Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: 78. Confrontation (1)
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If a zombie's strength matched its power in life, then the Flandre mansion was a veritable demon's lair.
The outstanding knights raised by the family charged at Rolang as zombies. They lacked the intelligence they had when alive, but their physical abilities were even greater.
Rolang grew weary from the endless fighting.
They all lunged face-first to tear into his flesh, forcing Rolang to gaze up close at the ruined faces of the knights he once knew.
With each one he felled, Rolang's heart shattered a little more.
But this was no time to break.
He still had work to do.
Rolang soon reached the mansion's highest floor.
The once-neatly arranged corridor lay in ruins, broken and abandoned everywhere.
Rolang drew in a deep breath.
Overlaid on his vision came memories of better days.
This won't do.
Rolang shook his head forcefully.
With every step, his resolve hardened.
He brushed past the smiling faces of the mansion's people—now superimposed crudely over the severed heads of zombies.
He crushed his memories and confronted the cruel reality.
The last lingering illusion he couldn't release lay beyond this door.
Rolang gripped his sword tightly.
And opened the door.
"Ah..."
A breeze blew through the open window, fluttering the curtains.
There, in patient garb, stood his father.
"Father?"
Rolang stepped inside.
"You're safe?"
Unlike the corridor, the room was spotless. True to his father's love of order, nothing was out of place. Even the bedding was neatly tucked, with only the edge slightly lifted from him rising.
Rolang's steps quickened.
"Father."
As he drew closer, the part hidden by the bed came into view.
It was a grotesquely crushed mass of flesh.
Rolang froze.
A few bones, mangled chunks of meat, and dried blood stuck to the floor—that was all.
But Rolang knew what it was.
The bloodstained brooch was one his mother always wore.
Rolang let his arms drop.
"Father."
At last, his father turned.
His face was twisted as if burned.
Between gaping jaws, jagged teeth protruded chaotically, laced with rotten flesh and shreds of torn cloth that reeked foully.
He lunged to bite Rolang.
Rolang reflexively raised his sword to block.
The zombie—once his father—bit into the blade, sending several teeth clattering to the floor.
"Keeeh..."
The zombie staggered forward relentlessly, retching like vomit.
Rolang gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
But the zombie dodged with eerie contortions, then pounced. Rolang pulled his sword back to aim for the neck but failed to land a clean hit.
Their bodies collided and tangled.
Pinned beneath, Rolang flailed punches wildly—then locked eyes with the zombie.
Hideous as it was, the outline of Rian Flandre he knew remained clear.
"Father..."
In the zombie's pupil, Rolang saw his own reflection.
A weary expression.
Rolang thought:
Too late.
In truth, the moment they tangled and fell to the floor, the outcome was sealed.
His father had been strong—even as a zombie, stronger still. Grappling like this, he couldn't avoid a bite.
Rolang struggled to swing his sword.
But first came a sharp pain in his shoulder.
Bitten.
Rolang dropped his sword and blinked.
An unknown searing energy invaded from the wound. It raced through his veins, spreading across his body in an instant.
As it reached his brain via the bloodstream, Rolang's vision flooded crimson. An impulse unlike any he'd known boiled from his gut.
Reason blurred.
Only instinct and desire remained.
Rolang battered the zombie crushing him and rose.
His skin warped uncontrollably. But something worse than pain dominated his mind.
Human.
Flesh and blood.
He needed it.
And in this zombie-infested mansion where they starved, Rolang knew of one remaining living human.
Stephanie.
Her face surfaced.
She'd be huddled in the narrow guard post.
Rolang staggered toward the door. His body was far from normal, but he crawled doggedly. Down the stairs, through the corridor, until he reached the mansion's entrance.
The pain was fading. Rolang no longer crawled. Like the other zombies, he lurched unsteadily.
He stood before the guard post.
Only ragged breaths escaped his mouth.
"Kieeh..."
Rolang opened the door.
There was the girl.
Exhausted from the long journey, she huddled in the corner, breathing softly. Asleep, she looked like any child her age.
Pitiful.
But that thought was swiftly overtaken by the crimson impulse ruling his brain.
Rolang twisted his head.
Something flickered in memory, but it slipped away. No—thinking itself grew hazy. Only the gut-wrenching desire propelled his body.
Rolang approached the girl.
Yuri raced without pause to the Brioll palace.
The Royal Guard at the gate stared in shock.
"Your Highness?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"What brings you here..."
The third prince was known to be facing the imperial army at Bezos.
Thanks to his brilliant feats against the empire, the name Yuri Brioll was once again shaking the continent.
And now he appeared suddenly at the palace.
"Have business. Leaving soon. Open up."
"Y-yes!"
Yuri passed through the palace gates. The guard saluted.
"Th-thank you for your service."
"Yeah."
Once inside, Yuri grabbed a passing servant.
"Where's my brother?"
"P-Prince?"
"Brother?"
"I don't really..."
Yuri asked everyone he met where Cedric was. But no one seemed to know. They all just tilted their heads.
Then he ran into Royal Guard knight Rosso.
He still looked ageless, untouched by time.
"Sir Rosso?"
"Huh? Your Highness? Why are you at the palace?"
"Business."
"I heard you were commanding the battlefield. I always knew you'd grow into such a splendid knight. Hahaha..."
"Thanks. Anyway, where's my brother?"
"Handling affairs in His Majesty's stead, so..."
Rosso tilted his head.
"His Majesty's office, probably?"
"Father's?"
"Feels right."
"Got it. Thanks, Sir Rosso."
"Honored to help."
Yuri hurried off without proper farewell.
Ignoring the guards trying to stop him, he soon stood before the king's office.
Cedric would be inside.
What to say upon meeting him? Yuri pondered briefly. But before a clear answer came, his body moved first.
He knocked.
No response from within.
Yuri knocked again.
Suddenly, the door swung inward. There stood Cedric, wearing glasses.
"Yuri?"
Cedric smiled.
"What brings you? Perfect timing. Tea?"
A warm welcome.
For the first time, Yuri felt a profound unease.
He'd rushed straight from the battlefield without notice. That's why the guards and servants were all shocked.
Yet Cedric showed no flicker of surprise.
Just a gentle smile.
"Come in. You must be exhausted."
Yuri followed his gesture inside, as if entranced.
Papers lay neatly organized on the desk—just as he'd last seen.
In truth, Cedric wasn't king yet. It wasn't right for him to be in Fiore's office. If he'd ascended, fine—but a proxy had no place here.
Yet he seemed utterly at ease.
"Something urgent?"
Cedric asked with a smile.
Yuri paused at the door, then spoke.
"Not surprised?"
"Hm?"
"Me showing up suddenly."
"I am."
"Doesn't look it."
"No one looks like you, so if you appear out of nowhere, it must be for a reason. Nothing shocking."
Yuri was stunned.
"Come in."
Yuri entered.
It wasn't the Fiore's office he remembered. The desk was new, and the furniture arrangement vastly different.
"Changed a lot?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Why?"
"Father's office like this."
"It'll be mine eventually."
Yuri eyed Cedric.
"Brother."
"Yes?"
"Got a question."
Yuri didn't drag it out. This was why he'd come to the palace.
To the head-tilting Cedric, Yuri said,
"Nothing you're hiding from me?"
"There is."
Cedric answered readily.
"Who doesn't hide something? You too, Yuri."
Yuri chose his words, then asked again.
"Brother, what happened to Franchese?"
"Sent a messenger. Didn't hear?"
"I did. But I want a straight answer from you."
"From me..."
Cedric nodded.
Then he looked down and let out a low chuckle.
"Yuri, you really..."
Cedric raised his eyes. His black pupils gleamed sharply.
"Always beyond my predictions."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly that. Didn't expect you—supposed to be fighting at Bezos—to ride here and ask. Amazing. Logically a bad choice, but it lands perfectly."
Cedric perched on the desk edge.
"Didn't expect suspicion this early either."
Yuri mulled the words and stepped back in shock.
He'd come to the palace not from distrust, but to ease his own mind.
Yet Cedric smiled with an expression Yuri had never seen.
"Brother?"
He'd regressed, but after leading the Allied Forces to victory, much had changed. Yuri constantly faced new crises. Nothing was ever easy.
But nothing this disconcerting had ever happened.
This was Cedric.
His respected big brother.
Cedric surely acted for Brioll's sake...
In that instant, Yuri shuddered.
He realized an unbelievable truth.
He couldn't comprehend his own oversight.
"Ah..."
In his past life, Brioll was invaded the moment Fiore vanished.
Yuri fought on the front lines.
Joshua wielded strategy.
All of Brioll resisted to the end.
But.
Cedric wasn't there.
He couldn't recall when he'd disappeared. No one in Brioll questioned his absence.
As if Cedric had never existed, everyone simply forgot him.
It made no sense.
Suddenly, a word came to Yuri.
"Black magic."
He voiced it unconsciously.
With a blurred expression, Yuri faced Cedric.
"You know it?"
Cedric watched him silently, arms crossed. His glasses flashed white in the light.
"Yuri, my little brother."
"Answer me."
"Why grow up so fast? Your uniqueness was always my joy, but this time... it's truly regrettable."
Cedric approached Yuri.
"Brother, answer..."
"I know."
"What?"
"I know black magic. And one more answer: the Franchese quarantine for plague? A lie. Something far worse is happening."
Cedric, now close, placed a hand on Yuri's chest.
"Stay still."
Yuri reached for Guilty, but his hand lacked strength.
As he struggled to grip the sword, Cedric's voice continued.
"Hands off the sword. Then I'll spare your friend in Franchese. Otherwise... she'll die horribly."