Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 207

The Man Who Stood Still (2)Watching Denver’s severed head snap right back into place made irritation naturally surge up inside me.

“That makes three times now. Have you figured out the trick?”

There was the flaw that if the Emperor died, he would die as well, but even so, to Kairus right now, this was an enemy worthy of being called immortal.

“No matter how I look at it.”

Kairus spun his sword once before pointing it at Denver.

“I think Dana Watson was stronger.”

It was a cold evaluation. He had never fought her personally, but compared to Dana Watson, Denver Hudson showed several flaws. Even if he had figured out the method to exploit the timing of the immortality, Kairus had already killed him three times.

“There’s also a saying that the one who survives to the end is the strongest.”

“Yeah, sure.”

By that logic, as long as the Emperor remained alive, Denver Hudson would forever be the strongest.

“....”

In any case, Kairus had to make a choice. He had figured out how to deal with his opponent, but even after exploiting that weakness, the man still did not die.

Kairus had no ability to stop time or anything like that, so if this fight continued, he would eventually be the one exhausted.

“This is one hell of a rotten situation.”

The problem was that if he retreated here, what happened afterward was painfully obvious.

The Rebel Army would be finished. In truth, they were already half-destroyed as it was. The casualties had been severe, and the fact that all that damage had been inflicted by a single man was more than enough to plunge the rebels into terror.

In conclusion—

It also meant the death of Simid Kellogg, the very head of the Rebel Army.

‘There’s no need to worry about it.’

Kairus had warned them, and in the end, his warning had proven correct. Due to one thing or another, the Rebel Army had refused to accept Kairus’s advice, and now they were paying the price.

What pained him slightly was worrying about Irena, who would have to accept the truth of her father’s death. Kairus was not someone who sympathized with others easily, but—

‘Extermination of an entire family for treason, huh.’

Having experienced it himself, it was harder not to sympathize with Irena.

Of course, that did not mean he intended to stubbornly persist here and drag himself into a hopeless situation too.

“Thinking of running away?”

Naturally. There was no reason to continue this contest of strength against a monster that revived no matter how many times it was killed.

“Not yet.”

Kairus adjusted his grip on the sword slightly and smiled. There was an exceptionally skilled living punching bag here. He intended to fight a little longer, use the man as nourishment for improving his skills, then withdraw afterward.

“That should buy enough time for the Rebel Army to retreat.”

“Retreat? Retreat where? It’s not like there’s anywhere left to go.”

The Rebel Army’s numbers were relatively small. After crippling administration and communications, they had concentrated their forces like a storm and charged toward the Imperial Palace, but—

As a result, the troops originally scattered across the Empire to continuously destabilize it had disappeared. On top of that, there was the week of time the Guardian of the Nation had bought by holding the line here.

The chaos the Rebel Army created within the Empire had likely already been brought under control to some extent.

If they lost here, it was over. In the current situation, there was no escape route left for the Rebel Army.

Having reached his conclusion, Kairus’s body rose into the sky.

“Running away? Just like when you abandoned your whole family and survived alone, I guess you’ll run away alone again this time.”

Denver hurled a vicious taunt toward Kairus as he floated into the air.

“Experience really matters, doesn’t it?”

But Kairus showed no sign whatsoever of taking the bait. Charging in blindly because of the taunts of a bastard who refused to stay dead would have been ridiculous, and the purpose behind the provocation was painfully obvious from the start.

There was no reason to respond to it. Leaving the Imperial Palace behind, Kairus returned to the Rebel Army’s camp.

Simid Kellogg and the other leaders of the rebels stood before him.

“What an incredible atmosphere.”

Defeated soldiers. The rebels had rushed forward convinced of victory, only to arrive and become certain of defeat instead.

“Could it be…?”

While carefully gauging the mood, Simid Kellogg finally spoke first.

“The thing you’re hoping for didn’t happen. The thing that looked likely to happen did.”

Kairus had failed to kill the Guardian of the Nation. No—more accurately, nobody would be able to kill him.

“To revive no matter how many times he’s killed… what kind of….”

After hearing the explanation, Simid Kellogg tightly shut his eyes. If Kairus’s statement was true, then concentrating all their strength and advancing on the Imperial Capital itself had been fundamentally flawed from the beginning.

“I-I refuse to believe it.”

One of the rebel leaders glared at Kairus as he spoke.

“You must have secretly colluded with the Guardian of the Nation or—”

Before he could even finish speaking, the man pointing his finger was crushed into the ground by the pressure of the wind.

“Watch your fucking mouth.”

Among everyone gathered here, the one who most purely wished for the Emperor’s death was Kairus.

“My parents, my brothers and sisters, every relative and elder of my family died under a ridiculous fucking false accusation.”

Kairus approached the man who had been slammed into the ground, unable to endure the crushing force of the wind.

“Colluded? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Right now, he wanted to tear this bastard’s head off for spewing such bullshit, but Kairus restrained himself. Even if he did not do it himself, someone else eventually would.

“The rest of you bastards, get lost. Old man, you stay.”

At Kairus’s words, the others cautiously backed away. Once there were no ears left nearby to overhear them, Kairus let out a long sigh before speaking.

“I can somehow get you out alive.”

At Kairus’s words, Simid Kellogg gave a faint smile.

“Because of my daughter?”

“Because it overlaps with my own fate. Though unlike Irena, mine was only a false accusation.”

Extermination of an entire family for treason and a lone surviving remnant. Kairus did not want to force the pain he had once suffered onto someone he knew.

“I must remain here.”

Kairus let out a small grunt.

“What, like a captain never abandons a sinking ship? It’s meaningless, old man. If you stay alive, there’s always a next time.”

Kairus himself had endured and survived, and that was why he was standing here now holding Veil of Plumed Mist.

“In suppressing a rebellion, the important thing is cutting down the head of the traitors. As long as I remain here, the Imperial Army will prioritize hunting me down.”

He intended to become the bait.

“Even so, not many of them will survive.”

“But we can at least give them a chance. The Empire’s land is vast.”

Simid Kellogg intended to remain here as bait and disband the Rebel Army entirely. As Simid said, the Empire’s lands were vast.

If they scattered in all directions, some of them would survive.

“You said that if you stay alive, there will always be a next time. I have committed many sins.”

A leader who started a rebellion but failed to see it through. That alone already made him guilty toward all the people who had followed him this far.

“I would like to sacrifice my own future to protect the future of more people.”

Kairus silently looked at Simid Kellogg. The old man’s hands were trembling faintly.

Being prepared for death was different from being detached from it. He was afraid, yet despite that, he intended to face it head-on.

And Kairus could not stop Simid Kellogg’s resolve.

“Please deliver this to Irena.”

Simid Kellogg held out a letter toward Kairus. It seemed he had prepared it in advance.

“When you go around writing things like wills ahead of time, that’s when you end up dying.”

Even as he said that, Kairus accepted the letter.

“The rebels might tie you up and hand you over to the Emperor instead.”

They could decide to offer up Simid Kellogg in hopes of escaping execution themselves. You think they were not that kind of people?

When faced with imminent death, the distinction between those kinds of people and those who are not becomes meaningless.

“If that increases the number of people who survive, then that would be good as well.”

Kairus stared at Simid Kellogg for a moment before speaking.

“Want me to kill you?”

In the end, what the Emperor needed in order to declare the rebellion suppressed was Simid Kellogg’s head.

Dead or alive, the Imperial Army would search for Simid Kellogg.

“There’s no need for you to stay alive as bait.”

The humiliation and torture that an alive, captured Simid Kellogg would suffer as the leader of the traitors would be difficult for that old body to endure.

All forms of abuse carried out under the justification of making an example so no rebellion would ever rise again.

“Ah, I see. You’re not wrong.”

Simid Kellogg gave a faint smile before speaking.

“I wonder if it’ll hurt.”

Instead of answering, Kairus rummaged through his inner pocket and pulled out a small ampoule.

“When you’re mentally prepared, mix it into some strong liquor and drink it.”

It was not an ordinary painkiller, but a narcotic analgesic used on soldiers wounded on the battlefield. There would be no pain on the way out.

At Kairus’s words, Simid Kellogg nodded.

“Even at my age, pain and death are still frightening.”

“That’s only natural, old man rebel leader. Got anything to say to your son?”

At Kairus’s question, Simid Kellogg let out a hollow chuckle.

“Jerry. Are you planning to look after that child too?”

“No. But if the opportunity comes, I can at least pass on your final words.”

Kairus had promised to protect Irena. Nobody else. Besides, Jerry was not even someone Kairus was close to, and he had no desire to involve himself unnecessarily.

“In that case, I have nothing to say.”

In the end, he would vanish like dew beneath the execution grounds anyway. Thinking that, Simid Kellogg filled a glass with strong liquor before mixing in the ampoule Kairus had given him.

“If my daughter perhaps goes mad and rampages, I trust you’ll stop her.”

“She’ll probably be fucking furious, but she’s not the kind of person to run around senselessly.”

At Kairus’s response, Simid Kellogg let out a hearty laugh and drained the glass in one gulp.

“She’s my daughter, yet it seems you know her better than I do.”

Kairus waited for the alcohol and medicine to take effect before answering.

“It’s not like we’ve only known each other for a day or two.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

The intoxication and drug took effect quickly. It was a painkiller used on people suffering grave battlefield injuries, so it could only be fast-acting. Simid slowly closed his eyes.

“I’m sleepy. I think I’ll rest for a bit.”

Watching Simid with his eyes closed, Kairus drew Veil of Plumed Mist. He was careful enough not to let even the sound of the blade being drawn be heard.

Without even realizing when death came.

Simid Kellogg, intoxicated by the drug, died.

A chilling flash of sword light streaked through the air, and Simid Kellogg’s head rolled across the floor.

“Sleep well, old man. You worked hard.”

Kairus shook the blood from Veil of Plumed Mist, returned the sword to its sheath, and stepped outside.

“Simid Kellogg is dead.”

Kairus found the rebel command staff and spoke to them.

“What the hell are you talking about right now…?”

The entire command staff stared blankly at Kairus. What should he say?

After pondering for a moment, Kairus dragged his thumb across his own throat and answered.

“It’s over, you idiots. The rebellion failed. Leave Simid Kellogg’s corpse here as bait to draw in the Imperial Army, and every one of you fend for yourselves.”

It was what Simid Kellogg had wanted at the end of this failed rebellion. After briefly explaining the situation, Kairus headed out of the tent.

“Where are you going?”

“I told you all to run for your lives however you can.”

Naturally, Kairus also intended to leave this place.

Rising into the sky, Kairus flew toward Bennett.

“There won’t be a second failure.”

The Emperor’s trump card had been an undying guard dog. Because of a single man, plans that had taken years to prepare had all been reduced to nothing.

But now, he had succeeded in discovering what the Emperor was relying on.

So next time, he would succeed.

“He stopped an army with one irrational existence.”

To overcome this situation and achieve his objective, Kairus also had to become an irrational element.

‘Fine, let’s say all of that makes sense. But why did Denver Hudson make that choice?’

Just because he wanted to live a long life? Everyone wanted to live long, but nobody wanted to live long as someone else’s slave.

Yet Denver willingly became the Emperor’s slave and obtained a body that would not die.

There had to be a reason. Perhaps that very reason might become the key to breaking through this situation.

As he continued flying, Kairus sank into thought.