The Ruler Of Darkness - Chapter 638



Only Noblemtl

Episode 638

Part 13: The Horn

The capital of the Central Plains, Hwangdo (皇都).

Imperial Palace.

“… … .”

The young emperor was sitting in a small room.

There was a candle and a cup of just-brewed tea on the table, but the young emperor simply sat there still.

“… … .”

I could only watch the rising smoke with deep eyes.

“Your Majesty.”

It was the Prime Minister, Kang Sang, who entered the room and cautiously called out to the young emperor.

Even though he was close to ninety years old, he was still fit enough to carry the deer he had hunted.

The look of deep fatigue on his face could not be hidden.

“… … .”

Even though Prime Minister Kang Sang called from behind, the young emperor remained upright and only looked at the smoke rising from the car.

“More troops are gathering outside the city gates of the Imperial City.”

The prime minister reported in a calm voice.

“Generals from surrounding regions are responding to the call of the heads of the sixteen families one after another.”

“… … .”

The candle flickered.

The emperor closed his eyes.

Prime Minister Kang Sang’s report continued.

“It seems that neither Admiral Yi Yeom-ik’s persuasion nor threats are working on the generals from the surrounding regions who are now gathering. Judging from this, it is certain that…”

Prime Minister Kang Sang brushed back his hair that was flowing down weakly.

“…It seems that we underestimated the remaining political influence of the heads of the sixteen families.”

“Not political influence.”

This time.

The young emperor took a deep breath and answered without looking back.

“What we underestimated, Your Majesty, is how much wealth they have accumulated through illicit means.”

The emperor opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

“And we. Overestimated the minimum that these corrupt and crumbling palace officials could do.”

The bickering going on outside under the pretext of an imperial meeting could faintly be heard in the ears of the Emperor and his prime minister, Kang Sang.

“We must open the gates and invite the lords into the palace before it is too late…!”

“What crazy talk…! Are you saying that without knowing what they will do to His Majesty the Emperor…?!”

“So, are you saying we should all die here together…?!”

“No, wait…! If they really attack the imperial capital, they will become rebels. Do you think they would make that decision so easily…?!”

“What if I make that decision?! What will I do if I make that decision?!”

The young emperor chuckled when he heard that voice.

“If we wait here just a little longer, they’ll even start talking about cutting off my head and offering it to the heads of the sixteen families.”

“Before that.”

Prime Minister Kang Sang shrugged.

“It may be that the Imperial Guard, unable to bear the tension any longer, becomes frightened and surrenders first, Your Majesty.”

“… That’s convincing.”

It was a conversation that seemed like a joke, but it was clear that the words were entirely feasible.

The two people knew each other well.

“… Aren’t you afraid?”

The young emperor nodded calmly in agreement to the question posed by Prime Minister Kang Sang, putting aside palace etiquette.

“I’m scared.”

“But you seem very calm when you say that.”

The emperor looked up at the ceiling and smiled bitterly.

“You don’t know the reason, your Majesty?”

As the emperor said.

Prime Minister Kang Sang knew the answer.

“Are you talking about Grand Master Yeonso-hyeon?”

It was in the form of a question, but it was an answer, not a question.

“And isn’t that the same for the prime minister?”

The young emperor turned his head and looked at the face of his prime minister, Jiang Shang, with a mischievous smile.

“Of course.”

Prime Minister Kang Sang shrugged.

“If it weren’t for the existence of Master Yeon Taesa, I would have run a thousand li away from the capital by now.”

The soft laughter of the young emperor and the old prime minister, Jiang Shang, surpassed the loud voices of the ministers faintly heard outside.

“… But, Your Majesty.”

That moment didn’t last long.

As the short, yet gentle laughter ended, the two people’s ears once again heard the shouts going back and forth.

“I heard that the situation at Luoyang Sword School is also not good.”

Prime Minister Kang Sang’s expression and voice were deeply sullen.

“They are probably in a state of imminent danger with the enemy outnumbered and outnumbered. Therefore, the Yeon Taesa may not be able to pay enough attention to the imperial capital for the time being.”

“… That could be the case.”

Despite the troubling predictions, the young emperor nodded calmly and said.

“But, Prime Minister. For some reason, I feel this way.”

“What is it?”

The young emperor smiled.

“Perhaps even now, at this very moment, Master Yeon would smile leisurely and say, ‘It wasn’t that difficult.’”

* * *

“Are you saying you’re going to help both cities and the zodiac at the same time…?”

“You’re not supporting us with your family’s troops…?”

“Is that possible…?”

Yeon So-hyeon answered with a sly smile, sitting leisurely on the stage.

“Surprisingly, it’s not that difficult.”

“… But, Mr. Chairman.”

Someone expressed concern.

“The current situation is too simple to be called that-.”

“-It’s not simple.”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded and quickly accepted his words.

“I know, it’s actually a very complicated situation.”

Evil hegemons, the devil’s cult, the sixteen imperial families, and enemies within the family.

And there are external hostile forces, who may or may not exist, and who may emerge depending on the situation.

“There will be areas where they agree, and areas where they disagree, and it’s a very complicated situation. But.”

Yeon So-hyeon clasped her hands together and continued speaking in a meaningful tone.

“That actually makes things easier.”

* * *

The outer gate of the zodiac.

“Admiral…!”

Admiral Yi Yeom-ik’s current position was Inspector General.

But most people still called him Admiral.

And even the oldest generals of the Zodiac Guard had no qualms about him taking temporary charge of the Zodiac’s defenses.

“What?”

The goalkeeper reported urgently to Admiral Lee Yeom-ik.

“Admiral, the situation outside is strange. You must see for yourself.”

Admiral Yi Yeom-ik and the goalkeeper climbed up to the castle gate in one go.

“Hey, do you see that over there…?”

The gatekeeper, hunched over the small gun embrasure above the gate, pointed to the other side.

Because it was deep night, Admiral Lee Yeom-ik could see the torches moving around in a chaotic manner.

“… The troops are moving.”

“no way….”

The young goalkeeper asked, unable to hide his impatience.

“Are they really preparing to attack…?”

“… … .”

for a moment.

Admiral Lee Yeom-ik, who had been carefully observing the movements of the torches without saying anything, shook his head.

“no.”

“then…?”

Admiral Lee Yeom-ik answered.

“Some of the enemies are retreating.”

* * *

“Oh my god, crazy…?!”

Among the sixteen families of the Yellow Emperor, the head of the Yang family, who had jumped out of his tent in his sleep, rode his horse after the retreating troops.

“Stop…! I said stop…! I said stop now…!”

but.

The retreating troops were mounted troops, so it was not easy for them to follow the vanguard.

Even they were not ordinary cavalry, but the elite cavalry unit of the Jeongju area, the Black Panthers.

“Shit…!”

Eventually, he had to kick off the saddle and run out in a new way.

“I told you to stop, damn it…! General! Can’t you hear me…?! Do you want to be fired…?!”

“… … .”

As the cries of the two heads of the household coming from behind grew closer, the commander in black who could no longer ignore them sighed and stopped talking.

“… Haa. It stopped just as you said.”

Ugh, ugh.

The head of the Yang family shouted, panting heavily and not even having time to catch his breath.

“What the heck?! I’m not telling you to stop alone, I’m telling you to turn your troops around…?! What the hell is this…?!”

“ha….”

yet again.

The commander in black with a deep sigh gestured towards his adjutants who were looking around anxiously.

It was obvious to anyone that they should not stop and should continue to withdraw.

“warlord-!”

“-Your Majesty.”

The commander of the black flag cut off the angry voice of the two heads of the household.

“As you know, Jeongju is currently under attack. Most of the soldiers with families in Jeongju are very shaken.”

“The soldiers are in great commotion?!”

The two heads of the family laughed.

“Since when have you, a heartless person, cared about the annoyance of soldiers like that?!”

“that-.”

“-and!”

He cut off the black-tagged commander without mercy.

“The enemy’s initial target was not the people of Jeongju, but the Song family, a vassal family of the Luoyang Jian family…!”

“Maybe so, maybe not.”

The commander in black shrugged.

“But if news arrives a few days later that the settlement has burned down, I will have nowhere to return to.”

“What are you talking about…?!”

The two heads of the family raised their voices even more, as if they were in awe.

“Didn’t I tell you…?! I’ll make sure you have a place in the Imperial City! Not a place like Seongju, but the Imperial City, the Imperial City…! And a place in the Imperial Guard at that…! Because I can’t do such a simple calculation right now-!”

moment.

The head of the Yang family, who had been screaming in shock, stopped.

“… No, wait.”

The head of the Yang family seemed to have noticed something and spoke to the commander in black.

“There’s no way you can do such a simple calculation, right? Then… ?!”

The eyes of the two heads of the household trembled.

“You…! You, you planned this from the beginning…!”

“What are you talking about-.”

The commander in black tried to speak as if he had no idea what he was talking about, but the two heads of the household ignored him.

“You made a double contract between the Archduke and us, and both sides benefited…!”

The Black Flag sided with the sixteen clans who had decided to risk their lives and took huge profits from them.

and.

The Archduke was also capable of doing the same thing.

“Since when…?!”

“I still don’t know what you mean….”

Sigh.

The commander in black with a smile said.

“We, the Black Flag, have a firm reason to defend our settlement, so please excuse us.”

“You…! Do you think that just because one black flag is missing, it’ll make a difference…?! I’ll move the remaining troops and wipe you out right now-!”

“-Haa, my lord.”

This time.

The commander of the black flag cut off the two heads of the household.

“If that guess is true, then the Archduke would have provided me with a safety device to ensure that there would be no problem if I were to withdraw my troops?”

“What the hell are you talking about-?!”

Phew… ! Phew… ! Phew… !

“… … ?!”

The Yang family is a military family.

The lord of the house could not help but hear the sound of the retreating horn.

“What, what is it…?!”

Many of the troops that had joined the sixteen clans when they withdrew from Luoyang began to retreat simultaneously.

“S-Surely, those guys too, all of them…?! What the heck is this…?! No, how…?”

yet.

Before attacking the black flag with troops.

It was difficult to even properly gather the remaining troops.

“Well, if that’s the case, let’s go.”

The commander of the black-tagged unit spoke as he looked at the retreating troops in waves and the recently joined troops who were left behind and didn’t know what to do.

“If the Grand Duke had promised us a huge reward in the past, we wouldn’t have been able to believe it even if we wanted to. Because at the time, he was just the Grand Duke of Luoyang Jian Family. But now… .”

Dazedly.

The head of the Yang family muttered as he watched the scene.

“Now that guy has become the chairman of the council of heads of households with full authority over the Luoyang Sword Family…?”

His muttering was correct.

But the sound of the Black Label commander turning his horse and leaving was drowned out.