King Man-Ju turned his attention to the figure beside Young-Sik. "Seo-Joon, is that you?" he questioned, disbelief etched on his face.
Min-Jae's voice boomed like a storm, "It's time to end this, brother. For the sake of Chiongsun, I urge you to step down."
"How dare you, a measly peasant, command me, the King?" He raged at Min-Jae, "You should have stayed dead!" he shouted
"Then you should not have taken my family from me," Min-Jae shot back, his eyes burning with relentless fury.
"You don't deserve to have a family; you can't even protect them." Man-Ju snapped at Min-Jae. He then saw Jin-Ri standing beside Young-Sik. "I see that you still chose the insignificant prince over me, the King of all Chiongsun." He deeply sighed, calming his heart at the torrent of jealousy enveloping him. "I could have made you happy, I could have made you rich and powerful! But instead, you chose an insignificant death beside him."
"Someone with a heart that is chained by jealousy and greed, such as yourself, could never make anyone happy." She slid her hand onto Young-Sik's and held it tightly. "Young-Sik has a heart that knows no envy and greed, and he doesn't need to do anything to make me happy...just staying beside him makes me happy!" Jin-Ri told the King, her voice as defiant as ever.
"Brother, you have lost your way; you let yourself be controlled by greed. I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't step down, we will drag you down by force," The youngest brother warned the King
"By force? What force? I am the only force in all of Chiongsun...and the two of you are nothing more than bugs under my heel!" At the King's word, dozens of armed soldiers surround the four, ready to attack. "KILL THEM ALL!" Man-Ju ordered
Mun-He quickly steps in between her three companions and the soldiers. She pulls out the item from her sleeves, raises it high above her head, and shows it to the soldiers. "This is the plaque of the crowned prince Seo-Joon! This is the symbol of succession made by the late King Seo-Jung as proof that Prince Seo-Joon is the true King of Chiongsun!" Mun-He turns around, making sure everyone sees the plaque, "We all know that this plaque's authority supersedes anything, even the current King, as long as the bearer is alive...and right beside me is the owner of this authority, Crowned Prince Kim-Seo-Joon!"
All the soldiers stopped in their tracks, halted by the plaque of succession. Man-Ju roared at his soldiers, "You fools, you are being tricked! Seo-Joon and the plaque have been lost for years."
Jin-Ri quickly shot down the King. "This plaque has the late King's seal, and a simple comparison of the royal birth records and physical examination of Prince Seo-Joon will undoubtedly prove that he is indeed the first-born son of the late King Seo-Jung."
"How did you know about that?" Young-Sik whispered to Jin-Ri
"I read it in the library once, when you asked me to get some ledgers for your investigation, they were right beside each other," Jin-Ri whispered to her prince, explaining her conclusion in solving the issue
They watched as Mun-He gave the plaque to a trembling Min-Jae. "I do not want to be King, I turned my back on the throne and thus am no longer worthy," he said humbly, shaking his head
"Which is why you are worthy, you are the only one here who knows how to be a leader, power is given to those who know how to wield it and not to those who seek it" Young-Sik explained "Welcome home brother, Welcome home my King!" he expressed as he knelt and bowed to the one true King
Everyone who heard Mun-He's testament and saw how Young-Sik bowed followed in his example, bowed to a bewildered Min-Jae. "King Kim Seo-Joon...what are your orders, your Highness?" Young-Sik, Jin-Ri, Mun-He, and all of the soldiers shouted in unison
From out of nowhere, several arrows whizzed through the air, hitting several soldiers. Min-Jae would have been hit had it not been for Young-Sik's lightning-fast reflexes.
"So, you took my documents and my plaque!" Lim Do-Yun announced this when he arrived with Minister Gi and several other ministers, along with their private armies and freed Aranese soldiers and mercenaries. "I should have cut your head rather than thrown you in the river!" He said, lamenting at the fact that Min-Jae survived.
"See my Lord, my predictions were true. I knew that they would attempt to seize the crown today, since they have the documents and the plaque." Minister Gi reminded Minister Lim, grinning as he did. "Good thing you listened to my counsel."
"It appears so, finally, you showed some usefulness!" Minister Lim exclaimed to the diminutive minister
"Do-Yun...I demand to know what you are doing?" Man-Ju ordered the minister
"Shut up, you whelp! You are nothing but the substitute of a substitute!" He shouted, silencing Man-Ju with his sharp words, "It is a good thing that the three of you are here, saves me the trouble of hunting you one by one."
Lim Do-Yun pulled out his sword and pointed it at the brothers, "ATTACK! Kill them! Kill them all!" He shouted to his men. The insurgents shouted and charged, determined to kill the three brothers.
"PROTECT THE KING!" Young-Sik shouted. The soldiers who had once had hostile intentions moved forward, forming a wall to protect their true King.
Minister Lim grabbed one of his bodyguards. "Take some soldiers with you and get me Seo-Joon's daughter!" The bodyguard bowed to Minister Lim and gestured to several men to follow him
As the soldiers prepared for the impending clash, Young-Sik pulled Jin-Ri and Mun-He away from the battle. "The two of you go and find Young-Ju, we will take care of things here," He told the two women
Jin-Ri pulled Young-Sik into her lips and shared a tender kiss. "You better stay alive!" she reminded her prince. Young-Sik smiled at her and then ran back into the chaos of battle.
"Where will we start looking?" Mun-He asked Jin-Ri
"The only place where a child probably would be...The Queen's residence." The two of them ran towards their destination.
In the thick of the battle, Young-Sik kept himself between Min-Jae and the insurgent armies, protecting his brother. "Young-Sik! They have Aranese soldiers in their ranks. What's going on here?" Min-Jae asked as he hacked away at two enemy soldiers who got near him.
"My guess is..." Young-Sik paused what he was saying to deal with three enemy men who got near him. She stabbed at the first, pulled out his weapon, and executed a downward and sideways strike on the next two "They are probably prisoners that we captured during the invasion, they must have bought them off to fight for them" Young-Sik deduced, he then charged at three more soldiers coming his way and dispatching them with a single slash on their necks.
When Il-Sung, who was with Man-Ju, saw a dozen Aranese soldiers coming their way, he quickly ran away. "Come back here, you coward!" Man-Ju shouted. He quickly armed himself with a bow and a quiver filled with arrows from one of the fallen archers. He aimed and released arrow after arrow rapidly, and each deadly projectile hit its mark with lethal accuracy.
When he saw that he was about to be surrounded, Man-Ju quickly ran towards the safety of the royal soldiers. He tried to get in the middle, but in the chaos of the battle, he was pushed further up front, where he bumped into his two brothers. The three brothers looked at each other for the first time in sixteen years, they were together again.
Their reunion was abruptly interrupted as Young-Sik darted behind Man-Ju, swiftly dispatching the insurgent within reach with a lethal slash. Man-Ju, ever vigilant, unleashed a flurry of arrows at two soldiers lunging toward Min-Jae. In the heat of battle, Min-Jae charged at a soldier sneaking up on Young-Sik, driving his sword deep into the would-be assailant.
The three brothers exchanged glances, a spark of nostalgia igniting in Min-Jae's eyes. "Remember that game we used to play and always win?" he inquired.
"Game? Defend the flag?" Man-Ju replied, a hint of confusion in his voice.
"Yes! Eliminate as many without getting eliminated," Young-Sik said, a playful grin spreading across his face.
"Just like old times, you two lead the charge while I cover the perimeter," Man-Ju reminded them, reinforcing their roles in this deadly game.
With a fierce determination, Young-Sik and Min-Jae engaged the first wave of insurgents. Man-Ju shot two arrows quickly, each finding its mark in the heads of two foes. Young-Sik followed up with a brutal downward slash against the third attacker. He ducked just in time, allowing Min-Jae's rightward strike to cleave through the enemy on the right. In a fluid motion, Young-Sik sprang up, driving his blade into the chest of another foe. Seizing the moment, Min-Jae propelled himself forward, eliminating the enemy lurking behind Man-Ju.
Young-Sik charged at two insurgents trying to flank Man-Ju from the right. He blocked their attacks with his sword. With one big push, he sent the attackers reeling back. Man-Ju swiftly sent arrows to the men's heads to finish them off. Min-Jae blocked three men with his sword. Young-Sik slashed at their exposed necks, ending their lives in a flash.
Onlookers witnessing the three brothers unite in battle for the first time would swear they had seen a breathtaking yet lethal dance. Their movements were a flawless symphony, each brother amplifying the other's strengths. Young-Sik safeguarded their sides, his sword striking with a poetic ferocity. Man-Ju's bow unleashed arrows with unrivaled speed and pinpoint accuracy. Meanwhile, Min-Jae's sheer strength carved through any enemy that dared to approach, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
"This is taking so long!" Young-Sik mentions to his brothers
"At least your sword does not run out!" Man-Ju blurted out, "I'm about to run out of arrows!" He pointed out as he shot another one at an enemy.
Min-Jae spots a full quiver of arrows from a fallen archer. He scooped it up and threw it at Man-Ju. "Here, brother! Keep firing!" The fighting continued despite the three brothers' spectacular skills. The same could not be said for the palace soldiers. The insurgents dropped the royal soldiers one by one.
Just as the insurgents were about to cut through the soldiers' defenses, they heard a single call for action: "Attack!" Young-Sik looked at the source of the voice and saw Captain Gi lead the cavalry and the Haan and Gyong militia in mowing down the insurgents like rag dolls. Yeng and the militia from Mt. Yangge village followed them closely. Their arrival has shifted the tides of the battle.
Minister Lim, Minister Gi, and the other insurgent ministers bolted when they saw that their forces were vastly outnumbered and scattering in different directions. Young-Sik turned towards his brothers, "Where's Man-Ju?" He asked Min-Jae
Min-Jae looked around, also bewildered, wondering where their brother had suddenly gone. "He was just here," he explained, looking around him.
"That's no longer important! Take this opportunity and look for Ha-Rin, she is probably being held in the prison complex, start there!" Young-Sik instructed his brother, "I will follow Jin-Ri and make sure that they have Young-Ju."
Min-Jae nodded, "Be careful, brother!" he reminded Young-Sik as he made his way away from the chaotic battle.