Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Translation: godsn
"Th-the King...!"
"Your Majesty!"
People gasped in shock.
At the same moment, the concealed Agema warriors revealed themselves. Their gleaming armor bore the emblem of the Agema—a galloping horse.
"Wipe them out. Leave none alive."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
At the command, Pelleus's Royal Guard surged up the castle walls in an instant. As if they had been waiting for this moment, they swept through the Regent's private soldiers.
The castle walls transformed into a brutal battlefield in the blink of an eye.
It was a hellscape of screams and death.
Arrows rained down over the swinging swords of the Agema, pouring mercilessly upon the Regent's forces.
Precise aim and timing.
The sharp arrowheads pierced only those affiliated with Duke Claudio's faction.
Men fell from the walls, dead before they could even scream.
'How is he here?! How are so many Agema still alive?!'
The Regent forced one eye open, barely able to see through the pain, and witnessed the carnage.
He was aghast. The shock was sharper than the agony in his wounded eye.
Samon, too, panicked, desperately clutching his father's sleeve.
"Father! You said the Agema were dealt with on the plains!"
How could they have known?!
They had received word from Pavel, the Agema's vice-captain, confirming that the unit had been eliminated on the plains as planned.
"Stop them! Don't let them advance!"
The Regent frantically barked orders, urging his soldiers to hold the line.
But the Agema were the empire's most elite force—one even the imperial army hesitated to provoke. How could the pampered knights of the royal castle, accustomed to comfort, possibly stand against warriors who had danced on the razor's edge of battle?
With every swing of an Agema's blade, three or four men fell.
Clang! Clash! Thud!
"Agh! Aaah! Spare me!"
Like a tidal wave, the Regent's forces—who had moments ago held complete control over the walls—were swept away.
Overwhelmed by sheer martial might, the Regent's men were consumed by terror. No, despair was the more fitting word.
"Your Majesty, we only followed orders! The Regent forced us—!"
"P-please, spare our lives!"
They dropped their swords and bowed their heads to the ground.
Instinctively, they understood.
With the King and the Agema returned, the outcome was already decided.
This was no stage for Claudio's ambitions to unfold.
It was merely a slaughterhouse where old Rebels were being purged.
Thud. Thud. Dianzel, clad in full armor, strode forward and kicked the Regent square in the knee.
The Regent crumpled gracelessly to the ground. His face struck the stone floor, blood streaming from his eye and split forehead.
"Gah, you bastard! H-how dare you—?!"
"Show proper respect to His Majesty, Traitor."
Dianzel's voice, low and seething with suppressed killing intent, rumbled like Cerberus snarling from the depths of hell, making even bystanders flinch.
"Let go! Release me! Father! Mother!"
Meanwhile, other Agema dragged Samon forward and flung him to the ground. Enraged, Samon reached for his sword—only to be kicked down by an Agema's boot.
Clutching his broken arm, he howled in pain.
"Agh! My arm! You beasts! Murderers! You know nothing but destruction and slaughter!"
As Medeia watched the scene impassively, hurried footsteps reached her ears.
An eerily familiar sensation.
Before she could react, a shadow loomed over her.
"Dea."
Medeia's body froze.
Uncharacteristically, her fingertips trembled slightly—a rare crack in her usual composure.
Gritting her teeth hard enough to leave marks on her jaw, Medeia lifted her head.
"Pelleus?"
Vivid blue eyes. The same dazzling silver hair as hers.
Her older brother stood before her.
Medeia strained to keep her tears at bay, forcing her eyes wide open.
"Is it... really you?"
Her voice trembled. Hesitantly, she reached out.
But her hand never reached Pelleus. As if she shouldn't—couldn't—touch him, her fingers faltered.
"What's done is done. As King of Valdina, I must fulfill my duty. But you... live freely. Forget your obligations, your sorrows—forget even this brother of yours."
Pelleus, who had once embraced his younger sister even after she stole the Philosopher's Stone and fled, now said:
"Dea, just live. That's enough. I don't resent you."
"But when you suffer... don't forget the blood that runs in your veins, or the family who cherished you."
Until the very end, as he went forth to face the horde of Magic Beasts, he had still worried for her safety.
That foolish, heartless version of herself from back then.
"Dea, I'm here. Your brother has come."
Pelleus felt a pang of pity as he saw his trembling younger sister.
He was the first to reach out and grasp her shaking hand.
"Pelleus, is it really... you? Are you alive?"
Medeia's emerald eyes frantically searched his face.
The leg that had been severed by wounds was now whole, and the chest torn open by Magic Beasts was perfectly intact.
The hand holding hers didn't belong to a gray corpse.
It was warm, pulsing with life—the hand of a living person.
"Dea!"
In that moment, Medeia collapsed to the floor. Her face was drenched in tears.
"It's you, you're alive. Pelleus, you're alive. Aren't you?"
Neril, watching from behind, was startled.
Never before had she seen her always-composed mistress break down like this.
"I'm sorry, Pelleus. I was wrong... Please forgive me."
Pressing her forehead against the back of her brother's hand, Medeia wept bitterly.
Each falling teardrop carried the weight of apologies from her past life.
"I'll... make it right, Pelleus. I promise. I'll put everything back where it belongs... This time, I'll protect you, brother... So please..."
No matter how hard she tried to suppress it, her sobs kept rising uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry. I don't even deserve to ask for forgiveness, and it's far too late, but Pelleus, I..."
Medeia bit her quivering lip until it turned white.
"Forgiveness? Don't be absurd..."
Pelleus's handsome brow furrowed briefly. He couldn't comprehend what his sister was talking about.
But he did recognize that her small, crumbling shoulders bore a burden far heavier than she could possibly carry.
"Dea."
He carefully grasped Medeia's shoulders.
His sister was about a handspan shorter than he'd remembered.
On the battlefield, beasts often stopped growing when survival became impossible.
That Medeia had become this fragile and anxious was undoubtedly tied to the chaotic environment of the Royal Palace.
"I'm sorry. My shortcomings have made you endure such suffering."
His younger sister, who had stood alone and resolute against the Regent's threats, risking her life.
How difficult must it have been. How terrifying.
"Don't worry. No one will harm you anymore. I'll keep you safe. Leave it to your brother now."
With awkward hands, he patted her back, trying his best to reassure her.
"Your Majesty, the suppression is complete. Her Majesty the Queen Dowager is fortunately unharmed."
At that moment, Dianzel approached and reported the situation.
The mercenaries disguised as civilians, planted by the Regent outside the walls, had also been dealt with long ago.
Pelleus raised his head.
"All the criminals have been gathered. They await Your Majesty's summons."
Below the walls, the Regent and his faction knelt bound with ropes. A cold glint entered Pelleus's eyes.
He walked toward the Regent.
"P-Pelleus... How are you here—"
"You've worked very hard all these years to conceal such grand ambitions, Uncle Claudio."
An authoritative yet icy voice rang out.
The Regent stared up at his nephew with his one remaining good eye, stammering.
Ten years of war had changed too many things.
The boyish youth he remembered was gone, replaced by a fully grown man—the rippling killing intent of a predator now bearing down heavily on the Regent's shoulders.
The Regent recalled the spear that had shattered his sword into pieces.
Considering that overwhelming power, he might have been grateful only fragments had struck one eye.
Realizing that same spear could have pierced his throat instead, the Regent shuddered as chills ran down his spine.
For the first time, the terror of death felt vividly tangible in his grasp.
"N-no, there's been some misunderstanding, y-you see. I only wanted to protect Valdina in your stead—"
Thus, his lofty ambitions came crashing down in humiliating defeat.
"By coercing my grandmother and sister for an Abdication Document? Uncle, you do amuse me."
The cold voice held no inflection.
The undisguised mockery in his words somehow resembled Medeia's.
With his back to the sun, casting his face in shadow, the King's expression remained largely unreadable.
Except for his eyes. In those unfathomably deep eyes, the Regent saw a royal wrath beyond anything he could withstand.
The Regent's body began trembling even more violently.
Just then, the castle gates opened with a creak, and Gilifos's booming voice rang out.
"Your Majesty! We have captured a foreign spy attempting to infiltrate the royal castle of Valdina!"