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Chapter 275 - An Unexpected Helper (4)

Herarion grabbed some of the rubble.

“...”

His meeting with Hedajaon, his grandfather, at the Khan’s Eye, seemed to have healed him in many ways. Thus, even though the sight of the ruined palace didn’t shock him as much as it had before, he still felt a pang in his heart.

“Your Majesty, is there something you’re looking for?” asked Henry.

“Yes, and it’s not just goods that I’m looking for. I need to find and recover the countless bodies buried under the ruins of the palace, but... Even as the emperor of this kingdom, I won’t be able to give them a proper burial, so I can\'t bring myself to look at them.”

Herarion lost most of what he had when the palace was destroyed. Realizing that he couldn’t even give these poor people a simple burial, he felt utterly sorry and ashamed.

With his head lowered, Herarion stood up and walked closer to the ruined palace, but just then...

“...Your Majesty?” called out an unfamiliar voice.

Henry turned his head and looked in the direction of the voice, and there was an old man with hollowed cheeks, looking at Herarion.

The old man looked bewildered, his eyes rather hazy.

“You’re...”

“Y-Your Majesty? You’re alive?!”

As Henry and Herarion recognized him, the old man burst into tears and fell to his knees in front of Herarion.

“Your Majesty! I’m so glad you’re alive! Truly...!”

The old mad bawled his eyes out. His name was Romwell, and he was the one responsible for supplying the palace with desert salt. Romwell was extremely lucky because he had been out procuring salt when Grumpy had unleashed death upon the palace.

On his way back, Romwell heard an explosion coming from the palace and rushed toward it, but by the time he arrived, the palace lay in ruins.

Herarion helped Romwell get back on his feet.

Romwell was covered in dirt, and his hands were full of wounds, wrapped in tattered bandages meant to stop the bleeding. His hands were injured because he had spent days and nights desperately scouring for Herarion, hoping to at least find his body in case he had died.

Hearing this, Herarion couldn’t resist bursting into tears at Romwell’s admirable heart.

“Thank you! Sniff. Thank you so much...!”

Clasping Romwell’s bloodied hands, Herarion wept like a child, forgetting that he was the emperor. This caused Romwell to burst into tears again.

Henry watched the two from a distance.

‘This reminds me of when Golden died.’

When Golden Jackson Edward I, the first emperor of the Eurasian Empire, died, the whole continent wept. But when Edward II died, no one shed a single tear because he had a completely different reputation than his father.

In that sense, Herarion was a successful emperor, given that even a mere saltman wept for him.

After crying for a while, Romwell finally composed himself and said, “Your Majesty, I have something to show you.”

Romwell took the two of them to a bunch of makeshift graves. Since the palace had fallen, Romwell had given each person he found a small burial.

“This is...”

“Your Majesty, this is where the queen and your mother are buried.”

“...!”

Romwell had set aside separate graves for Selene and Herarion’s mother. He didn’t have much to make the graves with, but this was the least he could do for the royal family.

There was enough space between the two graves for another one, and it seemed like Romwell had allocated that space for Herarion just in case...

“S-Selene...!”

Seeing the queen’s grave, Herarion broke down once more, and Romwell stood by his side, trying to comfort him.

Herarion mourned loudly. It had seemed at first that he had shed enough tears meeting Romwell, but this was nothing compared to that.

Herarion broke down on the ground, and seeing him in such distress, Henry decided to stay far back and allow him to let out all of his grief.

*

Herarion cared for his family more than anyone else, so he cried next to Selene and his mother’s graves for a long time before starting to calm down. His grief felt like a well that would never dry, but Herarion had become stronger than before after meeting his grandfather at the Khan’s eye.

Herarion didn’t let it all out. Instead, he buried the anger in his heart, allowing it to fester into hatred.

He looked like the physical manifestation of anger; he was gritting his teeth, and his hands were trembling.

When Herarion finally stopped trembling, the saltman who had been watching him from his side said, “Your Majesty, I’m sure the grief you’re feeling is too great for someone like me to fathom, but... I have something to tell you.”

“...I’m alright, so please go ahead.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. There is a big problem in Khan due to the destruction of the palace.”

“A problem in Khan?”

“Yes. It’s the demonic beasts in the desert. They’re causing more trouble.”

“Why would the desert’s demonic beasts suddenly... It can’t be!”

Herarion had his eyes only half open, but after hearing the news about the demonic beasts, he suddenly opened his eyes wide open. He was startled because if the demonic beasts in the desert had been acting strangely since the destruction of the palace, this meant that they were looking to invade the city.

‘God! I didn’t think of this!’

There were not a lot of places in the continent where demonic beasts appeared. Beside the three major military camps, the demonic beasts only lurked around mountain ranges, plateaus, or isolated areas like the Shahatra desert.

In Shahatra, there were beasts that lived either in the mountainous region or in the desert itself. Of course, there were fewer beasts in the desert, but that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. If anything, those in the desert were generally larger and better at survival due to the harsh living conditions.

‘The illusion barrier that controlled the beasts from escaping was being maintained by the palace, but now that the palace is gone, it’s possible that the beasts will attack!’

In fact, it was a miracle that the beasts hadn’t swarmed the palace grounds yet.

“Romwell, have there been any invasions of the demonic beasts while I was away?”

“There haven’t, but I\'ve noticed a number of beasts, large and small, lurking near the capital’s walls... So I think the demonic beasts have noticed that there’s something wrong with the illusion barrier.”

“What happened to the other cities? I’m sure I sent a letter before the palace collapsed.”

“I’m not sure if it’s because of the letter, but almost all the troops from other cities that were defending the capital retreated as soon as they realized that the palace was destroyed, leaving only the bare minimum behind.”

Fleeing away from the capital when it was under attack and leaving only a handful of troops would be considered treason, but Shahatra’s brains had been killed.

The soldiers had to have realized that because most of the head priests and junior priests had died, the illusion barriers that had kept Shahatra safe were no longer working. Therefore, they were probably forced to retreat in order to protect their own cities.

Romwell’s distressing report caused Herarion to recall various matters regarding the kingdom that he had forgotten about.

Being exposed to the demonic beasts was the worst possible thing at the moment. Despite the lack of manpower, Shahatra had managed to keep the people safe from the beasts with barriers and illusions, but now...

After a long pause, Herarion said, “Sir Henry.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I know I have no right to ask you this, but could you help me one more time?”

“Of course. And don’t forget we’re on the same boat, so don’t say that you have no right to ask me for help.”

Henry was aware that he was the only person Herarion could rely on at the moment, which was why he instantly agreed to help him.

“Then... We first need Viram.”

There were many objectives on Henry’s to-do-list, but before getting to that, he decided to save Shahatra because it still had some hope left. Only then would Herarion be able to fully focus on his revenge.

*

Crunch- Crunch-

The sound of meat and bones being chewed filled the air.

The powers of the demonic beasts that had descended from the Shahatra Mountains evolved as they expanded their territory.

This was a normal physiological phenomenon for demonic beasts. Beings with mana were more nutritious than any other prey, so feeding on them accelerated the evolution process of demonic beasts.

Consequently, the weakest demonic beasts in the mountains were now the most powerful predators, consuming all life in the surrounding areas.

However, this all came to an end in Charlotte Heights. The demonic beasts had expanded their territory until they reached Charlotte Heights, where they had been slaughtered and devoured by the one predator that ruled that place.

- KHRAAA!

The predator of Charlotte Heights roared ferociously. No one knew what kind of monster ruled this area, or rather, no one even knew that there was a monster here in the first place. No one had survived the encounter with this beast, so they could tell the others about it.

This monster had been reborn from the dead Chimeras. It had evolved thanks to the survival instincts, hunger, and overall genes it had inherited from those Chimeras.

The monster was constantly feeding. It killed everything on sight and ate everything it could take up in its mouth and chew. Its hunger was so strong and limitless that it would keep eating until it threw up.

The monster would unleash unimaginable powers in order to hunt as much prey as possible and satisfy its tremendous hunter.

With those powers, the monster had eviscerated the demonic beasts of the mountains.

Crunch crunch.

- Krrrr.

The monster was eating the carcasses of the Armor Worms it had just defeated. It also consumed the unique hard shells of these creatures in order to undergo transformation once again.

- Krr!

The monster stood up after finishing its meal. It had also finished evolving, and now it was hungry again because evolving and eating at the same time had consumed an enormous amount of energy.

Sniff sniff.

The monstrosity looked up and started sniffing around like a dog. Its sense of smell was already far superior to that of an animal.

It picked up the scent of a nearby creature.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Having evolved a bunch of times, the monster was now almost four meters tall. But regardless of its size, it charged in the direction of the creature, stomping the ground with heavy thuds, hoping it could satisfy its hunger once again.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

This creature was a new kind of Chimera, born from its dead relatives. It also exuded a faint divine energy.

This could be the worst monster to ever walk on this continent, and it was quietly feeding and evolving unbeknownst to Henry and Arthus.