Chapter 321: Shifting Priorities

When the demon race finally breached the city walls, the soldiers and Heroes of Sanguo tried to evacuate their king first. But…

“Evacuate?”

Yeonhwa simply chuckled, not agreeing with their loyal actions. Her faint voice echoed between them.

“Where exactly are we supposed to evacuate to?”

“……”

There was nowhere to escape to. Even if they managed to escape this city unharmed, what would remain for them?

The life of a fugitive, constantly fearing death? Could that even be called life? Compared to the dishonor of a king abandoning her people to save her own skin, the only benefit of fleeing was postponing death. Yeonhwa saw no reason to run.

Therefore, despite the urging of those around her, she remained seated.

“Thank you for your concern, but I intended to share my fate with this castle from the start. It seems it would suffice for only you to evacuate,” she said.

“Your Majesty… how could you say such a thing…?”

“Must I spell out my orders before you obey?”

“……”

The soldiers hesitated. Their gazes turned to one Hero.

The Hero, who was supposed to stay by the queen’s side until the very end to protect her, was sending a dissatisfied look with a darkened face.

“Protecting Your Majesty is our duty.”

“…If you insist.”

Yeonhwa sighed, faced with their unwavering determination that wouldn’t yield even to royal command. With a reluctant expression, she parted her lips.

“How about only one of you remains?”

“…If that is the maximum concession Your Majesty can make.”

This was already more than she was willing to concede. Noticing this, the Hero wore a displeased expression but still affirmed.

Thus, only three remained in the space cleared of ordinary people. In the heavy, silent atmosphere, Yeonhwa briefly looked out the window in silence before turning her head to the only commoner left here. As if waiting, the capable strategist met her gaze.

“Sareen.”

Sareen read the meaning in the short call and gave a soft eye smile.

“I will remain.”

“Do you think I will permit it?”

“With death at our doorstep, is the king’s permission more important than my stubbornness?”

That was true, but still… Yeonhwa gave a wry smile.

‘When Duke Derniban died, she tried to avenge him, but now that I’m about to die, she’s trying to die with me.’

How should she interpret this?

Her subtle expression vanished in an instant, quickly masking her feelings and asking casually.

“Aren’t you going to avenge me?”

“There’s no place left with enough power to avenge you. Everything is collapsing, where am I supposed to go to seek revenge? I will also share my fate here. With my incompetence as a strategist leading to this result, staying to take responsibility isn’t such a bad choice, is it?”

“This is… quite romantic.”

Does that mean she would have avenged me if circumstances allowed? How honorable.

Yeonhwa, who had been smiling with an unreadable emotion, suddenly wiped the expression off her face.

Her gaze, which had been fixed on Sareen, slowly lowered. As if weighed down by guilt, her heavy voice murmured as if reciting.

“Because of me, you will also die.”

“I’m not dead yet.”

Don’t kill someone who is still alive, please.

Sareen replied firmly.

…….

And so, now.

The demon legion commander who had finally killed the Hero took a long breath as if catching his breath. He was injured in the battle with the Hero, but he seemed to have no trouble moving. Sareen watched the sharp fingertips dripping with blood and, ridiculously, suddenly recalled a day in the past.

A hollow laugh escaped her lips silently.

‘…Even as death approaches, I’m still thinking about Duke Derniban, I’m truly hopeless.’

While collecting his body, she had dared to utter his name countless times as she cremated him. A small desire of a commoner who couldn’t call out his name when he was alive, knowing there would be no more chances to call it now that he was dead.

And then she burst out laughing.

‘When I die… will there be anyone to call out my name?’

Calling out my name, grieving and longing.

‘No, in the first place, will there be anyone who remembers I even existed?’

Probably not. Even the only person who might remember will soon die here with me. In this insane world, it’s better not to expect anything. She knew her place.

Therefore, having lost hope for revenge, Sareen could remain calm even as death approached.

‘…….’

Drip. Thud. The sound of blood dripping was distinct.

Beneath a calm face, she glanced at her king, who was staring at their opponent with resigned eyes, as if awaiting execution, and subtly stepped forward.

The movement, subtly, no, blatantly shielding the monarch, narrowed Derniban’s gaze, which had been fixed on her since she laughed aloud. In his murderous pupils, the pitiful human struggling to control her trembling was reflected.

‘…I don’t understand why she’s blocking me when she’s trembling so much…’

If she wants to die that badly, I won’t deny her wish.

To remove the annoying obstacle, the demon swung his sharp claws. In response, Sareen closed her eyes. Before her consciousness faded, she thought she faintly saw the figure she had always longed for.

Purple hair that made her heart flutter just by looking at it.

And then.

Slash!

“……”

The queen witnessed the person who had been alive just moments ago turn into a corpse right before her eyes.

Hot liquid splattered on her face and then slowly trickled down. At the eerie sensation, Yeonhwa quietly closed her eyes. Her fingertips trembled slightly.

It wasn’t fear of death. She had already resigned herself to death. It was just… the weight on her shoulders was too heavy.

‘Next is my turn, and another burden I cannot bear even in death has been added.’

Knowing she could not bear this responsibility to the end, the queen trembled with guilt and self-hatred.

Derniban glanced at her for a moment and then waved his hand. An eerie sound tore through the air, and a moment later, excruciating pain struck. As her strengthless body collapsed, her eyelids fluttered open, and a lowering perspective filled her vision.

When she glimpsed Sareen’s body, she thought once more.

Indeed…….

‘Because of me, you will also die.’

This time, no rebuttal returned.

…….

“Sanguo cleanup complete.”

***

Who would have known that breaking the linchpin of the array would tighten the noose around their own necks?

As the battle dragged on, the war situation grew increasingly unfavorable, and Develania gritted her teeth. At the end of her murderous gaze, she saw Lirinel running wild like a horse with its reins cut.

If she had consumed a lot of magic power, it would be understandable, but as expected of someone with talent overflowing in magic, she was drawing maximum efficiency with minimum magic power, making the situation even more difficult. If her opponent was only her, the situation might have been better, but… the enemy now wasn’t just the 11th Corps.

“…Damn it!”

Develania glared at Commander of the 4th Corps Idelia, who kept hindering her from deploying her threads, and finally spat out a curse.

Dealing with all of this alone is inefficient. It would be better to join forces with others.

“…2nd Corps! Move to the location we discussed beforehand!”

No sooner had she made her judgment than she immediately consumed precious magic power to cast magic.

It was wasteful to transport all these legion members to the rendezvous point at once with her already scarce magic power. But telling them to move using magic on their own was also not feasible, as the legion members didn’t have enough magic power to move such a distance.

Just to create a moment to retreat, she moved all the legion members about 10 meters away from this place, and then immediately turned around and started running. The 2nd Corps members, who had heard about this beforehand, also acted quickly.

“What…?”

“Huh, are those guys running away…?”

Commander of the 4th Corps Idelia, who watched Develania and the 2nd Corps quickly leaving the scene with a dumbfounded expression, glanced at Lirinel. As if Lirinel had also been looking this way, their eyes immediately met.

Even though they were enemies, at this moment, they could clearly understand each other’s thoughts.

‘First, it’s a priority to chase after those running away.’

If they were missed, things would surely turn out badly later.

“…3rd Corps, 4th Corps. Chase after the fleeing 2nd Corps! Be careful of rear attacks!”

Of course, that didn’t mean they had become allies, so it would be wise to also be wary of attacks from the 11th Corps while chasing.

Idelia’s command was issued, and Lirinel, as if taking this into account, issued orders to chase the 2nd Corps while being mindful of attacks from the 3rd and 4th Corps. Idelia quietly hid her hand behind her back, avoiding her gaze.

Her hand was trembling slightly, exhausted from fighting the Hero and then engaging in another battle.

‘At this point, it’s fortunate that I haven’t dropped my fan…’

…Stamina can be recovered while resting from battle.

It’s precarious, but she couldn’t just leave the rebels alone. Accelerating the speed of chasing the 2nd Corps, Idelia glanced back at Lirinel, who seemed somewhat mentally exhausted.

At least while chasing the 2nd Corps, it seems unlikely a battle will break out unless we attack first. That’s a relief.

‘Even pretending not to be, she looks anxious… it must be because she noticed where the 2nd Corps is heading.’

Develania’s goal is to kill both Deon Hart and the Demon King.

Lirinel isn’t stupid, so she would have fully noticed the objective from her conversation with Develania, and her actions of attacking both the 11th Corps following Deon Hart and the 3rd and 4th Corps following the Demon King.

It’s obvious which one Develania will try to kill first between Deon Hart and the Demon King.

‘…Has the battle on Deon Hart’s side ended?’

First kill Deon Hart, who would have lost a lot of strength fighting the Hero in the Human Realm, and then return to the Demon Realm to kill the Demon King.

Since the one who wants to harm Deon Hart is running in the direction he is, it’s no wonder Lirinel is anxious.

***

“…Are you all ignoring me from earlier?”

The 1st Corps, 10th Corps, and 12th Corps exchanged attacks. Commander of the 1st Corps Jaykar was in the middle of a fierce battle with Commander of the 12th Corps Myers.

Commander of the 7th Corps Sillua, feeling offended by the unanswered questions about the situation, growled lowly.

“Is my voice delicious?”

“……”

“There are so many things to eat in the world, why are you eating my words?”

Grumble, grumble.

She simply sat down and started rattling off complaints in a vexed tone. Annoyed by her, Jaykar subtly deflected Myers’ spear aimed at him, redirecting its attack. The sharp spearhead was now aimed at Sillua.

Clang!

Sillua, who blocked it with her dagger, raised her sharp vertical pupils.

“Is this… you want to fight?”

No answer returned. From Jaykar’s silence, combined with Myers’ attitude of subtly stepping back without denying it, she read affirmation and smirked. The bewilderment vanished from her eyes, replaced by eerie bloodlust.

“Judging by this, it seems you’re not just fighting but trying to kill each other…”

I was already thinking about killing a legion commander at least once, this is perfect…?!

In an instant, Sillua’s expression went blank. …Did I just see that correctly? Even after blinking, the scene hadn’t changed, and a dumbfounded voice involuntarily burst out.

“What, why are you running away?”

Commander of the 12th Corps Myers ran away! Taking his legion members and the 10th Corps with him!

In an instant, the enemies disappeared. The 1st Corps, also not understanding the situation, looked at each other and then looked at Jaykar as if seeking answers. However, before Jaykar could issue new orders, he had to tilt his head to avoid an attack that suddenly rushed in.

After being dumbfounded for a moment, Sillua smirked as if saying, ‘whatever,’ and continued her attack.

“It’s a shame, but Commander of the 1st Corps, you will have to be my opponent instead. You can’t just back down like this after provoking me, can you?”

“……”

It didn’t matter to fight since they were enemies to be killed anyway, but missing Commander of the 12th Corps was problematic. The Empire wasn’t completely settled yet either.

Blocking and parrying the relentless attacks, Jaykar glanced at the direction they had disappeared and the Imperial Palace visible far away.

‘First… I need to settle things with the Empire.’

Killing the legion commanders comes after that.

After making his judgment, Jaykar pushed Sillua away and turned around to take a step… but stopped. The Imperial Palace was strangely noisy.

It wasn’t caused by demons. This unsettling commotion is….

“…Rebellion?”

“Huh? You’re right. Even though enemies have entered the city, instead of joining forces, they’re having internal strife. Humans are truly foolish.”

How unpopular must the Emperor be for a rebellion to break out in such a dangerous situation? Or perhaps, it’s precisely because of this chaotic situation that a rebellion has erupted.

‘Either way, the Emperor will die if left alone.’

Certainty is good, but losing the Commander of the 12th Corps is problematic. Jaykar, adapting his judgment to the situation, turned to his legion members and commanded.

“1st Corps, from now on, we hunt down the fleeing 10th and 12th Corps.”

“…Where do you think you’re running off to, in the middle of our fight?”

“Ignore the 7th Corps.”

“…Tch.”

So that’s how it’s going to be? Fine, then I’ll make sure you can’t ignore us.

Sillua’s eyes flashed dangerously as she glared at the 1st Corps, who were running off to chase the fleeing legions. “Fine,” she said.

“7th Corps. You know what to do?”

…

“Pursue them. Now.”