Kingdom’s Bloodline

Upon hearing the head guard’s words, a tremble ran through Thales’ heart.

‘What? Ex- execution?’

‘How can it be? Lampard. He…’

The military courier shook his head and pointed at Thales. His expression was imposing and his gaze was profound. “No, according to the higher-ups… just leave the boy behind… get rid of the others.”

The few people in the prison cell heard these words. They exchanged glances simultaneously and saw astonishment in each other’s eyes.

Kohen’s mouth widened into an ‘O’ shape. Miranda furrowed her eyebrows tightly instead, feeling extremely disconcerted.

Panic-stricken, Little Rascal nudged Thales. The latter suppressed the terror in his heart while he put up a strong front, gesturing for her to stay calm.

From the head guard’s expression, he looked as if he did not dare to believe it. The head guard raised the scroll in his hand up to where the Everlasting Lamp shone and read it several times over.

As they watched his movements, Thales and the others tensed up. They instinctively moved backwards, distancing themselves a little from the cell door and fence.

The head guard eventually sighed. “Alright then.” He turned his head around and looked at his five subordinates, all wearing equally astonished facial expressions,

“You all heard his orders.”

Thales’ heart thumped constantly. ‘No. How can this be?!’

He saw the guard nod slightly and heard him whisper, “Do it.”

The five guards were somewhat startled, but their instinct to obey orders still got them to move. They turned around, grasped the swords by their waists, took out the keys, and opened the four prison cells detaining the prisoners.

In that moment, the prison cell only held the sound of locks being opened.

“Damn it!” Kohen desperately gritted his teeth. He struggled incessantly and cursed as he watched the soldier unlock his cell door. Miranda’s expression was tense. She did not move. In his panic, Wya leaned against the fence and stared at Thales with wide eyes.

“Wait a minute!” Thales watched the guard in front of him rotate the lock as Little Rascal shrank into a corner, frightened. His mind was a mess. “Lampard and I have unfinished business!”

He stared firmly at the military courier. Then at the head guard that was guarding him. “Go and tell him that if he still wants to know that secret about Shadow Shield—”

However, the head guard just shook his head impassively.

“It’s too late, boy” The eyes that gazed at Thales were filled with pity. “But at least you get to survive.”

Thales watched the five guards holding the sabers at their waists slowly unlock the locks of the four cell doors. His mind blanked out completely.

He saw Kohen desperately struggling to escape from the chains on him. He saw Miranda bend her knees; her expression was resolute, clearly planning to attempt a final fight when the guard comes in.

Wya stared desperately at Thales instead. “Your Highness! You…”

Little Rascal was convulsing with fear as she shook her head behind him. Thales firmly bit his lower lip. His brain was turning frantically.

‘What do I do? Do I bite my lips or tongue so that I can use that power?

‘But according to my previous experiences: One more time, and it would be the death of me. What do I do?’

Thales stared at the sabers at the guards’ waists. ‘Damn it. What do I do?’

At this very moment, a voice that suddenly appeared stopped what the guards were doing.

“Wait a minute.”

The unlocking sounds stopped simultaneously and the guards turned their heads around curiously.

For a moment, only the sound of Kohen’s heavy panting was left in the prison cell. Thales was stunned for a moment, he then raised his head and looked at the person who spoke up.

What was unexpected was that the person who interrupted the guards’ actions was the tall head guard.

‘But…’ Thales squinted his eyes. ‘Why, why would he interfere?’

“Everyone, stop with whatever you are doing immediately. Turn around and face me.” The head guard’s expression was chilling as he clutched the saber at his waist. He said gruffly, “Equip yourself for battle.”

In the narrow corridor, the five guards each stood in front of the four prison cell doors as they watched the head guard and military courier who were positioned in between them.

The five guards looked at each other at a loss, but they still turned around in compliance with their boss’ words. At the same time, they held the weapons at their waists cautiously.

Thales watched everything in astonishment, the questions in his heart only grew more.

‘This is…’

“What’s wrong?” The military courier frowned as he saw the guards’ actions. “Why stop?”

The head guard raised his head and looked at the military courier. A second later, he plainly said, “I just thought of something just now.”

The military courier was a little stunned. He scanned the people around him, then impatiently said to the head guard, “These are the archduke’s orders, regardless of what you recalled—”

But the guard suddenly interrupted him.

“I know a veteran from the City of Faraway Prayers,” the head guard said coldly, “He used to serve in the Great Desert nearby.”

Those words, seemingly out of nowhere, caused the other people in the prison cell to stare, dumbfounded.

“So?” The military courier seemed somewhat puzzled. He cast another glance at the others and saw bewilderment in their eyes, too.

The head guard gave a light snort. “He told me about many things before, such as the orcs and… the Barren Bone people.” He raised his chin slightly and squinted as he sized up the military courier. “Those tribes with the painted tattoos in the most distant part of the bleak and boundless desert; those wild, savage people, hostile to our civilized world, whose existences are more oppressive than that of the orcs.”

The military courier creased his brow a little.

“The soldiers on the borders usually refer to them as”—the head guard’s gaze grew sharper—”the Barren breed.”

Thales was faintly gasping for air. He wanted to take advantage of this short time to think of a way to rescue the others, but his mind was all jumbled up.

Next door, Kohen stopped struggling. The police officer raised his head laboriously as he watched with an astonished expression on his face at the two people conversing.

The question marks on the military courier’s face deepened. He pointed at the scroll in the head guard’s hands. “Hey, brothers. You had better wait until you have executed the archduke’s orders if you want to tell a story—”

The head guard interrupted him with a cold look, “He also told me… that even though the races differed, a majority of the Barren breed have one very distinct characteristic.”

The head guard drew back the corners of his mouth, his words became sharp and his expression grew fierce.

“Their eyes… are scarlet. These are the Barren Bone people, the emblem of their entire tribe’s crime for dealing with demons.”

Thales watched the head guard’s strange actions, he could not decipher what was going on. But Miranda’s eyes widened. Like Kohen, she blankly watched the situation… as if she was reluctant to believe it.

The military courier seemed to have remembered something; he did not say a word and did not rush the other party.

“So, I’m intrigued. Within the archduke’s subordinate army…” The head guard looked at the speechless military courier. He drew his saber, gritted his teeth and bellowed,

“…why was there a Barren breed there?”

Thales was dazed for a while. ‘Barren… Barren Bone people?’

Miranda was stunned. Kohen was also speechless and sank to the ground.

Thales’s heart shifted when he heard that strange conversation.

‘Could it be…’

Baffled, all the guards exchanged glances.

However, under the head guard’s indication, they became vigilant. They surrounded the unknown military courier as they gradually drew the swords from their sheaths.

In the next second, the military courier heaved a sigh as he explained to the head guard, “Because I did not have enough time.”

The head guard frowned. “What?”

The military courier shook his head, seemingly upset. He sighed. “It’s time to stir things up.”

His ridiculous words lit a fire in the head guard’s heart. He gritted his teeth and wore a ferocious expression on his face. “What exactly are you—”

At that moment…

A gust of cold wind stronger than the one before blew outside the prison cell.

*Whoosh!*

Cold air gushed from under the door with a piercing, whistling sound.

The sound of the wind had even drowned out any conversations in the prison cells. And at the same time, the Everlasting Lamps in the prison suddenly trembled slightly before the five guards had fully drawn their swords from their sheaths.

Thales’ vision swayed. In the blink of an eye, the military courier spun his body and a sword appeared in his hand.

Then, a sword glint that was the brightest, fastest, quietest, and most shocking that Thales had ever seen in his life, shot out of the military courier’s left hand like a bolt of lightning that sliced through the dark sky.

*Whoosh!*

The wind screamed, shrill and resounding, and the silhouettes of the people flickered.

As the military courier spun on his feet, blood shot out from the necks of the three guards nearest to him.

The vigilant head guard roared as he fully unsheathed his sword.

He opened his mouth and roared something, but his words were drowned out, along with the sound of swords unsheathing.

In a split second, the chilly-faced military courier turned around. The sword in his right hand had transformed into a ray of light, flashing across the air…

… Until finally, it impaled the chest of the guard furthest to him.

In the next moment, the military courier dashed and appeared right in front of head guard.

The head guard wore a stunned expression, but did not fluster. With steady footsteps, he calmly raised his sword and attacked the unknown intruder with astonishing vigor.

The Power of Eradication erupted from the head guard’s body. The strike was steady and powerful, precise and clever. The intruder, with no weapon in hand, had no choice but to dodge.

However, the intruder did something that caused Thales extreme shock.

He did not retreat. He raised his right hand up and placed it vertically before the longsword, as if he wished to use his palm to resist the other party’s strike.

In the continuous sound of the shrieking wind, Miranda emitted a soundless cry of surprise.

With his next breath, the head guard’s sword began cutting into the intruder’s palm starting from his middle finger. The sword’s blade broke through his bones, hacking into his wrist and forearm. Like chopping firewood, he brutally cut into the arm of the invader who overestimated himself.

The head guard’s sword eventually stopped in the middle of the intruder’s forearm. The head guard’s expression suddenly changed; the blade of his sword could not cut any further.

And what was even stranger was that the intruder who had his forearm split open did not shout or moan in pain, as if it was not his arm. The intruder only turned the arm blocking the sword slightly.

In an instant, the head guard’s sword was firmly snapped off from the intruder’s forearm, while the sound of the wind concealed everything. In that moment, the sword tip that was forged in steel seemed to be hundreds of times weaker than dried leaves.

The head guard blankly held his broken sword. Under his stunned and distressed look, the intruder swung his right arm that was split in half. His fingers, miraculously, began to move.

In a flash, he dug around for the broken blade and then flung it off his right arm.

With it, the broken blade flew three paces away and pierced into the final guard’s throat—the man’s sword had only been drawn two-thirds of the way out.

Then, the intruder swung his left fist, and with an unremarkable upper-cut, he punched directly into the head guard’s abdomen.

A huge force surged forth in the piercing wind. The head guard widened his shocked eyes as both his feet left the ground. His body bent under the punch and as he was lifted into the air by the intruder, his entire being turned into a curved ‘A’ shape.

The sound of the wind diminished.

Only then that they stared at him with incredulous gazes and would either be covering their throats, or wrapping their arms over their chests while they fell limply to the ground in succession.

The head guard’s broken sword slipped powerlessly from his hand. As the broken sword was about to land, the intruder hooked it with his right foot. He kicked it up and grabbed it with his right hand.

Everything went quiet.

Thales then noticed that the intruder’s supposedly separated right hand had become as good as before; not even a single drop of blood spilled out. Only the shirt sleeve that was split in half stood testament to that unbelievable scene.

Thales widened his eyes and stared at the smooth, delicate right hand. He immediately felt his blood run cold.

“You…” the head guard glared as his arm twitched from the sharp pain and blood flowed from his mouth.

The intruder still had his left fist raised, suspending the head guard in the air. He coldly said, “I just said… Because I did not have enough time…”

In the next second, the head guard shut his eyes and lowered his arm, which could no longer move.

The intruder stooped over slightly, slowly lowered the head guard’s dead body, and then placed the broken sword on it.

He straightened up his body and tore off the wig and camouflage on his face, revealing his original brown hair. He coldly said to the dead body, “… So I couldn’t disguise my eyes in time.”

The shrill wind had completely subsided at this moment. Silence was restored in the prison, as if nothing had happened just now… Apart from the gradually expanding pool of blood on the ground and the extra six corpses.

In his shock, Thales looked at the surrounding guards who had fallen dead. His heart was thumping incessantly.

‘This is…’

Kohen and Miranda exchanged surprised looks.

“Impossible…” This came from the almost completely flabbergasted Kohen, who desperately shook his head. Even Wya’s chin almost fell to the ground from shock.

The intruder who killed six people continuously with such inconceivable methods gently turned around and walked towards Thales. His gaze was distinctly cold.

Thales shrank back subconsciously, protecting the shivering Little Rascal behind him—he did not forget the order that this stranger had just brought.

As he watched the prince’s expression, the young intruder narrowed his eyes as he pondered carefully. The prince laboriously calmed his breathing as he saw the intruder’s face clearly despite his tension.

The unfamiliar newcomer was very young—only in his twenties. And yet, he had a handsome face with a unique outline.

It was unforgettable at first glance.

‘He seems somewhat familiar… Who exactly is he?’ Thales’ question was answered very quickly.

“Respected Prince Thales, we meet for the first time.”

Across the fence, the terrifying intruder knelt before Thales. With a ghost of a smile on his face, he had his right fist against his heart and bowed in salutation. He said,

“I am Raphael Lindbergh.”

Dazed, Thales stared at this person, he was somewhat unable to react. Although the other party’s actions were deferential, Thales could not feel a single trace of respect in his tone.

The intruder slowly raised his head and blocked the six corpses behind him. He raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a rare and strange set of crimson pupils

“I come from the Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Department.”