Book 20 Chapter 32

The last half-year with you,

You for me, I for you (2)

"What's wrong, Rista?"

Friede asked.

Rista picked up the staff that Rin had thrown down and simply stared blankly at the spot where the boy had left.

"With the final decisive battle not far off, I've been thinking about how much this staff martial art will actually help Rin… Against 'that guy,' it probably won't mean much."

"To the point of being meaningless…"

"In the final battle, all members of our hero party must leverage only their strengths, as we always have. So, it seems natural that Rin isn't very enthusiastic. It's natural that there's no opportunity to use it."

"Rista…"

"Perhaps I'm just aiming for self-satisfaction under the guise of trying to give Rin a gift? I'm wondering if I'm needlessly forcing him when he clearly didn't want to do it that much…"

As Rista let out a bitter laugh born of helplessness, Friede placed a hand on his shoulder and chuckled.

"No, Rista. I believe all experiences in life have meaning. Rin is young. Too young, even. He won't even be in his twenties when this journey ends. Who's to say that thanks to your staff martial art, he won't be able to hone strengths that differentiate him from other great mages?"

"Friede…"

Or perhaps the enlightenment he gains during that process will advance his magic to a higher level. Besides, Rin is showing some passion in his own way. Given his personality, if he truly didn't want to do it, he would have found a way to avoid it, wouldn't he? So, don't overthink it too much."

Friede consoled Rista like that, but her heart was burning black, no different from Rin's.

Perhaps, it was even more.

Friede had known Rista longer than Rin. They were the first friends they could fully open their hearts to.

'Damn it, what kind of Fire Dragon Priestess am I, someone like me…?'

Friede's inner torment grew worse day by day, to the point where she could no longer even eat a simple meal.

So Friede…

…After her daily tasks were done, her routine became climbing the Sacred Tower in the center of <Shuriganaqyus>, looking down at the city, and chain-smoking.

"Pipi, do you know what people call me?"

"Friede, Friede, Friede."

"They call me the Fire Dragon Priestess. Isn't that absurd? What kind of Fire Dragon Priestess am I, a woman like me who can't do anything when her friend is dying…?"

"Don't cry, don't cry, Friede, don't cry."

"I'm not crying. No, damn it, ah, they say if you keep crying, even your tears will dry up, so why do these damn tears…"

That day too, the night deepened until four moons rose to midheaven… she was continuously exhaling smoke more bitter than a sigh.

"Friede!"

Suddenly, she heard a voice calling her.

It was Rin, the youngest of the hero party.

Friede couldn't turn around immediately. She needed time to calmly compose and refine her voice and expression.

"I've been looking for you for ages! You were nowhere to be found, I had to ask Kiese to help me find you!"

"What's this~ Can't you sleep alone at night now? Does your big sister Friede, with the strongest beauty in this city, have to sing you a lullaby─"

"─Help me!"

"What's wrong with you? Why are you panting so hard? You're going to choke! What is it? Kiese, what's with you two? Don't tell me something happened to Rista?"

"No, just look at this! Quickly!"

Rin unrolled a long scroll in front of Friede.

Its length was at least 8 cheok.

Along its 8-cheok length, runes and formulas forming a magical foundation (基壇), and the entire process leading to the derivation of the solution, were summarized and explained in a way that even an ordinary person could understand.

"I! That is, in my magic! There's nothing about healing. So, I can't complete this with just my magic."

"This is…?"

"I vaguely helped you last time, didn't I? I used my power effectively during the Hosen Kingdom incident, but that's not enough! It needs to be definitively completed. This is the blueprint for it."

The things indicated by various runes and mathematical equations, their indicators, and the ultimate purpose they aimed to achieve… Friede's eyes widened.

"A spell that automatically activates when the caster enters the brink of death (死境), shifting them into a dormant state, and putting them into a cooled slumber until all bodily tissues within are regenerated and reactivated… Rin, don't tell me this magic is…?"

Rin, met with Friede's gaze, seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, it's the magic to 'prevent that liar Rista from dying'! That bastard plans to appear suddenly and disappear just as suddenly, and we can't let him do that. By whose will? You feel the same way, don't you, Friede?"

That feeling, it went without saying.

Friede felt her eyes welling up.

"The first and only Great Sage, Emitsa Page, is said to have cured everyone's illnesses and disabilities with that magic. You know that much, right?"

I had already given up, I was only thinking about how to let Rista go without either of us having regrets…

"I'm not a Great Sage yet. Friede isn't at that level either. But if the two of us combine our strengths, by mixing magic and incantations, if we can complete a higher-tiered (成) magic and incantation!"

Rin, you…

How can a genius like you…

"If I combine your incantations with the 5-star magic I've devised here, wouldn't it not just be a 6-star or 7-star, but an 8-star, 9-star, or even 10-star 'sorcery (魔術)' that's completed?"

Amidst her surging tears, beyond her distant, shimmering, blurring vision, she saw Kiese place a hand on her shoulder and nod.

'The Black Sun said that truth (眞理) and holy spirit (聖靈) are… paths that only open from a [heart] that seeks to serve someone.'

In that sense, right now…

At this very moment…

Perhaps it has finally opened, only now…

'No, Rin opened it.'

The extreme horizon of intellect that mortals can enjoy…

Like a mirage that all scholars following the teachings of the Black Sun Karen den merely dream of and long for, yet can never reach…

The gate leading to the realm of the Sage (賢).

"Yes, let's try it… because we can't let that reckless troublemaker… be so reckless even with dying…"

She tried to say it with her usual vigor…

And playfulness…

But Friede's voice was overwhelmed by a mournful tremor due to the surging tears.

"Save him, save him, we must save Rista."

"Kyuaaaaooooit!"

[↖(☆□★)↗]

A spell renowned in later generations as a mixed incantation of 5-star magic and shamanism, yet whose framework no one could decipher… Juyeosogyedaeban (主濾小計袋反).

Its beginning was simply a feeling.

A heart thinking of a comrade.

This spell, where incantations formed a golden ratio and symmetry with each tier of magic, integrated 5-star magic and 5-star shamanism into a unified whole, resulting in a masterpiece of intellect that would be worthy of being called 10-star sorcery (魔術)… and it began and was perfected from such a pure heart.

* * *

"Awaken, Kiral."

The Yellow City, <Raftus> region.

Sidonia Wasteland (荒原).

<Raftus>, as the southernmost border fortress, has fulfilled its duty as a battlefield in every time of upheaval.

"The progenitor of the Kiral Clan, and said to be the foremost warrior among the Uruk of the last era before the Genesis, wasn't he?"

In those fierce battles, countless demon bones were swallowed by this wilderness… Among them were evil beings known as ancient demons.

"Sarandis Alter Niseimon, who once killed you, has revived and is coming here now. What do you say? With the power of the king I swallowed, I'll give you a second chance."

Flourishing under the <Forgotten Kings> and old nobility, they enjoyed blessings from the abyss incomparable to modern demons.

This is proven by their physiques, several times stronger than their descendants, and their mighty demonic power.

"If you kill those bastards, I'll grant you eternal life. Come on, rise again and enjoy the glory of battle that you Uruk love so much you go crazy for it!"