Chapter 289: Treatment (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 289: Treatment (8)
Virang stared blankly ahead.
His vision was filled with Blood Flowers, blooming and multiplying even at this very moment.
Thud—
A monotonous sound repeated in his ears.
Some were loud.
Others were soft.
Yet, without exception, monsters and soldiers alike fell, painting Blood Flowers at the cost of their lives.
Between them, a woman entered his sight.
Her white hair was soaked in blood, stained by the colors of the sunset.
Then, her indifferent eyes filled his vision.
And the last thing he saw—
Were the five severed heads held in her hands.
"……Ah."
A low groan escaped Virang’s lips.
Was it because he felt the cruelty of those five heads in her grasp, their eyes still wide open?
No.
He had already sacrificed too many people for this endeavor to feel such a thing.
The reason he groaned—
Was because the heads held by the member of the Great Race belonged to faces he knew all too well.
Among them, the head in the center was a face he could never forget.
‘Is it truly possible?’
‘Do not worry, Prince. No matter how great their race may be, they cannot withstand our combined assault.’
‘……Are you not underestimating them? Our opponent is of the Great Race. That monster is a creature capable of splitting a mountain with a single strike.’
‘I am well aware. But do not fret; you would be surprised to know how much preparation we have made to deal with her. We have even prepared the Great Sealing Talisman.’
‘The Great Sealing Talisman…… You mean that cursed object said to have helplessly imprisoned even the spirit creature of Mount Taesan?’
‘Precisely. No matter how great the race, if they are sealed by the talisman…… I believe you know what follows.’
The conversation he had shared with Cheonga a few days ago flashed through Virang’s mind.
Along with it, a childhood memory surfaced.
The first memory was of a spirit creature, a serpent so massive it could coil around an entire mountain.
The next was of the Great Sealing Talisman, which had sealed that impossibly large snake as if it were nothing.
That was why Virang had felt certain during his talk with Cheonga.
He judged that no matter how powerful the Great Race was, they could never defeat the other Great Generals, including Cheonga, while their powers were sealed.
Virang stared blankly at Cheonga’s face—or rather, her severed head.
Her expression was frozen in a daze, as if she hadn't even realized what had hit her.
“…….”
Had the plan gone awry?
Virang immediately dismissed that thought.
The repulsion of blue mana flowing from the woman of the Great Race told the story of that moment with absolute clarity.
Cheonga must have succeeded in the plan.
No, she did succeed.
She had certainly used the Great Sealing Talisman, which could seal even a mountain-coiling spirit creature, and most of the other prepared traps had surely been triggered.
And yet, the Great General had been defeated.
Without even realizing how or by what she had been struck.
“This makes no sense……”
Letting out a hollow laugh, Virang began to back away, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Slowly, his eyes were consumed by terror.
Seeing this, Historia raised her sword without hesitation.
“Aaaah—!!”
And at that moment.
“Wait! Please, wait just a moment—!”
U-Rang, who had been staring blankly at the situation until now, called out to stop Historia.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward him.
U-Rang, who was being held by the soldiers—
“Lady Historia, I beg of you. My foolish son…… could you not find it in your heart to forgive him once?!”
He bowed his head deeply in supplication.
It was a request one would never expect from a king who had just faced a rebellion.
Alon’s party, watching the scene, wore expressions of incomprehension.
Historia looked at U-Rang with an indifferent face.
And the first one to speak in that silence was—
“I—I was foolish! I am truly sorry!”
It was Virang.
Virang, who had been burning with ambition just moments ago, threw himself to the ground in a full prostration, slamming his head against the earth to escape this situation by any means necessary.
As if knowing this was his only chance, Virang slammed his forehead into the ground again and again.
The ground became stained with blood, and a hideous scar began to form on his head, but Virang did not stop his frantic pleading.
He knew.
He knew this was the only way he could stay alive.
As he desperately hammered his head against the ground—
“Lift your head.”
At Historia’s dry voice, Virang couldn't help but smirk while looking at the dirt.
The thrill of survival heated his entire body.
However, he couldn't let that show, so he forced out tears and prepared to lift his head.
“Huh?”
Virang felt something strange.
The face of the Great Race woman was clearly right in front of him.
But no matter how much he craned his neck upward, he couldn't see her face.
Instead, his vision kept tilting downward.
No matter how much he tried to lift his head.
No matter how much he tried to look up.
He could not see her face.
And then.
“It’s hard to cut your throat while you’re bowing.”
With those final words, Virang’s consciousness was buried in the abyss.
* * *
The day after Historia killed the 1st Prince, Virang, without hesitation—and wiped out the main forces of the rebellion in less than a day.
Amidst a very restless atmosphere, Alon began preparing to leave the Eastern Country.
In truth, he wanted to meet U-Rang and talk, but unfortunately, it was impossible.
It was only natural.
It had only been a day since the rebellion.
The palace was in a state of extreme chaos and unease, and U-Rang was in no position to settle things yet.
“But why on earth did he try to save a guy like that? I guess there really is no father who can abandon his child, huh?”
“You have such a pure heart.”
“Suddenly?”
“Not suddenly, I’m saying it because of what you just said.”
“Isn't it true, though?”
“Do you really think the King stepped in because he was worried about his son’s life?”
“Then he didn't?”
The voices of Evan and Penia reached Alon as he packed.
“Of course not. It’s obvious, isn't it? He needed to make an example of him.”
“An example?”
“Yes. If a rebellion occurs and the King can't handle it himself, relying on outside help instead, what kind of rumors do you think would spread?”
“But if he hadn't, wouldn't he have just been killed by his own son?”
“The moment Historia arrived, that possibility vanished.”
If he had kept him alive for a bit and then executed him publicly to demonstrate royal authority, he could have shown the world that the King was still in control, even if it was just for show.
As Penia finished her explanation and shrugged—
“You…… you’re surprisingly smart.”
Evan muttered, sounding slightly impressed.
“It’s not ‘surprisingly,’ I’ve always been smart!”
Penia snapped back.
As Alon left the palace with their bickering as background noise—
“Lord.”
“Historia.”
He encountered Historia standing in front of the palace as if she had been waiting.
“Did you finish your business?”
After stopping the rebellion yesterday, Historia had disappeared for a while, saying she had something to do.
At Alon’s question, she nodded.
“Yes, it’s finished. And this.”
She then handed Alon a small jewelry box.
“……This is?”
“A gift.”
“A gift?”
“Yes.”
Historia tilted her head once more with a blank expression.
“Why give this to me?”
“……Because I obtained it to give to you?”
“This?”
“Yes. I couldn't go to see you empty-handed.”
At that answer, Alon finally realized why Historia had been here in the East.
“……So you came all this way just to get a gift?”
“Among the things I know, this is the most precious treasure.”
Historia’s words were as pure and innocent as a child’s.
To that, Alon replied—
“……Thank you, truly.”
He expressed his gratitude and gripped the blue jewelry box firmly.
At that, Historia’s tail began to wag.
“Don't you want to open it?”
“……The fact that I received a gift is more important than the contents.”
At Alon’s following words, Historia’s tail wagged even faster.
Alon smiled inwardly, watching her tail, which expressed her emotions so clearly despite her blank face.
He asked Historia.
“Historia, do you plan to leave the Eastern Country now?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go together.”
“I can't.”
“Is there something left to do?”
Historia nodded immediately.
“You go first, Lord. I’ll follow as soon as I finish what’s left.”
“Then I shall wait for you at that place from last time.”
“I’ll be there quickly, so no need to wait.”
Promising to meet later, Alon left the Eastern Country first.
* * *
After Alon left the palace grounds.
Historia, conversely, went inside the palace to meet U-Rang.
“You have come.”
U-Rang bowed politely as Historia arrived.
“What do you have to say?”
However, Historia’s complexion and gaze showed no change, as if she had no interest in the courtesy U-Rang showed.
She simply threw out a monotonous question.
She had come here at U-Rang’s request.
Normally, she was the type to ignore such a request and leave, but since she had received the treasure of the Eastern royal family, she had granted him this favor.
As Historia stood there like a statue, U-Rang bowed again and got to the point.
“I invited you here to offer my thanks.”
“Thanks for what?”
“……Because in the contract between you and me, there were no others besides Cheonga and the Martyr.”
That was true.
When Historia first arrived, U-Rang had only asked for two things.
One was to kill Great General Cheonga.
The other was to kill the Martyr.
Historia had no particular reason to do anything beyond that.
Therefore—
“I am truly grateful that you considered the welfare of the Eastern Country.”
U-Rang offered his thanks with a sincere heart.
Historia, who had been staring at him, said—
“I didn't.”
“……Pardon?”
She uttered the word indifferently.
U-Rang’s face instantly became bewildered.
Then.
“It wasn't because I was thinking of the Eastern Country.”
Her declaration rang out.
Before the increasingly puzzled U-Rang could even ask for clarification, Historia’s voice rang out again.
“It was because he pointed a blade at my Lord.”
That was the only reason, Historia muttered softly before asking U-Rang—
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
“Ah? Yes—that is, correct.”
U-Rang, who had been dazed for a moment, quickly regained his senses and answered.
“Fine.”
As soon as his answer came, Historia turned around and walked out.
“…….”
U-Rang stared at the door for a long time before slumping into his seat, recalling yesterday’s events.
He remembered Historia’s eyes looking down at him when he had begged her to spare Virang’s life to make the cleanup easier.
“……So that was it.”
As U-Rang remembered it, there had been no emotion in those eyes.
Instead, there was only the sense that she was measuring something.
U-Rang had thought she was undoubtedly considering the future of the Eastern Country.
Measuring whether it would be better for her to kill Virang herself or to leave him alive for later disposal.
But he was wrong.
He realized it only now.
Such things were not important to her.
Not the future of the Eastern Country.
Not Virang.
In that moment, her eyes had been judging U-Rang.
Judging whether or not U-Rang was involved with Virang, who had tried to harm Marquis Palatio.
In other words—
She was deciding whether or not to kill him along with Virang.
“……Whew.”
U-Rang felt goosebumps from head to toe.
The fact that the scent of death had brushed past him without him even knowing felt like an immeasurable terror.
“…….”
U-Rang composed himself once more.
To him, Marquis Palatio was a benefactor of the old Eastern Country.
But to put it another way, he was merely a benefactor of the past.
He would treat him with respect, but it meant he had no deeper feelings beyond that.
But at this moment, U-Rang was certain.
He must never make an enemy of his past benefactor.
He must never make an enemy of Marquis Palatio.
Because he now knew that the Marquis had a powerhouse by his side who could turn an entire nation into an enemy without a second thought, simply because they had opposed him.
U-Rang let out a long sigh.
……His head throbbed.