Chapter 52 – A Language That Only You Hear
Jiwoo muttered as if she had lost her mind.
“Let’s, let’s go, out of here…”
Wooong.
The pattern roared.
The dark red patterns shone with an intense scarlet reminiscent of molten iron. She reflexively closed her eyes. The patterns did not just serve as propaganda.
Boo-boom!
A roar from the pattern hit the ground.
Sizzle. In an instant, leaves were burnt and turned to ash that scattered.
Bang!
The roar that pierced heaven and earth did not stop. A tree in the center of the village crackled with a loud sound, as if lightning had struck.
Fire spread quickly.
The color of the dark red maned lion mixed with the green and gold village.
Boom. PA-BAM!
The magic circle with tremendous destructive power was called the Maned Lion’s Brand. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the weapon that led the Crown Prince to an undefeated battle.
The Crown Prince, who used that circle most effectively and roamed the battlefield, reminded people of the first Emperor of the Empire. He was said to look like a beast from the legend of the Empire, and people called him the Maned Lion of the Battlefield as his moniker.
The Crown Prince acted quite regal and cultured in the imperial palace or temple, but on the battlefield he acted befitting of his nickname.
His red eyes turned into blood-craving madness, and he showed no mercy whatsoever in his hands.
It would be better if she didn’t know his appearance on the battlefield at all, but Jiwoo’s mission as the Akarna overlapped with him.
And if he had even brought the Maned Lion’s Brand, it was easy to figure out that this situation would not go well.
“Tevon… this is…”
This is dangerous. This is exceedingly dangerous.
Jiwoo couldn’t bear to speak and grabbed his clothes and trembled, but Tevon surprisingly grasped the situation faster than Jiwoo.
Tevon thought that the Crown Prince would come one day. But he didn’t know that he would come at the worst time like this. In this situation, one of the best powers in the group was vacant.
Tevon decided that it was better to evacuate Jiwoo for now.
“You’d better stay away.”
Tevon tucked one arm under Jiwoo’s knee and immediately lifted her up. As Tevon started to run, Jiwoo moved away from the burning village in an instant.
“Wait, wait… Tevon, where are you going?”
A few people with nervous faces came out of the distant village. The entire group was around thirty people.
And Jiwoo knew under what circumstances the Crown Prince used the maned lion’s brand. It was used to increase odds when leading a battalion of at least three hundred elite warriors.
Does he really intend to wage an all-out war like this?
It couldn’t be.
The villagers were completely outnumbered, and a pattern was stamped on the village.
The fact that the elaborate pattern had emerged meant that the entire village had already been surrounded.
If they had Helkainis right now, they might have had a chance. But this fight was not a matter of winning or losing.
Above all, Jiwoo knew the Crown Prince’s might, and he knew what he wanted.
“…Tevon, let go. I have to go.”
“You can’t.”
Boom. PA-BAM!
In the meantime, the roar continued. Now other sounds are starting to blend in as well.
Crackle. Crackle, sizzle. It was the sound of the forest burning. The heat started to spread.
“They are looking for the Akarna.”
“I heard from Callan. You came into this village and tried to ask us for protection.”
Right. She rejected the offer to return and asked to remain in the village and protect her life. However, she said it because she expected that she would be forgotten in the Empire.
Anyway, this was a forest where it was difficult for ordinary people to survive.
Even if she was the Akarna, it didn’t seem like the temple would spend more than a month searching for herself.
After months of being missing, she could quickly be forgotten. The temple was able to summon a new Akarna, and the Crown Prince should be busy marrying another woman.
She didn’t know that the Empire would do something. Even more so for the Crown Prince to come himself.
She just wanted to live like a normal person.
She wanted to live where she wouldn’t be harassed by bad people or captured by the Empire’s slavers. She had no intention of asking for excessive compensation, that was all she wanted.
But the Crown Prince was different. The risk was too great.
Jiwoo didn’t want to take someone else’s life as collateral because there was a problem she wanted to avoid. Jiwoo tried hard to calm her tumultuous heart. Her voice trembled helplessly.
“…That didn’t mean to protect me from the Crown Prince.”
“Do you not trust us?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Is it a big deal to get hurt a little?”
“What if you die?”
“…….”
“I may be the Akarna, but I cannot bring back the dead to life. The Crown Prince is the kind of person… He is the kind of person who…”
He was strong when he was on our side, but it was hairraising to think that she would face him as an enemy. Her trembling didn’t stop.
“Wait.”
Tevon started running and stopped abruptly.
His long ears were pointed back. The ears, which had changed direction several times, stood straight again. And he clenched his teeth.
“Damn it. We’re surrounded. We need to find a place to hide.”
It is not known until what extent did Tevon estimate the area. He hugged Jiwoo and jumped high into the tree.
Placing his sword upon a tree, he scarred his finger with his teeth and smeared his blood nearby. Then, with the same finger, he touched the back of Jiwoo’s neck and pressed it hard.
“Stay here.”
He put Jiwoo here and tried to head somewhere right away. Jiwoo caught him.
“Tevon… Tevon, don’t go.”
“I’ll come back soon. It’s okay. If I don’t come back, stay here and someone will come get you. Then follow them out of the forest.”
“What are you talking about!”
She tried to hold her breath, but her voice grew louder.
“We promised. We’ll protect you.”
“No. I didn’t mean that!”
“I saw how much you hated him. I can’t send you back to him. You are our savior. Are you telling me to be cowardly by sending you there?”
“But, but, Tevon!”
Tevon kissed Jiwoo on the cheek and jumped down the tree. The height was staggering.
She couldn’t have jumped down a tree like this alone. Jiwoo had to wait on top of the tree without any choice.
Boom. PA-BAM!”
“Haaa. Huuhk…”
She was out of breath even though she didn’t run. Tevon disappeared and Jiwoo was trapped on top of a tree.
And she had to endure a few roaring noises in the village without being able to move.
‘What should I do… what should I do…’
Her hands trembled.
‘Even if I don’t come back, someone is coming to pick me up here? What if Tevon doesn’t come back? What does he mean if he doesn’t come back?’
Jiwoo wasn’t a fool. She knew that they had no intention of giving Jiwoo to the Crown Prince, even at the expense of their lives.
Even among those who survived, they might think it would be a success if they went to El Ragneil with Jiwoo. But no. That wasn’t what Jiwoo wanted.
‘Why, at a time like this…’
Tears flowed. She should have just accepted the proposal. She didn’t hate them, so what’s the point of procrastinating the wedding when things get to this point?
If only Helka had left a little earlier. No, if she had no worries, they would have gone through the great vortex together with Helka.
A feeling of self-blame overpowered her fear. Seeing the roar and the ashes reaching nearby, Jiwoo closed her eyes tightly.
The soldiers led by the Crown Prince surrounded something and formed a circle. In their center, after a brief battle, three children of Elandos fell to their knees.
One of them was Tevon.
The Crown Prince saw the familiar Tevon and wanted to catch him unconditionally. The Crown Prince who led his soldiers even made a surprise attack.
There was no way that what he had decided on the battlefield would not be fulfilled.
The Crown Prince knelt down and went in front of Tevon.
Wham!
The fist smashed Tevon’s face mercilessly. There was a terrible bang, but Tevon didn’t even groan. After being hit by one blow, he only spit out the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
“Where is the Akarna?”
“Imbecile.”
Bam! The Crown Prince hit Tevon’s cheek with his fist again.
“Kgh…”
This time, Tevon couldn’t hold back his groan.
“Where is the Akarna?”
The Crown Prince spoke in the same emotionless tone.
“…….”
Tevon lowered his head and spoke in a whisper. As the Crown Prince lowered his head to listen, Tevon raised his head.
“Ptui.”
Tevon spat in the Crown Prince’s face. The Crown Prince pressed down on Tevon’s knees with his boots, grabbed his hair and pressed it down.
After roughly wiping his cheek with the back of his hand, the Crown Prince drew his sword with that hand.
Shiing.
“You are not very useful. You may have excellent bodies, you are too rebellious and will die soon after leaving the forest, so you cannot be used as slaves. Then what can I do? It’s you people who rush to kill humans whenever you encounter them. Huh?”
The blade pressed hard against his chest, then grazed the base of his neck. And at the end it stayed on the lobe of the ear for the last time.
“My rule is to answer an insult with an insult. You think having your ears cut off by an outsider is the greatest insult.”
Tevon’s eyes, who had maintained a calm attitude until now, shook for the first time.
The crushing knife dug into his ear.
“Are you thinking of talking now?”
Tevon moved his ears and looked worried. It was not because of the humiliation of having his ear cut off, or the fear of dying.
Soft footsteps. A limping one. Coming this way too.
He told her to stay still. He told her it’s okay!
Soon, Tevon heard an anxious scream.
“Your Highness, stop!”
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