CH 285

After the war (1)

unknown place.

The soldiers of the Luna Kingdom looked at the figure of Isabelle praying in the warm sunlight.

It was a sacred sight.

The sun lit up the surroundings as if it were wrapped around Isabelle's body, and her fluttering blonde hair turned white, expressing divine power.

When the Lunar Kingdom was on the brink of destruction due to the continuous cold wave. Isabelle, who was born with a trust, protected the Luna Kingdom from the cold.

Remembering that people cheered on the name of 'Isabel' that day, Leo, the commander of the Royal Knights of the Luna Kingdom, did not leave his seat for a moment.

The prayer is over.

As the blonde hair regained its original color, Isabelle got up and walked outside.

" Queen. How about going back to Arcadia? The oracle demands the Queen's sacrifice every time, but now that the Kronos Empire has declared a truce, there is no reason to stay here."

"No, I can't."

Isabel shook her head.

He heard the voice of God through prayer and decided the direction he should go.

"In the process of annihilating the capital of Odelia, Alexander used the forbidden area 9th circle magic. That meant that the restrictions were lifted, so it must have been that the Continental War was waged even though we knew we were going to go out. I don't have time now. The moment they achieve their desired purpose through human death, even if they borrow the power of God, there is no way to stop the darkness that will fall on the continent."

Kronos Empire.

In the meantime, their ambitions have been suppressed.

Some were wary of Isabelle's existence, but they could not fully express their power due to an unknown 'restriction'.

But from that day when the cold wave got worse. The deterrence of the restrictions began to weaken, and this continental war proved that the restrictions were lifted to some extent.

light and darkness.

Opposite forces coexisted.

As Alexander became stronger, Isabel also gained strength, but the problem was the unknown entity that was granting power to Alexander.

His advent had to be stopped.

As Isabelle, as Leo said, she wanted to avoid the difficulties of reality, but she was born with a fate that made it impossible to live like that.

suddenly.

Roman Dmitry came to mind.

An entity not mentioned in the oracle.

He appeared out of nowhere and caused a stir, demonstrating how to defeat the dark beings without God's help.

If he had helped, things might have been easier.

However, Roman Dmitry nailed him not to fight for mankind, and as a follower of God, Isabelle had no choice but to part with him.

said Leo.

"As the commander of the Royal Knights, I will protect the Queen until the end."

From now on.

Isabel will be on a rough road.

The people found peace through a truce, but for Isabelle and her soldiers the war was not over yet.

Isabelle looked at Leo.

Because it's his sword.

The soldiers of the Luna Kingdom, including Leo, carried the weight of the oracle together.

"Thank you everyone."

Don't even say comfort.

It didn't even guarantee the future.

just say thank you

Knowing the difficult future, he did not give vain hope to those who had to accept the sacrifice.

That is the reason Isabel exists.

It was the life she lived.

* * *

above the bed.

Henderson's pale face was visible.

Seeing Roman Dmitry looking down at him, the therapist spoke with a cautious voice what had happened.

"I used one of the best potions every day for Henderson's treatment, and I called in priests to pray . Despite the hard work, there was no sign of improvement. In fact, it was impossible to recover from the beginning. The master's treatment saved a dying life, but from the moment he was brought to the hospital, Henderson was unable to live."

right after the battle.

Henderson was moved to a tragic Molgol.

The whole body had no dark corners, and the blood that flowed from it soaked the floor in every path it passed.

It was normal to not be able to hold out for a few days.

However, the therapist poured money and devotion to barely hold onto the rope, and Roman Dmitry breathed out the energy of nature and saved the hope of revival.

But that's it.

I couldn't open my eyes again.

Roman Dmitry's method is very resilient, but it cannot bring the dead back to life.

"The death penalty was the last attack that inflicted fatal internal injuries. According to Fernando, Henderson was told that he earned a second of time to capture an enemy. That's a direct sign. If he had ended up just blocking the enemy's attack, Henderson could have survived. But he made sacrifices to kill his enemies, and by then he had already crossed the river of no return. As a therapist, I'm sorry I couldn't save Henderson.

Even in the words of the therapist.

Roman Dmitry responded bluntly.

Hearing him weeping, he looked down at Henderson's face calmly.

1 second.

One second divided life and death.

Until he encounters a formidable enemy named Sven and vomits blood on his sword.

Obviously Henderson had a way to survive.

If I had saved myself even a little, if I hadn't sacrificed for Fernando, if I had sacrificed, if I hadn't held on for one second with the intention of defeating Sven.

Henderson, who was given the energy of birth, must have greeted him with a living face.

Each time he made his own choice, he took a path for everyone, and he willingly accepted the sacrifice even though he knew he was going to die.

for so long

Spent time with Henderson.

Roman Dmitry, without a word, took a sudden step and spoke to Chris, who was waiting behind him.

"Prepare the memorial service from now on."

Okay.

Words for Henderson.

There was no action for Henderson.

But seeing Roman Dmitry's back outside, Chris felt some sort of loneliness.

* * *

A memorial service was held.

Since ancient times, cremation has been the best way to let the dead go, and a fire was set on fire in front of the people of Dmitry.

Tick, tick. The fire burned.

Those who managed to recover the corpses were engulfed in fire and extinguished in front of their families and colleagues, not on the cold battlefield.

People shed tears.

At the sight of Roman Dmitry staring at the flames endlessly, they could not vomit their sorrow first.

The patience didn't last long.

any one person.

Someone started crying.

Crying spread to the surroundings, people wailed and wept as if they could not accept dull sadness.

Such was the sorrow of losing a family.

A person who would have been precious to some sacrificed for a problem that depended on the national interest, and it became a sorrow that their family had to bear.

beyond the fire.

Roman Dmitry recalled a moment of memory.

the luster dies

The war did not last long.

The war progressed rapidly from the overthrow of the Shaolin, and the small and medium-sized sects of the faction Moorim lost the ability to withstand the sight of the old file-bang announcing surrender.

The history of Moorim determined that unification of Moorim was impossible.

Although none of the masters who flew and crawled in the generation before Baek Jung-hyeok did not dare to reach the achievement of unification, those who knelt at Baek's feet spoke of the first moment.

unity.

conquered the Moorim.

The moment he achieved what he wanted, Baek Jung-hyuk remembered the conversation he had with Gwang-ma.

"Are you satisfied with the life you live for others?"

One day, I asked Gwangma.

He accepted a life of struggle.

He lived a life where he could not live with someone above his head, so the subjugation of Moorim was a natural process of proving the meaning of his existence.

But the light was not like that.

Before meeting him, Gwangma was just an ordinary boy, but since meeting him, he has been living an unintended life.

So I asked.

At least, he couldn't be satisfied with the life of a madman.

Guangma smiled and said.

"Don't tell me you're a stranger. In the depths of life, from the moment you reached out to me, you became my everything. Each person has a dream. If the master wishes for the unification of Moorim, it is my dream to achieve it. So you will never die. I will survive to the end and watch my master achieve his dream."

It was a contradictory statement.

He, who said he would watch from the side, never hesitated to make sacrifices to make Baek Joong-hyuk's dream come true.

From the beginning, the unification of Moorim was a difficult dream for an ordinary boy.

As he was walking with Baek Joong-hyuk, he met death in a dream he could not bear, and when he achieved his purpose, Gwangma was not by his side.

that day.

Baek Joong-hyuk left.

I searched around and found a person who is believed to be Gwangma's family.

" I think there was a nephew like that, but what the hell is going on?"

Guangma lost her family early.

The only remaining family was an uncle, who was obsessed with alcohol and gambling, and the uncle had lost the meaning of family to the extent that he did not even worry about Gwangma's disappearance.

He was so stupid that he couldn't even recognize Baek Joong-hyuk.

However, with an unusual momentum, he shook his head and trembled in fear that something would happen.

to him like that.

tuk.

"Take it."

threw something

The man who discovered that there was a gold coin looked at Baek Joong-hyuk with a wide-eyed face.

"It's the price of that child's life."

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

The man was delighted.

As if he had everything in the world, as if he didn't care about the sadness of the madman, his eyes gleamed with gold coins.

a man named uncle.

I knew that I would not mourn over Gwangma's death.

It was clear that he would head straight to the gambling table with his gold coins, squander all his money in his pleasure.

Even if you're lucky enough to wake up. In a rich life, the existence of the light horse will be forgotten.

nevertheless.

I wanted to visit him and reward him.

There was no particular reason.

As if he remembered the light horse.

I just wanted someone else in the world to remember the existence of a madman as a human being.

and turned around

The Age of Heaven.

Thus, the era of Baek Jung-hyuk has come to an end.

* * *

It had been several days already.

Seeing Roman Dmitry not leaving in front of the burnt ashes, Chris approached and said with a worried face.

"Sir. How would you like to die? In the meantime, the lord is in need of a rest due to the ceaseless forced march starting with Redford. The people of Dmitry will fully understand the heart of your lord."

Kris.

"Say it."

"I told you before. In my absence, you want to exist as a commander."

He did not take his eyes off the ashes.

Roman Dmitry said, looking at the traces of what might have been a living life.

"If you live as a commander, you will inevitably face many deaths. At my word, at my command. It is the life of a commander that people die. In my life, there was neither room nor enough compassion to suffer under the weight of orders, but I did not take the deaths of my people for granted for even a moment. It can also be a crafted action. As a commander, letting them go like this is a process of accepting death as well as an act to show."

It was a cold word.

However, Chris felt strangely lonely.

"A commander cannot exist as an ordinary human being. The moment I appeal to my emotions, even once, the people who follow my orders will recognize that I am the same human being and try to step closer to my distance. People may wish for such a human commander. But if there is a purpose that you want to achieve as a commander, then you have to live your life with a thorough calculation of your words and actions."

I drew a line.

While showing sincerity in commemorating the deaths of his subordinates, he blocked people from approaching them as human beings.

Chris followed Roman Dmitry from the beginning.

He swore his allegiance from the days when he was called Dmitry's idiot, but even though time had passed, he was not comfortable with the existence of Roman Dmitry.

that interval.

This was Roman Dmitry's intention.

With his thoroughly calculated words and actions, he did not allow Injeong to blur the gap between the subject and the master.

the life of a predator.

Roman Dmitry lived like that.

Now, even without intention, he instinctively did what he had to do as a commander.

Chris wanted to ask.

Isn't it hard to live like that?

But I couldn't get it out of my mouth.

Roman Dmitry, whom he had been watching, knew very well that he had to live like that.

Roman Dmitry said.

Kris. If you plan to live as a commander in the future, keep that in mind. While demonstrating an attitude that does not take people's deaths lightly, only clear compensation can compensate people for their sorrow."

It was a firm attitude.

He never turned away from those who died for him.

"Summon Dmitry's leaders. From now on, we will hold a meeting on compensation for war casualties."

"I take orders."

The meaning of the word clear reward.

People will soon feel the meaning.