HDOVAML Chapter 127

<Chapter 127>

 

“Pardon…?”

The faces of those gathered were quickly clouded with confusion.

“Your Majesty… surely, you don’t mean…”

The chancellor asked with concern in his eyes, but Khalid simply gave a slight nod and continued speaking.

“The royal family of Nisha was granted the power of Sak by Arkane. Arkane demanded a condition—that if they did not offer hundreds of lives in tribute each year, then every time the power was used, their flesh would rot.”

“Your Majesty, we are aware of that much. However…”

“I no longer intend to force the cost of using Sak’s power onto others.”

A deeper wave of shock descended.

“Your Majesty… do you mean…”

“If my body rots, then so be it. I will bear the consequences of using forbidden power myself.”

“Ha! Utter foolishness!”

A mocking laugh rang out. It was none other than Orhan Einar.

“We live by the grace of the Dark Spirit King. If you no longer sacrifice lives, then the more you use Sak’s power, the more your body will decay. It’s easy to say such pretty words… but can you truly endure that pain when your body is rotting away piece by piece? My foolish brother!”

“Your Majesty, forgive me, but the deposed king’s words are not without truth. You are now the ruler of Nisha. You must be strong above all. And yet, you say you’ll bear such a horrific burden?”

One of the generals, sworn to follow Khalid, spoke with heartfelt loyalty.

Khalid closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, his tone gentle yet unwaveringly cold.

“All this time, we pushed the price we should have paid onto others, simply to maintain prosperity. Under the pretense of obeying Arkane’s will, we pillaged and ravaged other peoples, and in the end, deceived them to the point of harvesting their very lives for our comfort.”

“You…”

“So now, when I finally seek to pay the price we turned from for so long—what is so wrong about that, Deposed King?”

Orhan was seized by a choking sensation, unable to say a word.

No, this couldn’t be.

He had to laugh this off as nonsense.

This was nothing more than ridiculous, hopeless idealism!

“You who betrayed me, think for yourselves, why should we give up our mighty power and endless abundance? If we stop all conflict and plundering, the Dark Spirit King will bring calamity upon us! And this Khalid Ilkai, he and his ancestors have committed countless sins as swords of Nisha for generations. Now he dares play the righteous man?”

Orhan smiled in triumph, speaking truths no one could deny.

“And now look at him—full of hypocrisy. So decide! Between him and me, which of us truly sees reality?”

A heavy silence settled over the hall.

The officials and generals who had followed Khalid, believing in his vision of a better world than under Einar’s rule, now looked at him with doubt and worry.

“Your Majesty… we followed you not the deposed king, because we believed you would bring a better future to Nisha. But if you govern the nation as you say… we cannot be certain that the new era will be better than when Einar ruled.”

“Your Majesty, what will you do? If you withdraw part of your declaration now, you can avoid further unrest.”

The chancellor, sensing the shift in mood, offered his counsel, fully expecting the gentle and accommodating Khalid to accept.

“I will not retract my declaration.”

“Your Majesty…!”

But Khalid Ilkai, his face resolute, turned to face everyone present and declared,

“I do this to restore the justice that was trampled underfoot from the very founding of Nisha. So why do those who swore to follow me now hesitate?”

“Your Majesty…”

“Have you truly not realized that Nisha, fed fat on the spoils of long-standing corruption, is now hurtling into a pit from which it cannot return? Do you truly believe that Ignis of Light and the other spirit kings will never punish us for bowing to Arkane?”

The ones who had questioned him lowered their heads in shame.

Watching the shifting winds in the room, Khalid turned to Orhan Einar.

“You call it hypocrisy? You’re right. To suddenly speak of justice and bear the burden now—that is hypocrisy. After all, those who died by our hands will never return.”

“S-see? You admit it yourself, so…”

Orhan, drenched in sweat from rising unease, turned to the others to laugh at Khalid’s admission.

“But better to be a hypocrite now than to shamelessly go on piling up sins we can never wash away!”

‘…!’

Under that one answer that crushed all argument…

“So answer me—will you walk this path with me? Or will you live, bowed to the greedy ghosts of the past?”

Orhan Einar could say no more.

“We pledge our loyalty to His Majesty Khalid Ilkai, our sovereign!”

And just like that, every last ember of rebellion was snuffed out by Khalid Ilkai’s words.

Thus appeared before the world the greatest and wisest reformist monarch in Nisha’s history.

 

***

 

And many years later, in the future…

“…So this is what it was all for.”

Riat Ilkai Khalid muttered, cold regret in his eyes as he crushed the report handed to him by his subordinate.

“Edith.”

For a moment, he suppressed the surging anger within him, then turned to look at the small girl, sleeping as if dead.

“The ghost of the past, left behind by my merciful grandfather… has finally crawled back into the world, triggering this tragedy.”

‘If you learn the truth one day… will you resent me?’

‘Will you see me as a kinsman sharing blood with such vile, loathsome creatures, no better than insects?’

“That’s why, before you wake, I will remove every obstacle in your path.”

‘So that no filth or disgrace will ever appear before your eyes.’

“Azar.”

“At your command, Your Majesty.”

“Assemble the forces, quietly.”

The cold voice of a ruthless monarch echoed, and his subordinate raised his head.

His face was bathed in moonlight, piercingly cold, reflecting from those steely gray eyes.

“Tonight, we will cleanse Einar completely.”

 

****

 

“Aaaaargh!”

“P-please spare us—Aaaah!”

Men, women, even children who carried Einar’s blood were slaughtered without exception.

Watching this brutal massacre unfold, blood tears welled in the eyes of one man.

“Filthy traitor, King of Ilkai! What is it you truly hope to gain from this!?”

“Spare me the nonsense.”

With unmatched arrogance, Riat Ilkai Khalid sat on the throne of the royal palace, dropping a sealed letter before the kneeling man.

“You somehow managed to avoid our surveillance and carry this out.”

“…”

The contents of the letter revealed the truth—undeniable and damning.

“I witnessed the horror that happened in Litera with my own eyes. And I wondered… Why? Only those who are attuned to a specific spirit’s element can summon them from their realm. No common human could have brought so many spirits forth—unless…”

Riat’s voice was laced with sickly sweetness and deep disgust as he looked down upon the man whose expression slowly changed.

“This can’t be…”

The letter, held in trembling hands, detailed a conspiracy: to summon countless dark spirits and send them to Litera.

Their eyes met across the space, the same haunting, cursed hue mirrored in both.

“Did you truly believe your fallen clan could escape my sight?”

Riat spoke with a bitter smile.

“Fallen… yes. Stripped of everything, unable even to step a foot outside the palace walls. No matter how desperately we tried to hide, it was inevitable we’d remain within your gaze.”

His breath seethed with venomous hatred as the head of Rinar glared at Riat, blood vessels bursting in his eyes.

“It was all to drive out the traitor Ilkai and restore the throne to us—to revive Nisha once more!”

“…Oh? And how, exactly?”

Riat replied with indifference, resting his chin on one hand, his demeanor laced with challenge as if daring him to continue.

Cornered, the Einar head shouted in desperation:

“Arkane delivered us a prophecy! That if we assisted this scheme, every nation on the continent would believe it was Ilkai who summoned the dark spirits through secret dealings! And once they turn against you, your reign will fall!”

“…So in short, you carried out this farce to frame Ilkai.”

A mocking laugh laced his voice.

“You Einars haven’t changed one bit.”

With chilling eyes brimming with murderous intent, Riat Ilkai Khalid looked down upon the man.

“You disgusting traitor. It is only right that you now pay the price for disrupting the natural order—”

“Silence.”

Riat cut him off coldly, stepping forward and grinding the man’s head beneath his boot.

“Long ago, my grandfather pulled this nation from the depths of unforgivable sin and placed it back on the righteous path.”

“Gk… grk…!”

The man’s face twisted and bulged with blood as though it would burst, veins swelling under the pressure.

Looking down at him with utmost disgust, Riat spoke once more,

“And yet, you dare spew such filth before his descendant?”