Episode Thirty: The Underground Labyrinth, the Rats’ Counterattack
In the Persian Market: The Roar of an Empire
Episode Thirty: The Underground Labyrinth, the Rats’ Counterattack
1. A Pulse Hidden in Darkness
Above ground, the crushing weight of thirty thousand Macedonian troops pressed down upon the imperial capital.
But dozens of meters beneath Persepolis’s stone streets, the vast underground qanat—first built by Darius I and later refashioned into a fortress by Danesh—had become the market battalion’s true domain.
“…The surface is quiet. But their stomachs are screaming,”
Shahab whispered, pressing his ear to the damp wall.
Behind him waited the market’s beggars, pickpockets, and shadow-dwellers—the men known as rats.
What they carried was not looted enemy food, but Inaz’s concoction: a cursed spice that accelerated decay and brought searing fever.
2. The Invisible Invasion
“Alright. Begin.”
At Shahab’s signal, the men poured poison and sludge through the cracks of the drainage system, into the Macedonian army’s cooking wells above.
This was not direct slaughter. It was a merchant’s way of war—draining the enemy’s resources and selling them distrust.
By morning, hundreds in the Macedonian camp collapsed with unexplained stomach pains.
“…A curse! The gods of Persepolis are angry!”
An unseen disease—called fear—spread among the soldiers.
“Hah. Not gods,” Shahab sneered after returning underground.
“I’m just teaching them how terrifying the market’s ‘unsanitary reality’ can be.”
3. Nirfar’s ‘Speech of Light’
Above ground, the people’s morale was nearing its limit under hunger.
Queen Nirfar climbed the highest watchtower and raised a torch, visible even to the besieging enemy.
“Listen, soldiers of Alexander! What you encircle is not stone walls—
it is the unyielding will of the people!
We may drink muddy water, but we will never abandon our pride!”
Her clear voice became hope to the starving citizens,
and a curse to the disease-stricken Macedonian troops.
Standing beside her, Cyrus was certain.
“…Perfect, Nirfar. The brighter your light shines, the more Shahab’s shadows do their work.”
4. Alexander’s ‘Eye’
“…The underground, then.”
Inside his tent, Alexander watched a soldier whose hands trembled as he held a water jar.
The king had seen through the stalemate—the problem was not the walls before him, but the darkness beneath his feet.
“Philotas. Call the engineers.
Seal every vein of this city.
Drown the rats’ breathing holes with fire and smoke.”
Alexander’s cold judgment.
A sentence of hell—Macedonian fire poured into the tunnels where Shahab’s men hid.
5. The Backflow of Flame
“Shahab! Fall back! They’re pouring oil through the vents!!”
Kabir’s scream echoed through the underground maze.
In an instant, the dark labyrinth began transforming into an inescapable crematorium.
“…Tch. You’re quick to the point, Your Majesty,”
Shahab muttered, slipping his flute into his belt as he stared at the rising flames.
“Cyrus! The underground deal is over!
From here on… we balance the books above ground, in blood and spectacle!”
The city’s hidden veins burned through,
and the market battalion was forced—violently—back into the light of the surface.
