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    Chapter 63: The Serpent’s Den (1)


    Jedrick already knew the truth before Stuga—or rather, Ram—confessed.


    Yet, he had never told anyone.


    There was no reason to, and he didn’t want to.


    ‘Good grief, I wasn’t the only one intoxicated by this situation.’


    Jedrick had almost spilled an even greater secret.


    Charlon’s smile was like magic, making the solid shield he had built around himself fall apart.


    But in the end, he held his ground and only revealed a trivial, meaningless secret.


    As Damion had teasingly pointed out, it was “just that kind of secret.”


    But when Ram confessed the real truth, Jedrick was overwhelmed with unexpected guilt.


    He nearly pulled out the vial he had hidden in his cloak and said, “Let’s start over.”


    The noise outside silenced Jedrick’s words and stayed his hand.


    A scream pierced the air.


    It came from outside the cave.


    The shouting of knights soon followed.


    Even before the scream, Ram had already let go of both Damion and Jedrick’s hands.


    While Jedrick, Damion, and Charlon were still entranced by the mysterious magic of the ce, Ram had already pieced things together.


    He spoke quickly.


    “An ambush.”


    Ram wiped away his flowing tears, his expression instantly turning cold andposed.


    He analyzed the situation purely by sound.


    “Two soldiers guarding the entrance were just killed. The soldiers working outside to prepare the operation were also attacked and killed, and two or three men on horseback tried to flee but were shot down by arrows. Now, only riderless horses are running off into the distance…”


    Ram immediately drew his sword and began walking toward the entrance.


    Lowering his voice to a near whisper, he added,


    “…Two intruders are entering the cave.”


    Damion silently followed behind Ram.


    He gestured to Charlon to stay put, while Jedrick followed the prince.


    Charlon, looking worried, was left standing alone near the stone table.


    Just as Ram had said, two figures were making their way into the cave from the entrance.


    They were Geronians.


    d in leather instead of armor, with thick beards and no helmets, they were clearly not southern men.


    Ram turned to Jedrick as if seeking confirmation.


    “Are they from Elum?”


    By then, the two Geronians had already drawn their swords and were charging at Ram.


    Whether they were from Elum or not, there was no time to wait and find out.


    “No.”


    Jedrick quickly replied, and Ram swung his sword without hesitation.


    In a single stroke, he shed both men and evaded their swords at the same time.


    To an onlooker, it seemed as if the two Geronians had swung their des into thin air, while Ram appeared to have done nothing more than pass effortlessly between them.


    No one in the Elum viges—or even among the Geronian warriors—could wield a sword like that.


    In fact, not even among the southern knights was there anyone capable of such a feat.


    ‘And that’s supposed to be ve-born swordsmanship? Ridiculous.’


    Jedrick had already known before Ram confessed that he was a former ve and who the noble lord he had served was.


    He also knew that the young lord who had been left alone with Ram had vanished without a trace.


    But with that single stroke of the sword, all of Ram’s confessions seemed like lies.


    ‘If someone said Terdin had been hiding the Triton Kingdom’s greatest swordsman all this time, I’d believe it.’


    After cutting down the two men, Ram didn’t even check if they were dead.


    Instead, he briskly walked toward the cave entrance.


    Jedrick, however, felt the need to confirm.


    Damion cautiously followed Ram, while Jedrick was about to do the same when someone grabbed his hand from behind.


    Startled, he turned to see Charlon, her face pale.


    “I was too scared to stay alone…”


    Jedrick instinctively pulled his hand away.


    Charlon, realizing her mistake, nodded silently.


    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”


    “Stay here.”


    Jedrick spoke softly, then hurried to follow Damion.


    Ram had stepped just outside the cave entrance and told Damion to move back.


    “There’s an archer out there. Stay out of range.”


    When Jedrick looked outside, the battle was already over.


    Everyone guarding the cave entrance was dead.


    From what he could see, it seemed that the cavalry brought to break the statue, along with five attendants of the archbishop, had all been killed.


    Only three armored knights had been present.


    The rest had likely gone with Aikob.


    ording to Ram, the first ambush must have killed the two knights guarding the entrance.


    The rocky terrain around the mountain made it perfect for a stealthy approach, and the ambush was difficult to detect.


    The other soldiers preparing for the operation had no way to resist.


    The Geronians had the advantage in numbers.


    Even if the knights had been prepared, the difference in manpower would have been insurmountable.


    Several soldiers who had tried to flee nowy scattered far from the cave entrance.


    Some cavalrymen had been shot while attempting to mount their horses, leaving the animals to roam aimlessly.


    One knight of Born had resisted, it seemed.


    Although he had been shot in the shoulder and neck, he was still on his knees, refusing to fall.


    Beside himy two dead Geronians.


    A Geronian approached and buried an axe in the knight’s head.


    He then ced his foot on the knight’s chest and wrenched the axe free.


    Jedrick recognized the man.


    “Halles! What is the meaning of this?”


    Halles was an Ehodin of the Tagda tribe, thergest of the nine Geron tribes aside from Elum.


    Jedrick’s father had heavily relied on their support in this campaign, but they had sent the smallest number of troops.


    Now, Tagda was the dominant force in the north.


    Halles, holding his blood-stained axe, strode toward the cave entrance.


    He had reddish hair, a leaner frame than Ikarum but much taller, and was around thirty years old.


    He was a seasoned warrior, skilled in bothrge-scale battles and one-on-one duels.


    If Albo was the strongest of Elum, then Halles was Tagda’s greatest fighter.


    “Well, well, if it isn’t Jedrick!”


    Halles shouted.


    “While you lot negotiate with the southern dogs and abandon the gods, we stand ready to kill you in their name. Your brother abandoned my sister to marry that Nak woman, didn’t he? Betrayal! He broke his promise under Raham’s name. And now you’ll pay the price with your lives.”


    Halles was not much of a speaker.


    He usually gave short orders to his men and spoke sinctly when persuading other Ehodins.


    But the fact that he was saying so much now suggested he had prepared these words in advance.


    “How did you know we were here?”


    Jedrick shouted as he moved in front of Ram.


    He was cautious of archers, but there was no time to worry about that.


    There was no need to worry.


    Halles himself was approaching.


    Around fifty warriors trailed behind him.


    In the distance, a cavalry unit was kicking up dust as they rode closer.


    They were certainly not southern knights.


    Jedrick quickly grasped the simple strategy they had employed.


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    A team of ambushers had approached the cave quietly on foot.


    After a sessful ambush, they would signal the main force.


    The main force, waiting in the distance, would then charge in to finish the job.


    “I heard that where red smoke rises, the ‘Conqueror’ can be found.”


    Halles signaled his men to hold back and approached alone.


    Even the archers who had been preparing their bows lowered their weapons.


    Halles was not one to shy away from a fight, even against heavily armored southern knights.


    There was no way he would back down from a mere three young men.


    “And here you are! I never thought my enemy would fall into my hands so easily!”


    Halles grinned, revealing his ck-stained teeth.


    Warriors of the Tagda tribe always chewed tepa leaves before battle, dyeing their teeth dark.


    “Who told you the Conqueror would be where red smoke rises?”


    Jedrick stepped backward into the cave as he shouted.


    Halles advanced ten steps closer, forcing Jedrick to retreat further, and in turn, Damion also had to step back.


    Halles was a warrior whose fearless stride could make even a bear step aside.


    Jedrick and Damion could not withstand his imposing presence.


    "Shouldn''t you know better who it is?"


    Halles gripped his axe with both hands.


    "Which one of you is the conqueror? You? Or you?"


    Halles alternated his gaze between Ram, who stood still, and Damion, who was retreating.


    Then he bared his dark teeth at Damion.


    "It''s you, boy."


    Halles raised his axe and struck at Ram.


    His subsequent movement revealed his intent.


    Halles nned to cut down Ram in one swift blow and then strike down Damion, who would flee in panic.


    It was a strategy he''d used before during small skirmishes with Terdin’s soldiers.


    By quickly killing one or two people in his way, the next soldiers would momentarily freeze in terror.


    He would then hack into their backs with his axe as they ran, dragging their bodies behind him.


    He would proceed to chop the screaming soldier’s limbs off, one by one, with his axe.


    Such brutality often unnerved even his own allies.


    Even amidst the chaos of a battlefield with hundreds of soldiers, this method proved effective.


    Southern soldiers, who wouldn’t retreat even after a hundred of their own were in, faltered when Halles killed just one in such a manner.


    Repeated use of this tactic yielded the same results.


    This time was no different.


    However, the person standing against Halles now wasn’t an ordinary soldier—it was Ram.


    Ram dodged Halles'' initial strike and immediately shed upward at his chin.


    The momentum of Halles'' charge abruptly halted as he stumbled back, trying to evade Ram’s counterattack.


    Halles slipped and fell backward.


    Ram shed at his neck, but Halles blocked it with the shaft of his axe.


    The second strike was blocked by his forearm.


    If not for the iron te armor on his arm, he would have spent the rest of his life with one arm.


    Halles fell and had to crawl away to escape.


    If his subordinates hadn’t disobeyed his orders and refrained from shooting arrows, he would have been dragged back, struck by an axe in the back.


    By then, Ram had already seized Halles’ axe.


    "Fall back."


    Ram retreated, avoiding the hail of arrows.


    Despite the flying arrows, he didn’t rush or flee.


    "Ram, get out of there!"


    Damion shouted.


    Jedrick wanted to yell the same thing.


    Stop provoking the enemy and turn your back to escape!


    Yet Ram seemed to exude calmness, backtracking slowly, as if sizing up his foes.


    It wasn’t random observation—he appeared to focus intently on something.


    When Ram entered the cave, retreating to a point where arrows couldn’t reach, he finally turned and ran.


    That’s when Jedrick realized what Ram had just done.


    ‘He dodged the arrows by watching them!’


    Ram stopped where the two Geronian corpsesy.


    "Go on ahead. I’ll hold them off here."


    Damion hesitated, unable to respond.


    Jedrick shoved him forward.


    "Go!"


    "But Ram—"


    "If we don’t move, Ram won’t be able to either."


    Jedrick feignedposure.


    But he couldn’t help thinking Ram wouldn’t be able to hold back the enemy forces alone.


    "Where’s Charlon?"


    Damion yelled as he ran.


    Jedrick looked around for Charlon, who should have been near the first Geronian corpse.


    "She must be inside!"


    The sound of shing swords came from behind, and Jedrick urged again.


    "Move it!"


    Another wave of guilt surged through Jedrick, but neither he nor Damion had the skill with a de to be of any help to Ram.


    "Where do we go? This is a dead-end cave."


    Damion’s voice was tinged with panic.


    Then Charlon’s voice called out from within the cave.


    "Over here!"


    Charlon was standing before a solid wall, pushing aside arge stone blocking a passage.


    The stone rolled away with surprising heaviness.


    She had anticipated the situation and already moved here in advance.


    "Are we supposed to go in there?"


    Damion asked in disbelief.


    The passage wasrge enough for a person to crawl through, but it was pitch ck, making it hard to willingly enter.


    "Do we have any other options?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Charlon countered.


    "But this is dangerous, isn’t it?"


    Damion asked Jedrick.


    "There’s nowhere else to go."


    Jedrick stared at the statue carved above the snake hole.


    It depicted a humanoid figure, either Raham or an Iktaron, riding a dragon.


    The sacred snake’s den, with its guardian dragon.


    Why was this statue carved here?


    Why was the snake’s den directly beneath it?


    A sudden, inexplicable fear gripped him.


    "Do you know where this leads? What if it’s blocked? Or it could drop us off a cliff—"


    Damion’s concerns were surprisingly practical.


    Charlon, however, was now braver than anyone.


    "I’ll go in first and check! If it’s safe, I’ll signal you. That way, we won’t all get into trouble at once."


    She already held a torch.


    Damion immediately took it from her.


    "No, I’ll go first. Charlon follows, and Jedrick checks behind us."


    "Understood."


    With the torch in hand, Damion crawled inside.


    After moving a few steps, he called out from within.


    "It’s fine. It gets wider inside."


    Damion kept moving, and Charlon followed, saying to Jedrick,


    "Can you wait for Ram?"


    "I’ll try."


    After Charlon crawled in with the torch, Jedrick waited at the entrance.


    The sound of shing swords continued near the cave’s entrance, interspersed with cries of pain.


    Jedrick already knew Ram had exceptional skill in stealthy kills, sneaking up undetected, eliminating targets, and vanishing without a trace.


    But this wasn’t just that.


    Ram was single-handedly holding off the entire enemy force at the entrance, which wasn’t even narrow!


    "Ram,e inside!"


    Worried that Ram might fight until his death, Jedrick shouted.


    "Come back!"


    He repeated his calls several times.


    "Come back, Ram!"


    The thought that Ram might not return, sacrificing himself, crossed his mind.


    He considered sealing the snake hole and leading the enemies elsewhere, but where could he take them?


    Fortunately, such decisions became unnecessary when Ram came running.


    His entire body was sttered with blood, and his face was a mess.


    Seeing Jedrick standing before the snake hole, Ram quickly understood the n.


    "Go in first. I’ll follow."


    "That blood…?"


    "It’s not mine."


    Behind Ram, the warriors of Tagda were pursuing.


    There was no time to speak further.


    Jedrick wasted no time and dove into the snake hole.


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