#86
Everyone was using the same formation that Sehyun had designated a long time ago. The level at which vassals could be resurrected was mercenary, so soldiers below that level could not be revived if they died.
Maybe that’s why there were a lot of words that followed the soldiers. A throwaway horse, a pawn, a victim, a bait.
Among the soldiers, those with exceptional abilities were promoted to mercenaries, but most soldiers were used as discards during imperial wars. As such, soldiers were ‘horses’ that were easy to make and use. Unfortunately, most roads chose and used this method.
Because it was a game.
What Sehyun chose was a survival formation. Although there was an assumption that the vassals above the soldiers had to make some sacrifices, a method was established to ensure that no one was lost.
I hated seeing soldiers crying over the loss of their comrades, and it was sad to see them trembling in fear of death.
So, even if it was difficult, heroes and knights were placed at the forefront and warriors and mercenaries were led. The soldiers were placed on the walls of the castle where the magic bomb wave heat was activated, and they focused on survival strategies to support the hero and other vassals in the last line.
In fact, it was a formation that could be applied because it was a race with a lot of talent in archery.
It was almost like gambling. There were fears that the number of vassals fighting on the front lines would be so low that their morale would drop. It was a situation where every mistake could lead to distrust.
However, the retainers proved that Sehyeon’s choice was not wrong. He made that fact known through successive reports of victory, and gave thanks and honor to Sehyeon.
I still haven’t forgotten it. The tears shed by the vassals during the victory in which no one died.
So, the vassals will not lose this time either.
“Ha, ha… .”
“Sehyeon… ! Sehyeon, are you out of your mind? Uh, what should I do… . I am… Is there anything I can do to help?! Sehyeon… !”
“I… It’s okay… is… .”
Sehyeon took another potion and drank it. Yu Si-un’s face soon became contemplative. Trying to push away the worry in his watery black eyes, Sehyeon helplessly watched the status of the vassals’ departure.
It’s still okay. Not yet.
The addiction figure is 22%. The increase in value was low compared to drinking a potion once every 25 seconds. Although I felt exhausted at this level, it was worth holding on to.
It seems like he woke up with Yoo Si-woon’s help with that in mind, but perhaps he thought it was too easy, and as soon as he woke up, Se-hyeon ran into another difficulty. His body collapsed back onto the floor.
“Sehyeon!”
White letters appeared as if out of breath. A feeling of helplessness that was incomparable to before came along with heavy breathing. I could feel the explosion sound that seemed to rip my eardrums getting far away. What I could see through the earthquake shaking my vision was unwelcome news.
[You have acquired Depth of Love LV.2.]
[The current buff increase value of Depth of Grace is 24%.]
Level up news. As soon as he saw that, Sehyun’s eyes closed helplessly. Regardless of the potion being made, the situation became the same as before. A situation has arrived that is no different from before manufacturing. After a moment of despair, Sehyeon realized the symptoms of exhaustion and immediately drank the potion.
From now on, it was a race against time. There are at most 46 potions left. Sehyun opened his status window and checked the magic power consumption. I had to drink about one bottle every 13 seconds to barely maintain my skills.
“ha… .”
Sweat ran down the tip of my chin and dripped onto the floor. Sehyeon followed it with blurry eyes and drank the potion again.
Next to me, Yu Si-un was crying and shouting something, but I couldn’t hear him. However, Sehyun reassured him by smiling and telling him not to worry. When I emptied one bottle, two bottles, and countless bottles like that, the potion in my inventory was finally gone.
Sehyeon immediately stopped using the skill. And at that time, Yu Si-un’s surprised eyes looked across the terrace. Sehyeon, who struggled to follow him, could hear some news on his face. blank face. And a distorted feeling of emotion emerges.
The energy of fire passed through my entire body along with the wind. The feast of a huge explosion was transmitted through vibrations. I could tell without looking who the main culprit of the explosion that heated up the empire was. Ruhak.
“you… Siun… .”
A different sound began to spread throughout the empire that was on alert. Yoo Si-woon’s tear-filled eyes turned to Se-hyeon. Faint shouts began to be heard.
Sehyun said her last words to Yoo Si-woon.
“Kwak… Mr. Jeonghan… a little… Please release it… Please do it… yo. this.”
“Please leave it to me… . I must… I’ll pass it on. “Don’t worry, Sehyeon.”
Please leave it to me. Yu Si-un just repeated those words. It was the first time he looked directly at me since I came here. Sehyun’s eyes began to close.
Yu Si-un looked at this pitifully. The moment the tears that were welling up in his black eyes began to wet Yu Si-woon’s cheeks, Se-hyeon closed his eyes darkly, and all the people of the empire erupted in shouts of victory.
“Huh… .”
This was news I had experienced for the first time. It was a shout I had never heard before. I didn’t know whether it was such an overwhelming or thrilling experience until today. All Yoo Si-un experienced was the cries of the defeated soldiers. All I could see was the pitiful sight of the people of the empire crying bitterly after being invaded.
A shout I had never heard before reminded me of where it should be. Yu Si-un lifted her sleeve and wiped her eyes. I saw long, spread black wings approaching from afar.
Sehyun, who had fallen limply, was held in Yoo Si-woon’s arms. Yu Si-un carefully stretched out his hand and squeezed Se-hyeon’s hand.
Another world. What he showed was a different world that had never existed before.
***
When he was a child he couldn’t even remember, Penn lived a life among outcasts. All she remembered was the thin porridge she ate every night and the bladeless dagger she held to survive. The day the dagger broke, Fen killed a man, and her life as a tramp ended.
Hands tapping on the shoulders. I showed my sharp teeth and followed the person who showed me a large amount of money to buy you, and I grabbed my sword again. A dishonest sword that kills people.
I lived like that for decades, relying on the darkness. The dagger I received the second time became an old toothless sword again. Only then did Pen feel that it had been a long time.
Penn often looked to his past. It wasn’t because it had any meaning. That was the value of Pen’s life, and it was a feeling I barely remembered.
When all the feelings he had lost each time the scar was engraved on his hand disappeared, Fen slit his own throat. Even among the people who cried out for her life, her calm heart overflowed as if a dam had burst the moment she lost her childhood.
What I could see through my blinking vision was pure white snow. The day Penn died was a very cold day. The thing that came to mind as he faded away was the person from his childhood that he had thought he had forgotten.
A bowl of porridge was handed out to him indifferently as he squatted down hungry even after eating watery porridge. I couldn’t remember who was giving up his share.
However, Fen remembered that person’s smiling face. The hand that stroked my head full of kindness.
It was a hand with wrinkles. Nevertheless, I liked Pen’s generous touch, and I liked the attention he gave me as if he felt sorry for me.
Actually, maybe it was something that needed attention. I thought it had already grown so much that it had become dull, but that wasn’t the case.
The reason I wanted to remember my childhood was because I missed the touch I hadn’t received since then. Fen shed tears as her vision was disappearing.
Only the cold wind from the snow-covered earth swept past his cheeks.
That was the last memory of Pen’s life.
And when I opened my eyes again, the pen was in a completely different place. It was raining, not cold snow. Between the foot of the mountain where the air is clear. What was visible through the falling rain was a shabby entrance with a sloppy fence. No, it was a small town.
Fenn walked briskly to the village covered in a faint fog. In the shabby village he arrived at after stepping through muddy water, there were two people waiting for Pen, one with a faint face and one with a clear face.
They were the first king and grand duke. And from then on, Penn’s hellish life repeated itself. Endless repetition. He had to live his life as a vassal without even knowing why, had to sacrifice himself for the king, and had to repeat the same cycle without being able to rest even after death.
No one knew why, and no one could find it. Also, I couldn’t escape. Every time the king was replaced, everyone repeated the same life countless times, becoming increasingly impoverished. There was only one person who never gave up until the end. It was only the Archduke.
From the first arrogant king to several kings who shook the public sentiment with neglect and dictatorship, the vassals have endured together through difficult times. And then I gradually realized it.
Unless the Archduke’s ‘dream’ comes true, no one can escape from this place.
Only the Archduke knew the whole reason. But he was always silent, and no one tried to break that silence.
This place was hell. It wasn’t even the afterlife. Many people were summoned, but there were still no children. There were relatively many men and those with relatively familiar eyes and experience lived under the rank of vassal.
There is only one thing in common. All of them had experience with murder. This was a place where only adults who had committed sins came, and it was a world of the dead where only those who had killed people came.
