Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The One Who Swallowed the First Cry
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There are four types of wraiths in hell. And among them, the ugliest and most repulsive are probably the ones who swallowed their first cries. Unlike other wraiths, they at least retained a proper human form, but with only bones and skin left, they resembled shriveled corpses. Their sight and smell had degenerated to the point where they wouldn't notice someone right beside them. Despite that, their hearing was terrifyingly acute, and their appetites were voracious—they would charge like arrows at the slightest sound and devour anything indiscriminately. I found their habits quite bizarre. So when I faced the King Who Swallowed the First Cry, who commanded them, I asked him something I'd always wondered about before tearing out his heart.
―Your Majesty, why can't your subjects see ahead?
―We are a regretful race and cannot look upon the world directly.
The King Who Swallowed the First Cry answered readily. So I asked again.
―Then why do they lunge at any sound and gobble it up?
―That is the punishment laid upon us—we repeat the act we regret most.
―What do you regret so much?
―I am too ashamed to confess it myself.
―Is it related to your name? Then is the thing you regret 'swallowing the first cry'?
As I pressed him with questions, the king finally burst into tears. Sobbing sorrowfully, he replied.
―Princess, you already know everything. Just as you know why your great-grandfather is the 'King of Burning and Scorching.'
With that, the King Who Swallowed the First Cry fell silent. Though he commanded the foulest wraiths, he was the wisest among the kings. I respected him, but I didn't hesitate to rip him apart. I gladly slaughtered him, and from his mangled body fell a very small heart. I reached to pick it up and claim it. But before I could, the King Who Swallowed the First Cry slipped his own heart onto his finger and fled. The defeated king once more hid in the deepest part of the castle, and I never saw him again. . . .
Lin slowly rode onward, mulling over Emperor Nihil's biography.
‘What I thought was ridiculous gossip...'
Stories too implausible for history and too shallow for myth. I'd dismissed them all as fabrications to cover the empire's atrocities. But now that I'd descended into the tomb myself, I spent the whole day pondering them in search of even a small clue.
Lin mocked his own situation as he gazed at the sky. And regretted it. The blood-red heavens, threatening to pour down, only fueled his fatigue.
Lin and the Eastern Knights were already in the heart of the tomb. The East had entered after the vanguard South, steadily pursuing Lena's trail.
“Your Highness, over there again...”
Deka lowered his voice and pointed to one side of the valley. Neatly dismembered wraiths lay scattered about. Unlike on the surface, where they dissolved into smoke, the wraiths slain underground melted slowly into the earth.
“The Proxy of the Southern Duke's prowess is no joke.”
Deka said fearfully, eyeing the wraith corpses. Lin silently agreed.
After Lena had crossed the rift as vanguard, Lin and the Eastern Knights had followed right behind. But when they passed through, the first thing they saw wasn't Lena Rubel's back—it was countless wraith corpses. Lin and the knights felt chills run through them. Not out of horror. They were knights who could step over wraith corpses without a second thought. What shocked them was what the scene implied. Wraiths vanish upon death. No corpses, no bloodstains—just mist scattering away. He'd wondered if the tomb was different, but they only melted into the ground instead; the bodies still disappeared all the same. So this many corpses meant one thing. Lena Rubel had cut down the wraiths and left this place. Alone, against such numbers, in mere seconds.
'I knew she wasn't ordinary, but...'
Not to this extent. Lin thought, watching a wraith corpse dissolve away. Could I pulverize wraiths this swiftly? He'd have to try to know. More honestly, probably not.
'How, when she's not even imperial blood who inherited Authority...'
Lin pondered gravely, then suddenly chuckled. He recalled what Lena had said two days ago.
―Don't fight the wraiths. The more you fight, the worse off you are.
She'd told him not to fight, yet here she was massacring them to advance. Truly unpredictable. As Lin followed her trail, he mulled over her more. Besides not fighting, Lena had given other cryptic advice.
―Bring only ten selected knights.
―Plan to stay in the tomb for about ten days.
―Don't approach the castle.
Every word was baffling, forcing Lin to agonize for a full day before the expedition. Personally, he liked Lena. But he couldn't blindly accept her riddles. He wasn't just any individual—he was the Eastern Duke.
It was while Lin brooded silently that the lead knight suddenly signaled.
'What is it?'
At the tension-raising signal, Lin dismounted. He crept forward quietly to join the knight at the front. Climbing the slope revealed a long ravine stretching ahead, with a castle rising starkly in its midst. And below, on the black ground, wraiths swarmed like a herd of buffalo. Bipedal, bones exposed on emaciated bodies, aimlessly wandering. The ones who swallowed their first cries. And among them moved something lithe as a cat.
'Lena.'
It was Lena. Bold as brass, she slipped past the ones who swallowed their first cries. The dim-witted wraiths hadn't noticed her yet and just milled about blankly.
'Heading straight for the castle?'
A castle with no gates or roads, like a crude mud imitation. How did she plan to enter?
―Only I can conquer that castle.
Right, Lena had said that too. She knew some method. So what now? Watch the South claim all the glory? Lin stared at Lena forging ahead, then signaled his knights.
'Bow and bells.'
At the Eastern Duke's command, the knights handed over a bow and bronze bells. Lin tied the arrows to the bells with string. He nocked two arrows with bells attached to the bowstring. Personally, Lin liked Lena. But Rig-nan Aiterner was more than an individual. He was the youngest, most ambitious, and ruthless duke in history. Steel resolve in his heart, Rig-nan Aiterner drew the bowstring toward his advancing rival. Lena was surrounded by countless wraiths just then. Even the great Lady Lena would struggle alone against that many. Lin watched intently, fixed on her, then released the string.
***
'The path is narrow.'
Deep in the tomb, Lena halted and eyed the wraiths ahead. The ones who swallowed their first cries, oblivious to her, blocked the way densely.
'Can I slip past quietly?'
She'd cut down every wraith she'd seen so far, but now she had to hold back. A little farther ahead lay the castle of the King Who Swallowed the First Cry. Stir up a fuss too soon, and she'd face endless wraiths pouring out, fighting forever. Ideally, she'd pass silently, but the overlapping bodies made it impossible. Stuck, Lena bit her lower lip and racked her brain.
'If only I could distract them with noise.'
But she had no tools. She'd ditched all noisy items to move quietly. She had a few daggers, but hurling them hard wouldn't make much sound in this squelchy ground. As Lena scanned around for a way, arrows whistled from somewhere. Two plunged vertically into the earth, and with a deafening clang, a cacophony of metal rang out. That instant, the wraiths bared teeth and charged. Their sharp nails snapped the arrows instantly, sending bells flying and ringing louder. Frenzied, the wraiths thrashed wildly to devour the sound.
'What?'
Lena stared at the scene in bewilderment. The arrows had struck about forty paces from her feet. The wraiths surged toward them en masse, clearing her path neatly. Spotting where the arrows came from, Lena smiled faintly. Far off, Lin stood with bow in hand.
'Lin's here too.'
Knowing he'd helped, Lena gave him a light wave. ***
'Your Highness?'
Seeing Lin clear Lady Lena's path, Deka eyed him questioningly. But Lin just exhaled deeply, offering no explanation. Truth be told, he wasn't sure himself.
'Is this really the right call...'
As Eastern Duke, he had to weigh every decision carefully. He couldn't accept Lena's riddles at face value. Nor could he ignore them outright. Her extraordinary nature demanded attention—not just from Lin the man, but from the lord of the East. So after agonizing, he'd heeded her advice. Not verbatim, but with added safeguards.
'From now on, set camp on high ground and monitor the area.'
'If I don't return after ten days, retreat to the palace.'
'Seventy percent of knights eat rations; the rest subsist on salt.'
For contingencies, he'd leave ninety of a hundred knights with Deka here. Signaling the order, Deka nodded without dissent despite his inward panic, then just asked where Lin was headed. Lin replied curtly.
'To claim spoils.'
This too came from Lena last night. ***
'Looks like they're not coming to the castle.'
Lena smiled as she watched the Eastern Knights disperse. She'd been inwardly disappointed by the horde of knights, but they'd heeded her words after all.
'He's good and obedient. Or does he have sharp instincts?'
Lena gladly praised Lin's choice. She approved of how he'd followed her advice without blind obedience, adding his own precautions. Pleased as she watched them move, Lena hurried before the wraiths could block the path again. The castle loomed ahead, doorless as Lin had observed. But Lena knew how to enter. As she approached, the ground suddenly trembled, followed by thunderous quakes.
'What?'
Thinking wraiths were coming, Lena whirled around. It wasn't wraiths. Soaring above the valley was a vividly red flag as vast as the sky—the North's banner. Spotting the Northern Knights, Lena quickly hid. Sure enough, the army's clamor drew swarms of ones who swallowed their first cries from the castle. That instant, sword strikes flew from the opposite side. Lena barely rolled aside to dodge being swept up in Rubid's assault. The North's aggressive gentlemen seemed intent on unleashing hell. To gauge their formation's extent, Lena swiftly scanned the valley ridge. Then her racing gaze halted at one spot.
'Father.'
Among the throng, impossibly, she spotted Marquis Rubel. He faced her way just then. It felt like their eyes met. No, they definitely did. Right after, his hand slashed the air, and knights loosed arrows—proof positive.