Chapter 289 : Treatment (8)
Birang stared blankly ahead.
What filled his vision was the bloodfire, which continued to spread even at that very moment.
Thud—
A monotonous sound echoed repeatedly in his ears.
Some loud.
Some soft.
But regardless, monsters and soldiers alike collapsed as they drew bloodfire with their lives as the price.
Amid them, a woman came into view.
Her blood-soaked white hair glowed in the setting sun.
Next were her emotionless eyes entering his field of vision.
And finally—
The five severed heads clutched in her hand.
.....Ah.
A faint sigh escaped Birang's lips.
Was it because he felt cruelty in the five heads held in her hand, whose eyes hadn't even fully closed?
No.
That couldn't be—he had already sacrificed too many for this plan.
The reason for his sigh—
It was because the heads held in the hands of the Great Race included a face he recognized all too well.
Among them, the one in the center was a face he could never forget.
'Is it really possible?'
'Do not worry, Your Highness. Even if she is of the Great Race, she will not withstand our joint assault.'
'Aren't you underestimating her too much? She's of the Great Race. That monster can split a mountain with a single blow.'
'I am aware of that. But please don't worry—if you knew how much we've prepared to deal with her, you'd be surprised. We've even prepared the Grand Sealing True Talisman.'
'The Grand Sealing True Talisman...? You mean that cursed object said to have sealed even the spiritual beasts of Mount Tai?'
'That's right. Even a member of the Great Race can't do anything once sealed by the Sealing Talisman... I'm sure you know what that means.'
Birang's mind wandered back to the conversation he had with Cheonga a few days ago.
Along with it came a memory from his childhood.
The first thing that came to mind—
Was a massive spirit beast in the form of a serpent, large enough to coil around an entire mountain.
And next—
Was the Grand Sealing True Talisman that effortlessly sealed such a colossal snake.
That's why Birang had felt assured after his talk with Cheonga.
No matter how powerful the Great Race, if completely sealed, they would never be able to defeat Cheonga and the other generals.
Birang stared blankly at Cheonga's face—no, the severed head.
The dazed expression frozen on his face suggested he hadn't even realized what had happened to him.
Could it be that the plan had gone awry, and that's why things had ended like this?
Birang soon shook off that thought.
The overwhelming wave of blue mana flowing from the Great Race clearly revealed what had transpired.
Cheonga had succeeded in executing the plan.
No, he definitely had.
He had used the Grand Sealing True Talisman capable of sealing even a mountain-sized spirit beast, and the traps they'd prepared had also triggered properly.
Yet despite that, the Grand General had been defeated.
And even then, he hadn't realized how or by what he had lost.
"This doesn't make any sense…"
Birang burst into a laugh filled with despair and began stumbling backward, his body shaking.
Slowly, fear began to consume his eyes.
Seeing this, Historia lifted her sword without hesitation.
"Aaaaaagh!!"
And at that moment—
"Wait! Please wait a moment~!"
Urang, who had been blankly watching until now, stepped forward to stop Historia.
Everyone's attention turned to him.
Still bound by the soldiers,
He said—
"Lady Historia, I beg of you. Please, I beg you to forgive my foolish son...!"
He bowed low in desperation.
A plea unthinkable from a king who had just faced rebellion.
Alon and his group, watching the scene, wore expressions of disbelief.
Historia stared at Urang with a blank face.
And among them, the first to speak was—
"I—I was foolish! I'm truly sorry!"
Birang himself.
Just moments ago, consumed by ambition, Birang now prostrated himself on the ground, smashing his head into the floor in desperation.
As though there was no other chance to live, he slammed his forehead again and again onto the ground.
The floor began to stain with blood, and grotesque scars formed on his forehead, but Birang didn't stop pleading.
Because he knew—
This was the only way he might survive.
That's why, as he desperately bowed over and over—
"Raise your head."
At Historia's emotionless command, Birang let out an involuntary grin as he stared at the floor.
The joy of survival burned hot through his body.
But he couldn't let that be seen—so as he tried to force out tears and lift his head—
"Huh?"
Birang sensed something was wrong.
He was clearly looking at the face of the Great Race.
And yet, no matter how far back he tilted his head, he couldn't see her face.
In fact, his gaze kept lowering.
No matter how high he craned his neck.
No matter how much he tried to look up—
He couldn't see the face of the Great Race.
And then—
"If you keep your head bowed like that, it's hard to swing."
With those final words, Birang's consciousness was swallowed by the abyss.
The very next day, after Historia killed First Prince Birang without hesitation
And, within less than a day, eliminated all major figures behind the rebellion—
Amid a very chaotic atmosphere, Alon began preparing to leave the Eastern Kingdom.
Truthfully, he wanted to speak with Urang before departing, but unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
Naturally so.
It had only been a day since the rebellion.
The palace was in utter chaos, and Urang had failed to contain it.
"But seriously, why did he try to spare a guy like that? Is it that whole 'a father can't abandon his son' thing?"
"You're so emotionally pure."
"That was random."
"Not random—because of what you just said."
"Isn't it true though?"
"You really think the king tried to stop her because he was worried about his son?"
"Didn't he?"
While Alon was packing, he heard Evan and Penia talking nearby.
"Of course not. Isn't it obvious? He needed a public example."
"An example?"
"Yeah. If a rebellion happened and the king couldn't deal with it himself, instead relying on outsiders, what kind of rumors would that spark?"
"But if he hadn't done that, wouldn't he have just ended up getting killed by his own son?"
"By the time Historia showed up, that possibility was already gone."
If he'd spared Birang temporarily and later executed him publicly, it would've at least given the illusion that the king still held power.
As Penia finished explaining and shrugged her shoulders—
"You're... actually pretty smart, huh."
Evan murmured in mild amazement.
"Not 'actually.' I'm always smart, okay!?"
Penia snapped back.
:
Their conversation echoed like background noise as Alon approached the palace gates.
"Sir."
"Historia."
As if she had been waiting, Alon encountered Historia standing in front of the palace.
"Did everything go well?"
Right after stopping the rebellion yesterday, she had disappeared for a bit saying she had something to take care of.
To Alon's question, she nodded.
"Yeah, it's done. And here."
She handed Alon a small jewel box.
"What's this?"
"A gift."
"A gift?"
"Yeah."
With a blank expression, she nodded once more.
"Why give this to me?"
"Because I got it to give to the Divine One."
"This?"
"Yeah, I can't meet the Divine One empty-handed."
At that answer, Alon finally realized why Historia had come to the Eastern Kingdom.
"...So you came all this way just to get a gift?"
"Of all the treasures I know, this is the most precious one."
Historia's words were as pure as those of a child.
To that, Alon responded.
"Thank you. Truly."
He expressed his gratitude and tightly gripped the blue jewel box.
Historia's tail began to sway gently.
"You're not going to open it?"
"The fact that I received a gift is more important than the contents."
At Alon's words, Historia's tail wagged even faster.
Unlike her blank face, the emotions revealed through her tail made Alon smile inwardly.
He asked her, "Historia, are you planning to leave the Eastern Kingdom now?"
"Yeah."
"Then let's go together."
"No."
"Is something still left to be done?"
Historia nodded right away.
"You go ahead. I'll finish up what's left and follow right after."
"Then I'll wait at the same place as before."
"No need to wait. I'll be quick."
With that promise, Alon left the Eastern Kingdom first.
***
After Alon left the palace, Historia entered and met with Urang.
"You've arrived."
Urang bowed politely as Historia entered.
"What do you want to say?"
But Historia, completely uninterested in his courtesy, showed no change in expression or tone as she flatly asked.
She had only come because of Urang's request.
Normally, she would have ignored him completely, but since she had received a royal treasure of the Eastern Kingdom, she accepted the request.
As Historia stood still, Urang bowed again and got to the point.
"I called you to express my thanks."
"Thanks for what?"
"There were none beyond Cheonga and the martyrs included in our contract."
What he said was true.
When Historia arrived, Urang had only asked two things.
One was to kill General Cheonga.
The other was to kill the martyrs.
Anything beyond that was not Historia's concern.
So—
"Thank you so much for thinking of the Eastern Kingdom."
Urang expressed his gratitude sincerely.
But as Historia stared at him—
"That's not it."
"...Excuse me?"
She replied bluntly.
Urang's face turned blank in confusion.
And then—
"It wasn't because I cared about the Eastern Kingdom."
Her words echoed clearly.
Before Urang could even ask further in confusion, Historia spoke again.
"He pointed a sword at the Divine One."
That was the only reason, she muttered quietly.
Then she asked Urang, "Is that all you wanted to say?"
"Ah? Y-Yes, that's it."
Snapping back to himself, Urang quickly answered.
"Alright."
As soon as he did, Historia turned and left.
Urang stared at the door for a while, then collapsed into his seat and recalled what had happened the day before.
The moment when he had begged for Birang's life to be spared, hoping to make the aftermath a little easier.
And Historia had looked down at him.
Right...
As Urang recalled, there had been no emotion in those eyes.
Only the sense that she was judging something.
Urang had thought it was about the future of the Eastern Kingdom.
Whether it would be better for her to kill Birang now, or let him live and deal with him later.
But he had been wrong.
He now understood.
She didn't care about that.
Not the Eastern Kingdom.
Not Birang.
At that moment, those eyes had been judging Urang himself.
Judging whether Urang was involved with Birang in targeting Marquis Palatio.
And therefore—
Whether she would kill Urang along with Birang.
"Phew."
Urang felt chills run from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
The realization that death had brushed past him without him knowing filled him with immeasurable dread.
Urang pulled himself together once more.
To him, Marquis Palatio had once been a benefactor of the old Eastern Kingdom.
But put another way, he was just someone from the past.
Urang would treat him with respect, but no deeper feelings were involved.
But in that moment, Urang was certain.
He must never make an enemy of his former benefactor.
Because now he knew.
That the Marquis had someone by his side who could, without hesitation, turn an entire kingdom into an enemy just because someone dared oppose him.
Urang let out a long sigh.
...His head throbbed.