Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 363 To Whom Does Loyalty Belong?
Monty stared directly at Nicolai, his smile slowly fading away:

"And isn't it the same when I look at you now?"

The meteorite shook his head.

His face darkened: "We should have been the most loyal, the purest, and the most glorious White Blade Guard..."

"We once fought side by side with passion, pride, and joy, shedding blood for Exter."

"What exactly has led us to this point?"

Monty interrupted him.

"Don't you understand, you troublemaker?"

“Yes, we are indeed the most loyal, the purest, the most glorious White Blade Guard,” he said in a low voice, sounding like the hopeless struggle of a dying patient.

"But look at the shining names in the history of the guard, which one is not a legend of noble birth and pure bloodline? Even for nobles, serving the king in the White Blade Guard is an honor."

Monty slowly raised his gaze.

"But when Kaslan broke with tradition and began to promote the White Blade Guard from among the commoners, when he opened his sharp eyes and carefully selected us lowly people from among the soldiers who had been on the battlefield, training us to become the Dragon Guard..."

Monty sighed deeply: "Things have changed, and the outcome is already predetermined."

“We are out of step with those long-standing aristocratic rulers.”

Nicolai was stunned and speechless.

Monty chuckled softly, recalling the past: "I remember it very clearly. On the first day of guarding the Imperial Council, whether it was nobles with titles and fiefs, bureaucrats with only honorary titles, or even the old guards of noble birth, no one respected us—the defilers of the blade, that was what they called us."

He gave Nicolai a meaningful look: "We'll never fit in."

Nikolai lowered his head.

"Isaiah understood this principle very early on, so he simply went to the outposts, to the thirty-eight most dangerous and simplest outposts, to make a pure choice between the enemy and our side."

"And the rest of the guard..."

“Look at me, look at Michael, look at Carlos, look at Shiva, look at Justin, look at our fates, and then look at yourself…” Monty said, then laughed.

The laughter was mournful.

The meteorite frowned.

"You've worked so hard for so many years, even killing 'Star Butcher' Horace Starlight at Dragon Keep, and have been famous for over a decade—yet you're just a minor lord, not even qualified to attend a banquet at Valhalla."

"Do you remember the hearing a few days ago?"

Monty looked at him with amusement, as if he were the biggest fool in history: "When you, as the protector of the Grand Duchess of Dragonstreet and the maintainer of order at the meeting, open your mouth to speak, which of the counts and viscounts of Dragonstreet will take you seriously?"

Nicolai looked at Monty's disdainful smile and slowly exhaled.

“We’ll never understand,” Monty said solemnly, “what those high-ranking nobles are thinking.”

The raven's breathing quickened as dark memories of the past flooded back:

"The current Grand Duke of Weyland, Rebian Aurelius, was poisoned twice by his half-brother, but no one knows that Nunn ordered me and Kaslan to administer the poison so that Rebian could frame his brother and ultimately become Grand Duke. But after it was done, Nunn had me rescue his unsuspecting brother and use him as a tool to control Weyland from afar..."

"Do you remember the large-scale eastward bandit suppression campaign that Longxiao City launched not long after you took over as acting captain? In fact, I was also one of those bandits: Longxiao City sent me to infiltrate this bandit den to supply them with weapons and strengthen their power so that they could plunder Longxiao City's own caravans with impunity—that's why King Nuen had an excuse to attack the Grand Duke of Deer City."

The Raven said dejectedly, "We will never understand their power games."

As he listened to the other person's account, the Fallen One's breathing quickened involuntarily.

"After Sulir's death, I seemingly abandoned my sword in a fit of anger and joined Qiyuan City. In fact, I was a spy sent to Qiyuan City by Longxiao City to continue monitoring the movements of the Ronnie family for King Nuen and to incite their vassals to rebel from time to time."

Monty took a breath.

“Then, Nunn died,” Monty said, his head bowed, his face somber.

"My blade in the darkness suddenly lost most of its meaning—but what's even more ironic is that my target of surveillance, the renowned and upright Grand Duke of Qiyuan City, Kulikun Ronni, suddenly found me. Only then did I realize that he had always known I was King Nuen's raven, the king's spy!"

At this point, Monty burst into exaggerated laughter: "But that cunning bastard, he pretended to know nothing and put on a show for me for twelve years! Until King Nunn died! Hahahaha!"

"And Ronnie told me that Nunn actually knew perfectly well that he had seen through my infiltration, but the two of them, who were wary of each other, pretended not to know each other like they were performing a pantomime, while I was the only one stuck in the middle—hahahaha, I've been acting for twelve years!"

"Twelve years! Don't they get tired?"

Monty's smile was exaggerated and distorted.

Nicolai looked at Monty with a bitter expression, finding it not funny at all.

He knew that Monty didn't find it funny either.

The Death Raven finally finished laughing.

His face darkened, as if he had returned to the abyss of darkness: "For decades, I have followed their ways, learned the game I will never understand, always wearing a mask, disguising myself, and ready to change my face at any time."

Monty gently stroked his face, somewhat lost in thought.

It felt like it wasn't my own skin.

"Sometimes, when I return to Dragon Sky City, to the White Blade Guard, and try to shed my disguise, I find that even when I'm drinking with my brothers, I've gotten used to acting..."

Monty took a deep breath: "I even have this illusion that the mask is the real me, and only when I put on the mask can I take off my disguise."

The raven coughed painfully a few times, its expression dejected.

"But there, only there, in the Blood Garden that Adele tended herself, when I gazed at her face with fascination, I could feel that perhaps I was more than just a mask."

Monty looked up, touched his face, and forced a numb smile: "I also have my own feelings and beliefs."

He trembled slightly, as if to confirm something, and mechanically repeated:
"It's not just the mask."

The meteorite remained silent.

Then, a few seconds later, Monty took a few deep breaths and, surprisingly, managed to stand up steadily while holding onto the rock wall.

This time, Monty swayed a few times but didn't fall down again.

The meteorite-bomber's expression suddenly changed!

Oops.

Monty had already stood up and was ready to move at any moment to retrieve his crossbow.

And myself...

Nikolai stared at the crossbow bolt on his shoulder, gritting his teeth in hatred.

It seems the outcome of this "last man standing" game is already decided.

Is it the end?
Nikolai gripped the crossbow bolt on his shoulder again, ignoring the excruciating pain, and tried to escape its grip.

"But she still left."

Monty's forlorn voice came through.

“That damn assassin sent by the Secret Service is probably a newbie,” Deathrattle chuckled, but the Meteorite could sense the chill in his voice.

"Just like when I first entered this industry, he couldn't bring himself to do it when faced with children... and ultimately it affected Adele."

His spirits plummeted: "Her death has plunged my life, which had any meaning, back into a bottomless abyss of darkness."

Monty's expression slowly turned ferocious: "Deeper, darker, more gloomy."

Nikolai roared in pain, but the crossbow bolt in his shoulder remained stuck. In desperation, he tried to push himself against the rock wall, attempting to "pull" himself out.

Monty shook his head, carefully extended his burned arm for balance, and took his first step.

"The purpose of the White Blade Guard is to be the sharp blade protecting the North."

“But I haven’t been able to find the meaning of my existence for a long time,” Monty said somberly. “So I stopped looking—living is the meaning, that’s enough.”

Nikolai's face contorted in agony as he strained with all his might, but the crossbow bolt seemed stuck in his bones, unable to move.

“As long as I can survive,” Monty’s voice continued, “I don’t care whose loyalty I have.”

More and more beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of the meteorite.

“As long as you don’t give yourself a chance to hesitate,” Monty gritted his teeth, watching the other’s futile efforts, and solemnly said between breaths:
“Then I won’t hesitate anymore.” The Death Raven smirked, revealing a ruthless look: “Don’t blame me, troublemaker—that’s life.”

The hopeless meteorite finally gave up, letting out a sigh of relief as if resigned to his fate, and looked at his opponent.

Monty smiled and turned to his crossbow.

However, the next moment, a young, full-bodied, hoarse voice boomed: "Whew, this thing... is really heavy."

The two men in the midst of their deadly fight were both stunned.

They all turned their heads at the same time.

Under the sun, a disheveled-looking boy stood where the Time Crossbow had fallen—the eerie black crossbow was in his hand.

"I remember... that's how you wind it up, right?"

The boy stood steadily on the ground, frowned, put his foot into the footstool on top of the crossbow, stepped on it firmly, bent down, and grabbed the hooks attached to the crossbow arm with both hands to hook the string.

He took a deep breath, strained his back, and laboriously pulled the crossbow string to straighten up.

The crossbow string slowly deformed and lengthened.

"Ugh—is it because it's my first time?" the boy said through gritted teeth, his face contorted. "Why is it so...tight..."

Finally, there was a "click":
The crossbow string is in place.

The boy breathed a sigh of relief, panting heavily. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up the Crossbow of Time, and smiled.

Nicolai and Monty stared blankly at the boy, their eyes fixed in disbelief on his freely moving limbs.

“How could this be…” The Meteorite’s eyes were filled with shock and confusion. He stared intently at the boy, as if he wanted to dissect him.

But at this moment, Nikolai was tongue-tied, unable to utter a complete sentence: "I just clearly... I just touched your hands and feet..."

The boy raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, is that what you mean?"

Looking at the two men who were seriously injured and beyond recovery, the boy slowly raised his left hand and shook it vigorously, feeling embarrassed.

“Hmm, my left wrist does feel a bit stiff,” Prince Thales Star, who had stood up again, shrugged and smiled somewhat shyly.

"I don't know, maybe it grew a little crooked."

Monty's eyes widened.

"Impossible." The weakened Deathraven swayed and quickly grabbed the rock wall for support, but his expression of astonishment remained unchanged.

He turned to Nikolai, as if seeking proof from his opponent: "But you did just give him his bones..."

Nicolai gave Monty a sour look: "Nonsense."

Thales paid no attention to the feelings of the two men and happily took two steps in place, his movements swift and without hesitation.

This made Nicolai and Monty even more suspicious.

Thales looked at the two stunned men and sighed, "What's so strange about that? Don't you know?"

The second prince chuckled softly.

"This is the secret behind why the Starry Sky Royal Family has been able to rule the stars for nearly seven hundred years..."

Nikolai's brow twitched, and Monty's pupils contracted!
They both held their breath.

The next second, Thales revealed a mysterious expression.

"It is said that the bloodline of the imperial family comes from the gods," Prince Star raised an eyebrow, pointed to the sky, and revealed a malicious smile, "Even their blood is a brilliant gold, and it can even sparkle under the sun!"

The two men froze on the spot.

“Bone fractures and cracks…” Thales grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth that gleamed in the sunlight:

"We'll be healed in two minutes."

Weird.

Thales muttered to himself, feeling the exhaustion and weakness left by the Sin of the River of Hell.

as well as--

"Cuckoo..."

At that moment, a strange sound came from Thales' stomach.

The prince's face flushed.

But Nicolai and Monty still stared at him blankly, as if he were a monster, and didn't come back to their senses for a long time.

Perhaps their gazes were too intense, or perhaps the scene was too awkward, Thales couldn't help but cough, breaking the silence.

"Alright, now listen to me, you two..."

Thales happily hugged the black crossbow and forcefully pressed a bolt that had fallen to the ground into the groove.

He lifted the Time Crossbow, ready to be fired at any moment, locked the trigger, and braced the crossbow arm against his right armpit.

Thales closed his left eye and aimed the arrow at the Meteorite, who was pinned to the rock wall and unable to move.

Nikolai's face turned pale.

He struggled again, unwilling to give up, but could only watch as more blood seeped from the crossbow bolt that had pierced his arm and shoulder.

"Now, we have a question that urgently needs to be answered."

“Excuse me, Your Excellency Lord Serrey Nicholas,” Thales, now completely healed and looking as if refreshed, looked up and asked with a smile, “Have you eaten…”

"You're using your right hand, aren't you?"

The air became quiet.

Only a gentle breeze blows.

Nikolai stared blankly at the crossbow in Thales' hand.

But a second later, he simply scoffed coldly without showing any weakness: "Fuck you."

Thales blinked.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

The raven, clinging to the rock wall, let out a chuckle.

“Never mind, whatever you did,” Monty laughed happily, “Well done, Your Highness, now all we need to do is…”

Thales's expression turned serious!
He moved his hands, which were supporting the crossbow arm.

In that instant, Nicolai's resentment and Monty's smile both froze on their faces.

With a serious expression, Thales did not pull the trigger on the Meteorite.

But the Time Crossbow in his hand turned at a different angle.

It pointed straight to—

Ned Monty.

“I just heard that: as long as you can survive,” Thales said coldly, his eyes fixed on Monty, “who cares whose loyalty you have, right?”

The raven stared at him in disbelief.

The prince narrowed his eyes slightly: "Then tell me, Lord Monty..."

To whom do you belong?

"Only when I put on the mask can I truly shed my disguise." — A tribute to Rorschach from Watchmen.

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(End of this chapter)