Beastly savior 92

Chapter 92. A brutal reunion stained with death

***

After more than a month of siege, the gates were finally breached.

It was an inadequate force that would not have lasted a week in the first place.

Arrow-riddled, hedgehog-turned-soldiers lay in a heap beneath the walls.

The buildings within the city were ablaze, and the streets were filled with the sulfurous odor of gunpowder weapons.

Kayan's army rushed toward the palace with terrifying speed.

On the very day that Kayan entered the gates, the son of Queishans, who had been appointed commander-in-chief and was in charge of the army, was gravely wounded by an arrow.

The news spread in all directions, causing a great stir.

The emperor's troops, having lost their leader, were at a loss whether to fight this unwinnable battle to the end or to lay down their arms and flee.

The allies, on the other hand, were busy becoming ferocious slaughterers, stirring up a storm of blood wherever they went.

Hot blood clung to the frozen ground.

Most of it belonged to those defending the capital on the Emperor's side.

The warriors became even more frenzied when they saw the spattered blood of their enemies.

There was no mercy for the sword just because the enemy was their own kind.

They had long since forgotten what they were fighting for, or why they were cutting people to pieces so brutally.

The Allies had become venomous vipers, tearing frail mice apart and playing with them.

It was a violent killing spree that sent chills down their spine.

Countless bodies were gruesomely torn to pieces and strewn on the ground.

The war seemed to be coming to an end.

"Your Majesty, you must flee at once!"

An aide shouted as he rushed into Hashad's office.

It would take Kayan’s forces less than a day to storm the palace.

It would only be a matter of time before they occupied the place.

The Alliance's advance was moving faster than expected.

"Damn it!"

Harshad's hands shook as he crumpled several pieces of paper on the table.

It was a reply from the neighboring country that hadn't sent reinforcements after all.

"You can't delay any longer."

At the aide's urging, Hashad jumped to his feet.

He and his aide hurried toward the secret passage.

The palace was designed with escape routes for stealthy travel in times of emergency.

The pathway, which led underground, would allow the emperor to leave the palace unnoticed and safely out of the capital.

The palace also had several fake passages with similar doors, but Hashad was the only one who knew the real one.

It was a device to confuse the enemy so that they could not easily determine where the emperor had escaped to.

He paused at the entrance to the secret passage and looked back.

He realized the precarious position he was in, barely alive, and on the run, would die at any moment.

He wanted to get back at the man who had made him this way, somehow.

Somehow, some way.

He turned his head back to the front, hoping that the trap he had planted for the future would one day be his lifeline.

Then the rough footsteps of Hashad and his entourage descended the fire escape.

***

"Ugh!"

"Gahhhhh!"

"Help!"

Panicked screams rippled through the Anut Imperial Palace.

The leader of the Black Wolves led the way and entered the palace.

The courtiers scrambled to flee in a panic when they saw the enemy army covered in seven armor layers of blood.

The heads of the imperial guards who fearlessly stopped them rolled like stones on the ground.

"The Allies have invaded the palace!"

Ihedia had heard the cries of the courtiers.

As she fidgeted helplessly with Adeline in her arms, Garel entered the room.

"Lady Ihedia, get out of here!"

Garel hurried over and yanked Ihedia's wrist.

Ihedia gave her a puzzled glance.

With the allies now in the palace, going outside was like finding a way to die.

Then Garel's urgent explanation came.

"The courtiers told me the other day that there's a secret passage in the palace. We need to move quickly. The child must be saved at all costs."

"Thank you, Garel."

Ihedia was sincerely grateful that Garel hadn't forgotten about her.

She wanted nothing more than to protect Adeline, who had just seen the light of day, from any terrible situations.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Garel accompanied Ihedia underground.

"I thought they told me this was the location.................."

Garel stopped at a dead end and looked around the wall.

She was puzzled that she had come as far as the courtiers had told her, but she could see nothing.

She wasn't even sure what the secret passage looked like, so she assumed it would be obvious once she got there.

But no matter how she looked, she couldn't see an exit.

"Oh no, it was a rumor...."

Garel muttered in dismay.

Ihedia followed her, scrutinizing every inch of the wall.

It wasn't uncommon for a place as high up as the Imperial Palace to have secret passages like this.

She had never used it herself, but there were similar pathways in Elmir’s palace.

She once saw the blue print for the palace in her father's office as the first emperor.

It was a blur, so she couldn’t be sure, but these secret passages weren't just open to anyone like the regular entrances.

The door could only be opened by pressing a special device hidden somewhere.

It would have to be installed in a tiny seam.......

Ihedia ran her hand slowly along the wall, looking for a snag.

Then her touch stopped at one spot.

A subtle sensation passed through her fingertips.

"There it is.”

She couldn't see it with the naked eye through the wallpaper, but there was definitely something here.

Ihedia tapped the spot.

It sounded hollow, unlike the others.

She scratched with her nail and tore the wallpaper away.

Then she saw a small square wooden box attached to the stone wall.

She opened the lid and saw what looked like a round button inside.

Ihedia carefully pressed it.

And then, with a dull thud, the wall moved, revealing a hidden entrance.

"Oh my God, this is it!"

Garel clapped her hands in delight.

But Ihedia was not so sure.

Someone in the Emperor's entourage must have known this place already, so why was the wallpaper still intact?

Maybe there were multiple entrances to the passageway.

"Kaaaaaah!"

A series of screams drowned out the questions in Ihedia's mind.

"Come on!"

Garel tugged at Ihedia, rushing inside, slamming the door shut and snapping the latch.

They hurried down the stairs.

The place felt dingy and chilly, as if it hadn't been inhabited in a long time.

Adeline cried, uncomfortable with the change in atmosphere.

Ihedia soothed and comforted her, and they continued on their way.

After a while.

"I think we're almost there!"

Garel's voice rose a tone and she pointed ahead.

There was a door that appeared to be the exit.

Ihedia took a deep breath and opened the door.

And then...................

"Ugh!"

The door opened to reveal a scene of warriors slashing at each other.

The Alliance was slashing at the palace guards.

It was the road leading out of the palace.

Garel clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.

"There's the Emperor's consort!"

Someone shouted, and several of the warriors turned toward the women.

Murderous grins spread across their lips.

As Garel dragged Ihedia back into the passageway, a small knife thrown by someone grazed their side and lodged in the door.

Ihedia paled and ran blindly in the opposite direction of them.

At her feet lay the bodies of the bodyguards, already slain in battle.

All around her, the sound of death filled the air.

The chilling clink of metal, the loud clang of a killer's sword with each stroke, or the screams of death.

And then there were the cries of a fragile life that seemed so out of place in Ihedia's arms.

Ihedia ran and ran to protect Adeline.

It was all she could do now.

As she ran, hot blood gushed from the neck of the man beside her, drenching her platinum hair, but she didn't notice.

All she wanted was to get away from this nightmarish place.

But soon enough, her feet stopped and she could no longer move.

A figure appeared in front of her, and she opened her mouth, stunned.

"Lord Kayan...."

The words came out like a faint moan, drowned out by the cacophony around her, unable to reach her opponent.

Kayan, clad in bloody armor, stared down at her in silence.

His brow was stained red with the blood of others.

But his impassive expression was devoid of any emotion.

In his hands, Kayan held a sword drenched in blood and the head of an enemy soldier.

His appearance was grotesque, as if he were not a human being at all, but a grim reaper.

With his gaze still on her, Kayan threw the head he held to the ground.

It rolled a short distance in Ihedia's direction, then stopped.

The corpse's bulging eyes glared at Ihedia.

His eyes closed and opened lazily, and he exhaled a little ragged breath.

His icy gaze settled on Ihedia and the child she held in her arms.

The two stood there for a moment, neither saying a word.

It was a brutal reunion, tinged with death.

***

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