Part 3, Chapter 12: Birae (悲來) — When Sorrow Arrives

The number of signal fires to be lit is determined by the strength of the tremors that occur before the opening of the Hell Realm. Normally three signal fires would shake the entire Geumju area, and a sensitive person could feel it even near the capital. But an earthquake felt by everyone in the imperial palace like this was a first.

It was known that four signal fires were lit in the event of an unprecedented crisis, but even if such a thing actually occurred, not adding the additional signal fire was the policy internally. This was to prevent the chaos and accidents that would unfold among the populace afterward.

Yunseo tried to calm his anxious heart in the swiftly moving palanquin by gnawing at his fingertips, but it did not come easily. Why had a tremor equivalent to four signal fires suddenly occurred? Could it perhaps be that using the guardian star there previously had been the cause?

Since Hwi had departed first, he had to soothe this anxiety and fear alone. Yunseo clasped both hands until his fingertips went scarlet and rested his forehead on top of them.

Please, please let it not be that. Let it just be a chance occurrence, a light accident that will pass over.

There was no choice but to seek the Dragon God with desperate heart. He felt a little guilty for praying each time like this, but in moments like this, being able to do nothing except seek the divine was something that made him feel powerless as well.

No. Unnecessarily negative thoughts will only devour oneself. Even if the worst comes to pass, they will be able to overcome it well. This country, protected by the striving and sacrifice of so many people, cannot crumble so easily.

When he finally arrived at Geumju Fortress, a foreboding and eerie aura was lodged like moss between the walls, accumulated layer upon layer in a way different from usual. Yunseo bit down on his trembling lips and leapt up onto the fortress wall.

And an appalling landscape spread before his eyes. His knees gave way; he pressed his hands against the battlements and barely kept his collapsing body upright.

The already opened Hell Realm was in the midst of spewing out darkness in a surging flood. They were so countless that they appeared not as individual entities but as a single enormous natural disaster. Like a tidal surge, a fierce dust storm, a landslide pouring down boulders and earth.

Witnessing the hell that filled the plain as far as the eye could see, the composure he had steeled himself with dissolved meaninglessly, and an instinctive fear and helplessness assailed him. That they would surely lose in the end. That they would kneel and submit and ultimately all crumble.

He could not control the trembling at his fingertips. Giving in to the impulse to simply escape this place, to the instinct to throw everything down and cling to life even a little longer, he was stepping back one step when a man came into his eyes — swinging his sword widely and cutting down monsters ceaselessly without pause.

Hwi was out there. In the very heart of that terrifying hell. Yunseo curled his trembling fingers into a fist and watched Hwi fighting desperately, then turned around.

Inside the fortress walls, barracks were being erected under the direction of the imperial guards. It was a space for the Yongrin's treatment. Yunseo gathered to one side the court nobles who had been keeping Geumju Fortress and those arriving one after another. The senior consort, the second consort, even the court noble — all gathered in one place.

The faces of the younger court nobles, including the court noble, were stained with fear and confusion. His heart was beating madly to the point where his own pulse seemed to reach his ears, but Yunseo feigned a calm expression and looked around at the court nobles.

"Treatment will proceed in the conventional manner, but it would be good to aim for the greatest number treated as quickly as possible, rather than complete cure. What do you think?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Targeting seventy percent recovery, I will quickly sort out those who will perform surface contact and those who will perform full union and distribute duties accordingly."

"The matter of suppressing rampaging sacred power is also important, so those court nobles who are fully capable of using that power shall stand by on the fortress wall."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The system was already in place, and there were Yeongchunhwa with far more experience than himself, so there was nothing to worry about. Yunseo looked one by one at the tense faces, the resolute faces, the frightened faces, the faces not knowing what to do — marking each in his eyes — and then spoke.

"They — we — have held back that hell countless times, and this time will be no different. Do not be disturbed; fulfill your duties in your place."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Under the direction of the instructors, the court nobles moved busily. The physicians prepared decoctions for the Yongrin and Yeongchunhwa, and the palace servants rushed about helping the physicians and imperial guards. Everyone was striving to fulfill their given duty in their own place.

Suppressing the emotion that welled up, he returned to the top of the fortress wall. The senior consort was watching the battlefield with her fist clenched tightly. Yunseo went to her side, his lips moving before he let out a helpless voice and revealed what was on his mind.

"I do not know what I should be doing."

The senior consort looked at Yunseo. She met his gaze with eyes that were solemn yet had not lost their gentle light.

"Your Majesty. Below there is the second consort, and up here there is this one. You may leave the miscellaneous affairs to us. Right now, more than anything else, what matters is the Emperor's safety — please, Your Majesty, preserve your strength."

"……Thank you."

The fact that he was not alone, that he was here together with them and that everyone had his back, gave Yunseo courage. Yunseo stood upright, not fleeing, not fearing, and watched the fierce battle unfolding on the plain.

The Yongrin, deployed in a wide formation, were arrayed in three rows. While the Yongrin in the front engaged the monsters, those standing behind them dealt with monsters breaking through and guarded their comrades' backs. The rear Yongrin waited and stood watch, and when time passed exchanged places with the front.

It was a strategy to preserve sacred power as much as possible. Even as rotations continued, Hwi did not fall back even once and guarded the center, hacking at monsters.

The three-layered wall the Yongrin had created was solid. Without so much as a gap that even the smallest fragment could slip through, hope arose that if they only held on like this, there would be a chance of winning.

However, as one hour passed, then two hours, the Hell Realm showed no sign of closing and kept endlessly spewing out its dark vomit like a bottomless jar. The number of Yongrin coming away from the chaos to receive treatment kept increasing.

Multiple Yeongchunhwa were attached to a single Yongrin for treatment, and the Yongrin so healed had to climb back over the fortress wall without even a moment's rest. From time to time the sound of Yongrin's battle cries driven to their limit rang out from the quiet plain. Every one of them was burning their bodies as though with a cliff behind them.

But the enemy — something that feels no pain, does not shed a drop of blood, does not even cry out. A monster that is not of this world.

A helpless anger rose from his feet upward. Yunseo clenched his fist with his teeth gritted.

He would not be defeated by this purposeless anguish. He would endure by making it his driving force. Even if there was nothing he could do but endure and hold on.

After swinging his sword in a wide arc and shaking it clean, Hwi turned and came leaping over the Yongrin's wall. Yunseo pressed close to the battlements wanting to reach him even a moment sooner. Before long Hwi arrived in the blink of an eye and came leaping to land before Yunseo. Without either one leading, their lips crashed together.

Yunseo held the back of Hwi's neck with one hand and placed the other on his chest. He gathered saliva imbued with guardian star and passed it over while breathing guardian star in through his fingertips. Hwi's sacred power surged and greedily drank in Yunseo's strength.

Having fought for two hours without rest, the poison had built up in a terrible mess. Rather than unraveling it strand by strand, he injected a condensed mass to scatter it. Hwi made a sound like a growl scratching his throat and drove roughly under Yunseo's tongue.

An intense heat radiated from Hwi's body. Even while greedily seeking Yunseo's saliva, Hwi's hands softly traced Yunseo's cheek. A faint smell of dust emanated from him. The heartbeat felt beneath his hand was faster and more fierce than usual.

He felt anew that the place Hwi had just come from was a battlefield. Yunseo treated him with a more desperate urgency than ever before. As the feeling of Hwi gradually finding stability reached him, a tender yet sorrowful feeling boiled within.

Hwi gripped Yunseo's shoulder and withdrew his head. He wiped the lips of Yunseo, who was breathing hard, and lifted the corner of his mouth faintly.

"I'll be going again."

"Your Majesty……!"

Yunseo grabbed Hwi's arm just as he was about to leave, looked up at him with wavering eyes, and released the words caught in his throat.

"Come back."

Hwi gripped tight and then released Yunseo's hand that was holding his arm, and smiled with no fear and no concern.

"I promise."

When he nodded, Hwi turned and ran again toward the battlefield, toward that hell. Yunseo fiddled with his hand that still held Hwi's warmth and watched his retreating figure without end.

He followed Hwi with his eyes as he dove back into the fray with even more lightness now that his strength had returned, then checked the interior of the fortress. Everyone moving busily was focused on the Yongrin's recovery.

The second consort stood to one side, assigning Yongrin in need of treatment to barracks and finding the court noble with the most compatible guardian star for each.

The court noble was examining the condition of court nobles who had finished treatment alongside the physicians. If this became a prolonged battle, the Yeongchunhwa's reserve of strength would be the key — so it was essential to manage their strength well from now.

Fortunately the situation inside the fortress walls was running tightly and smoothly without a gap, so it seemed he could set his worries aside. Turning his head back to observe the Hell Realm, Yunseo's brow immediately furrowed deeply.

One Yongrin standing in the rear broke away toward the back. His gait was unsteady for someone coming to receive treatment. He was running quickly and approaching when, like a branch snapping, he collapsed forward with a thud. Then his body twisted and seized.