Tails didn't feel good.

Very bad.

The aches and aches that come and go all over the body, the cold that stimulates the joints to tremble, the hunger that seems to burn through the stomach, the pain and numbness after the healing of new and old wounds, and the dizziness and fatigue that exhaust everything mentally......

All sorts of negative feelings came like a flood.

The sobs and gasps of the guards seemed to echo faintly in their ears.

Stimulated Tails' vision also fluctuated vaguely.

And the sin of the Hell River, which has always been unruly and unruly, is now dormant and lifeless, like a beast that is seriously ill, refusing to give him more help.

Tails knew that this could be a side effect of the healing power of the Sins of the Hell, or it could be the after-effects of the misuse of magical energy, or even the aftermath of the Alchemy Ball flash.

I have tortured this young body too hard.

But he didn't have a choice.

No.

Amid the worried sound of the fast rope and the nervous gaze of Belletti, the boy used all his strength to stand firm.

But he couldn't fall.

In a trance, Tails, who was also physically and mentally heavy, said to himself, waving his hand and refusing the help of others.

Not yet.

He bit the tip of his tongue a few times, stimulating himself to a spirit.

It was as if this would draw enough strength from the near-numbing pain to concentrate my mind.

In a different kind of silence, Tails, who was holding the torch, struggled to turn around.

looked at the man who was sitting against the wall, holding his injured arm, and his face was full of loneliness.

As Tails gazed, the others turned to the poor man who didn't say a word, just stared blankly at the two bodies.

Belletti's red eyes were fixed on the man, as if expecting something.

Canon and Tardin's expressions were full of shame, and Semir's eyes were filled with unspeakable meaning.

But the closer the torch in Tails' hand became, the more the other man flinched back, and even turned his head to avoid it, as if he was full of fear of the light.

"Quill Barney. ”

"Chief Pioneer Officer. ”

Tails sighed tiredly:

"I know you've been through a lot today. ”

The indifferent figure seemed to feel something, and subconsciously shrank back.

Tails stopped.

In the young man's blurred vision, little Barney's figure gradually became clear.

Not long ago, it was this man who stretched out his rough calloused palm to himself.

But at this moment, the brilliance in the other party's eyes has long since ceased to exist.

In its place, there is gloom.

It is full of despair and self-blame, pain and confusion.

"No, Your Highness," said little Barney, with his head pressed against his shoulders and against the wall, half of his face immersed in darkness and indistinct:

"Nope. ”

His words were filled with hatred, and the imprint on his face became more and more prominent.

"Don't use that sensational trick against me......"

"Don't comfort me, don't forgive me......"

Barney Jr. didn't continue.

He hugged his wounded arm, curled up in the corner of the wall, dodging the light.

It's like a trapped beast that has lost its life.

At the end of one's resources.

Only the walking dead remain.

What took him away?

What took this man away?

The warrior who wielded his sword and shield with great courage and slashed into the enemy's ranks?

That Extreme Realm powerhouse who is in a desperate situation, drenched in blood, and has never changed color?

Tails took a light breath and gently threw the torch from his hand.

The dim light and shadow flickered.

Without the thrill of the torches, Barney Jr. finally turned his head slightly.

"Of course not. ”

I saw the young man evoke a peaceful smile:

"And I'm not going to do that. ”

Tails stared at Barney Jr., and his tone became calm:

"Because you didn't do anything wrong. ”

Little Barney was stunned for a moment.

The dungeon fell silent.

Until Tails' words continued to sound:

"Eighteen years ago, as a loyal Pioneer of the Royal Guard, Barney, your path has always been clear, straightforward, one-way, and one-way. ”

"You live in the purest world, you just need to assert yourself, protect your companions, and never have to choose between a dilemma. ”

Barney's gaze froze, but he didn't move.

The boy turned to the others in the dungeon, and his words were deep, as if with a sigh:

"It's not like them. ”

Sakel looked at the two bodies on the ground with an indiscerning look in his eyes, and Semir bowed his head deeply, as if he was angry.

Unlike Naki, who is full of remorse and guilt, he longs for peace of mind but can't. ”

Cannon, Brie, and Tarding all had their own problems.

"It's not like Nai, who knows the truth like a fish in her throat, tormented by unspeakable hesitation. ”

Tails stared at Barney Jr.'s unchanged face and finally sighed:

"Not like ......"

"Not like your father. ”

Father.

As soon as the words came out, Tails saw little Barney tremble violently.

The prince sighed in his heart.

"So, you think your father should have told you the truth, didn't you?"

Tails looked at Barney's struggling and changing expression, and said softly:

"The question is, if he really confesses to you, what will you do, how will you choose?"

If he told me the truth......

Little Barney's silhouette twisted in the firelight on the ground.

But the vanguard finally turned his head angrily and stubbornly, and headed towards the wall, avoiding the light, without saying a word.

Only the ugliest imprint is exposed in the firelight.

Tails calmly watched the other party's reaction and continued:

"I guess ......"

"Will you listen to his sufferings, stand with him, and then, like him, die in front of the palace gate without looking back, and be buried with you for your choices and sins?"

"Bearing the blood debt of killing the king, and sleeping forever?"

Little Barney still turned his head and said nothing, but the brand on the side of his face twitched inexplicably.

Tails' tone began to aggravate:

"Or are you loyal to the first king, standing on the opposite side of him, with disappointment, sadness, incomprehension, anger and pain, meeting him with swords and soldiers, and killing his relatives with righteousness?"

"Carrying the stigma of my father and having a nightmare for the rest of my life?"

Little Barney's silhouette moved, visible veins bulging from his fist.

Tails chuckled:

"Or will you lose yourself in confusion and hesitation, refuse to accept reality, and go away alone, running away from what is to come?"

"With the guilt of a coward, living in chaos?"

The boy's gaze turned to the sword on the ground that Saker had snatched from Barney:

"Even ...... Dead?"

One is dead.

The vanguard officer, who was holding his injured arm to avoid everything, shuddered.

He seemed to be unwilling, and only spat out a few vague words from his mouth:

"It doesn't matter......"

But Tails didn't let him continue.

"I think that's his worry, his fear. ”

The prince's voice fell:

"He understands you, he understands you, so he is afraid, afraid that when you know the truth, when you know his choice, you will have no more way to go......"

Tails was in disarray, his face tired, except for a pair of burning eyes.

"I think this is also the tacit understanding and agreement between your siblings who have kept you in the dark for many years and your father. ”

Barney Jr.'s breath stagnated for a few seconds, and he froze.

Ignoring the serious injuries to his shoulder and arm, he turned his head again to look at Tardin and the others.

But they all bowed their heads in unison, dodging his gaze.

Tails ignored Barney's confused and pained look, instead looked into the distance that didn't exist, and sighed softly:

"Your father didn't mean to betray and deceive you, Barney Pioneer, and he didn't bet on both sides as Naki said, currying favor in the middle. ”

The boy's words are full of regret and sorrow:

"The truth is, he loves you. ”

"He wants to protect you. ”

Tails' voice paused, accompanied by Barney's increasingly messy breathing:

"He's just ......"

"I don't know how to put it. ”

The prince's voice was smooth and profound, with an indiscernible emotion:

"So, he made the choice for you. ”

No one knew that at that moment, Tails clenched his fists fiercely.

The choice you make.

Barney's mind paused for a moment.

The vanguard officer was a little distracted.

In the distant memory, the familiar figure who had often visited him for eighteen years reappeared.

That solid, tough, stubborn figure he thought would never fall.

And the voice that used to be.

Serious, powerful, and earnest:

[Your grandmother has a letter...... She wants you to go back. 】

[I think it's up to you to choose.] 】

Barney's eyes were scattered in the firelight.

Take a trip back......

The choice is yours......

Little Barney subconsciously hugged himself tightly, trembling, and an inexplicable fear rose in his heart.

But in the next second, what sounded in his ears was a rare, not so tough, and even a little weak and helpless sentence from the other party:

[No, we can't escape. 】

[My son.] 】

The other party's voice became more and more indistinct, but his face became clearer and clearer.

It's up to me to choose......

No.

Barney Jr.'s expression slowly contorted.

He clutched his injured arm in agony, his breathing choppy.

"No ......"

Barney pressed his face to his shoulders and twitched uncontrollably, his voice trembling out of shape:

"Father's ......"

As if he didn't want to look too weak, little Barney, whose face was distorted, shoved the index knuckle of his left hand between his teeth and bit the whimper in his throat.

The guards silently watched as little Barney looked angry and pained, and unspeakable sadness spread in the air.

Tails sighed slowly, his heart full of taste.

"His plan clearly fell through. ”

The prince said as best he could, in his gentlest yet most earnest voice:

"Even if it's eighteen years late, you're still facing the truth. ”

"Brutal, but true. ”

Barney Jr. began to tremble again.

The vanguard had his eyes in his eyes, as if that would stop something.

"I know your tricks, Your Highness. ”

He snorted stubbornly.

"A common tactic of the aristocracy – just as you have just dealt with everyone else, you take advantage of their weakness and offer them terms that they cannot refuse in exchange for what you want most. ”

On the other side, holding Cannon, Brie and Tardin, and even Belletti and the others all changed their faces slightly.

Barney Jr. hummed and said to Tails:

"You're taking advantage of my feelings for my father right now. ”

Tails paused, as if he couldn't bear it.

But after all, he still took a deep breath and slowly spit out the words:

"So, is that your weakness?"

"Your father?"

"When he deprives you of the opportunity to choose for yourself, so that you can avoid the painful choice, or even avoid the consequences of the choice?"

Father.

Little Barney's arm began to tighten, and he felt the pain of the fracture gradually increasing.

No.

He let go of his teeth in a cold sweat, opened his red eyes, and looked at the prince without anger, and stopped talking.

"Does his move mean anything to you?"

But Tails shook his head.

"Don't answer me," said the prince softly.

"Answer yourself. ”

Barney Jr. froze slightly.

Tyers turned his head, his gaze swept over Semir, who had a complicated face, Belletti who was full of hope, Tardin, who was in a difficult mood, and Sakel, who was in a state of confusion after a great change.

The prince took a deep breath and relieved his dizziness.

"For example, would you ...... as you did just now?"

Tails turned around and reached out with difficulty, picking up the longsword on the ground.

"As your father had foreseen, feared, and feared. ”

"Become the cowardly veteran who, after learning the truth, lost his life, fell into despair, and fell into despair, and begged for his death, Quill Barney?"

Barney Jr.'s gaze was fixed on the sword in Tails' hand.

His whimpering grew smaller, and his trembling stopped.

Tails sighed softly.

"Will you?"

The prince bowed his head, his voice lowered, and his words were sad:

"If you do that......"

"That only means one thing - your father, he is right. ”

Little Barney shook hard!

For whether you admit it or not, you have confirmed your father's fears and confirmed his judgment that you cannot bear what he is facing. ”

Tails took a step forward, enduring his dizziness, and inhaled and spoke:

"You approve of your father's idea, agree with the choice he made for you, and follow the path he laid for you. ”

The vanguard gritted his teeth, his expression becoming more and more painful, and his face becoming more and more distorted.

His gaze went back and forth between the resolute and irrefutable prince at the moment, and the bloodied sword lying on the ground.

"You have proved by your actions that your father should never tell you the truth of the matter, that he should never share his choice with you, and that he is as weak as you should never and deserve to know this secret!"

Tails was tough in his words and his eyes were sharp.

Shocked that Beletti and the others behind him looked at each other.

But Tails' words continued, and his tone crescendoped:

"Because of you, Quair Barney, because you can't bear the pain, and you can't bear the consequences!"

"You are not qualified to make your own choice. ”

Little Barney unconsciously clenched his fists and breathed heavily.

The vanguard and the prince looked at each other silently, one struggling and hesitating, the other firm and cold.

Unexpectedly, in the next second, the prince's tone fell, and he regained his tiredness:

"Yet. ”

"Are you?"

Tails took a deep breath, but he trembled and reversed his sword and handed the hilt to Barney.

"Really?"

Barney Jr. froze.

[Your grandmother has a letter...... She wants you to go back. 】

A familiar voice echoed in his ears.

[Very good, then don't go back.] 】

His gaze fixed on the sword changed back and forth, one moment confused, one moment painful, one moment sad and angry.

Until Tails gently lowered the hilt of the sword, which no one had taken.

The dungeon was quiet again, except for the sound of breathing.

It seemed like a century had passed.

Finally, Barney Jr. opened his mouth and took a heavy breath in the dreary dungeon, trying to calm down.

"But if," Barney Jr.'s next sentence was filled with irony and disappointment:

"What if I am?"

"Is that the one who can't stand it after the truth is shattered?"

Barney's voice was nasal, dull and hoarse.

"What if I'm just that coward and don't have the right to choose for myself?"

But Tails laughed.

He gently threw down his sword, letting it wail on the ground.

"You said, Barney," said the prince, in a soft, hoarse voice, as if he were afraid of waking the sleeping man.

"Those brothers and sisters you hold dear, they are the reason why you have survived in the darkness and persevered until now, right?"

Hearing this, the people of the guard breathed wildly.

Little Barney's figure trembled slightly in the firelight.

Following Tails' gaze, the man numbly swept over the two bodies of his colleague.

The prince looked sadly at the bodies of Naki and Nai, who were gradually cold:

Tails sighed softly:

But I think it's the opposite. ”

Little Barney's fingers tightened slightly, and his breathing became more and more disordered.

Tails lifted his gaze and glanced at the underground storage room of the Prison of Bones, which was dusty and messy.

The guards noticed that the prince's expression had become misty and confused.

"Naki had said that in this dark and bottomless dungeon, everyone was tormented. ”

"But there is only one person. ”

"He lives in the only place where the light shines. ”

Barney's gaze froze for a moment.

Everyone in the royal guard was stunned.

Tails' voice was soft and careful:

"There, he had what they had lost, what they longed for most. ”

Seeing only the bruised and embarrassed teenager lowered his head and gave Barney a calm and brisk smile.

Barney Jr. was stunned.

"Compared to other people's tacit or secret secrets, you can maintain the purest attachment, the purest fidelity, the purest sincerity. ”

Belletti lowered his eyes in confusion, Tardin bowed his head in pain, Semir pressed his hand to the hilt of his sword, and Cannon and Brie were silent.

Tails spoke in his brightest and most regretful tone:

"This is what they have long since lost, the most envious, the most envious, the most admired, the most desired but beyond reach, the most precious thing, the fire that your father preserved for you on the premise of his own destruction, and the spark that your siblings have saved for you at the cost of eternal guilt. ”

"Let them be ashamed of themselves, they can't ask for it, and they don't dare to look at it directly. ”

The words are clear and have a long aftertaste.

Barney Jr. stopped talking, he just froze in place.

The expressions of the rest of the guards were either confused or angry.

Tails glanced at Naki and Nai, who were dead on the ground, but smiled:

"The truth is, Quill Barney, before I came here, you were them, the lights of your siblings in the night: bright and blazing, burning and blinding, representing the brightest and most beautiful side that they were unwilling to think about, much less destroy. ”

Every word from Tails made Barney's chest rise and fall, causing everyone else to bow their heads and sigh, even Saker.

"Admit it or not, Quill Barney Jr. ......"

Tails leaned down with difficulty, his palm resting on the blood-stained remnant sword for a second, then slowly moving sideways.

He picked up the torch next to him.

"You are the only one they can hope to retain their loyalty in this desperate world of betrayal. ”

It is the only coordinate when they are immersed in self-blame and guilt, doubting themselves in a meaningless future. ”

It was the only light they could see when they looked up as they struggled in the blood-soaked darkness. ”

It is the only existence that they can respect, love, envy, envy, and look up to without reservation and scruples. ”

It is the last bit of solace when they look back on the past in the bitter cold and dull rest of their lives. ”

I only heard Tails sigh:

"For eighteen years, you are the reason for their survival. ”

"And after all this happens, do you ......"

But Barney Jr. interrupted the prince.

"Fake. ”

He was a little annoyed, but his hands and feet and expression were a little overwhelmed.

"Fake!"

"These are all illusions, things they have created with meanness and betrayal," Barney Jr. shook his head in a trance, clenching his fists, as if to sober up a little more:

"It never existed. ”

He whispered hoarsely and feebly:

"Whether it's my father or someone else...... They didn't give me a choice at all!"

"Nope!"

Barney Jr. was a little excited, and his words made most of the members of the guard look away in shame, not daring to look at them directly.

At this moment, Tails suddenly stepped forward!

He raised the torch in his hand!

The firelight approached and flickered, which stimulated Barney to subconsciously raise his hand to dodge.

"No, they didn't give you a choice," said the young man quietly.

"But your life gives. ”

Tails spoke slowly, unconsciously slowing down the excitement of little Barney.

Tails sighed again:

"It's just that, compared to the others, your choice comes later, but it is more critical and important than all of them. ”

"Right here, right here. ”

"Eighteen years later. ”

Tails turned and looked at everyone, including Sakel, who was also immersed in the darkness.

"Yes, Barney, when the truth is revealed, when all disguises are torn apart and confronted cruelly," Tails said quietly:

"You'll understand that everything you've been through before is about what choices you can make today. ”

Tails turned his head and looked firmly at Barney, who was dodging.

"And that choice is," he said softly.

"When you face all the darkness of this world, when you are angry because of betrayal, when you are angry because of deception, when you are bitter because of hatred, when you are desperate for failure, when everything you are fighting for is far away from you. ”

"What kind of person would you choose to become?"

No one spoke.

There was another unspeakable silence.

But little Barney's gaze was no longer misty, he just stared at the prince with a complicated expression.

He sneered through his nose, sad and helpless.

"Say it easily," Barney Jr. gritted his teeth and leaned forward as if struggling to defend against something:

"Because you're not there!"

He gritted his teeth fiercely.

"If it's you, if it's you, if you've gone through it all: betrayal, deception, hatred, failure, ......"

Little Barney raised his voice and said to the prince resentfully:

"Yourself, what kind of choices can you make, what kind of person can you become?"

But he was quickly interrupted.

"Simple. ”

Tails sighed.

"In Xingchen, the teacher who taught me swordsmanship, she told me on the first day. ”

The next moment, Tails' arm moved!

Barney Jr. was startled, but reacted extremely quickly to catch what Tails had thrown.

It's a torch.

It was the torch that Tails had picked up from the ground.

The light of the fire burned tenaciously in front of Barney's eyes, illuminating his entire body, from blood, scars, and holes, to marks and imprints.

Dispel the darkness.

"She said to me: Lift up your shield. ”

I only heard Tails calm down, but he said undoubtedly:

"There are only two situations in which it can be put down. ”

At that moment, little Barney, who was holding the torch, was shocked!

The firelight flickered violently in his hands, fluttering back and forth.

But it didn't fall after all.

"No matter how fucked up the world is, Barney, no matter what facts they try to convince you, deceive you, tempt you to open yourself to hatred, to hate, to surrender to anger, to surrender to despair in order to become a captive and slave to their rules......"

And Fast Rope, who had been silently watching, was the first to feel: Tails's mood had changed.

"No matter what reality has done to you, no matter how others hit you, hurt you, torment you, no matter how limited and painful the choices life has left you......"

"No matter how many times the damned world betrays you, betrays you, hurts you, persecutes you......"

Under the firelight, Prince Tails, who has been adventuring with Fast Rope himself these days, exudes rare and complex emotions at this moment:

Sadness, sorrow, numbness......

as well as vulnerability.

These fastropes thought they would never have a chance with that optimistic, humorous, strong, and clever Tails for the rest of their lives.

After a few seconds of pause, Tails took a deep breath.

"Only one thing is the most important. ”

In front of Barney Jr.'s dazed expression, Tails drew a faint smile that didn't know whether it was helpless or melancholy:

"They don't want to change you. ”

"I don't want you to lay down your shield. ”

In the silent, dreary, dimly lit dungeon, Barney Jr. stared blankly at Tails.

A scene from a long, long time ago suddenly flashed before his eyes, when he had just joined the royal guard.

At that time, he was young and self-satisfied, proud and confident.

That day, he swung the wooden sword in his hand and turned a ...... at the country girl who had fallen in the sand and was in pain

The vain girl who he once thought was climbing the high branches of the royal family and getting the favor of the crown prince, was jokingly stuffed into his hands by His Royal Highness to "learn some martial arts".

[Believe me, miss, I hate this task as much as you hate me now.] 】

He still remembered that in the training ground, he endured the pointing eyes of his colleagues, and said contemptuously and disdainfully to the "training object" assigned by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince:

[Now, honorable Miss Gini, raise your shield. 】

He remembered the look in the girl's eyes as she gritted her teeth and got up from the ground.

[There are only two situations where you can put it down......]

I remember the sweat on her face mixed with dust and blood.

And the shield that the girl clung to in her hands no matter how badly she was beaten herself, and never let go.

[You die, or the enemy dies. 】

Little Barney's vision blurred.

"You don't need comfort or forgiveness, Pioneer. ”

Tails raised his voice:

"You just have to face yourself. ”

After a few seconds, Barney seemed to be unable to bear the prince's hopeful and bright gaze, and subconsciously lowered his head to avoid the other party's gaze.

At this moment, he was in turmoil and at a loss.

"Is that possible?"

Little Barney tilted his head and looked at the two bodies on the ground, his tone becoming a little hesitant with suspicion and sadness.

Tails looked at little Barney, who was gritting his teeth and holding a torch, and smiled faintly.

"Of course. ”

"Because that's what I do. ”

Tails turned slowly, leaving the vanguard officer with a shaky but struggling back.

"From the first day," the boy stepped forward under the gaze of all and raised his head with a smile:

"Until the last day. ”