Chapter 069. The Lost Kingdom (8)
The sky twisted.
Then a terrible hole opened above.
Dark clouds rushed in.
The sun disappeared into darkness.
People standing in the streets stopped walking and looked upward.
"Look at that!"
"What in the world is happening...?"
Then songs came from the opening in the sky.
[A Water and Land Rite has begun.
A feast where the living and dead mingle together.]
[Those bitten to death by tigers.
Those who died in pits.
Those who collapsed in the streets.
Owners of white bones rolling through wind and sand.]
[Lonely souls and hungry ghosts wandering through the Nine Heavens.
Gather.
Gather.]
[Be released freely into the world.
Come together and play.]
[Throw away every suffering of living and unliving things.
Let us pray for the peace of this damned world.]
The gate to another world had opened.
The dead began crossing through.
At first, they looked like countless tiny dots packed together like swarms of insects.
Then they slowly gained shapes.
Humans holding blades.
Demons with horns.
Balls of flame.
Many strange forms.
In only moments, they spread throughout Hongyang.
Screams erupted everywhere.
People ran in panic.
Amid the chaos, Cheongyeon easily tore apart the restraints binding her and stepped down from the pillar.
She breathed black mist from the darkness into her body.
Her face was empty.
Human will and emotion had disappeared.
Her clothes had already changed into the black wing robe.
Threads embroidered across the fabric glittered with dark light.
The hems hung long like torn bat wings and dragged behind her as she walked.
Black lines spread like tree roots around the wounds covering her cheeks, neck, and hands.
Her pale skin looked cracked like broken glass.
Perhaps because she had been crying moments earlier, the skin around her eyes remained red.
That sadness made her sharp and terrifying appearance feel strangely sorrowful.
"The prisoner escaped!"
A soldier shouted.
"Kill her!"
Another raised his weapon.
"The demoness is preparing some strange spell!"
Soldiers around the execution site rushed toward Cheongyeon.
They were no longer her opponents.
With a single movement of her hand...
A curtain of darkness appeared.
It blocked the rain of arrows.
Then glittering chains shot out.
They wrapped around dozens of soldiers at once.
Their throats were crushed before they could scream.
A more terrible death waited for Buhuk.
"Eliminate."
He raised his axe.
"Heavenly Maiden."
His broken voice continued.
"Again. Complete. End..."
Before he could strike...
A wave of darkness poured over his head.
His body began melting as though boiling metal had been poured over him.
Flesh softened.
Collapsed.
Lost all shape.
Soon, his body resembled thin fish porridge.
The sight was beyond horrifying.
It was disgusting.
Buhuk disappeared completely.
This time, not even ashes remained.
Only his powerful weapon lay on the ground.
Cheongyeon watched without blinking.
She appeared to feel nothing.
Then...
She turned and walked deeper into the darkness.
While the areas around Hongyang's Five Great Gates descended into chaos, the ruling class inside the palace had no idea what was happening.
A cold wind blew from somewhere.
The bamboo forest between palace buildings and towers swayed.
Seongha waited with the priests of Beopsindang before a national monument.
He removed his official hat.
Then untied his belt and neatly folded both before the monument.
It was his way of giving up his position.
He turned toward Manu.
"From this moment..."
His expression remained calm.
"You are the only High Priest of Beopsindang."
Manu's eyes widened.
"What?"
He stared at Seongha.
"What are you talking about?"
"The Fifteenth Day Festival is already over."
Seongha spoke quietly.
"Crown Prince Nam Hyeon will soon begin moving to reclaim the throne."
Manu froze.
"Nam Hyeon?"
His voice became sharp.
"I don't know when Priest Jin began deceiving me and everyone else..."
He stared at Seongha.
"But this is clearly rebellion."
Manu struggled to accept the sudden announcement.
"If you become involved in rebellion, what happens to the Jin Clan?"
He stepped closer.
"What about Beopsindang?"
His eyes hardened.
"And how will you protect the Heavenly Maiden?"
"The hidden gate in the southeast has not been sealed."
Seongha answered.
"You can leave quickly."
He looked toward Manu.
"Take the Heavenly Maiden and retreat to Beopsindang."
Manu did not move.
His expression showed that he still could not accept it.
"You have no attachment to noble life."
He crossed his arms.
"Nor to your priestly position."
"So perhaps you can act however you want."
As expected from someone of the Son Clan, Manu cared greatly about the safety of the group he belonged to.
He often behaved foolishly.
Yet he was one of the most careful and realistic people Seongha knew.
Seongha had no choice but to speak from his heart.
"What I am doing is not rebellion."
Manu stared at him.
"It is purification."
Seongha's voice became firm.
"I only want to correct this broken world and protect the people who matter to me."
Manu looked surprised.
This Seongha was different from before.
The man who had always stepped away from worldly affairs and laughed bitterly from the side was gone.
Manu's expression became serious.
"Even the most perfect plan always has a weakness."
He looked directly into Seongha's eyes.
"Your enemies know that too."
Then he spoke slowly.
"Don't you understand yet?"
"You must never release what is precious to you, even for a single moment."
Seongha fell silent.
The words struck him like a heavy stone falling into his heart.
Never release what is precious...
"I'm sorry."
Seongha lowered his eyes.
"I always leave the difficult work to you."
He gave a faint smile.
"When we meet again at Beopsindang, I'll accept any criticism you give me."
Manu sighed.
"It won't end with criticism."
He turned away.
"Prepare yourself."
Seongha watched Manu's drooping shoulders.
Soon, junior priests moved throughout the palace.
They guided palace servants and outsiders toward the hidden gate.
Once everyone else left...
Seongha returned to the grand banquet hall with a determined expression.
At the same time...
Hyeon was climbing the stairs leading toward the throne.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward the unexpected person who had never been called.
Hyeon adjusted the sword in his hand.
The curtain was rising on a new history.
As he climbed through pale light, there was a tragic beauty in his appearance.
It looked almost like divine light announcing the arrival of a supreme ruler.
Until now...
He had walked through hell.
Countless border nations.
Roads covered in thorns.
With every step he took, the blood of others had flowed like rivers.
He sharpened his blade again and again.
Carving humiliation and regret into it.
He had used one woman's kindness.
Used her heart.
And abandoned his desire to give up everything, wander across the sea, and live only for himself.
"My regrets in this life are too great."
A cold smile appeared on Hyeon's reflection in the marble.
"I could not cross the gates of the afterlife."
He removed his black head covering and outer robe.
A royal robe appeared beneath them.
Blue fabric.
A silver dragon embroidered across it.
It was the clothing of the crown prince.
The first time he had worn it in ten years.
Perhaps it was because noble royal blood still flowed through his body.
Simply changing clothes transformed Hyeon from a mercenary slave into a crown prince.
An arrow suddenly flew from somewhere.
The poor memorial altar prepared for Crown Prince Nam Hyeon collapsed.
At the same time...
Ropes appeared over the railings.
Mercenaries climbed buildings like thieves.
They approached the Hae Clan guards from behind and cut their throats.
As foreign mercenaries, they used curved blades.
Their unusual sword techniques drew half-moons through the air.
Other mercenaries suddenly appeared from curtains behind pillars.
They blocked nobles trying to escape the banquet hall.
"The rebels have blocked the palace gates!"
"They've cut off the escape route!"
Blades collided everywhere.
Screams echoed.
"How dare they!"
"Do they even know where they are?!"
"What are you doing? Drag them out immediately!"
Soldiers rushed forward and surrounded the merchant mercenaries.
Spears and blades rose layer upon layer.
Hyeon finally reached the pavilion where the king sat.
He bowed.
"Father."
His voice was calm.
"Your son has returned."
Then Hyeon raised his head.
His expression changed.
He frowned.
Who is this empty shell?
The king looked like nothing more than a puppet.
"So the crown prince returned?"
Nampyeong muttered.
"No."
His lips twisted.
"A thief returned."
He stared toward Hyeon.
"Among royal blood, the closest family is always the greatest thief."
His voice remained empty.
"A son does not wish to remain his father's subject."
His eyes moved.
"He wishes to become the next ruler."
Nampyeong's face looked as though his soul had disappeared.
The selfish, impulsive light that once burned wildly inside him was gone.
Hyeon's expression became bitter.
"How did you become like this before I could personally drag you from the throne?"
The man before Hyeon was simply old.
Weak.
So much had happened to reach this moment.
Every fierce moment suddenly felt meaningless.
Hyeon laughed hollowly.
His personal revenge had ended before it could even begin.
Now...
Only punishment remained.
Punishment for the criminal who had destroyed Hui Kingdom's history and the lives of its people.
"Ban Seung-gyeom of the Ban Clan pledges himself to Crown Prince Nam Hyeon!"
A man who had remained beside Hyeon like a shadow finally revealed himself.
General Ban Seung-gyeom appeared.
Armor covered his broad and powerful body.
A relaxed smile rested on his face.
"Who dares point a blade at His Highness?"
Seung-gyeom stepped forward.
"I, Ban Seung-gyeom, will face anyone who wishes to try."
He crashed through the soldiers surrounding them with overwhelming force.
Then his blade flashed like lightning inside clouds.
Once commander of the capital defense forces, Seung-gyeom knew the palace perfectly.
He knew where the soldiers were positioned.
How many stood at each location.
And exactly how to exploit their weaknesses.
Many soldiers hesitated when they saw their former commander.
Seung-gyeom stepped onto the backs of men struggling beneath him.
Then he fired two or three arrows at once.
The Hae Clan soldiers standing near Mora collapsed one after another.
Seung-gyeom shouted.
"The only legitimate Crown Prince has returned!"
His voice boomed across the hall.
"Therefore, Nam Geumdo's appointment as Crown Prince is invalid!"
His tone remained slightly careless.
But his eyes carried the force of an entire cavalry army charging across the grasslands.
"Criminal Haemora."
Seung-gyeom raised his bow.
"Come down from that pavilion immediately."
His smile vanished.
"Before I drag you down myself."
Mora sat beside the king with a pale face.
She raised her voice.
"How do you intend to overturn something His Majesty has already decided?"
Her eyes flashed.
"Do you mean to begin a rebellion during Hui Kingdom's greatest festival?"
The only thing she trusted was the king's mouth.
If he acknowledged her son as successor...
She believed the world would naturally belong to Geumdo afterward.
No.
I came this far.
I sacrificed everything.
I abandoned everything...
Without the divine ghost soldiers...
Suppressing the uprising using only Hae Clan forces would be difficult.
Mora desperately tried to hide her anxiety.
"Rebellion?"
Hyeon's cold voice entered the silence.
He stared directly at her.
"I came to reclaim my lost kingdom."
