423 Awaken

Yodel knelt in place silently. The holes on the strange dark purple mask for the eyes to see through were dark. No light could be seen from them.

Thales forced down his thoughts and sighed slightly.

"So, you are here."

Yodel's mask moved.

"Yes." His hoarse and dull voice sounded from under the mask.

"I am here."

The masked man gently stretched out his gloved right hand.

"I am always here."

Thales remained silent for a few seconds. The soreness on his arm gradually disappeared.

He took a deep breath.

"Yes."

The prince looked up and showed a gentle smile. "I know.

"I always know."

He grasped Yodel's palm. Then, with his help, Thales stood up.

The fire on the torch in Yodel's hands flickered and illuminated the area. But when it shone on Yodel, the light would shrink back. Light barely reflected off his body.

When it shone on his mask, it only served to make his mask look more mysterious and profound.

Thales let go of Yodel's hand and stared at him silently.

Not long ago, Nicholas and Monty fought a bloody battle in the Land of Barren Rocks. It was a shocking battle, and it affected him as well. Poor Thales was stuck in the middle of their fight. He was the crucial bargaining chip they both wanted but could not get, and was also the key to restrain the other party's actions. Because of it, Thales had sustained heavy injuries, and he lurked around death's door.

Under the rare opportunity, the Sin of Hell's River boiled in him, and it was something which had not happened to him since a long time ago. It devoured the teenager at that moment.

And when Thales was lying on his last breath on the floor while he suffered through the intense pain and torture brought by the uncontrollable Sin of Hell's River's, the senses were stimulated. They became sensitive to his surroundings, and they provided new information to the Prince of Constellation for new information.

In addition to his immobilized and the Star Killer and the Raven of Death fighting to the death, Thales sensed a fourth person.

He heard a fourth set of footsteps against the floor and a fourth barely discernible sound of breathing. It belonged to the fourth person, who was a mysterious person who hid in the shadows, as if there was a curtain separating him from them.

He silently leaned against the huge rock where the White Blade Guards fought. He did not move, and he was as still as a rock. He had practically blended with the environment. Even when Thales was in danger, he remained hidden silently while he waited indifferently and carefully for the moment the victor was decided between Nicholas and Monty.

The two supreme class elites fighting furiously did not notice him.

Just like… in the past.

Thales might not recognize that figure, but this did not prevent him from recognizing the 'curtains' through his temporarily enhanced senses, courtesy of hell's senses. It was a 'curtain' formed by invisible ripples, and they were amazing and extraordinary ripples that separated all color and sound in its area from the world. The prince had personally experienced it before.

The Path of Shadows.

At that moment, Thales suddenly realized that there was something else which the unpredictable Raphael had said in the Secret Intelligence Department's Headquarters in Dragon Clouds City Headquarters that was correct.

"'We guarantee that there will be trustworthy forces and manpower to protect you from the start in Dragon Clouds City to the end on the road in the Great Desert. Of course, there won't be a lot of people, but they're all rare elites of this world..."'

It was Yodel.

Therefore, Thales could confidently move forward with no worries into the desert without ever having to turn his head back to check for dangers even after he left Nicholas and Monty alive.

On the surface, as the best scout, Monty helped Thales escape from the threat of his pursuers once Thales fled from Dragon Clouds City. In secret, Yodel—who must have snuck into Northland at some point of time as a guarantee to Thales' safety—hid himself in the shadows and monitored their movements. Perhaps the Secret Intelligence Department had long suspected the Raven of Death's loyalty, and perhaps this was also the final test for Monty.

In the Great Desert, Thales was in danger several times, but in the end, some miraculous force of luck would always help him escape from the Desert God's merciless trap. When he ran out of water and food, lost his consciousness, and fell face first to the yellow sand, he ran into Dante's Greatsword out of a stroke of 'luck'. Then, he was surrounded by orcs, and for some strange reason, the merchant's campsite caught fire, and the roaring flames attracted the Constellation army led to their side.

Now that he looked back, most of the good luck and coincidences he ran into during his journey were due to Yodel, and it did fit into how he usually acted in secret while he hid in the dark.

That was not all. Perhaps… while he was on his way out of Heroic Spirit Palace, the black robe swordsman with the dual swords who attacked them might be…

In that second, Thales looked at the Yodel's mask silently while he had thousands of thoughts racing in his head. He stared at the reticent man. He remembered the scene when this man first appeared in Red Street Market and reached out to the child beggar.

Only then did he suddenly realized that he was already as tall as the Masked Protector's shoulder.

At this moment.

"Who are you?"

A deep voice rang in the air. The owner spoke slowly. Thales was put on his guard instinctively, but found that Yodel did not even flinch. He just turned his head around to look behind him.

Yodel stared at the prison shrouded in darkness.

"That's a scary stealth skill you have." Zakriel's voice rang out in the darkness. As usual, he sounded tired and old because of all the torment he went through.

"Before you attacked, I didn't even sense that there was anything different."

Thales frowned. He found that Yodel seemed a little too quiet.

"But that mask."

Zakriel said plainly in the darkness, "I recognized that mask."

'Mask?'

Thales raised his eyebrows and quickly looked at Yodel. He paid special attention at his strange, dark purple mask.

The item which had caught his curiosity since their first meeting.

Zakriel's laughter was cold, "'Bright God's Scheme' was also one of the dowries of the elf queen, but it has been classified as a forbidden item in the royal treasury house for three hundred years, and there is a reason for it."

'Bright God's Scheme?

'What kind of name is that?'

Zakriel's words were filled with emotions that made Thales uneasy.

"Hiding, disguise, having good observation skills and good insight, even delaying the effects of injuries… It can give the owners too many benefits…" the prisoner in the cell slowly said, "So much so that the price it asks of you has almost caught up to you."

Price.

Thales could not help but glance at Yodel, but the latter was just silent and did not say a word.

"Who are you?"

Zakriel sounded a little impatient. There was even a hit of agitation in his voice. "Even without looking at the mask, I know that not everyone is qualified to control the Supreme Sword.

"Do you belong to the Secret Intelligence Department or the royal family?"

Just as Thales widened his eyes and intended to remind them of their current situation, Yodel suddenly spoke up.

"I am just a nameless person," the Masked Protector said plainly.

The prisoner in the dark was silent for a while.

"No, you're not."

His tone was full of certainty.

"You're not."

The eyes behind the 'Bright God's Scheme' moved slightly.

Zakriel let out a long sigh, as if he thought as something.

"I mentioned this a long time ago when I taught you how to fight barehanded in Renaissance Palace." The former Watchman of the Royal Guards' voice was filled with an indescribable desolation.

"You are not suitable to be an assassin for the royal family."

Thales saw that the Masked Protector swaying slightly after he heard these words. He had remained motionless for a long time before this.

Zakriel sighed and addressed the Masked Protector with an affectionate name.

"Young Yodel."

The air in the hall seemed to have frozen. Only the flames continued to flicker.

After a few seconds, Yodel turned around slowly. He forced out his words with his hoarse voice. 

"It's been a long while, sir."

Thales looked at both men awkwardly.

Obviously, it had been a long time since both men met.

"You should not have worn that mask." Zakriel did not listen to Yodel's words. There was a touch of sadness in his voice.

"You should not have."

This was his last sentence. Rustling sounds rose into the air. Zakriel's movements were hidden in the darkness of his prison.

Yodel did not speak.

Thales, who had fallen so quiet that he did not even dare breathe loudly because of the atmosphere, looked between the two men. He pointed timidly at the way where he came from—the dark tunnel.

"So, do we…"

Yodel looked up. He no longer looked in Zakriel's direction.

"Don't worry. The Secret Intelligence Department is on the surface. Everything is ready."

Now it was Thales turn to furrow his eyebrows.

"The Secret Intelligence Department? Did they know about this all along? From the time I came back, about Shadow Shield, about the Prison of Bones, about…"

He cast Yodel a questioning look.

"Half of it." Yodel nodded, then shook his head. "They knew half of the story from the Tower of Eradication.

"I told them the other half of the story about Shadow Shield. Your return journey was not smooth, and many people were very interested in you," the Masked Protector said.

Thales exhaled.

"What 'great' news." His heart was filled with faint annoyance.

'This is really bad.'

These were the prince's inner thoughts.

Thales tried to dispel his irritation to the best of his abilities. He cleared his throat before he said to Yodel,

"Listen, Yodel... Er, how do I say this? When I came back, there was this one mercenary…"

While Thales was feeling troubled, Yodel suddenly spoke, "Quick Rope."

He went straight to the point

Which made Thales stunned.

"The Secret Intelligence Department doesn't know about him." Yodel seemed to know what Thales was thinking. "Let's see what we can do about him."

Thales opened his mouth before he closed it again.

He looked at Yodel, and felt really grateful towards the man.

He was grateful of how understanding the other person was, and how perceptive he was. 

But Yodel obviously did not need the prince to express his gratitude. He nodded slightly towards the prince, knowing what he should do towards the prince's gratitude, and turned around.

"We should go."

Thales moved his eyebrows.

"Oh, wait a minute."

Under the prince's directions, Yodel held the torch and followed Thales as he walked towards Ricky's fallen body.

Thales looked at the Ricky as the man lied in the pool of his blood. It was unthinkable of how this man had effortlessly subdued him an hour ago in the tavern.

'The leader of the Disaster Swords died just like this, huh?'

The prince could do nothing else but shake his head. He squatted down to push Ricky's body so that he laid on his back on the floor.

Ricky's empty, lustreless and wide-opened eyes appeared in his line of sight.

"Excuse me, honorable Crassus." Thales looked at Ricky's pale face with complicated emotions. He grabbed his confiscated dagger from Ricky's bosom, shook the dagger before the dead man, then placed it by his waist. Then, even though the man could not hear him, he said, "I believe this is mine."

Yodel quietly looked at the sheathed dagger while he listened to the prince talk to a corpse.

Thales also took dug around Ricky's bosom. His actions were smooth. He went straight for the important items on Ricky's person, and he was fast and efficient.

It was as if he had returned to the period of time when he was just a child, where he searched through the unconsciousness drunkards or unclaimed corpses in the ditches of Lower City District.

"And this…"

Thales sighed and took out an expensive, yellowing, stationery paper from Ricky. He shook it in front of him and looked at the name written at the end of the paper.

H.N. Jadestar.

He sighed a little sadly.

"I believe this it is also not yours."

The prince had no time to observe the contents of the paper. He sucked in a deep breath and carefully folded the unusual will before he tucked it away into his bosom.

This time, Yodel suddenly said,

"The weapon."

"Huh?" Thales turned his head.

"You should take his weapon." Yodel's mask moved. "I do believe that this sword is no longer of use to him. We have not escaped from danger yet, and you cannot just rely on a dagger."

Thales raised his eyebrows.

"All right." The prince shrugged. He looked at Ricky the long and slender sword by Ricky's waist. It was wrapped up tightly under a piece of cloth, and it was still unsheathed.

Thales unbuckled Ricky's belt and yanked off him sword belt buckle.

"You are a good person, Ricky. Thank you for your protection and… your generosity."

Thales muttered to himself and unwrapped the cloth, revealing the longsword before his eyes.

This was not an ordinary sword

This was Thales' first thoughts at the moment he laid his eyes on it.

He saw a diamond with a gentle hue embedded on the crossguard of the sword, giving the sword a graceful, showing a graceful, tranquil, and noble air. The well-crafted knuckle guard and the hilt was against each other in a perfect right angle, making it look neat, and it gave off a stern air. A beautiful arc connected the sword tip and the blade, and even under the dim light, a shiny and smooth light was reflected off the blade.

When Thales grabbed the hilt and lifted it, he immediately noticed that the weapon in his hand had an amazing sense of balance. He could swing it smoothly, and his movements were not jerky.

"A good sword." Thales executed a few sword styles and sighed in admiration.

Compared to it, the Northlanders' weapons were crudely made, and even the Constellatiates' creations were inferior to it. As for the orcs' weapons… Well…

But what attracted Thales the most was not its shape. It was the inscriptions engraved on both sides of the blade.

"The ancient language of the Empire," Thales muttered as he looked at the inscriptions on the blade by flipping the sword around repeatedly.

But compared to the national language of the Ancient Empire, he could only recognize a few words from these two rows of words this time.

"Something something endless…"

Thales looked at the inscribed words that were completely different from most of the written alphabetical system he had learned before. He felt troubled. "Something something eternal…"

'My God.'

He really needed to drastically increase his knowledge on Constellation culture.

Thales shook his head and pulled out the last thing from Ricky's arms. He just took a brief glimpse at it and gave it to Yodel.

"Oh, take this, it will be useful.

"As for him…"

Thales glanced at the unconscious Samel lying by the side. He remembered his complicated and sensitive identity, and sighed. "Let the Secret Intelligence Department handle him."

At this moment, Yodel suddenly moved.

*Wham—Bang!*

A bang shot up. Before Thales even had time to react to the situation, he was thrown to the floor!

"Hold on!"

An anxious shout traveled out from the passage. "Don't hurt our target."

Thales gasped. He leaned against Ricky's sword, held Yodel's arm, and stood up. With fear lingering in his heart, he then looked at the spot he originally stood. An arrow was nailed in that place. The fletching was quivering.

But this was not the time for him to feel lucky right now.

In the next second, a sword flash that moved as quick as lighting instantly shot up and crashed against another dark blade in the air!

*Clang!*

The shrill sound of metal clashing against metal rose.

Thales only felt his ears ring. He was then pushed back by Yodel immediately, and he staggered around ten steps back!

The Masked Protector moved in the air multiple times and avoided the two strikes that came after the first slash—they were even faster and more ruthless this time—before he somersaulted backwards to land in front of Thales.

He looked somewhat dishevelled.

When Thales saw the attackers who suddenly appeared, he felt his heart tense.

'Sh*t.'

Klein, the middle-aged swordsman from Northland, stood in front of them coldly. He stared at Yodel resentfully. Twilight shook nonstop in his hand.

He was not the only one.

*Tap! Tap! Tap!*

Multiple footsteps sounded from the end of the tunnel. Thales saw light from torches as well, and they were swiftly approaching the place.

The Disaster Sword Josef appeared at the entrance of the tunnel. Behind him were more than a dozen fierce mercenaries.

"My God!'

Josef put down his bow and looked at the hall in a daze.

He saw his leader lying in the pool of blood and the unconscious Samel. Shock appeared on his companions and his faces.

"This… Ricky…"

"No…"

Their expressions changed from shock to anger, and then from anger to hatred. The Disaster Swords looked towards Yodel and Thales, who were the only ones left standing in front of the prison cell.

Thales clenched his teeth and furled his fists.

'They came… too fast!

'Just now, Yodel had practically defeated these two people silently, and it would take a long time to walk through the entire tunnel.

'How can they be so fast…?'

"Siege formation!"

Once Klein saw the situation in the hall clearly, he shouted his order. His face was red in anger.

The Disaster Swords spread out in a semicircle. Their eyes shone with a murderous light, but they still managed to encircled the prince and his guard while remaining on guard.

Yodel bent his knees slightly. He flipped the Supreme Sword over and held it in a reverse grip. Under the countless hate-filled and murderous gazes, Thales subconsciously raised Ricky's sword.

"Ricky was right."

Klein looked at his leader's corpse on the floor with hatred burning in his eyes. He then looked at the unique sword in Thales' hand, "He was right."

In the end, he lifted Twilight and pointed at the Masked Protector Yode angrily.

"Ax expected, it was you who followed us around constantly in the dark, causing trouble to us all along the way, you sneaky bastard!"

Thales was struck by a thought.

"He knew?"

He looked incredulously at the leader of the Disaster Swords on the floor. "Ricky knew?"

Klein spat on the ground hatefully. He looked incredibly indignant.

"Of course he knew."

The middle-aged Northlander swordsman said coldly,

"Just now, you were the one who secretly launched the first strike when we confronted Shadow Shield, right? You provoked the battle, right? You wanted to see us both suffer great losses, and you wanted to benefit from the situation."

Yodel was silent.

Klein clenched his teeth and said, "Ricky was skeptical since then. The battle started too quickly, too suddenly, and we were all taken by surprise. It was unlike Stake's usual style in trying to coerce us into surrendering through intimidation and threats."

Thales understood something. His face turned pale.

'That means…'

"So Ricky deliberately cast aside his men and brought me here." The prince looked at Ricky's corpse, and then at the empty hall.

"Just to, to…"

"To lure the rat that sabotaged us in the dark." Josef coldly threw away his crossbow and drew out two oddly shaped axes from behind him.

"An elite assassin who lurked in the dark and was even capable of hiding himself from sight."

All of the Disaster Swords' gazes were fixed on Yodel.

"The only thing Ricky did not expect was that the hidden rat actually had the power to kill him." Klein watched Ricky's dead body on the floor. He was filled with hate. "He didn't even have time to send the ambush signal."

Thales looked at Yodel with an unpleasant expression, but he could only see the dark purple mask.

"Hey, masked person, did you know that?"

Klein's longsword quivered, and Thales could see his Power of Eradication building up in his body. It erupted in him together with his anger. "I promise you… I will make you pay for this."

The Disaster Swords moved into their battle formation together. The hall was filled with a murderous aura.

Thales instantly felt a headache building up because of this problem.

Yodel slowly looked up.

His faint voice came from behind his mask. "I know.

"I knew it since the beginning."

At the next moment, the torch in Yodel's hand was suddenly extinguished, and it fell to the floor.

The Masked Protector's entire body disappeared without a trace, as though he was morning dew. He vanished from their sight!

It was incredibly bizarre.

"He went into hiding again!"

The Disaster Swords were obviously experienced in this sort of thing. They were not confused by what happened before them. Klein roared, "Don't use your eyes! Use your Power of Eradication to sense his killing intent!"

At that moment, while using hell's senses, Thales felt goosebumps on his skin. He could feel more than a dozen Disaster Swords in front of him lifting their swords. They were all ready for battle.

Their Powers of Eradication spread in their bodies. Each was different. Some gathered at one particular spot in their bodies, some surged in them, some burned with a rhythm, and some of them was continuously produced in their bodies. However, they were all raging in them, full of violence and madness. Even Thales felt a strange prickly feeling in them when he looked at them from the distance.

It was quite different from ordinary people.

"Get the little one first!

"No matter what his tricks are, if he wants to attack, he must first show his body and his killing intent." Klein calmly ordered the mercenaries to surround the exit and to pay attention to every corner.

"The moment he shows up, he will greet his death," Klein observed his surrounding and said with a cold voice.

Thales eyelid twitched. He instantly had a bad feeling.

"Eighteen." Thales stepped back slowly as he counted the enemies in front of him. He moved his lips and whispered to the empty air.

"There are some elites among them who are even as good as Ricky, can you handle them?"

A distinctive and hoarse voice echoed in the air quietly, just like how it did six years ago. "They have numbers, a formation, they are prepared, and they know that I exist, if we try to break through them head on…"

Thales' heart sank after he heard what the other person meant.

"I am not the Kingdom's Wrath," Yodel said in a dejected manner.

At the moment, the Disaster Swords were on guard of their surroundings. They pressed in on them from all sides.

"So the answer is: no, I cannot."

Thales felt greatly dismayed. He frowned in anxiety, but he could only scratch his head and think of a way. "Well, then I'll try to…"

But Yodel continued speaking and interrupted him.

"But someone can."

Thales was stunned.

'Huh?

'Someone can?'

The next minute, a gust of wind howled.

*Thud!*

A mercenary carrying a torch staggered back. The torch fell from his hand. It crashed against the wall along with a piece of stone.

It was as if a gust of wind had blown against them, causing the remaining three light from the torches in the Disaster Swords' hands to sway! 

"There!" Klein shouted. His sword flashed!

Thales only had time to see Yodel appear in the air. Their weapons clashed.

*Clang!*

The Masked Protector first forced one person backwards. He then retreated in a disheveled fashion when three Disaster Swords surrounded and attacked him.

After he evaded countless attacks, he rolled. His back touched the stone pillar in the hall. He had no way to escape.

"Surround him and kill him!" Klein's orders to kill him were merciless.

But the next moment, Yodel disappeared from the stone pillar again.

*Bang!*

A heavy hammer smashed violently against the stone pillar where the Masked Protector disappeared, causing pieces of rock to fly into the air.

"F*ck!" After he missed, Josef swore.

The Disaster Swords calmly turned back. They set up their formation, and waited for a chance again.

However, after a few seconds...

*Creak...*

A strange sound came from a spot not far from the distance!

All the Disaster Swords were stunned.

Klein furrowed his eyebrows. "What the hell—"

But immediately after, another Disaster Sword discovered their enemy's tracks. He shouted, "Over there!'

The mercenaries turned their heads together and found Yodel's figure on the wall at the back of the hall.

"Attack!"

Josef roared and led his people to rush forward. Four weapons attacked, throwing Yodel's movements into a mess.

But Klein saw much more than that.

He saw that the dark masked freak had let go of a hanging ring in his left hand. That handing ring was attached to the wall.

'A ring?'

Beside the hanging ring was an iron plate with words inscribed on it.

Klein's expression changed!

He subconsciously turned his head around and saw a familiar emblem on the stone pillar where Yodel had disappeared from.

The eye that meant, "Heading towards omniscience."

At some point of time, the rod-shaped, crystalline green key belonging to Ricky had been inserted into the center of the emblem.

'No.'

This was Klein's first thought.

At the next moment, the rough sounds of metal rubbing against the floor and the clear mechanic rumbles rose continuously!

*Creak—Creak—Creak!*

The Disaster Swords were shocked, and their movements were thrown into disorder. This allowed Yodel to escape again. He snuck into the shadows, and during the process, disarmed a torch from the Disaster Swords.

*Creak—Creak!*

The noisy and harsh mechanic rumbles lasted for several seconds, torturing everyone's ears.

*Bang!*

Then, it disappeared with a muffled sound.

It sounded like the blade on the guillotine falling to the end with a loud thud after it was risen to the top. And while it was brought to the top, the machine that symbolized death let out those blood-thirty creaks caused by friction.

Klein and Josef turned their heads around, stupefied. Under the dim light provided by the last torch, they looked to the back of the hall.

Disappeared.

Klein stared at the infamous Black Prison cell with his eyes wide opened.

Disappeared.

At some point of time, the mysterious bars that stood before the dark prison at the back of the hall to isolate and torture its prisoners…

Had disappeared.

Only a dozen round holes were left on the ground to tell them where they went.

The only thing left behind was quiet darkness. It provided off an eerie air of silence.

"Sh*t." Klein subconsciously blurted out. He did not even have time to care about Yodel's whereabouts.

The Disaster Swords subconsciously retreated and gathered together while they stared at the ominous darkness that should have been separated from them by those mysterious bars.

They looked at each other, at a loss for words. Many people felt inexplicable uneasiness in their hearts.

A second later, the sound of someone inhaling rose. It was long and drawn out. It slowly traveled into their ears from the still darkness. There was still no one who knew what was in it.

"Hah..."

The voice sounded slightly burdened. There was also a sense of urgency in that breath.

He sounded like someone who had not taken in a breath for a long time, and this was the first time he sucked in air.

Even the dim light flickered.

At that moment, the mercenaries who were immersed in their strange Powers of Eradication felt their skins crawl. Their hairs stood on end!

Their Powers of Eradication rampaged in them like restless animals.

'What—'

"Remain calm!" Klein clenched his teeth and ordered, "Stay in formation!"

Under their raging Powers of Eradication, mercenaries had to control themselves. They were forced to manage their uncontrollable anger and that strange fear that surged in their hearts.

Then, they looked at the mysterious darkness.

A loud exhale appeared from the dark.

Compared to before, this sound seemed to be rather withdrawn and calm. 

"Huff…"

It also sounded rather dull.

Rustling sounds appeared from the dark.

Beads of sweat ran down from Klein's forehead. He held his sword hilt firmly and suppressed the 'Touch of Greed' surging madly in his body. He stared at the mysterious darkness before him warily.

'What the hell?'

He knew that there were not many situations that could cause a Disaster Sword's Power of Eradication to rampage in such a fashion.

'And just what…?'

At this moment...

"Ah…" A dull, uninteresting male voice rang from the darkness.

"I really should shave."

His accent was pure. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

The Disaster Swords looked at each other in puzzlement and fear. Their breathing accelerated.

Klein's eyelids twitched.

The moment he heard this voice, he suddenly had a misconception that a terrible beast had just woken up from its hibernation in its cave in the darkness before them.

It let out its first lazy and displeased breath.

Klein tightened his grip around his sword hilt. He gulped laboriously.

"So..."

The dull male voice rang again. This time, there was a hint of life in his voice. There was even a jovial tone in his words.

"Do you all… have a razor?"

*Puff!*

A muffled sound rose. The only torch in the hall. Light vanished.

The entire hall, including the eighteen Disaster Swords, sank into silent darkness.

It was a darkness without end.