The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 74

The return journey was bound to be fast.

Normally, it would be a march of about three days, but Santia was heading north at an unusual speed. From the moment he saddled his horse, impatience lingered at his fingertips, and from the start, there was no hesitation in the hand that pulled the reins.

A few hours earlier, he had suddenly felt a chilling sensation run down his spine. When he looked towards his territory, the northern sky was unusually clear. But his senses were clearly warning him that something was collapsing in that direction.

“…Yulania.”

As the name he muttered touched his lips, Santia’s jaw quietly tightened. Haron, who was riding beside him, noticed and cautiously asked.

“Captain, is something wrong—”

“Don’t you feel it?”

“Yes. Something a tremendous energy. From the territory.”

Haron couldn’t finish his sentence. Santia gripped the reins and kicked his horse hard. The horse leaped forward, and he didn’t look back. The dust scattered in the air vaguely obscured his path, but his vision contained nothing but the northern territory of Makari.

It was then.

A single flap of wings. A messenger bird flew from the sky and landed on Santia’s shoulder. It was an astonishingly accurate timing. Before he could even catch his breath, Santia strengthened his hand and pulled out a piece of paper to read. Even before breaking the seal, his chest felt suffocatingly tight.

It was a short sentence.

[Demons have invaded the territory. Situation critical. Princess awaiting within the castle.]

The messenger’s handwriting was trembling, and the ink was smudged. As if to prove it had been written in haste.

Santia stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes. His heart was pounding like crazy. Even after taking a deep breath, it felt like the air wasn’t reaching his lungs. He clenched his fist tightly and began to spur his horse on.

His vision turned red. The pounding of his heart was louder than the sound of the horse’s hooves striking the ground. He had now completely lost his appetite. He didn’t put water, food, or anything else in his mouth. He didn’t consider the horse’s fatigue. Only Yulania’s safety dominated all his judgment.

As time passed, the ominous energy grew stronger. It felt like something sharp was scratching his skin in the air. The feeling was all too familiar to Santia. Like the air of the battlefield where flesh was torn and swords were embedded. It was an instinct he had learned through countless battles.

And as he approached the territory, the familiar energy exploded.

An energy as if a huge being was awakening in a vast space. A dazzling sign as if golden light flashed and split the sky. His heart stopped for a moment, then started beating again.

“Yulania!”

The moment he recognized the identity of the energy, his vision wavered. He lowered his head as if covering it, and gritted his teeth. He felt dizzy as if he was about to lose consciousness. That familiar light, and her unique warmth. He felt it bursting out from afar.

It was Yulania’s power. It was definitely the power she used.

The horse’s breath was coming up to its chin, but Santia didn’t stop. Rather, he increased his speed even more. He kicked the horse’s side again and jumped over the mountain paths and hills in front of him. Before he knew it, his subordinate knights were nowhere to be seen.

Santia was alone. No one could follow him.

His body was already on the verge of breaking, and he didn’t even know when his body would be thrown to the ground. But he couldn’t stop. It was Yulania’s energy, not anyone else’s.

How long had he run like a madman?

In the distance, the outline of the castle walls finally came into view. But the joy didn’t last long.

At the same time, he felt another sensation. Something much bigger than before was engulfing the place. Yulania’s energy was still shining, but the light was so strong that it felt dizzying, as if it was about to go out.

What he saw first was the light. A light as dazzling as gold, but larger and more cruel than the sun, filling the castle and spreading out. It was clearly visible from afar. Under the sky that had been ordinary just three days ago, the light now surrounding Makari Castle belonged to only one person.

Yulania.

Santia pulled hard on one rein on the horse and stopped. And, without a moment’s hesitation, he kicked the horse’s side hard. He quickly lowered his body and increased his speed. The sound of hooves spread like someone’s wail.

His breath reached his throat, but he didn’t realize it.

It’s clear. Something is happening to Yulania there right now. Santia was only sure of that. And he clung to only one belief, that she was still alive.

As he took a rough breath and crossed the last hill, the appearance of Makari Castle came into view. Above the magnificent castle, yellow light spread in layers like a thin film, and the light seemed to embrace the entire castle. The moment he cut through that light, Santia was stunned as if he had forgotten how to breathe.

His lips trembled. The curses he had been constantly uttering were cut off in his throat. Instead, only one impulse, the impulse to reach her, was boiling in his bones.

He gripped the reins tightly, on the verge of losing consciousness. As he reached the entrance to the Makari territory, the familiar scenery had changed completely strangely. The outskirts of the territory were a battlefield in themselves, and knights were fighting demons gathered in various places. Normally, he would have stopped to command. But now there was only one thing.

Yulania.

He indiscriminately cut down the demons blocking his path, one by one. As if he were not human, he ran towards the castle, cutting through the bloody stench with a single sword. Silent anger and madness covered with visible murderous intent. Without even drying the blood that splattered on his clothes, Santia’s presence grew stronger.

“Duke! Your Excellency!”

Some of the knights who sensed his presence from afar barely recognized him and tried to salute. But at the sight of the momentum of the person in front of them, they could only inhale, and no one could say a word.

At that moment, someone ran out of the castle gate. It was Diego. He also had blood all over his arms and armor, and his voice was breathless, but his eyes were straight.

As soon as Santia saw him, he got off his horse almost running. He was still holding the sword in his hand.

“Report.”

“The Princess has fainted. The Sacred Stone went out of control, and she lost consciousness due to the shock, but her life is not in danger. Lady Mireya and Vihan are guarding her side now.”

“Is she alive?”

“Yes, she has now stabilized. The light of the Sacred Stone has not yet gone out.”

As soon as Santia heard those words, he turned his horse and ran back into the castle.

The golden light that had miraculously bloomed even in the bloody stench was leading him.

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