The history of the stars has never lacked blood.

Gilbert's words rang back in the boy's head.

"You have over-read my words, Your Highness. ”

Cyril sneered, reached out and took a fist-sized red fruit from his plate, which Tails didn't recognize, and wiped it down his sleeve:

"I mean, as the oldest vassal of the Bright Star, Falkenhause has seen too many of these scenes in the reflection of the Warninger's blade: from the first day to the last. ”

"We're all numb. ”

The Duke of the Western Wilderness's voice fell, ignoring Tails' suspicious eyes, and took a smug bite of the fruit in his hand.

But Tails still looked at him warily:

"Really?"

Cyril's cheeks twitched, and he seemed to enjoy chewing, but his withered face and frightening countenance only made the action even more terrifying.

"By the same token, it doesn't matter what the truth is about the Year of Blood—just like today, sixty years later, will anyone care about your grandfather's coronation crisis?"

Cyril leaned back, his viper-like eyes clasped tightly to Tails.

He said vaguely:

"What really matters is what the Year of Blood has brought us, and how do we deal with it?"

Tails looked away, trying not to see the flesh in Cyril's mouth as he spoke, turning from solid to small pieces and then to powder.

The prince said solemnly:

"I don't like to be pretentious. ”

"I don't like to beat around the bush either. ”

Cyril swallowed a mouthful of the flesh and snorted.

He supported the arm of the chair with his left elbow, and the whole person leaned over, his eyes suddenly changed and he was aggressive:

"Then maybe you're not fit to be a star. ”

Tails slowly turned his head and looked at him.

Cyril remained mocking with half-truths, while the prince's expression remained unwavering.

The two looked at each other silently.

There was an indescribable tone in the air.

After a few seconds, Tails lowered his head slightly, staring at the Duke at a strange angle, and his voice was low:

"My father knows, right?"

Falkenhause's right hand, which was playing with half a piece of fruit, froze slightly.

The glint in his eyes slowly retracted.

Tails took a light breath and said:

"Whether it was your secret help to Heyman, or his fornication with the Shadow Shield, or even what happened that night. ”

"He knows it all. ”

The prince used an affirmative sentence.

The curvature of Cyril's mouth slowly faded.

"He knows what," said the duke, as if he were approaching his prey:

"I don't know?"

Tails let out a sigh.

He understood.

"You've just thrown out the secrets layer by layer—from to the Shadow Shield. ”

Tails raised his head, firm and determined:

"It was to test how much I knew, and even more so how much my father had told me. ”

Cyril did not speak.

But at that moment, he looked at the prince with a sharper gaze.

"And the reason you did it ......"

Tails didn't say any more, just stared at the Duke with burning eyes.

It was to test King Kessel's trust in his heir.

Test the foundation of the Bright Star Royalty.

After a long while, Cyril smiled slightly, leaned over, and pointed at Tails:

"As I said, we started talking. ”

Tails' face became more and more solemn.

The young man lowered his head and followed the duke's words:

"So, according to your words. ”

"Forget the details and the truth...... What did the Year of Blood bring us?"

Cyril smiled.

He didn't answer Tails' question directly, but tilted his head and took another bite of the fruit in his hand.

"I heard that Baron Williams found you first, Your Royal Highness. ”

As he chewed, he said vaguely:

"What do you think of him?"

Tails frowned.

Williams?

What do you think of him?

Tails' first thought was the scene where the other party left himself in the saddle.

The boy shook slightly, trying to drive the sight of the other party taking himself on horseback out of his brain.

"The Baron is a ......"

But as soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly stopped talking.

The Duke of the Western Wilderness was unhurried and waited for his reply with interest.

Tyres's eyes were full of murderous intent, and the face that he didn't approach when he "interjected and killed you......

The prince's heart was blocked.

How can you praise a ...... against your will? A person you can't find the good in?

The indifference is above, you can't praise the other party for being "cute", right?

The prince coughed lightly, trying not to let his expression change too much:

"I think he's ...... Ahem...... That, lead the troops well, command if you are determined, and then ......"

Telska on the next adjective.

Cyril didn't look at him, just snorted lightly, noncommittal.

Tyles, who was racking his brains, remembered something and hurriedly added:

"And ...... Uh, you have excellent skills and extraordinary appearance?"

God blessed, finally found the merit.

Cyril snorted and nodded, turning back to spit out the kernel in his mouth.

He tugged at his frustrated face, twitching his sunken lips and glancing at him.

"Well, I'll have to admit it......"

Although he slowly got used to the duke's dignity, Tails was still furious by this look.

Cyril sneered:

"Williams, that guy looks better than me......"

He smiled and raised his right hand, his thumb and index finger were extremely close, and the potholes and ravines on his face seemed to have been flooded:

"A little bit. ”

Tails looked at Cyril's special dignity and tried his best to hold back the embarrassment:

"Oh, yes......"

Cyril looked at him and finally couldn't help but laugh.

The Duke laughed as he reached out again and fished a second piece of fruit out of his plate.

"Let's get it straight, everyone who has dealt with him knows it. ”

Cyril looked at Tails carefully, and a chill oozed from his terrible countenance:

"Roman Williams. ”

Cyril's eyes flashed with coldness:

"That's a withdrawn, indifferent, arrogant, arrogant ......"

"Inglourious bastards. ”

Shameless, bastard?

Tails resisted the urge to nod his head, his expression remaining slightly frowned.

But Cyril didn't seem to care about his reaction anymore.

The Duke of the West Wilderness sneered and looked out the window:

"Admit it, since his first conscription in the bloody years, he has been more annoying than the ignorant and fearless bear child, more unpleasant than the unreasonable bully, more fearful than the ruthless scoundrel, more hated than the tax collector who exploits the layers of money, and more disgusting than the self-respecting tyrant. ”

Tails took a breath, involuntarily remembering the empty look of the Wings of Legends.

The duke didn't care about his demeanor at all, and looked out the window with a sharp and disdainful gaze, as if he remembered something:

"Anyone who dealt with him has suffered from him...... That goddamn temper, that nobody's expression, that damn hateful habit, he almost had 'I'm a fucking stupid X' engraved on his face. ”

Tails raised an eyebrow, listening to Cyril's foul words.

"Maybe the baron is just unsociable......"

Duke Falkenhause snorted coldly:

"Sociable?"

Cyril took a bite of the fruit in his hand, as if it were not food, but an enemy who shared the heavens.

"Have you ever seen him kill prisoners of war and collect heads on the battlefield? Have you seen his indifferent and accustomed expression when he wiped his blood? Did you know that he never showed mercy when he killed his own people?"

Tails thought of the other party calmly gouging out the eyes of the drill and priing off the jaw of the dead man's head in the blood splash, and his heart felt uncomfortable.

Cyril snorted coldly:

"Do you think the commando team he assembled in the Stardust Guard got its name 'Freak' only because of the few ability prisoners he unleashed......?"

Tails pursed his lips, but didn't make a sound.

The Duke of Xihuang chewed the flesh in his mouth, sneered and shook his head:

"That's because Roman Williams, the wings of legend, hidden under that beautiful skin, is a certain one who doesn't understand the rules and doesn't care about interests, who has neither sympathy nor loyalty, has a treacherous temper, has an unpredictable personality, is indifferent, cruel, has strange interests, and has a logic of thinking that is different from ordinary people, far from what we can understand, and even more so than what the Fuxing Palace can order, really——"

Cyril Falkenhause's eyes were cold, and he said clearly and resolutely:

"Freaks. ”

Tails took a deep breath and remembered that Wings of Legend had indifferently broken Nobu's leg and contemptuously said that the king was a "dog mongrel".

"Perhaps, geniuses always have quirks?"

Cyril looked at the half-bitten fruit in his hand and tilted the corners of his mouth:

"Genius?"

The Duke raised his head, his gaze deep.

"Then I have to say, promote such a freak who is full of vices and sins, and cannot even control the royal family, and place it in the remote western wilderness, and plant it on the chaotic western front, and do everything in his power to supply his standing army......"

Cyril turned his back to Tails and looked at the Bladetooth camp under the window, shaking his head with deep meaning:

"Your father is probably a ...... too"

"Genius. ”

Tails frowned.

He couldn't tell if it was a sincere compliment, or a bitter sarcasm, or both.

But the prince understood a lot.

Tails shook his head decisively:

"It's useless. ”

"As I said, I can't do anything about what is set - you can't take back Camp Bladefang from me, take back what you lost from my father. ”

He looked indifferent to others:

"And it's time for you to go – it's my meal time, and I'm not used to sharing it with other people. ”

But to Tails' surprise, Cyril did not react in a negative manner in the face of his obvious and decisive denial, nor did he sneer in his usual tone.

I saw that the expression on the duke's face relaxed, and he didn't smile or sting, but just sat up straight and looked out the window faintly.

"Camp Bladefangs, something lost?"

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, have you ever seen the Western Wilderness in the past?"

He looked out the window at the hustle and bustle.

Tails looked at Cyril's side face, and suddenly felt that Duke Falkenhause was in a trance at this moment.

"Once upon a time?"

The duke snorted, not knowing what he remembered, but shook his head slightly:

"You know, eighteen years ago, when I received the edict of the Chief Prophet of the Stars, I rushed to Yongxing City with the other eighteen people to listen to your grandfather's counterinsurgency mobilization......

"I never thought that the West Wilderness, which gave birth to me and raised me, would be next. ”

Tails' expression changed, and he fell into deep thought.

Eighteen years ago.

Edict of the Stars General.

Counterinsurgency mobilization.

But......

The prince looked up and wondered:

"Next?"

But Tails immediately saw a flower in front of him, and he subconsciously wrapped his arms in his chest and caught a piece thrown by the Duke of the West Wilderness-

White bread?

Tails watched in amazement as Cyril calmly withdrew his left hand and stuffed a piece of fruit into his mouth again.

"Eighteen years have passed, and few young people now know that before the war of the Scarlet Years, before the Wings of Legend were born, and when the Duke of the Western Wilderness was still my uncle......"

The Duke of the Western Wilderness bit the fruit while saying leisurely:

"What does the Western Wilderness look like? ”

Tails pursed his lips and frowned, looking at His Excellency the Duke, who was obviously reluctant to leave, and opened his mouth angrily and helplessly, and took a bite of the soft and delicate white bread.

"At that time, the ruler of this place, Baron Bladefang, Garrett Luhmann, was also an important vassal and guest of my uncle, and he frequented the ruins, and it can be said that he grew up with me, and I was like a brother. ”

The Duke smiled at the young man's unhappy look as he pulled his face out of the bread, but his gaze gradually froze:

"At that time, we enjoyed a rare peace with the great desert. ”

Peace?

Tails who tried to tear the bread for a meal.

Just listen to Falkenhause's soft voice:

"We won't go in, and neither will they, whether it's the eight tribes of the orcs or the five tribes of the bonemen. ”

"Our patrols follow the rules, and their raiding and grazing also have their own principles - looking at each other from a distance, silently vigilant, living their own lives, the well water does not interfere with the river water, fair, tacit understanding, nature. ”

"Let countless wandering merchants, herdsmen, mercenaries, and adventurers freely enter and exit the Great Desert, mingling with sand thieves, exiles, orcs, bonemen, and even their counterparts from the other side of the desert. ”

"Write their own stories. ”

Tails chewed on his bread as he frowned at Tampa, the owner of the "My House" tavern.

Remembering what he had told himself, the history of Camp Bladefang.

It was - the age of mercenaries.

By the way, what happened to Tampa?

"At that time, there were even desert dwellers who longed for civilization to move to the Western Wilderness—when I reached the age of riding a war horse and began to patrol the desert, I could often see the desert seeds coming and going on the border. ”

"If you're brave enough to follow the caravan into the desert, you'll have the chance to catch a glimpse of the 'enemy of humanity,' and it's not uncommon to encounter merchants haggling with seemingly fierce grey bastards. ”

The Duke's voice changed from its usual sharp and harsh voice to a steady and smooth voice, and his breath trembled slightly, as if he was trying to endure something.

Wild seeds.

Grey mongrel.

Tails first remembered McGee, the boneless man in "Dante's Greatsword", and then Raphael, who had dark red eyes.

And...... The orc who gave him the "name" of the rite of passage - Kandar Nushan.

"There are even chambers of commerce that have agreed on regular trading days in the Great Desert, just like the bazaars in our countryside, and it is said that there are caravans that have walked out of a magical trade route that is said to connect countless oases to the depths of the desert and even lead to the Golden Corridor, proving that the area of the Great Desert is not smaller than the Kingdom of the Stars, which we are proud of. ”

Cyril's words were filled with an unspeakable smile and an unrelenting aftertaste:

"Have you ever heard the bard of the Three Heroes of Dawn searching for dragons in the desert? Have you heard the story of Calligri, a desert city with countless treasures? Have you heard the legends of the ancient battlefields of the Desert of the God of War? Have you heard the terrifying and strange tale of the evil god lurking under the yellow sand devouring everything in the world? Have you heard the legend that countless imperial treasures are buried deep in the desert?"

"At that time, they were all wonderful stories that originated in the mysterious desert, and countless people set out from here, broke into the desert and brought them out, brought back to the Western Wilderness, brought back the stars, and achieved legends that have been passed down through the ages. ”

Bards, stories, legends.

The former desert and the western wilderness.

Tails listened silently, forgetting to eat the bread for a moment.

The Duke sighed:

"The people of the Western Wilderness and the inhabitants of the desert, just like this, we fear each other and need each other, sometimes friction and occasional cooperation, maintaining a strange but interesting ecology, enriching this land that has been dry for thousands of years. ”

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

"In the desert, there is an old saying among those who worship—or fear the desert gods. ”

Falkenhause:

"There is no disaster in the desert, but there is disaster in the world. ”

Tails raised his eyebrows and subconsciously followed:

"There is no forgiveness for the desert, but forgiveness for the desert. ”

Cyril's eyes lit up, and he seemed surprised that Tails knew this.

"So you already know. ”

The Duke smiled lightly:

"If you don't work and don't take the initiative to send disasters, the mortal world will already be full of disasters. ”

"There is no need for God to forgive it personally, the existence of the Great Desert is its greatest tolerance. ”

Cyril's face showed a sigh:

"Do you feel it? How is the god of indifference reflected in this sentence neutral, detached, indifferent, and seeing through all things—just like the great desert itself?"

Tails didn't speak, just remembered the admonition that Raphael, the Boneless Man, had told him before he left for Longxiao City.

But at that time, the Bones Man explained to him what this sentence meant:

The terrible desert is full of dangers.

The weak fear disaster, and the lucky seek forgiveness.

[Only those who abandon weakness and luck at the same time can find a foothold in the ruthless desert. 】

But in contrast, Duke Cyril's explanation of this proverb that makes people feel a little chilling in the back seems so ......

Balance?

Impartial?

The Duke's words continued, and there was some uncertainty in the small, bright, wind-soaked room at the top of the tower:

"If there's chaos in the outside world, it's okay. Because no matter what kind of disaster, when it reaches the desert, it will be buried by the endless sun in front of it and the wind and sand for thousands of years. ”

"If the outside world is too peaceful, it doesn't matter. The daily conflict, bloodshed, and brutal ecology of the Great Desert will make you relearn everything you need to survive. ”

Duke Xihuang narrowed his eyes.

"It's not comfortable, because its tolerance is only one side of the story. ”

"It's not terrible, because it's just just the right amount of cruelty. ”

In Tails' deep thought, Cyril threw away the pit in his hand, and his eyes shone with a sharp light:

"Let the world flood to the sky. ”

"Only the desert is as warm and cold as it used to be. ”

The Duke let out a long breath and turned to look back at Tails, as if he had come back to his senses.

Tails hurriedly lowered his head, pretending not to care, and continued to deal with his bread.

But Cyril was unimpressed:

"When I was young, I stood in the Western Wilderness, on the ancestral land, facing the horizon of the endless Great Desert, and this was what it told me. ”

"That's my memory of the West Wilderness, the place where I was born and raised. ”

But in the next second, the Duke of the Western Wilderness's tone changed.

"But ......"

Cyril's eyes flashed with a chill, which made Tails frown:

"Look at the present. ”

At that moment, Tails felt a substantial heaviness and stagnation.

The duke's voice became sharp and shrill again, making people subconsciously want to cover their ears:

"After the Year of Blood, the royal family took charge of the Blade Tooth Camp and turned it into a purely military town, following rules that were completely different from those of the Western Wilderness and the Desert, with no more fairness and no tacit understanding, and with each glorious attack on the desert by the Standing Army, the situation became even worse. ”

Tails frowned slightly, remembering the clash between the Standing Army and the Levies.

"What was once a desert has become a dangerous war zone, merchants are becoming scarcer, mercenaries are no longer brilliant, the desert is extinct, the once noisy and lively frontier has become dangerous, dead silence, all rules have been broken, and only chaos and bloodshed remain. ”

Tails remembered Tavern Keeper Tampa's lament about the bad market.

"And the orcs and bones in the desert, once they appear, they will be hordes, fully armed, leaving no living mouths, endless alarms, endless rebellions, and boundless lines of defense, which make those of us who really live in the Western Wilderness anxious. ”

Duke Falkenhause snorted coldly:

"Only the scarlet stardust battle banner of the Wings of Legend flutters high with the sound of horses' hooves and human heads rolling every time he patrols the desert, leaving behind the glory of the royal family and the blood of the Western Wilderness, while the enmity between the eight tribes and the five tribes and us only grows deeper. ”

Tails swallowed the last bite of bread and didn't make a sound.

He had a premonition.

"What did the Year of Blood bring?"

Cyril's voice rose sharply:

"I don't know. ”

The Duke's cold and sharp voice, combined with his terrifying appearance, made people palpitate.

"There is only one thing I know: that is, since the year of blood, since the outbreak of the war when was killed, the land of the Western Wilderness has ...... in these eighteen years."

He bit the words heavily, sonorously and powerfully:

"What has become. ”

Boom!

Even as he watched the Duke stand up on his chair, Tails was startled by the sound of his crutches touching the ground.

Knock, knock, knock.

The crutches came down to the ground, pushing the Duke of the Western Wilderness, who was obviously not tall, but had a different kind of coldness, closer and closer.

It's chilling.

Until he stopped in front of Tails.

"Now, Your Highness," Cyril Falkenhause looked at him coldly, with an inescapable look in his eyes:

"It's your turn to tell me: the year of blood is for us, for the Western Wilderness, and for the people who have lived on this land for generations......"

"What did you bring?"

Tails swallowed hard.

This was the first time he felt that even this Duke of the Western Wilderness, who had an ugly face and a disability, and was accustomed to cynicism and humor, had such a terrifying side.

"I don't understand. ”

The prince suppressed the conjecture in his heart and replied with difficulty.

"Don't understand?"

Cyril sneered, but without the lightness and humor of his previous moment.

"Or do you not want to understand?"

His withered face was now like a skeleton that had been dried for a long time, and a biting cold wind peeked out of the deep eye holes.

Tails was about to speak, but the Duke didn't give him a chance.

"The reason why there is the year of blood, the reason why we have everything we face - is because there is a monster there. ”

The Duke of the Western Wilderness said coldly.

What the?

Tails frowned in confusion:

"Monsters?"

Boom!

Cyril's crutches slammed to the ground:

"Yes!"

His tone was unmistakable, but with a deep hatred:

"That's a monster, a monster that feeds on power, lives on life, and destroys. ”

I saw that the duke had his back to the light, the ravines on his face were extremely gloomy, and his leather robe fluttered and trembled in the cold wind of the tower:

"It, Tails, is hidden in the deepest part of the Fuxing Palace, in the crown of the Supreme King, in the mausoleum where your ancestors rest, in the heart of every star who has the right to inherit the throne. ”

Tails blinked, and slowly listened:

It's a metaphor.

"Every time it wakes up in the hearts of people and stretches its claws, it creates a terrible vortex that tries to absorb everything, crush it, erode it, and devour it. ”

"Thanks to it, the Western Wilderness—no, not only the Western Wilderness, but everything that once existed in the Kingdom of the Stars is collapsing, ruining, dying, and cease to exist. ”

In the tower, the Duke of the Western Wilderness, Cyril Falkenhause, resolutely and coldly pointed to Prince Tails, who was solemn and on guard:

"And somebody has to ......"

"Go do something. ”

(End of chapter)