Chapter 214
Harrowing Bells (I)
It all began with the sound of the bell and the stroke of a sword; blood sprayed out and a body fell listless onto the ground, thudding like thunder and waking the sleeping demons of the Kingdom. The empty and somber streets were stomped out by the drums of the marching army that swept clean countless buildings. Screams of pain and anguish wove a concert of harrowing sounds that froze the blood even inside the most courageous.
Cain had broken off from Senna and Anna, tasking the former with keeping the latter safe and hidden. He, on the other hand, cloaked himself and took to the narrow alleyways, observing keenly the points which were being purged. Though it wasn’t obvious on the surface, the army was moving in a roundabout fashion toward the headquarters of ‘Lunar Children’.
However, the more he observed, the more shocked he became; it wasn’t just one, unified army -- but rather six-seven completely separate ones. They acted independently yet, as though controlled by fate, never moved to interact with one another. It’s still a warm-up period, Cain concluded. They’re just offing lesser powers and cleaning up the playing field.
It wasn’t anything strange; in his previous life, it was almost a commonality to do that on every floor just before somebody would engage the Floor Boss. Not only were the Tower-natives either driven away or killed, but so were the Conquerors themselves that didn’t belong to any major power. It was like setting the stage for the actual players to display their powers before the final showdown.
Sighing, Cain turned away from the gory scene of nearly a dozen corpses lying strewn about a small building and headed toward the outskirts. By now, others either should have ‘joined’ the purge or escaped their assigned backers. The truth was that Cain would much prefer to leave them out of this entirely; the waters were too muddled by now, and the current period was by far the most dangerous.
Due to frictions and slaughter, practically everyone was on edge; a single wrong move by someone unaccustomed to the game meant that the entire loop would be tossed into a chaotic whirlpool.
“Ah...” Cain cringed as the ground shook momentarily, a pillar of starlight alighting the world. However, just as he cut the corner to run toward the source, a hooded figure appeared in front of him; thinking it was an ambush, Cain immediately tore backward through space, using the skill, before cradling his fingers together and using another one immediately after. Fire-laden chains burst out of void surrounding the hooded figure and wrapped around him, pulling him on his knees.
“Aaah!” the man cried out in pain, startling Cain; though the skill looked painful, in reality it barely dealt any damage and he made it solely to restrain people with.
“... what the hell?!!” noticing the rapidly falling health bar, Cain panicked and withdrew the chains. By now, the fire had burned away most of the man’s clothing, his hood included, revealing a fair-seeming faced and a pained pair of eyes. Cain, almost immediately, recognized the man since his portrait hung on more than one wall -- it was Crown Prince Izirdul.
“Crown... Prince?!”
“Eeck!” Izirdul cried out lowly, pulling back against the wall behind him. His luck was truly horrid; he’d barely managed to escape the assassination attempt thanks to the thankless sacrifice of his subordinates only to run into a complete monster that was even stronger than the assassins.
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“Calm--calm down,” Cain hurried to try and calm the man down as he didn’t want to draw anyone’s attention here. “I won’t hurt you, I promise! Calm down for now! Don’t draw anyone else here or it will become dangerous!”
“Y-yes...” Izirdul mumbled, his heart beating rapidly.
“Though I have a thousand questions,” Cain said, taking out a cloak and tossing it at the prince. “We need to get out of here first. Let’s go.”
“W-where?” Izirdul asked warily, putting on the cloak.
“I’m meeting some friends,” Cain explained. “You can put your current situation in context on our way there.”
Knowing that he couldn’t refuse, Izirdul merely sighed in helplessness and began following the strange man. He wasn’t much of a fighter, after all; since he never cared much for the power, he never bothered chasing it unlike his siblings. Now, however, he regretted it ever so slightly; after all, it hardly felt good to be pushed around by everyone and everything, his life never in his own hands.
Izirdul related some of what had happened to him to the strange man, and he patiently listened.
According to the Prince’s summary, Cain realized the former had escaped an assassination attempt. It was virtually impossible to determine by whom since most of the powers would be after his life since he’s the most legitimate successor to the Throne. Even he nearly got swept in the tides? Cain sighed inwardly, wondering whether there was anything sacred.
“I’ve rescued your sister, Anna,” Cain said. “And now I ran into you when you were down in the dumps as well. Is the fate telling me to take care of you kids?”
“E-eh!? You helped Anna?!” Izirdul exclaimed. “Really?!”
“Yeah,” Cain nodded, chuckling bitterly. “It’s really starting to seem as though I can’t escape from the Kingdom’s royalty.”
“W-who are you, anyway?” Izirdul asked, dropping his guard ever so slightly.
“Who am I? A hero, obviously!”
“A-a hero?!”
“Nah, just a normal everyday Conqueror,” Cain quickly dashed the Prince’s hopes.
“You... you’re here for a Quest, then?”
“Hm,” Cain nodded. “Well, quests to be more precise. Haah, this place is gonna be the death of me. Anyway, care to share what’s going on in the Palace? Why’s the King silent over all of this?”
“F-Father... Father is dead,” Izirdul replied with a slightly cracked voice. “That’s... that’s what I heard from the assassins, anyway.” Oh? They even killed the King? Damn, whoever’s behind this whole affair really isn’t holding any punches...
“How did you escape anyway? No offense, but it’s likely even my youngest kid could whoop your ass.”
“... my... my subordinates,” Izirdul bit his lower lip and replied in frustration, hating how helpless he was. “Sacrificed their lives to give me a chance. Heh, you must think it’s stupid...”
“... I’ve no right to judge anyone,” Cain replied. “It was their choice, from the sound of it. Unless you’re lying to me.”
“...”
“Well,” Cain awkwardly scratched his head. “We need to make sure their sacrifice wasn’t in vain, eh? Anyway, my oldest daughter proposed a relatively decent plan just recently -- for you to marry Princess Anna and reinforce your claim to the Throne. It’s unlikely anyone would be able to put forth any legitimate defense so we’ll only have to be on guard for backstabbing.”
“E-eh? Marry... Anna?” Izirdul mumbled for a moment, but quickly seemed to realize it was a relatively good idea. “Would... would she agree? I don’t think she ever liked me much.”
“We’ll see,” Cain said. “For now, just keep it in mind. It’s only the beginning, after all. I’ll investigate more once the things settle a bit.”
**
Eldur stared at a rather bloody and gory scene, with dozen or so dismembered and disemboweled bodies strewn about a spacious chamber, blood pooling everywhere, stench beyond invasive.
“Forgive me, Your Highness,” a masked man knelt in front of him. “We let Prince Izirdul escape.”
“... it doesn’t matter,” Eldur replied nonchalantly. “Who knew elder brother inspired so much loyalty in his people? It seems I’ve yet to learn everything.”
“...”
“Issue a decree,” Eldur added. “Within, say that the Crown Prince, the Queen, and the King were assassinated at the same time. The Palace, thus, won’t rest until the culprits are uncovered. Use it is a precedent to roughen up the anti groups.”
“Your Highness,” another cloaked figure approached and bowed toward Eldur, reporting. “The initial sweep is over. There have been 6 casualties on our side.”
“Acceptable,” Eldur nodded. “You’ve taken control of the major roads?”
“Yes.”
“Begin broadening our lockdown,” Eldur continued. “But don’t go after anyone else of importance just yet. Some Conquerors should also have appeared here by now -- keep an eye out for them and report immediately to me. Do not try to engage them unless absolutely necessary. Stage this properly and make it seem as though Second Prince did it, but don’t be too obvious. It won’t be a fun game if we skip the journey to immediately reach the end...”