Second World

Chapter 816. Red Death’s Resolution

As Rayne was about to land a killing blow, Prince Alonzo shouted from above, ”Stop!!”

Rayne stopped due to the shout. When Prince Alonzo saw Rayneʼs dagger was still aiming at Therribus, he uttered, ”Stop! Killing the crown prince is a grave sin. You will receive heavy punishment. Just detain him!”

Therribusʼ army tried to go their lord, but attacks from above immediately rained down on them again when they moved.

”Nobody, move!” Rayne bellowed, still holding Therribus.

Everyone stopped. Polomʼs health was critical already. Robin was also not in a good shape, he was staring at Rayne. He didnʼt dare take another step. It was very easy for Rayne to take the crown princeʼs life at this time.

”You have lost! We will take Therribus captive. Lay down your arms! Or we will end all of you here,” Alonzo warned.

Therribusʼ army turned to Therribus who was still held by Rayne.

Therribus, who heard that, laughed instead, ”Hahaha. You are no prince, Alonzo! And certainly not worthy of being a king. You showing mercy just goes to show that you donʼt have the mettle to sit on the throne!”

”I never want the throne!” Alonzo uttered. ”Brother, stop this madness! Our people are dying needlessly due to this conflict.”

”Hmph! What I do, I do it for the sake of this kingdom. A little boy like you wonʼt understand the burden of leading a country. You donʼt have what it takes to make the difficult choices. You canʼt even see the true enemies that stand right beside you! You let these invaders run freely in our world, you are the one that should stop your madness!”

”What enemies? You are just letting your fear of the unknown control you!”

”And you let your ignorance blind you from seeing the face of danger!”

Jack, who stood beside Alonzo, said, ”Your Highness… Where I came from, we have many evil people. The evilest ones all have one thing in common. They believe they are doing the right thing, that the sufferings and the casualties they caused are all necessary for the greater good. There is no point arguing with such people. Their point of view is so different that you might as well speak two different languages.”

”I… I still have to try,” Prince Alonzo said.

Therribus laughed again. ”Do you think you can detain me, Alonzo? My followers will fight till their last breath to free me. You wonʼt hold me for long!”

”What he says makes sense, your highness,” Jack said to Alonzo. ”If you donʼt end this here. This civil war will continue.”

”I… I canʼt… He is my flesh and blood…,” Alonzo uttered.

Jack saw Alonzoʼs undecided expression, but then he realized Alonzo was also just a teenager. The same as him. He never had a sibling. But he imagined if he did, even one as awful as Therribus, would he be able to order a death sentence for that sibling?

”Hahaha! You are worthless,” Therribus mocked. ”It is my destiny to be the king. This is just a hiccup in my ascend to the throne. I will… Urgh!”

Everyone turned to Therribus after hearing his groan, expecting Rayne to have decided to ignore Alonzoʼs order. Yet, Rayne wasnʼt moving. He was similarly displaying a surprised expression. Beside him, Red Death had appeared delivering a backstab to Therribus.

She had used Vanish to turn invisible before jumping down and using Rogueʼs skill, Finishing Blow. Aside from the increased damage from the skill, the stab was also boosted by Backstab skill and ambush bonus. The resulting damage took out Therribusʼ already low HP.

”This is for Rhemos!” Red Death uttered.

”Brother!” Alonzo shouted.

”Your Highness!” Therribusʼ soldiers lunged forward after seeing their princeʼs fallen body.

”Stay back!” Serpent Boss uttered and shot his rifle. The others also started shooting again, killing a score of Therribusʼ army.

Robin, who was the fastest, managed to get to Therribus first. He checked the body, confirming the crown prince to be gone already.

”You murderer!” Robin shouted in rage. He fired an arrow at Red Death, but the arrow was cut mid-flight. Rayne was standing in front of Red Death, protecting her.

Robin turned to his comrades. Only a few were left. Polom, who was in critical health, didnʼt join the others when they lunged. But they would all be annihilated if they didnʼt surrender.

Robin looked at Therribus who was laying on the ground under his feet. He gritted his teeth and shouted, ”Stop! We surrender!”

Jeanny heard the declaration and ordered everyone to stop attacking.

Once things calmed down, Jeanny demanded Therribusʼ surviving army to move away, close to the still-burning forest.

Jack summoned Pandora again and said to Alonzo, ”Your Highness, do you wish to go down there?”

”Yes…,” Alonzo replied.

Jack carried him down to where Therribusʼ body was. Alonzo knelt beside the body and stayed silent for a long while. Jack went over to where the remnant of Therribusʼ army was standing and take Samuelʼs body. Therribusʼ army remained still and didnʼt do anything to Jack. They gave him hateful glares, though.

Jack carried Samuelʼs body to where Alonzo and Therribus were. He watched Alonzoʼs mournful expression and then looked at Samuelʼs body. He asked Peniel in his mind, ʼIs there no healer in the army with a Resurrection spell like Laurent?ʼ

ʼResurrection spell is very rare. Laurent has it because he used to be a prominent member of the Church of Creation,ʼ Peniel explained. ʼPerhaps there are a few in the army who has that spell, but I doubt they are here in this war.ʼ

ʼCanʼt we call Laurent here?ʼ

ʼHis resurrection spell has a three-hour cooldown. By the time his spell is off-cooldown, it has passed the one-hour limit that Samuel can be resurrected. Iʼm assuming it is Samuel that you want to resurrect?ʼ

ʼYes…,ʼ Jack sighed.

Jack laid Samuelʼs body down gently. They didnʼt start off in the best way, but this old warrior had proven to be an honorable fighter and a loyal follower. It was a pity that he couldnʼt be saved.

While Jack was lamenting Samuelʼs fate, Alonzo stood up and said to Red Death. ”You have committed a grave sin of murdering a prince.”

Hearing that, Jack came to her defense. ”Your highness, this is war. You shouldnʼt hold her responsible.”

”Therribus was captured already. She assaulted a powerless man!” Alonzo uttered.

”She fought for you in this war, Your Highness,” Jack reminded.

”She did… But it canʼt absolve her from her crime. She will be banished! She will be escorted to this kingdomʼs border and will no longer be welcomed here. If she does, she will be hunted and put in prison.”

”Your Highness…!” Jack shouted, attempting to argue, but a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned and saw it was Jeanny.

He received a message from her then. ʼThe prince is actually doing her a favor. If she stays in this country, she will be a target by Therribusʼ loyalists who seek revenge.ʼ

”But…,” Jack didnʼt think it was fair. Maybe Red Death had dealt the finishing blow to Therribus to take revenge for Rhemos, but her action had also helped Alonzo remove his predicament. Sparing the crown prince would inevitably prolong this civil war. It was unreasonable for Red Death to suffer for an action that had brought peace back to this kingdom.

Red Death, however, didnʼt appear dissatisfied by the verdict. ”I accept,” she said.

Jack came to her. ”Are you sure? You can join our guild. You will be safe in our guild headquarters. You can teleport to any country and come back anytime you want.”

”I said already, I ainʼt going to join your guild,” Red Death said. ”I intend to leave anyway. Iʼm going to search for Black Death. Only after finding her that I will return and sort out Death Associates guild.”

Jack sighed. ”Where will you be going then?”

”Someplace where my gui… my ex-guild has not yet accessed till now. Either Hydrudond Dominion, Liguritudum Realm, or the Republic of Palgrost.”

”My guild has access to all those countries.”

Red Death gave Jack an annoyed stare, to which Jack just shrugged.

”Have you tried the Missing Outworlders Coordination Center?” Jack asked. ”They probably have info about this Black Death you are searching for.”

”I have. They donʼt have info about a person resembling her description,” Red Death replied.

”By the way, what loots did you get from Therribus?” Jack asked.

Red death didnʼt answer his question.

”Take care of yourself, okay?” Jack said. ”I donʼt have any more recall plates, but if you need help, just holler. I will come running.”

”Do you think I need a hero?”

”Uh… I guess not,” Jack scratched his head.

”Donʼt worry, I will look after her,” Rayne said. Then to Red Death, she said, ”My lady, do you mind if I become your companion?”

Jack and Red Death turned to him with surprised expressions.

”My lord, Rhemos, respected you a great deal. So am I. I am in your debt for exacting his vengeance when I hesitated for fearing the consequences.”

”I will be depending on you then,” Red Death said.

”Damn, girl. You get yourself a rare elite companion that is higher level than mine,” Jack complimented.

He checked his status window to check Arlcardʼs situation. The vampire was still alive and still fighting. Arlcard had increased in level again. This time by two levels to level 58. All the enemies killed during the war as well as the partial exp from killing Garland must have given him lots of exp points. But even then, he still lost to Rayne who was a level 65 rare elite.

The battle at fort Garadhor was still ongoing. Jeanny had sent a message to The Man in the front line to inform commander Quintus that Therribus had fallen. Commander Quintus had his troops shout the news. Therribusʼ army didnʼt believe, of course, but it still lowered their morale. They looked at the burning forest in the distance. Some even broke away from the battle to head to that forest.

Since Therribus had been defeated and Alonzo was safe. Armstrong gave the command for the army to fight defensively. They tried breaking away from the enemies to minimize casualties, at the same time also marching to the burning forest.

”You are the one that leaked the information about the siege weapons, arenʼt you?” Jack asked Rayne.

Rayne nodded. ”Prince Rhemos gave me his last order before he dies. He asked me to pretend to submit to prince Therribus and worked in the shadow against him. That if he couldnʼt be the king, then Therribus shouldnʼt be allowed to, either. Now that I have carried out the order, my duty is fulfilled. Iʼm no longer part of the Themisphere kingdom. I will go where I wish from now on.”

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