Chapter 216. Beggar Siblings – Sacrifice
“Oh, brother. What is this…”
“Stay still.”
Leo hugged his sister, who was lavishly adorned with jewelry given by the nobles, wearing a dress with a deep neckline. Lena, shocked by the tearing screams and the eerie sense of dread that enveloped the palace, trembled like a baby bird pushed out of its nest.
Though his sister had lost her innocent girlish look and had painfully changed, Leo held her head to keep her from looking up. He patted her waist and small head as he embraced her.
Recalling her brother’s hands trying to put her to sleep in their miserable back-alley home, Lena gradually calmed down, but
Drop-
Pus and blood fell.
“Oh, brother?”
“I’m fine, just stay still…”
Lena twisted her body. Pus and blood were running down her brother’s chin.
However, her brother continued to hold her tightly and did not stop looking upward. Sometimes he picked her up and moved a few steps away, and something fell in the spot they had vacated. Lena screamed.
It was something unidentifiable, whether blood or filth. She couldn’t tell whose it was, but something strange was happening on the mess-strewn floor.
A monster.
She couldn’t see it clearly because she was in her brother’s arms, but it was a monster. Monsters that vaguely resembled cows, with hideous, knotted blood vessels, rose from the puddle of blood.
“It’s okay. Keep your eyes closed. Brother will… take care of it.”
Amidst her fear and worry, the only thing she could trust was her brother’s calm whisper. She walked hesitantly as Leo led her, passing through the shouts and the clashing of swords. Her brother also swung his sword while holding her.
Even with her eyes tightly closed as Leo had instructed, Lena knew the vast banquet hall had turned into a pandemonium.
The terrible roar of the monster and the sound of flesh and blood falling. Something hot splattered on her cheek.
Hell. But from somewhere, a holy chorus could be heard.
“The holy children of the god are here! Give us trials. We will overcome them and become your pride, proving our lives. So, God! Watch over us. Watch your children fight!”
“Xenia Zachary! If you’ve come to your senses, come here!”
“P-Prince! Are you alright?”
“Take my sister. Whatever happens, never leave her side.”
Only then could Lena open her eyes. Her guard, Xenia Zachary, supported her, and she saw knights fighting the monsters from her nightmares, priests singing in chorus, and nobles and maids scattering in all directions.
“Don’t look.”
But her view was soon covered by Lev’s palm. The brothers, standing side by side, covered in blood. Lena realized that they had both been protecting her all along.
Lev patted Lena’s head and said,
“Stay away for a while. I’ll be back soon.”
…A strange person. Acting as if I were really his sister.
Even knowing that I am a princess, he did not change his attitude. My brother also tolerated it.
I had thrown tantrums several times when my brother wasn’t around, but he would only make a confused face and walk away. Then he would come back later, acting as if nothing had happened, and it bothered me.
A filthy man. He was the only one who, despite my interest, ignored me. It annoyed me so much that I pretended not to see him when he was around.
Led by Xenia, Lena left the blood-soaked banquet hall. In the adjoining ballroom were priests, who seemed to have been waiting to treat those who had escaped.
It was only then that she noticed the pus and blood on the faces of the maids and nobles who had rushed out.
Round, like a brand, each one in various shapes as if unfinished. From the combined shapes on many faces, it seemed to form the shape of a cow’s hoof.
Lena was the only one who had left the banquet hall with an unmarked face.
“Princess! Are you alright?”
At that moment, the waiting attendant outside, Santian Rauno, ran up.
He anxiously asked about the princess’s safety, but Lena only gave a vague nod and turned her attention to Xenia.
“Xenia. Are you alright? Your face…”
There was also a hideous brand on Xenia Zachary’s face. Xenia touched her pus-filled face lightly and responded stoically.
“I’m fine.”
“H-hurry and get treated. A woman’s face shouldn’t be ruined. Priest, could you treat her too?”
Fortunately, the brand on Xenia’s face quickly faded with treatment. With her face restored to its clean state as if nothing had happened, Lena, now reassured, began to recover her composure and started to manage the chaotic ballroom. She ordered the knights and guards who had rushed over to head to the banquet hall and inquired about the wellbeing of the nobles she had built relationships with.
The murmuring and confused nobles gradually began to calm down. As they discussed what had happened, one noble spoke up.
“I’ve smelled this rotten stench before. I believe all of you have as well.”
At his words, the gathered nobles nodded in unison.
The smell had come from the ailing king. Without needing to share their thoughts, they all pinpointed the same culprit.
Prince Eric de Yeriel.
Was he capable of using magic?
Although they didn’t know how, there was no doubt that Prince Eric was the root cause of this disaster. The nobles gritted their teeth in anger. They would not forgive the prince who had brought this calamity upon them.
The angry nobles expressed their gratitude to Princess Lena de Yeriel.
They acknowledged that a disaster had been averted thanks to the return of the princess and her brother, even those who had sided with Prince Eric promised to defect. Nobles who had helped drive the siblings away in the past sought forgiveness with excuses.
As Lena was surrounded by nobles swearing loyalty to her…
“Duke Lapert Tartan! Begone! How dare you approach the princess!”
A tall old man, Duke Lapert Tartan, was approaching. He was hunched over with a somewhat vacant expression. The duke staggered briefly, then looked up with suddenly clear eyes. With a pale face, he urgently warned…
“P-princess. Run awa…!!”
Thunk!
The old man’s eyeball popped out. As everyone stared at the rolling eyeball, unable to comprehend the situation, a dark red mist erupted from the hollow eye socket, engulfing the duke.
* * *
Leo and Lev turned around after safely escorting Lena to a safe area.
The banquet hall had turned into a sea of blood.
Knights were fighting monstrous creatures with cow heads everywhere. The hand of a Minotaur, as large as a door, swung with a force that shook the ground, sending a guard flying into the wall.
However, Leo and Lev assessed the situation very optimistically.
It wasn’t just because they had become numb to blood and carnage through countless horrific battles. The situation was actually not bad.
“As expected… it was right to have Bishop Berg here.”
If the ‘cow eyes’ appeared, they would lose.
But this time was different from when they had faced Oriax’ eyes, where everyone had recklessly charged at the monster under its curse.
They thought they had the upper hand with numbers. However, Prince Eric de Yeriel offered sacrifices to strengthen and heal the monsters. This vicious cycle of more deaths and sacrifices continued.
But now,
“Soldiers, don’t get too close. Thrust your spears! We’ll aim for their legs. When they fall, then rush in!”
The knights were in their right minds. The non-combatants had fled, and the knights were instructing the guards to systematically deal with the rampaging monsters.
This was all thanks to Bishop Berg. Leo and Lev looked up at the Bishop performing a sword dance in the middle of the banquet hall and the holy figure floating above him.
A giant white figure wielding a sword and shield. The upper body of the god ‘Rachar’ was using the shield to block the hole in the ceiling. Blood was flowing down the shield from the hole, as Rachar had stabbed Oriax, who had tried to peek through the hole.
The eyeball, once full of rotten blood, had burst from the sword strike.
At that moment, the people who had lost their sanity regained their senses. Although traces of the curse remained on their faces, they were incomplete.
“Let’s go. Time to finish this.”
– Squish, squish
Lev and Leo crossed the blood-soaked banquet hall, sticky with Oriax’s blood. Amidst the fierce melee, near the stairs, Prince Eric was desperately searching for a corpse to offer as a sacrifice to turn the tide.
“You, you damn bastard! What have you done?!”
There was no need for words.
Lev gave a slight nod to Leo and then charged at the prince. Just as he seemed about to cut the prince’s throat,
“Rov qab los!”
Eric’s shout repelled him.
Anticipating this, Lev tried to regain his stance, but the sticky, blood-soaked floor made him slip and fall on his backside.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Now it’s your turn.”
Prince Eric’s magic repelled those around him. He couldn’t use it consecutively.
Leo de Yeriel appreciated his friend’s consideration in not showing an unsightly appearance as he walked forward.
“Eek!”
Eric gritted his teeth. He looked around for a monster to stop his calmly approaching brother, but the monsters were tied up by the knights.
“Look at me!”
– Flash
Prince Eric’s eyes glowed red, and the illusion of a cow’s head flickered. He tried to cast a charm, but it didn’t work on Leo. Leo gagged once at the passing illusion, then steadied his sword.
“What… what the…? What are you?!”
I understand your confusion. It must be as bewildering as when I first met you.
Leo swung his sword lightly but with enough force to cut off Prince Eric’s head. However, clang-! It was blocked by a reddish sphere.
It was a shield bestowed upon his apostle by Oriax.
Previously, there was no way to handle this, so they had retreated, but that was no longer the case. Prince Eric, who had briefly smiled in relief, was now horrified.
[Achievement: Sword Master]
Leo’s sword ignited in a white blaze.
Perhaps in response, the shield enveloping Prince Eric turned even redder. Leo stepped forward with his left foot, taking a thrusting stance. With a short breath, he drove the sword forward forcefully.
– Kaang!
It was blocked.
Despite thrusting with an Aura Blade strong enough to damage the sword, the shield remained intact.
However, the shield had cracked, while the sword remained unscathed. If one thrust didn’t work, then two or a hundred would do.
– Jjeong!
“Stop! Let’s negotiate. What do you want?”
– Jjeong!
After four strikes, the shield shattered completely. Eric, his face ashen, gripped a dagger. Leo, anticipating any possible moves, slashed at his arm.
“Argh!!”
He intended to leave no room for escape. As the dagger fell with Eric’s arm, Leo drove his sword into Prince Eric’s heart.
“Guh…”
How could it end so futilely?
Eric de Yeriel looked down at his chest. Through the darkening vision, he saw the blazing white sword and his mother’s necklace.
Mother.
His mother was a dignified and good woman. She had raised her voice to bolster her son’s spirit when he was pushed down the line of succession, and comforted him when he tried to mask his sense of defeat with a smile. As they were virtually exiled to the Duke of Tartan’s estate, she had said, “Let’s think together about how we should live from now on.”
She had great self-respect. Realizing that she had bent her will for her tender-hearted son filled him with regret… so he had accepted the proposal.
= Ua tus 사도가 되어라. 도와줘 vajntxwv kuv 왕이 되게. 단, 가장 소중한 것을 대가로 가져가겠다.
Oriax’s words were hard to understand. Now, he could somewhat imitate the lord’s words and magic without learning them, but back then, he couldn’t.
“Yes. Alright.”
Clutching the dazzling red gem, he had made the pact. Though he had refused to reveal his name, the moment he made the pact, a surge of violent impulse welled up within him, driving him to seek out his mother.
However, his mother was nowhere to be found. By the time he realized that he had offered her as a sacrifice…
He wasn’t sad. He was merely angry, vowing to avenge himself on the one who made him this way.
Leo de Yeriel.
Yes. I am the one who killed your mother.
If the queen hadn’t given birth to you, none of this would have happened. I cursed the queen when her delivery was imminent, and she died while giving birth to you. The princess, trapped in the womb, was born by cutting open the dead queen’s belly.
Shall I confess one more thing?
I also intended to kill you.
But the curse didn’t work on you. Lord Oriax said that you and your sister were born under the favor of the gods, making it difficult.
Ha!
You were born with everything I lacked. Even your blond hair and golden eyes. But now I see…
“You were a sacrifice.”
Then there is a way.
Eric de Yeriel raised his remaining left arm and grasped the blade embedded in his chest. Willingly throwing away his rapidly fading life, he screamed as if squeezing out his last breath.
“Oh, Lord Oriax. Accept the offering from this divine sacrifice!”
This is my final gift. Damn you, little brother.
“What, what?!”
Leo staggered backward in shock.
Though Eric’s eyes had gone dark, the counter for the achievement of killing a royal did not increase. From his pierced chest, a mass of black and red flesh burst forth, and Leo was flung away, losing his grip on his sword.
Silence.
The minotaur-like monsters with bovine heads knelt. They paid no heed to the soldiers’ spears piercing their waists, bowing their heads deeply.
The knights and soldiers, who had been on the verge of victory, were stunned, turning to look at the object of the monsters’ reverence. Even Bishop Berg, who had been ceaselessly wielding his sword to block the hole in the ceiling, did the same. The hole had disappeared.
A mass of flesh, swarming with maggots.
With a half-melted bull’s head and seventeen horns sprouting haphazardly, the huge corpse stood on four legs. It was a bull-like figure, filled with rotten blood, staring indifferently at the humans with pitch-black, eyeless sockets…
Oriax.
It was the violent descent of an evil god, one of the most historically brutal incarnations, born from the feast of slaughter and the madness of the minotaurs.
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