Chapter 513: Fall (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 513: Fall (6)
The lowest floor of the underground prison.
Two days had passed since Joshua was confined here.
His limbs were shackled to the wall, and his eyes stared blankly into the darkness. A gag had been forced into his mouth, making it impossible for him to even bite his own tongue.
I can’t… I can’t let it end like this…
But what could he do?
Iron needles had been driven into his bound limbs, the same kind used on the wet nurses who served the reserve flagbearers. The knights he had trusted had turned out to be his mother’s people, not his own. His siblings, Myu and Anne, whom he had considered close, lacked the power to rescue him, and the Elder Council was in the same position.
He couldn't even pin his hopes on the "hounds" he had raised outside the clan. There was no way they could break into this underground prison, and besides, his hounds never possessed the terrifyingly blind loyalty of Taimun’s children. Without him to lead them, they would simply scatter.
Now that he had fallen, his only hope lay with the other flagbearers closest to the throne—Luntia, Dipus, Mary, and Jin. If they were to petition on his behalf, there might be a sliver of a chance, but that was an absolute impossibility.
Even if his father, currently in the Black Sea, were to learn of this, his mother’s orders would not be rescinded.
It was impossible to even seek death by refusing food and water. Runcandel’s underground prison was not designed to kill its inmates. Whether the subject was human, dragon, or demon, its purpose was to sequester them in absolute solitude until their natural lifespan ran out. If a prisoner refused to eat, they were force-fed. Suicide wasn't an option.
Not even the Prophet could pull him out of here.
I can do nothing. I have no one to rely on.
If there was one single hope left…
Mother.
It was for his cold-hearted mother, the very person who had shoved him into this hell, to come for him herself. That was the only way he would ever see the surface again.
Creeeeeak…
The sound of the entrance to the lowest floor opening echoed from a distance.
Joshua forced his hazy eyes to focus on the cell door, hoping that when it opened, his mother would be the one to walk through.
A long time passed before the door to his cell finally opened.
“What a pathetic sight, Second Flagbearer… Ah, you aren’t a flagbearer anymore, are you?”
The voice was like a hissing snake. It was Jorden Runcandel.
He clicked his tongue as he removed Joshua’s gag.
“How does it feel to have fallen?”
“Head of the Black Sword Council…!”
“Don’t look at me with those eyes. I didn’t come here to mock you.”
Jorden proceeded to unbind Joshua’s limbs from the wall.
“I may not be imprisoned, but my predicament is similar to yours.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve had my hands and feet cut off. Though I wasn't publicly disgraced like you, my pride was trampled into the dirt. By the Acting Patriarch.”
The Black Sword Council—the clan’s execution squad, composed of the strongest among the elders. Jorden was no longer their leader. While he still held the title of Head of the Black Sword Council, command had been completely transferred to Rosa. Of course, all the clan’s forces were technically under the control of the Patriarch and the Acting Patriarch, but Jorden was now barred from personally mobilizing the Black Sword Council under any circumstances. It was the fallout from the Exiles incident.
“Both you and I… were bested by the Twelfth Flagbearer.”
“I was—”
“Are you trying to say you’re here not because you were defeated by the Twelfth Flagbearer, but because of the Acting Patriarch?”
Joshua could not answer.
“Just admit it. We lost. We lost completely.”
“…What do you plan to do now, Head of the Black Sword Council?”
“Fortunately, my head is still attached to my shoulders, so I must plan for what comes next. You’re asking the obvious. And… isn't it the same for you?”
“The same…? As far as I know, you’ve never experienced a fall like this. Being treated as less than a bug by my father and surviving wretchedly? Wasting away, gnawing on the vain hope of one day becoming Patriarch? Losing the Black Sword Council? None of that compares to the cold floor of this underground prison.”
Jorden let out a short, dry laugh.
“I suppose you would think that way. A kid like you, anyway.”
“Hmph. You said you didn't come to mock me. In the end, you just wanted to get your kicks by looking down on a loser who’s fallen even further than you.”
“No. I came because I’m jealous of you.”
“What?”
“The Acting Patriarch will be coming to see you soon.”
Joshua’s eyes widened. Only now did he understand what Jorden meant.
“If you show her the same pathetic, bug-like behavior you’re showing me, then it really might be the end for you. I came ahead of her, worried that might happen.”
“Mother… Did you say Mother is coming for me?”
“Mother, Mother, Mother. You really are a child to the core. It’s almost shameful to share the same surname. I never had a mother like yours. Furthermore, my rival wasn't the Twelfth Flagbearer; it was the flagbearer Cyron Runcandel. I have spent years in a pit from which there is no return, a place where once you fall, you can never climb back out.”
A bitter smile formed on Jorden’s lips.
“It’s time for you to bear that weight as well. When I finish my closed-door training and return to the world… I hope to see you have shed that fragile shell of yours.”
“Closed-door training? Do you really believe you can turn the tables with something like that at this point?”
“In the end, what rules the world of martial arts is overwhelming strength that forces all to submit. I, too, simply ignored that fact for too long, using the shadow cast by your father as an excuse.”
Jorden turned his back.
“It is up to you to turn this hell into purgatory. I am saying this not as the Head of the Black Sword Council, but as your great-uncle.”
Jorden exited the prison cell. As he climbed the stairs, he ran into Rosa, who was descending into the basement.
“Acting Patriarch.”
“I doubt you came down here to check on the prison’s ghosts. Did you meet Joshua?”
“I did.”
“That was unnecessary.”
“Since his parents are so cold-hearted, shouldn't one of his kin treat him with some warmth?”
“Losing everything has certainly given you your confidence back. You have some nerve, speaking so insolently.”
“I simply remembered the essence of the family that I had forgotten.”
“If so many people hadn't forgotten that long ago, the Runcandel of today wouldn't be in such a precarious state.”
“You haven't grown soft either, Acting Patriarch.”
Rosa smirked, as if finding him ridiculous.
“The words of the powerless are nothing more than complaints. If you want to leave a scratch on my mood—let alone my sword or my body—then prove it. I’m telling you to complete that lowly sword of yours. That is why I left your head on your shoulders.”
During the brief moment it took for Rosa to pass Jorden and enter the lowest floor, Joshua was reflecting on Jorden’s words and the way Black Knight Jane had looked before she died.
—I hope my current appearance serves as a lesson to you.
Jane’s final words and the Head of the Black Sword Council’s visit. These things could not change the essence of a man like Joshua Runcandel in an instant. They were merely subjects for contemplation.
As Rosa entered, Joshua straightened his posture.
“You’ve come, Acting Patriarch.”
Stab!
Rosa suddenly thrust the blade of Frenzy into his right shoulder.
“Ugh…!”
Flesh tore and blood sprayed. Following that, a light, swift swing of her sword left a deep gash on his left shoulder.
The terror returned—a fear of his parents he had never once overcome. A new terror, born from the indiscriminate attack of the one person he thought would never abandon him.
“Even with your power stripped, you can’t even react to a sword like this? That was a speed even an upper-level cadet could dodge.”
“Act—Acting Patriarch…!”
“Right. At least you don't dare call me Mother anymore. But is that all? If it were your siblings—those children who are incomparably superior to you—they would have dodged it.”
Frenzy swung again, this time slashing across Joshua’s chest. The blade bit deep.
“Gah!”
“No, would they have stopped at just dodging? Luntia, Dipus, Mary, Jin! Those children wouldn't be screaming like you. They would have kept their eyes wide open and attempted a counterattack. Regardless of the reason or who was at fault, they were just stabbed, after all!”
Slash!
“And if it were Luna, she would have seized Frenzy and aimed it back at my throat. She’s more than capable of that, even without her strength, isn’t she? Isn’t that why Cyron and I regret her loss so much?”
Being stabbed and slashed was nothing compared to the horrific agony currently ravaging Joshua. He felt as though throwing himself naked into a pit of fire would be less painful. The pain of comparison, of his own inferiority, was truly immeasurable.
“Aaaargh! What exactly do you want from me?!”
Joshua lunged forward recklessly, only for a kick to knock his jaw aside and shatter his sternum. It wasn't a counterattack; it was a desperate struggle.
“Cough, hack.”
“Why can’t you do it? You, the supposed Child of Prophecy—why couldn't you do it?”
At those words, for the first time in his life, Joshua blamed his mother.
“You… raised me… this way.”
“I have no memory of raising you to be like this.”
“You did! You raised me this way!”
“No, I did not raise you this way.”
“And weren't you the one who gave birth to me like this? Luna, Luntia, Dipus, Mary, Jin! You didn't pass down as much talent to me as you did to them! This is all your creation…!”
“Talent? Fine, I’ll grant you Luna. But do you truly believe I threw you in here because your other siblings have superior talent? You simply didn't fight as hard as they did. Even though I gave you so many opportunities… Ah. I suppose you’ll say those opportunities were poison now?”
Rosa let out a hollow laugh. Joshua lay collapsed on the floor, trembling violently. He wanted to stand up again, but his body, mercilessly slashed and stabbed by Frenzy, refused to obey.
“I will acknowledge that as well. Looking back, it seems the opportunities I gave you over the past decades were indeed poison. I never imagined that being spoon-fed wouldn't be enough for you. If I had known beforehand that I had to chew the food for you as well, perhaps you wouldn't be here right now.”
“What… does that… mean?”
“On that day in the Sota Desert, for such an important mission… did you really think I would have sent only you flagbearers and two Black Knights?”