Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

"What... happened here? What are these...?"

Dagda's voice trembled slightly; she wasn't frightened out of shock, but rather genuinely terrified.

These are two similar yet completely different emotions. Fear is merely a sensory stimulus, while terror originates from within, making it difficult for her to even accept.

This place is full of corpses.

The corpses of soldiers, knights, and armored figures, who had been sleeping in their tombs, now resembled indifferent executioners. Their figures, holding the national sword "Breath of Kings," stood on both sides of the palace, and under the gaze of their pupil-less statues were countless severed limbs.

Some of them were piled up, already highly decomposed; others were simply mutilated, and most had turned into skeletons. The perpetually dark environment, where no sunlight was ever seen, made the stench difficult to dissipate, accumulating into an almost suffocating stench. But this wasn't even the most unbearable part.

What's most devastating is seeing the powerless steam knight mechs lying on either side of the steps, riddled with cracks and wounds.

Why is the Steam Knight here?

The sound of Allardy swallowing was amplified in the silence, and her trembling voice made everyone feel her pain even more.

"Since that incident, the Steam Knights have disappeared from Victoria. I thought they either died on the battlefield or were disbanded. But why are they here?"

As a special unit of Victoria, the existence of the Steam Knights is like that of the Celestial Masters to the Great Yan, the Inner Guards to Ursus, and the Gun Riders to Lateran. They are not only a special and powerful fighting force, but also a symbol of a nation and a people.

A unit of steam knights was once Victoria's greatest asset in its fight against foreign enemies. Just like the Tower Knights represented by Dagda, steam knights were once the most prestigious positions in Victoria, coveted by countless soldiers.

But here they were—lying haphazardly, covered in wounds, limbs mutilated, and showing signs of neglect—in this tomb of kings. And lying beside them, accompanying them in their eternal slumber, were not the spirits of Victoria, nor the mourning of family and friends, but a group of Sarkaz.

The Sarkaz are not hard to identify; their deformed horns and tails are features that distinguish them from other races.

"They were killed by the Sarkaz, chased all the way from the ground to here, and finally sacrificed themselves here?"

Vina pursed her lips and uttered a guess that even she herself didn't believe.

Because this doesn't make sense!

Steam Knights are Victoria's strongest fighting force, and they also have a certain degree of levitation ability. Even if they were surrounded and chased by the Sarkaz, they would never have fled all the way down to this tomb with no way out!

They could simply withdraw from Londinium. Countless people across the land covet this technology, and many would be willing to take them in. Not to mention, they themselves are a formidable fighting force.

No matter how you look at it, the Steam Knight had absolutely no reason to retreat to the slumbering place of the kings.

Roy knew what had happened, but he didn't intend to tell Vina the truth directly. Instead, he chose to gradually hint at it to her, letting her discover the answer herself.

“Vina, think about this, why is there a Sarkaz corpse here?”

Vina answered almost without hesitation:

"Because the Sarkaz are fighting the Steam Knights here!"

This is a self-evident fact; anyone with eyes can see the obvious signs of battle left behind here.

But Roy simply nodded and said:

"Yes, but what does it mean that the Sarkaz are here?"

Vina frowned slightly. The location of the Kings' final resting place was complicated. Even Vina, a native of Lontinium, almost got lost in the pipes without Roy's technological assistance, let alone an ordinary Sarkaz.

Their presence here is something that couldn't possibly be accomplished by Sarkaz mercenaries who had just entered the city. This happened after the Sarkaz had completely taken over the city!

"The Sarkaz have already occupied Lentinium, and they know how to get in here?"

"Then why would the Steam Knights appear in a place like this when the Sarkaz have completely taken over the city?"

Vina was silent for a moment, then her pupils suddenly contracted, as if she had thought of something unbelievable. She looked up at Roy, then at Allardy, her mouth agape but no words came out.

Yeah, why?

Vina was certain that the Steam Knight couldn't possibly be hiding within the city of Londinium. Back then, when her father was hanged and she was forced to leave Londinium, the Steam Knight had already been transferred away to carry out a mission.

When they returned, the coup had ended, and the city council had issued a ban prohibiting the Duke's armed forces from entering the city of Londinium. This led to the Duke of Stafford and the Duke of Cavendish's subsequent conflict, in which the Duke, in his misguided wisdom, introduced Sarkaz mercenaries who were not part of the "Duke's Army," ultimately inviting trouble upon the city.

During this period, the movements of the Steam Knights were unclear, but they were definitely not in Londinium, otherwise the Sarkaz could not have taken over the city so smoothly.

Once Lontinim is completely taken over by the Sarkaz, it will be even less likely that they will be able to return.

Unless someone gives them an order.

In the entire Victoria, only two parties have the right to mobilize the Steam Knights.

First, there was the king who had already been hanged.

Secondly, there was the Duke who transferred the Steam Knights away from Londinium and launched a coup.

Only with the Duke's order can these steam knights return to Londinium and enter the resting place of the kings.

The appearance of Sarkaz further illustrates one thing.

"The dukes are in cahoots with the Sarkaz."

"This is treason!"

Vina said with great distress.

No matter how she thought about it before, she only believed that the Duke was plotting to seize power from Victoria, while Sarkaz was just taking advantage of the chaos and luckily occupying the territory of Lentinium. It was only due to the changing circumstances that the Duke's internal strife gave Sarkaz an opportunity.

But now that everything underground has been revealed to her, she finally understands.

What is meant by "traitor to the country"?

Volume 1: Chapter 321 Don't Do Things You'll Regret

I swear an oath to the King, promise to the people, and pay homage to the earth.

The solemn and weighty oath was the pride of the steam knights, but also the shackles that bound them.

If the knight had realized this sooner, perhaps he wouldn't have returned to Londinium, wouldn't have been tricked into this dark and damp underground, and wouldn't have died meaninglessly at the hands of a group of foreign races in front of the Kings of Victoria.

He can no longer remember who he is.

Time dulled his consciousness. The perpetually insufficient food and extreme water scarcity forced him to maintain a minimal, dazed state of consciousness. Over time, this dazed state became the norm. His once clear consciousness and unwavering will became superfluous, draining his physiological functions, overwhelmed and rejected by instinct.

All he knew was that he was a knight, and he had been sent back to protect the great Victoria. He had come to this cold, damp underground to protect the empire's most precious treasure, the Breath of the Kings.

Since we bear such a heavy responsibility, the pain and sorrow, difficulties and confusion are just tests.

He only needs to persevere; everything else can be forgotten. He only needs to remember one identity, one thing, and one word.

"Steam Knight".

"guard."

"Victoria."

No matter how long the ordeal lasts, or when this pain will be relieved, he only needs to remember these ten words.

Because these ten words have no time limit.

"Vina, be careful."

In the boundless darkness, a faint girl's voice rang in his ears, so delicate that the Steam Knight thought it was just a hallucination from his long ordeal.

"Vina, these upside-down ones here, are they all... Steam Knights?"

Another different voice rang out, still very soft, but the words "Steam Knight" finally caught the Steam Knight's attention. He hadn't moved for a long time, and his seemingly rusty body trembled slightly for a moment. His bloodshot eyes slowly opened a small slit, trying to find the source of the voice.

But then, the sound suddenly disappeared as if it were a hallucination.

Roy reached out and stopped Aldebaran and Vina, who were trying to continue walking forward.

On the steps before them, a simple stone platform was illuminated by a light source of unknown origin emanating from a crack in the ceiling. This was the only natural light source in the entire underground hall, and the hanging light, under the Tyndall effect, resembled a ribbon of light, wrapping around the stone platform and the gleaming silver sword.

"The rest of the kings."

Even though she had never actually seen what the sword looked like, Vina recognized it at a glance.

The national sword of Victoria, a divine weapon that cleaves through storms, the secret treasure of the Aslan family—such glorious titles and legends bestowed upon it, coupled with the sacred setting, make it almost impossible to doubt that the so-called Breath of Kings truly possesses extraordinary power.

"Is that the breath of the kings?"

Aldey murmured to herself. This was also the first time she had ever seen this legendary national sword with her own eyes.

The Duke of Caesar sponsored her, hoping she would help him obtain this sword.

To be honest, what Allard is more concerned about than its hidden extraordinary power is its influence in reality.

She knew very well that with so many dukes eyeing the throne of Londinium, any weapon that could claim to be the legitimate representative in this competition would be a trump card to increase her chances of winning. And the King's Breath, the national sword, was undoubtedly the trump card among these trump cards.

Once she gets her hands on it and hands it over to the Duke of Castle, her mission will be complete. From now on, although the Duke of Cumberland will not be able to revive under her rule, he will at least be able to survive under the Duke of Castle's protection, and will no longer be as vulnerable as he is today.

All she needed to do now was seize the Breath of the Kings. There weren't many people present, and she had never displayed her Originium Arts. If used properly, the wind could help her escape her pursuers quickly through this underground passage.

Vina and her henchmen don't seem to be very strong; the only one to worry about is Roy.

In other words, as long as you communicate with Roy beforehand, or simply subdue him, there won't be any problems here...

Alde's gaze, accompanying her scheme, turned toward Roy, but before her gloomy gaze could settle on Roy, it met a peaceful gaze in mid-air.

Those eyes came from a pair of pale blue pupils, from the person she was about to look at, from Roy.

He is looking at me!

Allardy Cumberland felt every hair on her body stand on end at the same time, and a shiver and chill down her spine almost burst from her mouth, turning into a scream.

Why is he looking at me? While everyone, including Vina, is gazing at the remains of the steam knights and the breath of kings, why is Roy the only one looking at her?

Allardy didn't believe that a treasure like the Breath of Kings would hold no appeal for a Rhodes Island employee. If he were smart enough, he should have realized that if he offered this sword to any Grand Duke, he would never have to work for a company again, and could even rise directly into the ranks of a powerful figure in Victoria.

Even if he had no interest in offering up the Kings' Breath, just handing this sword to Vina would be enough for him to earn a meritorious service in supporting the new emperor in some possible future!

But he kept looking at himself.