The Bastard First Prince Doesn't Want to Die

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 148

The damp moss that carpeted the ground was stained with an unknown blood. And lying upon it was a familiar figure.

"Your Highness...?"

I tapped his shoulder to awaken him, and the fallen Soldier Jo lifted his eyelids. Having traveled much farther down the path, our party had discovered the fallen Jo Seunghoe.

As soon as he recognized me, this was what he said.

"Please return and take care of yourself..."

His voice grew weaker with each word, until it was barely a whisper.

After barely uttering those words, Jo Seunghoe collapsed again.

To check if he was alive, I placed my hand under his nose, and he was still breathing. Still not completely reassured, I took Jo Seunghoe's wrist and checked his pulse.

There seemed to be no major abnormalities. I examined his injuries and then looked at the other soldier.

As soon as my gaze turned towards him, a mournful voice came.

"He's dead."

Having seen that he wasn't moving, I had already guessed that he was dead.

I simply nodded in response.

The faces of those around me were gloomy.

Given the circumstances, there was no time to bury him, and everyone looked deeply sorry.

"Jo Seunghoe is alive."

No serious injuries were found on the collapsed Jo Seunghoe. Even if he was injured, it wouldn't be a bleeding wound.

However, the other soldier lying next to him was in a very different situation.

It seemed that he had been dead for a long time, and one of his legs had been torn off in a gruesome state that I couldn't bear to look at.

"How gruesome."

It was clearly the work of a monster. He must have been eaten alive. Luckily, Jo Seunghoe wasn't eaten.

Although we had faced many monsters, it was very rare for our soldiers to be eaten by them.

In the past, since a large number of soldiers had participated in battles, even if someone died, we could prevent their bodies from becoming monster food.

Therefore, despite participating in many battles, I was unaccustomed to such a sight and couldn't help but frown.

I glanced at the two dead monster corpses lying around me. They were different species from the ones Bu-seop had described.

Seeing the traces of the monsters running away, it seemed that Jo Seunghoe and the dead soldier hadn't been in a disadvantaged position. They were simply outnumbered.

If I had come earlier, he might have lived.

"It seems there are other kinds of monsters besides the ones you saw."

When I told Bu-seop, he nodded anxiously.

"Your Highness is right."

Since Jo Seunghoe had fainted, I couldn't ask him any more questions.

And it was difficult to take the unconscious man with me, so I asked another soldier who had come with me to stay and look after Jo Seunghoe.

"It won't take long. Wait for me."

And then I continued on my way.

I was not so naive as to still consider Gong Chomun an ally after what he had done. I had to admit that I had been slow to realize it.

Still, I wanted to believe his words about admiring General So and deciding to join the Northern Expedition.

I sighed deeply. Jincheon looked at me.

Jincheon hesitated and then said, "I apologize."

I asked him what he was apologizing for, but Jincheon didn't answer.

As we moved on, the surrounding landscape began to change again. It was not only damp and dark, but there was also a faint smell of something rotting in the air.

And there were strange echoes echoing from all directions.

"Your Highness," Jincheon spoke.

"I think it would be best to turn back."

It seemed that it was Jincheon's role to say what the others couldn't.

As if waiting for his words, Bu-seop agreed.

"I apologize for speaking out of turn, Your Highness, but I share the same opinion. It would be dangerous to continue like this. Please reconsider."

"But what about you..."

"If my subordinates are waiting for help, shouldn't I live up to their expectations?"

Bu-seop's words left me speechless.

"Your Highness," Jincheon sighed, no longer even trying to hide it. If the situation had been slightly less dire, I would have slapped him.

"Your Highness's life doesn't belong only to Your Highness."

It was something I'd heard before. I frowned.

"Did the General teach you to say that?"

"Yes, the General ordered me to remember it."

Should I turn back?

I knew it was the right thing to do. It was true that Gong Chomun was one of the key generals. But he wouldn't be an asset in the future, and he was almost certainly a traitor.

In fact, whether he was a traitor or not, he was already doomed to be stripped of his official position forever. Even if all of this was a mistake, that would be the case.

And those who had been implicated in Gongc Chomun's deeds were probably not in a good state either.

"But..."

But what if my living subordinates were waiting for rescue?

I was about to argue, but I couldn't continue. A chilling sensation crept up on me.

I turned around immediately and dodged at the same time. It wasn't a conscious thought, just an instinctive reaction.

"Dodge!"

In an instant, a dark shadow loomed over me, and a pile of dirt was thrown up where I had been standing. Even though I had dodged, the soil had reached my ankles.

Then, I heard the ground tremble with huge footsteps, and the sound of monsters charging pierced my ears. I took a few steps back, drew my sword, and shouted.

"They're coming."

Judging by the vibrations, there were more than a few. Could I handle them? Cold sweat began to drip down my forehead.

"We must flee," Bu-seop said. I nodded.

"...Don't go back."

But it was too late. The ground shook violently once more, and a horde of monsters came into view.

They were the same kind of monsters with red fur. And there were more than ten of them, charging towards us, drooling.

And there was another problem: they were twice as big as the monster Jincheon had killed. My hair stood on end.

"Go!"

I started running. But the monsters were faster. The distance between us and the horde was closing.

It was impossible to keep running.

If I slowed down from exhaustion, they would catch me, and if they caught me, they would devour me. So instead... I turned around and raised my sword.

"Your Highness!"

"I told you to go."

A moment would be enough. I could buy them a moment to escape.

I didn't intend to die here. I simply decided that it was better for me to make a temporary sacrifice than for the two of them to face them.

Immediately, Jincheon turned around. And then, one of the monster's front paws flew through the air. It was Jincheon's work.

With a thud, the monster's front paw landed on the ground, spraying blood everywhere. The monster roared ferociously, having lost its front paw.

"——!"

The monster roared and twisted its body violently. It thrashed around violently in pain, then slammed its massive body into the rock cliff.

With a house-sized body crashing into the rock cliff, there was naturally a loud crash. The sound echoed throughout the area, drowning out all other noises.

But that was insignificant compared to what was to come. I immediately realized that the impact with the rock cliff was not the only problem.

The roar echoed through the corridor-like space, reverberating multiple times. The rough rock cliffs on either side seemed to tremble in response to the monster's roar.

And at that moment, a chilling premonition struck me.

Instinctively, I pushed Jincheon beside me. Jincheon, startled, was instantly swallowed by the shadows.

"I..."

Someone called out to me, but the words were cut off before they reached me. A massive amount of earth and rock had collapsed from the cliff face.

The rocks and dirt poured down like a violent wave, swallowing the monsters. The sight of the endless torrent of debris before me made my hair stand on end.

I instinctively dodged and barely managed to avoid being buried under the debris, but the heavy weight pressing down on me wasn't the only shock.

It was only when there was nothing left moving in my sight that I finally took a breath.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I hadn't even realized I had stopped breathing until then.

The path was completely blocked by the debris, plunging me into darkness.

I shouted to check on my companions, but there was no response, not even a dying gasp.

The only response I got was the frantic struggles of a monster that had barely managed to survive, buried in the debris.

And the echo of my own voice, which sounded like the abyss was mocking me by imitating my voice.

The ferocious monster, with its front leg sticking out of the debris, flailed wildly.

Before it could free itself, I raised my sword and severed its crimson forelimb. One strike wasn't enough.

It took a dozen strikes before I finally severed the limb. Blood gushed out of the severed artery like a burst old pipe.

As a pool of blood formed on the ground, the monster's struggles finally ceased.

"...Ha."

Involuntary laughter escaped my lips. It was hardly a laughing matter.

The path was blocked, and the debris was too much for me to dig through.

If they were alive, they would try to find me and surely call out to me.

But apart from the chilling echoes of the debris crashing against the cliff face, I heard nothing.

Then, a sudden loud noise tore through my ears. I quickly took a step back as more dirt poured down.

It wasn't as large as the previous collapse, but a section of the cliff had collapsed, causing more debris to fall.

"Damn it."

A curse escaped my lips. The new obstacle felt like a cruel joke, as if someone had set it up to mock me.

I stood still in the darkness, staring at the debris for a long time. Of course, that wasn't going to move the debris that had filled the passage.

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]