Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 199 The Unyielding Shadow, Forever Following

"Boom!"

Before the man could even show a look of astonishment on his face, he was lifted into the air by the burly Rumba!

Both Thales and Little Rascal were startled as they looked out the window at everything.

"Why would he..." The little rascal shrank back in fright.

"Quiet down, keep watching." Thales calmly observed the situation and stopped the little rascal from speaking.

The stranger was suddenly in danger. He reacted with lightning speed, using both hands to instantly produce a dagger and an awl, which he then handed to Rumba!

But his arm was only halfway out when it was firmly clamped down from behind by another person.

Lord Tuleha, the "Fire Knight" of Black Sand Territory, one of the five generals of Exter who had met Thales several times and escorted him all the way to Dragon Sky City, appeared behind the stranger and coldly grabbed the man's struggling arms.

Rumba continued to grip his neck, expressionless.

"You!" The man, who was having trouble breathing, stared wide-eyed. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't get the words out.

The next second, Tuleha spun his hands around.

"Kara!"

The sound of muscles dislocating came from inside.

The man trembled violently, closed his eyes, and groaned in pain.

Tuleha released his grip, and the man's arms fell limply to his sides, the dagger and awl landing on the ground.

Ding dong!

“I gave you a chance,” Rumba said coldly.

"What?" The man, sweating profusely, managed to utter a single sentence.

"Have you ever heard the saying?" Rumba said coldly, "If you treat others like fools, you should be prepared to be treated like fools yourself."

The man muttered incessantly.

Rumba loosened his grip slightly.

"Traitor!" Having finally gotten a breath of fresh air, the man gritted his teeth, his face contorted with rage, and said, "We've arranged so much for you, and yet you..."

But he couldn't continue speaking, as Rumba tightened his grip on his neck again!
"I've had enough," the Grand Duke of Black Sands said, his expression still as cold as ice, but his eyes were filled with murderous intent. "Sariton made the move, Commas made the connections, the gangs provided the support, Black Sands was the one who risked everything, my troops controlled the situation, and the top-secret intelligence and cover, including the most crucial disaster, all relied on that group in the south!"

"Besides talking, you bunch of bastards haven't done anything at all!"

Disaster.

The group of people from the south.

Upon hearing the key words, Thales gasped in a daze.

Outside the car, the action continued. Rumba gripped the man's neck, while Lord Tuleha stood behind him, watching coldly.

"They're unwilling to put in any effort, yet they fan the flames and push things along, all while reaping the benefits without lifting a finger." Rumba's voice held a chilling murderous intent.

"And you actually dare to threaten me?" The Grand Duke slightly raised his eyes, his tone suddenly rising. "What gives you such confidence? Your lurking assassins in the gutter? Your parasites that can't stand the light of day? Your scum who feed on garbage?"

The man struggled desperately, but couldn't utter a single word.

Thales took a couple of breaths in the carriage, putting aside his jumbled thoughts, and looked up to continue looking outside.

Rumba's expression began to change; he gritted his teeth, and his eyebrows furrowed into a peak.

"You think you're so clever? With your pervasive intelligence infiltration, your despicable and insidious schemes, you happily manipulate the high and mighty nobles, arrogantly play tricks on the ancient regimes, and yet you're still complacent and smug, enjoying the pleasure of playing chess behind the scenes?"

“However, you are neither the Secret Service nor the Dark Chamber, and you do not have a powerful nation supporting you,” Rumba lifted the man higher, his eyes filled with hatred: “You are nothing more than a rat's den that has been running around for hundreds of years, worse than a disaster.”

"Do you think I'm that fool, Pefit? Someone you can manipulate at will?" The Black Sand Grand Duke's tone shifted from impolite coldness to furious questioning, but his voice remained surprisingly calm and indifferent: "Do you really think I'm so magnanimous as to tolerate you reaching into my army and planting spies and mobs in my territory?"

Rumba narrowed his eyes slightly: "Controlling my magic-powered gun troops and manipulating my officers is quite fun, isn't it?"

The man stared with eyes that held a mixture of surprise and fear, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

The Grand Duke of Black Sands continued in his terrifyingly calm tone, speaking with terrifyingly fierce words: "Do you think that when I found you, contacted you, and negotiated with you, I didn't want to tear you to pieces and destroy you completely every single moment?"

Tuleha seemed to sense Thales's gaze, and he turned sharply to look at the prince.

The little rascal couldn't stand his gaze and shrank back into his seat in fright.

Thales was slightly startled, but he still gritted his teeth and observed the scene outside the carriage under the Fire Knight's extremely oppressive gaze.

"And don't think I don't know that while you say nice things, you're still secretly infiltrating my power," the Grand Duke said coldly. "You bunch of scum who only know how to eat garbage in the gutter."

"You were driven to the brink of despair within the Star Realm, so you saw Exter as a paradise of freedom?" Rumba gritted his teeth, the furrows on his face forming a frightening outline: "Believe me, the North is far more terrifying than the South."

“If it were me, I would dig every single filthy rat like you out of the darkest pit, regardless of cost, price, or sacrifice.”

The man seemed to have forgotten to breathe; he stared blankly at Rumba, his struggles dwindling.

The Grand Duke continued speaking, and even Thales, listening from afar, felt a chill run down his spine:
“I will put every nobleman who secretly contacts and has illicit affairs with you on the noose, and tear every villain who has had relations with you to pieces. Wherever my banner goes, none of you will be able to hide, escape, or survive.”

“I will drain the air you breathe, empty the nutrients you take, and destroy the dens where you live. I will bury all of you gutter rats in the North, until I eradicate you all.”

“Not a single pest can survive on my land,” Rumba said, releasing his grip on the other’s throat. His eyes flashed with a mixture of authority and murderous intent. “Whether you believe it or not, I will find every single one of you, inch by inch, house by house, and then exterminate you from top to bottom.”

The Grand Duke gently closed his mouth, his gaze still sharp.

The man's lips trembled as he stammered out a sentence:

"The Shadow Master... the Shadow Master will not let you go..."

Upon hearing this, Rumba curled the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a fierce yet meaningful smile: "Do you think I'll let him go?"

"He's in Dragon Sky City, right in the Spear District, isn't he?"

The man was stunned.

Thales regulated his breathing, trying to remember everything he had just seen and heard.

Assassination.

Surreyton.

Disaster.

The group of people from the south.

Peffert, Magic Gun.

And... "Shadow Master".

Rumba suddenly released the man who was being held in mid-air.

The man fell to the ground, panting heavily.

“And you…” The Grand Duke slowly squatted down, revealing a smile that was almost nonexistent under the man’s wary gaze.

"Hey……"

"Let's do it, we're all prepared..." The man closed his eyes resignedly, revealing an expression of facing death with equanimity.

"The shadow will never fade, it will follow you for eternity."

Upon hearing this eerie statement, Thales exhaled softly, confirming his suspicions. But just a second later, a dramatic change occurred on the scene.

Suddenly, Rumba reached out and grabbed the man's dislocated left arm.

Then he pressed down firmly on the other person's shoulder!

"Kara!"

Amid the man's screams, Rumba let out a low laugh.

Thales' eyes widened.

one second.

two seconds.

The man, covered in cold sweat, opened his eyes.

He discovered that he was still alive.

He was stunned.

The man breathed heavily, then moved his newly reattached left arm and stared in astonishment.

"Don't be too nervous, Chisel," the Grand Duke patted the man's shoulder and said calmly and gently, "I was just joking with you."

"We are partners after all, aren't we?"

The man codenamed "Penetrate" stared in disbelief as he turned to look at Lord Tuleha behind him.

However, the latter remained expressionless.

“You should look at your own face,” Lumba laughed. “You’ll laugh at yourself.”

Chisel suddenly turned his head and looked at Rumba in disbelief.

"You, you... just now... why!" he gasped in surprise.

“It’s alright, just report all this to your master,” Grand Duke Lombard patted his face again, his smile chilling. “That way, he will understand my stance.”

The man stared blankly at Rumba, as if he no longer recognized the lord.

“Good boy, reattach your right arm yourself,” Grand Duke Lombard stood up, looking down at him condescendingly. “I’m taking that boy with me. Wait until your master comes to his senses…”

The man remained motionless, seemingly stunned.

“And also, don’t hold a grudge against me,” Rumba turned around and said calmly, “You know, I’ve been joking around too much.”

Rumba turned his head, lowered his head slightly, and a peculiar look appeared in his eyes:
"There will always be a time when you take it seriously."

The man gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

The next second, Rumba strode away without looking back.

Tuleha followed without saying a word.

He left behind the man who was slightly panting.

It was as if that dangerous conversation had never happened.

Thales watched this scene with surprise and uncertainty as Rumba and Tuleha walked towards the carriage.

He could hear the conversation between the Grand Duke and his subordinates again.

"With their help, we successfully captured the last gate in front of Valhalla," the Fire Knight's voice was steady and simple: "Valhalla is now isolated by us."

Rumba nodded slightly.

“Our rumors have been effective. The garrison commander and the General Order have already sent troops into the Shield Zone, and Prime Minister Lisbon has begun to try to control the spread of information—this will help us a lot before we are exposed,” Tuleha said calmly.

"According to your plan, we have three hours left."

“Very good,” the Grand Duke said calmly, his expression unchanged, “but your expression is off… is there anything else I need to know?”

“Something unexpected happened,” Lord Tuleha nodded slightly, his voice turning somber. “We captured Griveaux, but Nicolai escaped.”

Rumba frowned.

Upon hearing this news, Thales was completely stunned.

The Meteorite, Nikolai.

He is still alive...

"I remember you brought the Rising Sun Saber?" the Grand Duke asked in a deep voice, his feet still on the ground.

“Yes, but someone unexpectedly broke into the battlefield,” Tuleha said calmly, seemingly unbothered by the mission’s failure. “Although we did our best to surround and kill him, leaving him with many souvenirs, the intruder still managed to break through the encirclement with Nikolai.”

Years of tacit understanding prevented Rumba from asking any further questions; he simply uttered a single word:

"Who?"

Tuleha's answer once again stunned Thales.

"An ordinary-looking man with superb skills," the Fire Knight said softly, "carrying a strange black sword."

Thales's gaze was fixed on the car door.

The sins of the River of Hell flowed away like the receding tide, taking away his extraordinary hearing and leaving him exhausted.

The next moment, Grand Duke Lombard opened the carriage door and, under the fearful gaze of the little rascal, boarded the carriage.

Thales rubbed his aching head to relieve the aftereffects of the Sin of the River of Hell and to calm his increasingly chaotic thoughts, which had been stirred up by the information he had just overheard.

He exhaled and whispered to Rumba, who was sitting in the carriage with an icy expression:
"I thought you were going to sell me off."

Rumba turned his head and looked directly at Thales.

“You are worth more than I thought,” the Grand Duke said calmly. “The buyer needs to go back and discuss the offer.”

Thales gave a mocking sneer.

"Those who brought disaster upon you," the second prince asked intentionally, "do they know what you intend to do to me?"

When faced with Thales's probing, Rumba simply snorted, turned away, and did not answer.

“Alright,” Thales sighed, looking at the impeccably composed Rumba.

"Nun is dead, but what are you going to do next?"

Upon hearing this, Rumba narrowed his eyes.

"How to do it?"

The Grand Duke sighed softly, his eyes seemingly burning with fire: "We must go and save this country."

Thales was stunned.

The carriage started moving again.

Sailing towards an unknown future.

(End of this chapter)