CH 71

Bait

When dozens of giant birds made of leaves appeared in the sky, Nathaniel realized something was wrong. The sensation of sand escaping from his fingers. There was no way he didn’t know the meaning. Nathaniel’s pupils got bigger.

[Kyrie.]

The white sword appeared. He grabbed the sword and did not hesitate to turn a blind eye. For a moment, the sky seemed to split. Such a large crescent-shaped trajectory flashed.

Shortly after, the birds flying out of the capital toward the east, west, south, north, and west were split in half and crashed.

“Kyrie!”

Laura screamed, and Maria closed her mouth. Although Kyrie’s maid helped her plan for her escape, she did not hear the details. What if one of those birds had Kyrie on board? The blood all over her body seemed to cool down.

Unlike the two, Nathaniel was cool-headed. If Kyrie was on board, it was enough to catch her before she fell. But Kyrie was nowhere in sight.

Whether it was birds in the sky, a flock of animals made of leaves appeared from somewhere and began to run in droves. Dozens more birds also appeared. Nathaniel cut them down, but they were too many. There was an easier way to get rid of it simply. But if Kyrie got swept away, that’s not good.

[Kyrie.]

He muttered.

“R, run!”

“Help me!”

The fearing citizens and aristocrats/nobles who stopped wagons at the edge of the square and watched the situation began to flee. The situation was chaotic.

It was none of his business. 

[Kyrie.]

Around him, blue magic burst out in a circle that sparkled like a firefly. He felt like he could detect a lot of presence, but Kyrie’s wasn’t there.

[…….]

Nathaniel, who was about to open his mouth and call her name, paused.

Crack, Nathaniel’s reason was chewed out somewhere.

She wouldn’t have left the capital yet. It was at the moment that Nathaniel held back his inner self as he began to run wild.

“Are you going?”

He heard a clear voice. And at the end of the square, MarryAnne walked slowly out.

“No, I can’t.”

Nathaniel’s eyes had faded. If it was the usual He would ignore it. But the energy felt from the spear that MarryAnne was holding was extraordinary.

[So it’s a spear that smells like a nasty beast. Where’s Kyrie?]

“I borrowed something from MarryAnne’s family over the sea.”

[Oh, you’re gonna stick me in a stake, aren’t you? While your Master was dying in the field.]

“The Miss is going to live.”

MarryAnne held out her spear and straightened her posture.

“Freely.”

Nathaniel covered his face with his palm. He was raging like a fiery devil and devouring his patience.

[I’ll let you play the stake later. Where’s Kyrie?]

“I won’t let you know.”

[There’s no sign……. You’ve thrown away something special. Is it teleportation?]

“I’m not handing her over.”

[What right do you have?]

It was a question that fell down.

Nathaniel looked at Laura and Maria, who couldn’t even run away from his side.  His gaze was like a knife.

[Asking again. Kyrie?]

It was a strange thing. His voice, which was originally immature, began to sound more and more like a thousand people chanting. MarryAnne quickly went between the two of them and Nathaniel.

“Ladies, run away!”

“Wh, what is this…?”

[Where’s Kyrie?]

“Come on!”

Despite MarryAnne’s urgent cry, the two were so terrified that they could not move.

[Kyrie?]

Nathaniel approached them with a quiet gait. A thin layer of ice was spread everywhere.

[Where did you hide Kyrie?]

“Bl……  ble, blergh!”

Suddenly Laura and Maria started vomiting. It was a feeling of intimidation that was about to shatter their heads. Nathaniel’s black hair fluttered in the blizzard, which suddenly began to rage. Beneath it, his delicate face covered with his fingers was as bizarre as a smiling mask.

His dazzling face was meaningless now. He was still as beautiful as a sculpture, but his beauty made Laura and Maria more nauseated.

His beauty was like the lantern of an anglerfish shining in the pitch-black waters. Where is the Legend, where is the Hero, and where is the Great Man?

[Give it to me.]

The spirit of the two began to collapse just by revealing the raw violence he was hiding.

“Cough, cough… Ugh, no, no, what, what’s this?”

“Run! Come on! MarryAnne will stop him!”

“Ah, Aah….! N, no, I’m, I’m, I’m scared, n, no, I’m, I’m scared, ack!”

Humans couldn’t handle him.

The two people moved back on their butts and scratched the floor with their nails as if they had forgotten how to walk. MarryAnne was not normal. Although she was standing somehow, they felt nauseous because they were afraid of the ominous presence in front of them.

[Ha.]

Soon after, Nathaniel, who was approaching one step forward, lowered his hand that covered his face. It was a moment when the face was completely expressionless as if his face had been erased, even though he was pretending to have a warm smile.

[There’s no way I can communicate with insects.]

Nathaniel’s sword moved.

***

Sel Arellano’s night sky was embroidered with tremendous flames and roar. It was a frightening spectacle.

Meanwhile, over the wall, leaves, petals, tree vines, and hundreds of light animals and plants rushed out in droves.

‘Bait.’

Kyrie witnessed it on the back of a silver wolf.

‘That’s bait, too.’

The gates of the East, West, North, and South were about to burst. A loud roar, like a trumpet, shook the ground with a thousand pounds of weight.

‘It’s all a bait.’

She couldn’t tell how much she had prepared. In fact, MarryAnne seemed to have put all her efforts into hiding Kyrie rather than fighting Nathaniel. The wolf, which Kyrie rode, drifted away from the capital by the minute. It was a tremendous speed. Tears made her cheeks freeze, but it didn’t matter.

“Please, please stop…”

She wanted to stop the killings, and then everything would be over, but she had already taken too many lives.

Would Nathaniel forgive her even if she went back like this? No, could she stand the vain gaze of those whose previous efforts had been betrayed? But was their death bearable?

“Live.”

‘Live.’

‘Die.’

‘You are really useless.’

‘Go! Survive!’

The sound that used to shake heaven and earth stopped. Kyrie knew all too well what that meant. Kyrie shouted the names of those she left behind, but her voice was eaten by a blizzard.

***

Nathaniel stood still among the fallen MarryAnne, Laura, Maria and those who could not run away.

A white sword in the right hand, someone’s eye in the left hand.

Leschaux arrived when a long graceful finger squashed and burst the eyeball. As soon as Leschaux arrived at the square, he calmly struck Nathaniel with a large, blunt sword. Nathaniel blocked it without even seeing him coming from the square.

Over the white sword he slowly turned his head toward Leschaux. Leschaux’s breath stopped for a moment on his expressionless face.

〔Are you planning on destroying Sel Arellano?〕

Leschaux asked, hiding his discomfort. Nathaniel whispered like a soulless man.

[There is no Kyrie.]

〔If you get her back, she’ll need a place to stay.〕

[It doesn’t have to be here.]

〔Humans die quickly when the environment changes.〕

At those words, Nathaniel stared at Leschaux with a smirk. A drop of cold sweat ran down Leschaux’s back as he caught the gaze.

〔Just find her.〕

[I need to find her.]

Nathaniel bit the sword.

[I knew she’d let her run away….]

A whisper of madness erupted from between his teeth.  Old men, children, maidens, bachelors, and thousands of whispering voices slowly subsided and he returned to his original voice.

[She knows I’ll let her die in a place where I’m not in.]

Unlike his neat face, it was an ominous energy that could be called the worst in the world.

Leschaux swallowed his dry saliva without realizing it.

〔Snow… stop it. Kyrie Buchanan is said to be vulnerable to cold. Unless you want to find her dead…….〕

The blizzard subsided like a lie before the end of his sentence. However, the cold weather still lingered, as if his anger had not disappeared. Leschaux was relieved at heart.

〔With the help of the Emperor, an official letter can be issued to each city…〕

[No. Do not move immediately.]

Nathaniel blocked Leshaud’s words in a cool voice. He turned his eyes away to Anne Marie who is half mushed on the floor.

[I think I forgot for a moment how ignorant insects are.]

“M, Milord……”

At that moment, several people approached Nathaniel and Leschaux. They were the Duke of Old Ciudad and the Marquis of Fort Ducain with desperate faces, and Cesar Buchanan with a rather uncomfortable face.

[Humans are….]

Nathaniel muttered. Soon after, blue magic grabbed Maria and Laura’s necks and lifted them up.

“Ugh, heuk….!”

“Ugh….!”

The two moaned and fainted. Screams erupted from the duke and the marquis.

“Please, please stop!”

“I will do whatever you ask me to, please…! Please spare my daughter!”

Nathaniel’s cold eyes turned to the duke and the marquis.

[Your daughters hid Kyrie. They don’t even know the feelings of their fathers. What should I do?]

“Please, p, please! Please! If you tell me to die, I’ll die, please, just my child……!”

Two fathers knelt down and begged. But to overshadow the plea, Nathaniel shook Laura and Maria’s bodies in the air as if to play with a cotton doll’s head.

“Milord, Milord, Lord! I beg you!” 

Marquis Fort Ducain immediately shed tears and threw himself at Nathaniel’s feet. He crawled across the snowfield on his knees and trembled like a poisoned insect.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! Please… please! Not my daughter!”

The same was true for the Duke of Old Ciudad.

Nathaniel looked down at the two tearful fathers with expressionless faces. He had always been polite enough not to threaten little bugs, but he didn’t feel the need anymore. Everything was meaningless without Kyrie.

Nathaniel whispered softly and stealthily like a snake.

[If you find Kyrie, I’ll give them back to you. The Emperor is not trustworthy, but desperate parents with children are a bit trustworthy.]

“I’ll find her! I’ll find her! I’ll find her and bring it back to you, please……!”

[I hope you will not make me think that I have given you too many opportunities.]

“Of course! Of course, Milord…….”

Nathaniel’s eyes were now on Cesar. For the first time since arriving in the capital, he spoke directly to Cesar.

[Cesar Buchanan. You don’t know who helped you borrow your name.]

Cesar answered deftly, hiding his trembling knees.

“Thanks, of course, to the Great Legendary Lord.”

[No, thanks to Kyrie.]

Cesar closed his mouth. Nathaniel commanded in a cold voice, simply like the king of winter.

[Find her. If you want to preserve what you have.]

Cesar bowed down with an exaggerated gesture.

“Is there a chance?””

It was the beginning of an endless winter.

***

Colour of Annie’s iris~

TL/N: Laura and Maria…I really don’t those Characters, it feels like they are textbook friends, I really don’t feel that ‘friendship’ between them and Kyrie… ugh.