Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 423 Awakening
Yodl knelt silently on the spot, the mirror holes on his eerie dark purple mask were pitch black.

Thales suppressed his myriad thoughts and sighed softly.

So, it was you there.

Yodl's mask moved.

“Yes,” a hoarse, deep voice came from beneath the mask:
"I'm here."

The man behind the mask gently extended his gloved right hand:
"I am always here."

Thales remained silent for a few seconds, and the soreness in his arm gradually disappeared.

He took a deep breath.

"Yes."

The prince looked up and smiled gently: "I know."

“I’ve always known.”

He grabbed Yodl's hand and used the latter's strength to stand up.

The torch in Yodel's hand flickered gently, illuminating the surroundings, but the light seemed to diminish when it shone on Yodel, leaving only a faint reflection.

It only made his mask appear more mysterious and profound.

Thales released Yodl's hand and watched him silently.

Not long ago, the bloody battle between Nicolai and Monty in the wasteland was not only thrilling, but also affected innocent bystanders—poor Thales was caught in the middle, becoming both a valuable bargaining chip for both sides and a key means for them to defeat the enemy, even suffering serious injuries and teetering on the brink of death.

Under a rare opportunity, the sins of the River of Hell rose up for the first time in a long time, engulfing the boy at that moment.

As Thales lay dying on the ground, enduring the uncontrollable agony of the River of Hell's sins, his heightened senses, activated in that instant, relayed new information to the Star Prince.

Besides the Meteorite and the Deathcrow fighting to the death, and himself who was unable to move, Thales sensed a fourth person.

The fourth, almost imperceptible breath; the fourth footstep rubbing against the ground; the fourth, a mysterious figure hidden in the shadows, as if behind a curtain.

It leaned silently against the giant rock where the White Blade Guard had their ultimate duel, as solid as a rock, motionless, almost blending into its surroundings. Even when Thales was in danger, it lay in wait, calmly and cautiously awaiting the outcome of the battle between Nicolai and Monty.

The two experts at the pinnacle of their battle remained completely unaware.

Just like... in the past.

Thales might not recognize the figure, but that didn't stop him from recognizing the "veil" through his temporarily enhanced hellish senses—that wondrous, unusual, invisible ripple that even the prince himself had experienced, separating color and sound.

The Path of Shadows.

At that moment, Thales suddenly realized that if the cunning Raphael was right about one thing in the secret headquarters of Dragon Sky City, it was this:

We will ensure that you have reliable forces and personnel protecting you from the outside of Dragon Sky City to the Great Desert—of course, the number will not be large, but they will all be among the most elite in the world…

It's Yodl.

That's why Thales was able to leave Nicolai and Monty alive and then confidently forge ahead into the desert without looking back.

After escaping Dragonstreet, Monty, as the most outstanding scout, led Thales to escape the threat of pursuers. In secret, Yordles, who had infiltrated the North at some unknown time, acted as a shadowy protector, monitoring their movements. Perhaps the Secret Society had long suspected the loyalty of the Deathraven, or perhaps this was the final test for Monty.

In the vast desert, Thales was in danger several times, but in the end, he always escaped the desert god's cold trap with a miraculous "luck": whether it was when he was unconscious and collapsed on the yellow sand after running out of water and food, he "bumped" into Dante's greatsword team by chance, or when he was besieged by orcs and surrounded on all sides, a mysterious fire broke out in the merchant camp and attracted the Star Army.

In retrospect, most of these strokes of luck and coincidence seem to align with Yordles' consistent style of operating covertly and secretly.

Not only that, perhaps, perhaps on the way out of Valhalla, perhaps that black-robed swordsman who comes with two swords...

In that instant, Thales, lost in thought, silently looked at Yodl's mask, at this man who was usually taciturn, and recalled the scene when he first appeared on Red Street and reached out his hand to the little beggar.

He then suddenly realized that he was already as tall as the masked guard's shoulders.

Just now.

"who are you?"

A deep, drawn-out voice echoed from the void, and Thales instinctively became alert, only to find that Yodel remained motionless, merely turning his head to look behind him.

I looked at the cell shrouded in darkness.

“What a terrifying ability to hide,” Sacel’s weary, worn-out voice, etched with the marks of countless torments, echoed from the darkness.

"I didn't even sense anything unusual before you drew your sword."

Thales frowned; he noticed that Yodl seemed unusually silent.

"But that mask."

Sacel spoke softly in the darkness:

“I recognize that mask.”

mask?

Thales's brow twitched, and he quickly looked at Yodl, paying particular attention to his strange, dark purple mask.

That thing that had intrigued him ever since their first meeting.

Sacel's cold laughter rang out: "'Divine Deception'—also part of the Elf Queen's dowry, yet it has been classified as a 'forbidden item' in the royal treasury for three hundred years, and there's a reason for that."

A divine scheme?

What's this name?
Sacel's words carried a tone that made Thales uneasy.

"Stealth, disguise, observation, insight, and even delayed harm..." the prisoner in the cell said slowly, "It can offer its owner far too many benefits..."

"It's almost caught up with the price it demanded."

cost.

Thales couldn't help but glance at Yodl again, but the latter remained silent and didn't say a word.

"who are you?"

Sacel seemed to be getting impatient, his voice tinged with agitation: "Even without looking at that mask, not everyone is qualified to wield the Supreme Sword."

"Secret Bureau? Or the Royal Family?"

Just as Thales was staring wide-eyed, trying to remind them of their current predicament, Yodl suddenly spoke up.

"I am just an unknown person," the masked guard said calmly.

The prisoner remained silent in the darkness for a moment.

"No, you are not."

His tone was certain.

"you are not."

Behind the mask called "Mysterious Deception," a pair of eyes flickered slightly.

A long sigh came from Sacel.

Something seemed to come to mind.

"I told you so..."

“I said this a long time ago, when I was teaching you hand-to-hand combat at the Palace of Restoration,” the former Royal Guard watchman said, his voice tinged with an indescribable sadness.

"You are not suited to be a royal assassin."

Thales saw the masked guard, who hadn't moved for a long time, sway slightly after saying those words.

Sacel sighed and uttered an affectionate term:

"Young Yod."

The scene seemed frozen in the air, with only the firelight continuing to flicker.

A few seconds later, Yodl slowly turned around, her hoarse voice strained to speak:
"haven't seen you for a long time."

"gentlemen."

Thales looked around awkwardly.

Clearly, this was a long-awaited reunion.

“You shouldn’t have worn that mask,” Sacel said, ignoring Yodl’s words, his voice tinged with sadness.
You shouldn't have.

These were his last words. With a rustling sound, his movements were swallowed up by the dimness of the cell.

Yodl did not speak.

Thales, who had been too afraid to even breathe due to the atmosphere, rolled his eyes and cautiously pointed to the way he had come from, the deep passageway.

"So, now we..."

Yodl raised her head, no longer looking in Saxeel's direction:

"Don't worry, the Secret Service is on the ground and has everything ready."

Now it was Thales' turn to frown slightly.

"The Secret Bureau? They've known all along? Ever since I came back, about the Shadow Shield, about the Bone Prison, about..."

He looked at Yodl suspiciously.

“Half,” Yodl nodded, then shook his head. “They know half of it from the End Tower.”

"The other half of the Shadow Shield was what I told them—your journey home wasn't smooth, and many people are very interested in you."

The masked guard said silently.

Thales let out a breath.

"That's really good news." A slight sense of annoyance welled up in his heart.

Really bad.

This is the prince's heartfelt wish.

Thales tried to shake off his irritation, cleared his throat, and said to Yodl:

“Listen, Yordle, well, how should I put it, when I came back, there was this mercenary…”

Just as Thales was troubled, Yodl suddenly spoke up:
"'Quick rope'."

He said it simply and directly.

This surprised Thales.

“Miko doesn’t know him,” Yodel said, as if he knew what Thales was thinking. “Let’s see what we can do.”

Thales opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He looked at Yodl and suddenly felt very grateful to him.

I am grateful that the other party was so understanding and grasped the point immediately.

But Yodl clearly didn't need the prince to thank him; he nodded slightly and turned away.

"We should go."

Thales' brow twitched.

"Oh, wait a minute."

At the prince's signal, Yodl, holding a torch, followed Thales toward Ricky's fallen body.

Thales stared at Ricky lying in a pool of blood, finding it hard to believe that just an hour earlier in the tavern, this guy had effortlessly taken him down.

It's just gone like that.

The leader of the Sword of Calamity.

The prince could only shake his head helplessly and squat down to flatten Ricky's body.

His eyes, wide open and lifeless, revealed the latter's unseeing gaze.

“Excuse me, esteemed Crassus,” Thales said, his expression a mixture of emotions as he looked at Ricky’s pale face. He pulled the confiscated dagger from Ricky’s pocket, waved it at the dead man, and then fastened it to his belt, not caring whether the man could hear him or not.
"I believe this is mine."

Yodl stared silently at the sheathed dagger, watching the prince speak to a corpse, and remained silent.

Thales rummaged through Ricky's clothes again, his movements practiced, direct, and efficient.

It felt like stepping back into my childhood, searching through the stinking ditches in the downtown area for unconscious drunks or unclaimed corpses.

"And this..."

Thales sighed, took out a piece of yellowed, expensive letter paper, unfolded it in front of him, and looked at the signature "H.N. Canxing" at the bottom, feeling rather wistful:

"I believe it's not yours either."

The prince didn't have time to examine it closely. He took a deep breath, carefully folded the unusual suicide note, and tucked it into his pocket.

Yodl suddenly spoke up at this moment:
"arms."

"Hmm?" Thales turned around.

“You should take his weapon,” Yodl’s mask twitched slightly. “We are not out of danger yet, and you cannot rely on just a dagger for self-defense.”

Thales raised an eyebrow.

“Alright,” the prince shrugged, glancing at Ricky’s waist, at the long, slender sword wrapped tightly in cloth, never drawn from its sheath:
"I guess this sword is of little use to him anyway."

Thales pulled open Ricky's belt and tore off his sword belt.

“You’re a good person, Ricky. Thank you for your protection and… generosity.”

As Thales muttered to himself, he unwrapped the cloth, revealing the longsword before his eyes.

This is no ordinary sword.

Thales had this feeling the moment he saw it.

He noticed a soft-colored silver diamond inlaid on the hilt, which gave the weapon an elegant and serene nobility. Its meticulously crafted guard and hilt formed a perfect right angle, appearing neat and precise. The two edges from the tip to the blade had beautiful curves, and even in the dim firelight, they appeared smooth and lustrous.

When Thales grabbed the hilt and raised the sword, he immediately noticed that the weapon in his hand had an amazing sense of balance, and he could swing it smoothly and freely without any hindrance.

"Wow, that's impressive." Thales twirled his sword a few times and clicked his tongue in admiration.

Compared to it, the weapons of the Northerners look crudely made, even the creations of the Star People seem inferior, and as for the weapons of the Orcs, well…

But what attracted Thales most was not its shape, but the inscriptions engraved on both sides of the blade.

“Ancient Imperial script.” Thales murmured, turning the inscription on the blade over and over.

But compared to other ancient imperial texts, this time, he could only recognize a few phrases on two lines of inscription.

"What do you mean, 'never stop'..."

Thales stared with a headache at the inscription, which was completely different from most other writing styles: "What...what eternity..."

God.

He really needs to brush up on his knowledge of astrology.

Thales shook his head, took the last item from Ricky's arms, glanced at it briefly, and casually tossed it to Yodl.

"Hey, take this, it'll come in handy."

"As for him..."

Thales glanced at Samir, who was lying unconscious to the side, and sighed, remembering his sensitive and complicated identity: "Let the Secret Service handle it."

At that moment, Yodl's figure flashed by!
"Whoosh—thump!"

With a loud thud, before Thales could react, he was tackled to the ground!

"It's held down!"

An anxious shout rang out from the passageway: "Don't hurt our target!"

Thales, panting heavily, leaned on Ricky's sword and pulled Yodl's arm to his feet. He looked at his former spot with lingering fear: a crossbow bolt remained embedded in the ground, its fletching trembling slightly.

But now is not the time to be thankful.

The next second, a sword light as fast as lightning arrived from the air in an instant!

It met another dark-colored blade in mid-air.

"clang!"

A piercing sound of impact rang out.

Thales felt a jolt in his eardrums, and then Yodl pushed him backward, sending him staggering back more than ten steps!

The masked guard's figure flickered in the air several times, trying his best to avoid the two follow-up attacks that were faster and more ruthless than the first sword. With a backflip, he landed just in front of Thales.

He was somewhat disheveled. Thales recognized the sudden attacker and his heart tightened.

Oops.

The middle-aged swordsman from the North, Clay, stood coldly before them, staring resentfully at Yordles, his "Darklight" longsword trembling incessantly.

He is not the only one.

tread!tread!tread!
Multiple footsteps sounded from one end of the passage, rapidly approaching as the flames drew near.

Josh, the Sword of Calamity, appeared at the entrance of the passage, followed by more than ten fierce mercenaries.

"Oh my God!"

Josh put down his crossbow and stared blankly at the scene before him.

He looked at his leader lying in a pool of blood and the unconscious Samir, and he and his companions showed expressions of astonishment.

“This… Ricky…”

"Do not……"

From shock to indignation, from anger to hatred, the swords of calamity turned their gaze toward the remaining Yordle and Thales.

Thales gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

They arrived... way too fast!
Just now, the Yordles knocked down two people, almost without making a sound...

It takes a long time to get through this passage.

How could they be so fast...?

"Siege formation!"

Having seen the situation on the field, Clay roared, his face full of anger.

The swords of calamity spread out in a semi-circle, their eyes gleaming with menace as they cautiously surrounded the prince and his guards.

Faced with countless hateful and murderous gazes, Thales instinctively raised Ricky's sword.

Yodl bent his knees slightly, and the Supreme Sword was switched from his palm to his backhand.

Ricky is right.

Clay stared hatefully at the leader's corpse on the ground, then at the unusual longsword in Thales' hand: "He was right."

He finally raised the Darklight, pointing angrily at the masked guard, Yordle:
"Sure enough, it was you, you sneaky bastard, who's been following us in the shadows and causing trouble all along!"

Thales' heart skipped a beat:
"He knows?"

He stared incredulously at the leader of the Blade of Calamity on the ground: "Ricky knew?"

Clay spat angrily, extremely unwilling.

"Of course he does."

The middle-aged swordsman from the north said coldly:

"Just now, when we were confronting the Shadow Shield, it was you who secretly launched the first attack and provoked the battle, right? You wanted to see us both suffer heavy losses so you could profit from it."

Yodl remained silent.

Clay gritted his teeth and said, "Rickie has been suspicious ever since—the battle started too fast, too suddenly, too unexpectedly, unlike the way Chip used to coerce and entice."

Thales realized what was happening, and his face turned pale.

That means……

"So Ricky deliberately withdrew his men and brought me here," the prince stared blankly at Ricky's corpse, at the empty hall:
"It's all for, for..."

“To lure out this rat that's been causing trouble in secret.” Josh coldly tossed aside his crossbow and drew two oddly shaped hand axes from behind his back:
"A highly skilled assassin who lurks in the shadows and is even capable of concealing his presence."

All the Blades of Calamity stared intently at the Yordle.

“The only thing Ricky didn’t expect was that this cowardly rat actually had the power to kill him,” Clay said, looking at Ricky’s dead body on the ground with hatred. “He didn’t even have time to send out the ambush signal.”

Thales stared at Yodl with a grim expression.

But all that could be seen was the dark purple mask.

"You know, the one who wears a mask."

Clay's longsword trembled slightly, and Thales could see the power of annihilation gathering within him, erupting alongside his rage: "I promise you—you will pay for this."

The swords of calamity unfurled in unison, filling the hall with a palpable sense of impending doom.

Thielston immediately felt a headache coming on.

Yodl slowly raised his head.

His voice, faint and menacing, came from beneath the mask: "I know."

"I knew it from the beginning."

The next moment, the torch in Yodl's hand suddenly went out and fell to the ground!
The masked guard vanished without a trace, like morning dew, disappearing from everyone's sight in an instant!

It was incredibly bizarre.

"He's gone invisible again!"

The wielders of the Blade of Calamity were clearly experienced; they were not fooled by the sight before them. Clay roared:
"Don't use your eyes, use the power of termination to feel that killing intent!"

In that instant, Thales felt a chill run down his spine in his hellish senses—he sensed that the dozen or so swords of calamity before him were all raised in unison, ready for battle.

The power of termination emanated from their bodies, each in its own way, some gathering in one place, some surging endlessly, some igniting a rhythm, some endlessly regenerating—yet they were all equally turbulent, violent, and frenzied, causing even Thales to feel a strange sting when he glanced at them from afar.

He is very different from ordinary people.

"Take down the smaller one first!"

"No matter what kind of magic trick it is, if he's going to attack, he must first reveal himself, or even show his killing intent!" Clay calmly ordered the mercenaries to surround the exit and watch every corner.

“The moment he revealed himself,” Clay said coldly, glancing around.
"It's the end of my life."

Thales' eyelids twitched, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.

“Eighteen,” Thales slowly retreated, counting the enemies before him, and whispered to the empty void:

"There are also a few experts who are no less skilled than Ricky."

"can you?"

A distinctive, hoarse voice drifted through the air, just like six years ago: "They have numbers, formation, preparation, and they know I'm here. If we break through head-on..."

Upon understanding the other party's meaning, Thales felt a pang of unease.

“I am not the Wrath of the Kingdom,” Yordle said somberly.

Before them, the people wielding the sword of calamity were on high alert, pressing closer step by step.

“So the answer is no.” Thales was very frustrated, his brow furrowed.

But he could only bite the bullet and think of a solution: "Okay, I'll try..."

But Yodl's words continued, interrupting him:

"But some people can."

Thales was taken aback.

what?
Is anyone able to help?

The next second, the wind howled!

"Boom!"

A mercenary carrying a torch staggered backward, the torch slipping from his hand and crashing into the wall along with an incoming stone.

As if a gust of wind had swept by, the three remaining flames in the field, held in the hand of the sword of calamity, were blown about and swayed!
"There!" Clay roared, his sword flashing like lightning!

Thales only had time to see Yodl's figure flash in the air before their weapons clashed.

"clang!"

The masked guards, with their ghostly figures, first forced one of them back, then retreated in a sorry state amidst the combined attack of the three.

After dodging countless attempts to enter the palace, he rolled over, only to find his back against a stone pillar in the hall, leaving him with nowhere to retreat.

"Surround him and kill him!" Clay's killing cries were ruthless.

But the next moment, Yodel's figure disappeared from the stone pillar again.

"boom!"

A heavy hammer slammed down on the stone pillar where the masked guard had disappeared, sending stone chips flying everywhere.

"Damn it!" Josh cursed angrily after his efforts were in vain.

The swords of calamity calmly turned around, formed their ranks, and waited for another opportunity.

However, a few seconds later—

"Kara..."

A strange sound drifted from not far away!
The swords of calamity were all taken aback.

Clay frowned and turned around: "What's going on—"

But then, another sword of calamity discovered the enemy's tracks and shouted a warning:

"Where!"

The mercenaries all turned their heads and spotted Yordle's figure against the wall at the back of the hall.

"kill!"

Josh roared and led his men forward, unleashing four weapons at once, forcing Yodl into a frantic struggle.

But Clay saw more.

He saw the masked, dark-skinned man place his left hand on the wall and easily loosen a hanging ring.

Rings?

Next to the rings is an iron plaque with inscriptions.

Clay's expression changed!
He instinctively turned his head and saw a familiar emblem on the pillar where Yodl had disappeared.

That eye.

The eyes that lead to omniscience.

And at some point, the long, crystal-green key that originally belonged to Ricky was now firmly inserted in the center of the emblem.

No.

This was Clay's first idea.

The next moment, the sounds of rough metal rubbing and crisp mechanical clicks rang out one after another!

"Kara—Kara—Kara!"

Startled, the Blades of Calamity lost their footing, allowing the Yordle to escape the encirclement once more, disappearing into the shadows and casually knocking away a torch.

"Kara-Kara!"

The loud, piercing machine noise lasted for several seconds, tormenting everyone's ears.

"Boom."

Until it abruptly disappeared with a muffled thud.

Like the axe blade on the guillotine, after enduring the friction that represents death and bloodshed, it fell to the bottom with a heavy thud.

Clay and Josh turned around in astonishment, looking towards the back of the hall in the dim light of the last torch.

Disappeared.

Clay stared blankly at the infamous black jail.

Disappeared.

Sometime during that time, in that dark, secluded cell behind the main hall, mysterious bars appeared, isolating and tormenting the prisoners...

It's gone.

Only a few dozen round holes remain on the ground, telling the story of where they went.

Only a tranquil darkness remained behind it, highlighting the eerie silence.

"Damn it." Klay blurted out instinctively, not even having time to consider where Yordle was.

Looking at the ominous darkness that should have been firmly separated by the mysterious fence, the swords of calamity instinctively retreated and gathered together.

They looked at each other, and a nameless unease welled up in the hearts of many.

A second later, a long, drawn-out inhale slowly echoed from that unknown, deathly darkness:
"Aha--"

The voice was slightly loud, and the breathing was slightly rapid.

It was like someone who hadn't breathed in a long time finally getting their first breath of air.

Even the dim firelight flickered slightly.

At that moment, the mercenaries, immersed in the strange power of termination, all felt a chill run down their spines and their hair stand on end!

Their destructive power surged forth in unison, like restless animals.

how--

"Hold on!" Clay gritted his teeth and shouted, "Formation!"

Under the overwhelming force of termination, the mercenaries had to do their best to restrain themselves, suppressing their uncontrollable anger and the inexplicable panic that was gripping them.

Then they all looked up at the mysterious darkness.

The sound of exhalation echoed again in the darkness.

Compared to before, the atmosphere this time seemed somber and composed.

"call……"

It was also quite boring.

A series of rustling sounds came from the darkness.

Sweat dripped from Clay's forehead as he gripped the sword hilt tightly, suppressing the "Touch of Greed" raging within him, wary of the unknown darkness ahead.

What are you doing?
He knew that there were few situations that could cause the sword of calamity's power of termination to erupt so violently.

And what exactly is that...?

Just now.

"Ah..." A dry, unremarkable male voice drifted eerily from the darkness:

"I really need to shave."

His accent was pure, and his voice carried a hint of sadness.

Amidst doubt and terror, the swords of calamity exchanged bewildered glances, their breathing quickening.

Clay's eyelids twitched slightly.

The moment he heard that voice, he suddenly had a strange feeling:
In the darkness ahead, it seemed as if some terrifying beast had just awakened from its hibernation in its cave.

It exhales its lazy and unpleasant first breath.

Clay gripped his sword tighter and swallowed hard.

"so."

The monotonous male voice rang out again, this time with more life and a hint of amusement:

Do you... have razors?

puff!
With a muffled thud, the last remaining torch in the field went out, and the light disappeared from sight.

The entire hall, including the eighteen swords of calamity, was utterly plunged into a deathly silence and profound darkness.

Bottomless.

(End of this chapter)