Chapter 418: You Run Your Mouth
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 418: You Run Your Mouth
“Choi Seulgi is…”
“Confined for one month.”
“What?”
“The Queen of the North has ordered her to be confined for exactly one month. I heard it myself… so it’s almost certainly true.”
“That… that murderous bitch!”
Jang Jaehyun cursed, the rage boiling up before he could stop himself.
“The punishment for someone who unleashed indiscriminate violence during a discussion of state affairs is a mere month of confinement? Does that make any sense! Those ignorant brutes… And you bastards, you just stood there and watched while I was getting beaten to a pulp?”
“W-We couldn’t do anything. It wasn’t a situation where we could act rashly…”
“Fucking bastards…”
“S-Still, Han So-Hye herself ordered a priest to be on standby to treat you. Perhaps she’s worried about the fallout later…”
That was a possibility. If he and a few other high-ranking officials were to leave the North or refuse to work, in a worst-case scenario, the government could be paralyzed. After all, they were the ones who had engineered the situation.
It was a method they had chosen to increase the new cabinet’s dependence on them, and it had worked remarkably well. Until yesterday, that is.
But he couldn’t believe she was backing down now. It was likely a ploy to control them, but they weren’t foolish enough to be played and used.
“Stupid bitch. I’ll make you regret ever touching me. A pair of little girls, not even dry behind the ears, raising hell together.”
“What will you do…?”
“We’re gathering our assets and leaving the North for the West immediately. They’re already prepared to receive us over there.”
“Will that be alright?”
“This was in the works even before this idiotic meeting began. Fools. If those madmen obsessed with fighting and war want a battle so badly, then we should give them what they want… We move now.”
“Your body…”
“It’s not so bad that I can’t move.”
Jang Jaehyun slowly pushed himself up. He was leaving for the West—the Western Continent. He hadn’t truly intended to contact them, but he had already lost his foundation here.
Good thing I had a connection.
It was his insurance, his safety net. Without their support, he and his faction would never have been able to act so boldly.
“Let’s go.”
As he rose, a wave of immense pain washed over him. He grit his teeth. He gathered the gold coins with the others and, along with the necessary troops, headed for the underground passage. What was disconcerting was that a few people were missing.
“Councilor Kim Jichun. Where are the others?”
“There’s no reply. It seems they’ve decided to remain in the North.”
“We need to hurry.”
“Yes. They also have ties to the Western Continent, so they can’t speak carelessly about us, but just in case, we should move as quickly as possible. There might be a pursuit team.”
“A pursuit team… I’d almost welcome one.”
“W-What are you saying… We must go quickly. We’ve already contacted the major towns. I’ve sent a message to the Western Clan Alliance that we’re on our way, so once we’re out of this region, we should be able to enter the Western Continent safely.”
Jang Jaehyun nodded. The first priority was to get out of here. He didn’t think anything would happen, but one could never be sure. As he and his private soldiers emerged from the long tunnel, the exit finally came into view. Having come this far, it was reasonable to take a short break. Jang Jaehyun slowly spoke to the others.
“We’ll rest here for a bit before moving on.”
“Isn’t… isn’t that a little risky?”
“What’s risky about it? We were the weak ones inside the city. Now that we’re out here, they are the weak ones.”
He hoped a pursuit team would show up. He’d be even happier if Choi Seulgi was with them. He could return the shame and humiliation she had dealt him in full. Just as he was silently fanning the flames of his rage, a voice cut through the air.
“Well, fuck me. You still look like the weak one to me… hmm?”
“What…”
When he instinctively turned his head toward the voice, he saw Choi Seulgi sitting on a large tree branch.
“Fucking bitch.”
“Lost your dignity, have we? And you were such a polite gentleman.”
Unlike the pursuit team he had imagined, she was alone. A smirk unknowingly formed on Jang Jaehyun’s lips.
Stupid bitch.
With a subtle glance, his hired soldiers slowly raised their weapons. She must have seen them.
“I knew it. Fucking bastards. There are always guys like you. Stupid fuckers trying to play both sides. If you’re going to pick a side, you have to do it right. You were too scared to choose which rope was rotten and which was sound, so you held onto both, didn’t you? So stupid. Really… I feel like introducing you to someone on the Eastern Continent right now.”
“And now I’m choosing the right side, you goddamn rotten bitch. Who the hell do you think built up the North… Is this how you repay kindness, with betrayal?”
“Who built it? I did, you fucking bastard.”
“Stupid bitch. Do you still think this is your world?”
“That’s my line, you stupid fuck.”
“What?”
“I was wondering. I really was… what kind of confidence this fucker had to be so bold. You have the kind of face that’s just asking to get stabbed in an alley, so I was genuinely curious what gave you the balls to run around like a mad dog, fucking everything up… But seriously… was that all you were counting on?”
One corner of Jang Jaehyun’s mouth curled up. She couldn’t have imagined he would have this much firepower. He had private soldiers fully armed with weapons supplied by the Western Continent; there was no reason to fear one crazy bitch.
“Shoot.”
“What?”
“I’ll stand still. Go on and shoot, you fucking mutts. I’ll give you a personal demonstration of just how useless and fucking pathetic that confidence of yours is.”
“That… that crazy bitch… Lord Jaehyun, please give the order.”
“Don’t kill her. I want to return the favor.”
“Of course.”
The armed soldiers finished loading in an instant. Choi Seulgi remained standing right where she was.
A bluff.
It had to be a bluff. It was true that some people on the continent were strong, but not strong enough to block bullets coming from all directions. Once the triggers were pulled, she’d be crawling on the ground, trembling and begging for her life.
BANG!
In the blink of an eye, a heavy roar echoed from all around. He hadn’t expected so many to fire at once; he was now at the point of worrying whether she was even alive.
But when he frantically looked up, the scene was utterly unexpected.
“Th-This is…”
Like something out of a dream, countless bullets were dropping from her hand. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
“N-No way…”
He heard one of the nameless soldiers mutter.
“Get it now? How pathetic and small as a rat’s dick your confidence is. Huh?”
“Fire… Fire! FIRE!”
Another volley was unleashed at his command. This time, he could vaguely see it. He couldn’t make out the bullets or her hands, but he could tell that Choi Seulgi was watching the incoming rounds and catching them as if it were nothing.
“You… bitch…”
Choi Seulgi vanished from sight and reappeared behind one of the soldiers.
“Behind… behind you!”
Before he could finish, a fountain of blood erupted from the man’s body.
“I didn’t kill him yet. You can stay alive a little longer, right?”
“…”
In the dark forest, the only light came from the muzzle flashes of the guns.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Aaaaaaaahhh!!!”
“H-Help me!”
“Aaaaaaaahhh!”
“P-Please, spare me. Gack…”
The other cabinet members and soldiers were scattering in a blind panic.
We can’t win.
Their opponent was a monster. It was no surprise they chose to run. Swallowing hard, Jang Jaehyun also began to run with all his might. A little further and he would meet the forces from the other city he was supposed to rendezvous with. Just a little further, and they would buy him time.
But suddenly, an excruciating pain shot through his ankle.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!”
He reflexively glanced back to see that half of his ankle had been cleanly severed.
“Fucking bastard, you’ve got some lungs on you. Open your mouth. Open your fucking mouth before I plunge a dagger into the back of your head…”
He couldn’t see Choi Seulgi. He only felt someone climb onto his back, grab his hair, and yank his head back.
“S-Save… me.”
As he opened his mouth without thinking, he felt something enter it.
“Fucking filthy bastard. Ugh… I really should have brought a tool.”
It was Choi Seulgi’s hand, gripping his tongue tightly.
“Alright… here we go?”
With a wet, slicing sound, an immense agony exploded in his mouth.
“Mmph… argh… mmmphh!!!”
He couldn’t even scream properly. Tears streamed from his eyes from the pain and fear.
“Mmph… argh!!!!”
This wasn’t what he wanted. He had never imagined things would turn out like this. All he could feel was pure terror. Screams began to echo through the large forest. Everyone who had fled was collapsing, just like him.
He didn’t know how all the others, who had scattered in every direction, were all screaming at once. Maybe there were reinforcements, or maybe Choi Seulgi had done it all by herself. It didn’t matter which, but Jang Jaehyun couldn’t help but think the latter was the correct answer.
“Bite your lip. Oh, wait! That might be hard for you now, huh?”
Excruciating pain flared from his wrists and ankles.
“Mmph!! Argh… mmph!!”
She had pinned his wrists to the ground with daggers. The pain was like being branded by fire, but for some reason, his mind remained terrifyingly clear.
It was a pain so intense he thought he might die of shock. He could barely breathe as blood kept flowing down his throat, and with daggers now being driven into his body, his flesh began to scream.
“You bastard! You fucking bastard!”
“Argh!!!!”
This was just her letting off steam. What she was doing was nothing more than venting her anger.
“Ah… he said not to take out the eyes. Should I cut off your ears this time?”
“Mmph… Mmph!”
It would be easier to just die. He was sure of it. He wished the dagger cutting off his ear would just stab him in the neck instead. The agonizing time stretched on, and just when he thought there was no hope…
“Are… are you really sure you got permission? If he finds out…”
“I’m worried about that too, but…”
A voice slowly drifted from somewhere. Ally, enemy, it didn’t matter. He would do anything if they would just kill him now.
“Mmph! Mmm… mph!”
“Ah! It looks like this is the place. Seulgi?”
“Eunju. You’re here. I’m so sorry for the unreasonable request.”
“W-We have to help each other out. But, about him…”
“He probably won’t care much. I’m sure of it, so you can trust me.”
“Ah, that’s a relief then. Hehe.”
He heard two women talking. He could feel his body slowly growing cold. He could die. He thought that soon, he would surely be able to die. It was then that an unknown holy power began to flow into him.
“…”
A small woman was leaning over, looking down at him. Just as he thought she had the face of an angel, the corners of the small woman’s mouth began to twist into a bizarre smile.
“Mmph… Mmph!!”
He didn’t know exactly what it was, but his whole body began to tremble. She wasn’t emitting any killing intent, nor was she pressuring him with magic. It was the pure fear a human feels when faced with something incomprehensible.
“Mmph!! Mmph!!! Mmph!!!! Mmph!!!!!”
An unknown emotion rose to the brim of his throat, and as he let it all out…
Finally.
An unknowable voice flowed from the small woman’s lips.
“Miss Seulgi was right. You…”
A smirking mouth.
Insane eyes.
“You have the devil in your eyes.”
Jang Jaehyun squeezed his eyes shut.