A Black Shadow Over the Imperial Capital (4)

While Hyeon clashed with the Taotie successor alongside Kan, the situation in the imperial capital was hardly any better. From five gates that had torn open in an instant, a staggering tide of demons came pouring forth.

The demons spilling from the gates were no high-ranking horrors or Great Demons of terrifying power — but their sheer numbers, flooding out of five separate gates at once, threatened to drown Seul and her companions in an overwhelming wave of bodies.

Before the gate spewing forth demons, one figure raised flames brimming with thermal force — and in a heartbeat, she burned away a staggering swath of the horde. A woman who wielded fire above all else, the very one who had given Seul her instruction before the battle began: the Vermilion Bird's successor, Ignite Rhear.

Rhear had been assigned both the eastern and northern quarters of the capital, and she moved between the two districts, steadily thinning the demons' numbers as she went. The trouble was that no matter how furiously her overwhelming flames scorched them, the demons simply swelled back to their former ranks as if nothing had happened.

"Seriously, are these things reproducing or what?!"

Even as she incinerated the demons assaulting the capital with monstrous firepower, the situation on the opposite side of the city could not have been more different — for in the western quarter, gates had opened as well, and demons ran rampant there, tearing into the fleeing crowds not to feed so much as to savor their terror.

There stalked a high-tier demon that deliberately left its fleeing prey unharmed — frightening them first, then hiding its presence to grant them a fleeting sense of relief, only to snatch them up at last. Because of this fiend called Hyde, the palace servants scattered in blind panic, and Hyde delighted in their fear as it pursued them. And yet, somewhere along the way, an odd feeling crept over the creature.

Among the fleeing crowd — a white-haired woman was staring straight at it. Though she was younger than anyone around her by a wide margin, her amber eyes blazed with a ferocious light as she glared daggers at the demons. And, astonishingly, the moment Hyde registered that gaze, the roles of hunter and prey were inverted.

Springing from the midst of the people, the Mountain Lord hurled itself at the demons at blinding speed. The White Tiger's successor, Sitsurin, struck from ambush — a sudden assault far beyond anything a high-tier demon like Hyde could withstand. Naturally, those who had entered the tiger's domain would pay for it in full. With their very lives.

In the blink of an eye, she carved out her territory, sheltering the people within it — the signature way of her tigers, revealing themselves and striking down any enemy who dared attack those inside the domain.

The demons rewrote their plan, throwing themselves at the White Tiger's successor first — but her twin daggers flashed without pause, coldly and mercilessly severing the threads of their lives.

That left the southern quarter of the capital. Here, unlike the other two battlefields, the corpses of demons — cut down mid-flight by arrows — had begun to pile up. Most of the knights who had followed her were archers besides, and no matter how overwhelming the demons' numbers, they simply could not match archers who needed only to swap out a consumable quiver to fire again and again.

And the most formidable warrior among them was, naturally, Hyeon's younger sister — Seul.

Ever since he had pressed that white bow into her hands — a mystical weapon that conjured an arrow on its own the moment she drew the string — she no longer needed to waste time pulling arrows from a quiver. As a result, a tremendous number of demons failed to resist her arrows and simply perished where they stood.

Seul had not forgotten the lessons Rhear had taught her. The stance, the grip on the bow — she remembered every detail and put them to use on the battlefield exactly as instructed.

Creeeak...! Snap! Twang!

The bow had not yet fully been tamed to her hand, so drawing the string still took some effort — but in return it carried such tremendous elasticity that her arrows punched straight through demons' skulls and buried themselves in the earth beyond. And her handling of the bow itself had grown enormously since her days in the Cumul Territory; now she wielded it as freely as breathing.

The week of training had become the foundation of her growth — the very reason her arrows now pierced through demons today.

Of course, being an archer did not make one untouchable. Every so often, an archer would push too far forward and be seized by the demons despite it all.

"Guh! Aaaagh!"

Soldiers began falling — some dragged off by demons, others struck down by ranged attacks of their own kind. For Seul, who had carried the title of successor for barely any time at all, the wounds of those hit from afar were beyond her ability to heal. But the archers who had been grabbed and were about to be reduced to mere prey — those she saved, using the grip technique Rhear had taught her.

"I'll cover you! Get down there and bring him back — quickly!"

At Seul's command, the archers drew daggers from their belts for self-defense, and beneath her covering fire they managed to haul the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wounded back to safety.

Scenes like that repeated again and again, and before anyone realized it, Seul had become someone the archers trusted without question. Not that it mattered to her — she simply kept doing what needed doing, snapping the bowstring loose with every breath.

And then, right at that moment —

BOOOM!!!

A deafening crash thundered out, followed by the sound of something collapsing. Seul wanted nothing more than to run toward it, but she knew that if she took her eyes off this position, the demons' overwhelming numbers would snatch back the favorable footing she'd fought so hard to secure.

"Pay it no mind, any of you! Keep attacking! If they climb this high ground, our defensive line breaks!"

It worried her — but Seul kept firing anyway. Praying, above all else, that her brother was safe.

"You think you can beat me?"

"Ggh...!"

Trading blows with Jealousy was an exercise in futility. Close the distance for melee combat, and the green flames flared up to devour us. Attack from afar, and the power faded to nothing — I couldn't land real damage either way.

The distance between him and the First Princess had shrunk to almost nothing. I'd already told Ellie and Yeon to take her and run, but it wouldn't be long before he caught up. If I fell, he'd reach them in a single stride.

So no matter what happened, I had to keep him from closing that gap easily — but even as that thought burned in my mind, fists wreathed in green flame came hammering down around me.

Three lightning blades rose and circled around me. There was no more room for the Sword of Evil Eradication — the mana drain was brutal, and pushing it further now would almost certainly end in mana exhaustion. So I hurled the lightning blades instead, meeting green flame with thunder.

He flung his arm wide and drove a fist at me; I struck the knuckles sideways, deflecting its course, and slipped past the blow. Then I swung my sword in a diagonal arc, aiming to cleave through his upper body —

"Oh? So you're focused on that, huh?"

A knee drove toward my stomach, forcing me to slam the raised blade down onto the incoming leg, damming its path.

"Think about it, yeah? Even with my knee blocked like this, I've still got ways to hit you... You don't, do you?"

That eerie grin chilled me to the bone, and I scrambled backward to put distance between us —

"Not so fast!"

He planted the raised leg back on the ground and whipped a roundhouse kick straight at my temple. I gathered the lightning blades together to block his foot — hopelessly inadequate.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The blades I'd raised to stop him were torn to shreds, but only thanks to that sacrifice did I buy the time to break away.

Sting!

I didn't dodge everything...

A sharp sting burned on my cheek; when I raised a hand to it, my fingers came away red. He must have noticed me trying to open the distance in that brief exchange and cranked up the power, slashing as he closed in.

Blistering speed, devastating strikes — and a freakish instinct for combat on top of it all. Fighting him felt like pushing against a mountain of stone. Every technique I'd ever relied on was being denied, one after another.

But if I intended to give up here, I never should have started at all.

Just as I stoked my fighting spirit once more, Jealousy laughed and kept talking.

"HAHAHAHA!! You still wanna fight? You saw it yourself, didn't you? You're no match for me. And with that pathetic little showing, you strut around calling yourself a successor?"

"..."

"That's exactly why your kind loses to ours. Survival of the fittest is the one true law of this world, I'm telling you."

"Look at yourself even now. If you'd just done as I said, do you think I wouldn't have spared you the beating?"

"Staking your life to protect one woman? Who do you think you are, some kind of hero?"

"Weakness is a sin, plain and simple. The weak gain nothing — and whatever they do manage to grab gets stolen right back."

"Maybe so. But you're mistaken about one thing."

"Mistaken...?"

"Being weak doesn't mean you can't raise a sword. And being strong doesn't mean you raise it only for yourself. To justify the grotesque spectacle you're putting on right now—"

"Don't use the words 'survival of the fittest' with me. It makes me sick."

"..."

"Fine — I'll admit you're stronger than me right now. So tell me: how long do you think you can keep preying on us? Let me make you a prophecy."

"One day, you'll die torn limb from limb. Inside the very framework of 'survival of the fittest' that you worship so devoutly. And when it happens, you'll beg for mercy exactly like we do."

"Yeah, that's enough of that. Guess I haven't hit you enough yet, huh?"

Green flame roared to life around him as he charged at me again. I'd declared my convictions boldly enough, but this was as far as I could go. Please — let them have gotten far enough away to escape.

The green flames coiled around the fist closing in on me blazed hotter than ever, roaring as though it had finally scented its prey. I leveled my sword at the approaching Jealousy, steeling myself to burn my life as fuel for one final battle — when a voice drifted out of the status window, speaking to me in a strangely gruff tone.

Someone was addressing me through the status window.

...If I could manage that, do you think I'd be in this state?! I WANT to win too, believe me.

But no matter what tools I threw at this guy, nothing worked. My domain got shredded the moment I cast it, my other attacks were countered or simply had no effect — and even my final resort, the Sword of Evil Eradication, was useless with my mana this low.

Remember what, exactly? The best my mind could conjure right now was how many seconds I could hold out against him, and how gruesome my death would be.

...

Descent of the Four Perils... was that what he called it?

...Could I really manage it?

I lowered my sword and reached for the method he'd shown me.

The power of a Divine Beast...? And the way to hold it within myself...?

All the while, Jealousy strolled toward me with unhurried, deliberate steps, clearly savoring himself. He could have closed the distance in an instant — but he came slowly, as if relishing the moment.

I had to remember before his patience ran out.

I want to live.

I refuse to die here — not while Ellie and Yeon and Seul are still out there.

Quickly...

And then, like a lightbulb flashing on inside my skull — something came to me.

The Azure Dragon is a Divine Beast that commands cloud, lightning, and wind.

But is "commanding" truly the best I can do? If I can call upon them — if I've already mastered "command" — then shouldn't I go further? Shouldn't I rule them?

When I summon the Guardian Dragons under my banner, every one of them answers my call. So then... there's no reason lightning should be any different, is there?

"The Azure Dragon's successor calls. All who serve beneath him shall answer the call."

I awakened the power of the Azure Dragon of the Four Divine Beasts.

RUMMMBLE...

The sky darkened, churning with black clouds. The clear weather of moments ago vanished, replaced by a brooding gloom that seemed ready to split open with rain at any second.

"What did you just do? What the hell is that power inside you...?"

"I told you already. You're going to die... inside that framework of survival of the fittest."

"You insolent brat!"

My vision changed.

From my head sprouted horns like a dragon's, and my eyes transformed — slit vertically, the same way they'd narrowed when rage had swallowed me whole back then. My hair changed too, the short crop spilling out into long locks, the color shifting to black threaded through with deep, dark blue.

See? You can do it after all. Now go break him. If you can't kill that thing, don't even dream about ascending to godhood, junior.

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

"Understood, Fifth Azure Dragon."

A sense of omnipotence flooded through me — as though I could bend lightning itself to my will. I gripped my guardian sword and closed on Jealousy in a flash, who had been watching my transformation while holding his ground. As I'd declared, I swung to cleave through his upper body.

He reacted instantly, wreathing his fists in green flame and roaring them out to stop my blade. Green flame and golden lightning collided, wrestling for dominance — but unlike before, the yellow current did not give an inch. No — if anything, it felt as though it could smash back even harder.

His fists alone weren't enough to stop my sword, so Jealousy crossed both arms, dragging the green flames up with them to block my strike.

He'd shifted his stance to somehow manufacture an opening — a desperate defense. And it was the worst possible move he could have made.

I raised all three lightning blades into the air and attacked.

Mindful of the blades from before, he simply tanked them —

"GRRRAAAGH!!!"

Yeah... that doesn't work, does it.

Why would you try to just eat the blades head-on?

Where the blades sank in, bright red blood spouted freely. And on top of that, a massive current of electricity now coursed through his entire body. Soon his muscles would seize up, and moving would become agony.

He knew it too — but by then, there was no way for him to block the attack. Both his arms were crossed, pinning my sword, so any careless movement meant losing his upper body to the edge.

Which left him only one option: the same trick as before, shaking me off to break the distance —

"You idiot!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

Unlike last time, his foot was already pinned beneath mine — he couldn't lift his leg no matter how he strained. I'm not so dim that I'd fall for the same trick twice.

With all four of his limbs bound, Jealousy seemed to finally feel the jaws of the trap closing — he thrashed wildly, struggling to tear his pinned foot free.

"Pathetic. The man who lectured me about survival of the fittest, wriggling around like this at my feet. It's hilarious."

"...What?"

"You fell for a whisper — a mere whisper — and sold out humanity, betrayed your own kind?"

"Haha...! With this power, I can have everything! It didn't have to be me — anyone would have done the same!"

"Everyone's honest about their desires, and they'd do anything to indulge them. Just like me! Money, food, women — all of it!"

"You're right. And that's exactly why you lose to me."

"...The hell did you say?"

"Men who live only to indulge their desires have nothing left to protect. Why? Because they've tasted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it all — because there's nothing left they still wish to achieve."

"But me...? I have things I want to protect, and things I want to do. To protect them, I raise this sword and give everything I have to remove you from this world."

"A weapon with nothing to defend is no longer a weapon — just a lump of iron. That's the difference between you and me, and the reason your defeat was decided long before this moment."

"Then again... a bastard like you wouldn't understand even if you lived another hundred years. So do me a favor and get lost quietly."

ZAP-CRACKLE!!!

I amplified the current through my blade and sheared through both the green flames and the arms holding them at once!

"AAAARGH!!!!"

Jealousy shrieked in agony, then sucked in ragged breaths through the searing pain. In the end, his instincts got him clear of me, just as he'd planned — but he left both his arms behind on the ground.

What I hadn't anticipated, however, was this:

A gate tore open, and Morax stepped through. I lunged forward, striking hard, trying to cut the wounded Jealousy down alongside Morax — but he slipped into the gate Morax had opened for him, vanishing from sight. Just before he did, he spoke.

"...I'll remember this. Exactly what I hoped for, Azure Dragon."

And then he was gone.

I had failed to bring down Jealousy — but I had succeeded in protecting the First Princess. Breathing hard, I let myself feel a measure of relief at simply being alive.

That said, they had no way of knowing yet that I'd driven Jealousy back. I quickened my pace and sprinted down the route they'd taken to evacuate, and before long I caught up with them, all of them hurrying along as fast as their legs would carry them. Ellie and Yeon were wrecks, their faces streaked with tears, and the First Princess was crying too, her expression heavy with guilt.

"Why the long faces?"

When I approached and asked, the tears came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flooding out of the two women. My appearance was nothing like the man they knew — but they recognized me all the same. Both of them threw themselves into my arms, clutching me, demanding to know what had happened.

"What on earth happened to you..? Why are you here??"

"...Hyeon...!"

I stroked both their heads and explained the situation, and only then did the tension drain out of them — so suddenly that they collapsed onto the ground where they stood. The First Princess, who had wept in shame and guilt at fleeing while I sacrificed myself for her sake, seemed unwilling to let anyone see her tear-streaked face; she turned away and sat against a rock, her back to us.

It felt as though everything was over — but I couldn't be sure. Not when I had no idea what kind of mischief Morax had cooked up inside the capital.

Granted, even if he'd left gates open behind him, I assumed they'd all slammed shut by now in the wake of his retreat... Still, I wouldn't rest easy until I'd confirmed it with my own eyes, so I chose to return to the capital at once, together with them.

Before long, four summoned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wind spirits bore us aloft, and we raced back to the imperial capital.

And what greeted our eyes was the shattered wreckage strewn across the city, the soldiers who had fallen defending it — and Ignite Rhear, who had held this capital down to the very last breath.

"Oh, look who finally showed."

Studying her, she looked utterly spent, though outwardly there didn't seem to be any sign of serious injury.

"Are you all right?"

"No. I'm exhausted. I'm pretty sure I killed at least a thousand of them on my own..."

Even as she grumbled, though, there was something oddly satisfied about Rhear's expression.