Chapter 237
Chapter 237
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 237
Chapter Title: Leave Behind
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Ian said nothing. He simply gazed calmly at the swaying black hair. He knew it wasn't something that could be stopped by saying to stop, nor a fate that could be defied by opposing it.
As Gail thrust the sword forcefully toward the heart, Arsen spewed madness.
“I'll die! I'm going to die!”
Swaaaak!
The sword tip eroded due to the poison. Little by little, ever so slightly, consumed by Arsen's desperate thrashing.
Gail clicked his tongue and leaned his upper body forward. The sword halted in midair and vanished. It was the balance between the force piercing the heart and the force pushing back.
“Arsen. I'm saying this now, but honestly, I never liked you.”
“Aaaah!”
“You knew you were just a kid, acting like one.”
“Gaaaaail! Fuck! Fuck!”
How dare a pathetic insect like this invade this place, scheming wickedly for a decade? To think he had to cower for so long because of grown men like Marib and Gail. It was truly shocking.
As he gritted his teeth, dark red blood poured from between them.
“Keok.”
Gail instantly recalled what this sensation was. It was the same as the blood he had coughed up when Ian's slave had infiltrated the palace to assassinate him. He smiled palely and shouted fiercely.
“Yeah, go ahead and try!”
Saaaak!
“I fear nothing!”
Rather, an inexplicable thrill surged through him.
With this, he had survived. He could keep intact everything he had lived as a prince of the Bariel Empire. His fame, pride, and duty. They would wear away with time eventually, but Gail could clearly feel it now. In his hand, everything was alive and breathing.
Kuguung! Thud!
Ziiing!
Ian raised his hand into the air. The spell formations filling the floor, ceiling, and walls activated once more. Warm and bright lights gathered one by one, swirling together, blending with Arsen's dark energy to create day and night.
A majestic celestial body. Amid light and darkness, life and death, Gail cried out powerfully.
“Perish! Perish and perish again, until we meet at the bottomless pit of hell!”
“Uwaaaak!”
“I'll kill you again! Gladly!”
Kwaak-!
Gail's half-remaining sword finally pierced Arsen's heart. The pooled essence of poison burst forth vigorously, and the evil energy it harbored exploded as well.
Ian drew out his mana with all his might. For a moment, it felt like his head and nape snapped with a ping, but it was fleeting. There was no time to even register it.
Outside, there was Jin and the people. Those who must not die. Ian clenched his molars and held onto his consciousness.
Puk! Puk!
Even drenched in poison, Gail continued to slash at the heart. Once, twice, three times.... With each swing, dark red, sticky blood gushed out. The pain of flesh burning assaulted him, but he couldn't stop. A demon passed down since the founding. Would it stop breathing after just a few cuts?
“To the future—!”
Arsen tried to leave a curse. Like the demon Roberside had killed, he too vowed revenge from posterity to postpone defeat eternally.
But.
“No. You can't leave anything behind.”
Ian cut him off immediately and retorted. Through the gap Gail had carved, light slowly seeped in. Like the dawn's glow pushing back the darkness, mana frosted along his touch. It contained the divinity of the priests and the resolve of the mages. The power to grant Arsen infinite abyss.
Paaaaat!
Blindingly bright, not even an inch ahead visible. Ian covered his eyes with his sleeve and heard a distant, clear scream fading in his ears.
Soon, after a little time passed, only Ian and Gail's faint breaths remained in the hall.
“Haa, haa....”
“Huhk....”
Ian felt his strength unraveling. Leaning against the wall, he slid down slowly, and headache and chest pain surged simultaneously. His body was clearly crumbling to pieces. He had been tense without rest for days, taken Acorella's potion, and poured out mana without limit.
“...Ah.”
A few coughs led to hemoptysis. Likely due to the demon's lingering poison in the hall. Faint and weak, but even that was a sign he lacked the energy to dispel it. Ian turned his head and looked at the fallen Gail.
“......”
He was dying. Covered in the tenacious, sticky blood of the monster. Poison spread from the fingertips that had stabbed the heart, and the gray eyes that had seen it lost their light.
Could he see nothing now?
Ian simply remained silent, gauging his feelings.
“Haa, ha.... Ian.”
The faded pupils stared at the ceiling. As if asking if the gods had seen from the far end of the sky, if they had witnessed it all.
“...Leave it behind.”
Ian muttered while wiping the blood from his mouth. It was the end. Once Arsen's existence vanished from history, Gail's final moments caused by him would vanish too.
Even if only the gods and he knew, it was an unchanging, evident fact. So, for one who had given meaning to his death, such a courtesy seemed fitting.
“I'll listen.”
He closed his eyes and consciously took a deep breath. Countless thoughts and regrets swirled at the tip of his tongue. What to convey? To the only one in the world who would know his end, what to leave behind?
'Ah. This is still a blessing.'
After pondering, he suddenly laughed out loud. Born a prince and dying as one—Marib would be pleased if he saw. And even if not recorded, someone would remember. Perhaps that too was part of small history.
Tears flowed down his temples, but he seemed unaware due to his fading consciousness.
“...Just a bit.”
“......”
“Haa, just delay leaving a little.”
If Ian left now, people would rush in. Then they would see him lying on the floor, dying. He didn't want that. At least, he wanted to show his dignity in fully dead form. That too was one of the honors.
Swish.
Ian stayed in place instead. As time passed bit by bit, the evil energy filling the hall faded, and Gail's breathing grew shallower.
The half-torn curtain fluttered in the wind. Half-destroyed debris toppled little by little, making occasional noises.
Swish.
How much time had passed?
Ian realized the surroundings had fallen silent. Gail's breathing had stopped. He lay with eyes closed in a peaceful expression. As if refusing to show faded pupils.
“...A prince to the end.”
Ian removed his uniform and covered Gail's face. Then, slowly, with unsteady steps, he flung open the hall door.
Kkiiik.
People scattered around were visible. Dead or alive, unclear. Some seemed alive, but his head hurt too much to sense their energy.
As Ian staggered out into the corridor, the crowd gathered at the bottom of the stairs noticed immediately.
“Wh-what's coming out!”
“Is it the monster? Everyone, battle stations!”
“R-run! Let's get out of the palace!”
“There was that huge boom earlier, right? Now's our chance. What are the Imperial Guards doing? Hurry and prepare—!”
Out of fear, perhaps. They drew blades without discerning what it was. But soon, they recognized the brilliant golden hair gleaming in the sunlight. The deep green eyes like a meadow.
It was Ian. The Magic Department Minister who had sniped the monster in the palace, the empire's man.
Tadak tadak!
“It's Minister Hielo!”
“Minister! Are you alright? Damn it, get a doctor!”
“Second Prince Gail entered inside.”
“What about the monster? What happened to it?”
“Wait, hold on! Didn't it have brainwashing abilities? Don't approach! Be careful!”
All worried and climbing the stairs, they halted at someone's shout. Right. Ian had said so himself. Arsen had brainwashing powers. What if he was controlling Hielo?
Ta-at!
“Ian! Aaa! Ian!”
But one person charging through the halted crowd. It was Philia. Without a shred of doubt, she stretched out both hands and opened her arms to Ian. With puffy eyes, she grabbed her son's face.
“Ian, are you okay? Blood, so much blood.”
“...Mother.”
“You lived, you lived. Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.”
In that short time, Philia had endured several hells on earth. Each boom from inside made her want to scream to just kill her and take her breath.
Yet her son returned alive like this.
Tears streaming down, she pressed her forehead to Ian's.
“Ian, thank you. Thank you so much for living.”
Ian patted her back. He wanted to say words of comfort, but now he was truly at his limit. As Ian caught his breath, sweating coldly.
“...Lord Ian.”
Jin, who had run after Philia, called him. The child too had shed plenty of tears, his face damp. Jin approached Ian with an indescribable expression.
“Your Highness. Are you alright?”
The child's lips trembled. So many questions. What happened to the monster, was his mother alive, and everything about the 'imperial blood' Arsen mentioned.
But instead of asking, Jin bounded up the stairs powerfully and ran to Ian.
“...Your clothes are dirty.”
“I'm dirty too. Everyone here is.”
Jin muttered softly, and finally hugged Ian. Kwak, his small hands clutched the collar, relieved at his safe return. Ian exhaled raggedly and patted him.
“Ian, are you badly hurt? What happened inside? Second Prince Gail went in too—did you see him? Oh dear, that blood....”
Romandro too asked anxiously, unable to stand still, and Ian straightened up and looked down the stairs. Nobles and officials focused only on his words. Please, say the monster is dead.
“...The monster is dead.”
At Ian's declaration, everyone exhaled in relief. Cheers and applause erupted here and there, and close ones lightly embraced, welcoming peace.
“Haa! It's over, it's over.”
“As expected of Minister Hielo!”
“Right. No matter the monster, before a mage—and the Minister at that—it can't move! Truly amazing! You did a great deed!”
“If we hadn't killed it today, ah, just imagining Bariel's future is terrifying.”
Ian slowly raised his hand and waved it horizontally. A signal to quiet down. The noise gradually subsided per his instruction. Ian continued, announcing his death as well.
“Also, Bariel's Second Prince, Gail Berosion, has passed away.”
“......!”
“Imperial Palace Guards, escorts, and mages, enter the hall and handle the aftermath. If there are survivors, transport them urgently—”
Ian paused briefly. The instruction cut off abruptly, like his breath. As Romandro looked puzzled, Ian steadied his breathing and ordered.
“Including Second Prince Gail, recover the bodies of the deceased. Over.”
Tadak tadak!
At his command, soldiers rushed past Ian up the stairs. While everyone scurried about frantically, Ian slipped away to behind the building. Even as worried Romandro, Jin, and Philia followed and called, he didn't stop.
“Ian!”
“Lord Ian!”
“Oh god, the blood!”
And as soon as he rounded a quiet corner, Ian collapsed against the wall. He had a duty to collapse where no one could see.
Finally, as his white shirt soaked in blood, Ian lost consciousness.