Grant me Your Grace Chapter 65

The area instantly descended into chaos. 

 

The Moon Lions, sweeping in like a sandstorm, began cutting through the soldiers of the Baran Kingdom.

 

One of Baran’s generals raised his spear with a fierce battle cry.

 

“Fight! Do not retreat! We are the mighty warriors of Baran—!”

 

But before his spear could even cleave the air once, it fell limply to the ground. Beside it, the general’s head rolled away with a dull thud.

 

Witnessing such carnage in the blink of an eye, the Baran soldiers had no choice but to lose their will to fight.

 

“Get a grip, you bastards! The moment you hesitate, your heads will roll!”

 

General Abashi desperately rallied the stunned soldiers and threw himself into battle. 

 

Perhaps because they had prepared for this, he thought they still stood a chance.

 

“They’re a raiding force! Stay calm and push forward!”

 

“Gaaah!”

 

The Baran soldiers roared as they swung their swords. 

 

Under the full moon, Baran’s steel-clad warriors clashed fiercely with the Moon Lions, their pale skin adorned with gleaming ore.

 

But tonight, it seemed even the goddess Nuit had forsaken Baran.

 

The rising sand clouds began to blot out even the bright moonlight, as if swallowed by the storm. 

 

The Moon Lions spurred their horses, deliberately thickening the sandstorm.

 

Blinded by the impenetrable darkness, the Baran soldiers could only stagger in confusion. 

 

Seizing the moment, the Moon Lions swiftly cut them down.

 

“Aaagh!”

 

A horrific scream tore from General Abashi’s throat as he clutched his left shoulder. Where his arm should have been, there was only a cleanly severed stump, blood gushing like a fountain.

 

Only months after healing his wrist with divine power, he had now lost an entire arm.

 

The soldiers were thrown into complete panic at the horrific sight of General Abashi, the foremost among the generals leading the troops.

 

“Ugh—argh! Save me! I don’t want to die in a place like this!”

 

The soldier who had just been whipping Hissin frantically pushed through the fog, fleeing in the opposite direction. 

 

Though the scattered corpses of his comrades clutched at his ankles, he desperately crawled and rolled through the blood-soaked desert, still trying to escape.

 

“Just a little more, just a little more…!”

 

As he ran across the endless, vast desert toward Baran Kingdom—

 

“Argh!”

 

Two arrows suddenly shot out from nowhere, piercing both his thighs at once. His body jerked like a fish before collapsing ungracefully into the sand.

 

“Ughh…”

 

The soldier trembled violently as he tried to push himself up. He attempted to pull out the arrows, but the wooden shafts were lined with thorn-like barbs—the more he tugged, the deeper they tore into his flesh.

 

Just as he gave up and tried to flee again—

 

“Ack—!”

 

His breath hitched at the enormous shadow looming before him. Through the thick sand haze, a pair of eyes colder than the desert night glowed red.

 

“P-please… spare me… Help me up. Take me to Baran Kingdom right now!”

 

He screamed in desperation, but Hissin only stared down at him silently.

 

Realizing that status meant nothing at death’s door, the soldier forced a grin and tried to bargain.

 

“L-let’s go back to Baran Kingdom together. If we make it safely, I’ll vouch for you—tell them you protected the soldiers. I’ll get you out of the underground prison, okay?”

 

The soldier reached out with a bloodstained arm. 

 

Hissin glanced down at the hand, then slowly extended his own. Just as the soldier sighed in relief and tried to grasp it—

 

“Aaarghh!”

 

Hissin swung his dagger, severing the man’s arm. In the blink of an eye, he sliced through the wrist, elbow, and shoulder tendons—then did the same to the other arm.

 

“I’m sorry, I was wrong! I’ll do anything—when we get back, I’ll get you out of the underground prison, I swear— Ugh!”

 

A handful of sand was shoved into the soldier’s pleading mouth. Hissin forced in another fistful, then gripped his jaw with crushing force.

 

“Ghk—”

 

The soldier stiffened as he met Hissin’s blood-crazed crimson eyes. It was the primal fear of staring down a vicious beast.

 

“I had planned to let you live… until ‘that day.’”

 

Hissin stared into the soldier’s bloodshot eyes—now the same hue as his own.

 

Filthy insect. How dare you lay hands on the Imperial Princess?

 

‘The woman no one is allowed to touch. The woman who belongs to me alone.’

 

“You’ve rushed to your death.”

 

Hissin stood and pressed his foot against the soldier’s groin. As he slowly applied weight, the man writhed like a crushed bug. 

 

Unlike the short, dying screams echoing around them, his agony stretched into a prolonged, inhuman shriek.

 

“…!”

 

A sickening crunch—Hissin’s foot slammed down in one brutal motion. 

 

The soldier, unable to even foam at the mouth from the sand clogging his throat, convulsed once before his eyes rolled back. Dead.

 

“Even hell won’t take you.”

 

Hissin, who had been muttering curses, withdrew his foot and turned away. Then, he picked up a sword lying on the ground and slashed deeply into his own ankle. 

 

In the midst of this disaster, staying unharmed alone might arouse suspicion—so he wounded himself deliberately.

 

Gritting back a groan, Hissin finally rose to his feet. 

 

At that moment, the Moon’s Lions, who had been attacking with the force of total annihilation, began to retreat.

 

The soldiers of the Baran Kingdom were already so utterly defeated that they couldn’t even mount a counterattack. 

 

All they could do was helplessly watch the white halo of the moon fade rapidly beyond the veil of sand.

 

On the day the soldiers returned from guarding the border after a full moon cycle, the entire empire had no choice but to be shocked.

 

The first reason was that the 50,000-strong legion, composed of the Emperor’s troops and the private soldiers of nobles, had returned in disgraceful defeat.

 

More than half of the soldiers had lost their lives in a single night. 

 

Most of the survivors were left crippled, and among the dozens of prisoners dragged from the underground dungeons, only Hissin and three others remained alive.

 

The second reason was that the Moon’s Lions, who had always fully conquered any nation they attacked, had this time only struck the border before retreating.

 

The people of the empire wailed, saying the Moon’s Lions were slowly tightening their grip around Baran’s throat, and that the kingdom’s downfall was not far off.

 

Naturally, the imperial palace was also thrown into chaos over the situation.

 

“Perhaps sending troops only provoked the Moon’s Lions unnecessarily. Even when they first appeared, they left quietly on their own.”

 

“What nonsense is that? Who could have guaranteed they would leave peacefully again? If anything, defending the border in advance is what prevented the damage from reaching deeper into our lands!”

 

“Instead of this, why not send troops to track down the Moon’s Lions?”

 

“Ha! You’ve been holed up in the temple and know nothing. How do you expect to find those who don’t even belong to a known nation or people? Beg for an oracle to protect the country instead of crawling out here to—”

 

“Enough! You’ve said quite enough!”

 

Let me know if you’d like any refinements!

 

The gathered officials and priests were too busy blaming each other. Just as the chaotic voices began to fill the audience hall—

 

“Enough!”

 

The Emperor’s roar instantly silenced the room. Khankundra, his body slumped against the throne, looked at the officials with exhausted eyes. His nerves were already frayed from not having enough smoke the night before. 

 

In the past, just a pinch of the powder would carry him through the night, but now, even an entire jar barely satisfied him.

 

Struggling to control the involuntary twitching in his face, Khankundra turned to Mindhu.

 

“Chancellor, what should we do about this crisis?”

 

Mindhu stepped forward and spoke.

 

“Your Majesty, we cannot know when the Moon’s Lions will strike again. We must quickly replenish our shattered forces to maintain the kingdom’s strength.”

 

Khankundra pressed his throbbing temples and waved his hand dismissively.

 

“Then issue a conscription order. Every man who has undergone the coming-of-age ceremony shall serve as my soldier and defend Baran.”

 

“As you command, Your Majesty.”

 

“And deploy the surviving soldiers to the front lines immediately.”

 

“But Your Majesty, those who returned from the border battle are severely wounded—many can barely move.”

 

“They are useless now anyway. If they can’t hold a sword, they can at least block the enemy’s advance with their bodies.”

 

The officials exchanged uneasy glances at the cruel order. 

 

To send men who had barely escaped death back to certain doom—it was a move that would sever whatever remained of their will and patriotism.

 

But the Emperor had no time to dwell on it. His headache was so severe it felt like his brain might melt if he didn’t take a smoke soon.

 

“Why are you all hesitating? Find a way to stop the Moon’s Lions—now!”

 

“F-Forgive us, Your Majesty!”

 

Cowed by the Emperor’s furious outburst, the officials hastily retreated from the hall. 

 

One of them, mustering his courage, dared to ask before leaving:

 

“Your Majesty, what of the prisoners from the underground dungeons?”

 

“Handle them as you see fit. Throw them back into the caves or send them to the border with the soldiers—I don’t care.”

 

Khankundra waved his hand in irritation, signaling the end of the matter. As the officials scurried away, only Mindhu remained, offering the Emperor a familiar jar with a sly smile.

 

Through the closing doors of the audience hall, wisps of smoke—harbingers of death—curled into the air.