bookrebus Chapter 59 Sacrifice
Chapter 59 Sacrifice
Castle of the Counts of Cosson, inner castle.
The firelight outside the window shone on everyone in the castle, and various rumbling sounds had already reminded the rebels in the castle that their trial was about to come.
Everyone in the hall was waiting anxiously. They were basically mixed-race nobles of Bardem and Yoda. The only thing they hoped for now was to return to their hometown of Yoda. They didn't want Bardem's land, wealth, and people anymore. As long as they could return to Yoda, they could continue to live their dissolute life.
"What's the news from Yoda?" The third prince asked Count Kesong in a room.
Count Kesong opened the letter carried by the carrier pigeon that had just flown from Yoda. He broke out in a cold sweat when he saw the first line of words, and then said tremblingly:
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty said that since the offensive in the southern battlefield was frustrated, no reinforcements have arrived. Let us improvise and break out of the chaos and return to Yoda..."
"Didn't I give so much money to His Majesty the Emperor to support him? He used the money to hire soldiers for me to come and rescue me!" The third prince grabbed Count Kosong's collar and said before he finished listening.
"Your Highness, please be gentle. His Majesty the Emperor has his difficulties. He is now carrying out drastic reforms, and many areas require money, so it is normal for him to behave like this." Count Kosong explained.
"Is my throne less important than a noble, a minister, and a reform?" the third prince roared at Count Kozon.
"It is definitely more important for our emperor to handle his own country's affairs than your small country's diplomacy," Count Kesong thought, but he didn't dare to say anything. He could only stare blankly, waiting for the third prince to finish yelling, then kick open the door and go out. Suddenly, a plan popped up in Count Kesong's mind, for some reason...
The third prince came to the hall in extreme anger. At this time, the shouting and killing outside were getting closer and closer, which meant that the Midlan army had already attacked the outer city and was heading towards the inner city. At this moment, the anxious nobles in the hall were the guards protecting them.
However, at this moment, there was a man who was secretly rejoicing, and he was the Second Prince. After being captured, the Second Prince decisively admitted defeat and acknowledged that the Third Prince was the only heir to the throne. Therefore, the Third Prince did not make things difficult for him and just let him follow his army. After all, he did not want to be named as a parricide. However, he openly and secretly placed a bunch of guards to monitor the Second Prince.
But now, the situation has changed. The Midlan people have attacked, and he can become king again with the recommendation of Midlan. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile. The nobles next to him knew what he was thinking at a glance, but this was not the time to be angry. Some nobles gathered around him, hoping that the second prince would not kill the Midlan people after they came in, but let them go back to Yoda, and gave away a lot of money or precious treasures.
"Okay, okay." The second prince smiled and took the money. He turned around and wanted to wait for the soldiers of Midlan to come and let them stab all these people to death. These traitors still want to serve him as a king? If he really lets them work with him, then when the historians write history in the future, they will write that the king worked with a group of traitors. How will future generations look at me?
When the second prince turned around, he saw the angry third prince, looking angrily at the nobles around him, and then saw a group of nobles surrounding the second prince, saying unhappily:
"What are you doing?"
The second prince looked at the people around him, and then said boldly: "Third brother, now the world has changed, the Midlan people have fought back, at this time, I have a good way to save your life, which can allow you to return to Yoda safely without spending a penny."
When the nobles heard this, they all turned to look at him. After all, he was the one who had the most dealings with the Midlan people.
Seeing that the atmosphere was almost heated, the second prince said, "Everyone knows that the Mitlan people supported me as the King of Balden before, and now they are fighting here, in large part because of me. So, as long as you swear to me that you will hand over all your lands in Balden and Yoda, and never set foot on Balden's land from now on, then I can guarantee that you can return to Yoda safely."
"Bold!" the third prince shouted at him and continued to roar:
"You are a defeated man. If you were not related to me by blood, I would have thrown you into prison long ago!"
After listening to him, the second prince said directly: "How can I not know what you are thinking? I am your brother, I know what you are thinking. Aren't you just afraid that the Yoda people will occupy the King of Balden and then refuse to leave? You want to take me with you to let Midlan and Yoda fight, so that you can take advantage of the opportunity to gain the most benefits with the smallest price. Do you really think I don't understand? My father and ancestors have come to where they are today step by step, how can I not understand?"
The second prince saw that it was almost done, so he prepared to give the third prince a way out, so he continued:
"Third brother, that's enough. You have been unwilling to accept defeat since childhood. Now bow your head and admit your mistakes. At most, you will be punished by our father and not allowed to leave the house. When I become king, I will definitely release you!"
The nobles saw the sound of artillery fire getting louder and louder, and they could only urge the third prince:
"Your Highness, please give the order to surrender quickly. We can't hold on any longer."
"Your Highness, please give the order immediately."
The third prince was a little shaken by these words, wondering if he had no choice but to surrender.
Just then, Count Kesong came over with his soldiers, swords in hand.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to take us away? Have the Yoda people sent troops?" The third prince said with surprise. In his opinion, it was certain that the Yoda people were going to send troops.
Unexpectedly, Count Kosong didn't waste any time talking to him. He stabbed him in the stomach with a sword, and then kicked him onto a huge potted plant. When the potted plant hit the bottom, the vase underneath broke directly, and the debris caused the third prince to suffer secondary injuries, and his blood mixed with the soil of the potted plant.
"What are you doing!" The second prince was also shocked. He didn't expect that someone would dare to assassinate a member of the royal family.
"Everyone, let's quickly open the city gates and surrender. His Majesty Yoda has already said that he will use diplomatic means to get us back to Yoda alive, but the third prince must be sacrificed. If he doesn't die, a lot of trouble will happen." Count Kesong glanced at the second prince and turned to the nobles present.
How could the Third Prince not see that he was obviously abandoned by the Yoda people and had no use anymore? So they let the nobles kill him under the pretext of clearing out the rebels for Balden and make the evidence of their cooperation disappear.
A great feeling of despair filled the Third Prince's body. Due to the continuous blood loss, the Third Prince felt that the life was slipping away from his whole body. He began to have hallucinations. The bright red ground was turning into pieces of lava-like stones, and the entire hall was like entering hell.
"Am I in hell?" thought the third prince.
Suddenly he touched something like a hard stone, and after careful exploration he found that it was a black stone. However, unlike other ordinary stones, this stone had some intricate features, as if they were placed randomly on the stone.
But to the third prince, this was the devil's token and the devil wanted to make a deal with him.
Feeling that his life was about to end, the third prince shouted: "Whoever you are, help me, I still want to live!"
In an instant, the stone features soaked in blood began to wriggle, and then began to rearrange themselves on the entire surface of the stone, eventually forming a human-like face, and suddenly opened its eyes and mouth, as if chanting something. Then, as the stone's eyes began to bleed, the entire hall changed its appearance.
"How is this going?"
"Where are we!"
"The devil?"
The nobles were all at a loss, and then suddenly four tall figures appeared from the distance. They were all tall and wore black cloaks, but without exception, they all had monster faces.
One of the giant creatures with no face and its entire brain exposed said:
"We are the hands of God walking in the world, God's messengers, the chosen ones, please offer your sacrifice and speak your wishes."
The third prince turned around and looked after hearing this.
"No need to look, it's you, tell me your wish." said the Hand of God.
"I... I want to survive, I want to become the king of Balden." The third prince said quickly after hearing this.
"Oh... do you want to gain the power to rule the kingdom? We can fulfill your wish, but please offer tribute to us first." said the Hand of God.
"Do you think I can offer anything as tribute?" said the third prince.
“Hehe, anyone who wants to make a deal with the Hand of God needs to sacrifice his loved ones.” said a smaller, bald, and sunglasses-wearing Hand of God.
"For example, the one next to you." As the hand of God pointed, the third prince saw that he was referring to his second brother, the second prince.
At this time, the second prince was ready to rescue the third prince after Count Kesong assassinated him, but he was also frozen in place, too frightened to move. Hearing this, he hurriedly cried to the third prince:
"Third brother, don't do this. Think about how good I was to you when we were little..."
The third prince also remembered that, because the eldest prince needed to study, the second prince used to play with him every time and would give the third prince good things.
"I...I..." The third prince was caught in a dilemma where he couldn't choose between family affection or power.
"Hehe... If you don't seize the opportunity now, you won't have this opportunity in the future. Family ties can be cultivated later, but once power is lost, it can never be returned." The hand of God wearing sunglasses whispered in his ear at this time.
Finally, the Third Prince looked at the Second Prince, and in the Second Prince's desperate eyes, he said to the Hand of God in the coldest and most ruthless tone:
"Sacrifice."
Outside the castle
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
John was leading his troops to besiege the castle. As long as they could capture this gate, they could march straight in.
Suddenly a cold wind blew across the back of his neck, and John suddenly felt a chill.
“It feels like something bad is going to happen.”
Suddenly, a roar was heard from the castle, which scared John and the soldiers. The rebels on the city wall were also at a loss as to what was going on inside the castle that caused so much excitement.
Then all the lights in the castle went out, and various screams were heard from inside, causing both the rebels and the Midland army to fall into silence.
After a while, the shouting stopped and the whole castle fell into silence.
John was about to ask the commander at this time: "What are you, the Third Prince, doing again... Shit!"
Suddenly, the wall of the castle's main entrance began to collapse, splashing a cloud of dust. Then, a huge beak was exposed outside the castle, and when the smoke dissipated, the entire body of the monster was exposed.