Chapter 47: Vol. 2 – Episode 22
Three days passed.
The imperial command passed.
I declare the execution of Eustasia.
That was the decision of Seyzo II.
* * *
Chapter 15
The execution commenced in a flash.
Although there should have been a legal court hearing, considering her status as a Grand Commander, that was ignored.
There were no heroes who asked for her pardon. The party she formed at court ignored her to save themselves.
Only the extras silently wept, watching Eustasia being dragged to the executioner’s platform. But even they feared their king’s wrath and could not speak a word.
They inwardly pitied her.
In this country... she was the only pillar that stood for the people.
Now that Commander Eustasia is gone, we’re done for.
Who can we trust at this stage where the king offers us as food?
To think that a grand commander would be thrown away so easily.
There was no one the king would not kill at the moment.
Ah... Commander Eustasia...
As they cried silent tears of despair, the cart that carried Eustasia reached the pit.
Seyzo II had constructed a large patio before it to watch the procession. Beside him lay bottles of wine which could feed several families of extras for one year.
“Your sin for committing treason against me is grace! Earn your forgiveness by death!”
“Your Majesty. I advise you for the last time.”
Although she was chained, she could break through them easily. Yet she did not escape and simply advised.
“Please look after your people, at the very least. What reason would I have to speak falsities to you? Please accept my advice.
“Silence! Investigations have already proven your treasonous mind you wretch!”
At Seyzo II’s wave of the hand, the adjutant general was brought before her. The traces of torture were evident upon his body. His arms and legs flopped about, and it seemed that his spine had been broken as he could not stand.
“Speak.”
“Yes. Your Highness... Eustasia... Usually... spoke highly... of the neighboring king’s potency as a king unlike Your Highness... and... gave him... the holy sword... and promised defeat in this upcoming battle...”
As his eyes met Eustasia’s, he halted his speech and lowered his head. It was the last apology of a man who had a broken spirit.
“Do you still deny this claim!”
At the king’s rage, Eustasia silently cried.
You’ve suffered because of me.
Not only her adjutant general, but there were also many more citizens to be thrown in the pit before her due to her inability to protect them.
“If I were to betray you, I would have done so long ago.”
“It has already been revealed! You’ve played your part as a spy. I need no excuses. Throw her in!”
The soldiers silently raised her and threw her into the pit, and the awaiting black beings raised themselves towards her.
They abandoned the people they were eating and zeroed in on her at once.
This was a special type of food.
The endless greed gathered around her at once.
This purity was delicious.
Curse her.
Violate her.
Eat her.
From head to toe.
Let’s finish her without a trace.
Leave nothing behind.
Their endless greed was filled with hunger.
Eustasia closed her eyes, thinking that this was her end.
If only Your Highness regrets this day in the future...
But that was not going to happen.
She was swallowed by the black sea.
The people finally shed tears at the disappearing hero.
They knew their fate was not going to differ greatly.
There was only despair and darkness.
At that moment, a beam of light shone from within the black sea. It was a pure and brilliant light that let no depraved masses of greed near it.
“Shield of All People!”
Ereka slowly stood between the crowd with a golden shield in her hand.
A hooded man threw himself into the pit and received Eustasia to be surrounded by the holy light.
He proudly carried her bridal style.
The beasts were bound to the darkness and could not approach her. Everyone’s eyes fell upon he who walked from the parted black sea.
Who is he?
It was a question everyone but Eustasia asked.
Because she could tell who it was.
He came.
How could it be that fate would allow her to fall into his arms right after being abandoned by the king that she served?
Was her life of servitude all for naught?
Still in the end, she was but a woman in front of this man, despite her title of being the strongest general in all the four kingdoms.
To think that her heart would race like this even after completely rejecting him before... This was just like his path of conquering what he wanted through strength and perseverance.
“What!?”
At the show of this unexpected person, Seyzo II stood from his seat.
“What act is this!”
“I came to proclaim war.”
The man who stood before the two threw away his cloak.
A confident and manly structure.
A straightforward and vigorous voice.
Who could call him an extra upon seeing him in the midst of enemies?
His name was Cha Sungjin.
The man who currently stood at the center of scrutiny.
He raised his fist towards Seyzo II and shouted.
To be honest, he had practiced all this before a mirror before the rescue.
It was not his style to put on a dramatic act, but at this point, he was calculating the impact his words and actions would have. He was trying to utilize them to the maximum.
“I, Sungjin, hereby announce the war proclamation with my ally, Queen Ereka, at the cost of all lands upon victory!”
His shout tore the stale air, and it resounded clearly.
“I will willingly enter the warfield during the next march of war! All three kingdoms may stand against me at once. I will hold a satisfactory reward for all your lands!”
A preemptive attack was always disadvantageous, especially since his power was that of a strategist.
As he was in enemy lands, putting his abilities to use was against the rules, and therefore, a penalty of a forced preemptive attack was applied to him.
But he ignored the penalty and continued his announcement.
“And as a compensation, I hereby rescue Eustasia!”
As obvious as it was that he was the enemy nation’s king, the extras instead looked towards him with reverence.
He was a hero that had appeared before them when they were about to fall to their deaths.
He...
He’s the next country’s king who said he’d make a country where we extras could live in peace?
It’s said he has the same level as us...
I thought it was all some propaganda...
But one fact was true: his ferocity that they witnessed was truly amazing.
He was more confident and noble than all the other heroes they had seen.
“You... You dare!”
Sungjin ignored Seyzo’s madness and shouted louder.
“And listen, heroes of this land.”
What he was about to say was important. If saving Eustasia was not important, he would not have practiced so earnestly.
From here, he had to use strong charisma to enrapture and therefore convince the others to take action.
“Right now, your king may be Seyzo II, but when I conquer this land, think of what the extras will think of you when you capture them and throw them to their deaths! If you wish to continue saying that you had no choice, then think twice of what act you are committing before committing it!”
“You lowly thing!”
Seyzo II threw the wine bottle in his hand at Sungjin, but Sungjin caught it accurately.
“The next day after the war has ended, let’s see whose wine you will be drinking then.”
He set down the wine bottle, and then he turned towards the people.
“I apologize for not being able to save you all sooner. But I will come to your aid soon. Until then, do not give up. Flee and hide. Remain strong! Tell everyone of this news!”
This was what he had aimed for before the rescue mission.
Saving Eustasia, obviously, making the people flee so as to prevent them from becoming sacrifices, and making the heroes and soldiers who were after them band together.
That was his strategy to decrease the numbers of sacrifices to be made.
And Seyzo II, who realized this plan, became more enraged.
“You, you, you bastard! I will kill you!”
Black monsters appeared by his side, and they all poured towards Sungjin.
Sungjin avoided them by a hair’s breadth.
“Dieee!” Seyzo II shouted in madness, and even more dark creatures arose.
But Sungjin, not losing his calm facade, had already moved back to a safe distance.
And behind him, a Portal Stone was activated.
“I suggest you prepare yourself. When I come back, I will be charging you for your crimes.”
Disappearing into the portal, Sungjin returned home.
“You, you bastard!”
Only the rage-induced voice of Seyzo II filled the skies.
Sungjin’s appearance was short but strong.
The people immediately took to the wild mountains.
The heroes and soldiers who had to capture them and offer them to King Seyzo II as sacrifices thought once more at their actions before coming to a decision.
And ultimately, they divided into two factions.
One was the loyal party.
It’s going to be a defensive war for King Seyzo II. The king could win.
A land conquered by an extra would cause all of our awarded lands to be confiscated. Even if the ratio may be 50-50, the king is better.
It is in times like this that my position may strengthen by showing loyalty.
On the opposite side, some started to change their minds.
He’s a king who tried to execute Eustasia, the very person who saved his country from Eldorado...
Even if we did continue to be loyal...
The oppositions also acknowledged Eustasia’s feats. There was nothing more to be said of her followers.
And if the Sevrantina Kingdom won the next war...
We need to save ourselves in these times...
The days ahead are dark even if that person wins, but a mad king won’t be any better, so I should just wait and see how it turns out.
We’re not heroes, we should do just enough according to our rank as soldiers.
If it was just Sungjin’s, words they would not have been as shaken.
If it was just the abandonment of Eustasia, then they would not have been as shaken.
But when the two events came together, the order began to break.
The mad King Seyzo II’s political power slowly weakened.
And on top of that, as Sungjin had orchestrated, the number of citizens captured slowly decreased.
“Those... those bastards...”
But that did not mean Seyzo II himself had been weakened.
“I will kill everyone... I will kill every last one of them...”
His burning gaze had descended from madness into the loss of reason.
“I will punish every last one of you... I will not forgive you...”
“Your Highness. Dinner has been prepared.”
A maidservant brought him his meal.
Seyzo II brought the food to his mouth then suddenly threw the spoon.
“Why is the food so foul! You have turned treasonous against me, have you not!”
“No, Your Highness. Your Highness, it is the same as always...”
The black otherworldly beings covered her body before she could even finish her explanation.
“Kuh... kuk.”
A moment of protest.
In a flash, she disappeared within those black things.
“Hah! Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
Seyzo II laughed madly at the sight and whirled around.
“And who else has turned their backs on me? Who dares to go against me! It’s you all!”
The black creatures started attacking more and more people. The servants all started to run and scream.
But it was no use. One by one, they were captured and dead within the black creatures’ embrace.
A few servants who found no escape kneeled before the king with tears.
“Please, save us.”
“Your Highness. We truly have no treasonous intentions.”
“It’s the truth. Please, think of us with pity.”
Looking at the servants kneeling and begging on the floor, Seyzo II stopped his madness.
“You have no intentions to turn your back on me?”
“Sincerely.”
King Seyzo II showed a benignant smile.
“Very well. If you all truly have no intentions of treason, then the Gods must help you, and therefore, the first person to leave this hall will live.”
At the word of only one of them surviving, their faces hardened.
“The ones who cannot escape means that their sins have been proven!”
At the same time, the monsters moved.
“Aah... Ahh!”
The hesitant ones were immediately swallowed by the monsters, while the others ran as fast as they could. There was a commotion as they pushed and pulled at each other, trying to get to the door first.
The last one to the door became the victor. The others were killed immediately.
I lived...
The survivor breathed in relief.
She was far too happy to be held by guilt for surviving by sacrificing the others. She could not think much of anything other than that she had lived.
But she could not move forward.
Huh?
She looked down and saw black impurities sprouting from her legs. They started crawling up her body, and the intolerable pain spread a moment later.
“Ahhhck!”
Did he not say she would live?
Was she not alive?
Her relief turned to fear, and hope turned to dread.
Crunch. Crunch.
Very slowly, the impurities starting eating from her legs up.
“If you were truly loyal, you would have sacrificed your life for me! Did you think I was fooled!”
Seyzo II had no intentions of saving anyone from the start. He was simply trying to administer a grand punishment.
“You thought you had me fooled!? I will give you the slowest death!”
Feet. Ankles. Thighs. Knees. Waist. Stomach. Chest. Shoulders. Neck.
The impurities ate the servant’s body in this order to give despair and make her watch her own body die slowly.
Seyzo II knew how to cause more torment and pain in death.
Feeling her life fade out, the servant cried soundlessly.
Someone... this crazy king...
She wished and begged for someone to punish him, if justice existed.
She pled for it to be stopped before her family was destroyed.
She pled and begged until her brains were eaten out, leaving only the remnants of hate and despair.
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