In the dark cell, Thales' eyebrows jumped: Who is this?
It sounds somewhat familiar.
The firelight flickered in the prison, and the figures swayed, but there was no sound.
Until a lazy voice slowly sounded.
"He is detained separately from us, a punishment knight who is feared by everyone."
This statement made the prisoners change their colors.
Samir turned to Naki who spoke out.
"Naki!" Little Barney scolded Naki who was inconsistent with his companions.
But Naki just shook his head: "He should know... Even if he has parted ways with us, he must know."
Little Barney was speechless.
Naki let out a long breath, as if looking back to yesterday: "Remember the day you broke free from the chains and escaped from the escort, Samir?"
Samir was stunned: "Me?"
Naki nodded, unhappy.
"That day, in the absence of a higher commander, Sak'el endured the anger from above, stood up and surrendered, and admitted that he helped you escape - although we all know that is impossible, his escort position is the same as
You missed it by a full hundred meters."
"But no matter how many people there are, they are so angry that they only need an example to warn us, and the higher the status of this example, the better."
Samir's figure moved, his expression slightly confused.
"As punishment, Sak'el, he was locked down below," Naji said in despair:
"At the bottom of the Bone Cage."
"Solitary confinement."
Naki said bitterly.
"You know, we are on the same floor, so there is still someone we can talk to. As for him, Sak'el?"
"He had no roommates, no dialogue, no light, nothing."
Samir looked at Naki from a distance without saying a word.
"That's right, the most powerful expert in the royal guard, a star with a bright future, and the next commander of the guard..."
Naji shook his head and said in a sad voice:
"Just like that, in the bottomless darkness, without hearing the outside world, not knowing the time, and not seeing others, I endured alone for eighteen years."
"Life or death unknown."
Solitary confinement.
Eighteen years.
In the Sword of Disaster, Josh frowned slightly.
Thales couldn't help but think of the prison's experienced disaster swordsman's evaluation of the cell.
"For this reason, Sak'el saved the brothers who were escorted with you," Naki chuckled: "Because of your cowardice, including Tardin and Bree, they should have been punished because of you.
crime."
Samir's breathing slowly quickened.
"Uh-oh!" Bree on the other side said angrily.
"I can help him translate," Nai mocked sarcastically:
"Brie said, 'Samuel, you're a fucking coward,' and that's pretty much it."
Barney, who has the highest status, snorted angrily,
It seemed that he didn't bother to speak anymore.
There was silence in the prison.
Samir closed his eyes and his breathing was extremely disordered.
After a few seconds, Samir took a deep breath and turned around to face the Sword of Disaster.
"Let's go, it's done here."
His figure looked tired and humble, and his voice was inexplicably cold and gloomy: "Find our target."
Ricky snorted slightly and waved his hand.
The Swords of Disaster glanced at the dark cell with mixed emotions and turned around one after another. Thales wanted to take another look, but Marina pushed him out unceremoniously.
As the light source decreases, the view in the cell becomes darker and darker.
"By the way, Samir."
Samir stopped.
Naji's voice came from behind, slow and confused: "I'm sorry to say this, but..."
"But I hope, I really hope, I hope that Sak'el is beyond mad."
Everyone was startled.
"I hope he will tear you into pieces the first time he sees you, Samir," Naki's voice slowly penetrated with coldness, making people feel a chill down their spines: "In this way, you can rest in peace."
"Traitor," he hissed.
The other prisoners either sneered lightly or snorted indignantly.
Samir turned his back to them and didn't speak for a while.
Until he sighed lightly.
"You know, I really want to let you out."
Samir said softly, with a hint of confusion in his voice.
But the next second, Samir raised his head firmly and walked out of the hall.
Behind him, the weak light in Naji's cell finally couldn't bear the long-term burning and dimly went out.
Send the dark prison that once held forty-five members of the royal guard back into the bottomless abyss of darkness.
After experiencing the scene just now, the people in Sword of Disaster seemed to have been affected a lot, and everyone was silent.
Only Thales' heart kept churning.
"Thank you, Ricky."
In the darkness, Samir who was walking in front suddenly said these words, which was caught by Thales who was listening carefully.
Ricky chuckled: "For what?"
Samir's words were mixed in with the footsteps, but the hell sense allowed Thales to hear clearly:
"For you to agree to my selfishness."
"Selfish? No."
Ricky didn't seem to care: "You think this is just your selfishness."
Ricky's next words were filled with emotion:
"But in ancient times, this was one of the inheritances of knights, and it was the biggest and most important test for every knight."
Samir said nothing.
"Including you, many of us are scarred, shrouded by the shadows of the past, cursed by the ghosts of the past, and we are unable to extricate ourselves."
"Revenge, grievance, anger, pain, guilt, unwillingness, torture, and so on - this is the reason why we gather, and it is also what the inheritors outside the tower have in common for hundreds of years."
Ricky's voice dropped so low that Thales struggled to hear clearly:
"But no matter how terrible the past is, no matter how unbearable the shadow it casts and the curse it leaves behind, we must face it head-on, accept it, and overcome it before we can finally recognize ourselves."
Clay's voice came from the other side, with some emotion:
"Since the first Crassus, almost every qualified inheritor outside the tower has to go through this journey, sooner or later, longer or shorter, in order to understand the meaning of our existence."
"Truly become a qualified swordsman and control the most untamable and terrifying power."
The middle-aged swordsman from the North said calmly: "It is inevitable."
"Just like the ancient knights in the imperial era, they must pass the test of their true hearts before they can finally transcend the limitations of skill, strength and will and take a further step in the path of knighthood."
Clay chuckled and said: "This is what the scholars of the Tower of the End call the 'Heart of the Sword' - of course, given that we are an inheritance outside the tower, you can call it whatever you want."
Samir snorted lightly, his emotions unclear.
Ricky's steady voice came again: "Don't underestimate this, at least that's what Crassus of the previous generation told me..."
"He always believed that compared to sword styles, tactics, classics, weapons, treasures, honors, reputations, and commandments, compared to the past glory of wielding a sword for mankind, and even the far-reaching extraordinary power and final power."
Ricky's voice had a hint of firmness:
"This is the greatest legacy left to us by the Knights Temple, which has been dead for thousands of years."
Temple of Knights.
Hearing this term, Thales was thoughtful.
Samir's breathing slowly calmed down.
"After experiencing it, you will finally understand: the past cannot be the reason for us to live."
"We stand together to transcend the irreparable past," Ricky's tone slowly became sharp and decisive:
"Tear apart the hypocritical present, break the curse of the old world, and create a new future."
Samir, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but speak.
"is it possible?"
Samir hesitated: "The goal of the first Crassus was really too..."
Clay's laughter came from the darkness.
"is it possible?"
"Brothers from the South, I have something to say in the North, I think I might as well give it to you," Clay's tone revealed a unique feeling that Thales was extremely familiar with, something he had felt from countless people countless times.
pride:
“Northlanders never ask ‘can I?’…”
“We just ask ‘do it or not’.”
The team continued to march, and Samir was silent for a while.
"Exactly."
"As your guide, Samuel, it is also my obligation to help you through today's journey." Ricky said calmly.
Marina noticed that the boy in front of her who looked extremely obedient suddenly trembled violently!
Thales's heart was slightly shaken.
Guide?
etc.
He raised his head in disbelief and looked at Ricky's back in front of him.
Guide.
Is this word... a coincidence?
"Samuel, remember."
"Since you have chosen a new life, you often have to say goodbye to the past," Ricky chuckled:
"No matter how tempting it is, no matter how reluctant you are to give up."
Thales's heart skipped a beat again.
Say goodbye to the past?
He seemed...he had heard this familiar sentence somewhere again.
Where is it?
"Remember, what you choose is perseverance and never look back," Ricky said coldly:
"Not a touching confession."
"Misunderstanding, false accusation, stigma, and injustice are just the mildest storms on this road."
Samir didn't speak, but his breathing became more and more steady and firm.
"Compared to hiding in castles and greenhouses, cherishing your wings, and staying stuck in the Tower of the End," Ricky sighed slightly:
"The inheritors outside the tower have carried it out from beginning to end, never hesitating because the road is bleak, nor looking forward and backward to escape the past."
Thales stared at their backs blankly.
He suddenly remembered the weird origins of this group of people, and the even weirder but thought-provoking names others gave them.
"Because this is who we are," Ricky said decisively, with a hint of firmness and a hint of fearless pride in his tone:
"This is the person who has gone through many vicissitudes of life along the way, but still has no regrets..."
"The Sword of Disaster."
At this moment, Thales's eyebrows were arched deeper than ever.
His thoughts were quickly broken.
The Swords of Disaster did not stop again, but went straight to the bottom of the dark prison as Naki said.
But when the Swords of Disaster suddenly stopped at a large corner, Thales felt that an accident had happened.
No, to be precise, this is not an accident.
"What does this mean, drill?"
Thales stood up on his tiptoes vigorously, looked past several figures from behind, and with the help of the torch held by Clay at the front, he could clearly see the hooded man standing in front of everyone.
Drill.
He was still smiling, rubbing his hands, standing in front of the dim firelight, surrounded by darkness.
"Didn't I say, I'll wait for you outside, by the way..."
Ricky took a step forward and said coldly: "You know that's not what I'm talking about."
Ricky waved his hand gently.
Almost instantly, Thales felt that the atmosphere around him was different: the Swords of Disaster turned sideways and bent their knees, pressed their weapons, and switched to the most suitable position for shooting.
Marina didn't forget to clasp his shoulder with one hand to prevent anything from happening.
At this moment, everyone was like soldiers in front of the battle, instantly entering a state of war.
Thales carefully held his breath and paid attention to every tiny change around him.
coming.
"I can feel it," Ricky stared at the drill in front of him with a stagnant smile, but his eyes swept around him, into the seemingly uninhabited darkness:
"That cold air in the dark."
"Like an unsheathed sword."
The boy's smile slowly fell.
He rubbed his forehead as if wiping sweat.
Baron Russell in the team saw that the situation was not good and quickly said: "Everyone..."
But at this moment, no one gave the spokesperson of King Charmaine any more face, and only Ricky’s aggressive words continued:
"Boss, you went out and called down all the Shadow Shield personnel on the ground?"
"Then stop here and wait for us?"
silence.
Even Russell looked at the assassin in front of him in surprise.
Thales noticed that whether Clay or Samir, the Swords of Disaster were staring at the dark corners around them with vigilance and fear, as if people would suddenly appear in the darkness.
Soon, the prince no longer had any doubts: what was fed back through the hell senses were multiple sounds of breathing, coming out regularly and rhythmically from the ominous darkness that could not be illuminated by the fire.
Smooth, long and frightening.
This scene is divided into two sides:
On one side are the Swords of Disaster standing full of people, with fierce eyes and murderous intent, with Ricky as the center, as cold as the cold wind.
On one side is a solitary driller. He stands in the darkness, only his outline is revealed in the firelight, but he seems to rule this dark, opaque place.
Thales felt that the "cold air" in Ricky's mouth seemed to have become reality, slowly freezing the two parties who had just cooperated happily.
The boy looked calm and coughed slightly.
"What a keen sense."
he sighed.
"Then I'll tell you straight."
The next second, I saw that Dongzi's smile disappeared, his movements tightened, and even his tone became calm.
"Dear Crassus, and all of you... could you please hand over His Highness the Prince to me right here?"
The driller said expressionlessly.
Thales let out a gentle breath.
coming.
The look of the drill made the prince frown.
Ricky curled up the corners of his mouth.
"Huh." Clay snorted coldly, expressing their attitude.
Baron Russell realized that something was not right.
"Boss, for your Majesty's sake, I can feel that this... Crassus is only one step away from his goal, so maybe we shouldn't fall out at this time..."
But this time, even the always good-tempered driller interrupted him rudely.
"It's just one step away that I can't help but care about, Your Excellency Baron."
Russell frowned and looked at the mercenaries:
"What does it mean?"
On the side of the Sword of Disaster, Ricky remained expressionless, Clay blew out a breath, Samir clenched the hilt of the sword, and Josh bared his teeth in a malicious smile.
"I understand your kindness, Baron." Under the dim firelight, the figure under the drill's robe became desolate and cold, just like his voice that slowly returned to its original voice:
"But the honorable Crassus may not."
The eyes of Ricky and Dozi met in the air, one was cold and calm, the other was as sharp as a thorn.
"Leaving the prince in your hands for the time being, I originally thought it was harmless and foolproof," I heard the driller say expressionlessly: "Because in the Blade Tooth Camp, our mutual fear and balance are the best guarantee, until we complete
cooperate."
His voice did not fluctuate. However, compared to the kind words and the surging rebuke, these flat and unchanging sentences were filled with an inexplicable chilling atmosphere:
"So Shadow Shield is eager to help and makes selfless contributions."
It's like the worst actor reading a script.
No emotion.
Hearing this, Clay chuckled without any shame:
"Why does this sound so awkward?"
The driller gently raised his hand and put down his hood, revealing his fair face under the shadow.
But his expression made Thales feel even colder.
"Whether it's breaking through the guards or stationed on the ground, you can safely leave the matters above to me. I originally thought you were trying to win my trust."
"I also thought you wouldn't fall out. After all, the manpower guarding the ground belongs to me. Once things change, we may both be wiped out here."
The driller's words continued steadily, his eyes never leaving Ricky.
"But it wasn't until I saw such a breathtaking building that I understood something."
"You must have been prepared very early to know the mage's territory well, right?"
The leader of the Sword of Disaster did not answer, but just twitched his lips.
The driller continued: "I'm still surprised. It was obviously a suicide mission, but you didn't care. You made up your mind to break in from the beginning, without worrying about the retreat, and even trusted the guards on the ground.
We—the Shadow Shield you distrust so much."
Clay interrupted him impatiently: "What exactly do you want to say?"
The driller smiled.
But this smile made Thales' hair stand on end.
Because he didn't look like he was smiling, but like he was showing off his face passively, lifeless.
Like a puppet.
However, the driller also looked at Thales with a scary smile.
"I was chatting with His Highness Thales just now..."
Zhuozi's words made His Royal Highness the focus of the scene again.
"We all agreed that the ventilation in this place is really good - not only is it not stuffy, but we can even light a torch without hesitation."
The Swords of Disaster were all stunned.
"There is only one possibility."
The driller still stared at Thales, but the words he spoke slowly became colder: "This place, the Prison of Bones, or the Alchemy Tower, or the Institute of Confinement, or some other hellish place..."
"There must be another exit."
"Is not it?"
As soon as this was said, the whole scene fell silent.
Baron Russell, who was watching the situation with a headache, understood something and suddenly turned pale:
"What?"
The silence in the dark cell lasted for a few seconds.
The Swords of Disaster looked at each other, but none of them made a sound.
Until Ricky slowly turned around and glanced at Thales with great meaning.
Let the latter get chills.
Oops.
"I was just chatting," Thales said awkwardly: "You know, when we were still in Longxiao City, the tunnels of the Northlanders were like this... because they had the exits ready, so they could breathe..."
But his voice became smaller and smaller, and finally he retreated silently under the eyes of Crassus.
"Maybe I should have listened to you just now," Ricky chuckled, "Marina."
Just when Marina frowned and Thales felt cold, both thinking about the meaning of this sentence, Ricky turned back and looked at the drill again.
In front of him, the person in charge of Shadow Shield shook his head with regret, his eyes as ice-like.
"My people were searching back and forth just now. Although they couldn't find the exit, judging from your reaction at the moment...it should be right."
The drill's eyes became sharper:
"So you neither want to let go of the prince in your hands, nor are you worried about your retreat on the ground."
"Because you were not prepared to honor your agreement with us in the first place, my dear Crassus."
The driller spoke coldly.
Ricky snorted with no idea: "Where did it come from so many twists and turns?"
"I'm not a fool," the driller sighed: "In the tavern, our difficult prince must have given you some bargaining chip, and that changed your attitude."
Thales' eyebrows jumped when he heard this, and he lowered his head silently.
Zhuozi slowly narrowed his eyes, and a cold light appeared from the slit in his eyes:
"You have no intention of exiting from the original route. Instead, you plan to disappear from another exit after completing your goal - taking your loot with you."
Zhuo Zi said softly: "And our Prince."
"Perhaps, by the way, they can trap us here and leave us in the Blade Tooth Camp, leaving us to the angry Star People?"
Russell looked at the Swords of Disaster in disbelief and subconsciously took two steps back, leaving the team with their swords unsheathed.
One second, two seconds, three seconds passed.
Ricky took a slow breath.
He laughed lightly.
"You are not Teng after all," Ricky sighed with regret:
"If it was him, he must have tried every possible means to take action before he entered the Prison of Bones, when we were in a dilemma."
Ricky didn't answer Drill's question, but Drill didn't ask further either.
"I will not repeat it again, Sword of Disaster."
The drill man was seen retreating slightly in the darkness, his face becoming increasingly blurry, and his eyes looking at Thales becoming colder and colder.
"Give him to me immediately and we will be fine."
Ricky shook his head and laughed:
"What if?"
The driller laughed out loud.
"otherwise……"
"Magic Tower, maybe you know better, but..."
Zhuozi chuckled softly, and his whole body disappeared into the darkness, leaving only one unsettling sentence:
"Darkness is our home field."
The next second, before Ricky could respond, an extremely clear scream sounded from behind the Sword of Disaster team:
"ah!"
Almost at the same time, without waiting for anyone to remind them, the battle-experienced mercenaries drew their weapons without hesitation!
"Shua! Clang! Clang..."
The sound of countless metals rubbing against leather, and metal against metal sounded neatly.
Thales' ears felt like he had experienced another black storm in the desert, and he had to reach out to cover his ears!
However, in the next moment——
"Puff! Bang! Peng!"
With a few shrill blasts of wind, almost everyone's torches were extinguished instantly!
All the light in the field disappeared, and Thales' eyes suddenly became pitch black.
"ah!"
"They're coming!"
"Tsk-"
"Be careful of sneak attacks!"
"At your feet!"
"clang!"
"kill him--"
But in just one breath, weapons clashed, flesh and blood were torn apart, screams and groans, murderous roars, and countless sounds of fierce fighting were heard in the deep darkness, intertwined with each other!
At the same time, it sounded in Thales' ears.
The sword of disaster.
Shadow Shield.
The two sides, each with their own ulterior motive and arrogant, finally tore off the pretense at this moment and completely broke apart.