When they arrived at the second basement level and Lin Gui saw the slaves imprisoned behind the narrow iron grates, he couldn't help but frown.
It wasn't because the slaves inside were too dazzling.
On the contrary, they were all far too ordinary.
Every single one of them kept here belonged to the human race.
None of them possessed exceptionally handsome features, and their strength was mediocre, with the strongest appearing to be only at the Mid-tier High Rank.
Unlike the slaves on the upper floor who were “properly maintained,” their bodies were covered in shocking whip scars and brand marks.
They were dressed in rags, their auras weak and listless.
“Why would people like this be locked up down here?”
Doubt arose in Lin Gui's heart.
Judging by the level of security and their location, they seemed to be treated as even higher priority than the elves and beastkin warriors upstairs.
The arrival of the Third Young Master, Fal, drew the attention of many on this floor.
They crowded toward the iron grates one after another, watching him in silence.
Fal looked anxious as he hurried through the corridor.
He searched in front of each window until he reached the cell at the very end.
A girl's weak voice drifted out: “Fal... over here...”
Fal immediately rushed over.
He tightly grasped the small, scar-covered hand reaching out from the gaps of the iron grate.
His voice trembled with a sob.
“Thusa, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting... I'll let you out right now!”
The girl named Thusa shook her head, however, and refused.
“Fal, I won't run away with you.”
“Uncle Muze and the others are still here. I can't abandon them.”
“They... they were only captured by that wretched slave merchant because of me.”
“If I leave, Erwin will surely beat them to death!”
A weak but firm male voice came from the adjacent cell.
“Thusa, just go with the young master. Don't worry about us old bones!”
“If Boss Caesar hadn't saved us back then, we would have died at the hands of those wretched nobles ten years ago!”
Muze's words triggered a low murmur of agreement from the surrounding cells:
“That's right, Thusa!”
“The only reason that slave merchant hasn't let you go is to use you as leverage against Mr. Caesar!”
“You can't let your father's and so many of our compatriots' sacrifices go to waste. Hurry and leave!”
“Hahaha! This is hilarious!”
A sharp, grating laugh rang out abruptly from a cell diagonally opposite them.
A man who, despite his tattered clothes, still retained a hint of his former arrogance was gripping the iron grates, laughing gloatingly.
“A bunch of rebel scum!”
“Even if this noble young master is willing to help, how is he going to lead the daughter of the rebel leader out of this dungeon?”
“There are Transcendent guards all over the place outside! Slaughtering you would be as easy as killing dogs!”
Fal glared at the man in annoyance.
“Viscount Miles! I have my own ways! Now shut your filthy mouth!”
“Hahaha! Ways?”
“With just an eighteen-year-old Low-tier High Rank piece of trash like you? A noble degenerate who associates with rebels? What kind of way could you possibly have!”
Viscount Miles laughed even more wildly.
“What, do you want to release your rebel friends and have them cover you?”
“Or maybe you want to make a deal with the beastkin warriors upstairs?”
“Hahaha! I can guarantee that those brainless brutes will absolutely abandon you and run away on their own. Why would they ever block the guards for you!”
Miles's laughter was sharp and grating.
Fal turned pale. He indeed had thought about trading freedom for the strength of those beastkin warriors...
“How will we know if we don't try? Uncle Roger managed to escape successfully! I refuse to believe I can't do it!”
Fal retorted stubbornly, trying to boost morale.
“As long as we gather the strength of all the slaves here, we can definitely break through the villa's defenses and get everyone out!!”
“Hahaha!! Hahaha! This is hilarious!!”
Miles looked as if he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.
“What was Roger's strength?! What is yours?!”
“That madman dared to slay his own brother and kill the Royal Capital's First Prince! Do you dare?!”
“No! You don't dare! You're just a pampered young master who knows nothing, living in an ivory tower! A naive, foolish, pampered pig!”
Thusa and the surrounding rebels glared furiously at the arrogant Miles.
Yet, no one spoke up to refute him.
Because they all knew in their hearts that although Miles's words were harsh, they were the cruel reality.
Erwin would never easily let them, especially Thusa, escape.
If they forced their way out, the ultimate outcome would likely be Fal being permanently imprisoned, while Muze and the others would meet their deaths.
Fal clenched his fists stubbornly, his nails digging deep into his palms.
“I didn't want to act so rashly either... but I'm out of time!”
“Father is already preparing to align himself completely with the Second Prince, and he plans to hand Thusa over as a gesture of allegiance!”
Miles's mockery ground to a sudden halt, a trace of shock and doubt flashing through his eyes.
“Your father is aligning with the Second Prince?? Why??”
“Who doesn't know the current situation? The Third Prince is the biggest winner!”
“With two Legendary Knights backing him, it's more than enough to make up for the lack of support from the great nobles!”
Fal said coldly,
“Five days ago, the soul lamps of all members of John's Holy Knights... went out.”
“That's impossible!!” Miles suddenly grabbed the iron grates, staring at Fal with a ferocious gaze.
“You're lying to me!”
Fal responded with a cold sneer.
“Nothing is impossible. Legendaries dying in the wilderness isn't exactly a rare occurrence.”
“Even Legendaries, who symbolize the peak of the Carter Kingdom's military might, are nothing out in the wild.”
“The Epic Queen of Eagle Fortress controls the main passage through the Withered Rift.”
“She cut off the development of the nearest Golden Route through the Magic City, yet the Carter Royal Capital didn't dare to utter a single word of protest.”
Seeing Miles still deeply shaken, he shifted the topic.
“Miles! Don't you boast about being the Eldest Princess's greatest strategist and helper?”
“Now that your archrival, the Third Prince, has lost his primary pillar of support, he is at his weakest! Don't you want revenge?”
“Help me! Help me leave this place! I swear in the name of Fal Erwin that once this is done, I will grant you your freedom!”
A flash of excitement crossed Miles's eyes, but it cooled down just as quickly, and he shook his head.
“Impossible... The gap in power is absolute.”
“Besides, you underestimate your father.”
“I'm afraid he is already on his way here with the Second Prince's men.”
“Letting you obtain the key and enter so ‘easily’ was probably just a ploy to lock you down completely.”
“After all, that old geezer is getting up there in years, and his other children all died in the brutal struggle for succession. You're the only son he has left.”
“After this, expect to be locked up completely, have a marriage arranged for you, and live as a puppet, my dear young master.”
“Precisely because I am his only son!”
Fal squeezed those words out almost through his teeth.
No longer hesitating, he quickly used the keys to unlock all the cages holding the rebels, then swiftly unlocked the slave collars around their necks.
Immediately after, he pressed another sharp dagger into Thusa's hand.
Fal looked at Thusa, his eyes filled with absolute determination.
“There is only one way we can escape successfully.”
“Use me as a hostage.”
“If they don't believe you and try to make a move... cut off one of my fingers. If they still don't believe you...”
He pointed at his chest, his tone dead serious.
“Stab right here.”
“Fal!” Tears instantly welled up in Thusa's eyes.
“You don't have to go this far for us...”
Fal smiled, his expression carrying a hint of nostalgia and bitterness.
“Do you remember? Back in the slums, you were the one who saved me when I was half-dead, pulling me out of that endless hell of despair.”
“I am grateful... that Erwin found me and brought me back here to become a noble young master.”
“Because only then did I have the power and status to help you.”
“And now... is the perfect time to use this status!”
Before his voice could even fade, Fal suddenly raised another dagger and plunged it into his own shoulder without hesitation!
It was too fast! Thusa and the others didn't even have time to react.
Warm blood had already sprayed from Fal's shoulder.
Enduring the agonizing pain, he pulled out the bloody dagger and tossed it onto the ground.
He barked at Thusa and the others, who were still dazed in shock.
“Quick! Take me hostage! Thusa, don't hold back! If you can't bring yourself to do it...”
His gaze turned fierce.
“I will end my own life right here.”
Thusa stared at Fal's bleeding shoulder and his resolute gaze.
She sobbed, her hand holding the dagger trembling violently.
Muze sighed, stepping forward to gently pat Thusa's shoulder, and spoke in a deep voice, “Girl, let me do it.”
Miles watched this “hostage” drama play out with cold detachment.
Fal's actions were within his expectations.
Yet, the boy's sheer decisiveness still caused a sliver of surprise to flicker across his eyes.
What a bunch of fools... he sneered inwardly.
Erwin? Back when he was still the Eldest Princess's advisor, he had dealt with that old fox quite a bit.
The man was ruthless and decisive, a brutal character who would use even his own children as bargaining chips.
How could he possibly not have anticipated Fal being taken hostage?
It was an absolute joke!
Miles did not speak up to warn them.
Instead, he wore a gloating expression, ready to sit back and watch the show.
After Fal left, a gentle breeze blew by, and Miles couldn't help but sneeze.
“Achoo!! Ugh... where did this wind come from? Freezing me to death...”
He rubbed his nose, muttering to himself.
“I wonder when Gladys's people will arrive.”
“If that kid wasn't lying to me and John's Holy Knights really were wiped out...”
“...then this is indeed Her Highness's only chance to turn the tables and fight for the throne...”
On the other side, Muze pressed the dagger tightly against Fal's neck, leading Thusa and all the freed rebels out of the basement step by step.
However, when they saw the situation outside, their faces instantly turned deathly pale!
In the open space outside the basement exit, no fewer than fifteen Transcendent guards with powerful auras and over a hundred high-rank mercenaries with fierce gazes had already formed a tight perimeter, surrounding the area completely!
Cold weapons, along with battle qi and magic ready to be unleashed, locked onto every single one of them.
Muze's heart sank; this was indeed a trap.
Knowing there was no way out, he could only press the dagger harder against Fal.
A desperate intent to kill erupted from his eyes.
He shouted a harsh warning at the fat man sitting on a luxurious sedan chair outside the perimeter:
“Erwin! Let us go! You wouldn't want anything to happen to your only son, would you!”
“Clap, clap, clap...”
A slow, distinct sound of clapping rang out.
Erwin clapped and laughed from his sedan chair, his fat face filled with mockery:
“My, my, as expected of a good dog raised under the rebel Caesar.”
“With such presence, anyone who didn't know better would think you were some Legendary pillar of the kingdom.”
He turned his head, speaking in a flattering tone to an arrogant noble wearing gold-rimmed glasses standing beside the sedan chair.
“Lord Magee, look, that little girl hiding in the middle of the crowd is the only daughter of the rebel leader Caesar. She's the real deal!”
Magee pushed up his glasses, an impatient look appearing on his face.
“His Highness the Prince has ordered that he only wants the head of Caesar's daughter.”
Erwin's face broke into a sycophantic smile as he nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, yes, of course!”
Then, his expression turned solemn, and he let out a soft cough.
Hearing this, the surrounding warriors and mercenaries instantly raised their weapons, exuding murderous intent!
Seeing that Erwin completely disregarded the safety of his “only” child, Muze's eyes threatened to split as he demanded harshly,
“Erwin!! Don't you dare think I won't do it!!”
With that, he exerted force with his wrist.
The sharp edge of the dagger instantly sliced the skin of Fal's neck.
Blood seeped out immediately, just a millimeter away from his carotid artery!
Fal immediately played along, feigning extreme terror.
With a crying tone, he cried out to Erwin for help:
“Father! Father, save me! I was wrong!”
“I shouldn't have been blinded by this rebel daughter's beauty, only to be betrayed and taken hostage! I shouldn't have ignored your teachings!”
He repented with tears streaming down his face.
“I swear! If you save me, I will definitely listen to you from now on.”
“I will do as you arrange and obediently be a playboy who only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun. I will never dare to have other ideas again!”
“Father, please save me!”
In the face of his son's “heartfelt” plea,
Erwin merely sneered, stroking his graying beard as he spoke unhurriedly:
“Oh... Fal, my dear son...”
His face suddenly darkened, his voice cold as ice shards.
“From the very first moment I found you in the slums, I knew.”
“You would be just like your wretched Uncle Roger! A traitor among the nobility!”
“For the sake of this wretched rebel girl, you dare draw a blade against the father who raised you for years!”
“And that wretched Roger, for the sake of his half-demon slave, dared to murder the noble First Prince!”
“He even released all the premium slaves our family had accumulated over more than a decade.”
“He listened to that beggar's words and went off to find Avalon, a place that only exists in fairy tales!”
Clink!
A crisp metallic sound rang out abruptly.
It interrupted Erwin's passionate accusation.
Erwin paused, looking toward the source of the sound in confusion.
A warrior also squatted down in confusion, picking up a glittering gold coin from the ground.
He looked around and found everyone staring at him.
Swallowing hard, he silently tucked the gold coin into his pocket and shrank back into the formation.
Having been interrupted, Erwin looked back at Fal and sneered:
“My only son? Heh... perhaps you were before.”
He clapped his hands and announced loudly,
“Roll, come out. Come and greet your... 'Brother' Fal. After today, you might not get another chance.”
Following his words, a thin, pale little boy stepped out from the back of the crowd, accompanied by an old butler.
He looked timidly at Fal.
Instantly, Muze, Thusa, and the others lost all color in their faces!
Their final bargaining chip was gone!
“You bastard!!” Muze shoved Fal aside and roared at him hoarsely.
“Quick! Take Thusa and go!! The rest of you, charge with me and hold them back! Buy every second you can!!”
He had already resolved himself to die.
Seeing this, Erwin burst into triumphant, wild laughter.
“Hahaha! Want to run? It's too late!!”
He suddenly stood up from his sedan chair, waving his arms and roaring,
“Kill them!! Kill all of these rebel scum! Leave none alive!!”
However, his laughter did not last long before he suddenly froze in shock.
The fifteen Transcendent guards and over a hundred mercenaries around him remained completely motionless!
Their gazes were all focused on him, filled with an unspeakable horror.
A chilling dread instantly shot up from the base of Erwin's spine to the top of his head!
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something... rolling on the ground.
He stiffly turned his gaze to look.
It was Lord Magee's head, still wearing his gold-rimmed glasses!
The expression of shock and disbelief was still frozen on his face!
Erwin's entire body gasped violently, his soul nearly leaving his body!
Right at that moment, a cold, sharp dagger pressed silently against the skin of his neck like a venomous snake.
A calm male voice, devoid of any discernible emotion, whispered in his ear:
“Could you tell me in detail about the whole process of your family's black sheep going to Avalon?”
“I'm actually quite curious.”
Lin Gui kicked the obese Erwin down from the sedan chair onto the ground.
He stepped on the man's struggling body without mercy.
The dagger in his hand plunged precisely and ruthlessly into the man's lower back!
“Ah!” Erwin let out a pig-like shriek.
Lin Gui issued a cold warning to the Transcendent guards who were beginning to stir.
“Take one more step, and I'll slit his throat.”
Before his voice could even fade, he pulled the blade out again.
He stabbed it back into Erwin's body once more.
The angle was tricky, avoiding all vital organs.
It left only excruciating pain and a continuous flow of blood.
Ironically, this was a technique Lin Gui had learned from a noble.
Seeing that although the surrounding guards were wary, they still intended to encircle and capture him,
Lin Gui realized they had seen through his strength, recognizing him as merely a Mid-tier High Rank Mage.
In their eyes, his power was indeed negligible.
He smiled.
The edge of the dagger in his hand slowly traced a circle against Erwin's neck.
The icy sensation caused Erwin's obese body to freeze instantly.
“It seems the people you employ don't understand human speech very well.”
Feeling the very real threat of death, Erwin cast aside all dignity and shrieked,
“Don't come any closer!! Do as he says!! Do you want me dead?!!”
Their master's desperate roar finally intimidated the guards.
Gritting their teeth, they reluctantly took a few steps back.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries had long since tactfully retreated even further.
They were only working for money and had no desire to throw their lives away.
But the guards were different.
These men, handpicked from a Gold Rank adventure group and eager to climb into the ranks of the nobility,
had all signed harsh security contracts with Erwin.
If Erwin were to be killed right under their noses, they would certainly suffer terrible consequences.
Although Erwin was not a traditional noble, his wealth and influence were enough to make many minor nobles pale in comparison.
“Have all the Transcendent guards and mercenaries enter the basement.”
Lin Gui commanded again, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Seeing that Erwin was still hesitating, trying to buy time,
Lin Gui didn't hesitate. With a flash of red light, the dagger plunged into Erwin's body once more!
“The next strike will sever your neck.”
Suppressing the intense pain, Erwin's gaze turned vicious.
“Then we might as well die together!”
“Is that so? Goodbye then.”
Lin Gui's tone did not waver in the slightest.
He gripped the dagger and made a motion to drive it hard into Erwin's neck!
His movement was swift and clean, without a shred of hesitation.
“Wait!!”
Erwin broke down at the final second.
He could even clearly feel the icy touch of the blade brushing against the blood vessels of his neck.
The shadow of death completely enveloped him.
Didn't this guy fear that once he was dead, the guards would kill him too?
Cold sweat drenched Erwin's face. Countless questions flooded his mind, but he had no time to think.
Under his repeated shouts and orders, all the guards and soldiers finally laid down their weapons and filed into the basement entrance.
On the open ground, only Lin Gui, Erwin beneath his feet, and Fal's shaken group remained.
“A-Alright... I've done as you asked...”
Erwin panted heavily, trying to negotiate through the intense pain.
“S-Shouldn't you let me go now?”
“Don't worry, I swear I won't retaliate! No matter what you do today, I'll act as if nothing happened, how about that?”
Lin Gui continued to step on him, his pressure not loosening in the slightest as he said calmly,
“Don't waste your energy trying to secretly activate those magic items in your robes.”
With that, he reached in and precisely extracted several small magical objects from Erwin's chest.
He tossed them onto the ground, where they clinked sharply.
Lin Gui sneered.
“It seems the wealth of the great merchant Erwin is somewhat exaggerated.”
“These magic items haven't even reached the Transcendent Rank.”
“And they activate so slowly that you have to trigger them manually in secret?”
Erwin's face turned as white as paper, his final hope utterly shattered.
“What... what do you actually want?”
“As long as you spare my life, my wealth, my collection—I'll give you whatever you want!”
Lin Gui ignored his probing and begging, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable weight of authority.
“Now, I ask, you answer. If I find any discrepancies between your words and the information I already know...”
He paused, applying more pressure with his foot.
“...I will kill you. Of course, if everything you say is true, I'll consider letting you go.”
“First, tell me in detail about the black sheep of your family, Roger.”
Erwin blanked. He had guessed countless possible motives of his captor:
wealth, revenge, or even an assassin sent by another prince.
Yet, he never expected the man would ask about the name that had practically become a family taboo: Roger.
Feeling the blade at his neck press slightly closer,
Erwin didn't dare delay for a second and quickly began to speak.
He spoke of the nephew who filled him with both hatred and fear:
“Roger... he... he was always out of place since he was a child, like an oddity.”
“But his talent in swordsmanship... was truly staggering.”
“He was a famous genius at the Knight Academy, reaching the High-tier Transcendent rank at just twenty-seven!”
“Everyone said he had the greatest hope of entering the Legendary rank and becoming a new pillar of the Royal Capital...”
“Our family was also counting on him to lead us and knock on the doors of the true high nobility...”
“He didn't disappoint those 'expectations.' He perfectly played the role the family and the royal family wanted him to play...”
“He won the immense appreciation and trust of the First Prince at the time.”
“They often went hunting and attended banquets together...”
“The First Prince even intended to marry his most beloved daughter to him—a man of non-noble birth!”
“At that time, Roger was truly at the peak of his life...”
Erwin's tone carried a hint of twisted nostalgia, which quickly turned into deep-seated resentment:
“But no one knew! All of it was just a disguise!”
“He deceived everyone! His brothers, me, even his own father!”
“He was not the person we expected him to be at all!”
“Tell me specifically how he assassinated the First Prince, how he escaped the Royal Capital with the slaves, and how he went searching for Avalon.”
Lin Gui interrupted his emotional outburst, demanding specific details.
Erwin didn't dare hide anything and haltingly recounted the incident that had shocked the Royal Capital.
How Roger had suddenly made his move just when the First Prince trusted him the most.
How, relying on his familiarity with the palace guards,
he had led a group of slaves he had secretly freed and gathered beforehand,
breaking through multiple layers of blockades and escaping the Royal Capital.
From then on, he had embarked on a journey to find the mythical “Avalon.”
Lin Gui after listening, fell silent for a moment before asking,
“Avalon only exists in nursery rhymes and legends. Why was he so certain it existed? What was his basis?”
“W-We found it strange as well...” Erwin swallowed hard.
“We only heard that he often visited the refugee district to talk with a rambling old beggar...”
“We all thought he had been tricked by that crazy old man...”
Lin Gui pressed coldly,
“Do you actually believe that reason yourself? After the incident, did your family not secretly investigate that old beggar?”
“We didn't dare to investigate!” Erwin's voice trembled with a sob.
“Because of Roger, our family has been subjected to relentless suppression and retaliation from the late First Prince's faction...”
“My other children... were assassinated one after another in revenge... We could barely protect ourselves, so how could we dare to dig any deeper...”
Lin Gui paused for a moment, lifting his head. His gaze bypassed Erwin to look at Fal, who was watching anxiously from a distance. He asked,
“Is what he said true?”
Fal clutched his still-bleeding shoulder.
Watching his usually overbearing “father” lying on the ground like a dead dog, he swallowed hard and nodded.
“Yes... Actually, almost everyone in the upper echelons of the Royal Capital knows about this, but out of respect for the royal family's authority, no one dares to speak of it publicly...”
He hesitated, looking at Lin Gui. As if making a final decision, he gritted his teeth and said,
“I... I know someone who might know the detailed reason why Uncle Roger was so set on going to Avalon...”
“If I tell you, can you let us leave safely?”
Lin Gui became interested. “Oh? Let's hear it.”
Fal took a deep breath and spoke the name:
“The Eldest Princess, Diana Carter... She was Uncle Roger's... ex-girlfriend.”
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