RGS Vol 7 Part 14

He had no intention of stopping the forest. Hearing Karas’ response, Truyde sighed as if he had now understood. The cruel nature of the dragon was revealing itself.

“You’re actually enjoying this. The curse of the Dragon Forest.”

“Curse?”

When Karas asked back, Truyde spat out his words harshly.

“The curse of the forest that I burned down, turning it into a land of death! You called me an idiot, yet you can’t see the cursed forest spreading in all directions? You yourself said it, didn’t you? That the secret of the forest is me. You know it’s a curse created because of me!”

A foul smell emanated from his shoulder, where his flesh continued to burn. Now, with his entire shoulder scorched to the point where the white bone was visible, Truyde could no longer support himself on his knees and collapsed. He still tried to keep his back straight out of pride, but the pain kept him from lifting his head. Nevertheless, he managed to lift his eyes to meet Karas’ question.

“What, you still don’t understand why I’ve been so kind in explaining everything until now?”

“Kind? You were just showing off.”

Struggling to speak, he gasped for breath and clutched his ruined shoulder with his other hand. As he watched Truyde’s face twist in agony, Karas only shook his head.

“No. You deserve to hear it.”

“Deserve?”

Yes, Karas answered kindly, lowering himself on one knee in front of Truyde.

“The forest ended up like this entirely because of you.”

“If you’re talking about a curse…”

“It’s really strange.”

Karas tilted his head to the side as if he genuinely didn’t understand and asked.

“Why is it that none of you have questioned the most important thing in the past 12 years?”

“The most important thing?”

“My eyes.”

Karas tilted his head to the side once again.

“In all the records of kings, there’s never been a case where someone lost a part of their body, and it regrew. My eyes were completely ruined, stabbed by the woman who was supposed to be my mother. Yet, when you all saw my eyes healed, you simply accepted it.”

“Because you possess the power of a dragon.”

“I was just a kid whose only power was to summon small animals.”

What?

“Then with what power…”

“With an incredible stroke of luck.”

Karas paused for a moment before taking out his sword and tearing away the burning flesh from Truyde’s shoulder.

“Aaaargh!!!”

Trude screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground, but Karas paid no attention. He put the charred piece of flesh he was holding in his mouth. Trude, who had been delirious with pain, raised his eyes after a while and saw Karas eating his own flesh.

Slurp.

 Chewing slowly, Karas licked the blood off the corner of his lips, his eyes soon grew dull due to the effects of the black potion.:

“Hah, ugh.”

Truyde exhaled through his mouth in pain, unable to take his eyes off Karas. Although it was as if he had given a piece of his flesh, he thought that perhaps this might be enough to bring Karas down.

Yes, eat all of me if you must.

Keep eating!

He stared with a desperate plea, but his opponent did not fall. Instead, Karas blinked his now cloudy eyes and continued where he had left off.

“There’s no such thing as a curse in the forest.”

Karas clenched his fists as if focusing on something and muttered.

“The forest just stopped.”

Stopped?

“Yes, it stopped. Twelve years ago, when you set fire to the forest, I absorbed its power. An unimaginable, immense power.”

As he finished speaking, a fog-like black smoke began to emanate from Karas’ body. The smell of the smoke was very familiar to Truyde. It smelled just like his own blood. As the smoke dissipated, Karas stared at Trude with his cold gray eyes, which had returned to their original state.

“It’s all thanks to you. That’s how I was able to detoxify the black potion on my own.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

“The forest helps His Majesty? This forest?”

Ashler pointed at the blackened land in disbelief. Abel stepped forward, seemingly ready to explain as they walked.

“Do you remember when I first met the prince, he always had blood on his hands?”

Of course, he remembered. The child who hid his eerie yellow eyes behind his hair and rejected everything. Ashler nodded as he followed.

“Yes, I know he used to kill small animals.”

“The carcasses of those animals were once found in the prince’s room. At that time, I wondered if he had the ability to summon the animals he desired.”

As they approached the palace, Abel sped up his pace almost running. He knew he should check on Ashler who was following him, but his thoughts were solely focused on Karas, who would be in the palace.

I need to get there quickly.

 His words grew faster as his mind became more anxious.

“But then I felt it once again in the forest. When I was with the prince in the forest, I described animals to him that we couldn’t see right away. Especially large beasts—I exaggerated their descriptions a bit…”

Abel trailed off and glanced back at Ashler, who met his gaze and continued his explanation.

“You ran out of the forest with a bear in tow.”

Was it just a bear?

Wild boars, wolves, even snakes. And that wasn’t all, when the most terrifying swarm of bees appeared, he even considered giving up and returning home.

But was that Karas’ inherent ability?

Abel added more to his explanation.

“He could only summon large animals in the forest. So, I thought, perhaps the prince’s power grows stronger when he enters the forest. With the forest’s help, it seemed like the forest allowed him to experience the power he would have as an adult.”

Abel’s voice faltered, likely from running out of breath. Even without further explanation, Ashler understood the importance of what Abel was saying about the forest’s help. He remembered the forest they had entered as he held the prince’s hand. The real forest, obscured due to the fog, was a sacred land densely filled with trees taller than the palace itself. The mysterious forest, untouched by human footsteps, truly seemed like the realm of the gods.

However, the forest had burned down. The forest, which had contained power, was gone, leaving behind the blackened land from twelve years ago. Only then did Ashler finally realize the importance of Abel’s words.

Just as it was, twelve years ago.

If it wasn’t a curse, as Abel suggested, where had the forest’s power gone after it was burned down?

That sacred fog… fog?

Something struck Ashler, and he stopped in his tracks, eyes widening in shock. However, Abel, who had reached the open palace gates, didn’t notice and continued speaking.

“If the forest contained the dragon’s power and helped the prince, what will happen to that power if the forest disappears? I believe the reason the forest hasn’t regenerated after burning twelve years ago is because the power vanished. With the forest gone, the power couldn’t remain there, so it was transferred to someone else who could receive it.”

Abel turned at the door and added uncertainly.

“This is all just speculation. It’s also possible that the curse truly caused the forest’s power to change and burn everything.”

“No.”

Ashler quickly checked the ground beneath his feet and then jumped in front of Abel with a resolute expression.

“I saw the fog. The same fog as in the Dragon’s Forest.”

When?

Abel asked, and the answer that came from Ashler was something Abel also knew. It was when he woke up after collapsing upon discovering Karas’ real identity. The very place where he, thought to be dead, opened his eyes.

“The fog that rejects people, making it impossible to see a step ahead, was the same fog from the Dragon Forest. However, I am certain that His Majesty created that fog.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Truyde’s groans, caused by the pain in his shoulder, began to subside. His eyes, which now turned hollow and glassy, showed no sign of life. The shock was so great that he seemed like a lifeless doll, devoid of any reaction.

Burning the Dragon Forest had been a rash decision because he wanted to destroy the hated king’s refuge. Even though Abel had escaped into the forest with the prince, it wasn’t necessary to destroy it. With a king who could enter the forest, they could have used him to find them.

However, he was enraged. He wanted to show Abel, who had fled with the prince, that the Dragon’s Forest wasn’t entirely safe. How dare he, just a tool to make the prince open his mouth, forget his place, and stay by the prince’s side?

He was annoyed at the thought that the prince might be influenced by him and lose his discipline. No one can defeat the King’s Heart. He needed to show him how terrifying the King’s Heart was. The Dragon’s Forest, shrouded in mystical fog? It could simply be destroyed.

When the burned forest remained unchanged without it regenerating for the past twelve years, everyone gossiped that it was a curse. But even that was laughable. Just as the forest that burned so easily was nothing special, the curse was nothing either. It was just unchanging. The Dragon Forest was forgotten by everyone.

Truyde, the one who burned the forest, had considered the Dragon Forest a trivial matter that never interfered with his life. His decision was right, and because of that, everything went according to plan. For twelve years, nothing happened. During that long period of time, it had no impact on him.

But now, this realization shattered Truyde’s mind completely.

The power of the Dragon Forest…

Did it go into Karas?

Because of me?

Is this entire situation because of me?

Because of what I believed was the right decision for twelve years?!

“No, no.”

A barely audible denial escaped with his breath, too low to notice. The unbearable shock left Trude feeling as if he had aged decades.

“Because of me? Because I, I burned the forest.”

His unfocused eyes stared blankly at Karas.

“It can’t be.”

The words, spoken without will, repeated from Trude’s mouth. He couldn’t believe that his actions had actually given power to his opponent. However, in reality, Karas’ voice cruelly shattered everything.

“No, it’s all your fault. You gave power to your own enemy and made yourself a worthless piece of trash.”

The words that Truyde once considered as a mere provocation now pierced deep into his bones with cold clarity.

Flinch.

His body reacted belatedly and trembled. He had indeed become the rotten, useless poison.

“Have you been deceiving everyone for twelve years without being poisoned?”

“I told you. My power wasn’t fully complete.”

It had been a tedious time. To endure it, he went to war and played tricks using the war profiteer. However, his victory was too obvious, making it uninteresting. Thus, even seeing Truyde’s appearance fall in shock brought him no satisfaction. After all, the only thing that mattered to him was obtaining power.

Karas stood up and looked down at his hands again. His power was only enough to prevent withdrawal symptoms. He couldn’t normally draw out his power except when he was enraged. Just once would be enough. If he could release the power densely packed within him even once, the rest would be easy. But he didn’t know how, and time wasn’t on his side. Then an opportunity suddenly arose.

“I needed something. That’s how I figured out how to draw out my power.”

He had to summon something he desperately wanted. If it meant saving the breathless Abel, then anything would do. He thought he had failed when a lunatic suddenly appeared out of nowhere. After using all his power for the first time, he was bedridden for days and had to listen to nonsense that Abel was dead.

“I perfected the method of using my power once I entered the palace. The faster I could expel the black potion from my body, the stronger I became.”

It sounded as if he was crediting Trude for his help, and Trude stood there, mouth agape like a fool.

Was the whole point of the bet to drink the black potion solely for the purpose of strengthening his power?

He had assumed Karas was simply addicted and holed up in his room, but Karas had used that time to train?

“What are you going to do with that power?”

Truyde thought there was nothing left that could shock him after his mind had been shattered by the revelations. But there was still more. Karas lowered his eyes and looked down at the seemingly broken Truyde.

“I’m going to leave it alone.”

Leave it alone?

What?

The questions that inevitably arose vanished when Truyde looked up and saw Karas’ eyes. The thick fog began to form and gather around them, but to Truyde, everything was crystal clear. The sight made him tremble with fear until his mind went blank. Now that Karas could fully utilize the power of the forest, he released all of it. As proof, his eyes had returned to their original state. The eerie yellow snake-like eyes gleamed ominously.