Chapter 314

Chapter 314

There was no one who could stop the charging Urich. He went straight for the young man holding the meteorite dagger.

‘Why?’

Despite his eyes trembling, the young man’s well-trained body moved before he could even think, reflexively raising his meteorite dagger to face Urich.

Crash!

As Urich and the young man clashed, the table laden with food toppled over.

“Ooooooh!”

Even amidst the chaos, Urich reached out and managed to grab the young man by the neck.

Crack!

Then he squeezed as if he would snap it.

The young man, with veins bulging on his face, held the dagger upside down and stabbed Urich's forearm.

Schluck!

Urich flinched as his arm was stabbed. Taking advantage of the moment, the young man kicked Urich's jaw.

Thump!

The kick landed so forcefully that Urich’s head snapped back. The young man smiled in satisfaction.

‘I have no idea why he's attacking me, but...’

The young man was sure Urich would fall after seeing his upper body sway until it almost touched the ground.

But the smile on the young man’s face quickly vanished, and he was soon faced with a chill that made him feel as if he were facing a beast.

Kiiiing.

The young man saw a flash of bright yellow light in Urich’s eyes. Just before falling, Urich straightened his upper body and reached out.

“Kugh!”

Using the momentum to his advantage, Urich swung his fist.

Urich’s punch struck the young man’s chest. The young man felt as if his heart and lungs had stopped from the impact.

‘It feels like I’m fighting a beast.’

The fallen young man watched Urich striding over. With his arms wide open and strides long, Urich was terrifying.

‘I need a bigger weapon. He’s not someone I can take down with a dagger.’

But there was no time to find another weapon. The hulking Urich was already looming over the fallen young man, exuding dominance as only his menacing eyes shone with the light behind his back.

Thwip!

Urich flinched and turned around. Soldiers had entered the banquet hall and shot at Urich with crossbows, lodging arrows into his thighs.

Thwip!

As three soldiers fired their crossbows in succession, another arrow deeply pierced Urich’s side.

“Stop! Stop!”

Gottval rushed at the soldiers to restrain them, but the soldiers were just doing their job, which was to stop anyone who was causing chaos in the banquet hall.

“That hurts....”

Urich limped, clutching his bleeding side where the arrow was embedded, still not taking his eyes off the young man with the meteorite dagger.

A flustered Louyan ran between the young man and Urich.

“What do you think you’re doing?! No, we need to get you some treatment first!”

“Treatment? What treatment? This thing’s going to heal on its own with some pressure and spit. Move aside. I need to kill that guy first,” Urich said, looking over Louyan’s shoulder.

“That man is an envoy from the Alliance!”

“I know. He’s also the guy who is going to try to kill you.”

Urich looked at the fallen young man and noticed that he bore a striking resemblance to Samikan.

“Why would an envoy from the Alliance want to kill me?”

Urich couldn’t answer. To explain why Samikan’s son was targeting Louyan, he would have to reveal his lineage.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding, but it doesn’t matter. If you want to keep fighting, I’ll oblige.”

The young man stood up, still holding the meteorite dagger. He glared fiercely at Urich; his fighting spirit undeterred by Urich’s intimidation. It was clear he had been trained as a warrior.

The banquet hall turned into a mess in the blink of an eye. While the attendees murmured, trying to grasp what had just happened, Varca tried to contain the situation before it got any worse.

“Stop! What is the meaning of this commotion in the banquet hall? I will be the one to judge who is right and wrong. Sir Aktur, arrest those causing the disturbance!” Varca quickly called the soldiers and shouted.

‘Don’t cause any more trouble, for now, Urich.’

As if he read Varca’s intention, Urich complied with the arrest without resistance.

“We need to get him some treatment first. If we don’t...”

Gottval looked at the arrow lodged deep in Urich’s side. It was clear it had penetrated deeply enough to reach his organs.

“...Gottval, I don’t know if you know this, but that guy is the son of Samikan, whom I killed. We need to stay alert,” Urich muttered as he tried to stagger out of the banquet hall.

Thud.

As soon as Urich walked out the door, he collapsed forward.

“Uri...!”

Gottval started to shout but covered his mouth. He called the soldiers to carry Urich to the infirmary.

Urich scratched his cheek.

"I’m not willing to risk my life for some meaningless revenge. I will become the Great Chief one day, and then I will gain more fame than my father and you!" Karcha declared boldly.

"Kekeke, you truly are Samikan’s son, no doubt about that!"

Urich laughed, clutching his stomach.

"Urich! Your wound is reopening! "

Gottval tried to stop him, but Urich couldn’t stop himself. His wound indeed reopened, staining the bandage around his side red.

"...But why did you attack me?"

"I thought you were going to attack Louyan."

"Porcana is a loyal ally of the Alliance. Why would I attack their heir?"

Karcha still couldn’t understand why Urich had attacked him.

"...It was just a feeling. My instincts are usually pretty accurate."

Karcha looked at Urich with a dumbfounded expression.

"You attacked me with the intent to kill for such an absurd reason?"

"Yeah, that was my bad. I apologize."

"Forget it. If you’re going to go senile, do it gracefully. Don’t drag innocent people into it."

Karcha was ambitious and rude, but Urich didn’t dislike him for it.

Urich drank some water to moisten his dry lips.

"As someone who has been the Great Chief before, I have a piece of advice for you. As your influence grows, keep someone who can oppose you close to you—someone who can tell you when you’re wrong."

Karcha scoffed and crossed his arms.

"I don’t need such outdated advice. If I ever need one, I’ll learn it from my own failures."

"Then I gave the wrong advice. Before anything else, you need to watch how you use that tongue of yours and keep it safe."

Karcha just grinned in response, showing his teeth.

"Do you have any message for my mother? She’ll be happy to hear you’re alive."

Belrua was also another reason for Karcha’s lack of obsession with revenge. She had a fondness for Urich, and Karcha had grown up under her care.

‘No matter how famous he was in the past, he’s just an old relic now.’

For Karcha, revenge was a duty and justification that didn’t move his heart. He would seek revenge if it was necessary for honor and prestige, but in his eyes, Urich was just a ghost of the past, as good as dead.

"Is Belrua doing well?"

"Until the year before last, she beat me at arm wrestling."

"Then that’s good enough."

"Take care of yourself."

Karcha left without hesitation. Even Urich, a legend among his people, was just a figure of the past to him.

‘You’re going to become someone greater, Karcha. You have no reason to look up to that man,’ Karcha thought to himself and did not look back.

But Urich watched Karcha’s back. The shadows of Samikan and Yanchinus seemed to loom over the young man’s shoulders. His determination to pursue his ambition reminded Urich of the men he once knew.

‘If Karcha and I had lived in the same era, we would have undoubtedly been rivals and clashed.’

But the two men were from different generations, walking on the same land but living in different worlds.

Gottval skillfully changed Urich’s bandages with his one hand.

"Gottval."

Urich looked at Gottval’s face. The once-young priest had become a saint revered by all.

"...I suppose I’ve aged."

"You’re not that old, but you’re not young either. Well, if you were the Urich of your prime, Karcha wouldn’t have walked out of this room on two legs."

Gottval laughed as he tied the bandage.

"My instincts failed me twice in a row. For a warrior, losing your sharpness and dulling instincts is fatal. A warrior has to always gamble with their life in uncertain situations. Your instincts and body are all you can rely on with swords and arrows flying at you on the battlefield."

"If I may add, you should believe in god as well."

"I’m serious."

"I too am serious."

Gottval stared at Urich.

"Even if I suddenly want to believe in Lou, it doesn’t mean faith will suddenly spring forth."

"Urich, your wound from the arrow is badly infected. The pus has built up deep inside, and you’ll suffer from fever every night. To put it bluntly, you could die."

"From just an arrow wound? Don’t worry, it’ll heal soon."

But even as Urich said this, he broke out in cold sweat.

"Sooner or later, we all die," Gottval continued.

"Here comes the sermon again," Urich responded indifferently.

"Urich, why don’t you believe in Lou? It’s not like you already have a god you believe in, do you?"

"There’s nothing to lose by believing in Lou, but... I only believe in what I’ve seen with my own eyes. That’s my way."

"Then you won’t be able to believe in Lou until the day you die."

Gottval laughed bitterly.