Chapter 122: Die, Or
Surrender.
It was rather premature to hear that word at this point in time.
Vasen Lak Orazen seemed surprised by Aranju Dolan's words, but soon agreed. Before entering Deimerit, Black Scale’s army confirmed that Danyum’s army wasn’t armed.
As they entered the city, Vasen's adjutant, Su-Heon, said, "There are no soldiers at the top of the ramparts, and no one is armed. It doesn't seem like a trap."
"Even if it were a trap, it would be too late at this point," Vasen replied.
"Did you know this would happen?" Su-Heon asked.
Vasen shook his head.
"I had heard about the possibility in advance, but I didn't think things would go this smoothly."
"By that, you mean..."
"Yes, His Majesty did mention it."
At last, while Black Scale’s army gathered the entirety of the now disarmed army of Danyum and kept an eye on them, the elite troops were led into the inner fortress.
Aranju, who had been silent in front of the gate of the inner fortress, turned around and said to Vasen, "Commander Vasen, the inner fortress of Deimerit is not in the best situation. I hope Black Scale can understand.”
"Of course.”
Since Aranju had proclaimed to be the queen, Vasen had no choice but to show her courtesy.
‘But what does it mean that the situation is not the best?’
Basen wondered as he stepped into the inner fortress. He covered his nose with his hand when the smell of dead bodies suddenly hit him.
***
The Satyr regent, Babica Tollo, believed that with the king killed by Lakrak, an opportunity had fallen onto his lap.
‘This is my chance.’
Babica couldn't believe that such ambition had been hiding within him until the king's death. He enjoyed tricking others and felt pleasure from wielding power, but after becoming the regent, he had to restrain himself. He thought he wouldn't be able to become king because he wasn’t a royal.
Babica Tollo was competent, and because of that competency, he was able to survive, unlike those who gave into their desires and plotted a coup.
But when the king died, the dormant desires inside his heart stirred. Babica naturally imagined the numerous possibilities of making the fourth prince king and ruling the country himself.
‘It's not impossible. In fact, it's rather easy. It would be foolish to miss this opportunity.’
The king was dead, and many troops and generals that guarded Deimerit had gone to the Dilpa Gorge.
Babica believed he had enough power, and his belief was accurate.
‘The war won’t last long anyway. Even though Night Sky has killed the king, Black Scale cannot defeat the alliance of five nations. So the next question is simple: how will the new order be established?’
Babica quickly seized control of the inner fortress, gathered his supporters and made them his henchmen, using them to get rid of those who opposed him.
After placing the fourth prince on the throne, he had time to take a breather. But that wasn't the end.
The commander-in-chief, Yubaim Dolan, had suffered a major defeat at the Dilpa Gorge.
While it was good that the capital, Deimerit, was under his control, he couldn't simply hand it over to Black Scale’s army. If Deimerit fell into Black Scale’s hands, the king wouldn’t be blamed as part of the royal family, but things were different for a regent. Even though there were nobles in Deimerit who currently supported Babica, there was still a possibility of them turning on him.
'That can’t happen.'
He couldn’t give up now and ruin everything. If he showed weakness, he wouldn’t be able to satisfy his supporters.
‘It’s one or the other. Die, or take everything.’
Babica decided that in order to prevent the possibility of his followers turning their backs to him, he needed to further strengthen his power. He was already in the highest position within Danyum, so there was no higher place for him to reach. What he needed was greater force, not greater status.
However, there were limits to how much power he could gain through the nobles following him and the defense troops stationed in Deimerit.
'Then there's only one way.'
That was to take what someone else possessed.
‘I’m sorry, Yubaim Dolan.’
Babica was surprised that Yubaim had brought back more soldiers to Deimerit than expected. However, Yubaim obediently followed orders that were made under the name of the new king. He divided the soldiers and arranged them, which slowed down the command system, and he even followed orders to calculate each general’s merits and demerits even though they were still at war, thus stopping himself from thinking anything else.
If Yubaim had been just a little more familiar with politics, he would have noticed something suspicious about the orders and had his troops surround the inner fortress to capture Babica. In fact, Yubaim had received several warnings from his daughter and subordinate general, Aranju Dolan. However, Yubaim got angry and scolded her instead.
“You...! No, General Aranju! Black Scale is right behind us, and you want to stir up trouble within the royal family? As far as I know, the regent Babica Tollo is a wise and kind-hearted man. He won’t get drunk with power and do anything untowards, so don’t worry.”
But that became the last conversation between Yubaim and Aranju.
Babica summoned Yubaim to the inner fortress, saying that he would give him some words of encouragement in the name of the king. Suspecting nothing, Yubaim entered the inner fortress with only a small number of guards. And it didn't even take half a day for Babica to accuse Yubaim of treason and execute him.
Babica thought that everything was happening at a rapid pace. He believed that it would be a simple task to deal with Yubaim's subordinate generals. But he was wrong.
Aranju Dolan had repeatedly warned her fellow generals that her father, Yubaim Dolan, could be in danger. And when that warning became reality, Aranju and the generals were furious.
"I am not simply seeking revenge for my father. That damned regent is indulging in political games and causing chaos in our country while we shed blood and risk our lives to protect it. Are you all just going to stand by and watch?"
No one was willing to do that. Excluding a few conservative and elderly generals, Aranju joined forces with the others and attacked the inner fortress.
Despite not being able to mobilize a large number of soldiers secretly, the troops in the inner fortress were of lower rank, and they were complacent with sentry duty.
Aranju and the generals took control of the inner fortress and captured Babica and his followers while they were enjoying a banquet inside.
Filled with rage, Babica swore, “You ignorant bitch! Do you think you can become queen by doing this?"
And before one of the generals could cut Babica’s neck, Aranju raised her hand to stop them.
"What do you mean?"
"What will you do once you kill me and the other nobles?"
"What do you mean…what would I do? If I kill you filthy nobles..."
.
"Do you think everything will be normal again? That things will go according to your plan? Don't be ridiculous. This isn’t the only place the royal family can reach. Don't you think I have followers in the provinces?"
"...Hm."
"I can easily predict your plan. You must think that you can resolve everything with force. But procedure is always important. You may think of me as a traitor, but on paper, I haven’t even started a rebellion. It was you who had led soldiers to shed blood, making you the true rebels. Procedure brings legitimacy. You will never survive for long."
Aranju realized that Babica was right. Aranju had no plan. If she sat in Babica’s place instead, there was no way she could do what Babica did.
"Well...what do you expect us to do then?"
However, Babica’s following words woke Aranju up.
"First, if you release me and spare my life..."
Aranju hit his neck with a knifehand strike.
"Kill him."
Babica’s head immediately rolled.
Blood splattered on Aranju’s face, but she didn't bother to wipe it off.
Then another general said, "I don't want to admit it, but it's hard to argue that Babica was wrong. What do you plan to do now?"
"Now it's either one of the two."
"One of the two, you say?"
Aranju spat out the blood that had gotten into her mouth and said, "Die, or take everything."
Aranjoo's thought was simple.
If procedure brought legitimacy, then she could just destroy both procedure and legitimacy.
That morning, Aranju Dolan killed not only every member of the royal family in the inner fortress, but also those in all of Deimerit.
A new royal family was established in Danyum.
Aranju Dolan knew that the soldiers were no longer in the right state to fight further. And there was only one way to save her own life.
Aranju decided to surrender.
***
Crampus thought all of this was unfolding like dominoes.
‘How do I…stop this?’
Everything began with the surprise attack by Larkrak. It was an unavoidable event.
‘Did it all start with Larkrak's attack? No, it didn’t.’
Crampus knew well the history of the regent, Babica Tollo. With his great ambition, or what players called ‘desire for power,’ there was a possibility that he would plot a rebellion if the circumstances allowed for it. However, Babica was competent. His ambition actually allowed him to rise to his position and make use of his abilities.
In The Lost World, abilities weren’t evaluated as good or bad, but rather as useful or not depending on the situation and the position the individual was in. In that regard, Babica’s ambition was a good ability.
However, when the king preposterously got killed by Lakrak, his ambition turned into a blade. But regardless, there was no reason for Crampus to stop Babica.
‘In this situation, it might actually be useful.’
As long as the king was dead, someone with great charisma was needed to quell the chaos. Having an unwavering and consistent system of command would increase the chances of victory in battle. However, the situation changed when Crampus lost to Sung-Woon.
Babica Tollo felt a sense of crisis and had to kill Yubaim Dolan because of it. And Crampus watched it happen without doing anything.
‘Babica’s judgment is not wrong. If Yubaim remains, Babica’s followers will sway and cause internal chaos.’
There was no way for Crampus to know the hidden variables.
Aranju Dolan was a character that Crampus hadn’t paid attention to. Her abilities weren’t particularly impressive, and her relationship with her father didn’t seem that good. Moreover, it was common for nobles to become a military officer or a bureaucrat following in their father’s footsteps, so she wasn’t in an unusual situation.
However, Aranju took advantage of her father's death as an opportunity. When Aranju persuaded her fellow generals and invaded the inner fortress, Crampus was late once again.
With the news of the king's death at Larkrak’s hand and the defeat at the Dilpa Gorge spreading, Danyum became full of things for Crampus to pay attention to.
And when Aranju finally killed Babica, Crampus had to try his best.
‘It's doomed.’
Babica Tollo, Yubaim Dolan, and Aranju Dolan had done their best in their respective positions. However, the result of that was Black Scale’s bloodless victory and entrance into Deimerit.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
When he thought about division, he naturally thought that he only had to worry about a division between the players in their alliance. But he never thought it would be so easy for such a disorder to arise among members of the unified, homogeneous royal family. Moreover, they were all faithful followers of the Limitless God.
‘Even without Nebula's intervention…’
Someone then requested a video chat.
Crampus checked the screen and sighed.
"What is it?"
Sung-Woon replied, "Do you have any intention to surrender?"
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