Chapter 201: The Prince’s End


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Dragon Clouds City.


    Under a shadowed roof, Nichsy on his side by a wooden barrel. His face was covered in grime and blood. He clenched his teeth and, with great difficulty, he extended a hand and snapped the arrow that had pierced through his thigh at the fletching. He gripped the bloody arrowhead and applied pressure on it.


    "Sss!"


    Cold sweat streamed down his forehead. The Star Killer still gritted his teeth without a word, shivering as he removed the arrowhead.


    Nichs exhaled a breath, tossed the arrowhead aside, and ripped a piece of cloth to bandage the wound.


    It was thest arrow.


    As for the two arrowheads remaining in him... Nichs stared at his left arm and left leg—there were two unexpected, broken arrow shafts that only had a few inches left to them left in there.


    The Star Killer tightened his fists with a vicious look in his eyes.


    Shortly afterwards, his unique Power of Eradication began to brew in his bones. It tightened his muscles and sealed the area around the arrow shafts. This should buy him some time.


    Nichs took a deep breath and frowned when he felt the serious injuries in his body.


    The Star Killer looked up slowly at another man who also covered with wounds andy on the ground in front of him. "You are the person Gleeward told me about."


    The man did not reply.


    "Not bad. The way you fended off the arrows is ingenious." Nichs nodded slowly.


    Nichs panted, thinking to himself, ’But honestly... this is a ruthless person.’


    The man with the oddly-shaped ck sword scoffed coldly and finished bandaging thest discernable wound on his body.


    "You’re not so bad yourself," he said tly, peering at the very badly worn arm-shield on Nichs’ left arm.


    Nichs narrowed his eyes.


    "It was you who sealed the cmity?" The Star Killer hauled himself up against the wall. "You have... the weapon?"


    "In a sense, maybe." ck Sword nodded with an emotionless expression. "That cripple left behind a spear, didn’t he?"


    Nichs endured the throbbing pain in his arm and calf while he scanned this man with the strange sword from head to toe. He nced at the other sword at thetter’s waist. A hint of suspicion shed across his eyes.


    "You know us... Who are you?"


    The Head of the White de Guards instinctively ced his hand right beside the Severing Souls de and said softly, "You know about Mystics, and know about the legendary anti- mystic—"


    But he was interrupted.


    "Hey. Are you sure you want to waste your time here?" The in-looking man shook his head slightly.


    Nichs frowned.


    "You heard what those civilians were talking about." ck Sword lowered his head and wiped his long sword clean. "Your king..."


    He shrugged. The Star Killer stayed quiet for a moment.


    "Yeah." Nichs took an arrowhead between his fingers with gloomy eyes. "I have a bad feeling about this. The worst scenario has already happened."


    ’The White de’s disgrace. I’m afraid that...’ Nichs’ eyes turned cold. His slowly clenched his fists.


    As he wiped his weapon, ck Sword peeked at Nichs, observing his facial expression. "Don’t you n on doing anything? At least deliver a message?"


    Nichs’ attention was focused on the arrow in his hand. His left palm snapped shut and tightened, trembling.


    "Whoever started the coup—ck Sand Region or some other party—they had been nning for a long time. It was a detailed n." The Star Killer clenched his teeth and spat the words out through his grinding teeth. The look on his face was ghastly due to the contrast between his pale face and the bloodstains. "Now, other than my sworn brothers in the White de Guards, I trust no one."


    ck Sword huffed, hung his weapon back at his waist, and struggled to stand up by holding on to the wall. "Then I wish you luck."


    Nichs looked up and stared at the man who was about to depart.


    "Hey," the Star Killer called after the strange man and nodded at him, "You are not a Nortnder... Why did you save me?"


    ck Sword turned his head around, casting a meaningful nce at Nichs. The next second, Nichs spotted a peculiar emotion flicker in the man’s eyes.


    "I couldn’t stand despicable low-lives firing arrows in swarms at small groups," ck Sword said impassively and continued turning his body away from Nichs.


    When he heard that, Nichs, who leaned against the wall to rest, snorted withughter.


    "Give me a break." Nichs shook his head and sneered. "As a member of the White de Guards, the king’s sharpest de, I have fought in many wars, served in his reserve army, as his messenger, court-martial judge, executioner, a member of his suicide squad, his elite vanguard and rearguard... any position you can think of."


    ck Sword did not turn his head. His voice echoed, "So?"


    Nichs squirmed a few inches up to sit on his posterior. He took a deep breath.


    "Therefore, I have interrogated many war prisoners, spies, traitors, and enemies. I can tell truth and lies apart. I have seen how different people fought," the Star Killer replied. His eyes were beaming. "I saw how you trounced Tolja—by kicking the snow and dust up from beneath your feet. You don’t exactly look like a vignte who abhors injustice."


    ck Sword turned his head to the side to shoot a nce at Nichs, who was panting on the ground.


    Time passed.


    Nichs hummed lightly, shook his head and said, "If you don’t n to speak—"


    Right at that moment, ck Sword asked softly, "Is this the de?"


    Nichs frowned.


    "What?"


    In the next second, the Star Killer instantly noticed that the man’s gazended on the Severing Souls de by his hand. Nichs’ breathing quickened, which somewhat affected his injuries. He ced his hand on the sword handle out of instinct.


    Luckily, ck Sword merely asked in a deep voice, "So, this is the de... that killed Horace Jadestar?"


    Nichs’ eyes widened slightly. ’What?’


    Under the eaves, the two men stared at each other for two seconds.


    "Yes. it is the Severing Souls de."


    Nichs’ gaze was fixed on ck Sword’s eyes the whole time. He nodded slowly while bing more alert. He adjusted his position so that he could strike, or defend himself anytime, and said tly, "’The Sword of Reversing Light’ died under this de twelve years ago."


    ck Sword was breathing calmly. An emotion that could not be deciphered shed in his eyes.


    "Horace," he began, slowly, "did he die a painful death?"


    Nichs inhaled a lungful of cold air. He held on to the wooden barrel and stood up with some difficulty, clutching the Severing Souls de in his right hand.


    "I now know why you saved me."


    The Star Killer gritted his teeth. His re sharpened. ck Sword simply stared at him without a word.


    "If you intend to avenge ’The Sword of Reversing Light’, this is your best chance." Nichs was panting in agony. Parting his feet, he quickly calcted when to strike. The Power of Eradication umted in his bones. His voice wasced with severe animosity. "Of course, do not expect me to stay still."


    Nevertheless, the man in front of him merely glimpsed at the Severing Souls de, then he turned around and walked away.


    Nichs scowled.


    He stared after ck Sword as thetter slowly ambled away. The suspicion in his chest heightened instead of waned.


    "Wait," the Star Killer blurted out atst. He said slowly. "What’s your intention, stranger? There’s a Camian saying: ’Beware of gifts that ask for nothing in return.’"


    ck Sword turned around and stared deep into the the eyes of the Star Killer.


    ck Sword shook his head lightly. "I believe you have more important things to do rather than interrogate me."


    Nichs frowned slightly. "That’s right. Trust me, I am doing it right now."


    The corner of ck Sword’s lips tugged and he shook his head. He turned and walked away, taking feeble strides due to his injury.


    Startled, Nichs stared at him—the silhouette of the man—as he left.


    One second... Two seconds... Three seconds...


    The spot between Nichs’ eyebrows folded and unfurled. He seemed hesitant, until ck Sword’s silhouette disappeared behind the wall corner.


    After a while, the Star Killer sighed.


    "Alright." As though he had made up his mind, he let out a light snort.


    The footsteps behind the wall halted.


    "The death of Horace Jadestar," he said impassively, "In return for your help, if you really want to know about it."


    It was quiet behind the wall.


    Nichs leaned against the wall, but slowly slipped down against it. He lowered his gaze, and his eyes spoke of reminiscence.


    "That night... That battle..." Nichs murmured, "Horace, the cold-hearted butcher, was in his ck armor, leading his personal guards. Their bodies covered with injuries and cracked armors... It was a literal bloodbath. Everyone had lost their minds."


    Nichs’s eyes went nk, his gaze was already on a ce that was not in front of him: It was back at the rocky mountain pass.


    He said tly, "Terende, Jules, Tolja, and the Constetiates... each of us had lost ourselves in the shing des and bloodshed. We could feel nothing other than the carnage and death. I felt as though my blood was boiling in my veins.


    "Tolja left due to his injuries, we cried out in anger; Jules was at a disadvantage, but he wasughing loudly; Terende died in battle, and we descended into an even greater state of madness... That was our final battle. That is why it’s the same for the Constetiates..."


    "One by one, the living bled and copsed, and the dead were carried away..."


    Nichs looked down. "Everyone was mad. The battlefield... You understand that."


    With aplex and indecipherable emotion, he snorted withughter that spoke volumes.


    The other side of the wall stayed silence. It was as if Nichs was talking to himself.


    Nevertheless, the Star Killer knew that someone was listening attentively.


    "But Horace was different." Nichs looked up again, changing the focus of his story. A peculiar expression emerged on his face. "When we were acting like crazed beasts, he seemed stolid, as though he did not even care about the battle."


    Nichs lowered his head and said softly, "He died peacefully."


    A second after he said that, a deep, uneven breathing sounded from behind the wall.


    "Peacefully?" ck Sword’s voice shook.


    Nichs nodded and snickered, which sounded like it was either a mockery or a helplessugh. "When he copsed in my arms... the look on his face... it seemed as if he was finally released."


    ck Sword did not speak on the other side of the wall. The sound of his breaths gradually faded.


    Nichs looked down, sighed, and said, "Thest few attacks that ended Horace were not satisfying at all... Because it didn’t feel like a battle at all."


    There was no sound or movement on the other side of the wall. Nichs was still talking, face expressionless, but he smiled a grievous smile.


    "It felt... as if he wanted to be released," Nichs said quietly with a bleak voice. "Have you seen men with unheble wounds on the battlefield, who await death but were still breathing...? It felt like that... the look that sought to be released..."


    A sound of friction from a finger on a sword hilt came from behind the wall. Though it was soft, Nichs heard it. The sound of breathing grew morebored.


    "Release?" ck Sword’s voice echoed, trembling slightly. He struggled to speak. "Why?"


    The Star Killer sighed. "I don’t know, I don’t want to know." Nichs shook his head nkly. "I guess, when someone dies, he must have certain odd, unusual thoughts, even for a prince?"


    ’Perhaps... Especially a prince.’


    Thinking of King Nuven and Prince Soria, Nichs’ eyes dimmed. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to perk up.


    The breathing sound from the other side of the wall faded. Meanwhile, Nichs’s gaze drifted afar. He chuckled in his daze. His words were full of mockery. "Star Killer... Star Killer... haha, hahaha..."


    Beneath the eaves, the two men stayed idle and wordless on both sides of the wall corner.


    A long time passed.


    "Thank you." ck Sword’s voice came from the other side of the wall.


    Nichs snapped out of his reverie. He shook his head, and harrumphed coldly. "It’s just to repay you for your help, there’s no need to thank me—"


    But he was interrupted.


    "No, it isn’t for me," said the man behind the wall. "It’s for Horace."


    Nichs was somewhat startled.


    ’Why?’ He wanted to ask. But few secondster, Nichs closed his mouth, as though he understood something, and nodded knowingly.


    No sound came from behind the wall.


    The Star Killer leaned back against the wall with a gloomy expression.


    "Alright then... Good luck to you, man with the ck sword." Nichs said softly


    On the other side of the wall, ck Sword did not reply.


    The man with the dejected look raised his head and cast a profound gaze at Nortnd’s sky.


    In the next second, ck Sword turned around and disappeared under the eaves.