Chapter 705: Blood-Colored Iris, Part 2

"This was not accidental, Your Highness. Even that Lausanne II may be serving the duke! No matter what, you cannot remain here any longer..." Wya said in a low voice.

"Over these few hours, they acted separately," Captain Cecil said on the other side, gnashing his teeth. His words made Zayen frown repeatedly. "They successively probed a fallen noble, a swindler, a security officer, a City Hall clerk, and a casino errand runner for key information."

"What information?" Zayen asked in a deep voice.

Cecil hesitated. He leaned close to the duke's ear and whispered something.

Zayen's gaze sharpened.

He looked toward Thales, his eyes cold.

Aside from this, what else did this little brat ask about?

"Wait! I think I more or less understand. There should be some misunderstanding in the middle!"

Hilley stood between them and waved hard.

"But no matter what, this is not the way to handle the problem..."

Unfortunately, at this moment, no one on either side of the field paid attention to her.

"Unfortunately, we learned too late..." Wya whispered.

"Fortunately, we discovered it in time..." Cecil said to Zayen.

"The arena is full of Jade Legion soldiers and security officers now, and more support keeps coming," Wya sighed softly to Thales. "They have the advantage in strength. Our situation is unfavorable..."

"A net has been spread around the arena precisely for this moment," Cecil said coldly. "No matter what their plan is, it cannot succeed..."

After listening to the report, Zayen took a deep breath and stared fixedly at Thales.

"Cecil, are you certain?"

"Very certain, my lord," Captain Cecil said with unquestionable certainty. "Before this, they were searching for exits, probing and even directly striking at weak points in our security. At least one team was lured away from its post by false communication. They must have guilty consciences and prepared an escape plan early!"

Thales thought over the crucial points and looked at his attendant.

"Wya, what are you planning to do now?"

"Each of us has our own duty, Your Highness," Wya said nervously. "Komuto and the others are creating confusion and trying to lure away the guards. Kusta went to clear obstacles and arrange an escape route. Genard is leading Jennie and waiting outside the arena. The incident happened too suddenly, and we could not find Standard-Bearer Hugo, but there is no time to worry about that..."

"Therefore, I have reason to believe, Your Grace," Captain Cecil said, sweeping his large hand outward, "that the present chaos in the arena, including those two impostor contestants, are merely a diversion, a lure to draw the tiger away from the mountain, all for this moment, so they can act against you!"

"When we reach the place, please do not hesitate and do not look back. Mount the horse and run. It would be best to run out of the city and find subjects loyal to the royal family..." Wya looked ready to die. "As long as you alone can escape, the rest of us will be safe..."

Thales and Zayen looked at each other from afar.

Both gazes were filled with suspicion.

"Your initial order was correct," Captain Cecil said through gritted teeth. "This Highness is very dangerous. He should have been isolated and protected, held separately. Only wait for your command, Your Grace."

Zayen gently raised a hand.

"Wait, Cecil."

"Wait for my signal, Your Highness." Wya glanced at everyone and pushed Warning into Thales' hands. "We will cover the rear..."

Thales sighed.

"Wya, wait..."

Facing the two sides with swords drawn and bows bent, Hilley felt her headache worsen the longer she looked.

"Cassian, can you stop this conflict?"

"Of course," Cassian said with a slight smile. "Which side would you like me to attack?"

Hilley let out a long sigh.

"Everyone, can we calm down? So many people are watching. You had better think of a good excuse, such as the duke and the prince being moved by sudden interest and drilling their subordinates on the stand?"

Right. Terrible.

Thales looked at the guards rushing over from all around the arena, felt the gazes from other stands, and immediately developed a headache.

So many people are still watching... Hm?

The next second, Thales was startled.

So many people are watching...

Right. What had he just thought of? If you do not kill people and take lives, no one will listen...

At this moment, the host's voice, which had fallen silent for a while because of the accident at the duke's stand, rang through the arena again.

"Wait, you... why are you... coming this way..."

Only this time, his voice was extremely panicked.

Everyone turned together. The black-armored warrior and the white-clad swordsman, those two rule-breakers, had somehow broken through layer after layer of guards and now stood beneath the host platform.

The white-clad swordsman nodded to the black-armored warrior. He passed the latter and walked up to the host platform without hurry.

Thales shuddered and shoved aside the people before him.

"Stop them!"

He pointed at the distant host platform and roared at Zayen.

"They want to seize the host platform! The sound tube!"

Everyone froze for a second.

But soon, Zayen also realized something. His expression changed.

"Cecil!"

Yet distant water could not put out a nearby fire. The white-clad swordsman reached the host platform and approached step by step.

The host's voice, originally full of breath and strength, instantly changed pitch.

"No, no, no, you cannot come up here! I am still commentating on the selection meeting... Do not touch the sound tube... no, ah! Ow! No, no, no, help!"

On this side, Cecil was still urgently giving orders. On that side, the struggle and fighting on the host platform spread through the sound tube to the entire arena.

Soon, a strange, cold voice replaced the host's and sounded in the arena.

"You. Get out."

The host screamed, rolled down the stairs, and fled in a hurry.

The accident on the host platform shook the entire field through the sound tube, drawing everyone's attention at once. Even the two sides facing each other on the duke's stand paused. Aside from the contestants still fighting in the main field with self-forgetful intensity, the entire arena burst into uproar. More than ten seconds later, an even greater cry came from the crowd outside the arena.

"What happened up there?"

"Someone has gone mad trying to become famous, right?"

"Trying to steal the duke and prince's spotlight?"

"This kind of thing has happened before. Wait until the guards catch him. Then he can wait to eat prison food..."

"No! I bet on him!"

Vassals, nobles, merchants, foreign guests... almost everyone stood from their seats, startled and uncertain. Some even wanted to cross the railings to watch the commotion, only to be stopped by security officers and green caps.

"I know..."

At this moment, that unfamiliar and cold voice, the white-clad swordsman's voice, rang out again, shaking the arena.

"I know, Jade City. I know you did not come to the selection meeting to see this."

He tightened his voice.

"But now, listen. To. Me."

The spectators in the major stands fell silent. Even some of the contestants still fighting in the field stopped.

The white-clad swordsman stood on the host platform. His face was still hidden behind his helmet as he surveyed the entire selection meeting arena.

"I understand," Thales said, staring fixedly at what was happening on the opposite host platform. "He is doing what you once did."

Zayen turned back in surprise. "What? What I once did?"

"The royal banquet. Remember? Anker Byrael," Thales said in a trance. "He is forcing everyone to listen, and then..."

Zayen's eyes focused.

"Listen to what? Who is Anker Byrael?" Hilley still did not understand.

Thales and Zayen exchanged a look. Both understood something.

"Fall back, Star Lake Guard," Thales sighed. "Now."

"Put away your weapons, Cecil," Zayen ordered as well. "Our enemy is not here."

The men on both sides froze, but the white-clad swordsman's voice rang through the arena again, drawing away attention and contributing to the disappearance of their hostility.

"As you all know, this morning, Security Officer Kaquere unfortunately died in Jade City."

His voice was very low and deep, his speed unhurried, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of grief and anger.

"A person. A life. A husband. A father. Dead in the street."

Kaquere's death was the major news of the morning. The entire arena immediately exploded. The reactions in each stand differed.

The noble vassals were cautious, each closing their mouths. The officials and clerks looked serious and exchanged glances. The merchants were panicked and whispered to one another. The foreign guests grew curious, waiting to see the show. As for the mixed public stands, buzzing spread everywhere as people discussed excitedly.

Of course, even more people turned, naturally or unnaturally, to look at the duke's stand.

"Damn it. I thought their target was either you or me," Zayen said darkly to Thales.

Hilley frowned.

"What about me?"

"So the main focus of the deployment was on this side, and we ignored the host platform. But..." Zayen ignored his sister and took a deep breath. "But it does not matter. Since they have shown themselves, this is easier to handle."

Thales urged everyone to put away their weapons and sank into thought.

The voice in the sound tube grew louder.

"But he was not the only one!"

On the host platform, the white-clad swordsman raised both arms.

"In these days, too many people have died in Jade City. A wine merchant, a wool merchant, a Security Hall chief, a defense lawyer, an accountant, the son of a former mercenary, and more... They all died violently, yet all were kept from daylight, unknown to others, all for some absurd reason!"

Thales exchanged looks with Zayen and Hilley and felt the shock and unease in each of them.

Below the host platform, the black-armored warrior swung his sword repeatedly and, in an instant, dealt with two teams of guards who tried to approach.

"That is..." Wya looked at the black-armored warrior's skill, startled and uncertain.

"Yes. It is him," someone said gravely. "He is not dead."

But he was no longer the greatest threat.

Thales looked from afar at the white-clad man on the host platform.

"Yet the true murderer who killed them not only hides behind the curtain and remains free, but slanders and frames others, trying to plant the blame on the kingdom's heir!"

The white-clad man spoke coldly.

"Trying to drive away the prince who brought fairness and justice to Jade City."

Thales frowned deeply. Wya stood a little closer to the prince.

"...all to hide his own false and ugly face, and to cover up the monstrous evil he once committed."

The next second, the white-clad swordsman raised his head and pointed his longsword directly at the duke's stand across the arena. He shouted angrily.

"Yes, Zayen Covendier!"

"Our wise duke. You, you are the true murderer behind the curtain!"

The white-clad swordsman spoke loudly.

"You killed the wine merchant Dagori Moss! You killed the wool merchant Diop! You killed Security Hall Chief Jeff Rene! You killed the defense lawyer Srimanny! You killed the nameless boxer Bolwin! And you killed Prince Thales' security officer, Security Officer Kaquere!"

The spectator stands burst into uproar again.

The white-clad swordsman's words were like a thunderbolt exploding across the entire arena.

"My heavens..."

"What is going on..."

"It must be slander. Empty words, one-sided claims. Do not believe it..."

"It is a conspiracy by foreign forces!"

"But what if it is true?"

"Keep talking! I still want to listen!"

"Cecil!"

On the duke's stand, Zayen said coldly, "What is taking so long?"

Cecil was drenched in cold sweat as he urged his subordinates again and again.

"It is too late. Most of the legion has been drawn over here by what happened on this side," Cassian sighed. "And the host platform is too far from here. Between us and it are contestants who do not understand what is going on, spectators craning their necks and squeezing forward..."

"And a supreme-class expert blocking the way," Glover said, staring at the black-armored warrior.

Zayen held the railing, his expression unreadable.

"But what is this? Why?" Hilley asked in confusion. "Just to seize the sound tube and throw dirt on you?"

"No. It is misdirection," Thales suddenly said, drawing their attention.

"What?"

"Young Bolwin's death was not for Jade City to see," Thales shook his head. "It was for you to see, Zayen. Perhaps even only for you to see."

Zayen's eyes tightened. His fist clenched.

"Then, then you would be misdirected. You would take measures as they expected, respond, try to counter them, and do..." Thales sighed. "Those things you 'had to do.'"

"The things they wanted you to do."

The things they wanted you to do...

"I did not kill them," Zayen said through gritted teeth.

"I know. But at this moment, what matters is no longer whether you killed them. It is..." Thales' voice was low. He shook his head.

Hilley heard this, and her expression slowly changed as well.

"But not only that, Zayen. Not only that..."

The white-clad swordsman's voice echoed through the arena beneath the night sky, making the lamplight tremble.

"Killing them was not enough. You also mobilized every connection and method you had, from top to bottom, from black to white, from the Blood Bottle Gang to the Security Hall, bending the law for private reasons, fabricating facts, burying secrets, falsifying the truth... Why? Why? Ask Jade City, what matter could drive you so mad that you would bury them at any cost and never let the world know?"

Zayen stared fixedly at the white-clad man on the host platform, his eyes nearly splitting with rage.

"But I know, Jade City. I know why."

The noise in the arena grew louder and louder. It became increasingly difficult for the security officers to maintain order at every stand and exit.

After great effort, two more teams of guards broke through the crowd and rushed beneath the host platform with torches raised. But the black-armored warrior stood at the bottom of the stairs, one man holding the pass against ten thousand.

"Because, because eleven years ago..."

At that moment, Thales keenly noticed that Zayen, beside him, trembled slightly.

"Dagori Moss, who was still a nobody at the time, received a sum of money from an unknown source," the white-clad swordsman narrated, his voice heavy with grief. "With that money, he found Diop, a newly initiated intermediary between the black and white worlds, and hired a professional killer, Bolwin, who lived by licking blood from the blade."

"Thus, that year, Duke Lenster was unfortunately assassinated."

As his words fell, the entire arena erupted into a tremendous wave of sound, like sea surf striking the shore.

Moss, Diop, Bolwin...

Wya exchanged looks with the others, then hurriedly pulled out the notebook in his clothes and flipped through it.

"Cecil!"

Above the stand, Zayen suddenly shouted in fury.

"Stop the match! Charge directly into the field, destroy that damned sound tube, and arrest them! Now! Now!"

"S-stop the match? But my lord, according to the rules of the selection meeting, before a winner is decided... If we let the army charge in..."

"Fuck the rules!"

Zayen roared without regard for his bearing, half his body leaning out of the stand.

"It is my family's selection meeting. I decide the rules!"

The duke's appearance drew many people's attention. Many began discussing. Hilley reacted fastest and immediately pulled her brother back.

"It is all right, Knight Cecil. Treat this as a public security violation. The mad words of one lunatic are not worth mobilizing the entire Jade Legion. Besides, so many foreign guests are watching."

"No! I want you to now..."

"Zayen!"

Hilley gripped her brother's hand fiercely and cut him off sharply.

"This will only make us more embarrassed and less able to explain ourselves!"

The Duke of South Coast stared blankly at his sister, seemingly unable to react.

Hilley took a deep breath, leaned forward, pressed her forehead to his, and looked into her brother's eyes.

"Do not forget, brother. We are Covendier. We are the tricolor iris. We cannot fall into the enemy's scheme!"

Hearing the family name, Zayen trembled slightly.

Several seconds later, he took a deep breath, tightly clasped his sister's hand in return, and nodded in a daze.

"Yes. Yes, Hilley. You are... you are right..."

Thales watched all of this and frowned.

Cecil was somewhat lost, but Cassian patted his shoulder. After hesitating briefly, Cecil nodded and turned away.

"And after that..."

Unfortunately, the white-clad man's words had not ended.

"Security Hall Chief Jeff Rene, carrying the hope and anger of the entire Jade City, pursued the case and discovered that it was a case of kin-slaying between brothers. Thus, he arrested the so-called true murderer.

"The process of the case and the closing report were personally recorded and written by the famed case-solver and first-class security officer Srimanny. From evidence to motive, the entire case was complete, seamless, and ironclad."

The white-clad man let out a faint cold laugh.

"Thus, the 'true murderer' found by the Security Hall, the impartial and respected Honorary Viscount of Archsea City, Sonar Covendier, was thrown into prison."

"Yet no matter what torture and threats he received, he refused to confess and refused to submit. Until one day, the jailer guarding his cell, Captain Kaquere, reported that Viscount Sonar had 'committed suicide out of guilt' in prison, leaving behind only a stiffly worded and hastily written 'suicide note' admitting his crime: murdering his brother and rebelling."

The white-clad swordsman chuckled as he reached this point.

The noise in the arena grew even louder. Everyone was engaged in heated discussion amid shock, excitement, and fear.

Rene, Srimanny, Kaquere...

Thales was stunned.

Wya listened to these names, flipped through his notes, and his expression grew uglier and uglier.

"Yes. Moss, Diop, Bolwin, Rene, Srimanny, and Kaquere..."

"Because of that past, over the following eleven years, they received rewards. Some rose rapidly, some gained wealth, some achieved fame, and some, even though their father had committed the grave crime of assassination, could still live without worries for food or clothing."

The white-clad man's words carried deep hatred.

"But also because of that past, eleven years later, when someone began investigating the old affair, when the central royal family began suspecting the truth, when Prince Thales began pursuing the old case, and when the true murderer behind the curtain wanted to cover up the past to protect himself, they were silenced and died violently. Even the methods of their deaths were fabricated, unknown to others and kept from daylight!"

"Is that true, Your Highness?" Wya looked at Thales in surprise. "Did you truly... come for this?"

Thales let out a breath.

Fine. Even Wya thinks so.

The clamor in the arena grew louder and louder. The messengers responsible for announcing victories and defeats did not dare carry these words outside the field, but others had already spread them.

"Yes, Jade City!"

The next second, the white-clad man suddenly raised his longsword.

"Your beloved Duke Zayen is a beast without conscience!"

As though cooperating with him, the sound waves in the arena grew louder and louder.

Even many of those responsible for maintaining order, soldiers from the Jade Legion and officers from the Security Hall, looked terrified.

"Eleven years ago, he hired a murderer to kill his own father, the respected old duke, Lenster Covendier, and then framed his uncle, deceiving the entire kingdom. Only then did he finally sit upon a bloodstained throne and become the Duke of South Coast!"

The white-clad man roared, his voice tearing through his heart and lungs.

"The unjust duke who murdered his father, destroyed his kin, and is steeped in evil!"

At that moment, Thales froze.

Hilley froze as well. Instinctively, she released Zayen and stepped back.

The Duke of South Coast trembled slightly. He looked at his sister's movement, his gaze complicated.

But he said nothing. He merely turned back and stared fixedly at the white-clad man on the host platform, his face rigid and silent.

On the stand, the confrontation between the duke's side and the prince's side had long vanished. In its place, both groups wore the same shock.

"I said it, did I not? We were right. Patricide, framing kin, silencing witnesses, suppressing the truth..." one guard said in terror. "That... do we still need to take His Highness and... run..."

"It no longer matters. Look at this scene," Glover said, listening to the mountain-roaring, sea-surging sound beside his ears. "I refuse to believe he can kill everyone in Jade City to silence them."

"That is not certain. Those nobles... for fame, power, and position, you never know what they dare to do," Morgan said in a muffled voice, his eyes drifting. "Whether the price is one person, one village, or an entire city."

"Wait, you know His Highness is also a noble, right?" someone turned back and said.

"They, these people, Moss, Diop, Srimanny... these dead," Wya said, flipping through his notes in disbelief. "Did these dead people truly, truly do those things back then? The duke's succession?"

"No. I do not believe it."

"Really?" Wya turned to look at Paul.

Paul nodded, his tone cold.

"If it were true, they would not have lived until now."

Everyone could not help glancing sideways.

"Oh. They really did not live until now," someone interjected.

Paul glared at him and exhaled.

"What matters is not whether they did it or not," Miranda said faintly, drawing everyone's attention. "It is that they are already dead, and all of this can no longer be verified."

She raised her eyes and looked at the stiff back of the Duke of South Coast.

"By now, the only thing that can be verified, or rather, the thing they want us to verify, is..."

He supported himself with one hand on the railing, facing an entire arena alone, bearing the accusations and judgment of countless gazes. His figure swayed as though about to collapse.

Beside him, Hilley's expression was dazed, and her hands trembled.

Thales clenched his fists and walked out of the Star Lake Guard's protection without allowing argument.

"Zayen, Hilley, listen. In this situation, I can help..."

"Oh, of course. Of course you can help. Ha. Help." Zayen's cold laugh was full of sarcasm, making Thales stop.

Thales swallowed and turned to Hilley for help.

"But first, you have to tell me who that fellow is."

"Hilley!"

Hilley trembled slightly and only then came back to herself.

"Oh, he is..."

"Not important!" Zayen suddenly spoke, interrupting them.

"In the past, he was a stubborn rebel," the duke said, his voice cold as frost. "Now, he is a rebel spreading demonic words to confuse the public."

Thales sighed and tried to speak gently.

"Zayen..."

But Zayen interrupted him again.

"He thinks he has won."

Zayen raised his head and looked at Federico on the host platform, and at the blood-colored iris flag in his hand.

"But he forgot that in a wager, the one with more chips wins in the end."

Thales' brow twitched.

"Captain Cecil!"

Zayen suddenly raised his voice, startling everyone.

Cecil shuddered and dropped to one knee in a posture he had never shown before.

"My lord!"

The Duke of South Coast slowly turned back. His gaze was dim, yet firm and unshaken.

"Do you and your Jade Legion still remain loyal to me? Loyal to the iris?"

"Unto death!"

"Good."

Listening to their exchange, Thales suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Behind Hilley, Cassian frowned.

"Listen. The selection meeting has encountered an accident and has already ended ahead of schedule," Zayen said hoarsely.

Ended ahead of schedule...

Cecil was startled but still nodded.

"Yes."

"Lead the team personally. Choose only soldiers you can trust. Have the Jade Legion seal the entire arena, maintain order, and pacify the chaos. Remember especially: take down the instigators and search for their accomplices."

Cecil's eyes sharpened.

"If there is resistance, disobedience, suspicion, or anyone who obstructs..."

Zayen turned around, his gaze icy.

"Kill without mercy."

Thales' heart trembled.

In the distance, the blood-colored iris flag fluttered in the firelight.

Bright.

Yet gloomy.