Chapter 843
Episode 210: Memories of the Past – Murakan (2)
It was only a month later that Murakan finally opened his eyes in the Garden of Swords.
“Lord Murakan is showing signs of waking!”
“Lord Murakan! Can you hear my voice?”
It was Diana who had rescued him. Had she not arrived in time, Murakan would have died then and there.
“Murakan!”
Diana rushed into the infirmary. As soon as he regained consciousness, Murakan struggled to sit up, prompting her to shout in alarm.
“What are you doing? Stay still! We brought the Holy King here with the help of the Secret Palace to save you.”
“Temar… I have to stop Temar. At the last moment, he briefly came to his senses, but I faltered and let him slip away. He said he’d become a monster again—he has no choice.”
“Stop moving! Your wounds will reopen.”
“No, no. He was fully himself again. Yes, he definitely regained his mind. Where is Temar?”
“Murakan.”
“Where is he… ugh.”
Murakan bent over, coughing up a dark, foul energy. Diana gently helped him lie back down.
“Lord Gaju is currently at Stormhold with Solderet.”
“Ah, of course! So that damn bastard really is okay?”
“Yes. So rest assured and take it easy. The Holy King and the Secret Palace Lord said that if you take even five steps, you will surely die.”
Murakan had received no fundamental treatment.
No matter how great the Holy King’s divine power was, healing the shattered heart of the Black Dragon was impossible. The Holy King and the Secret Palace Lord had only taken minimal measures to prevent the heart from further disintegration.
Only Solderet’s direct healing or Murakan’s own regeneration could bring recovery.
But Solderet had little strength left, and how long natural healing would take was anyone’s guess.
“The Holy King said that Murakan’s own will to live is the most important factor in his regeneration. But can Murakan even find the will to survive?”
It was true that Temar was at Stormhold with Solderet.
However, after distancing himself from Murakan, Temar had gone mad, and Solderet had cast a barrier over the entire Stormhold area, risking his own destruction.
Diana recalled the unconscious words Murakan had uttered while teetering between life and death—anguished cries stained with guilt over the teenage knights who had all become monsters, and over Temar.
No one among their comrades was unaware of how deeply Murakan cared for and loved them. Diana herself was barely holding back her grief.
“I’ll become a puppet of manipulation like those who left before me… For now, they don’t know much about me, so I’m holding on, but eventually, I won’t be able to escape it.”
Before that happened—
She had to carry out the last command left by Gaju before he lost his mind. She had to keep the family’s flame alive, to leave hope in the world. Above all, she had to prevent the world from falling completely into Ziphl’s grasp.
While Diana pondered this, Murakan slipped back into a troubled sleep.
When he regained consciousness again, another week had passed.
His entire body felt like it was burning, and every breath came with a harsh metallic rasp. He couldn’t open his eyes through the delirium and confusion.
Faintly, he heard the voices of those watching over him.
‘Diana… and Kin, the first-class steward…’
His mouth wouldn’t open. He barely felt anything in his body.
“Kin.”
Kin was the first-class steward of Runkandel.
“Please… speak, Lady Diana.”
“Has the steward master… passed away?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be that Ziphl attacked the steward master during the summit…?”
“No, I don’t think so. Even if that happened, Lady Sarah and Lord Veil managed to escape.”
His hearing wasn’t sharp enough to catch the full conversation. Normally, it would have been easy to understand, but for Murakan, even that was too much.
“Di…ana…”
“Ah, Murakan… close your eyes and rest some more.”
“Dra…viol…pre…”
“They’re all on missions… They came to see you a few days ago…”
They came to see him.
At those words, Murakan couldn’t help but smile faintly. Though the memory of their faces brought a pang to his chest, the longing and warmth he felt were far stronger.
He smiled and drifted back to sleep.
Another month passed.
“Your Majesty, is Murakan showing any signs of improvement?”
“According to Ayula’s response, he has no will to live. He’s content to remain lost in the illusions he sees in his coma.”
“Ha.”
“It’s a terrible thing. He had to send away those he cherished most with his own hands. I pray that someday he will find peace.”
Each time he briefly regained consciousness,
Murakan couldn’t clearly distinguish between Diana’s lies, his own imagination, and the harsh reality.
Diana had no choice but to keep lying to him. She couldn’t bear to emphasize the truth to someone who seemed ready to let go of the fragile thread of life at any moment.
“Temar… Temar is safe too…”
Every time Murakan spoke those words, Diana’s heart grew heavier. Her own time was running out as well.
After confirming Murakan had fallen asleep again, Diana went to Stormhold. The dark barrier Solderet had cast enveloped the fortress.
Ziphl knew Solderet was not in full strength, yet he had never attacked Stormhold since the barrier was raised.
As Diana approached, the barrier briefly opened. Inside, Sildray and the knights greeted her.
“Diana.”
“Sildray, how is Lord Gaju?”
“He’s the same. He becomes a wraith, then briefly returns to his true self before losing consciousness again.”
That was why Sildray and the knights remained on standby at Stormhold. They needed someone capable of subduing Temar when he went berserk without killing him.
Sildray had already subdued Temar dozens of times. He was barely holding onto his own fraying sanity.
“And Murakan?”
“The Holy King received a response about Murakan from Ayula, and it wasn’t good.”
“I see…”
Currently, Runkandel was waiting for a reply to the surrender offer Leut had sent to Ziphl.
“When Lord Gaju briefly returns to his true self, does he leave any special messages?”
“The first words he spoke upon arriving at Stormhold were his last.”
“I see.”
“Diana, if Ziphl refuses the surrender, what will happen to us?”
“We’ll have to fight and die.”
That didn’t scare her at all.
What terrified her was becoming puppets of manipulation without even being able to fight—killing people unknowingly, like the comrades who died under Murakan.
Dying in battle was, at least, a hope.
“Honestly, I don’t understand. There’s no reason for them to accept surrender. It’s better to fight with all your strength while even one person’s mind remains intact, rather than grovel like this!”
As Sildray said, Ziphl had no real reason to accept surrender.
In the war, Runkandel had suffered irreparable damage, while Ziphl and Elona remained strong, having nearly perfected the means of historical manipulation.
If they just waited quietly, Runkandel would soon be destroyed—either becoming puppets of historical manipulation or being brutally slaughtered by the mages.
Sildray believed Ziphl’s reason for not attacking Stormhold or the Garden of Swords was that he saw no need to waste resources.
For over two thousand years, Ziphl had ruled the world, and Runkandel was the only force opposing him.
Ziphl had no reason to leave even a spark of Runkandel alive. His way was to erase every trace, even the smallest pebble related to Runkandel.
Diana said nothing and headed toward Temar’s bedside. She sat quietly watching him for hours.
Gradually, Temar began to stir, his body turning a deep purple.
“Hah.”
Diana and Sildray easily subdued the rampaging Temar. Like Murakan’s shattered heart, Temar was weakened further by his battles.
As soon as he was subdued, Temar returned to his original form and lost consciousness.
Diana stepped outside to clear her head and smoked a cigarette, while Sildray leaned against Temar’s bed and broke down in tears.
“Everyone’s lost Lord Gaju… Damn it! Solderet, you treacherous bastard! Is this what you meant by keeping your promise? Show yourself, you damn…!”
Sildray’s cries drew a group of knights rushing into the infirmary. They tried to restrain him, but his strength was overwhelming.
“Sir Sildray! If even you lose it, what will happen to the others? Please, calm down!”
“The Guardian Spirit didn’t do this to Lord Gaju! Lower your voice, Sir Sildray.”
“If not Solderet, then who else made Lord Gaju like this? Where was that useless god when Lord Gaju was suffering?”
“What blasphemy is this against the Guardian Spirit, Sildray!”
Diana returned to the bedside and gripped Sildray’s shoulder.
“Blasphemy?”
“Did you not hear Lord Gaju’s final command? Never blame the Guardian Spirit. Fulfill the promise made with the Guardian Spirit. Even as he lost consciousness, he pleaded with us again and again.”
A promise.
The promise between Solderet and Runkandel was survival. To live on and prepare for a thousand years in the future.
“Diana, even after seeing Lord Gaju like this, you still trust Solderet…?”
“It doesn’t matter whether I believe or not.”
“Look at you—you don’t trust Solderet anymore either! You feel the same way I do, Diana. Do you think I don’t know you?”
“My feelings don’t matter either, Silderay. What’s important is… the Lord’s command. The Lord’s command is absolute. We are the ones who established the laws of Runcandel! If you keep showing such disgraceful behavior, no matter who you are, I won’t just let it slide.”
“Hmph.”
“Obey the Lord’s command. It’s the only duty and hope we have left.”
“What kind of hope is that? Waiting for them to accept our surrender? A thousand years? You’re saying everything we’ve done so far was for the sake of a contract a thousand years from now? Solderet knew this would happen from the start. He was just using the Lord and us.”
Diana held Silderay tightly as he vented his frustration.
She didn’t entirely disagree with him. But because the Lord’s command was absolute, she followed it. If it was the only way—no matter how delayed—to eventually defeat their enemies, then they had no choice but to obey.
‘Solderet said he would forge guardians using our souls. Was his plan to protect Runcandel even if it meant we became monsters through those guardians…? But even if those guardians possessed the same power as us, they wouldn’t be able to stop Elona and Ziphl.’
Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.
“Sir Silderay, Lady Diana! We’ve received a reply from Ziphl.”