Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Retribution.

Clang! Slash!

“Argh!”

It was a dark night, with only the moonlight illuminating the surroundings.

A loud noise echoed every time the swords clashed.

And with every clash, red blood splattered around and one more body fell to the ground.

‘This is impossible…’

Brown Snake’s body was trembling.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He wanted to deny the reality.

But nothing changed by doing so.

‘Is that a missionary?’

No way.

The demon in front of him was not a noble being like a missionary.

He was stronger and faster than any warrior he had ever met.

He dodged or deflected his comrades’ attacks with minimal movements, and slashed their throats with lightning-fast sword strikes at the right moments.

That’s why he had already lost half of his comrades in an instant.

‘This is a trap!’

Brown Snake realized it.

He had fallen into a well-planned trap.

He had thoroughly investigated the man’s surroundings for a long time. 

And he initiated the action as usual.

But he never expected that they would use such a method of disguising a monster as a missionary.

He didn’t think he could win against that man in a situation where half of his comrades were incapacitated.

“Run!”

So Brown Snake shouted quickly.

At his shout, the remaining five men turned around and started to run away.

Brown Snake was no exception.

But…

Whoosh!

Thud!

“…Ugh!”

Suddenly, he felt an intense pain in his calf, as if it was burned by fire.

Thump!

At the same time, Brown Snake’s body rolled on the ground, unable to overcome the inertia.

Brown Snake looked at his calf.

There was a dagger thrown by Golden Wave stuck in it.

‘Oh, no…’

Brown Snake tried to pull out the dagger and get up. 

He felt like he would be caught by that monster if he stayed like this.

But his right leg didn’t have any strength in it.

Thump, thump.

At that moment, he heard footsteps from behind.

Brown Snake instinctively crawled forward, but it was a futile struggle.

In no time, Golden Wave arrived behind him.

‘I can’t end like this!’

Brown Snake raised the dagger in his hand and threw it clumsily.

He had never thrown a dagger before, and his posture was not good either. 

So his throw didn’t have much power in it.

Of course, it was still a sharp piece of metal, so it could cause some damage if it hit properly…

Clang!

But Golden Wave was not someone who would be hit by such a pathetic attack.

He easily knocked it away with his sword.

“Where are you going so hastily? We have something to talk about.”

Golden Wave asked the question to Brown Snake, who was extremely tense.

“Are you the leader?”

The blunt words of the golden wave.

But the brown snake closed his mouth and avoided his gaze.

At that sight, the golden wave laughed coldly.

“It’s not a skill to keep silent. Let’s see how long you can do that.”

His role was to capture these bastards alive anyway.

The experts would take care of opening the mouths of the criminals.

***

In the midnight battle, six died and five fled, and four men, including the brown snake, were captured.

The golden wave sent a signal after dawn, informing the success of the operation.

Then, the imperial warriors of the direct command, who had been waiting at a distance, arrived.

“So these were the ones.”

“You defeated so many warriors alone… You are truly worthy of your reputation. Please leave the rest to us.”

“Let’s do that.”

With that conversation over, they began to drag away the captured men to the direct command.

What greeted them there were torture specialists who came down from the mainland.

The four targets were dragged into separate torture rooms.

And they experienced torture techniques that had been developed over and over again.

Aaaah!

The screams of the men, including the brown snake, kept flowing out of the torture room.

At the same time, their confessions piled up.

The contents of this were first reported to the governor-general’s office.

Thanks to that, the governor-general’s meeting was on fire for a long time.

In the meeting, they continued to list what they had done so far.

After hearing all of this.

“How dare these scoundrels do such things!”

Bang!

The crown prince slammed his desk and vented his intense anger.

This was the common feeling of all the meeting participants.

“They seem to have lost their minds. This is a clear challenge to the Wakan Tanka Empire. We must not let this pass.”

“Didn’t we get clear evidence now! If we let them get away with this, the world will laugh at us!”

“That’s right!”

The crown prince nodded his head.

‘I never thought that missionaries would die so horribly…’

He had expected that the missing missionaries would be dead to some extent.

But when the exact circumstances came out, they exceeded his imagination.

They kidnapped missionaries by force and inflicted terrible pain on them.

They denied the great spirits that missionaries believed in and praised their own god until they did.

Most of the missionaries endured and died in such extreme pain for a long time.

Even if a missionary succumbed to pain, they did not spare his life.

Eventually, all missionaries met their death sooner or later.

That’s why the meeting participants vented their anger like this.

“I’m sure His Majesty will feel the same as us. So let’s wait and see.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

This matter was no longer a size that could be resolved by the governor-general’s office.

It required a decision from Wakan Tanka Empire’s supreme ruler, Kim Ki-woo.

So the news was sent to the mainland by boat as soon as possible.

Kim Ki-woo sighed after reading the confessions of the captured criminals.

He had expected it to some extent, but when he saw the exact details, he felt hot like everyone else.

“Hoo…”

But soon Kim Ki-woo consciously calmed his mind.

He had to make a proper judgment as the emperor of the empire.

And the right judgment comes from a cool head.

‘What should I do?’

Kim Kiwoo calmly drew the situation in his head.

There were quite a lot of forces involved in this incident.

Of course, most of them did not participate directly, or only helped indirectly.

The actual forces that caused the trouble were few.

But Kim Kiwoo despised all the forces that were involved in any way.

They must have known something about the missionary disappearance case, right?

But their action was silence.

‘I have to teach them a lesson this time.’

Kim Kiwoo’s eyes shone coldly.

***

As mass media such as newspapers developed, it was hard to hide such a big event, and the speed of spreading the news was also very fast.

“How dare they repay kindness with enmity?”

“Who gave them a better life like this?”

“Oh! How sad must the great spirits have been!”

Thanks to this, the incident quickly grew out of control.

Especially since it was a religious issue.

From the perspective of the imperial citizens who believed in the great spirits, it was hard enough to accept that the missionaries were brutally killed, but what they did while torturing them was the biggest problem.

The act of denying the existence of spirits and forcing them to praise their own god.

“They should tear up and kill all those heretics who believe in those gods!”

“Isn’t it because they believe in an improper being that they do such wicked things!”

Even the fervent believers who looked down on other religions did not hesitate to say radical words.

This heated public opinion had a great impact on the subsequent imperial conference.

“Your Majesty. Countless imperial citizens want to punish those who killed the missionaries and insulted the great spirits. Please listen to the voice of the people!”

“For the sake of the safety of the imperial citizens who will go to other regions in the future, we cannot let this go!”

The ministers’ arguments continued for quite a long time.

Kim Kiwoo opened his mouth after listening to all the opinions.

“I have no intention of overlooking this incident either. Those who kidnapped, tortured, and killed the missionaries will never be forgiven, and those who knew about it and remained silent will also pay their due. Tell the military department to start preparing for an expedition!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The military minister bowed his head with a solemn face.

That’s how the second Central Continent expedition began.

***

The news of the expedition spread quickly beyond the central region of Central Continent, to various forces.

“Huh!”

“Is that really true?”

Fear rose in the hearts of the residents of Central Continent who heard this.

It had not been long since the large-scale war with Aztec ended.

Most of them remembered their overwhelming power.

Moreover, they also knew to some extent how much the empire had developed through numerous trades so far.

They had no chance against the imperial army that destroyed Aztec, let alone a more powerful one.

So, the residents of Central Continent began to condemn the masterminds of this incident.

“Why did they mess with the empire that was quiet!”

“I hope we didn’t get involved in this either!”

Thanks to this, there was a great commotion in Central Continent.

In the meantime.

Finally, diplomats from the foreign affairs department contacted each force in Central Continent.

“We really didn’t know. Please believe us!”

“Haha. Of course I know. The empire trusts you. But, to punish those who did such an outrageous thing, we need to pass through here. That’s why I came here to ask for your cooperation.”

“Phew… Of course we have to cooperate. Please let us know if there is anything you want.”

“Thank you for your kindness. The great emperor will also be pleased with your goodwill.”

None of the forces located on the expedition route of the imperial army refused this.

They didn’t want to provoke the already angry empire by breaking the promise they made before.

Of course, this was the story of the forces that had nothing to do with this incident.

The atmosphere of the conversation between the envoys and the forces that knew and remained silent was completely different.

“We meet again. Didn’t you say you didn’t know anything about the death of the missionaries before? Will you give me the same answer now?”

“We are innocent! How can we say something that is not accurate? What if it turns out to be wrong? And you won’t even send imperial troops to help us…”

“Is that your excuse?”

The envoy sneered coldly.

This could also be a reason.

But more than that, they remained silent because they believed in another faith, not spirits.

If they just kept quiet, more missionaries would die, and that would slow down the spread of spirit faith.

The envoy ignored their grievances and continued.

“I asked you clearly at that time. Even if you are not sure, please tell me if you have any doubts. I said the empire would take responsibility for that matter. But you lied calmly. Thanks to you, more missionaries were horribly sacrificed!”

“…”

The man’s face grew more and more anxious as the envoy ranted.