Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 444 Someone Needs an Answer

In the boundless silence and under the gazes of everyone, Barney frowned and looked behind the Knight of Punishment.

I looked at the man who had suddenly appeared, leaning on a sword sheath, and whose face also bore a brand.

“It’s you,” Barney said softly, with a hint of disdain.

Finally, Sacel, who had been listening silently, sighed and slowly turned around.

He gave a helpless smile to the people behind him:

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Semir."

The former second-in-command of the royal guard, and the culprit who brought the sword of calamity here, the man who had just been knocked unconscious by the Yordles—Colin Samir—stood behind Sakel with cold eyes.

Thales suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

Eighteen years later, the remaining nine former members of the royal guard, bearing nine indelible ugly marks, reunite in this deepest, darkest, gloomiest, filthy, and sunless prison of bones.

Many people had mixed feelings upon seeing Samir.

“Wow, everyone’s here,” Naki’s voice broke in at the worst possible time. His smile was forced, but Thales could tell he was trying to ease the tension.

“Barney, Sackel, and of course you, Samir, I really think we old friends should sit down together…”

But Samir ignored them, pointing at Sakel and interrupting Naki:

"And he!"

"The respected Sakel, he kept his mouth shut, uttered not a word, and preferred to respond with force..."

"It's because that matter concerns the deepest, most sordid, and darkest secret in his heart."

Samir spoke slowly and deliberately, but each word seemed to carry a kind of magic, causing everyone's breathing to become disordered and making the atmosphere in the room increasingly heavy.

Thales frowned as he looked at Samir.

The latter sneered, his gaze sweeping over the seven prisoners, and continued:

"And they asked the questions evasively and hesitantly... because that was also their most terrifying nightmare, wasn't it?"

The seven prisoners outside Sacel exchanged glances, but Thales sensed fear and evasiveness in them.

Barney even closed his eyes.

“Not just Sacel.”

Samir's words were as sharp as a dagger, cutting inch by inch through the seemingly indifferent expressions of his vanguard colleagues:
"In fact, they are all running away, unwilling to face it, unable to believe it, and unwilling to uncover the truth."

"Because of that secret!"

Samir roared and raised his arm, pointing it directly at Thales!

"That secret that drives Sacel to harm this child and Prince Thales... happens to explain the past, doesn't it?"

Thales paused in surprise.

The past...

The next second, Barney suddenly opened his eyes!

"You have no right to speak here, Samir!"

He glared angrily at Samir:
"You're nothing but a traitor to the guard..."

But as if to return all the resentment from their previous confrontation, Samir widened his eyes and retorted in a voice even louder than Barney's:
"And that secret!"

Samir said fiercely:

"This includes the fact that when the chief standard-bearer went south, it was our most respected Sakel who took over some of the standard-bearer's duties, and our watchman 'happened' to be the one closest to His Highness the Crown Prince, someone who could access his warrants every day."

As soon as these words were spoken, it was as if someone had turned off the sound; all the sounds of breathing, footsteps, teeth grinding, and the rustling of clothes vanished without a trace.

All that remained were Samir's words, spoken through gritted teeth:

"Including, back then, it was Sakel who led you, me, and him at the Palace of Restoration, with most of the guards and vanguard, and the most elite men in the guard, rushing back and forth to provide support, fighting bloody battles against assassins and mobs, but still arriving too late, powerless to reverse the situation, and could only watch helplessly as the late king and the crown prince met their untimely end..."

Thales breathed in a daze, the guards breathed tremblingly, and Sackel breathed blankly.

"include……"

"clang!"

Barney could no longer bear it. He slammed his sword against the wall and roared amidst the deafening noise:
"enough!"

"Shut up, you runaway traitor and coward!"

Startled, Samir instinctively gritted his teeth and stopped talking.

Barney pointed his sword at Samir and roared:

“This is a conversation between us and Sakel; you, a traitor, have no right to speak!”

Samir paused for a moment, then let out a chuckle.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

He lowered his head, then raised it again, pointed his sword sheath at Barney, and said mockingly:

“You know what, Barney, just now, I was just like you.”

Barney's pupils contracted further.

"Until I saw myself clearly."

Samir spread his arms wide, sneering, as if to embrace all the darkness in the dungeon:

What exactly are you afraid of?

Thales felt that Samir seemed like a completely different person. After experiencing betrayal by his colleagues and the death of Ricky, he reappeared before everyone like a bewitching evil god:

"Afraid of the past, afraid of the truth, afraid of the answers, or afraid of that incompetent and cowardly, ostrich-like self?"

Where is that unquestionable courage and decisiveness you displayed when you accused me just now?

Where is that smug look in your eyes, like, "I've suffered so much, so I have the right to criticize you"?

Where did they all go?

"Quill Barney Jr."

Samir had a big smile.

Every word he uttered seemed to pierce the hearts of the guards, drawing out the thickest blood.

"In the name of the Chief Vanguard Officer..."

Barney's voice trembled along with the edge of his sword, his eyes blazing with murderous intent:
"I'm saying this for the last time."

"Shut your stinking mouth."

Samir's smile grew even brighter, like a firework about to vanish in the next instant.

He raised his hand, shook his head, and looked at him defiantly.

Before the situation on the field began to spiral out of control, Naki spoke again, but this time, he was particularly cautious:
“Barney, Samir, I think maybe we shouldn’t have acted so rashly…”

Barney suddenly turned his head:
"You shut up too, Naki."

"This is the vanguard officer's order."

Naki was taken aback by this remark, and his face immediately turned ugly.

Barney tried to catch his breath and turned his gaze away.

“A shameful traitor is accusing you, Sakel.”

Barney stared coldly at the silent executioner knight:

"Because you were loyal and dutiful eighteen years ago, but eighteen years later you have gone mad and suddenly turned your attention to the bloodline you once swore to protect."

"And don't you have anything to say in your defense?"

Quick Rope glanced at Thales in fright.

Barney paused, took a deep breath, as if he were currently undertaking an incredibly difficult task:

"For example, you know some secrets that we don't, and they all lie with this prince, so you have to find him?"

"Or do you have a better reason, such as this prince being an imposter or a fraud?"

"Or perhaps, there is some secret hidden in the bloodline of the Radiant Star, as you said, that you were ordered by the former king to complete a mission that you must fulfill?"

Barney's eyes held a faint expectation and a barely perceptible plea.

"Even... is he a menace that must be eliminated?"

"Something like that?"

Thales' heart skipped a beat again.

But don't know why.

He knew:
He doesn't need to worry.

The room became very quiet.

It reminded Thales of the sewers in the abandoned house—where only corpses lay. Little Barney stared, his eyes filled with an emotion he himself probably didn't understand, awaiting Sackel's answer.

Samir continued to sneer, looking at everyone with disdain.

The other members had varying expressions.

The atmosphere in the room became increasingly awkward.

“No, we used to be brothers in the guard, we shouldn’t have ended up like this…”

Naki gave up on the possibility of communicating directly with Barney Jr., but he didn't give up. Instead, he turned to his colleagues for help, his tone even carrying a hint of pleading:
"Bellety, you hold a higher position, please, say something..."

Even the quick rope could see that this outnumbered soldier was trying to distract everyone, hoping to delay that moment from arriving any further.

To everyone's surprise, the sorrowful-looking executioner, Belletti, shook his head:
"According to the rules, unless ordered by the captain of the guard, the clerk shall not interfere with the vanguard officer's wartime decisions."

Naki paused for a moment:
"Wartime? But now..."

Just then, Sacel, who had been standing motionless and silent for a long time, suddenly raised his head, and his dry, monotonous voice once again rang out in the prison of bones.

"It's ok!"

But this time, his voice carried a faint joy and relief.

The Knight of Punishment looked at his former guard colleagues with gentle eyes:
“Naki, Belletti, and Samir.”

"It's fine."

He slowly turned his head, his gaze meeting Barney's in mid-air.

But there were no sparks, only heaviness.

"Someone needs an answer, that's all."

Sakel's voice was hoarse.

Without realizing it, Thales' breathing became tense.

He soon discovered that not only him, but many of the guards were behaving somewhat erratically.

"Thank you, Barney."

Sacel's tone was calm, with a hint of gratitude and friendliness, like that of a kind and gentle neighbor.

"Thank you for asking so many questions, and thank you for still asking so many questions."

He gazed at Barney with a distant look in his eyes and nodded:
"Thank you, thank you for your trust."

The moment he met the other person's gentle gaze, for some reason, Barney shuddered violently.

He looked at the vaguely imposing figure before him, the one he had once looked up to, envied, and vowed to defeat, and unconsciously began to tremble.

In that instant, Barney's words softened, no longer aggressive or harsh:

"Then answer me."

He spoke with difficulty, a hint of pleading barely perceptible in his voice:
"please."

No one speaks.

Sackel watched Barney silently.

He knew, he knew what kind of answer Barney wanted.

He knew the other person's expectations and contradictions.

but……

Sacelle lowered his head, let out a long breath, and gave a reassuring smile:

"You already have the answer, don't you?"

Barney trembled slightly.

Sakel's gaze swept over each of his colleagues, finally settling on the empty void: "Before you all reunited with Samir, after you finally confirmed, confirmed that Samir wasn't that person..."

His eyes were somewhat vacant.

"Then you will have the answer."

At that moment, Thales sensed a great deal from the people present, from their suddenly changing breathing and heartbeats.

Relief, pain, stunned, astonished, indignant, sad, disdain...

"Sorry to have dragged you all into this."

Sacel looked up, his gaze sweeping across the ceiling, but his melancholy frown made it seem as if he were looking up at the setting sun.
"But I just have to finish... what I didn't finish back then."

He said, stunned.

Barney swayed, his chest heaving.

Back then...

"Unfinished business?"

He forcefully suppressed what was rising in his throat and gritted his teeth as he pressed on:

"What exactly did you do back then, Saxeel?"

"What does this have to do with the child?"

In Thales's eyes, Sacel was still gazing up at the pitch-black ceiling, as if that were his exit.

The corners of the other person's mouth curved wider and wider.

He gently raised his hand, touched his forehead, and forced out a clumsy smile that looked like it had been hand-sculpted.

In a daze, there was a kind of poignant sadness, a smile tinged with tears.

"Yes."

Sacel began softly, as if telling the next bedtime story:
"Barney, the answer you've been searching for all these years... is right here."

Thales frowned, staring intently at the Executioner.

so……

Under the complex and profound gazes of everyone, Sacelle took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"Eighteen years ago..."

Thales tensed up.

"That person who forged the Crown Prince's order in the Palace of Restoration deliberately transferred you away from the Hall of Stars to create a gap..."

"So that the Shadow Shield and Sarredon could assassinate the former king..."

"And later, the person who deliberately led the group away from the palace gates, leaving the Crown Prince to the assassins..."

The Knight of Punishment slowly pulled up his hand, combing his bangs back and onto the top of his head, exposing the ugly brand on his forehead to the air.

He lowered his head and looked at everyone.

Without the cover of his bangs, the features on the Knight Commander of Punishment's face became even sharper and more menacing.

As everyone waited with a chill in their step, his words grew increasingly cold:
"The key figure in that treasonous act..."

"They betrayed the Royal Guard..."

"Betrayed His Highness the Crown Prince..."

"They betrayed His Majesty the late King..."

"It caused the destruction of the entire Starry Sky family, the decline of the royal bloodline, and chaos throughout the kingdom..."

Every word, every sentence, was utterly bland and uninteresting, like the drowsy chanting in a temple.

But it made everyone present tense up.

The Knight of Punishment continued calmly:

"The person who should truly bear the guilt of treason, yet despicably concealed the truth for eighteen years..."

"That shameful, pathetic, hypocritical, disgusting, self-righteous, sanctimonious, two-faced fellow."

The Knight of Punishment smirked, revealing one corner of his mouth:

"It's me."

Amidst the gasps of many who could hardly contain themselves, the Knight of Punishment exhaled.

With a sense of relief, his smile remained unchanged. After a series of descriptions and titles, he added that unusual name that made everyone's heart tremble with fear:
“Imanu Sakel”.

"traitor."

I know you're all experiencing a reading slump, so let me recommend something. "The Death Trail of Azeroth" has reached 25 words and will be available soon. It tells the story of a death knight. Check it out?
The author is the same Yilu Jilu who wrote "Trails of the American Comic World Overlord" and "Trails of the Holy Light in Azeroth," and who used to play Warcraft with me (cough cough)!
Updating 8,000 to 10,000 words a day is much more impressive than that swordsman author who has stopped updating and stopped writing chapters!

By the way, this author has a tradition of updating with 100 chapters every time a book is released!

Alright, go check it out! Don't forget to leave a comment saying it was recommended by Wujian!

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(End of this chapter)