Book 19 Chapter 34

Episode 168

The Bond that Connects the Archmage, Before and After the Battle of Lambard (3)

“Thanks to the competent priest, I too have become quite a skilled mage.”

Then the Eldest Senior Disciple bashfully pointed to the mage's emblem pinned to his chest.

Atlas (3-star) rank!

Isn't it a symbol that only 150 people in the Empire can have their names engraved on that rank?

"Who?"

Freide's voice was heard from behind.

"He's the eldest person at Lyn's Magic Tower. Next to the Dean."

"Oh, thank you very much for raising this cheeky brat with at least a tiny bit of manners."

"Oh my, the Priestess speaks too highly."

"What are you saying, shut up!"

The bastards started to snicker.

Damn it, I've clearly become the [Strongest Archmage], so how long do I have to be treated like this?

"Don't, don't make fun of Master!"

The only one taking my side is this useless brat. Despair!

"Lyn, this child… you're taking on a disciple."

"I just taught him some magic. Not like a disciple."

"There's no need to be shy. You're an Aquizard (5-star) now. It wouldn't be strange to have a swarm of disciples beneath you."

A swarm of disciples?

Too much hassle, absolutely not.

I'm busy enough with my own studies.

"Master and disciple, huh… Lyn, the Dean really wants to see you. Originally, he wanted to come in person, but as you know… no, you wouldn't know. There are just too many kids now."

The word 'Dean' carried a mysterious tremor, and strangely, truly oddly, just hearing that title would make the tip of my nose sting.

'Yes, I was longing for it.'

I had been missing every moment of my daily life with the Dean so terribly.

- Oh, Lyn.

Across that distant sea…

In some mountain valley in the north…

Waking up to the deep scent of pine rising at dawn, rubbing my eyes and heading to the library…

Where the lights and warmth, prepared by the Dean who woke up before me for my sake, greeted me…

- Are you up already?

Since the Eldest Senior Disciple was someone who shared and could bring back such daily routines, the emotion at that time was impossible to describe.

"More kids?"

"There are over three hundred now."

"Crazy, no way."

"The Wind Quartet are acting like older brothers and sisters now, I tell you?"

"Crazy, Ricky wouldn't do that."

The image of that four-year-old brat running up to me, saying "Over, Lyn over…", is still vivid in my mind.

"Oh, and Gizela just completed her first year at the <Winterhold> Magic University as the top student!"

"You're not saying she was the only first-year student to enter <Winterhold>, are you?"

I wanted to talk with the Eldest Senior Disciple just like this, for a whole day if possible.

I wanted to hear.

About how Osarius Magic Tower, the home of my soul, had changed, and how the Dean and the others were doing.

"Huh?"

It wasn't me who uttered that bewildered word and trembled at that moment. It was Leystart.

"Sister!"

"Gid! And… Lord Swordsman Apeltas."

"Long time no see, Hero."

"How did you… "

"Thanks to the Hero's efforts, the territory has been stabilized, and I was able to respond to His Majesty the Emperor's 4th expeditionary force summons. I offer my belated thanks."

While Leystart was chatting with the former Sword Saint, some cheeky fellow dared to approach the [Strongest Archmage].

"Lyn! Thanks to practicing only the beastkin magic you taught me to death, these days I'm called a Magic Swordsman! A magic-using swordsman, that is!"

Who is this guy?

Who are you to act so familiar?

"Who are you?"

"Me, you don't know? Cake! I gave you lots of cake!"

"Ah, cake? That cake?"

"Yes, cake!"

"Ah~ Cake!"

Freide's eyes narrowed like a babsae (parrotbill).

"How can you remember people by food, you crazy idiot!"

Even as this was happening, Sval, who had been diligently stuffing himself, reacted to the word 'cake' and snapped his head up.

"What are you looking at, you Sval bastard. Always just loving to eat."

"What, this… is that Sval from back then? You're not saying that the Ice Dragon in [Archmage of the Ice Dragon] was Sval, are you?"

"It just ended up that way."

Come to think of it, Sval was in snowflake form when we first came down from the North to the Central region.

"The cake was really delicious."

Since it was the first cake I had ever eaten, the memory still felt special. I had eaten many cakes since joining the Hero's party, but none seemed as delicious as that one.

"When this is over, come again with your sister! I'll let you eat until your belly bursts."

It was at that moment, having pushed away the annoying idiot, that I was about to resume my unfinished conversation with the Eldest Senior Disciple.

Those who dared to intrude upon the summit between the Emperor and the Priestess, the top figures of both nations, were beings for whom the word 'dared' could not even be used.

It was the Imperial Dragon Legion! The Imperial Dragons, having received orders from the Cardinal, conveyed an emergency summons to us.

"I don't know what it is, but we'll be back soon, so wait! Tureina, you stay with the Eldest Senior Disciple."

"I, I want to go too!"

"No. We'll be gone for a while."

As I stepped outside following the Imperial Dragons' call, Freide playfully punched me on the head.

"You had a cuter side than I thought, didn't you? Whining 'Eldest Senior Disciple, Eldest Senior Disciple~'. What kind of [Strongest Archmage] are you? Just a little kid."

"Shut up."

"Shut up~ Is that the only line you can think of if you have nothing else to say? Kyahahahat… Crazy, hey! Do you know how many people are here, and you're making a magic circle right now! Get rid of that, I said get rid of it! Agh, crazy!"

* * *

'I didn't know because he always only talked about himself in letters…'

Watching Lyn's retreating figure amidst the laughter-filled commotion, the Eldest Senior Disciple Fomas couldn't help but smile gently.

'Lyn, you've made friends with whom you can laugh and chat so brightly. And even taken on a disciple.'

At the Magic Tower, as the Dean said, he always seemed so lonely.

Perhaps he had no one to share his knowledge or scholarship with, and thus, because of his solitude, he made books his companions.

Lyn, who was like that, came out into the world, and finally met it. Beyond the shadow of solitude, the light called friendship.

'If the Dean had seen you chatting so brightly like this now, how happy would he have been?'

* * *

The Imperial Dragon Legion was standing by, encircling 'Hero's Hall' at the summit of <Lambard>.

Their number seemed to easily exceed 50, and it was later heard that this was the entirety of the currently available Imperial Dragon Legion.

The one leading them all was a True Dragon, as could be told by its distinct wings and forelegs.

"Leystart Alter Schirfen, who received a fragment of soul from the Light Dragon. Priestess Freide, who received the ember of pride from the Fire Dragon, and Archer Kias, who received a shard of the World Tree from the Water Dragon."

The golden dignity wielded by the True Dragon, standing on all fours directly in front of the hall's entrance and calling out the Hero's party members one by one, was more imposing than Joshhar whom they had met at the Papal See.

"And the vessel personally chosen as a messenger by the Father of Dragons, Archmage Lyn."

The Hero's party members looked at Lyn with astonished eyes, but Lyn himself was merely indifferently reading a magic tome.

'If it's the Father of Dragons…'

'Is it the Black Sun Carenden…?'

'As expected, Lyn, Sval coming to you wasn't a coincidence after all…!'

As the Ice Dragon Aslva flapped its clear, frosty wings above Lyn's head, surprisingly, the Wyverns saluted. The True Dragon opened its mouth.

"I am Inlahit. The chief cardinal of the Papal See. You may call me Inlahit comfortably."

"Your Eminence, I heard it was an emergency summons, what is the matter?"

"The Father of Golden Light will explain that. Go, and listen to his words."

What Inlahit handed to Leystart was a dragon scale belonging solely to the Light Dragon Haraderyman.

By touching that scale, it becomes possible to access the mental world of its soul.

The fact that the Light Dragon could not personally intervene was proof that its current physical state was precarious… Leystart swallowed dryly.

"Everyone, let's go."

The world guided by the dragon scale was… the world of dawn. A land of peace, where a single ray of light dimly illuminated the world.

"My desire to give you rest is extremely great, but since the abyssal storm that has engulfed the world is immense, I regret that there is no time for that."

There, the Light Dragon greeted them. Even though it was clearly a spiritual body, its outline was constantly shimmering, indicating that the Light Dragon's condition was not good.

"This is the command of me, Light Dragon Haraderyman. You are to pursue that pillar of light, not the Red Holy Land <Shuriganaqus>."

The members of the Hero's party couldn't help but exchange bewildered glances.

And rightly so, as the Red Holy Land <Shuriganaqus> was such a fierce battlefield that the Imperial Dragon Legion had to be permanently stationed there at the time.

Since the Light Dragon had ordered the allied forces to march on <Shuriganaqus>, everyone thought the Hero's party would be its vanguard.

"The vanguard will be led by Inlahit and my children under him. You are to move at full speed towards that pillar of light."

The fact that Inlahit was relaying the Light Dragon's will instead of the Light Dragon acting directly meant that the Light Dragon had indeed suffered a fatal wound. The extreme reduction in its life force compared to before was not an illusion.

"A special mission instead of being the vanguard in a fierce battlefield, what exactly is that pillar of light that you would order this?"

In fact, as the Oblivion Squad was sealed, the sandstorm receded, revealing the true nature of the pillars of light.

From various parts of the continent.

Specifically, they were concentrated in the direction of <Shuriganaqus>, but they had the noble red light of dawn and twilight, not the eerie red light of blood.

"What I am about to say from now on is top secret, and you must keep this information confidential until you reach heaven. If you do not, I will hold you strictly accountable."

"……!"

"I hope you will forgive me for speaking so harshly, even though I cannot wholeheartedly praise and comfort you who stand on the frontline of courage. This is not my business… but the business of the Father, that is, the <Ones Who Came>."

The <Ones Who Came>…?

The symbolism held by the <Ones Who Came> was enormous. Beings who came as light, thus the <Ones Who Came>.

For Leystart, who had directly met one of the <Ones Who Came>, the weight of that statement could only feel even greater.

"The object that shoots up that light is called the Ark of the Covenant."

Ark of the Covenant? Ark?

Freide's eyes narrowed.

Where was it?

'I definitely feel like I've heard it before.'

Right!

It was above the White Sea.

Definitely, I heard it with Lyn.

"I cannot reveal the details, but I will make it clear that it is a holy relic prepared by the <Ones Who Came> for the last days."

"Why is something so important just… left abandoned anywhere on the continent like that?"

"It was hidden in a place no one, not even I, knew. The Father made a covenant with us that when the seal of the Lizard Lord Neygalas in the <Shuriganaqus> Cathedral breaks and even the power of the Dragonkin cannot stop it, that light would appear. That is why it is the Ark of the Covenant."

The members of Leystart's party, even Kias who showed almost no emotional changes in his expression, trembled their eyes.

That means…

That the light appeared means…

There was only one terrifying truth that causal relationship pointed to.

"You're not saying… the Lizard Lord's seal is about to break, are you?"

It was a moment when the reason why the Light Dragon summoned them here, and why they were given a special mission instead of a vanguard mission, became even more incomprehensible.

"In that case, Your Holiness, shouldn't we head to <Shuriganaqus> immediately?"

Neygalas's seal…

The <Forgotten Kings> are living disasters themselves, and the catastrophe if they awaken cannot even be compared to that of the Old Nobles.

After all, if a king awakens, all the Old Nobles awaken too.

"That is not correct. Inside that Ark of the Covenant exists the key to the 'Crimson Cathedral' which controls Neygalas's seal. That must be acquired. In order to reorganize the seal that has begun to twist."

"……!"

"If the servants of the Abyss succeed in awakening Neygalas, the immortal army that dominated before the era of genesis will rise again… and the world will be buried in a burning desert. Children who uphold the will of courage, the fate of the world rests in your hands."

Leystart felt the Sacred Sword Schirfen tremble.

It seemed this was the first time the destiny of the one who wielded the sacred sword pressed upon his soul with such immense weight.

Leystart reached for the hilt, superimposing his own heartbeat onto the trembling of the sacred sword, barely composed his breathing, and opened his mouth.

"This mission, who is our opponent?"

In response to Leystart's question, the Light Dragon suddenly closed its eyes and, with a sigh close to silence, gave its answer.

"They are the sworn enemies of your mission… and the pioneers of the past."

A bloody battle lasting 12 hours, which felt longer than the entirety of their lives, was about to begin.

* * *

"When the Light Dragon's light illuminated the present, it was a time of peace."

A woman spoke.

The woman was anomalous in many ways.

This feeling also stemmed from the material of her armor, which was clearly not made of metal from this world.

"Was that truly peace? I always wanted to ask."

But that's not all. Language, like a living creature, is said to change over time.

Yet this woman was using the accent and vocabulary from as far back as 800 years ago!

This strange suspicion would instantly be resolved just by knowing this woman's name.

"With the sick, weak, and suffering spread everywhere, how can that be an era of peace?"

The woman's name was Hezmana.

"Why did the gods give us hearts that ache and grieve over such suffering, but then not give us the power to fix it?!"

If a fairy from 800 years ago were here now, they might have kneeled just upon hearing that name.

Hezmana, the Judge of Divine Punishment.

Judges usually received peaceful epithets, but the era she lived in was rife with battles against demonkind, and Hezmana always took the initiative in those fights, which is why she received such a combative title.

The greatest military record of demon extermination in history!

Even after 800 years, no Judge had surpassed Hezmana's total number of demons vanquished.

"You're spewing senile nonsense again today, you crazy old hag. There's no such thing as gods. It's all content created by later generations. So don't expect an answer, will you?"

Talking back to such a Judge?

That irreverent figure was someone who was in no way inferior to the Judge of Divine Punishment, neither in reputation nor in skill.

This man was none other than the fairy soldier 'Bikhkisa', recorded as the strongest Paladin in history.

"Keep fooling around like that, Bikhkisa, and you'll eventually get proper divine punishment and die."

The two individuals were recognizable as members of the Holy Land Caditpol Knights by their distinctive armor alone.

Of course, the appearance of their armors differed.

Hezmana's had many decorations of cloth or silk, giving it a strong ceremonial robe feel, whereas Bikhkisa's was heavy armor in the form of a reptile.

"Hah! I wish anyone would just kill me, please. So they could prove the existence of gods."

Hezmana, the Judge of Divine Punishment, had identification number Kadin Mu (04), the number of the ancient Hero Lykael.

And Bikhkisa was Kata (05).

This was the identification number of Enuel, arguably the strongest among the Eldia Heroes.

"But nothing like that has happened for a whole 200 years. Where exactly is this 'god' person?"

Just as the usual verbal sparring was about to begin between them, the heroine perched atop 'it' opened her mouth.

"Both of you, stop."

Ah, what on earth was happening!

The being struggling to lift its eyelids, covered in blood, was none other than… one of the Three Divine Dragons, the Light Dragon Haraderyman!

The heroine perched atop the Light Dragon's skull pulled out the sacred sword deeply embedded in Haraderyman's neck.

"Bikhkisa is right about this. There's no use in asking questions. This is a clone of the Light Dragon. Its main body seems to have moved elsewhere long ago."

The Sacred Sword of Extremity, Neysemon.

"And I guarantee you, even if you find the main body and ask questions, you won't get a proper answer. Just as it was before, it's the same now."

A replica of the True Sacred Sword Sharillion, a twin sacred sword with a sister-sword relationship to the Sacred Sword of Extremity, Schirfen.

It is recorded that it was lost along with Sarandis Alter Neysemon, the first proxy, when she fell in the 'Great Demon Extermination'.

So, the identity of this woman here and now is Sarandis from a thousand years ago!

"Although it was a clone, it wasn't a meaningless fight."

Kadin Bete (02), Julack Kephel, spoke.

His armor was a miraculous fusion of a mage's robe and armor, exuding intellectual majesty.

Another characteristic of his armament was the countless bandages wrapped around his armor, inscribed with magic circles.

"More than 50% of its power and life force were certainly subdued here. The Light Dragon has lost at least half its power and lifespan. We've definitely laid a solid foundation for victory."

Bikhkisa shrugged at Julack's conclusion.

"Doesn't that mean even that esteemed Light Dragon was in such a dire situation that he had to split his body into two?"

The Light Dragon's clone ran out of life force and began to shatter into particles of light.

"Enough rest, let's move now."

Sarandis Alter Neysemon, reborn as Kadin Alma (01), descended from atop that skull onto the volcanic region.

"Julack and I will join Del (03) and Omec (06) to enter <Shuriganaqus> and secure the grand plaza."

<Shuriganaqus> was originally where Neygalas's kingdom was located, and even to this day, the entire area was a wheel-shaped volcanic region.

"Mu (04), Kata (05). I'll give you 12 hours. Find the Ark of the Covenant."