Book 18 Chapter 14
**Episode 133**
The End of the First Major Arc, Arrival at the Southern Adrion Continent
The high-ranking demon that almost brought calamity to the world was subjugated.
However, its repercussions were the problem.
Whether the banquet hall was a space crafted by the demon's power, that undersea section began to collapse.
"Rin, save the people! I've set up the Psalm barrier all around! You weave them with telekinesis!"
"Weaving them wouldn't be difficult, but how on earth do we escape from this abyss, where it's impossible even to estimate the depth?"
"It's possible if you have unyielding courage!"
A momentary silence.
Rin narrowed her eyes.
"Sir, you didn't think of a plan and actually suggested we come down here, did you?"
"Um~ I don't know, I don't know! Just do it quickly!"
[(☆-☆)!!!]
At that moment, Kiess, who was urgently scanning their surroundings, suddenly shot a magic arrow.
It was an arrow that left a long trail of light along its trajectory, and its arrowhead struck 'him'.
It was Rulhamrai, the mobile transport of the deep-sea kingdom. That monstrous being also seemed to be trying to escape this area before it collapsed.
"Yes, that's it! Well done, Kiess! Rin, weave everyone together with that thread!"
Lista shouted excitedly, but Rin was also incredibly excited. Could such an urgent situation be enjoyable if one wanted it to be?
"Keep the rigidity and strength as low as possible, meaning, extract threads of magic with flexibility and tie them… Good, it's done!"
To withstand the undersea pressure, the Divine Love Psalm barrier enveloped everyone in a circle, and Rin wove those circles together in a chain.
"Alright, let's go back! This much sea outing is enough, isn't it!"
Rulhamrai's underwater travel speed was insane.
If it were just a barrier, it would have been crushed and shattered by the water pressure long ago.
It meant that everyone would have died if it weren't for the Divine Love Psalm barrier.
"Sir."
"What, Rin?"
"How far is this going?"
"I wonder?"
"What if it takes us out of the continent?"
"Gah. Hey! Stop! You monster! Let us off!"
Lista screamed an unheard cry. Friede glumly put a pipe into his mouth.
"Hmph, so this is the end of the hero party's expedition. It was a good life."
"Sad, sad, Pipi is sad."
"What nonsense! It's not over yet!"
After ascending towards the surface for a long time, Rulhamrai finally seemed to realize the beings parasitizing its body.
"KyaaaaaaaaaaaKKKKKKKK!"
Even in this deep water, it let out a scream that felt like eardrums were tearing, and began to twist its body this way and that.
"Oh, oh, this crazy thing, the threads woven with magic are going to break!"
Lista stretched her finger out through the barrier.
It was a crazy act possible only for a Fayquaria, capable of regenerating their body.
But her finger wasn't breaking under the water pressure.
"This should be enough! We're almost at the surface! Kiess!"
If the sea surface was near… Kiess had also clearly realized something in this battle.
Two consecutive Heavenly Cherry Blossom Strikes.
The first shot pierces a tunnel-like hole in the sea, and the next arrow fired through that tunnel maintains its power until it penetrates the target.
[(◈-◈)7]
*Click, crackle, crackle-crack-crack-crack…!*
An arrow flew with a bursting sound of magic, like a thousand birds crying, hitting Rulhamrai and instantly creating a cylindrical 'void space'.
What raced through that 'void space' was the Heavenly Cherry Blossom Strike. And of course, not just the Heavenly Cherry Blossom Strike.
"Shall we practice the new magic I just made again! Subal!"
"Kyung!"
With Rin and Asruba's magic added, the power of freezing, which greatly expanded at the moment of impact, was also included.
"Ice Crystal Thunder Dew."
"Hey, what about the coordinate calculation, man!"
"No need. I made it activate at the moment of impact."
Just like now, following the trajectory where the Heavenly Cherry Blossom Strike pierced through Rulhamrai's body, the power of freezing ran wild, sprouting thorns within its body.
"Excellent!"
Rin shouted, giving a cheer of self-congratulation.
He didn't forget to bump fists with Kiess to praise their success.
Nils cried out.
[This is no time for complacency! That inertia can apply so distinctly even underwater, it makes one realize anew how fast that monster was moving!]
It was true.
Increasingly, increasingly, the light grew closer. But how did this happen?
There was a shadow on the surface of the sea.
"Is that… a ship?"
"If we collide like this…"
"It's definitely going to sink."
Friede laughed, "Kyahaha."
"Having a ship is a good thing! Sinking one ship would make for an enjoyable story to tell my future disciples, it's great!"
"What, what on earth are you talking about! Friede! Rin, stop it! If you can't stop it, at least make it soft! So that ship doesn't sink even if we collide!"
"If that were possible, would I be doing this?"
"It is possible!"
"Gah, busted."
He might not be able to do it alone, but if he used Subal's power, it might be a little different.
He creates a shield. The catalyst is the seawater scattered around.
He would make several icebergs and then make them bounce off those multiple times to divert them from a head-on collision course – that would be the explanation.
"Rin, quickly!"
"Let's go, useless Subal!"
"Kyuuuuung!"
Friede's urgent urging!
"Hey, hey! If you're going to do it, do it fast! We're about to collide!"
"You said it would make for a good story."
"That's just a figure of speech! I'm the priestess of the Fire Dragon! If I did something like that, I'd be removed from my priestess position! Front! Front! Quickly! Quickly, quickly, quickly, aaargh, quickly!"
To state the conclusion first, it succeeded.
And dramatically so, at the point when Friede, who had bluffed about a good story from a collision, had turned pale.
Thus, the party that broke through the sea surface was able to breathe oxygen created by the order of creation, not by magic and sorcery, for the first time in a very long time.
"?"
"?"
"?"
Due to the inertia formed by Rulhamrai, they shot up from the left side of a merchant ship and fell to its right.
Seawater scattered in between, casting a rainbow.
The people floated safely within the Divine Love Psalm barrier, but the problem was that the hero party's barrier ultimately broke upon colliding with the leading iceberg.
"Hooah!"
"Gasp!"
"Whew!"
Therefore, one by one, they had to swim directly in the water to raise their heads.
Of course, Rin couldn't swim, so Lista had to pull him up.
As Rin coughed, spitting out the water he had gulped down in that brief moment, the party, without anyone starting first, began to laugh.
"Ha, ha, ah-hah, ahahahahah…"
The loudest and clearest sound among them was, as expected, Lista's laughter. Friede was also laughing brightly.
"Wow, that was truly amazing. Where else would you get an experience like this?"
[~(@_@)~]
"Later, will anyone believe us if we tell them? That we went deep into the sea, wiped out all the Nagas, fought a high-ranking demon, and came back… and nobody got hurt!"
Link also began to laugh so hard that the surface of the sea trembled.
"Link, Link, Link!"
At that moment, it was Lista who spoke with an incredibly desolate voice.
"I… will never forget today's events."
Lista looked over there.
The sailors of the merchant ship were shouting urgently, pulling people who had started falling into the sea as the barrier disappeared, onto the ship.
"This event, going deep into that sea with everyone and saving so many people. I'll remember it until the day I die, no, even after I die and go to paradise."
"Lista…"
"It's okay if future generations don't believe it. It's okay. Because you all will remember. That this event, which I experienced with you, was not an exaggeration or a falsehood, but something that actually happened."
Rin found it hard to understand why Lista suddenly made the atmosphere so low and somber, but he didn't open his mouth to say anything.
The power over life and death was in Lista's hands, so what could he do!
If he said something foolish, she might just drown him in the sea.
'Silence in the face of overwhelming power. Phew… Is this also because I am not yet complete as [The Strongest Mage]… I have a long way to go.'
▶ ▶ ▶
"The 'Naga Conquest' of Lista's party in Thelcia's Origin Year 1105 thus came to an end."
Thelcia's Origin Year 1697.
Under the Papal See, Hero Training Institution - <Wyonggeomjeon (Pseudodragon Sword Hall)>.
"This operation, which annihilated the main force of the Nagas and a high-ranking demon solely with the hero party's strength, without deploying any military resources, was an enormous victory given the war situation at the time, but it was relatively small among the military achievements Lista's party accomplished."
"…!"
"During their journey from the Akrad Continent to the Thelsh Archipelago, Lista's party ended the civil war caused by [The Flesh of the King], providing the impetus for humanity's unity, and annihilated the Nagas, opening up sea routes. Military historians evaluate these achievements as having laid the 'foundation for a counterattack'."
Theoretical instructor Rachel Dune Zeraye looked at the cadets, who were each displaying expressions of surprise, respect, and skepticism at her lecture.
Children who would become heroes…
Children burdened with the fate of becoming heroes in this final era, to be thrown into that tragic summer. The instructor smiled sadly.
"Unfortunately, you all will not be able to achieve such military feats 'with a smile' like Lista's party. Lista Altar Schurfen, as you know, is considered the strongest Fayquaria in history, and her party members were also great individuals who left unprecedented achievements. And even for Lista's party, ending it with a smile surely contains fairy-tale-like, legendary exaggerations."
"…"
"But if your heart… even if your body cannot follow, if your heart to walk the 'path of courage' is no different from Lista's… then I believe you all can complete that path. I pray that it will be so."
◀ ◀ ◀
Contrary to Friede's worries, the military achievements of that day were certainly recorded in history.
Through the testimonies of the survivors, historians also verified their authenticity.
And that wasn't all.
The merchant ship that rescued Lista's group at the time was even an advance party.
When the Naga's occupation of the sea made it impossible to transport refugees, it was an advance party that risked their lives to verify if this sea route was safe.
As Lista's group completely wiped out the important figures of the Eight Sea-Star Clans of the era, the sea area became stable.
The merchant ship brought this joyful news to <Orbenheim> and was the first to announce it.
<Orbenheim>.
This city, later called 'The City of Beginnings', earned that nickname because it was where Lista's party's full-scale battle against the Great Demon Front began.
Geographically, it is located on the northernmost tip of an island closely attached to the upper part of the Adrion Continent, and it was the frontline base connecting the North and South Republics.
Those who safely returned on the merchant ship spread the hero party's achievements (focusing on Rin's exploits, as that is what they saw) throughout the city.
All those people…
Hope shone into the souls of those who had lost the light of hope, sitting on the coast with dying eyes.
It felt as if all the previous reports of defeat, despair, and nightmares were truly coming to an end.
The martial feats Lista's party had accomplished even before crossing the continent were already legendary, but this Naga subjugation was, without exaggeration, what truly turned the tide of the mid-war.
"Hero!"
"Hero!"
When Lista's party emerged after a month of excellent recovery under the devoted care of the <Orbenheim> Witches' Association, everyone laid down their cloaks on the road, beating the ground and weeping.
"Don't cry. Don't worry. Don't be sad. Soon, everything will be over. I promise."
Lista, sympathizing with that sorrow, did not offer a bitter smile or weep with them.
Instead, brighter, clearer.
With a smile that made one think, 'Can a person truly smile that happily?'… she merely raised Shurphen, the Holy Sword, the symbol of a hero, high.
"Rin."
And next to her, she called the name of the boy who walked, even in that moment, without taking his eyes off his grimoire.
"Later, if, after the war ends, I can't return here… will you come to this city, Rin, and say this?"
"?"
"How is it? I kept my promise properly, didn't I? Just like that. Smiling as brightly as I just did."
Rin, who was about to reply, "Just do it yourself later instead of talking nonsense," froze the moment he raised his head.
On that day, at that time, at that moment…
Was he the only boy who thought the smile on Lista's lips looked as if it would shatter at any moment?
'A delusion?'
Was that smile, that smile with an unknown crack spreading, a delusion that it surged up dizzyingly between Lista and himself, feeling like an insurmountable wall?
The boy later realized it wasn't a mere delusion. Too late, at an impossibly late point where everything was irreversible.
▶ ▶ ▶
'What I felt then was the wall of lifespan.'
Humans…
Humans, who are cursed with mortal destiny…
It would have been so good if I had realized right then that it was the wall of heavenly lifespan, which one must never cross, and must not cross…
'You, why on earth did you… hide something so important…'
That is why, 300 years later, the great mage who returned alone to <Orbenheim>…
'Why didn't you explain it properly then…'
…could only stare up at the statues of the hero party, carved in their old likenesses, with a desolate expression for a long time.
"Abaht, are you crying?"
"A-boo!"
He felt the child entrusted by his benefactor looking up at him, the great mage, with unease. The younger sibling on his back felt the same.
'Ah.'
It was because he worried that if he showed it, if he explained it properly, they would be uneasy like Akina Nen…
'Does she still think I'm a child…?'
Damn, how ridiculous…
'You really… are ridiculous, Lista…'
Recalling old memories, all that remains is regret that feels like his heart is crumbling…
'In this life, let's leave as few regrets as possible…'
Let's do our best.
Let's act like an adult, just as Lista did.
"I'm not crying. Seeing those dog-like faces after a long time just pisses me off."
Is this how one acts like an adult?
No?
Well, whatever.