Chapter 841

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With disdain in his eyes, Temar glared at Murakan.

"Me, destroy Idal? Padler's kingdom? Did you really use such nonsense as justification for killing my comrades and clan knights?"

Murakan pulled the Barsada from his chest. Temar tried to retrieve the blade he was holding, but it didn't budge.

"Nonsense... Yes, I wish it were all just a wretched dream, I desperately hoped for that."

Black tears flowed down Murakan's cheeks as he gazed into a blurred vision. He was not seeing Temar in front of him. Instead, he was facing the truth of Ten Great Knights he had no choice but to kill himself.

The reason Murakan slaughtered Dranax and Kamalga was that they eventually succumbed to Zipfel's manipulation of history.

"Dranax, why are you doing this? What's the reason behind killing them? And not long ago, you attacked the allied clans - Piroth, Bile, and Ligan - and wiped them out."

Dranax blinked his eyes as if he didn't understand what Murakan was saying.

"What are you talking about? When did I do that?"

"What the...?"

Outside Dranax's camp, the blood of the villagers he had killed formed a river. Murakan had just witnessed this scene moments ago and hastily descended to the camp.

Moreover, the massacre was not limited to the vicinity of the camp. Most of the villages and cities he passed through on his journey had turned into ruins of death. They were all along Dranax's path.

"For God's sake... You don't remember what you just did?"

"Ah, leave me alone! I'm already exhausted from dealing with those Zipfel bastards, and now you come here spouting nonsense and gibberish. Are you out of your mind?"

"Please, Dranax, you can't do this... Get a hold of yourself. You've been resisting Zipfel's manipulation of history so far, haven't you?"

"Manipulation of history? What the hell is manipulation of history?"

A normal conversation was impossible.

Dranax had been completely consumed by Zipfel's manipulation of history. He and Kamalga were carrying out massacres without any awareness or recollection of their actions. They were slaughtering relentlessly, completely disconnected from reality.

When Dranax and Kamalga clan members killed people, they turned into monsters. Their bodies changed to purple, and their features were erased as they tore through people mercilessly.

Even children turned into such monsters. Even young ones who couldn't hold a sword transformed into monsters and roamed the cities, waiting for the time of slaughter.

And when the transformation ended, they remembered nothing, not even the existence of 'manipulation of history'.

Lokia referred to this state as "Wraith transformation."

[T/L: 망령화 - spectralization/ wraith transformation/ ghost transformation. I am using Ghost form as it will not be confused with the present words like 'spectre' and 'ghost'.]

"Murakan, those who became wraiths due to the manipulation of history have no way out, even for the Witch. Their condition will only worsen. The carnage and slaughter will intensify, and if they have no targets to kill, they will eventually turn on each other... and if that's impossible, they will turn to self-harm."

Lokia had already captured some of those affected by Wraith transformation and conducted several experiments.

"I even told the Witch that I would offer any sacrifice, but she said it would be absolutely impossible to lift the Wraith transformation unless some unknown god resurrects."

"What about the others... damn it... maybe the others don't come back, but Temar is a Genesis Knight. Did she also say there is no way for him to come back?"

"As the patriarch is Genesis Knight, there may be variables that even the Witch can not predict. But it's not just about wraith transformation for the patriarch; he has undergone complete demonization. Even if the patriarch were to return to his former state, the people he has killed won't come back to life. You have to admit, Murakan, we have lost."

"Shut up, Lokia."

"Padler became a vengeful spirit after the shock of the patriarch destroying Idal, and Dranax, Vyollo, and Frey became wraiths due to manipulation of history. Most of the remaining people are also in a dangerous state. Where is the hope? In order to save the survivors, we must stop the war."

"I said, shut up!"

"Since the patriarch became a monster, you are the only one who can persuade the head butler and the remaining comrades. Think carefully about what is the right thing to do. While you turn away from reality, the patriarch and our comrades continue the massacre. They are destroying the ones we tried to protect, the land we tried to protect, everything, all with their own hands."

Murakan didn't listen to Lokia's words any further.

He couldn't bear to hear it. Even without Lokia telling him, Murakan himself knew better than anyone else.

That there was no more hope.

Ten days later, Murakan went to find Dranax again. During those ten days, Dranax and Kamalga had been constantly drenched in blood that could never be washed away from their hands.

Murakan felt an overwhelming sense of guilt that he couldn't shake off, not just because of them but also from the people they had killed.

[I'm sorry, Dranax. I can't... I can't do anything else...]

"Murakan, everyone suspected you were a traitor, but I believed in you. I even came close to hitting those who said they couldn't trust you anymore, even my younger brother and the other knights. But in the end, this is how it turns out."

Murakan thought it might be better if Dranax resented him and met his end that way.

Rather than dying while remembering the massacre and carnage he had unwittingly caused, Murakan felt that facing Dranax's hatred would be a better choice.

Above all, Murakan believed that he deserved to be resented and cursed. Despite possessing such great power, he couldn't stop his comrades from becoming ghosts. Taking their lives was the only thing he could do.

[Dranax, don't forgive me.]

"Either you close your eyes, or open them. You can't forget the hateful glare in their eyes. Just like you are now, they must have truly felt betrayed."

Temar continued to draw strength to retrieve his sword. The aura and shadow force condensed on the blade exploded several times, but Murakan didn't flinch.

Vyollo Runkandel.

When Vyollo came to avenge Dranax, Murakan was burying the dead killded by Vyollo's hands.

Even in the presence of numerous corpses, Vyollo showed no reaction. He acted as if the corpses didn't exist at all.

"No, forget about us. Even in death, we won't forget you. I don't want to be remembered by you. Even as ghost, I will curse you, over and over again. The future that Solderet wished for will eventually be consumed by curses and blood and meet a dark end."

Murakan's heart was breaking.

While Vyollo spewed venomous words filled with hatred, Murakan continued to bury the bodies in silence.

After taking Vyollo's life, Murakan couldn't bring himself to bury him together with the others. He flew to a distant island and buried Vyollo there. The graves of Dranax and Kamalga that he had created before had already been found and destroyed by Zipfel without leaving a trace.

Vyollo's grave met a similar fate not long after. Murakan no longer had the strength to protect the graves of his comrades.

Swish….!

Eventually, the sword, Barisada, slipped from Murakan's grasp. Temar distanced himself, preparing his shadow sword once more, while Murakan muttered to himself.

"Yes, you're right... My actions can never be justified. No matter the reasons, I failed to protect my comrades. I abandoned those who trusted and relied on me."

The reason why no one lived near the Murakan Mountains was that Temar and the Ten Great knights, now turned into wraiths due to manipulation of history, were committing massacres. Refugees were fleeing from the entire Huphester alliance.

Frey was guiding them, ensuring that they didn't get injured in the ongoing Zipfel attacks. She was completely engrossed in commanding the battlefield, with no time to rest.

But at night.

Refugees who followed Frey, trusting and believing in her, met their end at the hands of her who turned into wraith. Once the wraith transformation was lifted, Frey believed that all the scattered corpses had been killed by Murakan.

She moved not out of resentment for Murakan, like Dranax or Vyollo, but out of a sense of obligation to save innocent lives. That's why, when Murakan came looking for her, she fought to escape, for the sake of saving more people. Unaware of the fact that she was responsible for the massacre.

Murakan could have easily defeated Frey, but each time, he couldn't bring himself to pursue her to the end. In her eyes, he saw a desperate determination to save others. Even though he knew that letting her go would lead to more deaths, his already broken heart couldn't muster the resolve to trample her in pursuit. His heart was already broken.

"You have gone mad... due to Zipfel's manipulation of history."

[Frey, that's right. All of this is manipulation. I've gone mad due to Zipfel's manipulation of history, while you saved countless lives from me. So now... rest.]

"If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have liked you... if I knew I would end up hating you like this."

The black smoke escaping from Murakan was once again cut by Temar's shadow sword.

The Murakan from a thousand years ago no longer felt pain. There was no more agony left within him. His already desolate mind was focused solely on one duty.

It was a sense of duty to grant rest to Temar and the others. The only thing driving Murakan was the mission to stop their slaughter and protect the remaining survivors.

It made him fight.

"You are the last one, Temar. I hope you are the last one. I've come looking for you over ten times. Believing that you, like none other, can overcome this dreadful fate. I've done everything I can. But there's nothing else I can do. Today, I will kill you and put an end to this war. We will be completely erased from history."

Murakan transformed back into his true form, spreading his two pairs of wings. The dark smoke that was being absorbed by the shadow sword rapidly dissipated into the darkness of the shadow force.

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