Book 10 Chapter 23

Episode 248

Aki.

Aki.

Wake up, Aki.

Lying on the altar of Pyrrhus Lighthouse, Aki felt a gentle touch caressing her hair and opened her eyes.

"Mmm…"

It was somehow different from Rein's touch, but just as pleasant and warm.

However, when she lifted her head and looked back, no one was there, but a voice was heard.

Not from the direction of the touch, but from deep within her soul.

"Rein needs you."

* * *

"What are you? What have you done? What have you done to that body?!"

Shirpen was crying mournfully.

The holy sword grows stronger when aimed at the abyss, but it's strange; this blade is currently aimed at Rein.

Miria gasped and shouted at the incomprehensible situation.

"Shall I tell you? Hehehe, ever since my rotten master killed me with those eyes, I've always wanted them."

"I don't care about that!"

"You have to hear it all to understand, don't you? But my master was very kind to put a restriction on it through a bloodline succession method, meaning I had to take over the entire body to have these eyes."

Zernix stretched the joints of the swapped body. The reason he was kindly explaining was to buy time to adapt to the body.

"So I created a magic to swap souls. And it succeeded beautifully."

"You…!"

"Don't get agitated, Rem."

Bart moved to a position behind Zernix and said.

"Rein should be able to use the body that bastard has trained for a thousand years. We just need to fight while protecting Rein."

"Hehehe, well? That guy will die soon according to my calculations. The body of the abyss and the dragon's soul will cause a repulsive reaction."

"Lie."

"Alright, break time's over. Let's play now. I want to check out the performance of this new body."

The first to charge at Rein, no, Zernix, was Miria. Bart shouted.

"Miria!"

"There's no other way for now! If we can just knock him down and subdue him, maybe something will come up!"

Was it natural that an old voice revived in Miria's ears as she ran, holding the roaring Shirpen with both hands?

- Let us protect each other. Let us help each other not to do evil. Let us give peace to souls. So that those souls may reach the embrace of the gods.

Because I was the one who said that.

I must act as I spoke.

We've met again after 300 years; was our story, from the very beginning, fated not to come true?

'I definitely said that…'

Miria, scattering like a heat haze and instantly getting behind Zernix, had tears scattering from her eyes.

"Heh, unlike all that bluster, I don't feel any killer intent in your charge."

Secret Art, Elemental Deployment.

Although the body had changed, perhaps because the essence of the soul remained the same, the eight elemental runes deployed distinctly.

Incredible. Is it because the main essence was trained while holding the dragon's power? It holds magic power comparable to my prime.

'Dealing with such strong opponents isn't easy, so perhaps I should adapt to this body a little more.'

Shirpen's blade was deflected by a suddenly rising ice wall.

"Gosul!"

A combination of ice and lightning.

Her body spasmed painfully from the electric current flowing across the surface of the ice wall.

A pure-blue arrow flew towards Zernix, who was about to finish off Miria… but dimensions immediately twisted, sending the arrow into another world.

"These arrows aren't very threatening, whether they carry true intent or not."

Rem, having taken a big swig from his gourd, shot arrows indiscriminately.

It might look indiscriminate, but this was one of the Drunken Archer's secret techniques: scattered arrows striking a single point simultaneously.

The simultaneous impact shot often used by the legendary archer Kires.

"Hmph, pathetic. Talentless fools."

Rem had grown stronger during his journey.

Strong enough to be counted among the top five archers on the entire continent, presumably.

"Compared to that mute bastard's arrows, yours are truly pathetic. Every single one of his arrows required intense concentration just to block."

Guided by Serwebon, he had learned to read waves and aim for their gaps.

However, Rem's shots didn't work at all.

All arrows imbued with Serwebon's radiance merely crumbled powerlessly within the magic that instantly manifested.

Thus, he couldn't support Bart at all, who was engaged in close combat with Zernix.

Zernix wasn't even paying attention to Rem's shots, lightly deflecting them as if brushing off sunlight, as he faced Bart.

It was truly overwhelming skill. Even a battle between a warrior and a mage, where the former should naturally be at a disadvantage, was far too easy for Zernix.

"Except for that dying eleventh-generation brat over there, you guys are just deteriorated copies. Hahahaha! You're worse than trash compared to those guys back then!"

Yes, this is natural.

Was it even plausible that four such monsters existed in one era and formed a party amicably?

Because of those guys, Zernix had to go into physical recuperation for a whopping 300 years, unable to come forward.

'To the mage who blocked a spell I used, pulling up almost 50% of my magic power with the intention of annihilation.'

To the mute master archer remembered by history, to the shrine maiden trained by the fire dragon, to Faiquarius who was born with unprecedented talent.

"As a bonus, Calenden's Black Ram Scales came along. And this Ceresia, I created it myself in the first place!"

It feels like I've finally recovered everything I lost, I feel great.

"This straw hat is a bit much, but with a face like this, making several women cry is nothing, hehehehe."

With this power, I can win against anyone. I can even win against that old hag I wish would just get dementia.

"Now is the era of I, Lord Zernix!"

As the battle moved out of the square and far away, Rein could do nothing in the darkness.

Darkness was rigidly congealing in her head and the blood vessels throughout her body, crushing her whole being.

Not just that, it hurt, it hurt, her arms hurt as if melting, no, both her arms were literally burning into a slimy substance and melting, pooling on the floor.

[Ah, Abba, Abbaa!]

Only after concentrating her eyes did the blurry outline of Setsune's gauntlet and the top armor piece rolling on the floor form on her retina.

'My body, it can't hold up.'

It was gleaming golden, so she could barely make it out, but everything else was blurry and dull.

'I'm burning up from the inside.'

Fear surged along with the pain.

The world crazily alternated between darkness and light.

As the battle seemed to move further and further away from the square, a desolate silence settled over the area.

"Se-Setsune…"

Even putting a sound to these short words required immense effort. It felt as if her voice was being sucked into a hole somewhere in her lungs.

"Get, get away, from me…"

Her heart beat uncertainly, irregularly, with difficulty.

Even that was agonizing and painful.

As if cold fingers were forcing her heart to pulsate, her entire body convulsed with pain every time her heart beat.

"If you stay with me, you'll…"

The dragon's flame crept further and further upwards.

Her body was consumed by the fiery agony.

The thousand-year abyss that had been encroaching upon this impure body dripped and formed puddles.

"Abba, Abba."

Setsune, with a tear-streaked face, shook her shoulders.

This is Zernix's body, yet they say dragons can see the essence of souls, so it recognizes me.

Cold sweat poured from her face like rain, and the saltiness of the sweat made her eyes ache.

"Aki, find Aki, I… Nene, I…"

Must I say goodbye here? Was my second life also destined to end so futilely?

Using a *Juyeo Sogye Daeban* wouldn't work. The soul and body hate each other and are trying to destroy each other, so no matter what, she would die.

The dragon's flame had already burned away both arms and reached her shoulders.

There wasn't much time left.

Her airways seemed swollen, so she couldn't breathe properly. Lying fallen in a puddle of the abyss, she thrashed her body like a worm.

"Rin, Rein, Rin."

Pipi landed on her head and pecked wildly at her crown, as if trying to make her come to her senses, but Rein had no energy left to react.

"Pi, Pipi, I, I, now, no more…"

It felt as if the universe's gravity was pulling her body and soul to the ground.

The cold domain of death reached out a tempting hand. The terminus leading to life's end offered a dense seduction.

The fact that her body was so terrifyingly cold was horrible. To be so cold even while burning, wasn't she already like a corpse?

"So, Pi, Pipi, Setsune, to a safe…"

It was then.

A massive winged shadow swept overhead, and a wondrous blast of heat infused her entire body with the energy of life.

The sound of the shadow landing in front of her was strangely similar to the roar of flames. At the same time, her footsteps became lighter.

"Awoong…?"

Rein moved her jaw and neck, turning her head to look forward. The warmth from just moments ago allowed her to regain a tiny bit of strength.

"Ah…"

Was she seeing a hallucination before dying?

Alakish?

Had Alakish come to meet her?

Though she had hair blazing with fire and wore dragon-scale armor, she was subtly different from the person in her memories.

"Hmm?"

It's strange, but.

More unbelievably, that playful voice, those deep and clear eyes…

Rein could only stare at the approaching figure, unable to even think of breathing. For a moment, she even forgot the pain.

"Haven't seen you in a while, I don't know about your height, but your eyeballs got bigger? Was it your dream to become an adult with eight eyeballs? Did you trade your arms for them?"

A warm breeze swept across the square.

Like the spring breeze announcing the end of a long winter, like a spring breeze blowing in a winter that she thought would never end in eternal solitude since her rebirth.

"Oh dear, oh dear! It's been 300 years and you're still a crybaby. Pipi, what were you doing all this time coming here, not educating her properly?"

The chains of a box hidden deep within her soul snapped. It was a box named Hope.

"Ah, ah, ahh…"

Her eyes blurred.

Why was the warmth of the tears streaming down her face more distinct than the heat of the flames consuming her body?

Only inarticulate sobs barely escaped her lips.

Even if she could have spoken, Rein would have been unable to say anything at this moment due to her overwhelming tears.

Even if she could have spoken, Rein didn't need to explicitly say the name at this moment. Pipi was already shouting that name, busily flitting with her injured wings between the head and shoulders of the owner of that name, the connection Rein thought she had left behind beyond the 300-year barrier of time.

"Friede, Friede, Friede, Friede, Friede."