Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 437 The Same as always

“When I was a child, when the Earl of Lisbon told me about it, I always thought it was just a legend.”

"It is no more real than the Queen of the Sky, or the statues of the gods in the temple."

Moral looked at the latter with a complex gaze that Thales had never seen before.

Thales recognized that expression.

That was the expression on Quill Barney's face after Samir's vow failed.

Loss, emptiness, pain, regret.

There was still a hint of confusion and helplessness in them.

"However, the story passed down through generations in our family is true..."

He stared intently at the boy, his head shaking slightly and his chest heaving.

It was as if he no longer recognized this companion who had briefly shared life and death with him, and gone through countless adventures with him.

That foreign prince who shared his fate.

Faced with Morar's crossbow bolts, Thales could only bite his lower lip.

At that moment, even the pain in my chest seemed to no longer matter.

What could he say?
What should he say?
"...Disasters are people, or monsters that look like people."

Moral's eyes remained fixed on his target, and the crossbow bolt in his hand trembled slightly.

"They breathe, eat, walk, and live in every corner of the world just like us. Their every move is just like ours."

He murmured unconsciously, his tone ethereal.

It's like retelling an ancient story from long ago.

"But they are not us after all."

"They will eventually tear off their masks, reveal their true colors, and begin to destroy and slaughter."

Thales instinctively clenched his fist at his chest.

Moral's brow furrowed slowly, and he took a step back, seemingly unable to believe what he was facing.

He gritted his teeth, took a few deep breaths, and the scene from just now flashed through his mind:
"That's just how you are, isn't it?"

"Just like just now?"

Thales leaned against the wall and remained silent for a while.

His face was ashen, and he showed no improvement even in the bright red firelight.

They are not us after all.

They will eventually tear off their masks.

Thales vaguely recalled each instance of losing control and knocking on the door, the Thales in his dream who seemed to know everything, and the consequences he faced each time he came back to his senses.

"I do not know."

After a long while, Thales spoke in a dreamlike tone, with sorrow:
"Even for me, this issue is shrouded in mystery."

Morar also remained silent for a while.

In the deep dungeon, only the breathing of the two could be heard.

Until Morar's cold, mocking laughter echoed in the air.

"So, among the calamities that King Nekaru has fought against... which one are you?"

Thales was slightly distracted.

Moral spoke in the most serious and wary tone, enunciating each word clearly:
"Wang Zai?"

"A terrible disaster?"

"A bloodbath?"

"Secret disaster?"

"First disaster?"

With each word he uttered, Moral's expression grew more serious.

These were phrases that only appeared in the legends of the Walton family, but which he never took seriously.

Disaster.

Hearing these unfamiliar and strange terms, Thales frowned slightly.

Until Moral, holding his crossbow in one hand, uttered the next sentence:

"Or are you simply the chief of all calamities—'the bane of the gods'?"

The bane of the gods.

Hearing this familiar nickname, Thales felt another pang of pain in his chest.

The boy stopped looking at Moral, lowered his head, and said with a mixture of relief and desolation, "Neither."

"I am a..."

"Newcomer."

Morar paused for a moment.

"what."

His shoulders swayed slightly, and his laughter was somewhat mournful, making even the firelight and crossbows tremble.

"So you're like the White Blade Guard, and there are new recruits..."

The words carried a hint of sarcasm.

Feeling a mix of emotions, Thales forced a smile.

"Yes."

"Magician, calamity."

Lost in thought, he became slightly distracted, his tone dejected:

"It's all like a nightmare, no matter how many smiles you force or how much courage you muster in normal times..."

"But in the stillness of the night, when dreams return in the dead of night, it will always come back to you—"

Morar's crossbow trembled slightly.

"enough."

"Disaster."

He interrupted Thales, staring intently at the latter, his eyes unfamiliar, his lips cold, and the veins on his hands bulging.

"Do you know that every temple, no matter how dilapidated or declining the church is, is warning every King of Exter: the cataclysmic disaster will eventually return and destroy us just as it destroyed the final empire?"

Thales didn't look at him, but simply closed his eyes:

"I……"

Moral wasn't going to let him answer.

The Son of Nun gritted his teeth and spoke, his fingers gripping the crossbow arm with all his might, forcefully suppressing his complex emotions that had nowhere to go:
"Do you know what kind of terror, despair, sacrifice, and casualties Nekaru and his comrades endured during the Final War to miraculously reverse the cold winds, defeat the mad and evil calamity, and establish Exter?"

Thales didn't open his eyes; he forced a smile.
"Is it."

Prince Star could feel that the bleeding from his nose had stopped, and that his strength was slowly returning under the gentle permeation of the River of Sin, while the pain in his chest was gradually easing.

At least, he should be able to stand up on his own now.

But for some reason, facing Moral staring at him angrily, facing that seemingly shaky Time Crossbow...

Thales suddenly felt very tired.

It turns out that the companions who had gone through adventures together, whom I thought I could entrust my back to...

It will turn out like this.

This is calamity.

It's yourself.

And their own future.

He thought gloomily.

A long-lost, lovely female voice rang in his ears.

You are going further and further down the path of misfortune.

[Magician, this is neither talent nor blessing...it's a curse and doom.]

Listening to Morar's hateful and heavy breathing, Thales suddenly felt as if he were in a long, exhausting dream.

In this dream, he had no hope of waking up.

So, this is our ending.

Inside the dungeon, the torch sparked again.

"Is it you?" Moral asked coldly.

Thales still had his eyes closed:

"what?"

Moral looked at Thales's sorrowful face, and anger and doubt burned within him at the same time.

"Six years ago, in Dragon Sky City... those legendary monsters don't appear out of nowhere."

Moral gritted his teeth:
"tell me."

"My father's death, including your cover-up about 'destroying half of Dragon Sky City'..."

"Is it all related to you?"

He unconsciously raised his voice and emphasized his words:
"Look me in the eyes and tell me!"

Thales' eyebrows twitched, and he instinctively opened his eyes.

He stared blankly into Morar's eyes.

Those eyes, filled with anger, pain, and hesitation, were bloodshot.

Thales' thoughts drifted away.

Drifting back to Dragon Sky City that night.

Ah, yes.

Broken eaves.

The mottled, broken walls.

A deathly silence pervaded the fields.

Those things... things he thought he could put aside.

He shuddered, but this time it wasn't because of pain.

It was because his heart suddenly tightened.

Because of those inescapable facts.

A second later, Thales uttered the word absentmindedly:

"Yes."

Moral's arms tightened.

That night.

“That calamity, and the multi-headed serpent Kirika,” Thales said, his voice trembling as he faced the other’s gaze.

"They're going to Dragon Sky City, and they'll kill so many people..."

Thales closed his eyes in pain:

"It's all because of me."

"I."

silence.

For a moment, even Morar's breathing seemed to freeze.

Ta-la!

The sound of a torch falling to the ground.

The next second, Thales felt his collar tighten and was lifted up by the furious Moral with one arm and slammed against the wall!
boom!
The boy groaned, enduring the tightness in his chest, when suddenly a sharp pain shot through his chin—the Time Crossbow had been pushed against Thales's chest by Moral, aimed directly at his head, the protruding tip pricking Thales's skin, causing waves of stinging pain. Thales had never seen Moral like this before.

The latter had a ferocious expression, was breathing heavily, clenching his teeth, and the muscles on his arms and the veins on his neck were extremely prominent.

Like a raging lion.

Just like... that former king of the North.

"how dare you!"

Morar growled in a low voice, and Thales could feel the former's muscles trembling.

He grabbed the boy's collar with his left hand and braced the crossbow with his right hand and right shoulder.

The string on the Time Crossbow was incredibly tight, poised to fire.

It chooses its prey to devour.

Moral was seen desperately suppressing his volcanic hatred and rage:

"You damned bastard... Do you know what kind of sins you bear, and what kind of disaster you will bring?"

But Thales' eyes remained blank, as if he were living in a daze, as Moral threatened his life.

"How dare you approach them?"

"How dare you approach Dragon Sky City, approach Exter, approach Father, approach... Alex!"

Moral's teeth were clenched so tightly they were grinding together, and his eyes were filled with blood.

"Get closer to her country, to her people!"

"My people!"

Morar was trembling all over, almost out of control.

"Bring them all your misfortune and bad luck, and the kind of tragedy that plagued the bloody years!"

"Do you know that your very existence is the source of all chaos?"

Thales felt another sharp pain in his jaw; he could feel the tip of the crossbow bolt piercing his skin, trembling.

Alex.

The name pierced his dazed mind faster than a crossbow bolt.

No.

He was referring to... her.

Little rascal.

In his illusory memory, the bright girl with pince-nez turned around, lightly covered her lips, and looked at him with a hint of surprise and an indescribable expression.

Are you going to take me away? Take me back to the stars?

In that instant, his almost scattered thoughts cleared up.

Thales took a breath through his teeth, ignoring the pain in his jaw, and forced it:

"I know."

Moral remained tense, his eyes blazing with fury, as if he were about to pull the trigger and pierce Thales's skull at any moment.

The boy said bitterly, "I know better than you do."

"In fact, I know it better than anyone else."

“From that day on, I know everything that happens around me.”

Within the shield zone, every pair of eyes seemed to yearn for breath but could not.

Beneath the multi-headed serpent, every cry for help could be heard.

In Dragon Sky City, every cold, lifeless corpse.

He could only kneel in the middle of the road, holding the only warm life in his arms, tears streaming down his face, trembling.

"I'm sorry," Thales said softly, his eyes tightly closed, his voice filled with desolation and sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Moral."

He clenched his fists.

Those things all revolved around him...

Blood debt.

It was because of him that this happened.

It is something he must face squarely.

It is not a simple matter of blaming others with a "that was not my intention" or "I had no choice," or even worse, blaming others with "it was not my fault," or the more disgusting "it was a regrettable but necessary sacrifice," to casually forget or comfortably evade responsibility and burden.

At least, he can't.

"For...everything that happened."

Moral's breathing became increasingly labored.

Thales' collar was pulled even tighter, and he could even feel a drop of blood trickling down his neck under the threat of the crossbow bolt.

Thales had imagined a similar scenario long ago.

But in those scenarios, he was facing a large group of people, an entire world, whether they knew him or were strangers. Their faces were blurred as they pointed and whispered about him, the monster who brought countless disasters.

Now, he thinks—he's already very lucky.

Is not it?
With this thought in mind, Thales felt relieved.

He gently opened his eyes and calmly looked at Moral before him, at the anger and sorrow that had been building up in the latter's eyes.

Morar...

He thought to himself calmly.

do not know……

As this brave prince, who concealed his heaviness with a smile and covered his sorrow with humor, walked alone step by step to the ends of the earth, drifting by the edge of the sea...

As he gazed towards the north, a direction filled with complex emotions, and towards the homeland he had left behind...

When he received the news of the disaster in Longxiao City and his father's sudden death...

What kind of feeling is that?

"So that's it?"

Thales' emotions calmed down completely, and a smile appeared on his lips:
Is this how our story ends?

The other person's eyes remained bloodshot as they stared intently at Thales.

The anger in his eyes remained undiminished.

This reminded Thales of the moment he opened his eyes in the desert.

At that moment, it was this red-haired girl with the quick rope, blinking her curious and excited eyes...

Thinking of this, Thales sighed softly:

"Oh right, while there's still a chance..."

"Thank you, quick rope."

"Thank you for saving my life in the desert."

He spoke softly.

At that moment, Morar trembled slightly.

His left arm tightened, pressing Thales against the wall with even greater force, while his right hand trembled as he pulled the trigger of the black crossbow.

Thales closed his eyes.

Waiting for the other party's decision.

next moment.

"Boom!"

Thales felt a sudden, sharp shock on his right cheek!
Before he could figure it out, the world spun around him, and he was sent flying sideways along the wall!
It crashed hard to the ground.

"Cough cough..."

Thales groaned in pain, his head buzzing.

He first felt a numbness spreading across half his face, which turned into a burning pain a few seconds later, making him grimace.

Thales shakily got to his feet, trying to see clearly through the starry sky.

how……

The next second, a hard object was shoved into his left hand.

Thales was startled at first, then realized that it was the hilt of a sword.

Suddenly, his right arm tightened, and he was pulled up!

Lean on a broad, strong shoulder.

An arm was placed on his waist, and he was lifted up with force.

In astonishment, Thales shook his head frantically, scattering the countless golden stars in the sky.

He was then surprised to see:

I was leaning on the quick rope's shoulder, sometimes high and sometimes low, being supported by it as I moved forward.

From the boy's perspective, only Kaisen's profile is visible, and his expression is unclear.

The crossbow bolt in the latter's hand was gone, replaced by the torch that had fallen to the ground.

"You..." He only managed to utter one word before his cheek, which had been punched by the rope, began to sting.

"Shut up," Quick Rope interrupted him mercilessly, his words laced with clenched teeth, revealing a hint of his unease and hesitation.

"The enemy is still here."

He held the torch, illuminating the way ahead, his whole body trembling:
"We need to go somewhere safe."

Thales was stunned.

"But……"

"Shut up!"

Quick Rope turned around, his eyes bloodshot, glaring at him fiercely, his tone filled with the roughness and rudeness typical of people from the North:
"Don't make me hit you again! I still remember those two slaps!"

After speaking, he turned his head away without looking at Thales, his complex emotions still discernible in his breath.

Thales stared blankly at his profile.

The firelight flickered, and the air was still.

An indescribable feeling welled up inside me.

The prince lowered his head, gritted his teeth, dragged his weak body, leaned on the rope's shoulder, and kept up with the pace.

The two men left the unconscious Marina behind them, their breathing varying, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

They weren't fast, but they were very steady.

The two advanced in silence for a while, stepping over several corpses, and finally arrived at the spiraling stone steps, where they began to climb.

The scene was immediately immersed in this peculiar atmosphere.

In the silence, Thales suddenly chuckled softly, which seemed particularly abrupt.

The fast rope skipped a beat.

Thales' laughter continued.

"Shut up!"

Quick Rope retorted rudely, his tone so harsh and his attitude so hostile that Thales had the illusion of returning to the North.

"what's so funny?"

Quickly raise the torch, turn a corner, and grit your teeth.

“It’s nothing,” a weary Thales shook his head.
"I'm just happy."

He paused, his heart heavy with sorrow, and pounded the rope on his chest:

"I'm glad you're still the same."

"Quick rope".

(End of this chapter)