"When I was a child, when the Earl of Risban told me, I always thought it was just a legend."
"No more real than the Queen of the Sky or the statues of the gods in the temple."
Moral looked at the latter with complex eyes that Thales had never seen before.
Thales recognized that expression.
That was the expression on little Quil Barney's face just after Samuel's oath failed.
Loss, emptiness, pain, regret.
Still feeling a bit confused and helpless.
"However, the stories passed down in our family from generation to generation are true..."
He stared at the young man, his head shaking slightly and his chest heaving.
It was as if he no longer knew this companion who had lived and died with him for a short period of time and had adventures back and forth.
The foreign prince who shared his fate.
Facing Moral's crossbow, Thales could only bite his lower lip.
At that moment, it seemed that even the pain in my chest was no longer important.
What could he say?
What should he say?
"...Disaster is humans, or monsters that look like humans."
Moral's eyes never strayed from the target, and the crossbow in his hand couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"They breathe like us, eat like us, walk like us, and live like us in every corner of the world. Every move we make is similar in appearance and spirit."
He murmured subconsciously, his tone ethereal.
It seems to be retelling an ancient story from long ago.
"But they are not us after all."
"They will eventually tear off their masks, reveal their true colors, and start destroying and killing."
Thales subconsciously tightened his fists on his chest.
Moral's brows slowly tightened and he took a step back, as if he couldn't believe what he was facing.
He gritted his teeth, took a few deep breaths, and the scene just now flashed through his mind:
"That's how you are, isn't it?"
"Like just now?"
Thales, who was leaning against the wall, was silent for a while.
His face was ashen, even under the red firelight.
They are not us after all.
They will eventually take off their masks.
Thales vaguely remembered every time he lost control and knocked on the door, thought of Thales in the dream who seemed to know everything, and the consequences he faced every time he came back to his senses.
"I have no idea."
After a long time, Thales said sadly in a tone as if he was in a dream:
"Even for me, the issue is full of mystery."
Moral was also silent for a while.
In the deep dungeon, only the breathing of the two people could be heard for a while.
Until Moral's sneer filled the air.
"So, among the disasters that King Nekaru has dealt with...which one are you?"
Thales was slightly absent-minded.
Just listen to Moral speaking in the most serious and fearful tone:
"King Disaster?"
"Disaster?"
"Blood disaster?"
"Secret disaster?"
"First disaster?"
With every word he said, Moral's expression became more serious.
These were phrases that only appeared in the legends of the Walton family, but he never took it seriously.
Disaster.
Listening to these strange and strange terms, Thales frowned slightly.
Until Morar raised the arm crossbow with one hand and said the next sentence:
"Or are you simply the leader of all disasters - the 'Bane of the Gods'?"
Bane of the Gods.
Hearing this familiar nickname, Thales felt another pain in his chest.
The young man no longer looked at Morar, he lowered his head, and said half relieved, half lonely: "None of them."
"I am a……"
"Newcomer."
Moral paused for a moment.
"ha."
His shoulders swayed slightly, his laughter was a little sad, and even the firelight and the crossbow were trembling.
"So you are just like the White Blade Guards, and there are newcomers..."
The words were lightly sarcastic.
In an unknown mood, Thales tried his best to raise the corners of his mouth.
"yes."
"Magic Master, disaster."
As he was thinking about it, he was slightly distracted and his tone was lost:
"Everything is like a nightmare, no matter how much smile you squeeze out or how much courage you muster..."
"But in the dead of night, when you return from your midnight dream, it will always come back to you -"
Morar's crossbow trembled slightly.
"enough."
"Disaster."
He interrupted Thales and stared at the latter with strange eyes, cold corners of his mouth, and protruding veins on his hands:
"Do you know that no matter which temple it is, no matter how dilapidated or declining the church is, it is warning every King of Exeter: the disaster of annihilation will eventually come back and destroy us just like it destroyed the final empire?"
Thales didn't look at him, just closed his eyes:
"I……"
But Moral was not prepared to let him answer.
The son of Nun gritted his teeth and spoke, pinching the fingers on the arm of the crossbow with all his strength, forcing himself to suppress the complicated emotions that had nowhere to go:
"You know what every Walton has been taught since he was a child. In the Battle of the End, what kind of terror and despair, sacrifices and casualties Nekaru and his peers endured to miraculously reverse the cold wind and defeat the crazy evil.
The disaster that founded Exeter?"
Thales didn't open his eyes. He managed to raise the corners of his mouth:
"Is it."
Prince Star could feel that the bleeding from his nose had stopped, and the strength of his whole body was slowly recovering under the slow infiltration of the Sin of Hell River, and the pain in his chest was gradually relieved.
At least, he should be able to stand up on his own.
But for some reason, facing Moral who was looking at him angrily, facing the seemingly shaky time crossbow...
Thales suddenly lost the motivation to stand up.
This is a disaster.
Just yourself.
and your own future.
He thought gloomily.
A long-lost pleasant female voice sounded from his ears.
【You are going further and further down the road of misfortune.】
[Magic Master, this is not a talent or a blessing...it is a curse and misfortune.]
Listening to Morar's hateful and heavy breathing, at that moment, Thales suddenly felt...
so tired.
It's like having a long, draining dream.
He kind of... didn't want to stand up anymore.
【So, this is our ending.】
In the dungeon, the torch burst out a spark again.
"Is that you?" Moral asked coldly.
Thales still closed his eyes:
"What?"
Moral looked at Thales with a sad expression, and the anger and doubt in his heart burned at the same time.
"Six years ago, in Longxiao City...those legendary monsters would not appear for no reason."
Moral gritted his teeth:
"tell me."
"My father's death, including your covert plan to 'destroy half of Longxiao City'..."
"Does it all have something to do with you?"
He unknowingly raised his voice and emphasized his tone:
"Look me in the eyes and tell me!"
Thales' eyebrows twitched and he subconsciously opened his eyes.
He stared blankly into Moral's eyes.
Those angry, painful, hesitant, bloodshot eyes.
Thales' thoughts slowly drifted away.
Floating back to Longxiao City that night.
Ah, yes.
Broken roof.
Mottled broken walls.
Dead silence all over the land.
Those...things he thought he could put behind him.
He shivered, but this time it wasn't because of pain.
It was because his heart suddenly tightened.
Because of those inescapable facts.
A second later, Thales spat out the word in a daze:
"Yes."
Moral's arms tightened more and more.
"That night."
"That disaster, and the multi-headed snake Kilika," Thales said in a trembling voice, facing the other person's eyes.
"They will go to Longxiao City and kill so many people..."
Thales closed his eyes in pain:
"It's all because of me."
"I."
silence.
For a moment, even Moral's breathing froze.
Ta-la!
The sound of a torch falling to the ground.
The next second, Thales felt his collar tighten, and the furious Moral lifted him up with one arm and pushed him against the wall!
boom!
The young man groaned and endured the stagnant feeling in his chest, and suddenly his jaw hurt - the time crossbow had been pushed onto Thales's chest by Moral, pointing directly at his head, and the protruding arrow tip touched Thales's.
skin, causing bursts of tingling pain.
Thales had never seen Moral like this.
The latter's face was ferocious, his breathing was heavy, his teeth were clenched, and the muscles on his arms and the veins on his neck were extremely obvious.
Like a furious lion.
Just like...the former king of the North.
"how dare you!"
Moral roared lowly, and Thales felt the former's muscles tremble.
He grabbed the boy's collar with his left hand, and held the crossbow with his right hand and shoulder.
The string on the time crossbow is extremely tight and ready to go.
Choose people to eat.
I saw Morar suppressing the hatred and anger like a volcano:
"Damn you... do you know what kind of sin you are carrying and what kind of disaster it will bring?"
But Thales just had a silent look in his eyes, and he let Moral threaten his life as if he was lifeless.
"How dare you approach them?"
"How dare you approach Longxiao City, approach Exeter, approach father, approach... Alex!"
Moral's teeth clenched and his eyes were filled with red.
"Close to her country, her people!"
"My people!"
Moral was shaking all over, almost losing control.
"Bring all your misfortune and ominousness to them, and bring them misfortunes like the Year of Blood!"
"Do you know that your existence is the source of all troubles?"
Thales' jaw felt pain again. He could feel that the tip of the crossbow had pierced his skin while trembling.
Alex.
This name was one step faster than a crossbow arrow, piercing into his dazed brain.
No.
He was talking about...her.
Little slippery head.
In the illusory memory, the bright girl wearing pince-nez turned around, lightly covered her lips, and looked at him with a hint of surprise and an indescribable look in her eyes.
【You want to take me away? Take me back to the stars?】
At that moment, his almost scattered thoughts were cleared.
Thales took a breath through his teeth, ignored the pain in his jaw, and said forcefully:
"I know."
Moral was still tensing his nerves and glaring angrily, as if he was going to pull the trigger and pierce Thales' head at the next moment.
The young man said bitterly: "I know better than you."
"Actually, I know better than everyone."
"From that day on, everything that happened around me... I knew everything."
In the shield area, every pair of eyes wanted to breathe but couldn't.
Under the many-headed snake, every voice cried and ran for life.
Every cold and lifeless corpse in Longxiao City.
But he could only kneel in the middle of the road, holding the only warm life in his arms, with tears streaming down his face and shivering.
He clenched his fists.
These all belong to him...
His blood debt.
It was caused by him, and it was the cumulative consequence of every choice he made in his life.
It's something he must face up to.
It’s not just a simple sentence of “That’s not the intention” or “I have to do it”, or even “It’s not my fault” to blame others, or even more disgusting sentence “It’s a pity but a necessary sacrifice”, you can forget it indifferently and feel at ease.
Avoiding responsibilities and burdens.
At least, he can't.
"I'm sorry," Thales closed his eyes tightly and spoke softly with a heart filled with loneliness and sadness:
"sorry."
Moral's breathing became heavier and heavier.
Thales' collar was pulled tighter, and he could even feel a drop of blood flowing from his neck under the threat of the crossbow arrow.
Thales had thought about a similar scenario a long time ago.
But in those assumptions, he was facing a large group of people, a whole world, whether he knew him or not, their faces were blurred, pointing at him as a monster and at him who had brought countless disasters.
Give pointers.
Now, he thought - he was lucky.
Is not it.
Thinking of this, Thales felt relieved.
He opened his eyes gently and calmly looked at Moral in front of him, looking at the anger and sadness accumulated in the latter's eyes.
Moral...
He thought calmly.
have no idea……
When this brave prince, who covers his heaviness with smiles and sadness with humor, walks alone step by step to the end of the world, drifting on the edge of the sea...
When he looked towards the north, where he had mixed feelings, and towards his hometown left behind...
When he got the news that Longxiao City had suffered a disaster and his father died suddenly...
How do you feel?
"Let's do it," Thales' mood completely calmed down and a smile appeared on his lips: "I'm ready."
The other party's eyes were still red, staring at Thales.
The anger in his eyes did not diminish at all.
This reminded Thales of the moment he opened his eyes in the desert.
At that time, it was this red-haired fast roper blinking curious and excited eyes...
Thinking of this, Thales sighed softly:
"End this and leave."
"Go back to your life."
"Quick rope."
He spoke softly.
At that moment, Moral trembled slightly.
He tightened his left arm and pressed Thales to the wall with greater force, while his right hand tremblingly pulled the trigger of the black arm crossbow.
Thales closed his eyes.
Waiting for his ending.
next moment.
"Boom!"
Thales only felt a shock on the right side of his face!
Before he could figure it out, the world was spinning and he flew out sideways against the wall!
It fell hard to the ground.
"Ahem..."
Thales groaned in pain, his whole head buzzing.
He first felt a numbness that spread to half of his face. After a few seconds, it turned into burning pain, making him grimace.
Thales stood up tremblingly, trying to see clearly among the stars.
how……
The next second, a hard object was stuffed into his left hand.
Thales was startled at first, and then realized that it was the hilt of a sword.
Soon, his right arm tightened and his whole body was pulled up!
Put on a thick, broad shoulder.
An arm was put around his waist and helped him up forcefully.
In shock, Thales shook his head desperately, scattering the stars in the sky.
Only then did he see in surprise:
He was leaning on the shoulder of the fast rope, sometimes rising and sometimes falling, being supported by the latter to move forward.
From the boy's perspective, only Kuaisheng's profile can be seen, but his true expression cannot be seen.
The crossbow in the latter's hand was long gone, replaced by the torch that fell to the ground.
"You..." He only had time to utter one word, and his cheek was sore from being punched by the fast rope.
"Shut up," Kuai Rope interrupted him mercilessly, gritting his teeth, vaguely revealing his unstable and hesitant mood:
"The enemy is still there."
He held up a torch and illuminated the front, trembling all over:
"Got to a safe place."
Thales was stunned.
"But……"
"Shut up!"
Quick Rope turned his head, his eyes were red, and he looked at him fiercely, his tone full of roughness and rudeness unique to the Northlanders:
"Don't make me hit you again! I still remember those two slaps!"
After finishing speaking, he turned his head away without looking at Thales. Complex feelings could still be discerned in his breathing.
Thales looked at his side face blankly.
The firelight flickered and the air was quiet.
An unspeakable feeling came over my heart.
The prince lowered his head, gritted his teeth, dragged his weak body, leaned on the shoulder of the fast rope, and kept up the pace.
The two of them left the unconscious Marina behind, breathing fast and slow, fast and slow.
Their speed is not fast, but they are very steady.
The two walked forward for a certain distance in silence, passed several corpses, and finally came to the spiraling upward stone steps and began to climb.
The scene was immersed in this strange atmosphere for a moment.
"Why."
In the silence, Thales couldn't bear it anymore and whispered in Kuaisheng's ear silently.
"You obviously know..."
The quick rope raised the torch, turned a corner, and gritted his teeth.
He knew what the other party was going to ask.
"Why you--"
"How the hell do I know why!"
Quick Rope responded to him rudely, with such a serious tone and evil attitude that Thales had the illusion that he had returned to the North.