Foreboding Storm - Chapter 156

Lonely winds blew on the eastern outskirts of the Imperial Capital, and with it, the metallic scent of blood and putrid corpse permeated the air. Due to the violent charge of the mutated magical beasts, shacks, two-storey inns, mushroom shops, and stone buildings were left in ruins, abandoned by their occupants.

As the fight with the magical beasts grew fiercer, the civilians raced to the army strongholds for protection.

“Please, let us in! We have a child!”

“Young soldier, my wife is pregnant! Please let her in!”

“Our parents are too old to make the journey to the capital. Open the gates and let them in!”

“Open the gates!”

The civilians were frightened and agitated. They abandoned their homes to seek shelter from the soldiers of the empire, grabbing only a few valuables and dry rations to stave off their hunger. But when they reached the soldiers’ encampment, they were refused entry.

How could they accept such an outcome?

“We’re sorry, but the gates can’t be opened. There are already too many people inside. Anymore and diseases will begin to spread.” The guards at the gates were helpless too. The civilians of the Amayan Empire stood hungry and unprotected outside the gates of the soldiers.

How could they be at peace?

But they had no choice but to keep the gates locked on their faces because if they were given entry, then the order would be lost and chaos would descend.

And that’s when the possibility of famine and disease breakouts weren’t even taken into account.

“You’re the soldiers of the empire. Your duty is to protect us, but instead of protecting, you’re sending us to our deaths!”

“Yes! What kind of soldiers are you? You can’t even protect the civilians!”

“I can’t believe I used to be proud of being a citizen of the Amayan Empire…”

Bang!

“Let us in!”

Cries of grief and outrage rang out and condemned the guards for failing to uphold their duties. As they thought of their end in the jaws and claws of mutated beasts, the crowd grew more excited and, spittle and stones started raining down on the pale-faced guards.

“Go! Go quickly and inform Prince Noore that the situation is getting out of control. The civilians have begun to resort to violence!” Guard Van pushed his comrade towards the commander’s tent.

Stumbling, the guard righted his staggering figure and raced towards the commander’s position.

“Prince Noore, bad news! Bad news! The civilians have begun to resort to violence!” The flapped open the Commander tent and instantly kneeled.

“Prince Noore, the civilians are throwing stones!” He fearfully cried.

“Throwing stones? Those lowly creatures dare to throw stones at the soldiers?”

“They really have no awareness! If it wasn’t for the soldiers, how could they have lived safe and sound thus far?”

“Ungrateful ingrates!”

The captains and vice-captains felt enraged. Here they were, placing their lives on the line to save lowly peasants. And yet, the ingrates not only didn’t thank them, but they also disrespected them and dared to use violence on them.

“Prince Noore, allow me to go. I’ll take care of those low-lives in such a way that they’d never create problems at our gate!”

“I agree with him. We should show them their status.”

Instantly, two soldiers stood up and placed their hands on their swords, their eyes glowing with a fiery light.

Half a month in the Eastern Outskirts wiped out Prince Noore’s soft and gentle aura as brittle covered his chin and sunken cheeks. The usual gentle eyes now held a haunted look as he silently listened to the guard’s report and the captains’ requests.

Before heading to the eastern region, he never imagined he’d encounter such a headache. The civilians’ homes were run over and destroyed by the mutated beasts. Left with only the clothes on their bodies and a small ration, they headed to the soldiers’ encampment to seek shelter.

At first, Prince Noore had no problem providing them protection. As the prince of the Amayan Empire, it was his duty to ensure the safety of the citizens. Therefore, he took in every citizen that came to the gates.

However, very soon, he began to realize the foolishness of his actions.

The rations allocated to the soldiers began to run out very quickly as the majority were consumed by the civilians, leaving the soldiers barely fed enough to stand on their feet.

So when they clashed with the mutated beasts, there were more deaths than usual.

As if this wasn’t enough, a disease began to spread through the camp. The cramped space led to unhygienic behaviors which led to illnesses. This made their already precarious situation even worse.

Left with no choice, they locked the gates.

But the result was enraged and dissatisfied civilians, threatening to climb up the stone walls.

‘Crown Prince Lail used to take in citizens, but I’ve never seen him flustered or struggle with such a problem before…’

Releasing a long sigh, he lifted his gaze to the military officials.

“See if you can placate them. If not, do what you can to send them away. The beasts in the nearby regions will be drawn by the commotion.”

“Yes, Prince Noore!”

“Don’t worry, your highness. We’ll take care of them.”

The two captains gave a slight bow and turned towards the tent flap. The guard bowed and pushed to his feet, racing after them.

“Your highness, Captain Chu and Vice-Captain Kim are hot-headed. Sending them to control the situation…I don’t know if it was the right thing to do.” Khan Boen sighed worriedly as he rubbed his face.

Half a month ago, the young man was still playing around in the Imperial City. But upon hearing Prince Noore’s desire to earn merit in the east, as a friend, he decided to accompany him.

What he never expected was to see so much horror in the span of 15 days that he’d never seen in his past 18 years.

“Khan Boen, do you regret following me?” Prince Noore listlessly looked at the spread of dried meat and hard bread before him as he asked.

The man paused but didn’t say a word.

If he said he didn’t regret it, then he’d be lying. But if he said he regretted, then he’d be crushing the last dregs of confidence his already shattered friend was desperately clinging on.

“Heh…” A self-deprecating smile spread across Prince Noore’s face. He didn’t need to hear the man speak.

His silence was answer enough.

With a savage tug, he ripped the dried meat apart and silently chewed.

On the other side, Captain Chu and Vice-Captain Kim appeared at the gates in an arrogant manner.

“You peasants, I’ll give the count of three to clear the gates, otherwise…Hmph!” Captain Chu immediately pulled out his sword, making his threat clear.

The civilians silently went quiet and stepped back at the sight of the sharp weapon.

“You low-lives, we work so hard to protect your homes, and yet, you dare to throw stones at us? It’s fine if you’re ungrateful for our hard services, but how dare you attack the camp of Prince Noore?” Captain Kim was no less overbearing than his friend.

Before the mutated magical beasts attacked, they were ordinary captains stationed on the eastern outskirts with no hope of ever encountering a noble individual like Prince Noore. But thanks to the mutated beasts’ attack, they received this heaven blessed chance to impress and form a connection with the prince of the empire.

How could they let it go so easily?

The more overbearing they acted, the deeper loyalty they displayed, the greater their chance of climbing up the ranks.

The two exchanged knowing looks and aggressively stepped forth.

“Now get lost before we teach you a lesson for attacking a military station.”

“You! How can you call yourselves protectors? You’re chasing us away to become food for the beasts!” A middle-aged man, fueled with rage by the sight of their weapon, limped forward and agitatedly roared.

“Yes, yes…you’re throwing us to the beasts!”

“We only asked to be let inside. How can you be so ruthless as to chase us away into the wilderness? Don’t you know we’d be doomed to certain death if we leave?”

“Heh, 1…” Captain Chu held out his sword.

“2…” Captain Kim stood by his side and unsheathed his sword as well.

“3…! Guards, pick up your weapons and slaughter them!” The two roared together.

“What!?”

“What!?”

Both the guards of the gates and the civilians were astonished at the two captains’ commands.

Slaughter them?

“Captains, calm down. If we explain the situation to them, they’ll leave on their own.” Guard Van felt uncomfortable.

How could he slaughter the very citizens he’d entered the army to protect? Were the two captains insane?

As if to answer his question, Vice-captain Kim stepped forwards and ruthlessly slashed.

“Ahhh!”

“They killed old Hei! They killed my man!”

“They actually killed a civilian!”

The civilians were scared out of their minds. Their eyes widened in disbelief as they subconsciously drew back from the gate and huddled together. Under the threat of death, their earlier fervor disappeared.

“Ca…Captain Kim, was that necessary?” Guard Van listlessly looked at the motionless man laying on the ground. The red blood flowing out of his chest seared his heart with boundless rage.

The Captain of the empire actually dared to slaughter an unarmed civilian!

This chilled his heart.

“Useless peasants! We told them to leave very nicely. But since they were so unappreciative, they should reap the consequences of their actions.” Captain Chu coldly supported Vice-captain Kim’s actions.

Guard Van deeply looked at the two captains, his eyes swirling with unnamable emotions. Then he wordlessly turned and approached the gates. Seeing the fear and horror in the civilians’ eyes stabbed his heart.

As soldiers of the empire, whenever the citizens of the empire saw them, there would always be pride, reverence, and appreciation in their eyes. But now, aside from fear and horror, there was nothing else.

Guard Van clenched his fists and forced a smile on his face.

“I’m sorry we weren’t able to offer you shelter. The situation inside the camp is very messy at the moment, but you don’t need to lose hope. I heard that the Crown Prince of the Amayan Empire, Crown Prince Lail is heading to the east from the south. If you go south, you’ll probably encounter him.”

Guard Van had barely finished speaking when the frightened civilians instantly pricked up. Their hopeless eyes lit with excitement and they began to whisper among themselves in low nervous tones.

“The Crown Prince? The Crown Prince of the Amayan Empire is heading here?”

“I heard the Crown Prince was never in the Imperial Capital as he always defended the borders.”

“If we encounter the Crown Prince, then we have a chance at surviving. He’s the Sovereign of Death!”

“We will go to the Crown Prince. He will definitely protect us!”

Flushed with excitement and anticipation on seeing the protector and guardian of their empire, the Sovereign of Death, the civilians turned their backs on the gates and sprinted towards the south.

Crossing woods, rocky plains, and swamps, the more than a thousand civilians slowly dwindled down as sickness, encounter with magical beasts, and hunger struck them down. Thin-bodied and garbed in rags, the citizens earlier enthusiasm faded with hardship, and the only drive moving them forward was an unconscious thought to keep moving.

After nine days of trek in unknown paths, on the dawn of the tenth night, a storm of dust appeared before their eyes.

“Huh? It looks like there’s going to be a sandstorm.” Capped lips and sunken eyes, a man with only few pieces of clothing dully remarked.

“Maybe this is our end. Sigh, I really wanted to see the Crown Prince…” Another in a similar condition hopelessly sighed.

“I lost everything on this trek, but at least I didn’t die in the jaws of a beast.” Another with glazed eyes slumped to the ground.

Just as the meager group of civilians prepared their hearts to embrace death, a black Myif with a black-robed rider entered their sight.

“Hey, am I hallucinating? Why do I see a human come out of the storm?”

“I see it too…maybe it’s the grim reaper?”

“You fool! Would the grim reaper appear while it’s still daylight? Besides we’re still alive.”

“Then that’s…”

At this moment, the sandstorm split apart and a wave of black armored soldiers rushed out shouting loudly.

“Make way! The Crown Prince is passing!”

The lifeless gaze in the sickly men’s eyes instantly froze before a fervent and fierce glow replaced.

“The only sovereign of death in the Amayan Empire…”

“Crown Prince Lail!”

The low, weak cry was filled with immense power and rekindled hope that echoed in the desolate region.