ground, but he did not seem to notice it.
Zakriel was getting closer and closer to them. They could even see the brand on his forehead.
This made Beldin more and more nervous. Quick Rope even pulled Thales back.
"What do we do now?"
Quick Rope gritted his teeth and whispered, "We can't win against him, but we can't even find the exit. Where can we run to?"
'Yes.
What should we do?
Where can we run to? '
Thales met Zakriel's gaze and found that there was only endless darkness in it.
Thales could not help but take a deep breath.
He suddenly remembered how Zakriel shivered in the cage, and how he muttered hysterically to himself at the world he could not see.
'"I know you are testing me … but please believe me, I have never wavered because of sacrifices. I know that this is what I must do. No matter whether it brings me merits or sins, good deeds or evil deeds, I will accept them calmly, and will never run away from them …"'
Thales then remembered how Zakriel dealt with his enemies in a straightforward manner while he was surrounded.
'"I am the royal knight and honorary lord of Constellation! I am the penal officer of the Royal Guards, the watchman, the protector of the throne, the keeper of the royal treasury … "'
He remembered when the Knight of Judgment claimed that he wanted to kill him. It was an unusual sense of respect and reverence.
'"Please be at ease, Your Highness. After your unfortunate death, I will take full responsibility for your crimes to comfort you for the injustice you have suffered here. Your secret will be buried, and it will not damage your reputation. "'
Finally, Thales remembered how Zakriel smiled at his old friends, and his relieved expression when he admitted to his betrayal.
'"The person who should really bear the crime of colluding with the enemy, but despicably hid the truth for eighteen years … That shameful, sad, hypocritical, disgusting, self-righteous, hypocritical, hypocritical man … is me."'
'The Knight of Judgment.
'What kind of person are you?'
"I understand now, Quick Rope," Thales said softly.
Even he himself was surprised by the steadiness in his tone.
He was like a prey that had broken free of its shackles in an instant.
Quick Rope raised his eyebrows.
"Understand what?"
Thales shook his head at Quick Rope and gently unclenched his fist.
"It is useless to keep running away.
Because a long time ago … "
Thales stared at the dejected Barney Junior and Nalgi, then at Zakriel, who was slowly approaching him. His words had a double meaning.
"We have nowhere to run."
Quick Rope was stunned. His face was full of puzzlement.
After he said this, Thales made up his mind. He felt a wave of relief wash over him.
He should do this.
He had to do this.
In the next second, under Quick Rope's shocked gaze, Thales took a step forward in Zakriel's direction.
"Is this what you want?"
The teenager's voice echoed in the dungeon.
The Knight of Judgment's footsteps froze.
Everyone's gazes were focused on the prince.
"Bury all the filth and pain in the past and underground, pretend that nothing happened, and tell yourself that this is the best choice?"
Thales panted and broke free from Quick Rope's grip. He ignored Beldin's expression, endured the pain, and continued to speak.
"If I die here, it will be your responsibility, your past, their torture, and their pain … Will everything that happened in the past end?"
Thales extended his finger and swept it over every Royal Guard prisoner who was in pain, broke down, or absent-minded.
When Zakriel met Thales' firm gaze, he froze in a daze.
He opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he only sighed softly.
"You don't understand, Your Highness."
The knight closed his eyes and shook his head.
Thales took a deep breath and swept his gaze over everyone.
Barney Junior was still broken down and absent-minded. Nalgi was still twitching softly. Zakriel, who stood before him, was weak and lifeless.
His expression was sorrowful.
"No. But there is one thing I don't understand."
Thales turned his head swiftly and gritted his teeth.
"Who is it?"
Zakriel's eyebrows twitched.
"What?"
Thales spoke in a firm and unquestionable tone, which was rarely seen on him.
"Who is the person behind you?"
'The person behind me?'
When he said this, everyone frowned.
Zakriel twitched the corners of his lips, as if he did not want to pay attention to it.
But what Thales said next greatly exceeded his expectations.
"I have not known all of you for long, but …"
Thales slowly turned his gaze around.
"Nalgi might value his family more, but he could not just watch you bear the responsibility for his crimes …"
Nalgi's shoulders trembled violently.
Thales turned to the other side.
"Canon, Bruley, Tardin, you might have known what happened in the past, but you have never been calm about it. That is why you are still tormented by your own conscience even after being imprisoned for eighteen years."
Canon's sobs died down, Bruley stopped trembling, and Tardin became dumbfounded.
Finally, Thales looked at the absent-minded Barney Junior.
"I do not know Barney Senior, but I can tell from him that his father is probably just as stubborn and resolute. Once he has a thought, he will carry it through to the end, and he will never waver."
Zakriel's eyebrows furrowed even more.
Thales exhaled. With the Sin of Hell's River, he calmed his increasingly rapid heartbeat.
"What I see from all of you is not the despicable and inferior nature of traitors."
The prince said firmly,
"Instead, it is a painful predicament where you are caught between a rock and a hard place."
Everyone raised their heads and stared at Thales with either shocked or puzzled gazes.
Zakriel suddenly took a step forward!
But Beldin and Naer blocked his path, and it looked like they were going to die together with him.
Thales was shocked, but he still braced himself and said the following words.
"I believe that as Royal Guards and the king's close vassals, no matter how depraved, evil, and selfish you are, you will never abandon the pride in your hearts and betray your lord for glory with a clear conscience.
"You are not that kind of people. You do not dare, and you cannot."
The prince gritted his teeth and said,
"Unless there is another reason, a more logical reason for you to convince yourselves that this is the right thing to do, and that it is not a betrayal!"
Zakriel's expression became more and more unpleasant.
Thales knew that he had made the right choice.
Hence, the prince ignored Quick Rope's gaze, puffed out his chest, and continued to speak.
"As for you, Zakriel, you are a noble knight and a loyal guard. Even if you are about to attack me in the next second, you still treat me with such respect …
"I believe that the only thing that can tarnish your honor and mission is an even greater honor and mission."
When he finished speaking, Zakriel shuddered.
"Then, what kind of mission can make you betray Jadestar without hesitation?"
Everyone's expression slowly changed.
Thales said coldly,
"Unless …"
The Knight of Judgment could no longer remain calm. He roared,
He roared, "Your Highness!"
But Thales ignored him. He only raised his face from the floor and spoke laboriously under the dim firelight.
"Both the Northlanders and Shadow Shield hinted at me, but I was never willing to believe them …"
Thales clenched his teeth and stabbed Ricky's longsword into the crack between the ancient tiles.
"So, tell me, Zakriel.
Who is it? "
Zakriel's expression changed a few times before Thales' eyes.
Thales continued to speak.
"Back then, he stood behind you, a group of desperate nobles. He used his noble status to bribe all parties. He used the chance to save your families as bait to encourage you to slacken your defenses. He plotted to assassinate the muddle-headed king, and planned to clean up the mess afterward so that he could ascend to the throne …"
The prince's gaze was sharp, and his aura was aggressive. He gritted his teeth and said,
"Which Jadestar was it?"
Thales' words echoed between the walls.
Half of the people were stunned.
"What … did you say?" This was from the shocked Barney.
The faces of the other half of the people — Nalgi and Canon — turned pale. Bruley and Tardin turned their heads away.
In front of them, Zakriel swayed violently and covered his head in pain.
The silence lasted for a few seconds.
For a period of time, only Thales' rapid breathing could be heard in the prison.
Then, a trembling voice rose.
"I see …"
"This is why you wanted to bury the truth and shoulder all the crimes." Samel swept his gaze over everyone. His voice trembled slightly, and his face was filled with shock and realization.
"This is why all of you kept it a secret, and why all of you were in conflict until now.
"Some of you may have been directly involved, and some only guessed the inside story. But this is the reason why all of you refused to do anything at the same time. A Jadestar of the same legitimate lineage supported all of you?"
He took a step back and panted. There was a cold sneer in his voice.
"Calamities and anti-mystic equipment are not reasons … This is the biggest scandal of the Jadestar Royal Family that cannot be made public."
The tip of Samel's sword trembled slightly.
"What a joke … Betrayal, loyalty, they are all bullsh * t …
"The so-called Bloody Year, the nightmare that tormented me for eighteen years, the assassination and rebellion that all the nobles kept a secret, was actually an internal conflict within the Jadestar Royal Family …
"Internecine conflict?"
In the face of Barney's question, Zakriel heaved the longest sigh he had that day. The palm he used to cover his forehead trembled even more violently.
Barney Junior widened his eyes in disbelief. He straightened his body again.
Thales did not speak. He only exhaled softly.
Quick Rope opened his mouth wide. He did not know how to react.
Zakriel still had his eyes closed. He did not seem to know how to answer.
Beldin and Naer looked at each other. Their gazes were filled with sorrow, pain, and a final hint of disbelief.
Samel laughed again.
His laughter trembled, and it was very frightening.
"Hahahahaha, let me guess …"
His gaze was complicated and difficult to understand. It was mixed with hatred and disdain for some unknown reason.
"Is it Crown Prince Midier, who fishes for fame, is unpredictable, but can directly benefit from the death of the late king?"
Samel raised his head abruptly and said hatefully,
"Or is it Horace, the Sword of Reversing Light, who is a hero, has countless achievements, but is ruthless, bloodthirsty, and ambitious?
"Is it 'Fatty' Bancroft, who appears to be fat and mediocre, but is actually greedy for pleasure and accumulates wealth without limit?
"Is it 'Beauty' Herman, who has a good appearance and literary talent, but is narrow-minded, sinister, and ruthless?"
Samel's choice of words made Thales frown.
He had heard about these princes from King Kessel's recollection in the Jadestar family tomb, but …
'Fishes for fame, ruthless, bloodthirsty, accumulates wealth without limit, sinister, and ruthless.
'These descriptions …'
Samel panted and continued to speak.
"Or is it the Duke of Star Lake, the king's younger brother, John, who commands the army, is in the prime of his life, but according to the order, as long as the descendants of the late king's descendants do not die out?"
A thought appeared in Thales' mind.
Previously, Marina of the Disaster Swords' request to him reappeared in his memory.
In the extreme silence, Samel roared angrily.
"Is it a son killing his father, or a brother killing his brother?"
No one answered him.
Including Zakriel, who was already on the verge of collapse.
"Or, to be even more vicious, the Iron Hand King who mercilessly swept you, me, and all those who knew or did not know about it into the trash heap after the deed was done back then, while he sat on the throne and enjoyed everything — Kessel?"
Samel seemed to be greatly agitated by this truth. He looked at the silent crowd, raised his voice, and sneered.
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