The palace was burning.
Many soldiers lay lifeless.
Destruction had spread everywhere.
Some exhausted surviving soldiers dragged a person in chains before Lohit.
Lohit was sitting calmly on a chair.
The person thrown before him was Row.
The Leader of the Rebels.
The man who had infiltrated the Royal Guard ranks this entire time.
There was a deep silence between them.
Standing behind Lohit were twenty Royal Guards, with the exception of Grishwari and Row himself.
Beside Lohit stood his brother, Sonavarnah—
The Commander of the entire army.
Even before being chained, Row had already taken down countless soldiers.
Eventually, he was captured by his fellow Royal Guards.
[Row]: The rebellion has started.
[Lohit]: It always does.
[Row]: You can't win this.
[Lohit]: Don't need to.
There was a brief exchange of eye contact.
One possessed ferocious eyes.
The other remained completely calm.
Lohit slowly spoke.
[Lohit]: You remained here while sending your rebels away.
He paused.
[Lohit]: Are you a fool?
Row remained silent.
[Lohit]: Did you really think I would focus on punishing you and simply let the rebel army escape?
[Row]: I had a rough guess that you might go after them.
Row coughed.
[Row]: To be honest, the palace takeover wasn't meant to happen today.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
[Row]: Seems like some chaos caused it.
He looked around the destroyed palace.
[Row]: But I wouldn't say it was a bad thing.
He was right.
This entire situation had started because Pratik and Yuwah had crashed into the palace.
The crash was mistaken by the rebellion army as a signal from Row.
And thus—
The rebellion had begun.
Although it wasn't supposed to happen that day...
It had worked perfectly.
The palace had been overtaken with ease.
Grishwari had been eliminated.
The national treasury had been looted.
And the slaves had been freed by unknown individuals.
Pratik and his friends.
Lohit stood up.
He slowly began circling his chair.
[Lohit]: A few years ago...
He paused.
[Lohit]: Or rather, decades ago...
Lohit pointed towards the eastern part of the palace.
[Lohit]: Someone with this same mindset started a rebellion from the East.
His voice became more serious.
[Lohit]: He gathered an army of hundreds of thousands.
He stopped for a moment.
[Lohit]: A large army...
[Lohit]: At least from the perspective of someone who hasn't seen much.
The Royal Guards remained completely still, listening intently.
[Lohit]: I was well aware of what was happening.
[Lohit]: Yet I didn't interfere.
A small smile appeared on his face.
[Lohit]: I wanted to see how far it would go.
He continued walking.
[Lohit]: When he gathered one million people, that one million became ten million.
[Lohit]: And so, he believed he finally had a chance to overthrow my rule.
Lohit stopped.
[Lohit]: That led to a war.
He looked towards Row.
[Lohit]: Though I can hardly call it a war.
His smile widened.
[Lohit]: They had ten million people.
He pointed towards Sonavarnah.
[Lohit]: I had one Sonavarnah.
Silence.
[Lohit]: It was a complete massacre for them.
[Lohit]: A one-sided massacre.
Sonavarnah remained expressionless.
[Lohit]: I let them grow.
[Lohit]: I let them gather. I let them believe they had a chance.
His eyes narrowed.
[Lohit] : So that I could make an example out of them.
A brief silence followed.
[Lohit]: Their blood coloured the East green.
He looked towards the eastern side again.
[Lohit]: Even today, the earth of the Eastern Region remains completely green.
Lohit stopped moving.
He looked directly at Row.
[Lohit]: We monsters are known for our savagery.
He pointed towards his own teeth.
[Lohit]: These are our fangs. If we pull them out...
A cold smile appeared.
[Lohit]: What are we?
The Royal Guards remained silent.
[Lohit]: Those who never learn from history are fools who tend to repeat it.
He looked at Row.
[Lohit]: You are no different from an optimistic fool. You won't leave this place in one piece.
His expression became colder.
[Lohit]: You are the centre of this rebellion. What does this sacrifice of yours yield?
[Lohit]: Another war?
[Lohit] : Another defeat?
Row coughed.
Some dust escaped from his mouth.
He coughed again.
Then—
He smiled.
[Row]: You are right.
Row slowly raised his head.
[Row] : Those who never learn from history repeat it.
Lohit's expression remained unchanged.
[Row]: You are mistaken about a few things.
Lohit raised an eyebrow.
[Row]: Who said I was building a large army?
Silence.
[Row]: And who said I am the centre of the rebellion?
Row's smile widened.
[Row]: It was always you.
Lohit's eyes narrowed.
[Row]: You are the centre of the rebellion.
[Row]: The hatred against you brought us here.
[Row]: And it will lead others against you too.
Row stopped for a moment.
Then continued.
[Row]: This wasn't planned to happen today. But it seems we have gained a few allies outside.
Lohit remained silent.
[Row]: They are strong.
A grin appeared on Row's face.
[Row]: And chaotic.
Lohit stared at him.
[Row]: You may defeat us... But how are you supposed to defeat them?
Lohit slowly turned towards Sonavarnah.
[Lohit]: Are there supposed to be invaders?
Row laughed.
[Row]: Yes, of course.
His laughter echoed through the burning palace.
[Row]: And no ordinary invaders. They are quite famous themselves.
Row looked directly into Lohit's eyes.
[Row]: You might meet them sooner or later.
His smile remained.
[Row]: Your days are numbered, my rul—
SLASH!
Before Row could finish his sentence, Sonavarnah slashed him apart.
[Sonavarnah]: Enough blabbering.
Row's eyes slowly grew heavier.
His vision blurred.
And within those final moments—
He saw glimpses of his past.
The time he had spent with Grishwari.
Their training.
Their arguments.
Their bond.
And finally...
Her smile.
Now...
He had been set free from his duties.
Lohit stared at Row's body.
He tilted his head.
Lohit glanced towards Sonavarnah.
[Lohit]: What about the Dark Dragoling Squad sent into the Great Forest?
[Lohit]: Why haven't we received any updates?
His expression became slightly serious.
[Lohit] : Are the nearby towns destroyed?
[Sonavarnah]: I will investigate this instant.
Sonavarnah turned around.
[Sonavarnah]: Please take some rest.
He began walking away.
Lohit remained where he was.
His eyes stayed fixed on Row's body.
Row's face still carried a smile.
A peaceful smile.
Something about it unsettled Lohit.
He couldn't explain why.
But somewhere deep inside him...
Something was afraid.
Afraid of this rebellion.
Even though...
This wasn't the first rebellion he had faced.
To be continued...