Chapter 285
Chapter 285
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: Dog and Wolf (10)
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“Why the royal castle…?”
Ha-eun stared at the smoke rising from the castle, her brow furrowed.
“Just a moment.”
Oh-jin fired his wire shooter toward the mansion roof and ascended.
Once on the roof, he could pinpoint exactly where the explosion had occurred.
‘Hound of Vega.’
Activating the Stigma of Canes Venatici, he pushed his senses to their absolute limit.
Along with a splitting headache, the distant, smoking location zoomed into view as if he were looking through a telescope.
“That’s…”
At the smoking castle, he could see beastkin with silver manes locked in a fierce battle with beastkin sporting black manes.
Seeing Leoru, the chief of the silver-maned tribe, leading a furious charge toward the castle, he instantly understood what was happening.
‘A rebellion.’
A week ago.
The image of Leoru, who had seemed about to say something to him when he'd mentioned going to see Horus, flashed through his mind.
‘Was this what he was trying to tell me back then?’
Leoru had been planning a rebellion.
Considering the current state of the Khan Kingdom, it couldn't have been an impulsive decision.
‘The conflict between the pro-demonkin and anti-demonkin factions, caused by the mass exodus of the demonkin.’
The demonkin, who had ruled the Khan Kingdom for the past hundred years, had vanished from the kingdom for some reason.
At most, only five demonkin remained.
In such a situation, the sudden news of war preparations had pushed the already restless public sentiment to its breaking point.
The ‘anti-demonkin faction’ had judged this to be the perfect opportunity to completely drive the demonkin out of the kingdom.
And at the center of that ‘anti-demonkin faction’…
‘Was Leoru.’
Things were finally starting to make sense.
The reason Leoru had looked like he wanted to say something when Oh-jin declared he would kill Horus if he was connected to the Heavenly Demon must have been about this rebellion.
‘But he couldn't have said anything.’
From the perspective of the relatively weaker anti-demonkin faction, Oh-jin's group, who shared their goal, would have been a desperately needed asset.
But they couldn't have involved outsiders they'd just met in a grand plan like a rebellion.
“…I have to go to the castle.”
Oh-jin came down from the mansion roof and looked at the smoking castle.
The absence of the demonkin who should have been at the mansion meant their plan had already reached the demonkin's ears.
If a surprise attack was already a gamble, and they had been discovered beforehand, it wasn't hard to imagine how this rebellion would end.
“These foolish bastards…!”
Riak, seeming to have grasped the situation, bared his fangs fiercely and glared toward the castle.
Just as he was about to kick off the ground and dash toward the castle.
Vrrrr!
He felt a small vibration from within his clothes.
Oh-jin took out the communication sphere, which was vibrating and emitting light.
[O-Oh-jin!]
It was Riru's breathless voice.
[H-Help me! The demonkin and the black-maned tribe are in the village…!]
“…Damn it.”
Oh-jin's expression twisted harshly.
The demonkin and the black-maned tribe had attacked the village as if they'd been waiting for the rebellion to start.
The meaning of this was clear.
‘They intend to use the villagers as hostages.’
If the demonkin already knew the rebellion was going to happen.
What reason would they have to engage in a bloody battle with the silver-maned tribe's warriors to suppress the rebellion?
“Are you at home right now?”
[Y-Yes! I'm hiding in the storage with Leo!]
“I'll be there soon, so don't you dare come out of there.”
[O-Okay!]
Oh-jin ended the call and turned his head toward Isabella and Ha-eun.
Having heard Riru's urgent voice, both of their expressions were grim.
“You two, head to the village.”
“What?”
“…Are you planning to go to the castle alone?”
“No.”
Oh-jin looked back at Riak and continued.
“I'm going with Riak.”
And of course.
Vega, hidden in his pocket, would also go with him to the castle.
“…It's too dangerous.”
Isabella shook her head and continued.
“I'll go to the village alone. There won't be many of them attacking an empty village anyway.”
With the warriors gone, the only ones left in the village were children like Riru and Leo, and the elderly beastkin.
No matter how fierce the silver-maned tribe was, it was unlikely a large force had been sent to subdue the weak, the old, and the young.
Indeed, Isabella alone would have no trouble wiping them out.
But.
“It'll be hard to fight them off while also rescuing the captured beastkin by yourself.”
“That's…”
“It's not over just by killing all the bastards who attacked the village, right?”
Isabella bit her lip and lowered her head.
Just as Oh-jin said, wiping out the group that attacked the village was a simple task for her.
But protecting the captured beastkin while simultaneously wiping out the attackers was a completely different matter.
No matter how strong Isabella was, it would be difficult for her to fight them while also protecting others.
Of course, even with Ha-eun, it would be difficult to rescue all the captured silver-maned tribe members, but they could at least save more than Isabella could alone.
“We don't have time to waste.”
Oh-jin urged Ha-eun and Isabella.
“Ugh, you’re impossible.”
“…Alright.”
The two, who had been looking at Oh-jin with worried eyes, sighed and turned away.
“We'll come help you as soon as we're done. Until then… please don't overdo it.”
“Yeah, you can count on me.”
Oh-jin grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
Ha-eun and Isabella, who were staring at him with eyes full of disbelief, finally kicked off the ground toward the silver-maned wolf tribe's village.
The backs of the two women quickly receded into the distance.
“Let's head to the castle, too.”
“…You sure about this, kid?”
The castle was likely where the demonkin and the core forces of the pro-demonkin faction were all gathered.
Even if there weren't many demonkin left in the kingdom, each one was a powerful being who had inherited the Heavenly Demon's power.
Attacking them one by one was one thing, but a head-on confrontation was far too risky.
“It won't be fine.”
Oh-jin smirked, looking at the smoking castle.
Just as Riak said, heading to the castle now, without Isabella and Ha-eun, was reckless.
Even with Riak and Vega, the two were bound by the constraints of the Commandment and couldn't use their full power.
“…Then, why?”
“I told you before.”
The day he learned about Riak's past.
They had already had a similar conversation.
“A problem that can be solved by enduring it is no problem at all.”
“…This is not a problem that can be solved by enduring it.”
“Then that's all the more reason to give it my all.”
Crackle!
Blue lightning crackled around Oh-jin's legs.
“What will you do?”
Oh-jin looked back at Riak.
It was time to hear the answer he hadn't heard back then.
“……”
Riak gazed at the castle with deep, sunken eyes.
[Oh, Riak.]
Vega flew to Riak and gently stroked his head.
[I am reminded of when I first met you.]
Even when you were so battered and broken that it wouldn't have been strange if you'd died on the spot.
A single silver wolf, sobbing that he couldn't protect anyone.
[For a long time, I have watched you regret the past.]
The goddess's voice seeped in warmly.
[Follow the path your heart leads you. This time… so that you have no regrets.]
“…Lady Vega.”
Grrr.
Riak ground his teeth fiercely.
His stalled feet took a step forward.
“Let's go, kid.”
“Yeah.”
Fzzt!
Two streaks of blue lightning shot toward the castle.
* * *
“Hah, hah!”
Leoru panted, his breath catching in his throat.
His blood-soaked silver fur was matted unpleasantly.
Before the panting chief lay hundreds of black-maned tribe warriors and two demonkin, beaten to a pulp.
As if to prove they were the tribe 'Khan' once belonged to, the silver-maned tribe that attacked the castle displayed tremendous might, but…
“Ch-Chief!”
“At this rate…!”
The urgent voices of his tribesmen reached him.
No matter how great the strength of the silver-maned warriors, they couldn't overturn the overwhelming numerical disadvantage.
Leoru, who had fought more bravely than anyone at the forefront, collapsed.
“That's… enough.”
A black-haired man stood before the panting Leoru.
He looked down at the fallen Leoru with bitter eyes.
“Ho-Horus…!”
Leoru glared at Horus, his eyes burning with hatred.
Horus averted his gaze from Leoru's blazing eyes.
“What's the matter~?”
There, a man with unpleasantly thick makeup, Kalike, was powdering his face and giggling.
Horus clenched his fists and glared at him.
“…Was this your doing?”
“I have no idea what you're talking about~?”
Kalike shrugged with a sly expression.
Horus glared at Kalike with ice-cold eyes.
“The castle gates were open.”
To enter the royal castle, one had to pass through two gates.
The outer wall outside the capital and the inner wall surrounding the castle.
Even if security at the outer wall was lax, the inner wall was a place where the black-maned tribe's warriors stood guard 24/7.
Without a collaborator on the inside, there was no way such a large force could have entered the castle undetected.
In other words, someone had pushed the silver-maned wolf tribe's back.
Pushed them to start a ‘rebellion’.
“Hohoho! I suppose you're right. It seems we'll need to give the guards a stern punishment later, won't we?”
Kalike let out a simpering laugh, twisting his red lips into a smirk.
Thick veins bulged on Horus's clenched fists.
“Kalike…!”
Horus's fists trembled, his eyes bloodshot.
Looking at Horus, Kalike snorted.
“Anyway, you should hurry up and capture those guys, shouldn't you? That's how we'll secure warriors who will fight bravely on the front lines when we go to the world beyond the veil, right?”
“Hah, do you think they will submit?”
Horus let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
In the eyes of the wounded and fallen Leoru, a fierce fighting spirit still blazed.
“We will not become dogs like you, Horus!”
Leoru wiped his bloody mouth and staggered to his feet.
“Hohohohoho!”
Kalike's shoulders shook as he burst out laughing, as if he found the situation unbearably amusing.
“Well, now. I wonder if you can still say that when your children's lives are on the line?”
“What… did you say…?”
Leoru's eyes widened.
“Y-You… what did you do to the village…?”
“Hoho. Weeell~ I wonder~?”
“Ah, ah, uh.”
Leoru stumbled backward, his face pale.
Kalike slowly approached Leoru, sticking his long tongue out.
“Shut up and kneel, you fucking mutts.”
A chilling voice echoed.
“How dare you dogs bare your fangs at your master…”
As Kalike's words trailed off.
Bang!
With a sudden gunshot, six wires shot out from all directions and wrapped around Kalike's body.
Kalike looked down at the wires coiling around his body and frowned.
“What the hell is this…?”
“What do you think, asshole?”
Fzzzzzzzzzt!
“Aghyaghyaghyagyak!”
A torrent of blue lightning surged through the wires and struck Kalike's body.