The fire spread unusually quickly, as if oil or something had been spread beforehand; the town was engulfed in flames in an instant.
Some fled, some fought, some tried to extinguish the fires, but all were crying in unison.
This wasn't about their expressions or visible tears.
Their hearts were weeping.
Strangely, it felt as if he could hear all those voices, and Kohza stood up on his own feet.
"King... so that's your answer."
Cobra's face was still on the screen.
Kohza's sharp gaze met his, and Cobra also noticed his stare.
"You betrayed the citizens who believed in you. You are no longer a king..."
"Kohza, I truly am sorry. But I have no other choice."
"Let's end this country."
An unprecedented strength surged within him.
Unfathomable fury.
An urge to destroy everything.
And at the same time, compassion to save all the citizens he had betrayed was also born.
Forgetting the pain in his shoulder, Kohza screamed loudly, unconcerned about his own wounds.
"Take up arms, Rebel Army!! There is no longer a King in this country! For the sake of our fallen comrades who have shed blood, we must end this! Defeat the soldiers! Save the citizens! Today, we will conquer Alubarna!!"
"Wait, Kohza!!"
He thrust his fist into the air, raised his voice, and just as he tried to lead the people in the chaotic town.
He noticed a new voice interrupting, and simultaneously, the situation changed.
A group that had run from the port suddenly attacked the Royal Army.
Wearing white cloaks and hoods, their faces hidden, these individuals struck down soldiers.
Though concealed, they were Fish-Men, overpowering their enemies with extraordinary physical abilities.
Their actions were swift and their objective clearly defined.
It was an organized movement.
Such movements, impossible for mere travelers, astonished the Rebel Army who were in combat, causing them to halt.
At the same time, Kohza turned around and saw a familiar face in his line of sight.
He had heard he was missing.
He didn't know why he was here.
Igaram stood before Kohza, and without being perturbed by Cobra visible beyond him, he began to speak.
"Igaram... why are you...?"
"Put down your weapons, Rebel Army! These are not Royal Army soldiers! And citizens, that man who just spoke to you is not the real King Cobra!"
While hooded Fish-Men subdued the Royal Army around them, Igaram spoke earnestly.
He didn't appear to be lying, but it was too sudden to comprehend.
Still, Kohza tried to listen.
Not only was he purely curious about what Igaram, who had disappeared for several years until today, would say, but he also held a faint hope that he might say something that could change this situation.
If there was a reason for the King's madness.
Even with a heated head and body, a small part of his heart that wanted to believe in Cobra made him calm.
"What do you mean...? The real one. Are you saying that one is a fake?"
"Yes. This rebellion was orchestrated from the beginning. Kohza, you—"
The moment he tried to speak, a bullet pierced Igaram's chest, and his body flew dramatically.
A large amount of blood gushed from his chest, and seeing its trajectory, Kohza's heart was once again consumed by rage.
He immediately turned around, searching for the culprit.
All the Royal Army soldiers on the main street had been defeated by the Fish-Men.
There were no longer any standing.
And while they carried sabers and spears, they had been disarmed of their guns, with no one holding one.
The culprit must be elsewhere.
When Kohza looked at the top of a building, he spotted a figure fleeing, their cloak flapping.
The armor on their body was unmistakably that of a Royal Army soldier.
It was Cobra after all.
It was the Royal Army's doing.
Igaram fell to the ground.
Kohza, along with the Rebel Army soldiers who had paused their fight, rushed to his side.
They frantically checked his wounds; it seemed he had been wearing a sturdy, bulletproof vest under his suit.
Though the bullet had still reached his skin, it wasn't a fatal wound.
Even so, it was an unforgivable act.
Kneeling beside the fallen Igaram, Kohza glared at Cobra on the screen.
"Igaram, I'm sorry for the suddenness... I don't want the truth to be known. If you are loyal to me, then die without spreading ill rumors."
"Are you even abandoning a subordinate who supported you...! Cobra, you are not even human!"
"No... Ko... don't fi—"
Igaram tried desperately to speak, but his mouth wouldn't move properly for some reason.
Not just his mouth, but his arms and legs too.
His body was paralyzed and wouldn't move as he wished.
He had to convey the truth.
He tried to move his mouth with that thought, but only rough breaths escaped.
(Why? I can't exert force. I can't speak! I have to convey, about Mr. 2's ability... that His Majesty wouldn't do such a thing. Kohza, don't make a mistake! Please! Stop the fight!)
Trying desperately to speak ended in futile effort.
He couldn't convey the truth, and he couldn't stop Kohza from being swallowed by immense rage.
Igaram, through his blurring vision, desperately tried to look at Kohza's face, attempting to convey the truth somehow, but without words, his intent couldn't be grasped.
Kohza left his side, entrusting him to a doctor.
Such a scene, the two who had already fled weren't even attempting to confirm.
The two men and women dressed as Royal Army soldiers swiftly left the town and boarded an F-Gator.
"Gero gero gero, listen, Mr. 7. My special bullet paralyzes the muscles of anyone it hits, making them unable to move."
"Oh ho ho ho, that's the gist of it. So Igaram, who got hit by that, can't speak, that's the gist of it."
"Which means the truth is in the dark, gero gero gero gero."
"No one can stop it now, that's the gist of it. The rebellion will begin soon. We also need to hurry to Alubarna and move on to the next plan, that's the gist of it."
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