Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 262 The Twist of Fate
"We are very excited and thrilled."

Kaslan coughed, reminiscing about the past like an ordinary old man: "Several of us—including little Lisban—shared the same ideals and were equally fed up with the grudges and feuds between families and territories."

“So that’s how it started,” Kaslan said, looking at the stone pillar that Nikolai was leaning against, his voice mournful. “You can’t imagine what we’ve been through for decades, all around Nunn, for the sake of Exter.”

Nikolai unconsciously raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

“At first it was just a small matter: consolidating the prince’s authority and power, protecting the endangered families loyal to the prince, and punishing the vassals who lined their own pockets,” the old man’s eyes gleamed with a strange light. “Breaking the conventions of the White Blade Guard, I selected some people of humble origins to train a guard of candidates for Nunn who were loyal only to him and had no family worries… Including you, Big Mouth, Byrne, Isaiah, you were all recruited by me at that time.”

At that moment, Nikolai's breath hitched, and the words he was holding in his mouth almost slipped out.

The day he was recruited into the White Blade Guard...

Boss...

"Everything is for a future king to realize his ambitions and prepare himself."

Kaslan's face darkened, and his tone changed:
"But things started to change when Nun ascended the throne."

"His enemies are becoming more numerous and stronger, and he needs a sharper knife and a stronger shield."

“My tasks have become increasingly ruthless and unscrupulous—from hunting down criminals to blackmailing political enemies, kidnapping children, fabricating crimes to frame opponents, and even burning down farmers’ winter granaries…”

Nikolai clenched his fists, suppressing his emotions.

He watched Kaslan's shadow in the firelight, his eyes constantly scanning the weapon racks around him, trying to find a way to escape the threat of the javelins.

My aim isn't as good as his; I can't compete with him in javelin throwing from a distance.

I need to……

“Yes, my relationship with Mrs. Cassan and the Dark Chamber is much closer than you think,” Kaslan said somberly, his attention still focused on the back of the stone pillar. “There are many things that Nunn will leave to us if he doesn’t want the Dark Chamber to get involved.”

“I once escorted a doctor to the territory of Weyland overnight so that he could poison the heir of Archduke Aurelius.”

"I once acted as the king's secret envoy, inciting the vassals of Qiyuan City to rebel against their lord, in order to find a reason for Longxiao City's intervention."

“I even impersonated a bandit and robbed and killed the noble families who were dissatisfied with the king—from the master of the house to the women… I spared none of them except for one ignorant girl.”

“I also secretly tried to win over my nephew Harold, persuading him to side with Nunn, even though it might jeopardize his relationship with my father…”

Kaslan closed his eyes, feeling a dull ache in his chest.

What he didn't expect was that, in the end, Holt would be so ruthless as to let his two sons kill each other in order to break free from Nunn's control...

“So,” Nicolai scoffed, “that’s why the Scarlet Witch always tries to pry something out of me, or the White Blade Guard.”

Kaslan sighed.

“I tried to convince myself that this was for Exter,” Kaslan said painfully. “For an ideal, I can even put my family aside, let alone my honor and conscience?”

“In the sunlight, I am the exemplary, glorious, and revered commander of the White Blade,” the old man said, enduring the excruciating pain in his chest with each breath. “In the shadows, I am the heartless, ruthless, and merciless king assassin, leading the earliest members of the guard in the dirtiest and most secretive dealings.”

“You once said that you saw through my hypocritical noble face,” Kaslan said in a low voice, “You are right. I am not worthy to stand in front of you and address you as a commander.”

A cold, questioning voice came from behind the stone pillar: "Why?"

Kaslan closed his eyes.

“Nun has changed,” Kaslan said with a regretful sigh, knowing what he wanted to ask. “He has grown old, become suspicious, wary, sensitive, selfish, and conservative.”

“For a new Exter, Nunn must wield great power; it is a necessary means,” Kaslan gripped his javelin tightly, his eyes filled with complex emotions. “However, at some point, the means became the end, while the original purpose was long forgotten.”

“We eat to live, troublemakers, but we shouldn’t live to eat.” His tone grew increasingly pained.

"The longer he remained king, the more... He cared more about the status of Dragonsreach than the power of Exter, and more about his son's right to succession than the future of the kingdom—Nun became the most traditional Exter monarch. Apart from his family and his rule, he had neither the strength nor the will to seek his former ideals."

“Seizing power has become Nunn’s only goal, and ‘for Exter’ has become a pale excuse,” Kaslan observed every possible place where Nikolai might rush out, locking the shadow behind the stone pillar in his field of vision, patiently waiting for his opponent: “This makes everything we’ve done over the past few decades look like a joke.”

Nikolai gave a cold laugh.

“Do you know what you’re doing now,” the Meteorite said, suppressing his anger and trying to sound nonchalant, “makes everything you taught us seem like a joke.”

Kaslan paused for a second, his face a mixture of barely perceptible guilt and pain.

"So I'm tired."

“I’ve withdrawn, I’ve given up,” the old man exhaled and shook his head. “That day, I stood at the bottom of the steps and, in front of all my subjects, questioned him one last time: Do you still remember your original ideals? I asked him: Since when did you become powerless and compromise with reality?”

Nikolai did not speak.

“You know what happened next,” Kaslan said with a hint of sadness. “King Gongju was furious, and I and a large number of old men were purged from the White Blade Guard.”

silence.

The fire in the brazier burned brighter and brighter, casting the shadows of two people on either side of the stone pillar.

“Yes,” Nicolai took a deep breath, seemingly in pain, “and I was promoted out of turn, becoming the least senior and lowest-ranking acting commander in the history of the White Blade Guard—”

Before he could finish speaking, the Meteorite suddenly sprang up from behind the stone pillar!
The battle resumed without warning.

Without hesitation, Kaslan hurled his javelin with precision and power.

The javelin, with astonishing force, pierced through the enemy's body.

"Den!"

He was pinned firmly to the ground!

But the experienced Kaslan, who had been observing the opponent's shadow, immediately realized something was wrong—the javelin had only pierced the leather armor on Nikolai's chest.

The real meteorite rushed out from the other side of the stone pillar, wearing only thin armor and with almost no protection!
Kaslan reacted extremely quickly, seizing the moment when Nikolai's injured leg landed, and threw the second javelin without hesitation!

As the meteorite listened to the sound of the wind in his ears, a chill ran through him.

It’s over.

I couldn't fool him.

Just now.

“Nikolai!” a familiar voice rang out.

Nikolai looked up abruptly and saw a round, disc-shaped object flying towards him!
Without hesitation, the Meteorite unleashed its power of termination, miraculously twisting its feet to catch the object in mid-air.

A javelin came flying.

"Bang!" There was a muffled sound.

Kaslan's pupils contracted.

His javelin struck the disc-shaped object in Nikolai's hand—a round shield covered with thick wooden skin.

The spear tip pierced the shield, barely penetrating it, causing Nikolai's hand to sink.

The Meteorite gritted his teeth, drew the javelin from his shield, and held it in his right hand.

But Kaslan had no time to worry about Nikolai. He turned around solemnly and looked warily at Nikolai's aidmen.

“Byrne,” Kaslan frowned, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes, “it’s been a long time.”

But as a former member of the White Blade Guard and an officer to the King, Byrne Mailer, standing at the armory gate, clearly didn't appreciate responding to his old superior's enthusiasm.

“Sorry, boss, it’s not that I don’t want to reminisce,” Michael said gravely from a distance, taking two short-handled throwing axes from the weapon rack and swinging them violently. “But I just saw my daughter…”

“I don’t know what you said to her that turned her into this, but now…” Michael raised the throwing axe in his hand, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"I'm in a really bad mood!"

Kaslan's expression changed, and he threw his javelin almost simultaneously with Michael's two throwing axes!
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Javelin and throwing axe clashed through the air!

"laugh!"

Despite his best efforts to avoid it, Mirk was still struck in the thigh by Kaslan's unerring javelin, and he fell into a row of weapons racks in excruciating pain.

But enough is enough.

Michael thought to himself.

Amidst the clanging of metal, Kaslan deflected a throwing axe with his javelin, but was slashed on the left arm by another axe—ripping off a large chunk of flesh.

The old man took a deep breath, enduring the sharp pain in his chest.

When it comes to throwing accuracy, Byrne is still outstanding.

Thinking this, he turned around and threw the third javelin.

Throw it at Nikolai, who is rushing at high speed while taking advantage of the opportunity!

"boom!"

The Meteorite's thick shield blocked the javelin once more, and due to the momentum of his charge, this time the spearhead even pierced the upper half of the shield, protruding a section from beside Nikolai's wrist.

As he charged, Nikolai instinctively spun his round shield, shifting the point of impact onto the lower half of the shield.

Sure enough, the next second there was another dull thud: "Bang!"

The fourth javelin struck from the same angle and position, piercing his shield once more, one above the other, embedding itself in both ends of the shield.

Nikolai felt a chill run down his spine: If he hadn't turned the shield just now...

But he no longer needs to worry.

Nikolai decisively threw away his heavy, hard-earned shield and raised his right javelin—he returned to a position three steps in front of Kaslan!

Kaslan also threw away the remaining javelins with a solemn expression, leaving only the one in his right hand.

The next second, the two of them raised their right hands at the same time.

"bass!"

At almost face-to-face distance, two javelins thrust at each other in mid-air.

With his right hand still raised in mid-air, Kaslan instinctively dodged, and the enemy's javelin pierced the weapon rack behind him, leaving only a small bloodstain on his face.

"laugh!"

But Nikolai neither dodged nor avoided, letting Kaslan's javelin pierce his left shoulder!

"Ah!" Nikolai, his face contorted in agony, swung his right fist amidst the strange look in Kaslan's eyes.

The power of termination exploded from his bones, and his fist snapped twice in mid-air, dodging the opponent's two interceptions.

At that moment, the usually composed Kaslan suddenly changed his expression.

"Boom!"

With a strange, dull metallic sound, Caslan locked Nikolai's throat, while the Meteorite's fist pressed against Caslan's body!

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Strangely, Nikolai's fist did not strike a vital spot, but only hit Caslan's right armpit.

The Meteorite lowered his fist helplessly.

Kaslan trembled uncontrollably, released his grip on her throat, and Nikolai, whose face was flushed, finally let out a breath.

The two stood still, then swayed.

"thump!"

Nikolai could no longer withstand the severe injury to his left shoulder and collapsed to the ground with the javelin in his hand.

But equally unexpectedly, Kaslan turned pale, his lips trembled, and his upper body shook uncontrollably.

He painfully stretched out his left hand, which he could barely control, and covered his right armpit.

The old man's face twitched incessantly, as if he were enduring immense pain.

The next moment, Kaslan coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, like an old man on his deathbed, completely losing all his strength.

His face darkened.

"How did you know?" Kaslan asked, his teeth chattering, in the softest of voices, as if afraid of waking a kitten: "Right armpit."

Blood kept flowing from the corner of his mouth, which was quite frightening.

Nicolai lay helplessly on his side, reaching for the javelin on his left shoulder. “Monty, he has the best eyesight and the steadyest hand,” the Meteorite said with difficulty, “so on the night you were critically injured and had your ribs replaced with metal, he was chosen as your assistant and stayed by your side the whole time—he knew that.”

Kaslan's eyes narrowed.

Ned Monty with the big mouth.

That annoying country coward only thinks about women.

Humph.

Kaslan gave a helpless, silent laugh to himself.

“Monty only told me one thing,” Nicolai said, his eyes tightly shut and his teeth clenched, “that there’s a vulnerable joint on the side of your new skeleton, that’s your weakness, if the force is strong enough—he told me to keep an eye on your safety during the fight…”

At this point, Nikolai felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't continue.

The boss's weakness.

That was the place they were supposed to protect with their lives.

but……

Nikolai clenched his fists, his eyes stinging.

Kaslan slumped to the ground, leaning against the weapon rack behind him, letting out a sigh of relief and resignation.

With each breath, fresh blood gushed from his mouth and nose, soaking his clothes.

"javelin?"

Kaslan, whose upper body was almost soaked in blood, glanced indifferently at the rows of javelin racks around him: "Did you deliberately force me to come here?"

“You’ve gotten used to fighting with your right arm tucked in to protect your weakness,” Nikolai said dejectedly. “I need to find an opportunity for you to fully raise your right arm, like when you throw a javelin.”

Kaslan raised an eyebrow and let out a desolate laugh.

...in the hands of the troublemaker.

This ending... isn't so bad.

"Beautiful, haha, you troublemaker, you... cough cough, cough cough cough—"

The laughter didn't last long before Kaslan frowned again and hissed, coughing violently in excruciating pain.

With his movement, a frightening thud came from Kaslan's chest, and the old man's face contorted sharply.

Nikolai closed his eyes, unable to bear looking at his old boss's expression.

Damn it—Nicholas desperately reached for the javelin on his shoulder, hoping it would distract him—but he couldn't pull it out.

Just then, Nikolai felt a slight pain in his left shoulder.

He opened his eyes in surprise and found Kaslan holding the javelin stuck in his shoulder with his left hand.

“Bear with it,” Kaslan whispered, spitting out another mouthful of blood. “It might hurt a bit.”

Nikolai shrugged, watching as Kaslan pulled the javelin from his shoulder.

He didn't even notice the pain.

Nikolai recalled that afternoon many years ago.

As he lay dying, the executioner, Kaslan, picked up the piece of wood from the ground and brought it to his mouth.

“Bite down,” the former iceberg said coldly, tugging at the whip in his hand. “It will hurt.”

Nikolai shook off his memories, struggled to sit up from the ground, and the power of termination began to tighten his muscles.

He looked at Kaslan, who was leaning against the weapons rack, vomiting blood and looking pained, and felt even more resentful.

“Talia,” Nicolai said, his face ashen, “is there anything your wife wants me to tell her?”

At that moment, Kaslan's eyes suddenly lit up.

“Talia…”

Kaslan's eyes dimmed, and he shook his head: "No."

"She's gone."

At that moment, the Meteorite was slightly shaken.

A second later, Nicolai took a breath, looked up slightly, and couldn't hide her surprise: "How could this be? She's only forty..."

Kaslan's aura began to weaken.

He struggled to raise his hand and wipe the blood from his chest.

The old man's face was gloomy. With trembling hands, he carefully took out a piece of red silk cloth from his pocket.

“A year ago, she finally found out,” Kaslan stared at the red silk cloth, slowly unwrapping it as if it contained a priceless treasure: “Before I confessed to her, she discovered it: I am the person from back then…”

Kaslan's hand trembled slightly: "That 'bandit leader' who robbed her family's caravan, killed her father, mother, and brother, slaughtered her entire family, but overlooked a nine-year-old girl."

Nikolai froze.

“From that time on, Talia fell ill—and even the best doctors could not find the cause of her illness.”

Kaslan seemed to be losing control of his hands more and more, but he still trembled as he slowly lifted the red silk cloth in his hands: "She just lay on her bed every day, enduring extreme pain, like the most beautiful flower, withering away day after day."

“That was the hardest battle of my life—I would rather fight Sacel for another thirty rounds, exchange swords with Shao two hundred times, trade ten more lives with Sila Dark Ray, and get punched twenty more times by Jasmine than face it,” Kaslan coughed hard, his face contorted in pain. “But I could only watch Talia die day by day, trying to explain to her that it was the king’s order, a choice I had no choice in.”

Kaslan finally unfolded the red silk cloth, his eyes glistening with tears.

"At the last moment, Talia forced a smile and told me that perhaps this was the will of the gods: she was destined to atone for my past."

Nicolai stared blankly at the things in the silk.

It was an inconspicuous black stone.

On the stone, two little figures are carved: a slightly larger figure leading a slightly smaller figure.

The figure was carved crookedly and very crudely; it was basically just a circle with lines on top of limbs.

It is clearly a child's plaything.

But Kaslan stared at the stone with fascination, his hands trembling more and more: "Finally, I held her almost weightless body and asked myself: Earthshaker Kaslan Rumba, what was the meaning of your life?"

The sound of mopping came from afar—Mairk dragged his pierced thigh, crawling towards them bit by bit.

Kaslan's eyes were glazed over as he gave a weak smile to the crawling Michael: "For a moment, I began to hate Nunn."

“Until a few months ago, Nuen’s last son died in the stars,” the old man shook his head, and with each word he spoke, blood seeped from his mouth and nose. “Looking at the sunset that day, I suddenly felt sorry for him: we all lost everything we cherished, half a lifetime of effort, vanished in an instant.”

“That once spirited Prince Walton has fallen into the vicious cycle he wove himself, falling into the same fate as the Lords of Exter, unable to escape, just as tragic as my brothers and nephews.”

Nicolai tore off a piece of clothing, tied it tightly to his injured shoulder, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Idiot."

Michael climbed over to Nicolai's side and stared blankly at his old boss with him.

“At that moment, it was as if a fire was burning in my chest, causing inexplicable and inexplicable pain,” Kaslan’s voice trailed off. “However, when King Nunn sent someone to me, wanting me to inherit the title of Grand Duke of Black Sand, I suddenly understood what that fire was.”

Kaslan's eyes lit up, and he gripped the stone tightly in his hand.

“I no longer hate him, but this is not over yet.”

“Everything that Nunn and I started back then,” Kaslan struggled to say, tears welling up in his eyes, “is not over yet.”

“What Nuen could not do, what Nuen gave up, what Nuen dared not face,” Kaslan coughed violently, his face pale, and he trembled as he said, “I will fulfill it for him… I will be loyal to him.”

"This is the meaning of the rest of my life."

Michael looked at him in disbelief.

Nikolai gripped his shoulders tightly, lowered his head, and remained silent.

Only the fist keeps tightening.

Just now.

"Boss."

Michael, who was lying on the ground, spoke in a low voice.

“What does it feel like when you realize that what you’re doing is betraying him, betraying His Majesty?” Myrk’s expression was sorrowful and pained, his words broken.

Nikolai couldn't help but glance at Michael.

Kaslan turned his increasingly cloudy eyes.

He grinned, a half-smile playing on his lips, and asked in return, "Did I betray him?"

Michael was stunned.

silence.

"correct."

“I’ve got it, troublemaker.” The old man’s eyebrows twitched.

Nikolai looked up at Kaslan with a complicated expression.

Kaslan's gaze slowly unfocused, and the blood he was vomiting from the corner of his mouth had stopped.

“The name of your power of termination,” Kaslan stared at the ceiling, forcing a smile, and said softly, “How about…”

"It's fate's twist."

Both Nikolai and Mailer paused slightly.

“Heh,” a second later, the Meteorite scoffed disdainfully, “What kind of lousy name is that…”

"Tap tap!" A faint sound came, silencing Nikolai's words.

Nikolai and Mailer both shuddered.

The stone with the two little figures carved on it had just rolled out of Kaslan's hands.

The two slowly turned their heads.

The legendary White Blade Guard, the Earthshaker Caslan Rumba, lay quietly on the weapon rack with his eyes closed, silent and unresponsive.

Michael stared blankly at the motionless Kaslan.

The silence lasted for several seconds.

Until Nikolai slowly reached out and grasped the stone in his hand.

On the back of the stone, a sentence riddled with errors was carved crookedly:
Kaslan's protector Talia
Nikolai's eyes stung, and he abruptly turned his head, gripping the stone in his hand tightly.

"Boom!"

The Meteorite gritted his teeth and kicked the weapon rack next to him hard.

He leaned back, turned his head away from Michael and Kaslan, scratched his face, his breathing slightly labored, and his chest heaving.

"Damn," Nicolai mumbled indistinctly.

The newly lit brazier burned brighter and brighter.

Inside the armory, two burly men collapsed to the ground, speechless.

Beside them, the aging warriors slept soundly.

He will never wake up again.

I really wanted to say that I've been preparing for the college entrance exam these past few days, which is why I haven't been updating, but I'm afraid I'll get a beating from all of you readers...

So...

Oh dear, can you guys help me think of a reason?

By Wujian, who looked completely serious.



(End of this chapter)