Bad Born Blood-Chapter 150

Chapter 150

I arrived at Francec’s camp with Ivan slung over my shoulder. The atmosphere felt far more militarized than when I had left. Since additional armored forces had joined, I could see full-body prosthetics and armored vehicles.

The sound of rain falling on the metal hulls of the armored units was eerily cold. Perhaps due to my mental state, the outlines in my auditory vision appeared in a bluish-white hue.

Francec’s forces had taken on the appearance of an army. The properly trained troops numbered around five hundred, but any more than that would have been difficult to maneuver within the city.

‘This district is nearly secured as well.’

I looked around at the buildings still smoldering with residual heat and the half-destroyed vehicles. They bore the scars of battle. Francec’s forces, having emerged victorious against the rioters, were advancing along the ring road.

At the center of the unit was a large armored vehicle serving as the command vehicle. The interior was spacious enough to hold more than twenty people, and its defensive capabilities were excellent—it could withstand an airstrike.

I felt the gazes of those looking at me in confusion. They had no idea who Ivan, the prisoner I had captured, was.

‘I need to ride this momentum. By tomorrow, people will come to their senses. They’ll realize what they’re doing.’

Whether Francec negotiated with the Emperor or forced his abdication, it had to be concluded by tonight. The moment reason returned, Francec’s faction would fall apart.

Vrrr—

I approached the command vehicle. As it moved at a walking pace, its door opened.

Inside, Francec looked at me. He had been speaking with other nobles and officers.

“Ah, the envoy who secured the military’s cooperation has arrived! Everyone, please give us a moment.”

At Francec’s words, the people inside all stood up and left.

Their faces showed both anxiety and anticipation. If Francec succeeded, they would stand at the center of power. If he failed, it would all be over.

‘The military’s cooperation.’

Upon hearing those words, their faces lit up with hope. Despite most of them having full-body prosthetics, their emotions were unmistakable. It was likely because the majority of them were young nobles.

Francec was pretending to have an alliance with the military, as if he had been preparing for this revolution for a long time.

‘The Crown Prince and the military.’

If he had legitimacy and military power on his side, Francec might have had a real chance—if it were actually true.

‘Everyone except Hemillas is dead. There’s no one left to command the scattered troops across Akbaran.’

Akbaran was full of leaderless armies. The Emperor must have been deeply troubled.

‘If the Emperor designates Francec as a traitor and attempts to suppress him, the military might end up being absorbed by Francec instead.’

Right now, Francec’s momentum was immense.

Tomorrow might be different, but tonight belonged to Francec. Behind his troops, a procession of thousands of lower-class citizens was following.

However, as fierce as Francec’s blaze burned, it would extinguish just as quickly.

The peak of the flames was now. Tonight was the last opportunity. We had roughly six hours left.

The military wasn’t confined to Akbaran alone. The majority of the Imperial Army was stationed at the borders and in fortified frontier cities.

Considering the capabilities of the Emperor and Kinuan... they could justify a suppression campaign and rally forces within half a day.

‘More importantly, I only have a few hours left to act.’

My thoughts and senses were already dulling. The effects of the drug had peaked and were now waning.

Vrrr—

While I was thinking, the armored vehicle’s door closed.

Inside the spacious vehicle, only Francec, myself, and Ivan—his jaw shattered—remained. Paper documents were scattered messily across the center of the room.

The monitors on the vehicle’s walls were likely displaying real-time updates on the city’s situation. That was just my assumption, though. My auditory vision couldn’t detect what was on the screens.

“Lu...”

Francec looked at me but trailed off. Probably because of my vacant eyes. Regaining his composure, he continued speaking.

“You never fail to amaze me with your skills. But why is my brother’s jaw in that state?”

“He kept saying things that were bad for my mental health. It got on my nerves. If it weren’t for His Highness’ request, I would’ve blown his head off. So cut me some slack.”

That was something I would never have dared to say under normal circumstances. But right now, I had nothing to fear. I was as good as dead by tomorrow anyway.

Thud.

I threw Ivan onto the conference table. With his limbs broken, he couldn’t move on his own. His vocal cords had been damaged along with his jaw, so all that came out of his throat were faint, pitiful sounds. To put it crudely, he was no different from an insect.

“...You came alone without Hemillas. Does that mean our plan failed?”

There was a hint of unease in Francec’s voice.

“Hemillas will be joining us later. He volunteered as bait to extract Ivan and me.”

“So there’s a chance he won’t return.”

“If he’s the kind of man who would die there, he wouldn’t be of much help to us even if he did.”

I put on a front. Worrying or praying wouldn’t change anything.

"I’ve already told them that the deal between the military and me is settled. If there’s no sign of the military forces joining us, there are plenty of people out there who will betray me in an instant. We need to turn our fabricated lies into reality."

"All the high-ranking officers except for Hemillas are dead. We can’t mobilize the military forces right now."

Francec’s face must have turned pale. He hid his trembling hands beneath the table.

"Then is our revolution over?"

"Hemillas saved me even after witnessing the deaths of the military generals. No matter how much he values me, he’s not the kind of man who would abandon his family and household for my sake. In fact, he tried to kill me twice before because he deemed his family more important. In other words, Hemillas has another plan."

I didn’t know what that plan was. But it was likely the worst possible option, something so unfeasible that it wouldn’t even be considered as a last resort.

We had to wait for Hemillas to contact us. Only then could we determine our course of action.

Shhh... shhh...

Ivan, lying on the table, was staring at me, struggling to breathe. With his cybernetic body being aesthetically perfect, he somehow looked pitiful.

"I’ll get you connected soon, so stay put, Riley."

Francec called Ivan "Riley." That seemed to be his real name.

Click.

Francec ran his fingers over the back of Ivan’s neck, locating a port beneath the synthetic skin.

Beep.

As soon as he plugged a cable into the port, the terminal connected to Ivan.

Vrrr—

A distorted noise, shaped into Ivan’s voice, flowed from the terminal’s speaker. His pupils flickered, adjusting to the system.

-Brother, you’re being deceived by Luka. The military and Hemillas are already marching toward the Imperial Palace! If we stay tied down like this...

I let out a sigh. I wanted to rip the cable out right then and there.

"Ivan, Francec is not your puppet."

I spoke coldly.

There was no trace of agitation on Francec’s face as he looked at Ivan. He rested his interlocked fingers against his chin and spoke.

"Let me ask you just one thing, little brother. Were you so desperate to become Emperor that you were willing to kill me?"

A seasoned question. He concealed his own uncertainty while speaking as if he were utterly convinced of his younger brother’s attempt at fratricide. As if he knew everything.

‘Francec still doesn’t want to believe that his father and brother tried to kill him.’

But no matter how much he refused to believe it, the truth wouldn’t change.

-...Even if you want to keep denying it, there’s no time left. Francec, you’re my puppet. You were only sitting in my seat for a while. And now, you’ve gone and cut the strings, moving on your own. You should have just stayed ignorant and dreamed a happy little dream.

The truth came out easily. The reason was simple.

‘Ivan is panicking.’

He wanted to escape the Empire. If things dragged on, he wouldn’t even make it out of Akbaran.

“Why... why... Father... Riley... why... No, what did I...?”

Even I was slightly surprised. The moment Ivan finished speaking, Francec’s once-steady expression completely crumbled.

‘Damn it.’

Ivan’s sudden words had shaken Francec more than I had expected. Even with mental preparation, it seemed unbearable for him.

-This is exactly why you’re unfit to be Emperor. You waver over a few mere words. Every time you pretended to be my older brother, it was laughable. Not once in my life have I ever considered you my sibling. Every time I acted friendly toward you, I was just imagining the best way to kill you.

"Lu... Luka... something’s wrong... This isn’t Riley."

-If anything, I felt closer to the Kirishi and Mitoba branch families than I ever did to you. I always wondered how an idiot like you could possibly be my brother.

Sensing an opportunity, Ivan spat out every venomous word he could. Francec’s condition was dangerous. Even I hadn’t expected this outcome.

‘Francec and Ivan’s bond was deeper than I thought. Francec never even imagined Ivan was this cold-blooded.’

I moved to cut off Ivan’s voice. If I pulled the cable, he wouldn’t be able to talk anymore.

Clench!

Francec grabbed my hand and shook his head. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and jaw.

-Are you crying? You wanted to believe I had some unavoidable reason, didn’t you? You were hoping your beloved younger brother would come up with a plausible excuse, weren’t you?

Ivan was tearing Francec apart, striking straight at his heart.

“That’s enough, Ivan. From now on, you only answer the questions we ask. If you mock His Highness Francec even once more, you’ll get to experience what it feels like to have your head flattened.”

I placed my hand on Ivan’s head. As I applied pressure, cracks formed around his temple.

“Lu...”

Francec tried to stop me.

Thud!

I kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying into the wall. He crashed down with a heavy thud.

I pressed my palm even harder against Ivan’s skull. The pressure intensified, and cracks began to form in his eyes as well.

"Don’t think your pathetic brotherly bond will protect you. In this room, I decide whether you live or die."

-You’ve finally lost it, Luka. I can see the madness in you. If you’d been like this from the start, I might have liked you more...

Ivan spoke those words but refrained from mocking Francec any further. He had accepted my warning.

‘Ivan prioritizes his own survival above all else. Right now, becoming Emperor isn’t his goal—staying alive is.’

Once you understand someone’s goal, it’s easy to grasp their behavioral patterns. And negotiations become much simpler.

"As you can see, His Highness Francec still considers you his brother. His victory is the only way you survive. Cooperate with us, Ivan."

-Haha, what happened to you? Your level of thinking has improved dramatically. A change like this shouldn’t be possible in such a short time...

"Still babbling nonsense? Fine. Goodbye."

I pressed down harder on his skull. As expected of a cybernetic body designed for the Imperial family, its durability was remarkable. The table beneath him broke before his head did.

Crunch!

I genuinely intended to kill Ivan, pressing his head down with full force. If it hit the floor, his skull would crack open, and his precious brain would turn to mush.

"Ugh!"

Francec lunged forward and caught Ivan’s head with his arm, absorbing the impact. Because of that, Ivan survived.

‘I knew you’d move, Francec.’

I had truly meant to kill Ivan. If Francec hadn’t acted exactly as I predicted, Ivan would already be dead.

My killing intent had been real, without hesitation.

Vrrr, vrrr.

Ivan’s pupils must have been fully dilated. He had just seen his life flash before his eyes.

"Haa... haa..."

Francec gasped for breath as if he had barely escaped death himself. Despite his panic, he had still rushed in to save his brother.

"Ivan, Francec is a better man than you. If you have even a shred of humanity left, you should feel ashamed."

Ivan was silent for a moment. The terminal connection emitted static a few times before his voice came through clearly.

-The Accretia bloodline carries a unique genetic trait. It’s the key to activating the Arcane Civilization’s combat relics. If Father uses it, we’re finished. It won’t matter how many troops are gathered here.

Ivan’s words sounded truthful. I waited for Francec’s reaction.

"I... I’ve never heard of that before."

-Of course you haven’t! You always believed whatever Father boasted about and never bothered to find out anything for yourself. I really hated you, Francec.

Even through the mechanical filter of the terminal, Ivan’s voice carried a heavy weight. He truly loathed Francec.

-While you stood outside, waving and smiling like an idiot...! I lay awake every night, trembling in fear. I never knew when Father might decide to kill me. Countless times, I wondered if I was just another Francec. Maybe the real Crown Prince was hidden away somewhere. How could someone as weak and terrified as me be worthy of the throne? I couldn’t erase that doubt from my mind.

Ivan didn’t even trust himself. The version of him that we knew—the arrogant, self-assured heir who acted as though he never questioned his position—was just a mask, a survival mechanism.

-Luka, could you trust a father who would kill even his eldest son without hesitation? I crawled and groveled, just like you.

...I didn’t answer. If you stripped away the surface, everyone was just human.

Ivan, Hemillas—they weren’t as monstrous as I had imagined. Like me, they wore masks and pretended to be monsters.

And the reason they had to wear those masks was the same as mine. To survive. To avoid being devoured by the real monsters, they had to act like one of them.

But there were no real monsters in this room. The true, inhuman being wearing the skin of a man lived deep within the Imperial Palace.

If there was someone who had been born human but had become a machine, then it wasn’t so strange that someone born human could also become a monster.