Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 453 It’s not a coincidence
Siblings...fighting each other?
Barney paused for a moment, his eyes darting away.

It was as if I was recalling the past.

Upon hearing this, the guards reacted in different ways:

Samir scoffed, Belletti and Nai remained silent, Tardin snorted, Brie uttered a hurried sound, and Cannon, walking at the back, even lost his composure and let out a cry.

Naki was seen clutching the torch in agony, the flame flickering wildly.
"Barney, please... after we get out of here, can we just... let it go?"

Barney's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, as if he couldn't understand:
"never mind?"

Naki hummed in response, his words carrying a faint, hollow quality as they echoed in the passageway:
“You know, find a place, quiet and peaceful, to spend the rest of your life, forget Sacel, forget him…”

Listening to their conversation, Thales suddenly felt that the atmosphere had become strange.

Sure enough, the next moment, Barney's voice suddenly rose!
"Forget him?"

His steps faltered for a few seconds, causing the line behind him to fall into disarray.

"What about the thirty-seven brothers who died in prison?"

All that could be heard was Barney's resentful snort:

What will happen to the people who died in Fuxing Palace back then?

"What about Captain Tony, my father, and the others?"

He gripped his sword and shield tightly, his voice filled with unspeakable sorrow and anger:
"What will happen to His Majesty and His Highnesses?"

"What about the blood that the kingdom shed back then?"

Naki fell silent for a moment after being rebuked by him.

Belletti patted Barney on the shoulder with concern, but Barney shook his head to indicate that he was alright, and then continued walking to catch up with Samir.

However, just when the worried Thales thought everything was back to normal, Naki's eerie voice came again:
"But Barney, have you ever thought about those who died, they might..."

Naki paused for a moment, then said with deep reluctance:

"They might not want to see us killing each other, turning against each other like this... Maybe they just want to rest in peace, just want us to live in peace, just want everything to go with the wind..."

Thales frowned.

The atmosphere was getting increasingly tense.

“Naki,” Tardin couldn’t help but speak up:

"Stop talking."

Naki remained silent.

Barney's soft humming came from inside.

"Gone with the wind..."

He gazed intently at the torch beside him, his expression slowly shifting from bewilderment to renewed resolve:

"When my father lay silently on the red-stained paving stones, his arms broken and blood drained, his eyes wide with pain like a stray dog ​​on the roadside, hidden beneath a pile of corpses, he didn't look like he had simply vanished with the wind."

Barney's words were filled with anger and pain.

Breathing in the passageway became erratic.

"And then there are the forty-odd of us, the torment we've endured, everything we've suffered, the pain we've faced over the past ten years..."

"For more than a decade, the illusions you've seen with your eyes open and closed, the past you've dreamt of, the future you've imagined..."

"Think about it again, Sacel is the mastermind behind all of this, yet he escaped punishment, deceived the world, and went unpunished..."

"Ask yourselves honestly, Naki, what are you all like..."

"Can all of this really be made to disappear with the wind?"

"And then live the rest of your life with a clear conscience and a sense of righteous indignation?"

Every word he said subtly moved the guards.

"Do not."

"At least I can't."

"And this is not fratricide."

Barney whispered.

“When he, when Sakel broke his oath, betrayed the former king, and raised his sword against us,” Little Barney said coldly, drawing his sword, as if abandoning his last shred of emotion.
“He will no longer be our brother.”

The coldness in his words made Naki shudder slightly.

"We will do everything in our power, by any means necessary, to find him, capture him, and hunt him down, no matter the mountains or rivers, the ends of the earth, or even hell on earth," Barney's footsteps echoed as his sword sliced ​​through the wall, producing a sound as terrifying as his voice.
“We will force Sacel to answer, to witness his own fate, and to see how his sins and debts from back then come to fruition one by one…”

At that moment, Barney gritted his teeth:
"Traitors must pay the price."

Naki's voice rang out again, this time with a hint of anxiety and pleading: "But, Barney!"

"Neither your father nor the old captain would want this kind of revenge..."

"Naki!" Tardin seemed to have reached his limit with Naki's untimely advice:
"Shut up!"

But Barney seemed to have been provoked by Naki, and he sneered:
"revenge?"

"No, this is far more than just revenge."

Barney stared coldly into the darkness ahead:
"This is our responsibility, our duty, our burden, and the meaning of our lives as survivors."

"Only in this way can we face our own hearts without shame or regret in the days and nights to come."

Naki stopped responding seriously; he simply swallowed hard and said dejectedly:

"Is it."

Slightly bewildered and saddened.

Just then, Samir stopped in his tracks.

"We found it."

He said hoarsely.

Thales was startled and quickly looked up, only to find that they had entered a completely new room.

The group snapped out of their unpleasant conversation and looked around in amazement—even as prisoners, they had never had the chance to visit the lower levels of the prison.

Under the firelight, the room appeared quite empty. Apart from collapsed wood and stones, there was nothing on the ground. However, in the corner against the wall, there was an empty shelf of unknown material.

Clearly, this place used to be filled with countless shelves, storing an abundance of supplies.

The storage room of the Alchemy Tower.

but now……

"Where's the exit?" Little Barney asked, looking at the empty walls.

Samir's expression was serious as he walked straight to the wall opposite the passage:
"See this wall?"

"If Ricky is right, this is a door."

Samir exhaled, excitement rising in his eyes:
"The exit is hidden here. When the entire underground bunker is unfortunately lost, the surviving mages will have a last means of escape after retreating to the storage room."

The group, including Thales, walked up in surprise and touched the dusty wall.

It has a rough texture and a long history.

This enormous, empty wall, without even a single seam, was actually...

A door?

“Now, all we need to do is find that special, hidden keyhole,” Samir said hopefully.

"Open this door..."

He turned to Thales:

"Since you've managed to release them, Your Highness."

"I believe you have the key."

Everyone looked at Thales.

Samir's aggressive gaze made Thales very uncomfortable.

But with important matters at hand, the boy merely hummed softly, then pulled out the strange, long key from his pocket and handed it to Samir.

But an unexpected event occurred.

Just as Thales extended his palm, his other hand swiftly intercepted it from the side!
Under the watchful eyes of the royal guards, he snatched the key away!

The sudden and shocking change stunned everyone.

"Boom!"

The person who stole the key walked away without hesitation, shoving aside Nai and Tardin, and after creating some distance, turned around, raised his sword, and looked breathlessly at the stunned crowd.

what?
Thales looked at the man in surprise.

He believed that the guards weren't slow to react, but rather that they simply hadn't expected it...

Why...why him?
But Barney was the first to react, instinctively calling out the robber's name:

"Naki!"

"What are you doing?"

Before Thales' eyes, he was utterly shocked to see Naki, the talkative and usually lively and amusing member of the royal guard, trembling as he looked at the rest of the guard, one hand gripping the dungeon key and the other a longsword.

It was as if a distance had been drawn between them.

Tai Naki.

It's him.

“I’m sorry, Barney,” Naki shuddered, his face contorted with pain, hesitation, and a complex mix of hatred as he stared straight at Barney.

"but……"

Naki's breathing trembled, his eyes vacant.
"But I can't, I can't let you open this door."

Surprised, Thales noticed that Naki was acting very strangely at this moment.

In stark contrast to his initial humor and optimism, he appeared pale and his eyes were dull.

It's like he's become a different person.

Barney looked at him in disbelief:
"what?"

Naki took a deep breath, his eyebrows twitching and his cheeks twitching as if he were struggling with something. His words were incoherent and illogical: "I'm sorry, everyone!"

His voice cracked as he shouted, the tip of his sword trembling as it pointed at each and every one of them:

“But I can’t let you, especially Barney… go up there.”

This turn of events left the rest of the royal guard speechless.

Samir's brow was furrowed, Tardin and Nai exchanged a worried glance, Brie's whimpers grew more urgent, Cannon seemed to have seen a ghost, and Belletti gritted his teeth.

"Naki... what's wrong with you? Have you had another episode?" Tardin asked tentatively, trying to suppress the tension in his voice.

fall ill?

Thales felt a chill run down his spine.

Naki looked at the nervous Tardin, his eyes first revealing pain and regret.

A second later, his twitching cheek curved into a strange smile:

"Haha, maybe, but I think I... I just can't take it anymore."

Can't take it anymore?

Seeing Naki's extremely abnormal behavior, the guards were in an uproar.

Belletti tried to sneak up on him, but was forced back by Naki's trembling sword tip.

"Naki, what happened?" Nai asked with a gloomy face.

Naki shuddered again. He glanced at the key in his hand, then looked at Barney.

"What happened? What happened?"

He raised his head, revealing an ugly and painful smile:

"I just... I can't, I can't let that idiot Barney go out and mess everything up... Everything's perfectly fine..."

“I can’t let him go up there like that… and do everything he said he would.”

"Whether for the living or the dead."

Upon hearing this, Barney looked at him with a livid expression.

Thales stared in shock at Naki before him.

This was the first member of the vanguard to appear before him during the rescue.

Just a moment ago, he seemed perfectly normal, didn't he? He was arguing with Barney about revenge versus letting go, so why is he like this now...?

"Naki?"

Based on his previous experience in appeasing Sacelle, Thales handed the longsword to Quick Rope, carefully raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm, and said gently:

"Listen to me, calm down, okay?" So what did you see...?

But it would have been better if he hadn't spoken. As soon as he did, Naki shuddered again and abruptly turned his head toward Thales!
"Your Highness, why?" Naki's face was contorted, and his voice was trembling with a slight sob.

Thales was stunned.

Before him, Naki was looking at him with an expression he could hardly believe.

Like... a believer desperately pleading for salvation.

It's like... a powerless mortal who is disappointed with life.

His eyes were filled with despair and inner conflict.

This puzzled him.

"Why what?" Thales asked instinctively.

Despite his obvious despair, Naki forced a laugh and said bitterly:

"We were all prepared to spend the rest of our lives in this hopeless hell, and die silently..."

His voice grew increasingly hoarse, with a strained, breathy quality.
"But why, why must you appear here, in this hell, so cruel and indifferent?"

"Your Highness!"

Why did you come before us?!

Naki became more and more agitated as he spoke, the tip of his sword trembling, forcing Belletti to pull Thales back a little.

Why must we be sent back to this unbearable, utterly ugly world again?

Thales stared at him, dumbfounded.

why?
What is he saying?
"Naki!"

After experiencing shock and confusion, Barney finally couldn't hold back any longer, and all his impatience turned into anger:

"Hand over the keys—don't forget, we're pressed for time and have a heavy responsibility!"

Barney's eyes blazed with fury as he gritted his teeth and said:
"No matter what madness you're going through, we've stood here for eighteen years, not just for ourselves, not just for our own feelings!"

"If you still have a shred of respect for the deceased and your kin..."

But to everyone's surprise...

"Enough, Quill Barney, you son of a bitch!"

Naki, who had always been fearful and submissive to Chief Vanguard Barney, suddenly erupted in the next moment!
Naki, overcome with emotion, roared back hysterically:
"You spineless bastard! You damned paranoiac! The most cruel and inhuman murderer!"

Barney was momentarily stunned.

kill……

murderer?

In an instant, even the resolute and courageous vanguard officer was thrown into turmoil.

Under the incredulous gazes of everyone, Naki's expression was ferocious, and he struggled.

"Eighteen years..."

He raised his sword, gritting his teeth as he forced out a few words:

"I've had enough of your arrogance and self-importance..."

Naki stared intently at the shocked Barney, the blade pointed directly at him:

"I've had enough of your endless, incessant lecturing and declarations..."

Naki took a deep breath, as if to release all his pent-up frustration and resentment, and roared:

"I've had enough of your image as a model of perseverance and unyielding spirit!"

Naki's eyes were red and brimming with tears. He was breathing heavily, as if he were sobbing or angry.

The guards seemed to have never seen Naki like this before, and they were all caught off guard.

But looking at him like this, Thales felt a sense of doubt deep down.

wrong.

The sins of the River of Hell surged into my mind.

Thales began to force himself to recall.

Think back to those abnormal things.

From the moment he arrived at the prison of bones.

All the factors, all the events, all the logic...

wrong.

From the moment he met Sakel, Naki's attitude was very strange...

No.

Not just there.

Even earlier.

Even earlier!
"Naki".

At that moment, Thales spoke up in a daze:
"That song."

Naki's expression of painful struggle froze for a moment:
"what?"

His shoulders trembled violently, his face changed drastically, and his breathing became erratic.

Thales remembered.

He finally realized what was wrong.

Before everyone, the boy breathed heavily, uttering his guess word by word:

“Sacel just said that he’s the only one who knows the truth…”

"And all the misfortunes began when he failed to dissuade the elderly King Eddie from marrying Queen Fiosa, who was ostensibly an old friend but was actually a mage..."

Naki trembled upon hearing this!
"but……"

Thales' voice trembled slightly, as if he had thought of something terrible:

“But that song,” Thales stared blankly at him:
"But when we first met, separated by prison cells, it was that song you sang to comfort Cannon..."

Barney Jr., Samir, Belletti... and the others all frowned.

"That's not a coincidence, is it?"

At that moment, it was as if someone had pressed down on the air, and Naki's breathing instantly calmed down.

In a matter of seconds, Naki's expression changed from despair and pain to sorrow and relief.

He closed his eyes and let the tears fall.

The next second, Naki managed a strained smile.

“You are very perceptive, Your Highness.”

Before everyone's incredulous gazes, Naki, tears streaming down his face, gave a sorrowful, soft laugh:

"Do not."

"that is not."

(End of this chapter)