Book 4, Chapter 82 (1/2)

Abomination

There had been no mention of getting a priest to heal Zangru. The youth had divine blood flowing through his veins, giving his body a natural healing factor that was faster than spells from most priests. The seemingly ordinary chains were actually imbued with the power of divine punishment; the injury they caused was not something clerics could help with.

Night slowly fell, shrouding the magnificent city of Baruch. The golden walls of the mountainside palace shown splendidly as the sun set, radiating its millennia of history over many generations of kings.

Zangru, dressed in pure black robes and hair now cut down to shoulder length, appeared at the entrance to the palace. As he showed the king’s token to the guards on duty he was allowed to pass without issue; the guards had evidently been informed beforehand. Only a young guard couldn’t keep his mouth shut, “Who are you? Daring to break into the pal—”

His mouth was covered before he could finish. “Hold your tongue! Do you want to die?!” the old captain of the guard whispered in the youth’s ear.

The guard whimpered a few times and suddenly stopped struggling. The captain suddenly felt something warm on his hands; a closer look down showed him that he was now stained with blood! The young guard suddenly seemed to gush blood all over, body filling up with numerous bloody lines. The flesh split into hundreds of small portions, each falling to the ground. The captain stood rooted in his spot, watching in a daze as the pile of flesh wriggled at his feet.

Nobody had seen Zangru make his move, but by the time they turned to look the black-robed figure gradually disappeared into the distance. His shadow seemed so enormous it could cover the entire capital.

A warm light was lit within a quiet courtyard in the palace. Many beautiful maidservants travelled back and forth in the midst of their work, one tending to a beautiful young woman who was removing her makeup.

Seeing the look of worry on the young lady’s face, the maid who was helping her spoke up, “There is no need to worry, Your Majesty, the King will certainly return victorious in this battle!”

“But of course,” the queen consort forced a smile. For some reason, whenever she looked at herself in the mirror she felt as though a black aura was shrouding her.

A loud crash suddenly resounded through the courtyard as the door was smashed out of its frame and thrown away. What looked to be an ethereal beauty in black robes walked over, causing the servants who ran over from the side hall to shriek and call for the guards. However, no matter how hard they shouted the palace remained completely silent. It was as though all of the soldiers had died.

Zangru took out the golden token and nonchalantly tossed it to the middle of the courtyard, rendering all the servants silent. The devilish youth then walked right in and stared at the pale consort who barely managed to stand tall, “So you’re Anwod’s most beloved wife?”

“I am the queen consort! Who are you?” The young lady tried her best to straighten herself and stand tall, but it felt as though a thousand little pins were pricking her.

Zangru slowly reached towards her breasts, eyes dancing with a mysterious grim flame as he chuckled, “It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that you’re mine!”

A mournful cry suddenly rang out from the consort’s hall, not fading for a long time.

……

In another part of the palace, a concubine who was favoured by Anwod had put on a servant’s robes as she tried to rush out from the halls of the harem. She nearly tripped over in shock when the miserable cries rang out in the distance, but managed to calm her breathing even as she walked even faster. She came from a long-standing family that had a deep network within the Kingdom, so she had heard of this news before the consort was caught. She was also well aware of past events and what would happen over the next few days.

However, a royal guard suddenly walked out of the darkness and barred her way.

“Move out of the way! Do you know who I am?” the concubine shrieked. However, even in the state of hysteria she did her best to lower her volume, afraid that the devil would hear.

The soldier remained expressionless as he said coldly, “His Majesty has ordered that nobody from the harem is to leave their halls in the coming week.”

“What, this is… an order from His Majesty?” The concubine immediately turned ashen. She then did her best to smile, revealing her most beautiful side as she produced a precious gem bracelet and pushed it into the soldier’s hand, “What’s your name? As long as you step aside, I definitely won’t forget you.”

“His Majesty has ordered that nobody from the harem is to leave their halls in the coming week,” the guard repeated once more, as robotic as a puppet.

The concubine slowly turned glum, scared out of her wits as she headed back towards her halls. Given her past, she knew the devil definitely wouldn’t let her go. She might survive the ordeal with her life, but the King definitely wouldn’t want her afterwards. All the luxuries she now held would be blown away like the wind.

In that moment, she felt as though the winds blowing over her were filled with despair.