443 Not just you

The light quivered and the shadows swayed. Zakriel's sudden attack caused gusts of strong wind to blow. His movements were accompanied by the Barney Junior's anger scream.

Just as Thales' hair rose and he clenched his teeth to prepare for the attack, the former royal guards reacted unexpectedly quickly.

*Swoosh!*

*Bang!*

An axe flashed, and a hammer was flung through the air.

They chased after Zakriel from his sides!

The Knight of Judgment heard the gust of wind blow to his left and right, and he could not help but sigh.

It was Beldin and Bruley.

They were not knocked down by Zakriel's sudden attack. On the contrary, Beldin relied on the rebound from the wall to charge back, and Bruley regained his balance with a step and a roar. The two men adjusted their balance in an instant. They did not wait for Zakriel to cross the distance of a person from them. They shot up and charged back!

This forced Zakriel who wanted move forward to stop.

The Knight of Judgment's offenses were fierce and efficient when he faced off against Shadow Shield and the Disaster Swords. When he attacked, he would definitely kill, and it was difficult for him to run into any enemies who could engage with him in combat.

This was the first time Thales saw people who could withstand the force of his blows and could still be able to move with ease, even quickly launching their counterattacks.

As he thought of this, Thales saw Beldin's axe swinging down fiercely and firmly. He looked as if he wanted to tear through everything.

Bruley came charging forward fiercely with his strong physique. He pushed down on Zakriel together with his ferocious nail hammer.

Thales remembered that these were two people who stood in front of the battlefield just now. One broke through the formation of the Disaster Swords, and the other killed ruthlessly, thereby allowing them to completely defeating the mercenaries.

'As expected of my old colleagues. They're really difficult to handle.'

When that thought flashed in his mind, Zakriel spun around with a step, as if he had eyes growing behind him. He avoided Beldin's axe. Then, he went to Bruley, who was on his southeast!

*Cling!*

A soft noise rose. The Knight of Judgment's battle axe spun in an astonishing arc in his right hand.

Then, it accurately blocked Bruley's hammer, which was coming at him from the side.

Bruley frowned. He instantly sensed something was not right.

*Wooosshh—*

As expected, Zakriel, approached Bruley, as if the duo were dancing cheek to cheek. He agilely passed by his powerful hammer, and also grazed past his charging body perfectly.

He passed by the imposing Bruley, even though the situation had been incredibly dangerous for him. 

They were like two gears in a clock that caused each other to move, but only intersected at one point.

'Sh*t.'

This was Bruley's next thought when he saw Zakriel's indifferent expression close up.

In the next second, Bruley felt a strange strength in his opponent's axe. It pulled him towards Zakriel, and he could not stop himself!

Bruley was about to grit his teeth and face the blow headon when he suddenly felt his knees jolt.

*Bang!*

Then, to his shock and surprise, Bruley quickly realized that the foot bearing his weight was suddenly kicked and swept away by Zakriel, and he lost his balance.

In the fraction of a second, he became a big, airborne sandbag that could only be hit by Zakriel, because all his attacks missed, the balance of his lower body was lost, he could not control his direction, and he only had his strong body left.

Thales recognized that kick. Just now, he was defeated by Zakriel in the same way. He only narrowly escaped death.

'No.'

At that moment, Bruley, who lost his balance, understood something.

Zakriel's goal was not him, but...

The next moment, Beldin felt his skin crawl when his attack missed. He then saw Bruley's bear-like figure flying towards himself!

'Sh*t.'

Right when this idea appeared in his mind, he subconsciously positioned his hammer horizontally to support Bruley's back. He took a few steps back strenuously under the great weight and impact before he could regain his footing.

At that moment, Beldin saw Zakriel's cold and ruthless gaze past Bruley's shoulder.

'Damn it, Sir.'

Beldin felt a cold chill run down his spine.

But before he could react, an axe's hilt instantly shot out from under Bruley's armpits like a venomous snake hissing!

It came towards him as fast as lighting.

*Bang!*

The great force was gathered at the end of the axe hilt, and it hit Beldin on his left shoulder.

"Aarrgghhh—"

Beldin swayed and grunted in pain.

The tough man who had the courage to fight back against the Disaster Swords and even kill them could no longer support himself any longer. His elbows and knees buckled at the same time, and fell face down to the ground with Bruley with a force similar to a mountain collapsing. They rolled into a heap.

Zakriel pulled back his axe skillfully and with ease. He did not seem to have even broken a sweat.

"No!"

Barney Junior's roar only traveled into his ear at that moment.

Thales looked incredulously at Beldin and Bruley.

The two men had fought mightily at the frontline of the battlefield a minute ago, but at their second encounter with Zakriel, they fell to the ground in a pathetic manner and stirred up a cloud of dust.

And the time lapse between their counterattack to the Knight of Judgment turning back to the two falling to the ground had only been about one second.

'Deciding the victor and loser in one second, huh?'

Countless thoughts instantly spun in Thales' mind while he used hell's senses.

This time, in the face of the even more formidable Beldin and Bruley, Zakriel's flexibility, strategic position, and difficult attacks far surpassed what he did when he dealt with the Shadow Shield assassins. At that time, he had only fought back when they attacked, and he fought swiftly when they tried to take him down with speed. At that time, no one had been able to stop him as well.

He turned around, dodged, attacked with his axe, tripped Bruley, and attacked with his hilt.

The chain attack was completed in one go.

He moved like a small breeze blowing through them at the perfect strength, not too light, but not too powerful either. There was no need for him to exert himself. He had easily broken through the duo's fierce combo.

In fact, Thales thought that he was watching Jala, who moved around agilely with her jumps, or Aida, who moved like the air and was light on her feet.

In Thales' impression, every supreme class elite had their own strengths, and they would maximize their strengths during a duel.

Yodel killed instantly by remaining extremely still before he quickly struck; the Blood Clan sisters fought quickly in a terrifying manner; Aida moved around as if she was drifting about; the Kingdom's Wrath's broke through defenses headon with his invincible charges; the Fortress Flower defended attacks flawlessly; Nicholas attacked in strange and indistinct patterns; the Fire Knight attacked with powerful strikes, making his opponents feel as if they were fighting against steel; and the Raven of Death attacked violently with surprise attacks.

Thales frowned as he stared at Zakriel. 'But just a moment ago, this man attacked viciously like a ferocious, unmatched, bloodthirsty lion, and now, he turned into an agile bird who can move swiftly and quickly like dragonflies tapping on water?

'What exactly is his strength?'

Half a second later, the sound of Zakriel's clothes blowing in the wind snapped Thales out of his thoughts. After he easily broke through the interception by the two men, he did not stop, he attacked again!

Tardin and Nalgi, who was in front of him, instantly tensed up.

But this time, at the moment he took his next step…

"Ahh!"

On the other side, anothered figure roared and swung his sword at Zakriel!

His enemy came charging forth like an avalanche, and he brought with him a cold gale. In a bizarre manner, he appeared appeared in Zakriel's zone of risk perception.

The Knight of Judgment swiftly scanned his opponent's body and found three flaws in the latter's ordinary offense.

'The left elbow.

'The lower abdomen.

'The spot three-tenths down from the tip of his sword.'

As long as he acted as he did before, he could act according to circumstances and the people he dealt with, grab these flaws, and counter—

*Swoosh—*

The wind stirred up by the sword approached.

At that moment, Zakriel subconsciously tensed up his muscles. Goosebumps broke on his skin!!

'Strange.'

The strange instinct he had developed after going through numerous battles rose in him and stopped his restless right arm from attacking.

'No.

'What happened?'

Zakriel stared at his opponent incredulously as he drew closer and closer.

He looked at the sword that was pointed at his heart.

'Have my movements slowed down?'

Zakriel clenched his teeth and looked at the opponent's ordinary movements. He forced himself to take a step forward to meet his enemy and swung his axe at his enemy's abdomen!

'As long as I force my blade here, I can adjust my strength and the angle of my attack, slide past my opponent's sword, force him to change his posture, and I can unleash a series of combos…

'In the end, I can make him—'

*Clang!*

Just like what Zakriel envisioned, his axe grazed past his opponent's sword.

In the next second, Zakriel's nerves jolted!

'No.'

Zakriel felt as if a thunderous clap roared in him!

'No.'

As the axe and sword collided, Zakriel sensed the power from his opponent's sword. At the moment he saw his cold gaze…

He suddenly understood.

All his enemy's flaws, gaps in his defenses, and all his defects were not the key.

The key was only on his enemy's strongest strength!

Zakriel watched in astonishment at the point where his axe had intersected with his opponent's blade during the short clash.

'No matter how I adjust to him, how I change my attacks, and how I cause him damage that he won't be able to recover from, my opponent will ignore it.'

And his sword will find a way to pierce into his heart no matter what.

*Hiss—*

The sword tip passed by the axe blade by an inch.

'I will die.'

This thought, which had not appeared in him for a long time, rose in Zakriel's mind.

"Aaahhhh!"

The next moment, Knight of Judgment screamed violently! It was a sight rarely seen on him.

But contrary to his momentum, Zakriel pulled back his axe at once, shifted his body sideways, moved back, pulled back his chest, and dodged!

At that moment,Thales was surprised to see that the seemingly unbeatable Knight of Judgment retreat in a somewhat conservation and even pathetic manner to be away from this seemingly unremarkable slash!

*Swoosh!*

The blade and the sword grazed past each other for around an inch in the air before they separated from each other. The distance between them grew larger.

The man who blocked Zakriel missed. He lost his balance, fell sideways, and slid a few meters away from where he originally was.

But he did not lose control of his body. Instead, he turned his elbow when his shoulder rubbed against the floor. Like a carriage taking a sharp turn, he regained his balance. He instantly turned his body sideways, got, knelt on one knee, and faced Zakriel again.

This bizarre round ended here.

Thales was surprised to see Zakriel gasping slightly as he gripped the hilt of his axe with his eyes wide.

His opponent stood up silently and panted softly as well, as if they had just experienced a battle like never before.

Surprised, Zakriel suddenly raised his hand and touched his forehead.

It was cold sweat.

Knight of Judgment was so surprised that he could not respond.

'This is…'

Zakriel was stunned.

He was surprised to find that he was trembling.

A few seconds later, Zakriel furled his fist. He slowly lifted the corner of his mouth and looked up.

The chills, his hair standing up, and his heartbeat racing all reminded the veteran that there was a threat in front of him.

It had only been some time since he was released from prison, but the enemies he encountered, be it the mercenaries or Shadow Shield, disappointed him. They could only be considered as warm up.

Even young Yodel, whom he had not met for a long time, was only good at assassination.

'But now…

'Now…'

"Beldin, Bruley, you have become weaker."

Zakriel took a deep breath. His smile became more vibrant and alive.

He looked at Beldin and Bruley as they helped each other to stand up. He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"But you…"

The Knight of Judgment looked up and stared at the opponent who had made him retreat with his sword.

He looked at his opponent's cold gaze.

"You…"

He remembered the feeling he had just now.

That cold sweat, nervousness, and tremors.

'I will die.

'I will die!'

Zakriel felt joyful. The long-lost rush and excitement in his blood was slowly raising in his body.

His desire for battle and his impulses, which had been absent for many years, had returned to his blood vessels.

'That's right.

'This is…

'The feeling… of fighting and killing!'

Chills crept down Thales' body.

'What happened?'

Thales was not the only who had this thought. At that moment, all the Royal Guards were in a daze, and they felt a jolt in their system.

The prince noticed that Zakriel's gaze had slowly changed.

It seemed as if the man who stood in front of them had turned from a dangerous alligator who lied underwater lazily while it waited for food, to a hungry cheetah lurking on a tree, eager to kill.

Zakriel's smile grew broader.

"You became different."

The Knight of Judgment smiled and looked at the man who stood up from the ground. He looked at the brand of criminals his opponent's face, which stretched from the right side of his face to his chin. He reminisced his opponent's shocking attack.

"Your sword has become deadlier than before."

The corner of the knight's mouth curved up.

"Chief Vanguard Quill Barney Jr….

"Has anyone told you that you are probably the one person in Constellation over the past fifty years who uses the Northland Military Sword Style, which has long since become outdated… most perfectly?"

Across Zakriel was Barney Junior, who blocked him with one single slash. He slowly stood up from the ground, repositioned his shield, and slowly stabilized his breathing.

He continued staring coldly at Zakriel, whose will to fight had been kindled.

'The Northland Military Sword Style?

'That's not all?'

Barney Junior thought quietly.

'You do not know.

'Zakriel, you do not know.'

Barney Junior looked at him from afar and suddenly remembered that one year in the past.

When he was told by his father that he was among the list of candidates to become the watchman, had the hopes to become the next commander of the Praetorian Guards, and had his name written in history books, his young self had been excited but also worried…

Barney Junior slowly tightened his grip around the sword in his hand.

'You do not know, Zakriel. You do not know.

'I asked Prince Horace for this ancient sword style to train since my childhood, even though this sword style was often ridiculed by Constellatiates and the Southerners, and was despised by the martial arts faction and the attack and defense faction, was the essence of Northland, even more so than Northland itself, and was even lost in Eckstedt…

'And I worked hard all day and night, learning each style after I took them apart, and even tried to experience what the Northlanders did when they fought in the battlefield…

'I did all these to search for the secret of Northland martial arts and seize the final shred of possibility to defeat my greatest competitor—that one genius.

'I wanted to win against the person who I had to look up to after I joined the Royal Guards, who I had to chase after, but could never be able to touch…

'I wanted to defeat the person whose background, war achievements, and fighting skills were greater than mine.

'The strongest of the Royal Guards.

'The number one elite.

'You do not know, Zakriel. You do not know.

'It has been so many years. No matter how many people chase after your back, you will always be that extraordinary and conceited bastard who stands above us all while you look up at the sky.

'Even if there are boundless waves before you, you will never look behind nor below you.

'You never look back.

'Never.'

Barney Junior pinched his fingers and used pain to pull himself back from memory lane.

"For the sake of the Sunset Goddess, watchman. What secrets do you have that you can't tell your former brothers?"

Barney Junior calmed down and ignored his opponent's increasingly undisguised fighting spirit.

His tone was calm and slightly bleak. It was different from how aggressive he had previously been.

The guards around them looked at each other.

This made Zakriel stunned.

'What secrets…?'

His raging fighting spirit cooled down slightly.

"What secret do you hold in your hand that you think we have no right to know?"

Barney Junior stepped forward slowly and shield Thales behind him again. He sighed slightly.

"What secret do you have on you that you must shoulder this alone?"

These two sentences made Zakriel stunned.

'Must…

'Shoulder alone…'

The joy of meeting a worthy opponent slowly faded away.

The flames from the torch grew weaker. Zakriel's gaze became unfocused.

He looked somewhat desolate.

'Right.'

The Knight of Judgment looked at his battle axe before he stared at the bloody patches on the blade. He heard Beldin and Bruley's sighs, and suddenly felt dispirited.

Even his desire to fight a moment ago had become utterly ridiculous in his mind.

'Ah, yes.

'After all these years, after so many things, and after so many events that happened in the past…

'I am no longer the Knight of Judgment who is full of enthusiasm and confidence…'

Zakriel lowered his axe gently and sighed. A faint smile showed on his face.

"Quill Barney, why are you so stubborn?"

Zakriel swept his gaze past every single one of his old colleagues.

At that moment, he looked as if he had returned to that middle-aged man who wanted to have nothing to do with the world. All his murderous aura evaporated from him.

There was deep melancholy in his words. "Why do you insist on knowing the answer?"

As soon as this statement came out, the Royal Guards shuddered, because they felt the pain and conflict in Zakriel's words!

Quick Rope was puzzled. He turned to look at Thales, and wondered if he should search for a chance to slip away, but he was surprised to find Thales breathing rapidly while he watched the situation in the hall with rapt attention.

'That's strange.

'Something is not right.'

Thales thought absent-mindedly.

'They…

'The topic they are arguing about, are struggling about, and are interrogating each other about…'

"Because you don't understand."

Barney Junior lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"Zakriel, you have never heard of these people before, right?"

One by one, different names tumbled out of his lips.

"Allen, Walker, Morion, Toby, Ross, Cameela... our former brothers…"

Thales saw Zakriel quiver every single time one of the names were uttered.

Among the Royal Guards, Beldin's veins popped up on the back of his hands, Bruley moaned deeply, Tardin shook his head expressionlessly, Naer clutched his dart tightly, Nalgi covered his forehead, Canon shrank back so that the black shadows covered his face, causing no one to be able to see him clearly.

"You didn't hear their wails before their deaths. You just lived through your sentence quietly. You never had to bear this burden!"

Barney Junior roared. He sounded as if he was being tormented in a boundless hell.

"Just like how we always raised our heads to look at you, but you never lowered your head to look at us."

Zakriel's gaze wavered.

"So, you do not understand."

Barney Junior opened his eyes, and he continued speaking.

But his tone slowly turned from a cry of despair to venomous hatred.

"Eighteen years have passed.

"This damned stubbornness, this persistence that insists on knowing the answer, even if the answer can never be obtained... This damned stubbornness.

"And this…

Barney Junior stretched his quivering hand and touched the brand on his right face, as if it was hot lava.

The hand that touched the mark trembled nonstop.

He looked as if he had just touched a filthy and ominous disease, not a piece of useless dead skin.

"These are the things that supported me to shoulder our brothers' past and grievances, to continue living by dragging out my feeble existence in this endless darkness…"

Barney Junior's last words were hissed through his teeth, and the words sounded as if they had been formed by the blood in his throat.

"These things are the only reason I continue living."

Thales saw Zakriel's breathing becoming more rapid.

Barney Junior still stared at his opponent with bloodshot eyes. His eyes were so wide open that his eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their eye sockets.

The Knight of Judgment's expression turned pale under the dim fire light. He turned his head away and averted his gaze.

"I'm sorry, Quill." His voice quivered slightly. "Sorry."

*Thud!*

Barney Junior took a step forward with an aggressive presence before he roared in anger, "I don't need your apology!"

The former vanguard was once again filled with a bitingly cold aura.

Barney lowered his voice, but it was difficult for him to suppress his anger.

"I need answers."

He spat out his last word.

'Answers.'

Thales breathed quietly. At that moment, he suddenly understood something.

The fire in Nalgi's hand slowly died out. The entire tunnel became darker.

*Shick!*

Tardin picked up another torch, struck a flint a few times, then lit the torch with an indifferent expression.

Light appeared again. Thales noticed that Zakriel was standing with a slumped posture.

His expression was indifferent, but he stared at Barney Junior without hesitation. "Sometimes, the answer to a question is unpleasant, and it might be even more unpleasant than the question itself."

Thales could not help it anymore.

"What are all of you talking about?!"

The voice of the teenager resounded through the air in the prison, attracting everyone's attention.

Quick Rope stared at Thales in shock. He did not expect to act so boldly, and he did not understand why the prince would do this, but the signals he sent to the teenager were all ignored, as if they disappeared once they Thales' line of sight. The prince did not give any sort of response.

Thales ignored Tardin and Nalgi standing in front of him. He took a step forward in resentment.

"You've been exchanging too much useless banter since just now…"

The former Royal Guards silently exchanged glances. They frowned.

Then, Thales said his next sentence coldly, "But I can tell...

"All your talk about 'not mad to the point where you would want to kill the prince', about 'the prince has to die', about 'targeting the bloodline of the royal family', about 'pointing your sword at the blood of the Jadestar Royal Family', about how there is 'a reason to everything', about 'an existence we swore to protect', about 'a secret that cannot be told, and about 'that secret'..."

Every time the prince said a phrase, some of the guards' face turned paler.

"Your Highness…" Nalgi interrupted him with a troubled expression, but was interrupted when Thales rose his voice again.

"Right from the start up to now, none of whatever you are saying is about me!

"Not about Thales Jadestar!"

Thales was very agitated. He stretched out his arms without hesitation and pointed directly at Barney Junior before pointing at Zakriel.

Both of their expressions were unpleasant because of Thales pointing at them.

"Your questions and his avoidance to answer your questions is about something else, right?!"

Thales' final question echoed in the dark. It was barely audible.

But regardless of whether it was Zakriel, who had his head lowered, or Barney Junior, who had questioned Zakriel loudly just now, both the former Royal Guards did not say anything.

Then, another male voice that did not belong to anyone in the hall, rose quietly from behind Zakriel.

"You are very smart, Your Highness.

"What they said is indeed not about you, or at least, it's not just about you."

The voice was exhausted. He sounded quite sad.

At this moment, the expressions of Zakriel and the other seven people shifted simultaneously!

After he heard the familiar voice, Thales looked up in surprise as well to see past Zakriel's shoulder. Over was a man who appeared on the stone stairs.

'It's him.

'He's… still alive?'