#07.

There was a man standing in front of a small grave.

After standing motionless for a long while, he ended up breaking the silence.

"I know you wouldn't be happy, even though I come visit you like this."

Slowly, and with terms in between, he seemed to be talking to an owner of the grave.

"…Today, I will bring her and make what happened on that day clear. Whatever it takes… sacrifice… and pain, I've made myself ready. Although it wouldn't be any consolation to a dead man, anyway."

He sighed quietly.

"I know that I'm an unforgivable son of a bitch. Begging for your mercy must be also because of my selfish hope. …I committed a sin. I want to lay it down now. Please… forgive me."

With ridiculously selfish and desperate words, he bent his head with one hand on the other.

"What's with your monologue at the cemetery?"

A man approached him from his left.

"Ah, …nothing. Never mind."

Seeing him embarrassed, the man smiled.

"Everyone looks back on their life in front of the deceased. Sorry for being nosy, but I thought it was something nice to see. Well, then."

The man passed by him just like that, and bent his steps to the opposite side.

"…"

The man with red eyes and hairs in front of the grave, Rorens Selion, was staring at his back for a long time.

‎

"Revolt?"

To Razen Sielon, the emperor of the strongest, and biggest empire in the world, the report from his old vassal was the most unfamiliar one he had ever heard. The emperor said to be the most dangerous, but the greatest of all emperors so far (whether it was true or not) was just 'amazed' rather than angry that there had been a rebellious action against him in the territory he reigned. It was almost like something a grown-up would feel while being punched by a child.

"Any damage?"

"It's been quite a challenge to deal with all those simultaneous actions here and there. Lords from each region are trying their best to suppress them with their private soldiers."

The voice of the vassal was full of terror from the fear of being punished by the displeased emperor, but Razen was not the person who would harm his loyal subordinate just because of that trivial matter. After tapping a table with a quill pen in his hand for a while as if he was appreciating the word 'revolt' that a ruler of a country is supposed to be the most afraid of, he said with an extremely rational tone like he moves a chess piece forward.

"Call Mikael Sepavile."

Without hesitation, he pulled out the card as powerful as the Queen on a chess board from the beginning. Razen also knew the danger of revolt more than anyone else. Like the bugs with a high fertility rate proliferate, he knew it would spread out wildly and end up getting out of control as time went by. They should be disciplined. They had to be taught clearly the consequence of rebelling against him. And there was no need of mercy in doing so. Those who rose against the empire should be exterminated and thrown out as a nameless corpse without exception.

Not long after the emperor's order, the greatest swordsman in the world Mikael Sepavile departed from the royal palace with the elite unit under the direct control of the emperor, Shadow Pain, to subdue the rebellion.

‎

There was an old veteran walking to a makeshift barrack. On his chest was a metal bar with the symbol of Shadow Pain engraved on it. Combined with other chest medals representing his military careers in the vanguard, it seemed he had spent most of his life in battlefields. When he got close to the barrack, the soldiers guarding the entrance lifted their swords up to their chest as a sign of respect.

"Thanks for coming."

Mikael Sepavile got out of the barrack and welcomed him. He bowed to Mikael plainly.

"I've got things to report."

The superior who would not be angry over the lack of fancy formalities, and the subordinate who would not expect any more from their boss. One could say it was their own way of discipline.

"Rebellions and vanguards are facing off against each other. There was an intel that they are actually more than what we'd expected. We've also confirmed that some of them carry firearms."

"Did you say 'firearms'?"

Although it could not be a threat to himself, Mikael was worried it would do serious damage to the vanguard. Come to think of it, it was not any different than wartime, which was why one would possess illegal weapons as they please. One way or another, the only solution was to defeat them by force. The report of the veteran was cautious.

"The unit armed with firearms is not a big part of the whole troop, but is enough to be a threat. If we were to subdue them by force, we would have to risk a lot."

An all-out combat, literally. Although they had been brothers-in-arms under the same roof, either side should be killed or surrender in the end on the battlefield. However, the rebellions did not seem to be thinking about surrender and Mikael was not thinking about forgiveness at all.

Then, if a variable 'firearms' were added to the number of rebellions, would it be possible to defeat the swordsman of the century, Mikael? The answer was in the sigh of the veteran.

"…We will lose valuable soldiers of our regions."

The faith in Mikael Sepavile was absolute. The unbelievable fact that none of the combats Mikael had led so far had been recorded as 'defeat' had almost turned into a 'religious belief'. Even in the situation where the rebellions were several times more than the vanguards, it did not budge. However, Mikael brought up a new agenda without any response to that belief.

"Have we identified the enemies' commander?"

"I'm sorry, not yet…"

Surprisingly enough, even Mikael Sepavile did not have a clue on the enemy's reckless, but brave commander who had plotted this revolt. The deployment of Shadow Pain was just a half measure to make them slower. A bizarre fact that the head of the enemy had yet to be identified aroused a sense of foreboding from Mikael's deep inside. Sometimes a commander of a military force does hide for a security purpose, but it does not mean that their identity itself is hidden. Mikael got lost in thought for a while.

'They are not after the throne of the empire.'

Provided they were not idiots, they definitely could expect the fact that emperor Razen would activate Shadow Pain vanguard immediately to quell them. But they raised up an army, nevertheless. There was meant to be another reason for an unknown objective. Mikael kept worrying and being curious about what they were out for at all costs, which was not like him.

However, he stopped thinking right there. Whatever they are after, I'll do what I need to do. There was no change on Mikael's face who had made up his mind.

‎

There was one man standing in the middle of a desolate field with chilly wind. He was the old general who had visited Mikael before.

"Sir Zelid. It's nearly time."

Another man standing next to him said. He, who was clad in the uniform of the vanguard, was an adjutant of Shadow Pain's deputy master, Zelid Vincristine. Though he had remained as the deputy master because he could not be on par with Mikael's swordsmanship, it was no exaggeration that Zelid was the very person who had presented the massive territory to his empire as an exceptional strategist. As the country located on the northern continent, more than 30% of Cheheran's terrain consisted of a barren desert. His nickname 'desert fox' had actually come from there, said by gossipers praising his achievement during Cheheran's conquering war. Zelid put out a pocket watch from his coat, which had been keeping an old scent. It was exactly 1:03 in the morning. Seem determined, he clenched it and looked at the adjutant. Behind him were the soldiers of Shadow Pain clutching their spears and swords, gazing at his mouth with anxious eyes.

"Rash, and ignorant malcontents ended up rising in revolt against our sacred empire. Revolt is a hurricane. If we don't put an end to this, it will blow off the whole country. We are on a mission to stop it. What is the way to do so? The only way is to jump in the eye of a hurricane! Vanguards, don't be afraid. Quell the enemy in the name of Shadow Pain!"

The vanguard in black uniforms reciprocated his loud voice and raised their weapons to the sky simultaneously. As a matter of fact, the total number of Shadow Pain had been over a million in the past, but after the vanguard had been restructured as the unit under the direct command of the emperor, it had gone through a lot of change which had left only over 50 thousands of them standing behind Zelid. Instead of returning a great amount of troops to the lords of each region, however, every member of Shadow Pain had earned the title of 'the guardians of the empire', proving its unchanged strength. That meant, every each of them could handle a hundred of enemies easily.

And Zelid Vincristine, who had practically been leading the vanguard, was not the commander who would drag Shadow Pain's name through the mud. That great, seasoned knight drew his sword out of a sheath and pointed at the enemy's base shortly. At that moment, the vanguards melted into the darkness like a lie.

Cheheran war was about to begin. The battlefield was silent like the eye of a hurricane, literally.

‎

After four days of Mikael Sepavile's departure to the operation area, Razen was wandering around his lavish bedroom under indescribable, uncanny feelings. It was of very unpleasant sort as if a part of his body were recovering slowly from anesthesia after surgery. Emotions that even he himself could not define continued flowing in as time went by, so he picked up a bottle of wine from a table next to his bed. It was a premium red wine from Zenoa, made of well-ripened, handpicked grapes with thicker skins. However, even bringing his favorite wine in a decent glass to his mouth was not making his mood any better. He kept more than the usual amount of wine in his mouth and put the glass back on the table.

Of course, he was not worried one bit about the likelihood of Mikael's defeat. The unbelievably strong man who had always stood by him obviously would silence and execute the rebellions with no mercy at all. That was a fact that even toddlers would know.

'The thing is, why are they still doing this revolt when they know the result already…'

The royal palace was covered in a thick blanket of fog. The murk of the nighttime with no moonlight was creating an anxiety like something might pop out of nowhere, but Razen was not a weak-minded emperor who would care about such a thing. Or, he might not have been able to care about it due to the feeling getting on his nerves from a while ago. Either way, the emperor felt a need to change the atmosphere.

"Is there anyone outside?"

"…"

There should have never been the occasion that there was no one to answer an emperor's call, but Razen decided to give one more chance to his chamberlain who was supposed to be on the other side of the door.

"Is there anyone?"

"…It's been a long time, father."

Upon the sudden freezing voice, Razen roughly turned his head towards the door. In the pitch-black darkness in which anything should have been invisible, there was a young man standing with red hairs and eyes, which almost exactly looked like those of his mother's. Though how he had breached a solid guard system of the palace was unknown, his clothes were totally soaked in blood.

"Rorens."

"It's my honor to be remembered."

Razen was not surprised by his son's appearance almost after 10 years. He was not surprised by gruesomely mangled bodies of royal guards, either. He just felt sorry for his aged sense that failed to notice what had been happening over a thin wall in between. Razen said his appreciation of the grisly corpses strewn on the floor.

"If Shadow Pain were guarding here like before, even you couldn't have done this kind of thing."

"Of course not."

"Right. That was the reason behind this revolt. Haha, I've been fooled. Such a lame trick, only if I was who I used to be."

Razen made a hollow smile as if he had finally found an answer to the mathematical problem that could not possibly seem to be solved. Even Rorens could not have gotten close to him had Shadow Pain been protecting him. That was not a bluff as the owner of the vanguard, but just a fact. At the moment he was thinking about it, there was something that crossed his mind.

"That said, your swordsmanship is really unbelievable. Mikael's eyes were not wrong in the past."

"Ha, the only disciple of the greatest swordsman should be at this level, shouldn't he?"

Rorens frowned at Razen's words mixed with a sigh. One must always pay something to get what they want, and Rorens lost his childhood in exchange for inheriting Mikael's swordsmanship. Razen was poking Rorens' incurable wound till the end.

"If you were with me, we could've unified the world with Mikael. Your talent makes me even scared."

Standing still, Rorens was just looking at Razen who was complimenting him for a change. The red eyed and haired son of the emperor, whose clothes were also soaked in red by the blood of the knights he had killed, recalled his father in the old memory. Razen Sielon that he had known back in the day was not the person who had spoken complimentary words that easily, especially to him. After a long and silent gaze, he opened his mouth.

"Why don't you go straight to the point? Don't tell me that the greatest emperor in history got all sweet and nice and couldn't help praising me all of a sudden."

Razen smiled, as if he was saying 'how sharp you are'. However, Razen did not stop his compliment towards Rorens.

"Generally, you can hardly execute a plan like 'killing your own father' without a firm resolution. Putting your thoughts into action needs more energy than anyone would imagine, you know. It's astonishing."

"Are you gonna fuck around more?"

"By the way, despite Shadow Pain not being here, there was something that popped into my mind seeing you coming all the way here, taking down all those palace guards. The point is, …where the hell you could get such power from."

"Are you asking how my swordsmanship could be this good? Now that you are close to death, are you finally going nuts?"

"One can even say that you are the second strongest swordsman in the world, being the only disciple of Mikael. I thought that was why you could easily infiltrate and wreaked havoc on this empty royal palace. On second thought, however, it didn't come down to a simple conclusion like that."

Rorens snorted.

"If this is a game you are playing just to live longer, let's finish this crap already."

Razen did not succumb to the death sentence from Rorens. Instead, he looked at his son more sharply.

"Rorens. I'm the emperor of the biggest empire on the continent. I'm not the existence you can kill easily with your cheap vengeful mind."

Despite the two bloody swords shining like a death angel in front of him, Razen was surprisingly unappalled. Rorens could not help but flinch. Razen's words were not just a bluff but a truth. Even Rorens himself kept silent for it. Suddenly, he felt something in his unconscious world was trying to escape from a deep abyss. With his hands still holding the swords, Rorens grabbed his hair. The only part of his memory that had been painted black and blotted out. For all he knew, that short gap might have been controlling him to aim his swords to his father. No, those times, which was just around a day, ended up changing Rorens' whole life. He was twisted. And its proof was none other than himself. Razen was looking at him, writhing in agony.

"Could it be… Reminiscence…"

"Shut the fuck up! I'll kill you…"

Rorens glared at Razen with bloodshot eyes. For the first time in years, Rorens was breaking down. Though it was not to the extent that he would fail to execute his plan of killing Razen tonight, obviously he was out of his normal orbit.

"Rorens Selion, don't look away from the reason that brought you here. It is your huge hatred that steered us this way. You must be thinking the whole thing would be over after you kill me, but you will realize that you were wrong. You shot me. And I also tried to kill you. …This is your blackened memory of that very day."

Rorens could not answer those cruel words that came out from Razen's mouth. Like a lie, when Rorens 'Sielon', Rose 'Sielon', Razen and their mother's relationship had been full of affection 10 years ago, the devastating earthquake in Cheheran had thrown everything out of their place. Their mom had gone unaccounted for, and the rest of them who had got stuck in the pile of stones had tried to kill each other after they had run out of oxygen. Razen had tried to strangle Rorens, and Rorens had shot Razen's temple in return for what he had got from his father. And sooner or later, he had drifted into unconsciousness as well. Rose Sielon had been the only one who had not done anything, but he had not tried to stop them, either.

However, by a quirk of fate, the bullet Rorens had shot had been deflected and failed to damage Razen's brain, and Razen had walked back out of hell despite extremely little likelihood. After his miraculous return, Razen had banished Rorens to the tiny, countryside kingdom Perriun instead of bringing him to death. For unknown reasons, Rose Sielon had followed his older brother to Perriun, and both had decided to use the new surname 'Selion' in place of the emperor's. That had just been created by 'anagram', which was a simple trick of rearranging the letters of a word to produce a new one, but no one in Perriun had noticed the secret of Rorens and Rose. Since then, Rorens Selion had earned a position of master of Ensis Knights, but had also got an infinite phobia against earthquake, and an empty memory caused by Reminiscence that he had drunk not long after he had shot his father. Rose Selion had also been traumatized by the earthquake, and had become an apprentice of Hellon Knights, the other knightage of Perriun kingdom comparable to Ensis Knights. Razen Sielon had repaired the damage of the earthquake and recovered the previous dignity of the empire after a long time, but had also got the serious headache he had to live with for the rest of his life.

Anyway, Rorens was about to kill his father one more time with the two swords held firmly in his hands. Razen made a dim smile. He knew that if he died, the empire would disappear with him as well. He was relieved deep down, to be frank. That could be put as a dictator's madness lying in the thought that the continuance of the empire after his death would be disloyalty. Seeing his son's murderous eyes, Razen realized he could not escape from death. He brought out the words that had been wandering around his mind for a while.

"Guillermo. It's him."

At that very moment, Rorens' thin and long sword slipped into Razen's body. It was like a silver-scaled snake slowly slithering into a cave, which really fit the expression 'slipped'.

Sitting in the throne as he was, Razen impassively saw the blade that had penetrated his chest. The wound, which looked like a tiny red dot at first, gradually turned into a larger circle. It was not painful, but futile and lonely.

"You would have no idea how long I've waited for this time."

"…For someone saying such a thing, you don't look very happy."

All that remained on his face was just the furious hatred that had lost its exit. Would that flame really subside, just by his death? Razen felt sorry for Rorens for the first time. In the end, he could not get over the hollowness from the memory loss by Reminiscence and fell into the vicious cycle again. The emotion that became big enough to devour its owner eventually leads to a catastrophe. Poor my son. All is your sin, and you are my sin. Before his death. Razen Sielon felt remorse for the first time in his life. The sword Rorens had pushed in pierced his body and penetrated the throne like punishment. Razen accepted it silently.

"What's the purpose of Guillermo?"

"The end of the world."

"…I see. That's scary."

He nodded. Feeling his life expiring, he thought 'that wouldn't be bad'. Although he had been on the top of the biggest empire during his golden age, he realized there was nothing he had achieved as a mere human being at the end of the journey.

"After all those times… there's nothing I've managed to change."

After his last words, Razen Sielon closed his eyes with a long sigh. Rorens wanted to change this world as well. That was the very reason why he had agreed with Guillermo's objective, the end of the world. Rorens had crossed the line. The fact that he had killed his father 'twice' was more than enough to prove it. And that inextinguishable hatred would be directed to everyone, backed by the massive power behind the scene, Guillermo. He believed killing Razen would set him free from every curse, take his hollowness and fury away, but it was such an empty belief.

At that moment, the ornate door with the unique symbol of Cheheran empire burst open and got destroyed. Pulling out the sword from his father's body, which was getting colder and colder, Rorens showed his nervousness looking at an exotic-looking man oozing an intimidating force from his eyes.

He was Mikael Sepavile, who had left the royal palace to subdue the rebellions.

‎

"Grenadiers?"

"Yes, Sir. Now they are trying to enter this place. Most of the knights guarding the main entrance are severely injured!"

Mikael Sepavile gazed at his batman who had stormed into his room, huffing and puffing. He was not surprised by the report that a special force made a sudden attack for his life. He looked more like he was thinking something.

"How many are they?"

"About twenty!"

Mikael' face creased. Their goal must have been the assassination and causing disturbance, but their chance of escaping in one piece after accomplishing that goal was nearly zilch. It was such a reckless attack.

"This is not bold… but just incomprehensible." He talked to himself. If it was an order from an enemy's unidentified commander, it would have been evaluated as either something thoughtless, or something with an ulterior motive that even Mikael himself could not predict. But no matter how he looked at it, it looked closer to the former. Nothing more than a 'disposal' to buy some time.

"Commander, shouldn't we take action on it right now?"

The batman carefully pushed the commander of the vanguard, who had been lost in thought with his chin in his palm despite the chaos outside. Although some urgent pleas like 'we have to leave this place first!' would fit more to this kind of situation, it was the endless belief for Mikael's power that turned it into 'please come out and kill them all'. Anyway, Mikael rose to his feet and said.

"War is really fun."

"I beg your pardon?"

The batman asked back upon his nonsense.

"Because it's only when a murder becomes a virtue."

Spitting the words that might have been expressing his emotional upset, Mikael pulled out his sword and walked out of the door. It was extremely unfortunate news for the enemy invading the command center with their necks on the line.

‎

At the same time, the grenadiers that had infiltrated to assassinate Shadow Pain's head Mikael Sepavile had already readied themselves for death. When one accepts their death, it grants them a superhuman power to wield.

The suicide squad consisting of only 20 soldiers had already injured the guards several times over themselves, and reached right in front of the command center. They were resolved to light top-of-the-line detonators wrapped around their bodies and have an honorable death without hesitation as soon as they ran into Mikael.

However, when their advance was actually stopped before Mikael Sepavile, they had to taste the real fear of death. The greatest swordsman in the world. Looking at the title, one might think 'just shot him, wouldn't it be mission success?', but he would not have been alive this far had he been just that level of swordsman in the first place. He was the man of the mysterious power that could even cut a flying bullet into two pieces.

"There he is…"

Their faces expressed the utmost tension towards the target. Mikael's body was lean, but this time, he was blocking the corridor like a huge wall of despair. He strode towards the grenadiers whose whole bodies were armed with explosives.

"Here's my suggestion. You guys just stay put. Then all of you will die without pain, at least."

"Shut the fuck up, you bastard!"

One of them pulled out a gun from his inner pocket. However, even before he could lift it to aim, he had to see Mikael's black sword covering his whole vision. In the middle of deep silence as if nothing had happened, only the sound of his head falling off the neck to the floor resounded.

"If you really want to die in pain, I won't stop you."

Mikael said in a low tone to the grenadiers, who were getting more and more stiff. At that moment, another soldier right behind the dead one triggered the detonator on his body.

"See! This is our will!"

Right at the moment a detonator is activated, all explosives around a body react simultaneously. He rushed into Mikael with a short shriek, followed by the massive explosion shaking the whole command center.

The grenadiers had no doubt that they had finally beat the greatest swordsman in the world. The explosion right in front of their eyes was even to that extent, but soon they had to hear something was moving in the thick cloud of dust.

"T, this doesn't make sense."

"Interesting tactic. But it is far from enough to realize your will."

Mikael Sepavile, walking out of the huge explosion in one piece and pronouncing a death sentence cold-heartedly, was enough to be called a death angel already. He got close to the grenadiers in an instant and wielded his black sword. It was like a breeze that sweeps softly, but part of their bodies got cut off every time in the wake of it. The corridor was becoming a slaughterhouse. No one could seem to stop him.

"Look at me, you monster!"

It was the last grenadier. Mikael looked at his face. He seemed to be around 30, getting a couple of wrinkles on his face. To think about it, all the soldiers lying on the floor must have had their mothers, sons and daughters they had loved. What would possibly be their reasons to throw out their lives and come here. Mikael felt deep sympathy with him. It was not like him, but he was not the Almighty at all. He was also a human being who had a heart anyway.

The last grenadier was holding a short and thick cylindrical shotgun which looked like a cut bamboo. Not the weapon suitable for this kind of mission. Frowned, Mikael stepped towards him. He wanted to finish it as soon as he could. He was not nearly someone who delights in killing. Especially if it is a one-sided massacre.

At that moment, a crimson burning fireball went off from that cylinder. The tremendous rebound totally shattered the soldier's wrists and threw him back on the floor.

That weapon was kind of a small cannon designed to breach a wall of defending fortresses or castles. It was meant to be fixed firmly on the ground first before use, so it was only natural that it breaks human's bones when held and shot in hand. As the soldier flew backwards, Mikael Sepavile was sent up in the air for a second with a deafening explosion and fell heavily on the floor. This time, the soldier saw it without a shadow of a doubt. The firepower that was more destructive than any gun he had experienced so far. He swallowed quietly.

"…"

Mikael wriggled, and slowly rose to his feet. The part of his cloth hit by the cannonball was burnt in an amazingly round shape, and his whole body was scorched black, but even the siege cannon could not do him any harm in the end. Although he had been shot point-blank without any chance of evading it, it did not change the result. The soldier's eyes dilated, but showed resignation soon. There was nothing left for him.

"Are you…God?"

It was a natural reaction for the grenadier. His face did not bear any fear at all. Could it have been because the scene before his eyes was too unrealistic? Mikael walked towards him and replied.

"I'm a human."

"Don't lie to me! It is impossible for human flesh to withstand the cannon, which demolishes a wall!"

Mikael smiled. He recalled that very moment. Even he himself did not expect that much of a firepower from that flimsy-looking weapon. It could have killed him for real because they had been too close to each other. However, he had his own measure to protect his body. Combined with numerous practical experiences over the long years, it saved his life. He went generous to the soldier who had 'really' threatened his life and let him know what that measure was.

"It's called Ho-shin-gang-gi. Way of making a human's body like a stone by flocculating an inner power on the outer layer of skin."

"…Right. Kill me."

Though he did not understand it, he did not care and just waited for Mikael's final move. Mikael made a bitter smile. It was only natural that anyone with the knowledge of 'this world' could not comprehend his explanation.

The man from the outside world.

There is data measuring the exact distance from the southernmost to the northernmost of the world. And based on the result of measuring the length of shadows at two different locations on the same longitude, the 'real' world is much wider than what is known to be true. In fact, people in the know are already aware of it, but it has not spread widely as the majority are just indifferent to it or would not even have a chance to measure it. One can only set foot in that 'outside world' by going through a great obstacle called 'mother nature', such as a desert, jungle and mountain range at the far north of Cheheran empire. Word has it that some bold adventurers tried to cross this extremely extensive and dangerous area, but ended up blown away by a furious tornado or bitten to death by the beasts they had never seen before. Even for Mikael himself, it was a gigantic 'wall' he could not possibly have crossed had he not possessed his transcendent skills and body ability.

Anyway, he was a man from the outside world, and a skill like Ho-shin-gang-gi was surprisingly common back in his home world. And Mikael knew one more move exactly needed in this situation. He gently laid his right hand onto the grenadier's head.

When Mikael's eyes started glittering grey out of the blue, the soldier that had been watching Mikael with a puzzled look was startled and tried to look away, but Mikael's other hand grasped his head from moving. Despite the desperate struggle to escape from Mikael, his eyes gradually became dim, and then his whole body stopped moving.

A spell from the outside world called 'Sa-ryeong-je-sim-an' was being unveiled in Cheheran empire. That evil maneuver was black magic bewitching people's brains and making them obey a caster blindly. Mikael had never resorted to this method since becoming the master of Shadow Pain, but now he decided to break the rule he had made himself.

"I'm your master from now on. You will answer as I ask without any hiding or deceiving."

Surprisingly, Mikael's voice sounded mysterious and eerie as if it was coming from the abyss, and the grenadier nodded like he understood the order. Mikael went straight to the point and asked him what had been staying unanswered at the back of his mind for such a long time.

"Who is your commander? And tell me the real purpose of this revolt."

Uncharacteristically, Mikael's voice was giving away his impatience. And soon, he could not hide his shock at all as everything was revealed. He kept shaking the grenadier's body asking the same question over and over again, but he already knew that lying was just impossible for anyone whose soul is being controlled by Sa-ryeong-je-sim-an.

'I must find Zelid. I must leave everything to him and go back right now!'

Mikael rushed out of the bloody hallway with unbelievable speed. Only the head of the last grenadier that had been cut and fallen on the pool of blood was left there, staring at his back with unfocused eyes.

‎

"Well, I'm sorry. Your owner has already died."

Although it sounded like a sneer, Rorens' face was harder than ever. If a sword fight began, Mikael Sepavile would be the only one who could undoubtedly bring Rorens to his knees. No matter how Rorens would use his sword, he clearly had the ability to predict and counter all of it. Seeing Razen Sielon's death in the throne, Mikael raised his sword like he would kill Rorens in an instant. Instead of running away, however, Rorens started confiding what he had been keeping in his mind all along.

"Mikael, you've continued a long life with this empire ever since it was the weakest country at the back of beyond. Serving those who succeeded to the blood of the royal family, you must have always been standing there in an exact same way every time emperors changed. Like a specter who doesn't even get older or die. It looks to me that you of all people are the very madness flowing in this royal family's blood."

Mikael put his sword down. He became 212 years old this year. That was the weight of time that no ordinary man could survive, but the power of mother nature that had been accumulated inside him, and his body that had been optimized by it had kept him alive so far. The skill that had made it possible, 'Nae-gong-sim-bub', was also something that had widely been studied by highly-skilled swordsmen in where Mikael was from. And they were able to live much longer than ordinary people like Mikael.

He fiercely scowled at Rorens as if his most precious secret he had been keeping to himself was finally revealed. God destined a human being to only exist around 100 years, but Mikael had already lived over double that span of time. After the day he had turned 100, he had had to live with dreadful pain in his heart. He had ended up becoming an inanimate being, whose emotion had completely dried up. The feeling of loving someone had just disappeared to the back of the memory with their deaths, and the feeling of hating someone had been swept away in the river by the name of 'time'. Love, sadness and even the hatred wild enough to burn off the whole world had just subsided in the infinite cycle of time in the end, like an ember in a fireplace at dawn. The cause of all of those was because all the things Mikael had loved and hated had ended up vanishing before him in the flow of time. It might have been the price for a being who had been against the will of God. No, it must have been.

Not being able to overcome that growing emptiness, Mikael Sepavile had kept his position as the master of Shadow Pain for over 100 years so far. He could not leave. Ironically, the more he had become older, the more he had been afraid of being alone. And it was already enough to be called 'madness', just like Rorens had said. Mikael looked away from Rorens. He could not look him in the eye anymore. He already knew what Rorens was going to say.

"From this moment, I'm the one who will succeed to the cursed blood of the royal family. Be my specter. And I'm not going to last long, so don't worry."

Rorens Selion laughed as loudly as he could as Mikael was slowly kneeling in front of him. Those had been a string of incidents just half month before Requiem, an outpost for the end of the world, had been built in the center of Normunt, Perriun after a thousand citizens had been massacred by Duke Guillermo, Mikael and Rorens in the operation named Myeol-saeng.