Chapter 573: Endgame (Middle)
Chapter 573: Endgame (Middle)
"..."
Upon hearing Lyon's words, Prince Andre, his body covered in snake scales, fell silent for a moment. He then turned his head to look at Felicia beside him, his lips quivered slightly, but he said nothing.
"Andre, this is your last chance."
"I..."
Upon hearing Lyon's reminder, Prince Andre trembled slightly, looking at his sister beside him, filled with pain. Finally, he whispered in a low voice:
"I'm sorry... I... I'm not a good brother..."
"..."
Felicia, her face filled with pain, turned her face to look at him softly, then shook her head. She extended her arm, covered in raven feathers, and trembled as she gently tapped his shoulder. Though she said nothing, it was as if everything had been said.
Upon receiving her gaze, Prince Andre's eyes, brimming with tears, suddenly fell, and he spoke with regret:
"I'm sorry, Felicia! It's my fault, and I'm sorry to all of you. If... if we hadn't been born in the Corlock Kingdom, how wonderful it would have been..."
Hmm... wait, what?
Hearing this, Lyon beside him was slightly startled, as if he had vaguely grasped something, but it was hazy and not quite clear.
Prince Andre, on the other hand, hugged Felicia, whose body was covered in raven feathers, and sobbed incoherently:
"It's all my fault. I was too... If... if we hadn't been born into the royal family, if we didn't have this damned bloodline, then maybe... maybe our whole family could..."
"Wait a moment!"
When Prince Andre was halfway through his crying, Lyon hissed and slapped him hard on the back.
"Quick! Repeat what you just said!"
"Huh?"
Being forcefully interrupted while crying his heart out, Prince Andre was momentarily stunned, then exclaimed in bewilderment:
"Maybe our whole family could..."
"Not that part! Say it again, but earlier!"
Earlier...
"If we hadn't been born into the royal family, if we didn't have this damned..."
"That's it!"
Finally grasping the inspiration, Lyon slapped his thigh and pulled Prince Andre's soul off the ground, asking loudly:
"Quickly tell me, what is the 'constraint' you signed? Is it like a switch that, once triggered, can't be stopped, or does it continue to trigger based on the current state?"
"It continues to trigger..."
Somewhat confused, Andre pointed to the three blood beads floating between his eyebrows and said:
"These three are the blood oath beads, and they are also the marks responsible for enforcing the blood oath. It seems that in the past, several members died due to accidentally violating the blood oath, so now, unless it's a direct and intentional leak, it's been changed to this continuous trigger method..."
"Then there's a chance! Kneel down now! Immediately announce your surrender to me!"
"Huh?"
"Don't you understand? All three of your constraints have prerequisites!"
Pointing to the three blood beads floating between Prince Andre's eyebrows, Lyon repeated the three constraints and then explained:
"As long as the Corlock Kingdom exists, you cannot leave; you cannot give birth to royal offspring; you cannot have the Corlock royal family arrested and taken away... All of this is contingent on the royal family! Do you understand?"
"Your meaning is..."
"What I mean is, I now represent the Travelling Magpie Kingdom in declaring war. By capturing the two of you, the last of the royal family, we can directly annihilate the Corlock Kingdom!"
As Prince Andre stood there in a daze, Lyon reminded him:
"Only the ruler of a kingdom is considered royalty. If the Corlock Kingdom is no more, then what royalty do you have left?"
Without any members of the royal family being captured and taken away by the Cleanup Bureau, will your blood oath still hold?"
It should... stop?!"
Following Lyon's train of thought, Prince Andre couldn't help but tremble with excitement. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Isn't this a little far-fetched? Can it really work?"
"You'll never know unless you try, right?"
Lyon helped the Emerald-Eyed Girl up and, with Andre kneeling before him, pulled the prince down to kneel as well. They staged the simplest surrender ceremony in history. Lyon then broke off a branch from a nearby tree to use as a ceremonial sword, placing it on Andre's shoulder. He declared in a loud voice, "I, Lyon Lien, during my diplomatic mission to the Corlock Kingdom, discovered the hidden evil within its borders. Thus, on behalf of the Skylark Kingdom, I declare war, conquer the Corlock Royal Palace, capture the last two members of the Corlock Royal Family, and announce the fall of the Corlock Kingdom!"
"..."
"What are you waiting for? Do you want your sister to lose her life? Surrender quickly!"
"..."
Surrender was an option, but this ceremony was somewhat humiliating. Generally, even in a genuine surrender, one wouldn't have to kowtow to the victor.
As Lyon repeatedly urged him to surrender, Prince Andre's mouth twitched involuntarily. With a 'dead horse as a doctor' mindset, he pulled his sister and bowed to Lyon.
"I... Andre, the third prince of Corlock, together with the sixth princess, Felicia... we surrender to you and hereby renounce our Corlock Royal Family status..."
As Andre spoke, the tricolor blood orb between their eyebrows began to tremble and then visibly disintegrate before their eyes.
It's working! It's actually possible!
Who would've thought that such a ridiculous method could bypass the blood oath? The fallen prince, Andre, couldn't help but stand up in excitement.
However, just as the tricolor blood orb was halfway through its disintegration, it stopped and ceased to crumble further. Instead, it slowly came to a halt, still spinning quietly, relentlessly shattering their world.
Is it still not enough?
Seeing that the blood orbs had only shrunk a little, but were still destroying their souls, Andre's eyes, filled with anticipation, dimmed.
As expected, such a farcical method couldn't completely bypass the Butcher King Guild's constraints. It merely loosened the grip around their throats, but their fate remained unchanged.
"Is it possible that this condition alone isn't sufficient?" Lyon asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the partially shrunken tricolor blood orbs.
"In your oath, there are conditions stating that you must not leave the Corlock Kingdom and that you cannot be taken away from the kingdom by the Cleanup Bureau. So, aside from renouncing your royal status, could the land of the Corlock Kingdom itself be part of the blood oath's conditions?"
???
In other words, you've only completed a 'surrender' but haven't actually 'occupied' the Corlock Kingdom's territory. So, it doesn't count as completely destroying the Corlock Kingdom, and the blood oath can't be fully terminated?
With the previous example in mind, Prince Andre instantly understood Lyon's plan. His cheeks twitched as he asked, "You want to..."
"Destroy the entire Corlock Kingdom!"
(End of Chapter)
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