56.
56.
[Kwang!]
I kicked the shield of the warrior named Ioannes with all my might.
"Gah!"
Normally, his left arm would have broken instantly, but seeing that he held up, his bones were no ordinary ones.
"Argh-! You barbarian!"
[Bwoong! Heung! Whoong!]
But perhaps the blow had had an effect; he could no longer lift his left arm to his chest, and extremely agitated, he swung Örn's massive sword here and there.
Although it was a narrow space blocked in front and back, dodging such blind slashes was no difficult task.
Having seen the sword's trajectory in advance, I moved my head and torso slightly to evade three attacks, then I placed the axe blade against the elbow of Ioannes as he tried to retract his outstretched arm, and smoothly pushed.
[Seogeok!]
My senses, well-versed in edged weapons, easily showed me a path to cleave through a man's muscle and bone, and as a result, Ioannes had to lose his Örn arm.
"Arghhh-!"
Basil's warrior let out a shrill scream that did not match his massive frame.
'I hope he didn't hold too much of a grudge; when blades cross, one side is sure to die.'
'Go to heaven or hell.'
Since he was a traitor, he probably went to hell.
[Whoong! Puk! Keuk... Kkeureuk... Kkung!]
Ioannes clutched his severed arm, blood gushing out. Without hesitation, I hacked into his neck, and soon with a dull thud, Ioannes's heavy body toppled backward. As soon as the axe blade sank in, his eyes rolled back, so he must not have felt pain for too long.
[Seureung-]
Instead of my hand axe that Ioannes took as a bribe, I picked up the large sword that had fallen on the floor, and found that its balance was evenly distributed along the blade, and the grip seemed to cling to my fingers.
He seemed to be a warrior Basil valued; he was using a fine sword.
"Die, barbarian!"
[Heung-! Chaeng!]
Before I had barely examined the sword, I blocked an assassin's blade aimed at my head.
Metal meeting metal made a pleasant sound like this, but when two pieces of metal struck by a grown man with full force met, usually one side would crack, chip, or bend.
Ioannes's sword must have been a fine blade indeed, for the assassin's single-edged curved sword bent in an instant, but he would have had no time to notice.
[Seogeok!]
"Uk!"
With my sword raised, I slashed diagonally past the assassin's neck, then lunged forward and kicked another assassin in the solar plexus, while deflecting a stabbing blade from the side.
[Puk! Keuk! Whoong- Chaeng!]
I caught the enemy's blade, thrust at a sharp angle, against the flat of my sword, closed the distance, and threw a left punch, breaking his neck with a [Bbeok!].
[Ududuk!]
"Eok! Kkeureureuk..."
[Teolsseok-]
'Hoo-'
I steadied my breathing and raised my head to look at the assassins' ranks. Basil was already nowhere to be seen, and only his brother Marinos pointed at me with trembling hands.
"F-Fire! Fire, I said!"
'Fire?'
Throwing away any semblance of a cold mask, Marinos now began bellowing orders, and according to his command, archers behind him who had fitted arrows to their bows appeared.
'Four? No, five? Not many.'
"Skoll! Shields!"
"Shields!"
Even while each fought the enemy before them, the instincts mechanically ingrained into their bodies through harsh training urged the bodyguards to follow the order, and the instant they raised their shields, the archers loosed their bowstrings.
[Pwing! Pwing pwing! Pwing! Swaeaeak-! Swaeak-!]
I immediately focused all my mind, straining my eyes to the point they might pop out.
At the same time, the arrows loosed from their bows bounced, flying in like fish thrashing their tails.
The time of everything around me slowed, and my body moved as if underwater, overcoming a tremendous weight, following my will.
[Whooong- Ting! Ting! Ting!- Swaeaeak- Cheok!]
I widened the sword's path and with a single downward slash deflected three arrows, ignored one that flew off elsewhere, and caught the arrow aimed at a vital point with my left hand.
[Pwing! Pwing pwing! Pwing!]
There was no enemy reaction like something out of a comic book, gasping in admiration at my feat, "That bastard...! He caught an arrow...!" They just mechanically loosed arrows, solely intent on cutting off my breath.
However, our warriors were not just standing idly by. Some Skoll warriors, noticing the arrows concentrating on me, hurled javelins with truly miraculous skill at the enemy archers beyond the shield bearers.
[Swaeaeak- Ting! Tingting! Ting! Whooong! Woong! Puk! Peopuk!]
"Gah!"
"Urk!"
The archers toppled backward under the heavy weight of the javelins, and only then did the wild hail of arrows stop. The assassins, still numbering several dozen, tried to charge again.
'Where do you think you're going!'
In such a cramped space, the difference between offense and defense was especially crucial.
I threw the arrow in my left hand at the first brave assassin who twitched, and as that arrow lodged in his left eye like a dart, the enemies' screams resounded.
[Bwoong-! Seogeok! Bwoong- Chaeng! Puk! Seogeok!]
"Kkeureuk... Kkeuk...!"
"Gah!"
No matter how trained an assassin group was, when a dozen of their comrades died in an instant right before their eyes, other thoughts would inevitably creep into their heads.
Without any particular technique, my sword, simply too fast to block, stirred up a blood mist, and as the Skoll warriors, their spirits soaring high, backed it up, the assassins began to slowly back away.
"This... This is absurd..."
Marinos, whom Basil had left behind, seemed to have difficulty accepting reality, but when I met his eyes and advanced, he screamed and fled.
"Stop him! I'll bring reinforcements!"
'What?'
'Where do you even have reinforcements? This is the Emperor's home ground.'
'Is there another traitor I don't know about?'
Even as I felt doubt, Marinos, turning his back like a madman, sprinted away with a squelching sound through the blood-soaked corridor.
Naturally, the assassins who had moved for profit, not honor, followed him and began to flee one by one. The brave ones were already dead at the vanguard, after all...
"Those bastards...!"
"Stop! Skoll warriors! Do not move! We protect His Majesty!"
Some Skoll warriors, enraged by the cowardly betrayal and attack that cost them their comrades, tried to chase after the assassins, but the Skoll commander present instilled reason into the heated warriors.
"What he said is right. You, protect the Emperor."
It wasn't wrong, but an accurate judgment.
The assassination plot was as good as failed anyway, but there was no telling what other devious schemes might be afoot. The most important thing now was not revenge, but the Emperor's safety.
And at the same time, I made sure to guard Basileikinos, who had passed out alongside the Emperor.
"Helgi Konungr. You helped us, and we lived. Thank you for saving our lives."
Following their captain's words, all the Skoll warriors, now seeming to have come to their senses a little, offered me their thanks one after another.
I told them—loyal and honorable as they were—that I had only done what had to be done, then picked up the great shield of Ioannes, his neck broken backward, and walked toward the corridor beyond the palace drowned in blood and darkness, where moonlight was slowly finding its way in.
"Helgi Konungr! Where are you going!"
The captain of the Skoll, who had been tensely securing the corridor and stationing men even in the inner chamber to prevent any unforeseen incident, asked me.
"It's not over yet, is it? I plan to follow the blood trail. I should also assess the situation in the city."
Above all, I needed to find out where Basil had gone.
"Brave captain of the Skoll, what is your name?"
When all this farce was over, I would have to tell the Emperor who had willingly given their life for him.
"I am Phokas...! Phokas of Cappadocia! Great warrior!"
Phokas of Cappadocia. Where was that, anyway? In any case, his name reminded me of a snack I had liked in my past life. Come to think of it, where in the world were potatoes even grown?
"I see, Phokas. Do your duty."
"Of course! Helgi Konungr! I will not let so much as an ant pass!"
"I trust you."
And so, leaving Phokas and the brave Skoll warriors in the corridor reeking of blood, I stepped out into the city's cold air.
*****
It seemed Basil had targeted no one else but the Emperor.
The city lay asleep as quiet as a dead mouse, and that went for Rentakios as well. That eunuch... I'd wondered where he was and what he was doing, but it looked like the Emperor had caught him and forced him to drink heavily.
If Damian was a sly fox, wasn't this one a bit thick? He tended to follow the Emperor's words blindly.
'Maybe that's why Basil left him alive.'
In any case, it did not take long for the sleeping city to stir, one by one.
Naturally—what with hooded figures fleeing madly out of the city gates and a giant covered in blood striding through the streets with a great sword and shield, there was no way they'd stay quiet...
The guards who had been coming out to relieve the city sentries, apparently victims of the assassins, discovered the bodies and raised a huge uproar, and soon after, the captain of the guard came running up in a panic, startled at the sight of me, but when I told him what had happened, his face went pale and he went running off again, saying he would wake the mayor.
'Poor man... he'd been minding his own business and then his career got ruined.'
The mayor who had lent his residence for the Emperor's sake had apparently borrowed someone's house, but the unfortunate thing was that even that mayor had been unable to resist the Emperor's offer of drink and had passed out, rendering him of little use.
I just left the seemingly out-of-his-mind captain of the guard to do as he pleased.
And so, as I sat on a low rock in front of the palace enjoying the crisp morning breeze and watching the attendants, their eyes buried in dark circles from the banquet that had lasted deep into the night, emerge half-awake with sullen faces and shriek "Aaah!" at the sight of me before going inside and screaming "Eek!", I caught sight of the Skoll warriors stealthily advancing out of the palace.
'What in the world is this madness...'
They'd been holding lavish feasts for days, claiming they'd ended a civil war, but now it looked like they were about to start another one.
'No matter what, there will be no co-kings in my kingdom in the future.'
It was not for nothing that Silla, Goryeo, and Joseon had dreamed of absolute monarchy. The moment anyone thought they could set foot on the throne, a fight was bound to break out.
'What should I do...'
Would the kingdom of the Northmen be any different? Even if I lived to a hundred or beyond thanks to this unbelievable body, I would die someday.
Was Rome such a great teacher that it was burning itself alive to show me even its shame, so that I might see and learn?
Faced with such an absurd situation, only absurd thoughts swirled in my head.
*****
"So... you mean Basil tried to kill me?"
The morning in Cyzicus.
A sweet fragrance rose from the Emperor's cup.
At the Emperor's urging, everyone in the room was holding a cup of honeyed water.
[slurp— slurrrp— gulp...! gulp...!]
It was an undignified act, but the Emperor, with no time to spare for such concerns, slurped down the hot water and forced it down his throat in one go, enduring the pain.
"Urk— kgh— kh—"
As if trying to forcibly suppress something rising from within.
"This— damn it...!"
[Crash!]
However, was it a mistake to have drunk hot water? Or perhaps the fever only grew worse—the Emperor's face quickly turned bright red, and he shot to his feet, hurling his cup so that it shattered against the floor.
"Basil...! Basil...! No, how could you...? Basil, how could you!"
Denial, fury, sorrow, despair. The Emperor's expression changed with every moment, and the emotions within seemed utterly at a loss for what to do.
"Your Majesty, you must return to Constantinople at once. Basil has surely headed for Macedonia."
The one speaking was Niketas Ooryphas. He was the one and only Grand Admiral (Droungarios tou ploïmou) of the Empire.
Originally, he had been a figure who somewhat disapproved of me (as it turned out, he was the very man who had blocked our Rus friends' joyful plundering of the Black Sea), but after last night's assassination attempt, he was a born soldier who now sent me looks of respect instead.
At his words, Michael, having escaped the whirlpool of emotion, nodded heavily.
"Yes. You are right, Niketas. We must move quickly."
Michael's voice as he replied was lifeless, as if all the joy and delight of the previous day had been nothing but a dream.