Chapter 102 Rapacious Part 3

Seeing that Zoya still has a shadow means that Zoya is a living person. The men looked at Zoya and wondered how she could have survived so long if she was the only living person in the forest.

Yul asked, "Have you always been here?"

Zoya looked at the men staring at her and said, "You must be the ones who broke into the capital city."

Yul asked, "Yes."

Zoya said, "No one should enter this forest. No one has ever been able to break through the defense system of Magior capital city, but now that I see it is men from Tangzang, I no longer doubt it. The defensive layout of Magior capital city were placed here by men from Tangzang."

Yul said, "Now that you know, tell us who put the Fairy Ring Circles here."

Zoya said, "The person who placed the Fairy Ring Circles here are friends."

U-ri asked, "Is one of your friends the tenth king of Tangzang?"

Zoya smiled and said, "I don't know which lineage he is from, but I just know that he is a great king, maybe the best king, but like other kings, we are still human, and we still make impulsive mistakes. We can only learn from our mistakes, but we can't go back and correct them."

Hajime asked, " Since you have good relations with the Tenth King of Tangzang, you must be thousands of years old."

Zoya said, "Well, you are luckier than me. Although we can both heal ourselves, if the injury is too great, I will die just like you." She looked at Hajime. "The only difference between you and me is that no matter how injured you are, even if you take your last breath, if the person you give your sincerity to is unwilling to accept it, death will never come to you.  As for me, if I don't heal myself quick enough, death will come to me."

Abrafo said, "Don't speak with hidden secrets tell us how it is possible that everyone is dead, but you are still alive, and most importantly, why you want to kill us when we are going to the capital."

Zoya said, "Since you are people of Tangzang you should know why you were attacked."

Yul said, "I can understand why Lady Lan attacked us when we entered the city, but this cave is far from the capital city and the protection of the Fairy Ring Circles. So..."

Zoya said, "So is it a crime to drive people away in order to prevent them from falling prey to the darkness?"

U-ri said, "So this means that if the first line of defense fails, there will be a second line of defense. In order to strengthen the defense of the capital, four Fairy Ring Circles were set up."

Zoya chuckled and said, "Yes, but it's not to protect the Capital of Magior. The four Fairy Ring Circle Formations are to confine the darkness in the Capital of Magior."

Hajime asked, "What kind of darkness?"

Zoya said, "Greed." She looked at Hajime. "Of the five of you, you are the one who should understand greed the most."

Hajime knows that Zoya's words are true, because of greed, family members may become enemies. Because of greed, his mother never loved him. Because of greed, his father left him to be tortured by his mother. Because greed, he was left to die in a dark alley.

Yul found Hajime tighten his lips, which means Hajime is angry. Yul grabbed Hajime's left upper arm and said, "Hajime."

Hajime suddenly realized that this was no longer his previous life. He looked at Yul. "Uh..." he muttered.

Yul asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Hajime said, nodding at Yul.

Zoya looked at Yul and Hajime with a bittersweet feeling. She smiled and said, "Flowers that bloom in spring will not bloom forever. Once summer turns to autumn, the flower's petals will eventually fall off and die when the first snow fall arrive." She stared into Hajime's eyes. "But don't worry, because once spring arrive the flower seeds that buried themselves in the ground will bloom again." She looked at Yul. " I see you got two of the five keys to No Man's Land."

Abrafo asked, " How do you know that we have two keys to No Man's Land?"

Zoya smiled and said, "Because one of the two keys is originally mine."

Abrafo asked, "Do you want it back?"

Zoya smiled and said, " I have already given it to the King of the North, why do I have to take it back? "

Hajime asked, "Can you tell us the name of the King of the North?"

Zoya said, " I heard his general call him Haneul, but I'm not sure if that was His Highness's nickname or His Highness's real name. I only know that he is the leader of four hundreds powerful mages."

U-ri said, " That is indeed our tenth King, King Haneul of Tangzang."

Michio asked, "My lady, can you tell us what happened here? Why so many innocent lives were sacrificed."

Zoya said, "They were not sacrificed, their lives were taken unwillingly by greed."

Michio said, "Please tell us."

"It's been years, but where do I start?" Zoya said. She sighed and walked back to the rock platform to sit down. "Back then, we were here waiting for His Highness to take back his kingdom. His Highness assured Hamza that when His Highness takes back his kingdom, our tribe will be welcome to live in Tangzang because Hamza has given away his personal sword as a gentleman token. Prince Jianjun ordered people to build a village on the outskirts of the capital for us to wait for His Highness. While we were there waiting for His Highness to return, our lives went on, but the friends we thought were actually the ones ready to stab us should we turn our backs on them."

(Flashback)

The music in the Throne Hall in the capital was lively, and the dancers and people were sitting and chatting happily.

Zoya sat next to Lan Huan. Sitting opposite Zoya and Lan Huan were Bao, Fang, and four-year-old Ming.

Lan Huan asked, "Oh, where is Saja?"

Zoya said, "He was here just now, but I didn't see him." She picked up the water in the bowl and took a sip. "You know very well that Saja is not like us."

Lan Huan said, "I know that he is an untouchable with no ability like us, but this is not the reason why I have always disliked him. The reason why I dislike him is because I feel his greed." She sighed heavily. "Why hasn't Hamza kicked him out of the tribe yet?"

Zoya said, "Hamza is such a person. No matter how bad others treat him, he will not treat others badly unless they really pose a threat to the villagers." She put the bowl she was holding on the table. "Do you regret it?"

Lan Huan asked, "What regret are you talking about?"

Zoya said, "Sign a blood pact with the Princess Consort."

Lan Huan said, "I don't regret it."

Zoya said, "I regret that I could not convince the most suitable master to be my master."

Lan Huan, "Of these two, which one are you referring to?"

Zoya said, "King Haneul rejected my proposal before he and his mages left for Tangzang."

Lan Huan asked, "His reason?"

Zoya said, "He said he didn't need a slave or any blood commitment. He accepted me as a good friend, not a slave. Before he went to Tangzang, he talked about his vision after regaining the kingdom." Zoya's vision slowly changed, and she blinked, but she couldn't see anything. "Huan... I lost my sight," she said, blinking again. "The water...the water..."

When hundreds of soldiers rushed into the Throne Hall, Dong, who was sitting two tables away, stood up slowly and walked towards the stairs. Everyone in the Throne Hall remained silent, staring at Dong.

Dong said, "Today should have been a good day for the prince to finally ascend the throne as the next emperor, but unfortunately, today is also a day for a new era."

The empress stood up and said, "What do you want to do?"

Dong said, "Cousin, I'm tired of waiting."

The emperor coughed heavily, and he said, "Are you plotting treason?"

Dong said "I did not commit any treason; I just deposed a weak emperor according to the people's wishes. Just like hundreds of years ago, the five kings decided to overthrow the original king." He looked at Jianjun and then at the emperor.  "Your son is too weak. Your weak son is no longer suitable to be the prince of Magior. The title crown prince is more suitable for my son, Si Tu." Lan Huan slid her thumbnail over the tip of her middle finger and placed her middle finger in the center of her palm. Lan Huan's eyes started to turn red.

Watching the children running on the riverbank, their laughter echoed under the shadow of the mountains. When the children saw Hamza pulling the fishing net towards the riverbank, they rushed towards Hamza.

"Grandpa... grandpa... Hamza has caught us some fish."

The children shouted excitedly and waited excitedly by the river with other elders.

Hamza pulled the net to the riverbank and the children ran to catch fish when a man ran towards Hamza, the children, and some elderly people.

"Hamza! Hamza!" the man shouted agitatedly.

Hamza dropped the fishing net on the ground and rushed to meet the man. "What happened?" Hamza asked.

The man said, " We saw a lot of soldiers coming towards us."

Hamza asked, "Where are Zoya and Saja?"

The man said, "Zoya and Saja are still in the palace."

Hamza turned towards the elders and children. "Gather the others together and go to our hiding place," he said. Hamza walked back to the man. "Let's go see what these soldiers want."

From a distance, Hamza saw soldiers and other villagers arguing, and some soldiers beating some male villagers. Hamza rushed forward, grabbed a piece of firewood, and threw it at the soldiers who were beating the villagers with whips. The piece of wood struck one soldier in the head, knocking him off his horse.

Tu looked down at Hamza and said, "How dare a slave like you hit a soldier? The penalty for hurting a royal soldier is beheading."

Hamza said, "The crown prince allows us to stay here temporarily to wait for King Haneul. We are the guests of the crown prince, so you cannot harm my people."

Tu laughed, and the laughter echoed. "Well, maybe you haven't gotten the news yet..." He smirked. "I say that you and your people are slaves, not guests."

Hamza looked up at Tu. "What do you mean?" he asked in shock.

"We are here to help you and your people be reborn." Tu smiled and said, "I hope you done good deeds this lifetime. Maybe when you are reborn, you will have a better ending."

Hamza said, "We are people of Tangzang. If you kill us, it will be equivalent to announcing to the whole world that you are waging war against Tangzang Kingdom. King Haneul will kill you."

Tu smirked and stared straight at Hamza. He gritted his teeth and said, "I do not fear your pathetic king of the north."