Chapter 271: After Sunset, the Night (1)

Cale was staying at Deputy Chief Priest Cotton’s house. He approached the window and drew the curtains.

Raon exclaimed, “Human, it looks like a festival!”

Just as Raon had said, the outside was lavishly decorated everywhere, as if preparing for a grand festival.

Ryan, the First star Dragon God of the ‘Domination’ attribute.

His castle was divided into an inner precinct and an outer precinct. The inner precinct was sort of a compound where Ryan resided on the upper floor, and in the castle’s basement, dreadful experiments, including “executions,” took place. The outer precinct was the space between the wall and the inner precinct, and various residents dwelled in a circle around Ryan’s precinct. It was like a small city with the lordly castle as its center. This forest, located in the heart of the desert, was like Ryan’s realm.

Wisha, the White Snake, who had approached Cale, murmured softly, “It’s funny that the day of the last execution is his own birthday.”

Cale paid her no mind. He continued to observe the residents of the outer precinct strolling through the streets adorned with a festive atmosphere and smiling.

Cotton approached.

“He’s a truly cruel guy.”

It had been a week since Cale learned of the day of the last execution. During that time, Cale had heard from Cotton and other members of the group still left about the things Ryan had done.

“They say that today, as it’s his birthday, he gave everyone except those who have to work in the inner precinct a day off to enjoy the birthday party.”

“He distributed food and all sorts of gifts. So, everyone is delighted. Especially, to the Beast People, whom he overworked, he gave freedom in the castle for a day.”

Cotton opened her mouth.

“At first, I thought, as he might become a God, he wanted to celebrate this day with such a spectacle.”

Her voice grew lower.

“We underestimated him. He’s truly insane.”

During the past week, an announcement had been made that if the word “Ryan” was spoken, even in the outer precinct, magic would be activated, and one would be arrested.

That was just the beginning.

“He says he’s going to put on a show at 6 p.m. What kind of lunatic turns the last execution into a spectacle?”

An order had been given to all living beings inhabiting Ryan’s Castle.

“Everyone must gather in the square in front of the precinct before 5:30 p.m.”

The square in front of the inner precinct, which had been a vacant lot, had been under construction for a week with a tall fence erected. And today, when the fence was removed, a large stage was revealed. It was said that from 6 p.m. onward, the stage would host Ryan’s speech and then a show for the residents.

“It’s not a show or anything.”

As Cotton murmured, it wouldn’t be a show, but the last execution that would take place there. And the seating arrangement to watch that show had also been announced in advance.

The stage was circular. A high platform would be built on the precinct side, where Ryan and his aides would sit to watch the show. The rest of the space would be divided by races.

One side for the Beast People.

One side for humans.

And the rest for other races.

“It’s clear it’s not a show, but he’s going to pull some kind of trick.”

Cotton, who had been muttering, glanced discreetly at Cale.

“Do you know?”

“What?”

Despite Cale’s dumb question, Cotton remained unfazed.

“Do you know what’s going to happen?”

At that moment, Cotton could see Cale staring at her intently. For some reason, she involuntarily shrank back from that transparent gaze and heard a soft voice.

“I don’t know right now.”

“!”

Cotton’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean?”

But Cale didn’t respond to her words. Instead, he headed towards the door.

“Are you going out? You can’t use disguise magic right now!”

As Cotton had said, in the current Ryan’s Castle, not only mentioning the name “Ryan” was prohibited, but magical surveillance had been expanded throughout the castle.

With just a bit of magic, they would catch you.

‘And besides, surveillance over the Beast People is strict.’

Although today the Beast People could roam freely, surveillance in the Beast People village during the past week had been stricter than in the precinct, and it was said that everyone coming in and out was checked.

Therefore, it wasn’t even easy for the White Snake to approach the Beast People.

‘It’s a shame.’

Those were the words Wisha had told Cale last night.

‘And I’m sorry.’

She bowed her head.

‘I tried to approach some of the Beast People leaders here and recruit them, but it wasn’t easy even to get close to them.’

They couldn’t even approach with magic, and it wasn’t easy to approach disguised.

If they were caught and everything collapsed, it would be a big problem.

“...”

Wisha silently looked at Cale and Cotton standing in front of the door, with guilt and disappointment in her eyes.

At that moment, Cale spoke.

“I won’t go out.”

“Then who will go out?”

In response to Cotton’s casual question, Cale opened the door slightly.

Creak~

And the outside air entered through the crack. Cale faced the wind and took out a golden top from his chest.

“Here they are.”

Choi Han timely handed him several pieces of paper folded small. Cotton’s eyes widened.

“Ah!”

And Cale placed the notes on his palm.

‘...Freedom!’

‘Wow! Is it our turn to work?’

The wind gathered in his palm.

Cale opened his mouth.

“I marked those from whom I’d like to receive a response, so bring me the responses.”

Even without magic, there are Elementals and wind everywhere.

Whoosh-

The notes scattered in different directions, flying like flower petals in the festival breeze.

Cale sat quietly in the chair and told Cotton.

“We’ll soon have the responses and know what he’s been up to.”

One of the notes flew swiftly.

‘Freedom, chaos, ...salvation!’

Dragon Letao.

The dragon who was to be sacrificed along with his daughter.

The Wind Elemental who had met him once moved swiftly.

Because he had to receive a response.

***

“What do you think?”

Dragon Letao looked up after looking at the hand on his shoulder.

Ryan.

Despite having a human form, his size was comparable to that of a tiger.

Beast.

If he were humanized, the existence that would best fit Ryan would be that.

Even the frenzied Beast People couldn’t compare to Ryan’s wild nature.

Yes.

The Blue Wolf.

If the being the Beast People called God were to have a human form, it would surely possess the same wild nature and dominant mastery as Ryan.

Dragon Letao was with him on the upper floor, Ryan’s residence, looking out the window.

Less than two hours remained until the final execution.

“What do you say?”

“Yes.”

Letao responded to the question.

“It’s ridiculous.”

The scene outside the window was ridiculous.

The stage erected in the square.

Are they saying they’re going to put on a show to celebrate the festival?

That stage was completely sealed with magic.

‘Because the bottom of the stage is connected to hell.’

Last week.

They connected that dreadful pit in the basement of the third floor to the ground beneath the stage.

The moment the stage floor collapses, that dreadful pit will appear.

‘Where did the Divine Treasure go?’

Yesterday, Ryan left with the Divine Treasure.

Thanks to that, Letao didn’t have to look at the pit today.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s hard to say those things.”

Tap, tap.

Ryan patted Letao’s shoulder and spoke softly.

“Isn’t this a happy day for you?”

Letao’s eyebrows moved. Seeing this, the corners of Ryan’s mouth lifted.

“It’s the day you finally reunite with your daughter and free yourself from all this. It’s the day you finally go back home!”

“Ha-”

Letao laughed involuntarily. Ryan said with a look of apology as if understanding that feeling.

“Yes, I can understand that you feel ridiculous from your perspective. All that time you suffered unjustly must feel hollow. You wouldn’t have gone through this if it weren’t for me.”

Ryan chuckled.

“But today it ends. It’s the liberation! So, enjoy the festival.”

“...It seems like the show that will unfold will be hellish, rather than enjoyable.”

Letao could see Ryan’s smile widening even more at his own words.

That appearance was so akin to a fierce beast that Letao shrugged involuntarily.

‘This bastard-’

Can that human defeat him?

Last week, there was no contact from him.

In fact-

‘Can that human be trusted?’

That question arose.

Because Letao wasn’t sure how to stop him despite knowing that hell was opening.

“Hell, huh. That’s a good expression, Letao.”

‘Crazy bastard.’

Letao cursed Ryan in his mind.

The many living creatures that will gather in the square today.

The Beast People among them will all die.

They will be pushed into the pit installed in the stage square.

They won’t even be able to escape.

Because Ryan’s soldiers and henchmen will impose death upon them while all the families are present to witness it.

That will be a horrific sight.

Even if they wanted to flee, they couldn’t.

In front of Ryan, fleeing only means death.

“Letao. But that hell isn’t your hell, right?”

“!”

In an instant, Letao’s anger intensified.

‘Since you’re going to offer me as a sacrifice!’

And you also plan to sacrifice my daughter!

And then what?

Isn’t it my hell?

This damn bastard!

Uung-

Letao’s mana involuntarily fluctuated around him.

The matter of his daughter

But the other party hasn’t made contact.

Moreover, in a situation where he was weaker than Ryan, he couldn’t act easily.

Above all, he couldn’t find his daughter.

“Letao.”

At that moment, Letao stopped at Ryan’s gentle voice.

“You have a truly kind heart. That’s why you rage over the death of those insignificant beings.”

The smile hanging from Ryan’s lips disappeared.

“But it will be troublesome if you defy me.”

Letao avoided Ryan’s fierce gaze.

“…I lost control of my emotions for a moment.”

Letao had to speak embarrassing but humble words.

“Yes. After all, you’re someone who can be reasoned with.”

Ryan smiled again and spoke to Letao softly.

“You will help me until the end. You know that, right?”

Letao perfectly understood the meaning of those words.

‘You have to help me until the end, even at the cost of your life and that of your daughter.’

However, Letao nodded without saying a word.

“Yes. I will keep my promise.”

“Of course.”

With those words, Letao left Ryan’s room. It was because Ryan said he had personal matters to attend to.

Click~

Leaving the room, he headed to his own. A guard followed him on the way. Letao felt suffocated.

‘What should I do?’

He was about to go crazy. What should he do? Although he had gathered as much information as possible just in case, he couldn’t see how to use it.

“Haha. See you later.”

The guard was an old mage. He saluted Letao in front of the room he had been assigned, and Letao sighed and entered his room without responding.

Bang!

And he closed the door. A room with no decent furniture, just a bed and a wardrobe. He sat on the bed and closed his eyes tightly.

‘Should I make a scene?’

Wouldn’t that be how he could at least rescue his daughter and escape? All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind.

‘If only I could use magic!’

Then he would have searched for that person somewhere and would have sent them the information!

Knock, knock.

‘Nothing works!’

Knock, knock.

“...”

Letao froze. He raised his head and looked out the window.

Knock, knock.

Someone was tapping the window.

But there’s nothing.

‘No!’

Something can be seen. Tiny things like snowflakes!

Letao jumped up and opened the window.

Whoosh...

A gust of wind entered the room.

It’s not magic.

Therefore, it’s not detected by surveillance.

But the wind wasn’t normal.

Whoosh~

It swirled around him.

“Ah!”

It’s an Elemental!

Letao immediately extended his palm.

The white snowflake was a note.

He unfolded the small folded paper.

<We have completed preparations for the overthrow.>

<Send the information you know.>

“Haha, hahaha-”

There were only two hours left.

And now they’re asking me to give them the information?

“Indeed.”

The only thing they need to know is that.

‘The stage.’

They’ll be asking me what that stage is.

He looked at the empty space on the paper.

‘A pen-’

He looked around.

“There isn’t one.”

There’s nothing that serves.

And it wasn’t a situation where he could use magic either.

Crunch.

Letao bit his finger to make a wound.

The blood spurted.

He began to write with that blood.

He didn’t feel pain.

Because within him was the information that compelled him to act.

<At this moment, the free Wind Elementals are searching for your daughter. They have found a secret prison, and it seems they will find her soon by following that trail.>

Cale hadn’t been idle.

He had already released the Elementals and had gathered all possible information, even searching for Letao’s daughter.

Drip, drip~

The blood dripped. But Letao paid no attention. He wrote down all the information he had on the paper. He etched into his memory the final content of the message Cale had sent him.

<The snake will rise. That is the beginning.>

“Haha, hahaha-”

Letao’s eyes gleamed.

Hope ignited in his pupils.

Yes, the hell that is looming is not mine.

Ryan.

It will be yours.

And the clock struck 6.

The residents who had been gathering since 5:30 sat around the stage.

As the sunset began to slowly spread, beautiful magical lights lit up around the stage, creating a rather enchanting atmosphere.

Ryan, seated on the backstage, was in the highest position, looking down at the people.

And Letao, sitting slightly below Ryan and looking at the people, didn’t see the sky turning red in the distance, the sunset.

“...Crazy...!”

The dragon Letao cursed unwittingly and stared fixedly at a place.

La-la-la...la-la-la...

Beautiful music played before the performance. But no one paid attention to the music.

Kwaang! Kwaang-

They only watched the huge figure approaching, breaking everything in its path.

A being that has lived as long as a Dragon, the being that has lived the longest on this earth among the Beast People.

A being that undoubtedly deserves the name of a spiritual creature.

Susu-sut--

A huge white snake tens of meters long stood with its back to the sunset, staring at Ryan.

However, Ryan did not look at the snake.

A blond man flying towards him.

“Where did a disrespectful brat come from to cajole an elder?”

The Ancient Dragon Eruhaben pronounced those words and waved his hand slightly.

Golden dust swirled around him, moving according to his gesture.

Kwaaahhhhhhh...!

On the stage, there was not a performance, but a roar.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]