Chapter 844
Episode 210: Memories of the Past – Murakan (3)

The reply from Ziphl was a demand for surrender.

But it wasn’t a genuine response—it was a taunt.

“Give us the head of the family leader? Those bastards…!”

Silderei trembled with rage as he shouted.

Ziphl’s terms were clear: hand over Temar’s corpse, and have all the Ten Knights and Guardian Knights executed on Ziphl’s land. The rest—the powerless retainers—would be spared, only to be enslaved.

That was the condition Ziphl laid out.

“I knew it, Diana. From the start, it was madness to even consider surrendering to those bastards. Why would they have any reason to keep us alive? Showing any intention to surrender just proved to them that we’re down to our last few.”

Diana could no longer hold back Silderei. She herself was barely containing her boiling anger.

“Silderei, how much time do you have left?”

She asked how long he could endure his state of spectral madness.

“I don’t know. It could collapse at any moment. At best, maybe a month or two. And when I lose it completely, I probably won’t even realize I’m mad—just like those who went before me… Sometimes I wonder if I’m already insane right now.”

“Same here. We know what we have to do. Until we lose our minds, we have to hold the Storm Fortress and the Garden of Blades at all costs.”

Diana saw this as the only way to keep her promise to Solderet.

Accepting all of Ziphl’s terms wouldn’t be surrender—it would be nothing more than letting themselves be ravaged without resistance. That wasn’t keeping a promise. It wasn’t survival. It wasn’t a choice for the future.

“Good. I was worried you might actually agree to those terms. Shows you’re not completely mad yet.”

“But I don’t know what happens after we refuse. This is all we can do. Unless a miracle happens, the family will be destroyed.”

“Then we’ll make that miracle happen. Just like the family head always has.”

“You stay on standby at the Storm Fortress. If we refuse, the attack will likely start immediately.”

“What if they don’t attack and just focus on accelerating the historical manipulation?”

“We strike first. Before we become monsters, while we still have reason, we fight to at least leave a mark. The only good news is that it seems Elona and Ziphl can’t move right now.”

If Elona were in full strength, Ziphl—who had the upper hand—would have no reason to stay idle.

Aside from Temar and Murakan, the only one in Runkandel capable of fighting Elona was Sarah.

But Sarah was physically and mentally exhausted from continuous battles and the effects of the historical manipulation.

Right now, even Sarah couldn’t stand against Elona. And even when she could, it was only a fight in name—victory was impossible. Not even all the Ten Knights combined could defeat Elona.

Ziphl knew this well.

Yet they hadn’t sent Elona, which could only mean she was having problems.

The historical manipulation turning Temar and the Ten Knights into phantoms was centered on Elona, and as Diana expected, she was utterly drained.

“I’m heading back to the Garden of Blades to inform the others. I’ll also look for someone to take your place in restraining the family head’s rampage. You’re too weakened now; you don’t have to face him directly.”

“Understood, Diana.”

Diana returned immediately to the Garden of Blades.

On the way back, she prepared a reply to send to Ziphl: they had no intention of accepting those damnable terms. They’d fight until death.

“Kin, any news about the steward while I was gone?”

“None. No one knows where he went… I hope he’s safe.”

“Hm. I think Ruet might have run away.”

Lokia’s voice cut through the dim corridor as she appeared, causing Diana to narrow her eyes.

“Lokia, watch your words. You not only casually called the steward by name, but you’re saying he ran away?”

“Oh, come on, don’t be so uptight. Why would it be running away? For Ruet, running might be the best way to keep the promise with Solderet. Unlike us, he’s a species that can live for what’s practically eternity.”

“Even if the family is weakened, the law hasn’t collapsed. Stop speaking recklessly. This is your final warning.”

“Okay, okay, scary, scary. But I’m not wrong, am I? The steward might have thought that way.”

“If that’s the case, it’s his decision and surely the right one. We don’t need to second-guess it. We just have to do our part.”

“Well, the steward isn’t the type to betray us. If he wanted to, he’d have had plenty of chances. Ziphl has made so many tempting offers to him and the fairies. The steward never even considered them.”

“Then why did you have to say such annoying things?”

“Diana, do you think this world is fair?”

“What?”

“Look, we’re the ones fighting for justice and liberation, right? But somehow, we suffer more than Ziphl—the ones who manipulate history and commit all sorts of atrocities to become rulers. Is that really fair?”

“No one forced us to fight Ziphl. The family, we—we just couldn’t stand by and watch what they were doing. We rose up to fight, not for reward, so suffering is inevitable.”

“You’re lucky, Diana. Not just you, but the others too. Well, except for a few… like Veil, who doesn’t have such noble feelings.”

“I hope you’re not one of those few, Lokia.”

“I’m not planning to betray or run away. If Ziphl had accepted our surrender cleanly this time, I’d have had to run. You know I’ve tortured so many of Ziphl’s purebloods that they hate me with a passion. Even if Runkandel and Ziphl become one family, there’s no place for me.”

“Good to hear.”

Diana and Lokia then began planning how to start their final battle with Ziphl.

Of course, no brilliant strategy would emerge. They could only think about how to face the end with as much pride as possible.

“Well then, I have to go see Padler.”

“…Padler?”

Since Idal’s fall, Padler had become a vengeful spirit threatening Runkandel. He didn’t attack powerless retainers or foot soldiers, but all remaining Ten Knights were his targets—even Sarah.

Padler believed that Temar hadn’t destroyed Idal alone. He thought the family had betrayed him first, and that Temar and the Ten Knights had all conspired to bring down Idal. He too was becoming a phantom of historical manipulation.

“Right. This is our last stand, but if Padler’s around, we’ll suffer heavy losses before the fight even begins. Just as Murakan sent his comrades, we have to do the same. We’ll all meet again somewhere after death, so I won’t grieve as much as Murakan did. This is for Padler’s sake too.”

Huff.

“I’m going right away. Solderet—if that damn god shows up, tell him this: our comrades have reached the point where they have to kill each other, yet he still can’t prepare to help. If he has the power to create a barrier for the family head, he should use it to protect the rest of us.”

And so, Runkandel began its final resistance.

It was a desperate struggle without hope, and the results were as expected. Only because Elona wasn’t intervening did they occasionally snatch tiny victories, but the overall tide remained hopelessly against them.

Amid this ongoing war, Murakan opened his eyes once more—this time after a month of unconsciousness.

Diana lay beside him in the sickbed.

“Diana… why are you so badly hurt?”

“Fighting Ziphl. Luckily, it’s all treatable.”

“Ah… I see. My head’s foggy—I don’t even know what to say.”

Murakan soon slipped back into sleep, and when he awoke again, no one was there.

The silence quickly dragged out his painful memories.

Clutching his head, Murakan let out a scream. Servants passing by the corridor rushed into the room in alarm. To Murakan’s eyes, they looked like the comrades he had killed.

His shattered mind couldn’t accept reality.

Still, after that day, Murakan stayed awake for days, even months at a time, without slipping back into unconsciousness.

He did nothing but sit in a chair, staring blankly into space—but that alone was a great comfort to the members of Runkandel.

Since yesterday, an unexpected hope had begun to stir in the war.

“How are you feeling today, Murakan?”

Silderei sat beside him and spoke.

“Ah…”

“You haven’t completely lost the ability to speak, right? The servants say you sometimes say something coherent. I haven’t heard it myself lately—you’ve been too busy killing those Ziphl bastards.”

“Ugh.”

“I just found out yesterday—Elona and Ziphl’s situation is much worse than we thought. So if you come back to us, we might actually have a chance. If, and only if, Solderet can fix your heart and you regain your mind… we might really turn the tide.”

Murakan stared blankly into the air, unable to grasp what Silderei was saying. Unfazed, Silderei draped an arm over his shoulder.

“As long as Elona stays out of it, we can buy ourselves quite a bit of time. Lately, I’ve definitely felt the spirits of Nana and the others weakening. Those lunatics—Elona was the biggest reason Zip managed to gain the upper hand against us. Now that the war’s winding down, they’re the ones scared of Elona and pushing her away.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I brought you some of your favorite fruit today. The cooks will be turning it into pies soon, so eat up and keep your strength up.”

“Silderei!”

Suddenly, Diana’s voice rang out—urgent, but bright. Silderei caught her eye, sensing good news.

“Diana, what is it?”

“We just got word from the Storm Fortress. The Lord Governor… briefly regained consciousness and left orders!”