Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 279 The Traitors
presence.

There are magic users.

Upon hearing the name, Thales' heart skipped a beat, and a strange chill spread down his spine.

exist……

To take it literally...

He gently picked up a chess piece and removed it from the chessboard.

Suddenly, the chessboard was missing a swordsman.

Thales clenched his right hand and covered the sword with his fingers.

The swordsman vanished before his eyes.

He gently opened and closed his palms several times, and the swordsman appeared and disappeared in his field of vision.

The young prince looked up and gazed back at Ashida, who was watching him with great interest as he manipulated the chess pieces.

"So I guess, like L, you don't know what that B is either?" This time, Thales wasn't as surprised as before. He asked with some doubt, "Including this strange name?"

"Do magic users exist?"

Ashida simply leaned back in her chair, looking at him silently, seemingly with no interest in answering.

"Ok."

Feeling foolish, Thales put down his piece and unconsciously moved it to the next square.

"According to you, that B started a war, became an enemy of the world, destroyed the magic tower and the final empire, and split the known landmass in two?"

"Why?" The prince picked up his water glass and asked cautiously, "Why did he do that? Why did the magic users declare war? How... did the war start?"

Ashda gently rubbed his fingers together, and a guard began to move on his chessboard.

"I think that six years of special political career should have given you some insights."

The mage said quietly, "The causes of the war are very complicated, and even today, no one can figure them out. In fact, there is no need to figure them out—because by the time we realized it, reality was already like this."

Thales took a sip of water and frowned—it was that strange speaking style again.

“Compared to the superficial question of ‘how wars happen,’ perhaps we should discuss more,” Ashida said calmly, “why wars happen.”

Thales pursed his lips, whistled silently, and took one of the opponent's pieces.

“Alright, why does war happen?” The prince raised his hand, understanding the other’s meaning: “Why do magic users want to break with the world?”

Ashida did not answer immediately.

The Qi Mage gently extended his finger and, quite unusually, "personally" picked up a chess piece, making his next move.

“I’m sitting here now, leisurely moving the chess pieces, watching the sun rise in the east and set in the west, listening to the breathing and conversations of countless northerners.” His tone was calm, his fingers were gentle, and under the afternoon sun, he gave off a sense of laziness.

"Snapped!"

With a sudden, sharp sound, a pawn was pushed over onto the chessboard by Ashida, startling Thales.

At the same time, a flash of blue light appeared in Ashida's eyes, and his aura changed, becoming sharp and fierce.

He spoke slowly and deliberately: "But the next moment, I can suck all the air out of the world."

"Or dilute the world's air to the point where it's unbreathable."

Startled, Thales didn't even notice the water splashing from his glass. He instinctively asked, "What?"

Ashida ignored him, but the light flashing in her eyes reminded Thales of another mage:

"Imagine, in the next second, from here to Dragon City, to Exter, the Western Continent, and even the whole world..."

“All life on land will no longer be able to breathe and will face its end in an instant.”

“With just the movement of my finger,” Ashida stared intently at him, her voice unnaturally feverish, “no one can be born, nothing can survive.”

"How does it feel?"

Thales looked at his teacher, who was acting strangely, with a slight tingling sensation on his scalp. He recalled that night in Dragon City and Shield District, and the pain and despair of countless residents clutching their throats in the air, trying to breathe in a breath of air in a silent hell.

After a few seconds.

"The whole world?" The prince's voice was slightly hoarse. "Can you do that?"

Ashida continued to stare at him, but the frightening look in her eyes slowly faded.

“It’s not just me,” the mage leaned back in his chair and said calmly, “Every mage in the world can, in their own way, easily, in an instant, with the flick of their wrist…”

"Destroy the world."

Thales' pupils dilated, and he exclaimed, "What?"

"Then why hasn't the world been destroyed yet?" Thales stared blankly for a few seconds before reacting, "Then why is the final war..."

Ashida tapped the chessboard, interrupting him:

"Because not every magic user is willing to pay that price."

Thales was then taken aback: "What price?"

At that moment, the magician paused slightly in his hand holding the chess piece.

“You’ll find out,” Ashida shook her head and made another move on the chessboard: “when you become a mage.”

Thales sighed, suppressing his inner turmoil.

"Really? Here we go again?" the prince retorted, displeased. "I'm starting to doubt whether you really want me to become a mage."

“Of course,” Ashida turned his gaze back to the chessboard, still calm and collected, as if he hadn’t said anything at all. “If you come with me now, you will know more. I swear I will reveal all my secrets to you without reservation.”

"No need to discuss."

Thales sighed, wisely steer the conversation back on track: "So, each of you has the power to destroy the world in an instant..."

He leaned back in his chair, massaging his neck, which ached from leaning forward for so long, and said confidently, "But you wouldn't do that, would you?"

Because of the cost.

Thales recalled what Ashida had said earlier.

Ashida shook her head.

"But the world won't think that way."

“Tales, in this world, they don’t hate us,” the air mage said slowly, “they are afraid of us.”

"So afraid that they wish they could forget us all, that they could disappear from the memory of history forever."

“What they cannot forgive and find unacceptable is not our behavior,” Thales sensed a deep disdain hidden beneath Ashida’s calm demeanor, “but our very existence.”

"It is the possibility that we can destroy everything in an instant."

"It is a disaster."

The prince lowered his head, and his expression became serious.

It turned out to be the case.

If what he said is true.

If it really is any magic user.

If they all possess that kind of power, if they are all capable of overturning the chessboard in an instant...

“I think their concerns are probably not unfounded.” Thales sighed softly, glancing at Lord Justin and Wyatt, as well as the countless soldiers and guards outside the terrace.

“This is our position and stance,” Ashida followed Thales’s gaze and looked outside. “Be careful, Thales, your two identities represent no small matter.”

"It is the unresolved, millennia-old conflict between the world and magic users."

"Once they find you..."

The mage shrugged, a rare occurrence for him.

A gentle breeze swept across the terrace, ruffling some of Thales's hair.

"Do you still have that confidence?" Ashida seemed to have regained his composure, and he said easily, "As a king, to find a way out for magic users, so that we can stand safely in the world?"

Thales gritted his teeth, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

"Of course," he said, forcing himself to speak.

"Isn't it precisely because it's difficult that it's all the more worthwhile to do it?"

What else could he say?
I'm sorry, I was wrong. I was young and arrogant and overestimated myself. Now I give up—is that right?

Thales shrugged inwardly.

Ashdaton stood still, his gaze lingering on him for nearly ten seconds.

"Ah, I'm really looking forward to that day," he said softly.

“Ha,” Thales felt rather uncomfortable under the other person’s strange gaze, and had to turn his attention back to the chessboard, saying perfunctorily, “Just wait, I will succeed…”

But Ashida interrupted him.

"Do not."

“What I expect, Thales,” he wagged his finger, still staring strangely at the boy before him, “is not your ultimate success.”

The mage's tone changed, becoming eerie and sinister:
"But you are caught between magic users and humans, caught between calamity and the world..."

"Caught between one's own nature and the gaze of others, caught between an inescapable future and an inseparable past..."

"Ultimately torn apart by contradictions, destroyed by conflicts, and devoured by regret..."

"The day we finally compromise."

The two sides of the chessboard fell silent once again.

Only two people remained, staring at each other in bewilderment.

Thales suppressed the twitching of his face, stared at Ashida for a full three seconds, and then awkwardly uttered two words:
"Thank you."

That's such a reassuring comfort.

“If on that day you see a new way out in a completely new perspective, a direction that only you can grasp,” Ashida continued softly, “then don’t hesitate any longer, accept yourself, and seize the helm to turn your destiny around.”

The mage's gaze was like two sharp swords, piercing into Thales's pupils.

"Remember what I said."

"Word by word."

"Engraved in your heart."

"Tales Shining Star".

The prince let out a long sigh of relief, feeling incredibly embarrassed and unsure how to react.

Engraved in my heart?

this……

“Ah, there’s another question,” Thales chuckled dryly, awkwardly raising his finger. “How were B and his five companions defeated? And what about them now?”

"One of them has already been sealed away by you," Ashida said quite frankly about the question. "The others probably met a similar fate more than six hundred years ago..."

seal.

Thales clenched his fist, recalling the lovely yet terrifying girl and the scene of her ultimately turning to ashes.

At that moment, the mage lowered his voice, sounding somewhat forlorn: "Otherwise, this world would probably not be what it is today."

Ashda shook her head: "During the days of the final battle, I sensed knocking on the door as often as breathing. They were insane."

It's as if you need to breathe.

Thales muttered to himself.

“If one day B’s people come looking for you, remember,” Ashida looked up and nodded at him, “they are almost all lunatics.”

"They may not necessarily be your enemies, but they will definitely not be your friends—think of Giza."

Thales lowered his head in deep thought. "So, you're not one of them?"

"No, it's not."

“Several of us, including myself, thought B’s approach was too extreme and called them ‘radicals,’” Ashida scoffed. “In return, they called us ‘moderates’—or even worse.”

Radicals.

The mild-mannered.

Thales recalled the standoff and argument between Ashida and Giza in the Shield Zone, and a sense of realization dawned on him.

"Radicals and moderates... Mages are divided into two factions, opposed to each other?"

"If only it were that simple." Ashida shook her head again.

“The moderates are not a unified and orderly camp like the radicals, who advance and retreat together. We are just a group of scattered magic users who refuse to choose war.”

"Even after the war, we were scattered in different places, fighting our own battles."

Ashida gripped the chess piece in her hand, and the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

"And the radicals' real adversary..."

“In the final battle, there were two other magemasters,” the magemaster said calmly. “They chose to stand on the other side of the battlefield, facing and confronting B and his followers—whether magemasters or ordinary people.”

"Six against two, that was the situation during the war."

Thales took a deep breath, and a realization dawned on him.

It turned out to be the case.

Two mage-masters who stood up for the world.

Confronting radicals.

Those few books in the Nekaru Library, the calamities that the little girl spoke of "standing on our side"...

It turned out to be...

"Queen."

Thales uttered a strange word.

This time, it was Ashida's turn to raise an eyebrow and show a slight change in expression.

You know them?

Thales looked up and gazed at Ashida with an affirmative look.

“Two empresses, right? There has never been the title of ‘empress’ in the history of the ancient empire and the final empire, but I have heard the word in various occasions and it has been mentioned once or twice in books,” Thales recalled the few occasions in which he had heard the word, “and even some of the great nobles in the two countries know of their existence—they sound very high and mighty.”

Ashida stared at him expressionlessly, without moving.

“So, the so-called empress is actually a mage,” Thales tentatively said. “A mage who stood on the side of the world in the final war. They helped us—I mean, they stood on the side of the world—to defeat the radicals led by B, so they enjoy a transcendent status and are even called empresses.”

Thales let out a sigh of relief: "So, there are still magic users who can coexist peacefully with the world, right?"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he found that Ashida was looking at him in a meaningful way.

Thales widened his eyes: What?

Until Ashida shook her head again.

“No.” He coldly denied Thales’s words.

This startled the prince.

wrong?

But the Empress...

"Those two mage standing on the other side of the battlefield, they still thought they were one of the human beings."

“Therefore, they have always been at odds with the radicals,” Ashida said, shaking his head and sighing. “They are just two pathetic people who confuse the past with the present.”

"We usually call them 'confusing people'."

Confusionist?
Thales kept the word to himself.

He considers himself... a human mage?

Thales' expression remained calm, but a huge question mark lingered in his mind.

But Ashida didn't stop there, as if the Confusion was just a minor incident, and the Mage continued:
"As for the two empresses you mentioned..."

"It wasn't them."

In that instant, Ashida clenched her fist tightly!

"clatter!"

With a crisp sound, a red king suddenly leaped up on the chessboard, took three steps across the cleared path, and forcefully knocked a knight off the board!
Thales frowned.

"...but something even worse." Only now did Ashida's words reach her ears.

The eliminated knight rolled off the chessboard and swayed helplessly back and forth on the table.

The prince, filled with doubt, looked up and immediately tensed up.

The Qi Mage's eyes gleamed with an eerie blue light, obscuring his pupils, yet unable to conceal his killing intent and chilling aura.

"The so-called two magic queens..."

"Bloodthorn, and Black Orchid."

"They are indeed magic users..."

"It was a sudden change of stance at the end of the war..."

"He betrayed all his colleagues overnight..."

"It drove all magic users to their doom..."

Ashida uttered the word through her teeth:

"Traitors."

Even when facing Giza, Ashida's words had never been so cold and chilling.

It was filled with hatred, disgust, apprehension, and... fear?
Thales stared blankly at the mage for a long while before he came to his senses.

Traitors.

The prince repeated it to himself.

"How did the two empresses betray you?" Thales took a breath, trying to calm his racing heart caused by the other party's unusual behavior. "They are more terrifying than the legendary anti-magic forces?"

The mage scoffed softly, the blue light in his eyes gradually fading.
"Ha, they're far more terrifying than the legendary anti-magic forces..."

"Anti-demon weapons are, after all, inanimate objects..."

"And they..."

Thales squinted, feeling a little uneasy.

More terrifying than the legendary anti-magic forces...

"And they..."

At this moment, Ashida paused slightly in her speech.

His gaze returned to Thales.

Ashida changed the subject: "You really want to know?"

"Our mortal enemy?"

Thales widened his eyes, shrugged, and gave a "yes" look.

"Of course, didn't you say we need to distinguish between our enemies and our allies?"

“That’s not all…” Thales rested his chin on his hand, frowning as he pondered the information and intelligence he had just gathered: “What was mentioned before—radicals, moderates, confused ones, two ‘empresses’… So, what are the confused ones thinking?”

"Who are the remaining magic users? What are their names, titles, and abilities? And..."

Thales scratched his chin and pondered, "You've been talking about... who is Toros?"

Ashida smiled again, a rare occurrence for her.

“It will take quite a while to explain all of this,” the mage seemed to have regained his calm and composed demeanor, and continued to tempt him: “So, do you want to come with me? Accept your true nature and wholeheartedly embark on the path of a mage, and you will be able to learn this knowledge more systematically, efficiently, comprehensively, and conveniently.”

Telston paused for a moment.

“Thank you for your invitation again, but I still think,” Thales sighed, ignoring the mage’s eager gaze once more, “that a kingdom heir with a delicate background is more beneficial to our future than an apprentice mage who hides in the shadows.”

“So,” Thales raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue, “the betrayal of the two emperors?”

Ashida gave a faint smile.

"Alright then." The mage first shook his head slightly, then slowly nodded.

“Now that you know about the existence of the two Magic Queens,” Ashida sat up straight, her eyes sharp and her expression grave, “it’s time to tell you…”

"The most interesting part of our lesson today..."

"When I was still a mage apprentice, the part that fascinated me the most..."

Thales held his breath, waiting for the mage's answer.

Two Emperors.

The Magic Queen.

In the final battle, he betrayed all the magic users.

The person that Ashida feared so much.

How exactly did they betray them?

Just how terrifying is its power?

"get out of class is over."

"Aishida said calmly."

Ok?
Thales didn't react for a moment.

However, in the next second, the mage's figure completely disappeared into thin air.

Silence returned to both ends of the chessboard.

Then, the sound of the prince inhaling slowly came through.

Thales blinked incredulously, staring blankly at Ashida's seat.

get out of class dismissed?
The prince sat there blankly for a minute.

However, apart from the checkmate that had unknowingly occurred on the chessboard, Ashida left not a trace.

It's as if he never came.

Thales stared in astonishment at the empty seat, his mouth agape in surprise.

It's as if I can see the indifferent, hypocritical smile of a magic master.

He recalled what Ashida had said earlier.

The most interesting part of today's lesson...

[When I was still a mage apprentice, the part that fascinated me the most...]

[get out of class dismissed.]

I was really into coding the Double Emperors game when, damn it, I forgot to plug my laptop in, and the power went out instantly!

Fortunately, the software has an instant save function...

But the moment the power went out and the screen went black, seeing the swordless figure with an "O"-shaped mouth on the screen evoked very mixed feelings in me...

So I specifically wrote about this feeling of bewilderment in the main text to share with everyone—comrades, at this moment, (clenching fist firmly) we are of one mind, equally bewildered!
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(End of this chapter)