Asha, Karaf, and Sihan had all returned to make amends for their past mistakes, and Asha was becoming increasingly certain of Dart’s attitude.
Without backing down, Asha firmly stated.
“Priest, stop now. Your life can still be saved. I will do my best to persuade Karaf and the citizens. I intend to keep my promise, and I swear it by my name as the butterfly.”
Dart lowered his head, realizing that Asha still referred to him as a ‘priest’.
“…… Let’s see if Vanessa’s prophecy holds true. One side will undoubtedly perish in this battle.”
Asha’s eyes twitched slightly as she realized Dart was referring to Karaf as the other side.
Remaining composed, Dart stated.
“If your decision remains the same even then… I’ll kill you too and welcome a new butterfly. As my wife and companion.”
With a cold expression, Dart exited the prison, trudging away.
* * * * *
Jackal and the others arrived at the minority village.
However, he saw numerous knights blocking the entrance.
Rigel, looking straight ahead, spoke from the side.
“We’ll hold them off here. You go find Vanessa. She’s likely trapped in a cave somewhere in the forest.”
Jackal nodded gravely, immediately transforming into a horse.
It was far more advantageous to search for Asha with the body of a horse than as a human.
As Jackal galloped towards the forest, the knights aimed their arrows at him.
However, Gabe quickly cut down the arrows mid-air with his sword.
“Where……!”
Knowing that the hawk he raised had died, Gabe was already in a state of great anger.
His yellow eyes burned as he said.
“Even without the chief, I will defend Lycaon.”
Gabe remembered the time when Jackal had saved him by throwing himself in front of an incoming arrow.
Now, he had the opportunity to repay the favor.
The Lycaons smiled in admiration at Gabe’s trustworthiness, but suddenly, the ground began to shake again, and they heard a menacing monster growling.
The faces of Lycaons and Nassons hardened. They drew their swords and took up a fighting stance.
Gabe, who had been pretending to be cool, yelled in frustration.
“Come out already, you monsters…..!”
In his rage, he stabbed the ground with his sword, causing the floor to shake violently.
Suddenly, an orange light spread out from under his feet, resembling molten lava.
“What, what is this?”
Gabe, feeling flustered, began to awkwardly move his feet as if trying to avoid the orange light emanating from the ground.
But then, Rigel quickly noticed his appearance and his eyes widened as he shouted.
“This is… the earth spirit……!”
“…… What?”
It was only then that Gabe realized that a pumpkin-colored energy was flowing from his chest and being transmitted to his sword.
The moment the power of the Earth Spirit surged through him, the monsters underground screamed and perished without even emerging from the ground.
Gabe blinked foolishly, looking at his own hand and muttering in disbelief.
“I…the Earth Spirit…?”
His comrades around him covered their mouths and laughed.
Gabe was the contractor for the Earth Spirit.
Everyone found this situation unbelievable and funny.
Rigel murmured.
“The Earth Spirit tends to have a dull temperament and likes to hide…..”
In fact, the reason Gabe had started an argument with Asha when they first met was due to the different attributes between Earth and Wind.
Those two spirits were the furthest apart, and the Earth Spirit harbored jealousy and envy towards the Wind, just like in fairy tales.
Jackal was overjoyed to have found the last spirit whose whereabouts were unknown.
He neighed, lifting his foreleg in excitement.
It was a somewhat comical sight, but Gabe felt embarrassed yet filled with great pride, believing that he had received praise.
Jackal recalled what the village chief had told him.
‘Do you know why minorities are composed of five clans? Five petals that protect the Imperial Family. In fact, it was because we were supposed to be them. That’s why we can wield the power of the spirits. We are the true knights of the flower.’
Knights of the Flower…..
Jackal turned and looked at the trusty Lycaons and the Nasson clan. With his mane fluttering, he vigorously ran in pursuit of Asha’s scent.
* * * * *
“Ah…….”
Karaf put his sword on the ground and took a deep breath.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
Dying monsters filled his surroundings, oozing all sorts of foul-smelling fluids.
Despite his efforts to kill them one after another, they seemed endless, as if there would be no end to it.
“…… Are you still alive?”
At the voice from above, Karaf looked up with a hazy gaze, cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Looking at the cold gray eyes and the expressionless face that arrogantly looked down from above, Karaf was suddenly reminded of an old memory.
Back then, Cylon had also looked down at him from atop a hill like this…
The sky, visible through the hole, was covered with dark clouds just like that day, and the wind blew strongly.
In contrast to Karaf’s black hair, Dart’s silver hair swayed in the cold wind.
“How does it feel? Looking at someone from below for the first time?”
Karaf trembled as he gritted his teeth, unable to overcome Dart’s power.
However, Dart hadn’t expected him to withstand this far on his own either.
Due to using more energy than he had thought, Dart’s face also showed signs of fatigue.
“Give up now, Karaf. You were never meant to be the emperor from the beginning. I’ll become the next emperor in your place.”
“……Don’t you dare call me by that name so casually! It’s disgraceful that you, who carry the spirit of the flower like me, even exist!”
Dart fell silent for a moment, then lifted a hand.
But in that brief moment of carelessness, monsters emerged from the ground and entangled him with their repulsive legs.
“Ugh……!”
Karaf writhed with wide eyes, his hands bound and unable to free himself.
A centipede pulled him up from the ground, while Dart advanced slowly towards him, holding Karaf’s stolen sword in his hand.
“Looks like this is as far as you can go.”
Karaf stared at him, gritting his teeth.
“This is your limit, little brother. You should have withered away long ago.”
Dart raised the sword and pressed it lightly against Karaf’s jaw.
A drop of blood trickled from his jaw onto the sharpened blade.
Karaf couldn’t even swallow his saliva as he looked up sharply at Dart.
With a little more pressure, the blade seemed like it would pierce his throat.
Seeing this, Dart chuckled and smiled.
“Before you go, let me tell you the truth. It’s about Vanessa. You must be curious too, right?”
Karaf’s red eyes flickered slightly.
Dart lowered his eyelids slightly, as if in pity, and continued.
“Poor guy. Don’t tell me you still believe Vanessa will choose you?”
“What?”
“Snap out of it, silly brother. Because you’re so lacking, you’ll spend your whole life being betrayed.”
Dart said, leaning closer and tilting his head while opening his gray eyes wide.
“What will happen if I just let that man go? Leaving you to die and run away with the butterfly.”
Dart said, causing Karaf’s eyes to widen.
Did he know that Jackal came to the palace to cooperate with him?
Karaf muttered, trying to gather himself.
“Where did you overhear our conversation, you little rat? You’re wrong. I made a deal with them. I made a contract with Vanessa and that big-headed bastard.”
Dart scoffed.
“A contract? Did they promise to break your curse? What are the conditions of that contract? Giving freedom to the Butterfly? Which is the easier way to get freedom: helping you fight or abandoning you to die?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! I trust them!”
“More than your own life?”
Karaf was unable to answer.
Dart looked genuinely pitiful, and perhaps because he was the embodiment of a flower, even his expression was painfully beautiful to behold.
“You’re still living in a fairy tale world and haven’t faced reality. Vanessa has already betrayed you. She chose me, not you.”
“That’s a lie! Shut up!”
Karaf shouted, but Dart remained calm.
“She promised to grant me full bloom and choose me as the next emperor if I would release that man and let her go with him. Thanks to her, I was finally able to fully blossom.”
Karaf’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“You…bloom….?”
“By now, she must already be fleeing the empire with that man.”
Karaf didn’t know that Dart had already undergone full bloom from the beginning.
Because he trusted Asha, he dared not believe that she had betrayed him.
However, seeing the blossomed Dart, his mind became confused.
What on earth had happened? Why didn’t Jackal or Asha show up?
He didn’t want to suspect, but he couldn’t help but feel afraid.
Dart drew upon the power of the flower within his body, causing intense green light to swirl around him.
He then placed one hand on Karaf’s chest, and at that moment, the green power entered Karaf’s chest, causing terrible agony to engulf him.
“Ahhh……!”
Karaf’s face contorted as he let out a scream.
Watching him, unable to even catch his breath from the pain, Dart spoke.
“To me, who has fully blossomed, killing you is nothing. If I want, I can save or kill every living being on this land. That’s the power of a flower. Feel the overwhelming difference of this power.”
Karaf’s eyes trembled uncontrollably, and he began to see illusions.
Behind Dart, a gigantic shadow of thorns writhed, as if it would swallow him whole.
Suddenly, thorny vines started popping out of Karaf’s chest, stretching out in all directions like red spider webs and creating eerie patterns.
Karaf’s head dropped, his bound arms caught in the spider’s web.
Eventually, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.
At the same time, the handkerchief that Asha had tied around his wrist slipped off lifelessly and fell to the ground.
The black rose she had embroidered was now soaked in blood.…..
* * *
Jackal ran fiercely and relentlessly, driven by a cold determination, as he chased Asha’s scent.
As a horse with a keen sense of smell, he could never forget the captivating fragrance of her body.
The seductive fragrance he smelled every time Asha climbed on his back and hugged him vividly came to mind.
In the forest, far away from the village, he caught a faint whiff of her scent.
Jackal ran as if possessed, eventually reaching a cave where Asha’s scent grew stronger.
He transformed back into his human form, cautiously surveying his surroundings before stepping into the cave.
Soon, in the cave’s depths, his eyes fell upon Asha, trapped behind iron bars.
“…… Asha!”
Startled by Jackal’s voice, Asha, who had been crouched like a worm, suddenly lifted her head.
“Jackal……!”
