Episode Thirty-Eight: The Kiss of Hellfire, the Dawn of the Great Conflagration
In the Persian Market: The Roar of an Empire
Episode Thirty-Eight: The Kiss of Hellfire, the Dawn of the Great Conflagration
1. A Night of Madness, a Crimson Sky
Between Cyrus and Alexander, locked in their tense confrontation, an unnatural blast of scorching wind swept in from outside.
Beyond the windows—near the entrance once called the Gate of All Nations—a pillar of flame erupted, piercing the heavens themselves.
“…What is this?!”
The Great King shouted as one of his generals burst into the hall, gasping for breath.
“Your Majesty! The remnants of the market have set fires! Driven by the wind, the flames are already reaching the palace gardens!”
History would later record this as Alexander’s accident, or perhaps an act of retaliation.
But the true spark was lit by nameless members of the market—people driven to despair by Macedonian plunder—this fire their final protest.
2. Melting Gold, Weeping Marble
The flames raced across dried Persian carpets and the defensive oil traps Danesh had prepared, swallowing the palace in moments.
“Cyrus… there’s no room for negotiation now…”
Queen Nirfar murmured, gazing up at the sky dyed red.
“Yeah. The worst kind of forced shutdown,” Cyrus replied.
“…But now, Great King, all you’ve got left in your hands is ash and soot. So—what’ll it be? Burn with us?”
Lit by the inferno, Cyrus grinned defiantly.
Golden ornaments softened and flowed with the heat, crawling across marble floors like blood—
as though the empire itself were bleeding out.
3. The Great King’s Agony
Alexander clenched the cracked counting tablet in his hand.
Kill the merchant, and the system—the wisdom needed to govern this land—would vanish forever.
Let him live and escape, and the soul of the empire would be released into the wild.
“…Put out the fire! All units—cease looting and focus on extinguishing the flames!”
The order rang out, but the frenzy of the crowd and the roaring fire were already beyond control.
“It’s useless, Great King,” Cyrus said coldly.
“…You burned the market. You burned the people’s hearts. You don’t get to put this fire out.”
Using the chaos, Cyrus seized Nirfar’s arm.
4. An Escape Route Through Ash
“Cyrus! This way!”
From the smoke emerged Kabil, his face blackened with soot.
“Shahab forced open the underground passage beneath the Hall of a Hundred Columns! We’ve got to move before it collapses!”
“What about Danesh? Inaz?!”
“…They’re holding the fire line. Buying time. That’s all I know!”
Cyrus clenched his teeth.
His comrades were turning their own lives into kindling, lighting the path toward a new market.
5. “Alexander!”
With the collapsing corridor at his back, Cyrus shouted toward the Great King.
“Hold on tight to this city’s ashes! We’ll live—and watch the day your empire goes bankrupt!”
Though separated by walls of flame, Alexander burned the sight of that indomitable merchant’s spirit into his memory.
“…Go, Cyrus. Run as far as the horizon allows.
But I will corner you one day. The next meeting—will be the true final reckoning.”
〘END
