Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 468 Beheading
The delaying tactic worked, which is a good thing, but...

Looking at Ricky's almost murderous gaze, Thales felt his head was getting bigger and bigger.

What did I say wrong again?

but.

If he is a magic user...

Thales rubbed his head, remembering the purpose of the Sword of Calamity's arrival.

That's right.

The Dragon Slayer.

No, it is the sharp edge of purifying the world.

But... what should we do now?

However, a dry, hoarse voice suddenly rang out from the shadows behind him!
"Hold still."

Thales, whose thoughts were in disarray, immediately woke up.

"calm."

Barney and Belletti were both startled and turned around to look.

"The more disadvantaged you are, the more powerful your enemy will be."

When Thales saw who was coming from behind, he was stunned.

Even Ricky's gaze sharpened, and he stopped looking at Thales with murderous intent.

"That's why it's so important."

It's him.

It's Sakel.

The executioner, who had just lost his mind and was left in the dark corner, appeared in the firelight, his left arm bound tightly with a wooden board, limping along.

His face was cold and his eyes were desolate.

The appearance of the knights made many people nervous.

Especially on the side of the Blade of Calamity, Klay and Josh changed color and raised their weapons at the same time!
Thales tensed up, but given the situation, he probably couldn't afford to consider Sackel's threat anymore.

“And you, Vanguard Commander Barney, Executioner Belletti,” Sacel’s body swayed precariously, but his words were extremely harsh:

"You have really disappointed me."

Belletti looked ashamed, while Barney awkwardly turned his head away.

"Sir?" Tardin asked, sounding puzzled.

But Sacelle ignored him, staring straight at Thales, whose expression was grim.

"As for you..."

The Knight of Punishment's gaze was sharp and resolute, as if it had the power to pierce through people's hearts.

Recalling his past "crime" of chasing him, Thales' heart skipped a beat.

“Think about it carefully,” Sacel began.

"How exactly did he 'die'?"

How...did he die?
Who?
How did he die?

Thales was completely confused.

“Sakel!”

Ricky spoke up loudly.

He appeared surprised and astonished, while simultaneously casting a questioning glance at Samir.

But Samir just shook his head, his expression complicated.

"You look much better than when you were in jail."

Thales looked at Sacel, whose face was bruised and bloodied, and who looked sickly, except for his eyes. He couldn’t find any evidence that he looked “much better.”

"How about we reconsider my suggestion?"

The surprise and wariness on Ricky's face flashed by, and his words returned to their steady and confident tone:
"We should be able to get along—for example, on the matter of attacking the Tower of the End."

But Sacelle didn't even look at him; he just stared straight at Thales.

The boy felt flustered by his gaze and quickly turned his head away, forcing himself not to meet the eyes of Sacel, who had returned.

In that instant, Thales had a flash of insight and understood what Sacel had said.

It's Ricky.

He was referring to Ricky.

Ricky, how did he... die?
Oh right, I remember now.

He was in Sacel's cell, being... by Yodl

In that instant, Thales, who was feeling agitated, immediately snapped out of his daze!
That's right.

Thales shook his head vigorously.

His current condition is so poor that the physical pain and mental exhaustion have affected his most basic thinking.

Thales took a deep breath, and a trace of the half-dead River of Sin reluctantly flowed out, barely enough to alleviate his pain and dizziness.

The boy tried his best to regain his composure and nodded to Sacel.

The Knight of Punishment then withdrew his gaze.

Then, Thales turned to Ricky:

"You are not a mage."

His words were calm, yet resolute.

"You are not a calamity."

The royal guards were slightly taken aback the moment that word appeared.

Barney stared wide-eyed, while Belletti stared stiffly at Ricky.

Ricky raised an eyebrow slightly.

Thales took a deep breath, and felt the unease in his heart gradually disappear:

"Absolutely not."

The royal guards' astonishment quickly subsided, and they all looked at Thales.

"Oh?"

Ricky's smile slowly faded.

"Why are you so sure?"

Why so sure?
As if to further convince himself, Thales, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, subconsciously blurted out:

"Because you are a man."

Ricky frowned, puzzled for a moment.

man?

But his expression immediately relaxed.

"I see."

Ricky suddenly realized.

"'Because I'm a man'... So, you took our words to heart about the Magic Queen, didn't you?"

This time it was Thales' turn to be stunned.

The mercenary leader smiled slightly, glanced around, and his eyes gleamed.

"Your Highness, where is your masked friend?"

Thales felt a chill run down his spine.

He instinctively wanted to look at Sacel, the last person he had seen Yodl, but Ricky's words forced him to look away again:
"So, the sword he used to kill me, hmm, it must have been the legendary anti-magic weapon, right?"

Thales' arm stiffened.

Before him, Ricky remained calm and composed as ever.

But his eyes were fixed intently on Sacel.

"So the legend is true. Besides the four items in the hands of the three generals and the king, the Star Kingdom also has one in the Restoration Palace... Now it seems, it's a sword?"

Most of the Blade of Calamity and the Royal Guard were completely confused and unable to follow Thales and Ricky's train of thought.

But Thales's gaze toward Ricky grew increasingly serious.

Not good.

Based on the clues that Sacel reminded him of, and the fact that Ricky "died" at the Supreme Sword, he concluded that the other party was not a mage.

But Ricky quickly grasped their logic.

He deduced from Thales's nonsensical remark, "You're a man," that the sword in Yordle's hand that "killed" him was the legendary anti-magic weapon.

Thales glanced instinctively at Sacel behind him.

But the other person didn't even look at him, just stared coldly at Ricky.

No, we can't count on him.

Thales shook his head.

Sacel already had mental health issues, and after a series of battles and the baptism of the alchemical ball, seeing him limping and unsteady on his feet, Thales didn't think it was a good idea to bet on the returning Sacel.

With no other option, Thales had to grit his teeth and continue:

"So, your 'death' was also planned by you?"

"Then……"

Thales stared at the Blade of Calamity opposite him, counting their numbers.

"And then you just stand by and watch us kill each other, reaping the benefits?"

There are at least thirty or forty more...

The key is that there's still Ricky, the biggest variable.

But if he wasn't a magician... Thales recalled the other's "magic" of resurrection and felt that after getting rid of his fear of magicians, he had fallen into an even deeper unknown.

"Planned?"

Ricky chuckled softly, his gaze never leaving Sackel.

“Your Highness, you must understand: this world is very complex, and nothing is planned.”

"Like tonight, isn't it?"

Nothing is planned.

Thales clenched his fist.

"The mysterious and terrifying Shadow Shield, the fearsome Northerners, the renowned Kingdom Secret Service and the equally formidable Northern Dark Chamber, former guard prisoners, and even the Star Nobles in the camp—about half of the Baki camp is involved."

Ricky clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"Of course, there are also us and you, Your Highness."

"When they intertwine, all pre-set plans will be broken, and only the unexpected will become the main theme."

Ricky narrowed his eyes, a look of alarm flashing through them:
"We never planned anything."

"Or rather, our only reliable plan is to adapt to changing circumstances."

Randomly?

Thales went over everything that had happened that night.

From taverns to dungeons, from mercenaries to assassins, from prisoners to Sacelles.

His expression changed slightly.

Ricky, he can be said to be the instigator of all the events tonight: from the very beginning, it was his sword of calamity that planned to break into the prison of bones and obtain the information he wanted.

He is also a connector for many parties: the Shadow Shield who wants to take advantage of the situation, the Northlanders who are interested in the prince, the innocent and neutral tavern owner, the Dark Room with its own ulterior motives, and himself—all of whom were gathered here by Ricky.

He was also the one who ignited the contradictions: he brought Samir to see the guards from back then, stirring up the old story from eighteen years ago; he led his men to fight against the Shadow Shield, dragging everyone in the dungeon into the vortex.

And he is about to become the game's terminator: now that almost all his goals have been achieved and everything is nearly settled, he leads them here through Samir to witness the final outcome.

Thales felt his heart grow heavier and heavier. He suddenly realized that he had seriously underestimated Ricky.

Having survived countless chaos and accidents, he is certainly no small fry.

Add to that his mysterious and bizarre method of rebirth...

In the suffocating silence, Ricky chuckled softly:
"Now, can you come home with me?"

But once again, to everyone's surprise, a figure suddenly sprang up at that moment!
call!
Before Thales could even process what was happening, his nerves jolted. He felt a whoosh of wind in his ear and saw the limping figure pass him by, heading straight for Ricky as he finished speaking!

It's Sakel.

The former Watchman remained calm and composed, moving slowly but with unwavering determination, his legs, weakened by injury, sprinting forward!
Thales was completely stunned.

What happened to staying calm and composed?
This time, the well-prepared swords of calamity no longer reacted passively, but roared and counterattacked to block the attackers.

At least five or six people approached Sakel.

Only Samir's expression changed drastically, and he spoke up to stop them:

"No, not so many people! He..."

But it's too late.

For the next six seconds, Thales felt like he was watching a slapstick acrobatic performance:

In the first second, a mercenary fiercely swung his hammer, but was pulled along by the Executioner's Knight and inexplicably bumped into his companion on the left. The two scrambled to avoid being accidentally injured and ended up rolling around in a heap.

In the second and third seconds, Josh clashed head-on with Sackel's axe. As he stepped back, he found himself blocking his companions' path to help, tripping over two people in the process.

In the third and a half second, Clay's unparalleled speed and precision struck out, but miraculously helped Saxeel, who had just lowered his head, to deflect another follow-up attack.

In the fourth second, the last mercenary blocking Ricky's path wisely avoided contact and instead fired three darts. One of them was nimbly dodged by Sackel and landed on the foot of one of his pursuers behind him.

In the fifth second, the second dart struck the handle of Sackel's axe, coincidentally deflecting its direction and flying into the crowd, piercing—the buttocks of little Barney, who was being held down by two men.

In the sixth second, the third dart accurately struck Sacel—the splint on his left arm that was securing the injury. The Knight of Punishment turned his head, bit and spat, and the dart, covered in saliva, appeared in mid-air. It was struck by Sacel's axe and shot towards its original owner's groin.

At the seventh second, Ricky was shocked to see the dart-throwing mercenary in front of him curl up in pain and fall backward, landing squarely on Ricky's right foot. At the same time, Sackel's axe blade flew through the air, heading straight for Ricky's left foot.

Ricky had to take a large step back, dodging his companion's screaming roll, and then use his sword to parry Sackel's flying axe.

But by the time he had just finished, Sacel had already appeared in front of him.

"Oops-"

Ricky, struggling to maintain his balance, only managed to utter half a word before the indifferent-looking Sackel simultaneously raised his right arm and left arm splint.

Crack!

A heart-stopping, muffled thud.

Thales shuddered.

The next second, Ricky's head turned in an impossible direction on his shoulder.

thump.

With a soft thud, Ricky, who had been so arrogant just moments before, fell straight to the ground with disbelief in his eyes.

His head was tilted in a strange position, looking behind him.

It stopped moving.

The battle ended amidst the cries and screams of many calamities wielded by the swords of calamity.

Apart from the wailing wounded, everyone was stunned.

But it didn't end there.

He coldly reached out and caught Ricky's slipping "Eternal Truth" in mid-air—it looked as if the fallen Ricky had deliberately thrown the sword to him.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines!
Thales instinctively turned his head.

Swish!
It was the sound of flesh tearing apart again.

This time, amidst the gushing blood, Ricky's head was severed from his body.

It rolled helplessly on the ground.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

To everyone's astonishment, Sacel stood up.

With a clang, the longsword fell to the ground.

Ricky's body lay motionless on the ground.

His head was not far from his left shoulder, his eyes wide open, staring blankly at his neck.

After doing all this, Sacel groaned, clutching his chest and crouching down—clearly, he wasn't unharmed.

The mercenaries around him realized what was happening and were about to step forward.

But Sacel simply took a deep breath and glanced around.

The mercenaries froze, then retreated.

Just like the receding tide.

Or perhaps you encounter a flock of sheep with hungry wolves.

On the side of the Sword of Calamity, Klay, supporting the coughing Josh, looked at the godlike warrior before him with a mixture of fear and dread.

Damn.

It wasn't a coincidence that they were in the prison cell before...

This guy is really something...

Thales's side was equally dumbfounded.

"Forty...forty..." The last quick rope looked at the wounded soldiers scattered on the ground and Ricky's corpse, muttering in terror:

"Holy crap, could it really be true?"

The Knight of Punishment ignored everyone else, turning his head to stare intently at the headless corpse on the ground.

It seemed like an eternity had passed.

But the body on the ground remained motionless.

Sacel breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.

Thales and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, remember to finish the job after killing someone...

That is correct.

But just seconds later, Sackel's steps toward turning back froze.

A strange, rustling sound came from behind him.

On this side, Thales, Tardin, Cannon, Brie, and Quick Rope all looked behind the Knight of Punishment, and their faces turned pale!

Even the surrounding swords of calamity turned pale and turned away.

Sacel's pupils narrowed.

The next second, without thinking, he kicked up the axe blade on the ground, grabbed the axe handle with his right hand, and turned around!
"Pfft!"

The sound of steel piercing flesh.

Sacel thrust the axe blade directly into the chest of the person behind him!

But this did little to improve the mood of Thales and other onlookers.

Because they saw the corpse, now standing up again, grab Sacel's arm, glancing indifferently at the axe blade embedded in its chest, drawing out countless drops of blood.

It felt like it wasn't my own chest.

"That's ruthless, they just cut off the head."

Ricky, whose head had somehow returned to his body, laughed:

"You're really good at causing me trouble."

(End of this chapter)