Chapter 60
Chapter 60
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Lena Rubel's Temper
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“That idiot…!”
Lena cried out involuntarily upon sensing the formless power. She hurriedly retracted the whip hovering in midair and grabbed the bag at her feet.
“Eek!”
A child’s scream echoed from inside the bag. It was Uni’s voice, hidden within the sturdy bag. Lena scooped up the bag with Uni still inside and retreated. At the same time, she shouted to the knights.
“Get out of the way!”
The moment Lena yelled, the palace pillar and outer wall struck squarely by the slash collapsed with a deafening roar. Boom! Crash! Pillars toppled and the ceiling came crashing down. Fortunately, most of it fell backward without burying the knights, but debris flew everywhere. Lena barely dodged a stone hurtling toward her head, while Uni shrieked nonstop as pebbles pelted the bag’s surface. As the slash swept through the palace, everything crumbled like an earthquake had hit.
“Uh…”
Enji blinked in shock at Rubid’s outrageous act. A glance sideways showed even Rubid hadn’t intended to go this far and seemed feignedly flustered. But the prince soon regained his characteristic shameless arrogance, leaving everyone else aghast at the chaos.
“Ugh…”
“Bl-blood…”
Knights hit by debris clutched their bodies and groaned.
“Check for anyone buried under the rubble and evacuate the wounded!”
Lena issued orders to Eden and turned away. She then glared at Rubid standing at the palace entrance. This was already the second time she’d witnessed his reckless slash. Once at the ballroom when he threw his tantrum, and now again. Having received power beyond his control, he’d rampaged and caused this mess. Furious at the sight of the battered knights, Lena strode toward Rubid. But before she could take a few steps, someone shouted.
“The Wraiths are coming again!”
Lena halted and turned around. The rift rippled massively, and Ash Carriers poured out once more. Even more numerous than before.
‘What the hell?’
Lena swung her whip desperately at the soaring Wraiths.
‘We took care of all the ones lured from the North…’
As she struck down the Wraiths, Lena suddenly recalled the words spoken to her days ago by the King with Many Hearts in the tomb.
—The Fanatics and the War Maniacs are targeting you.
‘No way…’
An unsettling hypothesis formed in Lena’s mind. If, as that perverted king said, the Fanatics and War Maniacs had been lying in wait for her, they wouldn’t ignore the rift’s location exposed while the North lured the Wraiths. To those who eagerly awaited any chance to emerge on the surface, this was a golden opportunity. Realizing this, Lena gritted her teeth. She left the Wraiths to Rubid for the moment and opened the bag where Uni was hiding.
“Is it over now?”
Uni asked with a nauseous look, then spotted the Wraiths over Lena’s shoulder and freaked out.
“Uni, Lin will be here soon.”
“Lin?”
“Yes, he should be almost here by now.”
Earlier, when the marquis sensed something off, Lena had sent for Lin. From Do-um Palace to Lake Palace was a twenty-to-thirty-minute ride on horseback. So Lin should arrive any moment.
“You can’t stay in the bag. Go outside the palace and meet Lin.”
The Wraiths kept coming endlessly. Lena had no confidence in protecting the bag while fighting. If debris or a fireball hit the bag hiding Uni, it would be disastrous, so she decided to send Uni out.
“Wh-what about you, miss?”
“I’ll finish cleaning up here.”
Lena pushed Uni’s back as she said this. Uni hesitated but realized Lena couldn’t fight freely like this, so she dashed toward the palace entrance with all her might.
…That was the last image Uni remembered of Lena. Afterward, Uni met Lin outside Do-um Palace. There had been a slight scare on the way, but fortunately, no one was hurt. Uni explained the situation to Lin, and they returned to Do-um Palace together. But the fight seemed over—the Wraiths were gone, and strangely, the miss was nowhere in sight.
“Uncle, where’s our miss?”
So Uni urgently asked a Southern Knight catching his breath amid the ruins. But the knight, covered head to toe in ash, only stammered with unfocused eyes. As impatient Uni opened her mouth to shout again, a relatively unscathed knight approached.
“Lena Sir’s maid.”
It was Eden, who knew Uni. He said,
“Lena Sir went into the tomb.”
“The tomb?”
When Uni gasped in surprise, Eden nodded silently.
“She said it’d be better to fight them inside so they wouldn’t escape…”
The unexpected news left not only Uni but even Lin, who had been listening from afar, speechless.
“Then the miss…”
“She said she’d take down the King of Burning and Smoldering while she was at it.”
“A-alone?!”
“Not alone.”
“Then?”
Uni eyed Eden, wondering if the knights had gone with her—though she wasn’t too hopeful about that. But Eden’s answer was worse than she imagined.
“Northern Prince Rubid followed after her.”
Lin, already dazed as he listened, felt the world spin. While he’d been completely in the dark, the second expedition had already begun.
***
When word spread through the Empire that Hiems Grasha had become the King of the Wraiths, reactions split into two camps. One denied it outright, the other nodded in acceptance. Hiems Grasha had served the gods more devoutly than anyone. At the same time, he had killed more people than most. He branded hundreds of women as witches and burned them at the stake, then crossed borders to slaughter tens of thousands of heretics. Since all this was done in the gods’ name, people naturally thought: he’d surely go to heaven after death—or hell. Opinions varied, but fortunately, Nihil’s testimony soon settled it. The emperor, who had met Hiems Grasha in person in the tomb, wrote this in his memoirs: Hiems Grasha was a hypocrite like no other, his outer and inner selves two sides of the same coin, alike yet opposed. His biography of the man began thus.
…I finally succeeded in skewering the King of Burning and Smoldering on my spear. My great-grandfather bore a piercing wound yet retained his gentle expression. Gazing at that face, angelic as in a holy painting, I grew a bit curious.
—Great-grandpa, before you take my heart, I have a question.
—Ask away, my dear granddaughter.
Hiems Grasha replied in a kindly voice. So I asked frankly.
—You served the gods’ will in life. Why then do you suffer here instead of ascending to a better place?
—What answer do you want?
—The truth. But not about the gods—about you, great-grandpa.
With that, I posed the question that had long puzzled me.
—Did you exterminate the heretics truly by the gods’ will? Or was it because you needed their fertile lands?
—The gods’ servant covets no land or wealth.
—Then burning those women—was that the gods’ will too? Or to quell the unrest from the plague?
—I merely acted on my beliefs.
—Then is your current plight also the gods’ will?
—Granddaughter, my little girl.
At my question, the King of Burning and Smoldering smiled darkly through bloodied lips. Then, impaled through the chest and pinned to the wall, he leaned forward and whispered to me.
—I’ll tell you the truth. In truth, I never once believed in the gods. And seeing you and me now, it seems there truly is no such thing. Isn’t that right?
A truth nearly buried forever spilled from a corpse’s mouth. Suppressing my contempt, I retorted.
—Then why pretend to believe and confuse others?
—How else would people follow me? How else pass the crown to your great-great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and you?
—Is that all?
—What could be more important? Even those who dominate an era die and fade away—what compensates for that transience? You must rule so my once-kingship is etched in the world; you rise through me, I endure through you. Parents and children are one body, as are you and I.
—Now I understand why you lived as you did, great-grandpa.
I nodded, sliced open his body, and extracted his heart. Sure enough, it was a shape familiar to me too.
***
Having crossed the rift into the tomb, Lena was honestly impressed.
‘What the hell did they do…?’
A neatly paved road stretched before her eyes. Where black earth had been a swampy mire, firm marble pavement now lay. Treacherous valleys requiring detours and sheer cliffs now had bridges. Thanks to this, the hellscape under its red sky felt just a tad more approachable.
‘Who thinks to build roads in a tomb?’
The tomb’s harsh terrain made it impossible for armies to maneuver. That’s why the North’s mighty forces were useless here—but they’d used their vast numbers to reshape even this disadvantageous environment.
‘As expected of the North…’
Acknowledging the North’s prowess, Lena spurred her horse along the road they’d built. That’s when Ash Carriers flew in from the sky. They dove straight for her, then began circling at a distance beyond her whip’s reach, probing.
‘They’re really after me?’
Lena finally accepted the perverted king’s words that the Fanatics were targeting her. She eyed these unfamiliar foes briefly. Hiems Grasha, who’d burned so many in the gods’ name. And the Fanatics, drunk on his power and demagoguery, hurling torches alongside him. In life, claiming to be the gods’ lions, they’d judged others and turned countless lives to ash—now stagnating here under the weight of their karma. Knowing their backstory, Lena didn’t like them much. But she’d never picked a deathmatch with them either. When she roamed the tomb freely, Regina was by her side, and Regina and Hiems kept an unspoken distance. So this was Lena’s first direct clash with Hiems.
‘No personal grudge, but…’
A mountain to cross regardless. Lena prepared to attack, glaring at the Wraiths. But unlike before, they didn’t charge—instead, they kept distance and gathered numbers. The already red sky began roiling with flames, and once enough had amassed, the Wraiths collided with each other. Explosions boomed as they burst in midair. Puzzled, Lena soon grasped their intent. Flaming Wraith fragments rained down like arrows, threatening her.
‘Damn.’
As the firestorm fell from the sky, Lena covered her horse’s eyes first with her cloak. Gripping the reins tight, she wove the horse through the falling fireballs.
‘Playing petty tricks—what’s the point?’
She knew about the Wraith Kings, and they knew about her. So they’d know this wouldn’t do more than annoy her. Thus, Lena darted through the flames, pondering what scheme Hiems Grasha hid. Then it happened. Wraiths high in the sky suddenly sliced clean off and plummeted. Reflexively sensing the familiar power, Lena glanced back. A prince on a white horse galloped this way. It was Rubid Plenus Grasha. Having caught up, Rubid downed Wraiths with slashes, and seeing him, Lena sighed inwardly.
‘A nuisance tagged along.’
She hadn’t asked for help—just don’t get in the way. Thinking that, Lena urged her horse to full speed. Rubid pursued hot on her heels, and soon they rode side by side. Lena glanced at Rubid now abreast. Rubid glared back briefly, then spurred his horse even more competitively. The pair sped across the North’s constructed road. It steadily led them to one place. The castle Lena and Rin had taken half a month to find. But the North’s road brought them there in mere hours. Before Lena and Rubid loomed the foreboding castle of the King of Burning and Smoldering, Hiems Grasha. Spotting it, Rubid kicked his horse’s flank again. Lena hastily cut in front.
“Wait, Rubid.”
“What? Move.”
“Charging down blindly is dangerous. Since we’re both here…”
“Hey.”
As Lena proposed teamwork, Rubid cut her off with a voice like a falling stone. He then growled venomously.
“Mind your own business and scram.”
His words lacked any courtesy, widening Lena’s eyes. Feigning shock, she stared at Rubid, then burst into incredulous laughter.
“I wasn’t worrying about you—I just didn’t want you getting in my way, you insolent brat.”
“What…!”
“Actually, perfect timing. You’ve got a ton of beef with me, right?”
Lena dismounted as she spoke. Looking up at Rubid, she added,
“Same here, honestly.”
Rubid Plenus. The punk who spectacularly ruined her society debut. Trash who stabbed handkerchiefs into women’s chests. Callow youth blindly showing off his strength. Strutting around like a spoiled young master amid enablers. She hated it all, but most of all, the last one. She’d never shown it, but Lena found Rubid insufferably grating as the marquis’s pet. And talk about luck—alone with him in the heart of the tomb. Seizing the chance, Lena said,
“Come at me. Win, and I’ll buzz off. Lose, and…”
Lena trailed off thoughtfully, then grinned mischievously as she finished.
“You call me Big Sis Lena from now on, Rubid dear.”