TGS - Chapter 126
Chapter 126: Day of Destiny
The Yilu River cut through the Royal City. Its meandering channel passed through the heart of the city, forming a protective arc around half of the Royal Palace.
The sky had just cleared after the rain, and the river water was a jewel-like cyan, flowing silently into the distance like a ribbon of pure silk.
Two mahogany coffins rested by the riverbank, their lids half-open, each containing the remains of a person.
Before the funeral began, Alyuin had personally moved the bones from their narrow, black stone coffins. She had dressed them in new clothes, adorned them with the gold ornaments they had loved in life, and then placed them into these two caskets, which met the standards for a royal burial.
Standing on the bank, Alyuin bent down and scooped fresh water from the Yilu River with a pottery jar. She then sprinkled it upon the foreheads of the skeletons, one after the other—a necessary ritual to release the soul from the body.
Having done this, she straightened, her gaze sweeping over the crowd of mourners.
Many had come to observe the ceremony, most of them powerful nobles and ministers. Some simply maintained a solemn demeanor, while others wept uncontrollably. In truth, after so many years, few were genuinely grieved; instead, they seemed to be competing to see who could cry the hardest.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Alyuin maintained her composure.
She gazed toward the river's source, her lashes half-lowered, concealing the faint glisten of tears in her eyes.
But when she raised her eyes again, they were the same sharp, profound golden eyes, betraying no hint of her feelings.
A circle of empty space surrounded Alyuin, giving her enough room to bid her parents farewell in a voice only she could hear.
"Father, Mother."
"Now, everyone knows it was Horst who committed the grave crime of treason. If you are not in a hurry to be reincarnated, you can wait a while in the Kingdom of the Gods and watch him kneel before the royal mausoleum in repentance."
"Everything will go smoothly."
"The Death God will not misjudge a person's life of good and evil. The ravens will sing for you and bring you flower wreaths, just as they do for all souls of noble character."
She paused for a moment.
Lotus had once mentioned the Death God's ravens. Her tone was always detached, yet when she spoke of her divine colleagues, it was always with a familiar, casual air.
The camaraderie among the gods must be quite good, she thought. After all, they had worked together for millennia.
"If you can see Lotus..."
Though the possibility was nearly zero.
Her whispers trailed off, as if she did not know what more to say.
In the end, there was only a soft farewell.
"Rest well. Farewell."
The weather was clear, and the wind rustled past her ears. A few leaves from the old trees on the bank drifted down, brushing against the ends of Alyuin's hair and her shoulders before floating gently to the ground.
It was as if someone had been standing on either side of her, responding to her farewell by placing a hand on each of her shoulders.
After the funeral, the caskets were sealed with beeswax and placed within the same chamber in the royal mausoleum.
From then on, the doors to the burial chamber would be sealed, layer upon layer, forbidding any disturbance. Worshippers could offer bouquets outside the mausoleum, but only Alyuin herself, and those with her permission, could enter to see the great tombstone outside the chamber.
The mourners dispersed, and Alyuin sat alone before the tombstone for a long time before finally leaving the mausoleum.
Lena stepped forward. "Your Majesty."
Alyuin nodded and looked past her to the vigorous, elderly man with graying temples. It was Hephit, the Lord of Digebia.
Hephit was stationed year-round in the vital northwestern border city. He had come to Akhet this time to report on his duties and to attend the funeral.
Limited by his age, the old lord had not been on the battlefield for several years, but he was still more robust than many a warrior. As a loyal old general who had served under the former king, he was currently overcome with mixed emotions.
"Fifteen years... Alas."
Hephit shook his head, his expression gentle as he looked at Alyuin.
Fifteen years ago, when the news of the former king's death had kept him sleepless through the night, he never would have imagined that the little princess sent into exile could have accomplished so much.
Alyuin said, "Lord Hephit, you have had an arduous journey. Why not stay in the Royal City for a few more days before you return?"
"There's no need. I'll speak with Lena a while longer, and then I'll depart this afternoon," Hephit said. "I've been on the border for so long that I'm no longer accustomed to the climate in the Royal City. It's best I return soon."
Hearing this, Alyuin did not insist. She gave Lena half a day's leave to spend time with her father.
As he was about to leave, Lord Hephit performed a solemn salute.
"The gods and the former king will watch over you and protect you on your path forward."
"All of Solancia is in your hands, Your Majesty."
Alyuin nodded. She watched the father and daughter depart in another direction, then tilted her own face up to gaze at the azure, nearly cloudless sky.
A long moment passed.
"It's time to go back."
Her decorative long boots, worn only on formal occasions, stepped across the white stone slabs as she walked toward the Royal Palace. Her personal guards followed behind the regent, silent and solemn.
Under the same sky, on the highland steppes beyond the northwestern border.
The wind blew fast and hard, snapping a black banner taut and revealing the wolf's head totem emblazoned upon it.
The lines were coarse and sharp, the wolf's head fierce and menacing, perfectly reflecting the usual brutishness of the Sanur Tribe.
The Sanur leader, mounted on a tall horse, gazed into the distance from beneath the banner.
Though there was nothing of note in his line of sight, he knew that marching in that direction would lead them to Digebia, the city that had thwarted them for so long.
"Marching now, moving so slowly... it's truly unsatisfying."
The Sanur leader said this, but his face was filled with excitement and anticipation, showing none of the dissatisfaction his words implied.
An envoy from Kasnie stood to one side, saying slowly, "This time, we must conquer Digebia in one fell swoop. It would not do to be too hasty before the official assault."
"Of course, once Solancia's northwestern defensive line is breached, my lord, you can indulge your satisfaction to your heart's content."
"Why do you still call me 'my lord'?" the leader said, displeased. "I am a king now. The King of the Sanur."
The envoy lowered his head. "My apologies. Please forgive me, King of the Sanur."
The leader laughed heartily. "I was only joking. I'm not so petty. Our success in this attack will be thanks to the weapons sent by your highness. They're far better than anything we've looted from the Solancians."
The envoy merely smiled without a word.
In the past, the Sanur had been divided into several tribes with a loose power structure. Only in recent years had this leader, with the support of Kasnie, unified the highland steppes and forged the tribes into a single entity.
The few small kingdoms situated between Kasnie and the Sanur found themselves in a perilous position and, one by one, pledged their allegiance to Kasnie.
And so, everything was in place.
The fierce nomadic people and the long-scheming maritime civilization—like a meeting between a wolf and a shark—turned their gazes simultaneously toward the bountiful lands of Solancia.
The northwestern border? The impregnable Digebia?
That was all in the past. Before the unified might of the Sanur warriors, it would surely crumble at the first blow!
And that princess—
Oh, now she was some Regent Princess. She was far away in Akhet, likely drowning in state affairs. No one could stop them. No one!
Under the daylight, the black, wolf-headed banner began to advance.
Like a gathering wolf pack, they bared their fangs at the land of lush pastures and plentiful flocks.
The old lord, having just returned to Digebia from Akhet, had a good night's rest.
When he rose the next day, he was faced with a pile of important documents that had accumulated on his desk for over half a month, and his vision momentarily went black.
"Oh, I'm really getting old. My head spins so easily," Hephit said, clutching his head in a blatant attempt to escape the baptism of paperwork.
His advisors gathered around, trying helplessly to persuade him. In the midst of their back-and-forth, the sound of frantic, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
"My lord, the Sanur are attacking!"
The messenger reported anxiously, gasping for breath.
Raids by the Sanur were a common occurrence on the border, so there was normally no cause for such panic. But Hephit saw something in the messenger's expression, and his own face immediately grew solemn.
Just as he suspected, the messenger continued, shouting, "It's a full-scale invasion! The Sanur have somehow gathered a massive force, and they're already approaching the border!"
Hephit shot to his feet.
A great army was bearing down on the city. The equestrian Sanur eyed Digebia with covetous desire—no, it was more than that. They had already extended their claws and fangs. Their army was at the gates.
The Sanur leader looked up at the high city walls and gave a savage grin.
"Attack—"
The flames of war raged. The Sanur launched their assault on the city walls, clad in armor of a style completely different from the past. They charged fearlessly, braving the arrows raining down from the defenders on the ramparts.
Just like their totem. Just like the Wolf God they worshipped.
The defenders of Digebia were well-trained and their forces were not weak, but faced with the Sanur's absolute numerical superiority and their drastically altered combat tactics, they still felt overwhelmed.
Hephit donned his armor, preparing to mount the city walls.
His advisors rushed to dissuade him. "My lord, your health..."
"I can still fight," Hephit cut them off. "Don't worry, I can fight better than most of these young lads. Has the message been sent out?"
"It has been sent. It should reach the Royal City within four days."
"Good." Hephit slowly exhaled.
The distance between the northwestern border and the Royal City spanned more than half of Solancia. Even an urgent military dispatch would take at least three days to arrive—an unavoidable delay.
And by the time the urgent dispatch reached Alyuin.
By the time she learned of the Sanur's full-scale invasion.
Hephit, standing atop the city walls, was exhausted. Worn down by the relentless assault, he was pierced through the chest by a spear. His blood-soaked body fell backward, his eyes still straining to stay open.
Solancia...
Your Majesty...
Lena.
On that same day, Digebia fell.
The Sanur occupied the fortress, revealing their predatory nature as they immediately set their sights on more distant cities. They could not wait.
And at the very instant the city walls were breached, 【Spacetime】 and 【Destiny】 struck a chord. This profound change was sensed by the pantheon of every civilization caught in its wake.
A deity with the head of a gray wolf and a necklace of human skulls suddenly paused, then bared a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Beside him, several other beast-headed Sanur gods exchanged glances, their understanding clear.
The Primordial God of Kasnie condensed its form. Its face, composed of light and mist, was expressionless, yet it seemed to have anticipated this all along.
In the Kingdom of the Gods, on a floating island amidst the clouds, the Sky God, still in the form of an infant, frowned and murmured, "How could it be at a time like this..."
Within the River Goddess's temple, the pool of clear water surrounding the deity of water, which had been rippling with a certain rhythm, finally fell still. The halo of light faded, and all became silent.
In the utter silence, Lotus opened her eyes.
Her blue chalcedony eyes reflected the star chart of the Yilu River on the dome above, its light shimmering like the river's hidden currents.
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