Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Sitting on the bed, Elnos was enjoying his time while drinking wine. Cries of frightened people were entering his ears.

Save me, save me… Elnos slowly closed his eyes listening to the sound, like a background music. At this moment, the Emperor would be blaming his servants instead of his own incompetence.

All the servants’ families and friends would resent the Emperor, and the blood shed would dye the throne red.

Elnos was waiting silently for the right moment, because he knew such sacrifices were necessary to make things change. He was a man with more patience than anyone else.

Clack clack.

A huge knight in iron armor came in with a heavy sound. The sword in his hand was dripping with dark liquid.

Elnos snorted when he saw it. The Emperor and Ashley were unable to handle black magic, and they went out doing the wrong things.

He and Blix were able to withstand black magic and other similar spells thanks to the blood of the Yvette family. However, the Emperor was ridiculously greedy about such a thing, and his daughter eventually made his plan fail.

“Have you caught them?”

[Yes. They’re all locked up in the dungeon.]

Elnos told the ironclad knight, who was silently waiting for his orders, to torture the black magicians. Then the knight left the bedroom again. A heavy metal sound could be heard as he walked away.

Perhaps the Emperor should not have brought his mother from the beginning. His greed to take advantage of her had caused this anger.

But things had already happened, and the moment of his revenge was approaching. The man who tried to take advantage of her would now struggle on the edge of a cliff, and he would be the one to push him to the limit.

Elnos smiled while sipping half of the remaining wine. It was really time to see the end.

All his plans after becoming Emperor were already set. However, an exception was added to them.

It was a woman named Leasis.

*

*

*

Furgin’s body was full of wounds, but he did not stop covering Leasis. He wanted to pay her back somehow. He followed the two people with all his might.

As a result, Max and Leasis were able to safely reach the starting point of the monsters.

Leasis and Max looked around and held their swords tightly. The abandoned palace, where people had stopped coming a long time ago, was strange. It was unusually calm, and they could feel something dangerous.

“Something’s not right.”

“This is… a trap.”

Max looked at Leasis and Furgin behind him. Even though the situation was calmer, Furgin was in a serious condition with blood flowing down from his thigh.

Max asked Leasis to take care of Furgin and ran into the palace. While he was doing so, Leasis healed Furgin who had protected her. She told him he could go now, but he could not leave her.

Unlike before, Furgin’s eyes were clear. Leasis remembered the blue energy surrounding his sword. She could guess how much he had practiced in the meantime.

White energy was flowing from her fingertips around Furgin’s thigh. She focused on treating him with all her nerves.

Leasis spoke in a low voice.

“Go back now.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“I don’t need to be protected.”

Furgin knew the truth. Leasis was stronger than anyone else, rightful and shining.

Nevertheless, he could not back down. Furgin wanted to be stubborn for the first time. He even thought that he would rather hurt himself rather than watch her getting hurt.

“I’ll protect you.”

“You’ve done enough to protect me.”

The eyes of the two intertwined in the air. Furgin smiled with a proud face, and Leasis sighed.

At that time, Max shouted.

“Get away!”

Furgin, who had recovered a bit, jumped up and hugged Leasis. Then he ran forward.

Boom!

Her vision turned black as she heard an explosive sound. Leasis fell to the ground and coughed.

When she opened her eyes, she saw an unbelievable scene. Furgin was standing in front of her as if covering her. More than ten swords and arrows were stuck in his body.

Furgin trembled but did not move. Blood splashed on the floor, flowing from his lips, waist, legs, and heart.

Leasis stiffened and could not say anything. Blood was dripping on her cheeks, shoulders, and legs.

“Furgin-nim?”

Smiling, Furgin spat out some words.

“I’m

also…”

“A little… relieved…”

That you’re safe. Furgin said his last words and collapsed. She slowly shook his body that had fallen on her.

“Furgin-nim?… Furgin-nim, wake up. Furgin-nim!”

There was no response. It was the same no matter how strong or how many times she shook him. Leasis’ face turned pale.

“Furgin-nim…”

Leasis grabbed his wrist with her trembling hand. But she could not feel anything at all. When Leasis lost her strength, Furgin’s hand fell to the floor.

Leasis did not want to believe it, and continued to pour out white energy into Furgin. She knew it was already too late, but she could not admit it and could not stop.

After using a large amount of energy, Leasis breathed heavily. Despite her continued efforts, Furgin’s body was cooling down.

No, no, no

Leasis’ red eyes quickly watered and tears poured down.

As she raised her head, she saw a smile on Furgin’s face. Dozens of arrows shot by skeleton archers were stuck in his body, which had become a mess.

In the distance, a skeleton archer was aiming his bow again. And next to the archer was Iddahak, whose eyes were completely black.

Crash!

The sound of the palace collapsing rang out and the whole place was stained with blood. Leasis slowly laid Furgin on the floor and reached out her hand to close his eyes.

She hold her sword in one hand and Furgin’s sword in the other. Expressionless, she faced the monsters and Iddahak.

At that time, Max approached Leasis. He stopped breathing when he saw Furgin on the floor, with his eyes closed.

Max swore and took off his jacket to cover Furgin’s upper body. He stood next to Leasis and looked at all their enemies.

There were a mix of skeleton soldiers, archers and gilatans, and seemed to be a thousand at least. But among all of them, the most threatening was Iddahak with scales on his skin.

“Iddahak, wake up!”

Max shouted to Iddahak with a hoarse voice. However, he already had a magic stone embedded with black magic stuck in his body, and he did not react at all.

Leasis silently tightened her grip on her sword. A thin voice rang in her head.

[The swordmanship you learned from Count Dratius. Kill me with that. There’s a magic stone in my mouth.]

Her hand holding the sword trembled slightly. His voice was full of affection, and colored her ears warmly. He kept telling her to kill him.

Iddahak’s eyes burned black. Losing his reason, he rushed toward Leasis. At the same time, the archers pulled their bows, and the soldiers ran toward the two.

Leasis recalled what she had learned from Hizen. Hizen had taught her to use both hands like him.

He had also taught her an ultimate sword technique that could distort space and time by using an intangible sword. Leasis’ sword emitted a bright flash, and the movement of the monsters magically stopped.

Leasis walked slowly toward Iddahak. Standing close to him, she let out a heavy sigh and lifted her sword.

‘I have to kill you?”

[Hurry.]

‘No, I can’t.’

[You can do it.]

The sword aimed at Iddahak was shaking. The time she had spent with him unfolded before her.

Thick tears fell on the cheeks. Iddahak’s heart, that loved her, felt wider than the sea. Even now, he was encouraging her without resentment. At that time, someone ran through the stopped time and hugged Leasis.

“…Hizen-nim.”

Hizen held Leasis tightly with his right arm and faced Iddahak.

Iddahak’s mouth opened despite the stopped time.

Please take care of Leasis.

Hizen’s left arm, holding his sword, moved widely.

*

*

*

Tears did not stop falling in the Imperial Palace for a while. Rain continued to pour in, perhaps because heaven also knew the sorrow of losing people. As a result, the renovation of the palace was delayed.

Tombs were erected for the fallen soldiers, including Furgin, and Iddahak was buried in the Dragon Mountains.

Leasis was given a vacation, but she could not stay still. She was just trying to do something by helping the maids like Owen. She thought that it was the only way for her to bear the situation.

The minds of Hizen and the knights watching Leasis were complicated. But she was trying to pretend to be okay, so they could not really comfort her.

However, an unexpected guest came to see Leasis, who was cleaning. He was the father of Furgin, accompanied by Onjet. They sat at a table in the cafeteria with Hizen’s permission.

Leasis served some tea and took a seat opposite to them at a wooden table. Onjet looked around a bit and left his seat, leaving the two together.

Furgin’s father smiled despite his dark face. He had such a warm smile that her heart ached.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Leasis bowed her head like a sinner. She felt guilty because Furgin had lost his life while protecting her.

“My son talked a lot about you.”

Her red eyes shook greatly. As she raised her eyes, she saw Furgin’s father smiling. He held her hand with his wrinkled hands.

Warmth was delivered to her fingertips, and her heart ached. When Leasis bit her lips, he slowly spoke.

“Thanks to you, I’ve come to rethink what a true knight is. I’m glad.”

“Sorry. I’m really… sorry.”

Furgin’s father smiled while looking down at her rough hands. As his son had said, she was a woman who had lived through a long time of hardship.

One day, Furgin had come to the temple’s hospital room drunk. That day, he had cried at the top of his voice, blaming himself for the first time.

Then at the end, he had shouted that he wanted to be a knight resembling her, and that he wanted to be helpful to her somehow.

That’s why Furgin’s father was grateful instead of resentful. Although the loss of his son was heartbreaking, he had realized his dream.

“Thank you.”

At those words, water dripped on Leasis’ red nose. Her eyes and cheeks were full of tears.

“I’m sorry.”

“My son and you have done everything you could. Thank you for forgiving him.”

“I’m really… sorry.”

“Keep protecting my son’s dreams.”

Leasis forcibly swallowed her sobbing with her head down. A sad howl cried in the quiet night and beat Hizen’s heart mercilessly.

Watching from afar, Hizen clenched his fists.

Hizen approached Leasis, who had finished talking to Furgin’s father. He hugged her trembling shoulders.

Tears formed in her red eyes. Hizen wiped her eyes with his hands.

“Where Iddahak wanted to go… We were supposed to go together… with Furgin-nim… one day…”

As Leasis shed tears, Hizen’s heart ached. He hugged her tightly.

“It’s not your fault.”

Leasis cried sadly and hugged Hizen’s broad shoulders.