Book 9 Chapter 12

제211화

"They said you became a Great Sorcerer, but you're just a crybaby."

I couldn't understand why.

I felt as if I had longed for this situation, this very moment, so desperately, so terribly.

Had five years truly been that long?

"What about Auntie Dean?"

Even when I received lavish hospitality in various cities of the Empire and the Republic, it seemed I always wished for this scene in a corner of my heart.

"You've kept Auntie really busy lately. The Mage Alliance calls her every time something happens."

Sitting leisurely on the grand porch of the magic tower that overlooked the pine forest, sharing cheap biscuits and green tea with my classmates, secretly, behind Auntie's back.

"Me? Why me?"

"Why else, you cheeky, subtly boastful brat, it's still the same! It's because you became a Great Sorcerer!"

My classmates pounced on me again, playfully pummeling my head and hitting my back, laughing.

"Did you really become a Great Sorcerer? Can you do high-speed calculations of 5-star magic then?"

"Yes."

Seeing their disbelief, I constructed the magic circle of Brain Bloodletting, which I had completed in the South.

I felt inexplicably pleased at the sight of my classmates gasping in admiration and whispering.

It wasn't my achievement that made me happy, but the fact that I could now teach this knowledge to these guys.

"Senior Disciple, it's been almost 150 years since a Great Sorcerer was produced; won't we become a Great Faction too, with this opportunity?"

"Right. And the youngest in history too. With the epithet 'Great Sorcerer of the Hero's Party' attached."

"If we become a Great Faction, we won't have to eat these things secretly from Auntie, will we? They'll be pouring donations from all over to impress us."

"Ugh, I don't want that. Even now, the line of people asking to be accepted as disciples fills the faction courtyard four deep, with some left over. It's a pain to death."

Amidst the commotion, the Senior Disciple, who kept bringing us, the younger ones, snacks and tea, smiled reprovingly.

"Even if we become a Great Faction now, our skills are too meager, aren't they? We'd only be a burden to Rin and the Dean."

"It's okay. I'll teach you everything."

At that, my classmates subtly distanced themselves, their faces showing disbelief.

"Are you really Rin?"

"Aren't you a demon in disguise?"

"Yeah, our Rin couldn't possibly be this mature."

I had already anticipated such a reaction with my Great Sorcerer's brain.

"Believe it or not, it's up to you… But Senior Disciple, this is delicious. Please give me two more. Aki and Nen would probably enjoy it too."

"Aki? Nen?"

The Senior Disciple tilted her head at the unfamiliar names.

I was the one who was bewildered.

What are those names? Why did those names suddenly come out of my mouth? I don't even know them.

My classmates reacted enthusiastically.

"Are they companions? I haven't heard of them. Surely not women? Did you become a playboy while we weren't looking?"

"It's not like that."

"Rin seems tired from just getting back; let's stop bothering him."

"Alright."

"Rin, the Dean will probably arrive tonight, so how about you get some rest now? I'm sure there were many stories you wanted to share directly."

Meeting Auntie Dean again. Talking to her again.

How much I had yearned for that… My chest ached uncontrollably at the thought of it happening.

Huh, why did I yearn for it so desperately? 'Anyway,' I was going to meet her again like this. I wrote letters often too.

"Yes, Senior Disciple."

Honestly, I was a little touched.

For five years, my room had been kept exactly as it was, not given to anyone else.

"Exactly as it was" might not be the right phrase. The straw bed had been replaced with a feather bed, and the desk had also been replaced with an expensive-looking one at a glance.

"The Dean always cleaned your room herself, saying she didn't want to be nagged by Rin when you returned someday."

The room was completely free of dust or cobwebs.

As the image of Auntie Dean cleaning my room flashed before my eyes, my heart throbbed faintly for a moment.

It was around then that I saw a small mirror placed on the desk.

"A mirror? Why is this great luxury item…"

The moment I stared at the mirror with a puzzled look, bewilderment and a sense of incongruity overwhelmed me, choking me.

Who are you?

A handsome young man with an aristocratic elegance in his face and a tall stature… This must be a mirror, so why is such a thing reflected?

Am I seeing things because I haven't fully recovered from the fatigue of my journey?

No, it feels like I'm forgetting something important. But I don't know what it is.

Aki? Nen?

What are those? Why did I forget?

* * *

The Mad Song of Evil.

A deep melody, crafted in the form of a tune, infiltrates the depths of the human soul.

The melody draws out. What that soul desires most now, where it wishes to return most, the day it wishes to reclaim most…

The more a person carries painful memories, the deeper they are immersed in sorrow, the more they become unable to escape this melody.

'A human who perfectly wields divine magic, yes, if there were a priestess like Tureina or that arrogant bitch, they would have nullified it immediately, but she's dead.'

Because it's not some dark magic, but an abyss's miracle that only fairies can wield, human mages who train their reason, not their soul, also become good prey.

It seems those dragonkins, for all their pride, aren't affected by this melody.

Ruelaya did not stop playing the lyre, even as she looked at the red whelp.

'Humans who stay too long in that world of obsession are all doomed.'

The moment the 'spirit' that the gods carved into the human heart is sucked out by the melody, humans will finally return to their utterly repulsive former selves.

"Now, it's time to transform. You pathetic humans. Hehehehehe."

A metallic stench mixed with the salty smell of the sea. Red liquid began to spread across the grand bridge.

Screams erupted agonizingly from within lungs…

As the skeletal structure of bodies grotesquely twisted and interlocked, humans with weak mental fortitude began to transform into something non-human.

"Yes, returning to being primitive men (原始人)."

Primitive men referred to ancient humans who ran on all fours like wild beasts or used their arms like wings like birds.

'More accurately, humans dominated by the abyss of the Lizard Lord.'

The passers-by scattered everywhere began shedding their skin as if sloughing it off, one by one, and surrounded the whelps in utterly disgusting forms.

"At first, I was worried my melody would break instantly because they said he was accompanied by a true dragon, but hmph, that's not even a dragonkin, is it?"

If it had been a proper true dragon, it would have shattered this entire melody with a single word of ultimate power.

"…!"

Aki, surrounded by the groaning primitive men, blinked his eyes.

Should I use martial arts?

No. On that island, he said not to attack.

"Can you really afford to hesitate like that? You're not the only target."

Valencidis, who was waiting for immigration inspection at the entrance of the grand bridge, was also lost in the dream of obsession, leaning against the railing.

- Kill me with your own hands, Valencidis.

The master's voice, his body covered in blood, putting a knife in Valencidis's hand, in a room filled with dark poison, making breathing difficult.

- We are already finished. Take my head and prove your skill and loyalty to the Black Church.

- But Master.

- If they know you have talent, they won't kill you but raise you. You must survive.

Perhaps because I had dreamt of it so many times, the moment I saw that voice and face, I realized.

- Now is the time to wait.

It's a dream.

When did I ever go to sleep?

- Someday you'll meet someone. A friend who understands everything about you and walks the same path. How vast this world is.

When the master smiled, Valencidis plunged his fingertips into his ribs.

Amidst the heat of hot blood, he felt it. His young heart, beating powerfully.

Without an ounce of hesitation, the moment he burst that heart, his consciousness instantly awakened, and his eyelids snapped open.

"…Valen, Valen, Valen."

A welcome voice reached his barely recovered hearing. The sight that unfolded before him was a tragedy, though.

Humans encroached by the abyss were swarming from all directions, and Pipi was stopping their advance with a flight of flames.

Valencidis pulled out the abyssal holy relic, Kashasur, from his waist and unfurled it.

"Oh, power of darkness spreading into twilight, oh, karma of providence suspended in the heavens, now, by the command of the caster Valencidis, perform the spirit of binding!"

As he brandished the fan imbued with the power of chanting, a dark blue whirlwind of poisonous gas radiated outwards.

Dark (暗), determining the attribute of the sorcery.

Binding (縛), blocking the movements of the primitive men.

Providence (攝), binding their spirits to their bodies to prevent further mutation.

This was originally a wide-area divine spell to block abyssal contagion. It was a high-difficulty spell that could only be cast if several witches gathered in one place.

'Even though I controlled nearly a hundred people with sorcery…'

He knew the situation had not improved at all.

"Ugh, ugh…"

Prince Aubin, who was lying next to Valencidis, was not in good condition.

Though the Yul Gwangseok (Law Ore) and Cheonpasikjeok (Thousand Wave Breath Flute), known as the legacy of Great Sorcerer Ligwind, were emitting faint light and protecting his body…

The skin on his fingertips began to peel off. As long as he couldn't escape that dream, the mutation speed would only accelerate.

'I need to find the caster and stop this melody.'

That is, if I have any loyalty. Rather, if he dies here, I might even be grateful for having less burden.

- Try teaching him. It will be an experience unlike anything else in your life.

Tsk, Valencidis, carrying Aubin on his shoulder, looked back at the other side of the grand bridge, which was turning into a hellscape.

Is Rein Ludwig safe?

No, if he were, he would have ended this situation immediately… Clearly, something had gone wrong.

'What I need to do before the situation devolves into the worst.'

A gust of wind that rose from the tip of Valencidis's fan lifted the transparent curtain of sound that covered the sky above the grand bridge.

Five lines, similar to the strings of a geomungo, were revealed.

And Ruelaya, sitting in the middle of those lines, playing the lyre, came into view… Valencidis leaped up and landed on the opposite line.

"You're quite something for a human, aren't you? You're the first to awaken from my dream in an instant. Don't you have many happy memories?"

"That's my pride."

The Nightmare Troubadour, Ruelaya.

One of the members of the Dawn Brigade, said to wield the miracles of ancient kings…

Facing a formidable enemy, I calmly suppressed the slight tremor in my fingertips.

"Or perhaps you're a sorcerer with some skill? Though not on the level of a priestess."

While Valencidis and Pipi were confronting the mastermind of the situation, Aki was slowly reaching his limit.

He had received one-on-one training from Celine; he lacked experience in multi-opponent situations. Not to mention a special situation like now where he couldn't harm the enemies.

And he was carrying Setsunen on his back, with Rein and Miria behind him…

"Guaaaaa…"

He headbutted the chest of a fiercely rushing primitive man.

Just as he thought he would fall, the primitive man grabbed Aki's shoulder with a hand barely skeletal.

Pulled by that force, his balance was lost, and the moment he floated in the air, fingers flew from all directions and grabbed Aki and Setsunen's bodies.

As if to steal the warmth of life they had lost.

Countless arms intertwined, obscuring what was above, and by some force, the cord of his uniform tore, and Setsunen was pulled somewhere, and when he looked back, he couldn't see behind him.

[Wake up.]

She appeared.

Into Miria's dream.

A distant childhood memory, laughing heartily while strolling along a wave-dancing beach with father, mother, and older sister.

[You have to wake up.]

A woman with long white hair fluttering in the middle of the sea, a woman whose poignant beauty was beyond description.

At first, she thought, 'She's beautiful.'

Then, she thought, 'She resembles someone.'

And the realization that 'that someone' was herself as an adult suddenly flashed through her mind.

[Rin is in danger.]

Me as an adult?

Yes, I definitely became an adult.

Then this, ah, yes, this scene of a happy day… it was all a dream.

[Help Rin.]

The moment those words ended, the scene of memories shattered, and her body moved on its own.

Standing up, she drew the Demon Sword from her scabbard; the blood vessels in her arms holding the hilt blazed red, and a near-omnipotent power spread throughout her body.

As power permeated her body, a blood-red blade was calmly forged over the broken blade, scattering a chilling light.

'My body, on its own…'

She had never moved so fast in her life. As if the sword was guiding her body.

Like that moment in the Red Mountains, when she accidentally used sword ki for the first time in her life.

A quick sword strike so swift that an ordinary person would have thought only a red flash had momentarily flickered.

When that flash faded, all the primitive men who had surrounded Aki were falling, having been struck in vital points by the blunt side of the sword.

Only when she snatched Setsunen, who was held in a primitive man's hand, from the air and held him, did the inexplicable force that moved her body disappear.

"Aru."

Aki, with tears welling in his eyes, scurried over and clung to her leg. So cute.

"Abu…"

"I'm sorry, did Mommy come too late?"

Mommy? Aki looked up, tilted his head, and only then did she feel her cheeks burn hot and started babbling incoherently.

"No, I mean, this is because I got too used to acting for three days, it just stuck to my tongue. That's how people are, you know."

That was the first and last time they had the luxury of talking like that.

From all directions, other humans were finishing their transformation into primitive men, and even the primitive men they had just defeated were starting to rise one by one again.

As Miria gripped the Demon Sword and swallowed dry, Setsunen frantically pointed behind him.

"Aruu!"

Miria's eyes shook the moment she saw Rein lying face down on the ground, in the direction Setsunen pointed.

"No."

Without time to collect herself, she rushed towards him. Rein's hand, his fingertips, were burning away in flames, emitting a burnt smell.

"Wake up!"

"Abu!"

The 여의주 (yeouiju, wish-fulfilling orb) residing in his body and soul, which were starting to be encroached by the abyss through the Mad Song of Evil, were causing a repulsive reaction.

"Wake up quickly, you idiot!"

The flames that instantly blackened his fingertips immediately began to trace the trajectory of the abyss encroaching his body.

"Don't let it consume you! Snap out of it, please!"

His soul was that of a dragon, but his body was human.

At this rate, his entire body would burn away… eventually turning into a cremated corpse.

Miria frantically shook his collar, and Aki bit his head, but Rein's consciousness did not recover.

"If you leave like this, what about Aki! What about Nen! Wake up, Rein—!"

* * *

What is it…

My head is ringing loudly…

When I opened my eyes in bed, the curtain of scenery shining through the window was black.

…Rein, Abu, Aru…

As I stared blankly at it, there was an inexplicable sequence of words shaking in my head.

Abu? Aru? Hot liquid flowed down my face.

A certain scent permeated that metallic smell… like firewood infused with the scent of winter…

"Aki."

Aki is gone. Setsunen is gone.

Yes, this place is… I sat bolt upright, my consciousness awakening.

The world reflected in the mirror on the desk was Lanoa Grand Bridge, Aki and Setsunen were frantically shouting something, holding my unconscious self.

'Are those swarming around them, like a beehive, primitive men (原始人)?'

The abyss of the Lizard Lord?

My tense breathing tightened my abdomen. Cold sweat beaded on my temples.

'I need to get out, now.'

But how?

A nightmare created by a sorcerer cannot be escaped without the help of divine miracles.

It's not like a normal dream where you can become aware it's a dream and awaken your consciousness to get out.

"Bell Quirius."

The visual image in my retina remains the same. Is it because it's set as Rin's body?

'Unpleasant.'

I was attacked like this 300 years ago too.

'But with Friede's help each time, there were no problems.'

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Rin. Are you awake?"

My heart pounded.

I was so startled that I instinctively constructed a magic circle on my palm.

But this voice, the one I can no longer meet. My Senior Disciple… A corner of my heart felt desolate.

"The Dean is on her way back. How about you go out to greet her and surprise her? She'll really, really be so happy."