Episode 246
Chapter 77: The Villain (3)
The prayers that Rani had started finally came to an end at midnight.
The crowd gathered in the square had maintained their posture without faltering even once throughout the entire prayer.
Meanwhile, news of the Sacred King’s death had spread quickly, prompting various nations to hastily send condolence delegations. News outlets broadcasted breaking reports about the tragedy that had befallen the Sacred Kingdom.
Most people believed the prayers were in honor of the Sacred King, but for Rani, Jin, and Murakan, every year on this day, they would mourn the death of a great holy knight.
Within the Sacred Kingdom, the faction aligned with Kinzello had decided to accept their leader—not Ayula—as the new deity. Meanwhile, the faction loyal to Ziphl chose to revere Ziphl’s power and order in place of Ayula.
Runkandel had long been aware that the Sacred Kingdom was effectively divided between these two factions, but there was no room or justification for interference.
Striking the compromised leadership would be an act of invasion, and stirring up trouble between Ziphl and Kinzello risked igniting a full-scale war.
It wasn’t the war itself that Runkandel feared. The problem was that if war broke out, the citizens would see Ziphl as the “righteous family aiding the Sacred Kingdom,” while Runkandel would be branded nothing more than a mad invader.
In such a scenario, even if they managed to capture some of the saints, they would never gain the trust of the “citizens” who would become future healers.
For that reason, the Sacred Kingdom had been a thorn in Runkandel’s side recently.
But now, an opportunity had arrived.
“Little one.”
It was Luna.
Among the condolence delegations from around the world, naturally, there were people from Runkandel as well.
Given the death of the Sacred King, Luna Runkandel of the 1st generation, Joshua Runkandel of the 2nd, and Luntia Runkandel of the 3rd had all come together to visit the Sacred Kingdom.
Luna had stepped away briefly from the delegation after receiving a message from Kashmir, intending to meet Jin.
“Long time no see, sister.”
“You’ve grown stronger.”
Of course, she recognized Jin’s growth at a glance. There was no need to test swords, no need to understand what kind of martial art the King’s Sword was, nor to know the power of the Spirit Sword.
Like a strong warrior recognizing another, it was clear just from the look in their eyes.
The last time they met, Luna had broken down in tears like a child in front of Jin. The death of Taimun had erased a part of her world.
But now, Luna’s gaze was once again dignified and noble.
Without words, Jin could tell how much pain and loss Luna had overcome to regain that look.
“You’ve grown stronger too, sister.”
The siblings shared a brief smile.
“I was going to complain that I missed you, but you’ve gone and done something incredible again. I heard the gist from Sir Kashmir. So, what do you need me to do?”
Jin pointed toward a cart parked a little ways off.
“Please take care of them.”
Inside the cart were the family members of Bitura Belter, disguised as corpses from yesterday’s battle.
“Understood.”
Luna answered shortly. Having heard the background about Bitura, she didn’t ask further. They would be escorted back to Hupester along with the returning delegation.
“And besides that?”
“Please remain in the Sacred Kingdom until the trial for the Sacred King’s assassination concludes. I don’t want Joshua to steal my credit.”
Jin believed that once the trial began, Ziphl’s image within the Sacred Kingdom would plummet instantly.
Even now, the citizens were grinding their teeth over Bitura’s sacrifice. Before the Sacred King’s funeral had even started, voices demanding explanations from Ziphl were already rising.
Not only the Sacred Kingdom but the entire world would soon know of Ziphl’s atrocities.
At that time, the fact that Runkandel’s delegation remained in the Sacred Kingdom after paying respects would become a symbol.
A symbol that Runkandel was watching Ziphl. That the only family capable of standing against Ziphl’s overwhelming power was keeping a vigilant eye on them.
As a prospective generation member, Jin could not be the face of that symbol.
Of course, those who would come to know later—including Siron, who would learn through letters—would acknowledge Jin’s achievements, but publicly, the credit had to go to someone else in Runkandel.
Naturally, Jin wanted to leave that to Luna. If she, as usual, stepped back to avoid unnecessary attention, the credit would fall to Joshua, the 2nd generation.
“That was my plan all along. I can’t let that bastard take the masterpiece you worked so hard to create.”
“Did you know Joshua has multiple bodies, sister?”
“What are you talking about?”
Jin explained Joshua’s secret, and Luna’s eyes widened.
She had no idea about the existence of the “Prophet.”
“No wonder… sometimes Joshua took on dangerous missions without holding back. So he was using a decoy all along.”
“Father must have known, right?”
“Definitely. There’s nothing that happens in the family that Father doesn’t know about.”
“Then there must be a reason he didn’t intervene.”
“Probably the same reason he overlooked your spiritual energy. Don’t overthink it. If it breaks the family laws but is left unchecked, it means he judged it to be beneficial to the family.”
Luna placed a hand on Jin’s shoulder, as if to say she understood how much he had endured.
“But it’s worth investigating. I’ll look into that bastard more thoroughly. For now, focus on finishing things in the Sacred Kingdom.”
“Yes, sister.”
The next day, every single member of the Doctrine Guard Dawn Order was imprisoned in the underground dungeon.
Ziphl had tried desperately to prevent all their pawns from being captured, but the assassination of the Sacred King was too decisive.
Even without the testimonies of the survivors of the bio-golem experiments, the list Bitura had revealed was impossible to cover up.
“-And please classify those who sided with Kinzello and Ziphl and prepare separate lists. I want them ready for immediate disclosure when I return. Also, rally the remaining loyalists. There may be armed conflict.”
This was the list Jin had requested from Bitura before heading to the old Oterium.
Bitura had prepared separate lists for Kinzello and Ziphl. Rani kept the Kinzello list, while the Ziphl list was made public.
Ziphl’s true face was being exposed.
Still, Ziphl had yet to issue a statement claiming that the dead was a fake Sacred King and that the bio-golem experiments were conducted by Kinzello, not them.
“We cannot reveal the name of the hero who rescued the survivors, but he says the bio-golem experiments were conducted in Ziphl’s Four Towers. We demand an official explanation from Ziphl!”
Rani and the citizens still refused to leave the square.
Though all of Ziphl’s henchmen had been imprisoned, the citizens were determined not to allow Rani or the fake Sacred King’s body into the royal palace until the full truth was revealed.
Except for the Doctrine Guard Dawn Order, those named on Bitura’s list were still openly preparing the Sacred King’s funeral within the city.
It was an absurd situation, but considering the power held by high-ranking officials like Montiano the Legate within the Sacred Kingdom, it wasn’t surprising.
They could only be punished if there was undeniable evidence of collusion with Ziphl, unlike the Dawn Order.
Unfortunately, Bitura’s list was slightly lacking. But Jin had anticipated this.
“Until Ziphl issues an explanation, we will not proceed with Father’s funeral. Before we console his unjust death, they must confess!”
“Four Towers’ Lord, come forward and explain!”
“Come out now!”
If only Rani and the citizens shouted like this, it could be ignored.
But delegations from around the world had arrived, and countless reporters were present.
Ziphl had to quickly finalize a secret deal with Kinzello—to retrieve the Sword’s new recruit and take the blame themselves.
Everything was unfolding exactly as Jin had predicted.
‘It’s better to take the blame than to admit that the Sword was captured by a third-rate terrorist group like Kinzello.’
Once image and prestige fall, they’re hard to recover. The former can be somewhat fixed with money, but the latter requires an unimaginable amount of bloodshed.
In the end, Ziphl released a statement before noon.
-Our family politically intervened in the Sacred Kingdom, and during this process, with the help of officials allied with our family, bio-golem experiments were conducted on the citizens.
However, the bio-golem experiments are separate from the political intervention and were the personal misconduct of Kal Ziphl, Lord of the Four Towers. Kal Ziphl will personally visit the Sacred Kingdom today, wearing magical restraints, to offer an apology. Following this, we will strictly discipline Kal Ziphl and all involved according to family laws.
We deeply regret the death of the Sacred King and promise to provide the maximum possible compensation.
However, we will also enforce family laws against the spread of baseless rumors and malicious slander.
Our family’s political intervention in the Sacred Kingdom was solely at the request of Sacred Kingdom officials and not due to any ambition of our own…
Unlike usual, Ziphl’s statement was very high-handed. Though politely worded, it was filled with the meaning that all punishments would be handled by them, not the Sacred Kingdom.
Naturally, as soon as reporters brought the statement, the anger of the Sacred Kingdom’s citizens soared to the heavens.
‘They’re deliberately stoking the citizens’ fury, planning to have Kal Ziphl come to apologize and then be stoned to death.’
If Kal Ziphl died on Sacred Kingdom soil for any reason, Ziphl could then use that as leverage to intimidate the Sacred Kingdom.
By cold, objective standards, the price of the Sacred King’s life was no higher than that of Ziphl’s Lord of the Four Towers. If the entire Sacred Kingdom fought the Four Towers, the winner would inevitably be the Four Towers.
“You want to back out of this whole mess, even if it means giving up Karl Zipple, the one Kinzello brought in. But what price did Karl pay to get here?”
Zipple was still pushing for a scapegoat.
Only this time, the sacrifice was a pureblood Zipple. Unlike the Colon incident, where Myuron was already dead and known to the world, this time Zipple himself was accusing Karl of being the culprit.
If Karl died, the Holy Kingdom could no longer be held accountable for the bio-golem issue. They’d still face global condemnation for political interference, but that was something time and money could fix.
From Jin’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad move—if you ignored the fact that it was a reckless play made without fully sizing up the opponent.
Zipple had no idea Jin was behind Lani. He only vaguely suspected one of the RunKandel riders or Biment might be involved.
There was no way Kinzello would share with Zipple that the one who single-handedly crushed the Dark Magic Council’s stronghold was Bamel—that Bamel was Jin RunKandel.
“Dino.”
“Yes, Master.”
“When Karl Zipple arrives at the Holy Kingdom, release all the articles linking him to Kinzello immediately. The truth is, until a few days ago, Karl was held captive by Kinzello because of Bamel, and the place Bamel brought the survivors to wasn’t the Four Towers, but the old Oterium. Make it clear Karl has nothing to do with this incident.”
“Zipple will deny it fiercely. Should be quite a show.”
If he couldn’t deny it, Kelliac would be seen as a shameless man who sold out his own son to dodge responsibility.
Jin had no intention of helping Zipple choose between his reputation and his image.
He planned to make him lose both.