Chapter 228
Chapter 228
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 228
"Aaargh!"
With a tearing scream, a whole clump of hair was ripped from the knight's scalp. In peacetime those golden locks might have drawn many a lady's eye, but on a battlefield of flashing steel they only helped cost him his life.
Watching the blood-soaked golden hair sink to the ground, Duke Palsieon grimaced. He could see how few knights remained around him now.
"The gate is breached!"
"Waaaaah!"
The thunderous war cry of the allied forces drained the strength from the hands of the North Roselin soldiers still putting up any resistance. It was no different for Duke Palsieon.
"To think it would end so absurdly..."
He had never dreamed they would shoot nets to create footholds. And the trick of organizing a special assault unit disguised as the Yeolje of Gauri to scale the walls and boost morale—that had been devilishly clever.
"Gah! Your Grace, you must flee at once!"
A knight—one arm gone, his hand clamped over the blood spurting from where his shoulder had been—staggered forward and cried out in desperation.
Duke Palsieon cast a somber gaze around him. By now the soldiers were too busy scrambling this way and that, searching for any escape. The Gauri and South Roselin soldiers surging in like a flood were rapidly swallowing up the North Roselin troops.
"It was a complete defeat."
A bitter smile played at the corner of his lips.
"Your Grace..."
"Damn it all."
The knights understood the duke's feelings all too well.
"Aaaargh!"
"Die, you dogs of North Roselin!"
Thunk! Thud thud!
Dozens upon dozens of spearheads plunged onto the bodies of groaning knights whose limbs were already broken. Before he knew it, only four knights remained at Duke Palsieon's side.
"Who are you?"
Duke Palsieon spoke calmly.
"Hm."
"...."
At Duke Palsieon's question, Go Jin-cheon, Eulji Buru, and the others kept their lips sealed and said nothing. The duke repeated his question.
Again, no answer. Jin-cheon glanced at his subordinates, but every one of them merely wore a slight frown.
"Did no one bring one?"
"Slipped my mind, sir."
"Figured it wouldn't be much use in the middle of a battle..."
Everyone had been so focused on the fight that not a single one of them had thought to bring a translation item. As Jin-cheon furrowed his brow, his eyes landed on Mong Ryu-hwa, who was patting himself down.
"Did you bring one?"
At Jin-cheon's question, Ryu-hwa, who had been searching his own person, froze for a moment. He slowly raised his head and opened his mouth.
"I did bring one..."
"...."
"...I lost it."
Jin-cheon reflected that Ryu-hwa was truly a subordinate who was useless for anything outside of combat. Just then, his eyes caught sight of a man who had been chasing down a fleeing knight and cutting him down.
"Bring him over."
"Heh, understood."
Gye Ung-sam, seeming not yet to have grasped what was going on, flicked the blood from his long blade onto the ground and beamed a broad grin at Jin-cheon.
Duke Palsieon quickly realized they had not refused to answer his question—they had been unable to answer it. Their conversation, too, was incomprehensible to him.
"It is inconvenient not having a wizard to interpret."
Duke Palsieon looked regretfully at a wizard impaled on a watchtower along with several arrows, skewered like meat. A moment later, he saw the Gauri knight who had struck the rear of his knightly order approaching with a deep scowl. The dark bruise around one eye was striking, whether it came from battle or not. Realizing at once that this man was the interpreter, Duke Palsieon asked for the third time.
"Who are you?"
"His Majesty the Yeolje of Great Gauri! On your knees!"
Gye Ung-sam spoke fluent Continental. Duke Palsieon merely scoffed.
"Surely we can dispense with this now. The battle has ended in your victory. I wish to know the true identities of those who annihilated my knights."
"...."
When Duke Palsieon spoke again, an irritated Ung-sam repeated himself.
"Are you deaf?! It is His Majesty the Yeolje of Great Gauri!"
"Hah..."
Duke Palsieon's face twisted. He had thought the so-called king of a nation was merely a disguised soldier at the vanguard, greedy for glory and battle honors. But he soon realized his judgment was wrong.
Before his eyes, the man was slowly removing his horned helmet.
"It can't be..."
This was no mere knight's or commander's bearing.
The motion was slow yet utterly assured. From beneath the helmet emerged hair of the deepest black, as if symbolizing darkness itself. Though drenched in blood, the face that revealed itself had unmistakably black eyes, and from it radiated the stubbornness, strength, and the commanding spirit possessed only by a sovereign. He looked nothing like the demon—no, like the butcher—who had been rampaging only moments before.
"Waaaaah!"
"Long live His Majesty the Yeolje!"
"Long live Gauri!"
"The three-legged crow's blessing be upon us!"
The moment his face was revealed, a near-religious roar erupted from the soldiers and shook the battlefield. Then Jin-cheon spoke slowly to Duke Palsieon.
"I am the Yeolje."
He could not understand the words precisely, yet he had no choice but to believe this unbelievable truth: that the Yeolje—the king of a nation—had scaled the walls and stood here before him.
Chapter 72 — The Fall of North Roselin
The screams were drawing closer.
Even the clashing of swords that had been the last signs of resistance now came only sporadically.
"Your Majesty, you must flee..."
A trembling voice.
King Cadel of North Roselin raised his head and gazed across the great hall. Where the multitude of nobles had gone he did not know; barely a dozen remained.
"Flee where?"
"The northern nobles' forces are still intact. If you escape now..."
"Those intact northern forces marched here and turned back after suffering near-annihilation?"
At King Cadel's retort, the noble who had spoken fell silent.
"The Holy Empire will take us in. Perhaps even now they are preparing reinforcements..."
"Silence!"
Shiiing!
King Cadel, his face flushing crimson with fury, drew his sword and advanced on the noble who had spoken. As he approached, the noble's face drained of all color.
"Your Majesty, calm yourself."
Thwack!
"Ghk!"
"Your Majesty!"
The other nobles' attempts to restrain him could not stop his rage.
Amid the nobles' horrified gasps, the sword came down without hesitation. It failed to fully sever the noble's neck, embedding halfway through and grinding against the vertebrae with an ugly noise.
"Geuuugh!"
Was it the agony of not dying cleanly?
Clutching his half-severed neck, the noble let out a tearing scream and thrashed on the floor until his life ran out, finally expiring in convulsions.
"Grrr..."
"Huff, huff."
With bloodshot eyes, King Cadel had watched until the sword-struck noble breathed his last. Then he turned those same bloodshot eyes upon the remaining nobles. Every one of them trembled in fear. How sorely he missed Duke Palsieon's presence beside him.
"What are you all doing here?"
"Y-Your Majesty."
"What will change if you stand here quivering!"
Wielding his blood-slicked sword as he shouted, King Cadel's eyes were now filled with venom.
"All of you, go out and fight! Go out this instant, take up arms, and fight!"
"Ee-eeek!"
As King Cadel stormed through the great hall, swinging his sword like a madman, the nobles scattered like a swarm of spiders. Whether they went out to fight was unclear, but each of them fled the hall.
"Krgk..."
From King Cadel's reddened eyes, tears of blood streamed down.
* * *
There were no more soldiers to be found blocking the breached gate. With no one left to resist, the combined forces of Gauri and South Roselin poured through like a torrent through a broken dam.
"It is over."
Duke Palsieon spoke quietly. Below his gaze, a banner bearing the crest of the South Roselin royal house raced toward the inner fortress, then slowly receded into the distance.
"Your Majesty, I've brought it."
"Mm."
Go Jin-cheon, who had been idly watching the tide of soldiers charging in, slipped the translation item that a deputy held out to him onto his finger.
"What is your name?"
"...."
Jin-cheon addressed Duke Palsieon, who stood listlessly as if he had aged ten years. Only silence came back.
"I asked your name."
"...Ah, forgive me. I am Duke Palsieon, commander of the North Roselin capital defense."
"Will you surrender?"
At the word surrender, Duke Palsieon gave a bitter smile. His eyes took in the knights and soldiers lying about, groaning where they had fallen.
"Having failed to protect so many, how could I hope to save my own life?"
"That is fortunate."
At Jin-cheon's words, Duke Palsieon tilted his head, curiosity plain on his face.
What could be fortunate?
"At least you are worthy of staining my Hwandudaedo with your blood."
"Puhaha! I am honored."
Duke Palsieon threw his head back with a great laugh, as though he had recovered some measure of strength. Had he surrendered or begged for his life, his death would have been a dog's death.
"Will you face me?"
Jin-cheon hoisted his Hwandudaedo over his shoulder and asked. At the sight, Duke Palsieon shook his head as if he could scarcely believe it and posed his own question.
"Are you truly the king of Gauri?"
The words were impudent, but no one stepped forward to check him.
"Do not call me king. Address me as Yeolje."
"You are the real thing. Heh heh..."
An unhurried laughter, utterly out of place on a battlefield, drifted out. As if in sympathy, Jin-cheon likewise laughed, revealing teeth stained with blood.
"Hohoho."
"Was it not a touch reckless? The Yeolje of a nation, scaling the walls himself."
"Reckless indeed."
"Then why did you do it?"
Duke Palsieon asked almost petulantly, his expression making it clear that if he had to die, he at least intended to know why.
"Because it was me."
"What does that mean?"
"Because I am the one doing it, I can stand at the vanguard."
At Jin-cheon's unexpected reply, Duke Palsieon's eyes appealed for a more detailed answer. Whether he grasped the meaning in that gaze, Jin-cheon slowly rolled his neck from side to side and spoke evenly.
"I am the strongest here. In a war we would win regardless, the casualties are fewer—and it serves as a good workout. Is that not reason enough?"
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Kahahaha!"
At Jin-cheon's answer, Duke Palsieon let out a roaring laugh, as if every question had been settled.
"Kekeke!"
"Damn well said!"
"Heh heh heh."
Beginning with the laughter of Jin-cheon and Duke Palsieon, the commanders of Gauri burst into laughter as well. The distant screams ringing out were swallowed up by their mirth.
"It was a war we could never have won."
"That it was."
Slowly raising his own sword, Duke Palsieon addressed Jin-cheon in a low voice.
"Then will you grant me the honor of facing the sword of Gauri's greatest warrior?"
In response, Jin-cheon lowered the Hwandudaedo he had slung over his shoulder and leveled it at him, replying,
"Tell them in the next world."
"...."
"Tell them that the man who graced your final moments, Palsieon, was not merely a warrior of Gauri—but the continent's mightiest."
"Kahahaha!"
At Jin-cheon's words, Duke Palsieon burst into a laugh of pure exhilaration and charged.
"Come!"
Jin-cheon's Hwandudaedo brought Duke Palsieon's life to its end.