10. Nightmare of the Past
10. Nightmare of the Past
"Assassinating the Imperial Princess... do you think that's even possible?"
It's the Imperial Princess. The Empire's only remaining bloodline and, for all intents and purposes, its master. Even if she wants to step out once, a massive number of guards attach themselves to her, and the security inside the Imperial Palace is so tight that not even a damn fly can get in without permission.
And you're saying you're going to assassinate that Imperial Princess?
I looked at the faces of the Revolutionary Group members. They looked like beggars from dodging the Imperial Guard's pursuit.
Looking like that, you're going to assassinate the Imperial Princess, essentially going head-to-head with the Imperial Army?
Perhaps seeing my expression, Hector laughed and said.
"Kwahaha! Under normal circumstances, of course, it's impossible. We aren't idiots, you know. We know our lives are precious."
"Then by what means..."
"We have a helper."
A dark smile spread across Hector's lips.
"The Demon God Cult bastards will rise soon."
My thoughts stopped for a moment.
The Demon God Cult? Those bastards who want to resurrect the Demon God and destroy the world?
'The Revolutionary Group joined hands with those guys?'
My head starts to ache. They already joined hands? What got twisted? No, if they already made contact, then what the hell...
At that moment, chills ran down my spine. The pieces started fitting together in my head. In the game, the Revolutionary Group was a weak organization.
The protagonist joined the Revolutionary Group, but it was practically half-destroyed.
Nothing was intact; I had to raise everything from talent to facilities one by one.
But what about now?
I examined the Revolutionary Group members. I saw it in the battle earlier; they held out against the Imperial Guard. Yeah, they only held out, but that's still a huge achievement.
'Essentially the strongest military force in the Empire.'
Being able to hold out even for a moment against such a force means they are at an elite level.
And there's one decisive clue.
'Sylvia is perfectly fine.'
In the game, Sylvia was a one-eyed character. A character who always wore an eyepatch. I thought it was just character design back then, but seeing her perfectly fine now, I'm certain.
'This is a slightly earlier timeline than the game.'
What if they carried out the Imperial Princess assassination operation before the protagonist joined?
And if, for some reason, the operation failed miserably and the Revolutionary Group was almost on the verge of destruction?
Everything becomes clear. The Revolutionary Group's combat power being stronger than I thought, a perfectly fine Sylvia, and the Revolutionary Group's morale dropping when cooperating with the Demon God Cult in the game.
'I thought it was just a game system back then.'
Seeing it now, there was a backstory to all of it.
If they suffered that much damage in a cooperative operation and then joined hands again, of course, morale would drop.
Unlike my serious state of mind, Hector continued speaking as if he were proud.
"You know about the Imperial Princess's hatred for the Demon God Cult, right? The Demon God Cult bastards hate Princess Bella even more than that. They want to erase her from the world entirely. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't it?"
As he said that, he reached out his hand to me, and I felt like slapping it away and grabbing him by the collar.
'Enemy of my enemy, my ass.'
It would be better to join hands with the Imperial Palace and exterminate the Demon God Cult instead. At the very least, the Imperial Palace doesn't destroy the world.
I want to tell them to scrap that operation right now, but I can't.
'I'm an outsider right now.'
No matter how much Hector, the leader, acknowledges me, I'm no different from a newly joined member. If I tell them to stop because their operation will fail miserably, I'd be lucky not to get kicked out, let alone have them listen.
I grabbed the hand Hector extended. Very tightly.
"Hmm?"
Perhaps feeling my grip strength, Hector curled up the corners of his mouth in a smirk.
I also twisted my lips up as much as I could. Like someone filled with venom from being oppressed by the crazy Imperial Princess.
"If it's about finishing off the crazy Imperial Princess... no, Bella, I want to participate too. I also want to erase Princess Bella from this world."
It's a lie. Far from killing the Imperial Princess, I must keep her alive. I must do my best to protect her so she never dies, so she can continue to keep the Demon God Cult in check.
'If the Imperial Princess dies, the Demon God Cult will run wild.'
Without the Empire's deterrent, the Demon God Cult will grow in size in an instant and destroy the world. To prevent that, the Imperial Princess must absolutely stay alive.
Unaware of my true intentions, Hector laughed, "Kwahaha."
"Yes! Haeil, I knew you'd be like that! Let's do this well!"
Yeah, let's do this well.
Because I'm going to do my best to ruin this operation.
"Your Highness, the Demon God Cult's movements are unusual."
"Those damn bastards keep acting like vermin."
Princess Bella set down the tea she was drinking.
The Demon God Cult... the bastards eating away at the Empire.
Grind.
Princess Bella ground her teeth.
I still remember.
Bang-!
"Kyaaaah!"
"Your Highness, you must evacuate..."
The sound of explosions and swords clashing could be heard.
"Evacuate the Imperial descendants first!"
"Block them! Don't let them approach... Ugh!"
The Demon God Cult's terror attack.
We had come out to the streets as a group for an event, and the Demon God Cult's terror attack happened right at that timing.
It happened in an instant.
A mysterious man threw something, and just like that, my eldest oppa disappeared without a trace.
My second oppa's body was completely crushed, unrecognizable.
My third eonni was at least recognizable, but it was a horrific sight.
"Bella! Pull yourself together! We have to run!"
My fourth eonni grabs my arm.
"This way!"
We flee in a hurry, following the knight's guidance.
Bella just moves here and there, led by her fourth eonni's hand.
The sound of swords clashing, the sound of something being sliced, screams, the sound of blood splattering. Countless sounds reached her. Bella was so terrified by it that she covered her ears.
When she covered her ears, all she could feel was her fourth eonni's hand. It was warm. It was leading her.
Yes, I just need to follow eonni. It will be fine. Yes, it will.
Bella walked around for a long time, holding her fourth eonni's hand. Here and there.
Her legs hurt. Being dragged around in a young body hurt. But she endured it. Because her fourth eonni must be scared too. She knew that whining right now wouldn't help at all.
It was a long time later that she felt something was strange.
Even though she was holding eonni's hand tightly, eonni remained the same. Without any movement, she was just holding her hand as it was. Eonni's hand seemed to have gotten a little cold.
"Eonni...?"
Bella called out to her fourth eonni with her eyes closed, but no answer came back.
She was scared to open her eyes. So she held the hand tightly.
Scary. Terrifying. But she had to open her eyes. She felt it instinctively. That she had to see.
Bella slowly opened her eyes. And what she saw was.
"...!"
Only eonni's arm was there. The severed arm of eonni was holding her hand.
"Kyaaaah!"
Bella screamed. Instinctively, she shook off eonni's hand. When the hand that was holding it disappeared, her fourth eonni's hand rolled on the ground.
'Eonni? Where did she go? Don't tell me...'
Before she could even finish her thought, a voice was heard.
"You shouldn't do that... She's your precious eonni who led you, isn't she?"
A man in a black hood said. There was a bizarre pattern drawn on the hood, and Bella recognized it immediately. It was the Demon God Cult.
"Huh? She tried so hard to protect her younger sister, you shouldn't treat her like that."
He looked at her, smiling. And then he picked up her fourth eonni's arm that had fallen to the ground and handed it to her.
Bella was so terrified by that, she closed her eyes. Covered her ears. Buried her head between her legs.
"Oh my, you have to take it. Ah! I see. It's because I didn't introduce myself."
Bella still remembers that memory vividly. Even after several years, it hasn't been forgotten.
"My name is Haiken. I'm a fairly high-ranking person in the Demon God Cult, so you should remember that, okay?"
Princess Bella opened her eyes.
"Your Highness?"
Her breath was coming in short gasps. She touched her neck and felt cold sweat. Even though years have passed, that event still feels vivid.
In her vision, neither her fourth eonni's arm nor Haiken who mocked her was there. Yes, of course. Because the Imperial Guard came and protected her right after he said that.
It's all just a nightmare of the past.
The Imperial Princess stood up from her seat.
"The response is always the same. Find them all and kill them."
"That is..."
The knight seemed to want to say something.
"What is it?"
"It is a report that the person named Haiken, whom Your Highness was looking for, has been found."
At those words, the Imperial Princess's hand clenched on its own. Her hand clenched tightly and trembled. The Imperial Princess ground her teeth and bit her lip.
Haiken... I have never forgotten that hateful name for even a single moment.
How much time have I invested to catch that bastard Haiken, to find that guy from the Demon God Cult.
To avenge my fourth eonni, to repay him many times over for the pain I felt, I searched with all my might. And finally, I've caught his tail.
"What is the current situation?"
"For now, the Knights are slowly putting pressure on them."
"The elite force... no, I will personally provide additional support with the Imperial Guard."
"Yes? Then who will guard Your Highness..."
"Do not worry."
Princess Bella stood up completely from her seat and picked up the sword hanging on the wall of the room.
"Because I am going myself."
"Kwahaha! Yes, Haeil. Say hello, this is an executive of the Demon God Cult who is cooperating with us."
I looked at the man in front of me. A black hood with a bizarre pattern.
It's the Demon God Cult's attire.
I came here because I arrived at the headquarters and they said a Demon God Cult member wanted to see me. Hector also seemed to have doubts about it, but he dismissed it, saying that Demon God Cult bastards are weird to begin with.
'Well, it's not like those Demon God Cult bastards aren't weird.'
I also didn't feel any particular doubt and followed Hector into the reception room. When I entered, the Demon God Cult man who was already sitting there smiled when he saw me. And he spoke in a voice as if he had seen a welcome person.
"Wow! It's truly nice to meet you. You are Haeil Cartis, right? I really wanted to see you."
He wanted to meet me?
'I shouldn't have any ties with the Demon God Cult, so what is this?'
As far as Haeil knows, there are no ties. But for a Demon God Cult executive to suddenly say he wants to see me, what does that mean?
When I made a confused expression, the Demon God Cult man spoke without caring.
"Let's start with introductions. I am Haiken, an executive of the Demon God Cult. Nice to meet you, Haeil-nim."
He reached out his hand as if to shake hands, so I also reached out my hand and grasped it.
At that moment, the pendant glowed. My mind started to float as if it were moving somewhere.
'Bella...?'
Something started to appear before my eyes.
The appearance of the young Imperial Princess. The severed arm of her eonni that she saw when she opened her eyes, and Haiken.
It was seen so vividly, him smiling gently and saying very kindly that he killed her eonni, and that he made her carry that arm and run.
"Hmm...? Are you okay?"
The man who introduced himself as Haiken in front of me looks at me with a worried expression. But I have no mental capacity to respond to that.
My head is shaking. I'm confused. The emotions the Imperial Princess felt back then. Fear, sadness, terror, and hatred were felt.
The terror when the eonni she trusted was left with only an arm, the rage that the cause was the man named Haiken in front of her, at the same time the fear of being left alone, and the hatred boiling within that.
I looked straight ahead.
The man who revealed himself as Haiken was smiling brightly. With a very kind smile.
That smile was chillingly identical to the smile I had just seen from the Imperial Princess's perspective.
Seeing that smile, I wanted to kill the man in front of me, Haiken, right then and there.