Chapter 502: Side Story 22 Baek Sang-ah’s Melancholy
The day had dawned.
Until the situation was resolved, for about half a day, the atmosphere within the fortress flowed in a strange and eerie manner.
Normally, when chaos of this magnitude erupted, it was only natural for arson and all sorts of crimes to follow in its wake, but this time, none of that happened.
Instead, the countless soldiers and civilians gathered outside the fortress watched the situation inside with bated breath, under extreme tension.
“His Highness the Crown Prince… will he be safe?”
“Who knows? How could we possibly know that?”
“It’s already been over a sijin since he went in….”
“At least the strange thing that looked like a gate floating at the center has disappeared.”
“…….”
“…….”
Countless eyes, filled with unease, were fixed beyond the gate.
The Crown Prince Juwonha.
If not for him, who held tremendous sway over the military, chaos would have erupted multiple times over through the night.
He had personally moved around calming the troops, and the last thing he did was enter the nearly abandoned fortress with only a few elites.
And so, nearly two sijin had passed since the Crown Prince entered the fortress when—
“Y-Your Highness!”
The Crown Prince appeared, his face a bit gaunt.
“Commander Do, withdraw the army.”
“His Majesty…?”
“His Majesty is safe. There are casualties among the royal family, but… as long as His Majesty is safe, we can somehow manage.”
“Oooh!”
The moment the words that the Emperor was safe were spoken, the expressions of those nearby split in two.
Some rejoiced in delight, but others clicked their tongues inwardly or scowled.
The Crown Prince, in that brief instant, scanned the faces of those showing discontent with sharp eyes.
“The collapse of the fortress has been determined to be the result of assassins sent by Prince Yeongsa, who dared to attack the imperial palace using a massive amount of explosives.”
“……?”
“……!”
Many who had experienced the night’s events first-hand tilted their heads in confusion, but the quick-witted among them immediately understood what the Crown Prince was saying.
‘He’s planning to bury today’s events!’
It had been such a bizarre and monstrous incident that people everywhere were saying even the heavens had abandoned the Imperial Family.
Naturally, the Imperial Family would not want the events that occurred here to become public knowledge.
Of course, with this many witnesses, it would be impossible to completely stop the rumors from spreading.
But at the very least, packaging and distorting what was released to the outside was something even the current Imperial Family had the power to do.
‘It’s divine luck.’
The Crown Prince glanced back into the fortress and broke into a cold sweat.
In truth, when he first heard the fortress had collapsed, he had already concluded that the Emperor’s death was a certainty.
But when he saw the actual situation, the Emperor and some royal family members were found alive—though extremely weakened.
Of course, many of the central ministers and the Empire’s elite, the Emperor’s spear and shield, had perished...
‘As long as the Emperor is alive, it’s a matter we can recover from.’
One could ask whether it wouldn’t be better for the Crown Prince, as the designated successor, to simply ascend to the throne if the Emperor had died...
But in such chaotic times, the Emperor dying in this manner could fatally damage the legitimacy of the Empire itself.
The Crown Prince repeated what had been agreed upon "inside" to those gathered.
“The Murim Alliance has agreed to send large-scale support to the Imperial Family in alliance with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
“Huh, does that mean?!”
Strictly speaking, it was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that was overwhelmingly providing the support rather than the Murim Alliance, but the Crown Prince deliberately omitted that part.
“In other words, Prince Yeongsa is as good as dead now.”
The reason the Imperial Family had mustered troops in the tens of thousands was precisely to subjugate Prince Yeongsa, who had taken over Beijing.
But now, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult himself had guaranteed that subjugation. To the Imperial Family, this lifted a tremendous burden.
Of course, once Beijing was reclaimed, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would have to be made the state religion—but at this point, that was a small price to pay.
“Ah, by the way, Commander Do.”
“Yes, speak, Your Highness.”
“Do you happen to recall anything about the Imperial Teacher?”
“The Imperial Teacher… sir?”
The Commander tilted his head at the question.
“Who is that…?”
“…….”
Unable to grasp the intent behind the question, the Commander subtly signaled to his subordinates.
But they, too, only blinked and tilted their heads.
As if they had completely forgotten the existence of the Imperial Teacher, who had been manipulating the court until just yesterday.
“If you do not, then never mind.”
The Crown Prince waved a hand dismissively and turned his gaze.
‘It’s terrifying.’
What sort of being had humiliated the Imperial Family?
The karma they had sown stood plain and clear right before their eyes.
Yet the Commander, who was involved, and even the surrounding officials and generals, had no idea what the Crown Prince’s question even meant.
Even the Royal Guards and his personal escorts standing near him!
‘Still, perhaps it’s for the best. If such a colossal calamity never occurs again in this world…’
He didn’t know why the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was there.
But judging by how So Cheon and Baek Sang-ah lay asleep at his side, gravely injured, something massive must have taken place beyond his knowledge.
—This all occurred partly due to my own carelessness, so I’ll provide some aid in the restoration of the Imperial Family.
—What do you mean by that?
—There’s no need to worry too much about Prince Yeongsa or the restoration of Beijing. However…
For some reason, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—who resembled a certain military advisor he’d met within the Murim Alliance—looked down at the unconscious Baek Sang-ah and said this:
—These two are to be wed soon in a hundred-year vow, so regretfully, the position of imperial consort will have to go to someone else.
—…….
The Crown Prince wanted to ask, “And if I refuse?”, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud.
Because if the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were to withdraw from the situation now, the Imperial Family would be finished.
He was the one destined to become Emperor.
One who must place the interests of the Empire above personal love.
‘There’s… so much to do.’
The Crown Prince closed his eyes.
And thus, his brief first love came to an end.
***
‘Did he give up? He must have, right?’
Truthfully, I had pressured the Crown Prince, riding the flow of the situation, but I could never be entirely sure.
His feelings hadn’t been manipulated—they were purely his own emotions.
Had he refused to give up on Baek Sang-ah until the very end, I would have found myself in quite the uncomfortable predicament.
“It’s fortunate that it ended reasonably well.”
Yama, who had been watching the negotiation between me and the Crown Prince from a distance, approached.
“Indeed.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“The Phoenix helped us till the very end.”
Just as he said.
The survival of the Emperor and a few members of the royal family had been thanks to the Phoenix’s final arrangement.
Had the Emperor perished alongside Eungnyong’s Domain, we might’ve had to rebuild the entire Empire from the ground up—it would’ve been that complicated.
“We, too, are fortunate to have concluded our contract without incident.”
A contract, huh...
“Now, in the truest sense, this world belongs to your era. There are still some minor remnants left, but... with the capabilities of ‘your kind,’ there shouldn’t be any major issues.”
“I’d prefer if we never met again, if possible.”
“Hoho, if the laws hold, that’s how it will be. We were never meant to meet in the first place.”
His gaze shifted to the sleeping So Cheon and Baek Sang-ah.
“I won’t take their death qi, but once this generation ends, that power will never again surface in this world. In truth, that strength is even less suited to exist in this world than yours.”
“…….”
Internally, I agreed with him.
The power created by the union of So Cheon and Baek Sang-ah... considering its future potential, it was even more dangerous than those Divine Spirit Lords.
“Especially considering the peculiarity of the child that will be born from them... it must be stopped, at all costs. Fufufu…”
“…What do you mean by that?”
I frowned at Yama’s final mutter.
It was all the more grating because of the nonsense Gunggi had blabbered before his death—his words still lingered in my mind.
“It’s nothing. You’ve nothing to worry about!”
Yama let out a boisterous laugh, and his form gradually began to blur.
‘You bastard, seriously?!’
That only made it more suspicious.
Especially since we’d only ever cross paths again in the afterlife—if I didn’t get a clear answer now, I’d spend the rest of my life obsessing over it!
“As a final gift to the one who saved this world, I’ll give you a present.”
“Screw your gift—how about a proper explanation bef—!”
I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Yama’s body faded, and in that instant, the boundary to the Underworld became faintly visible to the naked eye.
Far off in the distance, two youths dressed in judge’s robes were smiling in our direction.
One had their entire body wrapped in bandages, so their face couldn’t be seen, but perhaps because of that, I recognized their identity all the more clearly.
I stared at them blankly.
How could I ever forget those forms?
“…Senior Brothers.”
“Normally, new Judges are strictly forbidden from making contact with mortals, but calling you a mere mortal now would be misleading. So a small workaround to the Gold Restriction is possible.”
“…….”
I clasped my hands and bowed my head quietly to them.
‘I thought I’d never see them again…’
They had laid down their lives with the utmost care for the sake of this world.
One could say that becoming Judges of the Underworld was akin to ascending to a higher realm—but the cost of the contract was not so simple.
Even if this world were to perish, they would likely never be able to take off those robes.
Yet they didn’t seem to mind that fact in the slightest.
Eventually, the two of them offered me a clasped hands salute and bowed their heads.
They said nothing, but I could feel their gratitude toward me in their gestures.
I stayed like that for a moment, bowing, and when I finally lifted my head again—
Yama and the two Senior Brothers were already gone.
“…In the end, he ran off without answering the important part.”
I let out a soft sigh and looked down at the two still in deep slumber.
Thanks to seeing my Senior Brothers, I wasn’t in a bad mood.
Well, as for Gunggi’s words… I’ll just have to stay cautious going forward.
A few months had passed since then.
In truth, calling it “a few months” hardly did justice to all that had transpired.
Major events had occurred one after another—such as the full-scale eradication of the remaining demonic beasts across the Central Plains.
The Imperial Army had finally reclaimed Beijing and subjugated Prince Yeongsa.
An official alliance was formed between the Murim Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and to solidify the pact, the Alliance Leader Baek Sang-ah and Hidden Shadow So Clan’s So Cheon were married.
Massive incidents had continued to erupt.
And of course, that wasn’t the end of it.
After the marriage, So Cheon had declared the Clan Head position no longer necessary and tried to return it to the Murder Demon, almost resulting in a life-or-death duel.
Baek Sang-ah, barely into the marriage, somehow ended up experiencing morning sickness not long after.
Some of my direct subordinates got married, and among the new heads of the Six Great Demonic Clans, some had even produced heirs.
In any case, the past few months had been packed with events.
But.
The most significant event happened only recently.
Just a few days ago—
Yura gave birth to twins.