Chapter 73

There were two people diligently waiting under the eaves of the Imperial Palace. Leasis and Furgin were staring straight ahead. Even the rain was not visible anymore in the increasingly dark palace.

Raindrops that came under the eaves wetted Leasis’ uniform. She had not been given a waterproof cape yet.

While hesitating next to her, Furgin handed her a cloak with the emblem of the 1st Division of Imperial Knights. It was his own.

Her red eyes widened because she had not even had a short conversation with him since the incident. But her arms were trembling.

“I’ll wear it well.”

Smiling, Leasis slowly began to wear the cape. While looking at her, Furgin took courage and said.

“Thanks to you, my father is much better. The cost of the treatment is all settled…”

“Good. Furgin-nim is okay too, right?”

Her red eyes were bent warmly. The wind brushed Furgin’s neck. He had never relied on anyone else since his father got sick.

Everyone had left him alone, under the pretext of caring for his father. They used to say that, as always, he would do well on his own. However, Leasis was different. She was thinking of Furgin more than his sick father.

Her heart was so deep that his lips were shaking. He wanted to say something, but could not open his mouth.

He clenched his fist until it became white.

“Thank you. No… I’m sorry.”

“Furgin-nim.”

Leasis smiled brightly enough to reveal her white teeth in the dark.

“Thank you for talking to me first. Also, thank you for telling me the way and cleaning with me.”

Leasis’ voice was clearer and more transparent than the raindrops falling from the sky. All her good heart seemed to be shining.

Furgin lowered his head, covering his eyes with his sleeve. He could not raise his head because he felt like he had done such a cruel thing to such a nice person.

Leasis whispered, patting him on the back.

“It’s not your fault.”

At that time, reliable men strode in the rain. It was Onjet with a group of knights.

“What? Furgin, are you sick?”

“No. No, I’m not.”

Furgin bit his lips tightly and raised his head. Then he wiped his eyes with his sleeves to the point where his face turned red.

As expected, things seemed to have been solved well with Leasis. Onjet smiled happily at the two people who were helping each other.

Onjet handed the waterproof cape he had brought for himself to Furgin.

“Onjet, I’m fine.”

“Hey. Don’t mess with me and dress up.”

The two struggled over a pair of cloaks. Looking at the scene, Leasis burst into laughter.

But then, she felt someone’s gaze again. As if wanting her to notice. Leasis looked around in shock.

Was it an illusion? As expected, there was no one. Leasis looked up and followed Onjet. They began patrolling the capital in groups of three.

Meanwhile, Blix laughed as he watched them from the roof of the Imperial Palace. Max, sitting next to him, was also wearing a waterproof cape of the 1st Division of Imperial Knights.

Max sighed. Seeing Blix laughing so hard, he did not seem to have play the stalker only once or twice.

Why the hell was he so obsessed with Leasis? Being the prince of Utran, with his looks, he should not have any problem having plenty of women following him.

Blix raised himself, stretched and warned Max.

“Keep that in mind. Leasis cannot be killed.”

“So you’re going to kill someone else?”

Blix looked at Max as if he was asking something obvious. Dozens or hundreds of ants dying would not make him blink.

Max heated up in the wind. This Hyung was really hopeless. He gave strength to his neck, saying patiently.

“No, you can’t.”

Blix was surprised by Max’s determination, resembling Leasis. Are all the knights of the Harknon Empire like this? I couldn’t live long because of my belief.

But he did not really hate it. At least he was not a backstabber. Blix touched the floor with a satisfied face.

A wooden vine came up and wrapped around Blix’s arm. Max’s eyes grew bigger when he saw the glow flowing out of it. The inside of Blix’s arm, connected to the vine, was rotten and as black as a corpse.

The two moved to an alley in the capital. Max followed Blix around and bit his lips. He could not forget the scene he had just seen.

Lightning stroke, and thunder was heard soon after. Blix, who was walking on the streets of the capital, turned his head. He had been paying attention to the eyes that were making his cheeks sting since earlier.

“Do you have something to say?”

Maybe it was because he looked like his youngest brother. Max was concerned about the young man with a boy’s appearance.

He asked carefully.

“Your arm… What happened?”

“Oh, my.”

Blix stretched his arm calmly. By the way he was moving, he seemed to take it lightly, but the atmosphere changed immediately at his words.

“The price to sell a soul.”

You sold your soul? Max doubted his ears. Blix recalled the gloomy past in the pouring rain.

The Second Prince, who knew nothing, was an easy prey. Blix, on the verge of dying at the hands of an assassin sent by the Crown Prince’s henchman, was not even a bug. He had really no interest in swordsmanship or imperial power.

But he was very lucky. He was able to survive thanks to Elnos, who came in as a hostage just in time. Elnos was a mean but helpful man. He told him the truth about the Yvette family and taught him a way to survive.

Elnos had an improbable cruelty and an excellent head. He suggested that if he did not want to die, he should trade his soul with the evil spirit of the Yvette family.

Of course, the process was not smooth. Blix had passed thousands of times in front of death before he could be born anew.

Blix had a new body, although his soul remained the same as Elnos had planned. A strong man from birth. Just like the sisters of the Yvette family.

He patted his stomach with his wet hand. In return, he had to live in hunger all his life. You can’t possibly escape hell even if you’re dead.

Blix took a loaf of bread out of his arms and put it in his mouth. However, unlike usual, his mouth was dry.

What’s wrong with me? Blix put down the bread he was biting. He missed the time when Leasis served the sauce next to him.

At that time, Max seemed to have found something. He jumped over the wall of an alley. Blix followed him over the wall without delay.

He saw a man shivering in an empty space. He was holding tightly something like a cloth in his arms.

What is he doing? Blix raised his green eyes. You made a busy man go through a lot of trouble, but you look like this.

The two strode toward the man. But his condition was weird. Like a wet mouse, he was murmuring something with a blank face.

“Bro… ken… broken…”

“What are you talking about?”

Blix became frustrated and raised his voice. But Max covered his mouth with his hand.

“Shh. Wait a minute.”

Blix looked up at Max in astonishment, wondering if he wanted to die. How dare you stop me.

Max closed his eyes and listened to the man.

“He… woke up… and left…”

Boom!

They heard something exploding in the distance. And then the loud cries of people in the heavy rain.

Something must have happened. Max’s brown eyes trembled. He hurriedly grabbed Blix by the shoulder.

“Blixrond.”

“Huh?”

“Tell me the truth. Is this man what you were looking for?”

“No.”

Max’s expression vanished at his playful tone. He had originally been asked to come to find a person.

“Then…”

“A pet that suits Elnos.”

“A… pet?”

“That one.”

Blix raised his hand. He pointed to the sky of the capital, where a red dragon had taken control of it.

“No way…”

Max muttered unknowingly. The red dragon’s movements were visible even from afar. It was a cruel sight, with things being broken down here and there.

“But it took less effort to find him than I thought…”

Max could not resist anymore and swung his fist, and Blix, who was speaking calmly, shut up.

Spit. Blix wiped the blood flowing from his mouth with his sleeve and spat on the floor. His saliva mixed with blood was dyed red.

Max breathed heavily.

“You son of a bitch.”

*

Hizen arrived with Lander in a dark cave in the Dragon Mountains. His expression hardened at the subtle sulfur smell in the cave.

This kind of smell could only be found at the northern tip of the Pradan continent. It was also the smell of the now extinct red dragon.

Could it be that, as Nathan had said, a dragon egg was kept here? Hizen bit his lips at a hypothesis he did not want to imagine.

He extended his arm to stop Lander who was following him.

“Wait outside.”

“Okay.”

When Lander disappeared, Hizen pulled out his swords in both hands and slowly closed his eyes. He could hear the sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling of the cave.

But it was weird. Except for his breathing, there was no sign of any other life.

Hizen hurriedly used an intangible sword to illuminate the cave. A huge nest was located inside the cave.

There was a lot of straw that used to contain dragon eggs, with a strong sulfur smell. It quickly crumbled when he bent to touch the straw.

It seemed that some time had passed. But one thing was sure. The only magical power that was enough to turn this straw black was from the red dragon, Iddahak.

Stories he had heard a long time ago from his father, Calibaut, came to his mind. Iddahak. The legendary red dragon that disappeared into history with the collapse of the Berman family.

He was a guy with sharp thorns and super strong scales that could not be penetrated even with a blue sword, and with an intelligence superior to humans.

Hizen suddenly escaped from his thoughts. His eyes were frozen blue with anger.

* * *

The mission of Leasis’ group was difficult. During the patrol, Onjet entered one of the nearby buildings, saying he was in a hurry to go to the bathroom.

Only Furgin and Leasis were left in the wind. She still wondered, looking at Furgin’s red eyes.

I want to say something, but what kind of conversation should we have? He might feel bad if I speak about what happened earlier.

Leasis, who was struggling, brought up a light topic.

“Furgin, you said you worked around here before, didn’t you?”

“Ah… yes.”

“Then please tell me the name of a delicious restaurant. A place where you can eat sweet things.”

Leasis smiled as she recalled Hizen. Since they had only eaten her favorite food so far, she wanted to have a meal prepared for him.

Furgin looked at her and said.

“You want to go with Count Dratius-nim.”

How did you know? When Leasis blinked her red eyes, Furgin smirked.

You two are showing off so well. How could I not know? Their eyes looking at each other were so sweet that bees were getting confused.

“The Count-nim seems to care very much about you, Leasis.”

“Yes?”

“Yes. He was worried about you before.”

“R-really? Can you tell me… specifically what happened?”

When Leasis asked him seriously, he burst into laughter. He was a little embarrassed, but he tried to confess about the day he visited Hizen.

But at that time, Leasis’ expression became serious. She stretched out and locked Furgin in her arms.

“L-Leasis?”

Leasis had no time to answer. She ran down to the corner, hugging Furgin.

Boom!

With the sound of the world collapsing, dense fog swept the capital. When she raised her head coughing, she saw the dark night sky.

No, it was a giant creature swallowing everything. Furgin, terrified, sank to the floor.

It was a disaster. A dragon, called the enemy of God, was covering the sky. It was not even raining in the capital anymore. The flapping wings, giant maw, and fiery scales were fear itself.

“Ah… Ahhhh…”

Leasis, who had fallen to the ground due to the earthquake, jumped up and ran to Furgin. Then she grabbed his shoulders.

“Furgin-nim, wake up!”

“Dragon… dragon… a dragon…”

“Furgin-nim?”

“D-Dragon…”

“Wake up!”

Unable to make him come back to his senses, Leasis struck him on the cheek with her fist. The pain flashed through Furgin’s mind. A firm voice was heard in his ears.

“We are knights. We need to get a hold of ourselves now.”

Leasis wiped the corners of his bleeding mouth with her sleeve. Then she looked at the people screaming in the distance.

It was a terrible sight. Cries for help and things breaking could be heard everywhere.

“I’ll go ahead and check the situation. Please find Onjet-nim right now, bring your weapon and support him.”

“Leasis…”

“Come on!”

As Furgin nodded, Leasis ran to the center of the capital.