Book 9 Chapter 17

Episode 216

The name of the underground ruin we were called to was Arolle Caverns.

‘A place located on the border of the Solond Kingdom… Is this my second visit?’

My first visit was with my hero party comrades.

"As a cavern representing the Solond Kingdom, there are a total of 26 caverns."

According to Freede's explanation, it was so.

Caverns 1 through 13 are buried deep underground, and within that underground area exist temples, statues of gods, and pulpits of a primordial kingdom.

It is said that the primordial kingdom worshipped the Lizard Lord Neigalas. The king of that kingdom was Hyrkan, one of Neigalas's five retainers.

"And to suppress the abyss of that primordial kingdom, Caverns 14 through 26 were installed."

Dominating the upper caverns were dragon statues of various sizes and forms.

"Are you ready?"

The dragon statues of the Red Dragon Legion, now departed from this land, stood majestically in rows, and in the center of the cavern, a statue of Shalessarum sat coiled.

Shalessarum's flame floated in the air above the statue. It was said that this method could amplify its power, if only slightly.

Valensidis, who had laid Prince Obin at the base of the statue's pedestal, placed a hand on the boy's forehead.

"Hurry. If you fail to wake him from the dream, his body will revert to its primal state."

My mission was to contain Obin, whose primalization was progressing moment by moment.

Since I couldn't know when he would go berserk… I formed the hand seal of 'gyeol' (結) and spread a square barrier around him.

Aki finally came over to me, buried her face in my arm, and rubbed it against me.

"Abat, Aki's going now."

"Okay, do your best."

"Don't get hurt. Got it?"

"Everything's fine, but why do you talk like an elder? If you're going to use formal language, use formal language, and if you're going to use informal language, use only informal language."

"Understood."

Every time I stroke Aki's head, every time I hear her grumble, "Appuu," a fresh and heartwarming sensation strikes my chest.

I'm not trying to show favoritism, but something is definitely different from Setsunen. Is it because of Alakish's heart residing in her soul?

Valensidis took a low breath, and the moment he exhaled, Shalessarum's flame blazed dazzlingly, incomparable to my own power.

"…!"

When I instinctively closed my eyes and then opened them again, Shalessarum and Aki were gone, and Valensidis was lying collapsed next to Obin.

"Has he connected to the dream…? Please don't be late, Valensidis."

* * *

Valensidis, with his consciousness restored, found himself in a royal palace that brilliantly reflected the sunlight.

‘The Sun Palace, Barah?’

The historic capital of the Solond Kingdom.

Judging by the fierce security, it seemed to be near the inner palace where the royal family resided.

True to Valensidis's specialty in stealth, he lightly wielded a fan and concealed himself in the darkness.

"Until the opportune moment arrives, you must not be detected by the dream's constituents."

Because Shalessarum had warned him so.

"The moment the dream perceives you as a foreign object, the situation will worsen. And the master of the dream will also fail to recognize you and push you away."

If there had been real royal guards and court mages, infiltrating like this would have been difficult, but since it was a manifestation of a dream, it wasn't as strict as reality.

"Hahahaha, come now, come here!"

"Try to catch me, Your Majesty."

As he passed in front of the palace, he heard the voice of a king enthusiastically indulging in debauchery with a dozen women.

The former king of Solond, Rakavir.

He was famous for having incurred the resentment of all his people by wielding immense tyranny for his own extravagance.

‘It's said that if there was a beautiful maiden, he would surely take her as a concubine, and to renovate and repair the palace to his taste, he raised taxes by nearly three times.’

There were also rumors that he wasn't originally like that, but had gone mad with a sense of loss because the queen had given birth to the kingdom's heir, the prince, as a mute.

However, perhaps the gods were not indifferent, as Rakavir died of a sudden heart attack in his young thirties around the time a plague began to spread.

There was no way a proper prince could have been born under such a king.

‘Royalty are like pests that should be eliminated from this world.’

But a disciple?

How could one correct a disposition born from birth? Their very nature is different from that of nobles.

‘Stop. Focus on the mission, Valensidis.’

Obin's presence, that is, the center of the dream, was felt in the central palace where the queen resided.

"Come here, Prince."

Valensidis, having easily infiltrated the central palace by hiding in the shadows, could see the dream landscape from which Obin could not escape.

"Try holding him once."

Leaning against the headboard of a bed that was closer to a sickbed than a normal bed, sat a sickly and frail-looking woman.

The clothes she wore were not the elegant and lavish attire of a queen, but a patient's gown, and in her arms, she held a baby.

"You must support his neck when you hold him. Carefully, and gently."

Obin, who had been hesitating and fidgeting, approached her side and carefully picked up the baby.

"Prince, I will tell you why you were born with the status of a prince."

"Ah, auh?"

"It is to care for and serve the people. Not to rule like your father, the king."

At that teaching, Valensidis inadvertently held his breath.

If kings and nobles had even a little bit of a heart to consider the circumstances of others, if they had a heart like the dragons.

This world would have been even more beautiful than it is now, and I wouldn't have had to kill my master with my own hands.

"The people are just like that baby. Frail, powerless, and weak. The gods made you a prince precisely to protect and care for such people."

"…!"

"That is the mission you must responsibly fulfill until the last day of your life as royalty, inheriting the blood and will of the Great Mage Ligwind. The Prince, bear this in mind for your entire life."

"Ah, ae…!"

"You are making a promise with this mother now. To become a kind king, even if not a great one."

Obin, being mute and unable to speak, had no way to answer other than vigorously nodding his flushed face.

The queen, with arms so thin they seemed skeletal, tightly embraced the prince who was holding the princess.

As if holding the most precious treasure in the world.

"You will experience much despair in life, but you will surely meet those who recognize your worth. For you, Prince, are kinder than anyone."

"…"

"I am sorry for giving birth to you unable to speak. I am truly grateful that you call such an unworthy person mother and follow her. Now, I entrust the princess to you, Prince."

There were tears in the eyes of the queen holding Obin, and in the eyes of Obin held in her arms.

The prince probably sensed it. Just as he did on the last day he could be with his master.

That this was the end… Was it due to a sense of kinship? Valensidis felt a corner of his heart become solemn.

"Your Royal Highness, we shall devote our everything to protect you."

As if the queen's wisdom was not mistaken, the royal guards followed Obin with one heart.

From a young age, Obin traveled throughout the kingdom, observing the circumstances of his people, and it was this habit that led him to uncover Ellamas's conspiracy.

As soon as the prince learned of it, Ellamas poisoned the king, and the prince was made to appear as if he had abandoned the kingdom and fled without even holding a succession ceremony.

During the journey to find Ligwind's Cheonpasikjeok and under the pursuit of the Dawn Brigade, the royal guards who accompanied Obin died one by one.

"Please, become a great king…"

"Don't mind me, please quickly your royal body…"

"You must avoid it…"

Contrary to Valensidis's expectation, the prince didn't make the royal guards die in his stead. The guards simply sacrificed their lives themselves.

The last of those guards was Bisram…

Before long, the scene changed to a place familiar to Valensidis as well.

‘The City of Beginnings, Orbenheim.’

Holding the hand of the dying old guard, the prince's world, where he suppressed his sobs, began to darken once more.

‘Is the dream ending?’

No, it couldn't be that easy.

The darkness instantly lifted, and the scene of the Sun Castle Barah began to unfold again.

Obin had chosen to remain in this dream. In the time when all his precious ones remained. Within the sweet illusion called the past.

"Stop, mute prince."

Valensidis finally pulled himself out of the shadows.

Obin was crossing the courtyard of the central palace. He must have intended to meet his mother with a joyful heart.

He couldn't let him.

"Do you intend to keep dwelling in the past like this? In an endlessly and meaninglessly repeating time?"

"…?"

"What meaning is there in doing that?"

There was a problem here.

Obin, perhaps not recognizing Valensidis, hesitated and backed away with wary eyes.

‘Is it because it's a past timeline, so he has no memory?’

Almost simultaneously with Valensidis frowning, the elements of the dream rushed forward to eliminate the foreign object that had interfered with it.

"Intruder!"

"Protect Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince!"

The Royal Guard of the Solond Kingdom.

Guards with fierce swordsmanship instantly surrounded Valensidis and pointed their sword tips at him.

‘Damn it, there's no time…’

Escaping from here wasn't a problem, but outside, Obin's body was slowly turning into a primal being. The moment he fully transformed into a primal being, everything would be over.

* * *

Although I seemed to be pouring all my efforts into maintaining the barrier, my mind was somewhere else entirely.

"I am Lysta Alte Schurpen, a Faequarian belonging to the Dragonic Orthodox Church."

Even now, if I close my eyes, it comes back vividly.

Although the meaning of my name is 'spring breeze', it was Lysta who truly blew into my life like a spring breeze.

If my life began with my meeting with the Dean, then my meeting with her changed my life completely.

"—The World."

According to Shalessarum's explanation, Ellamas's current ability is necromancy.

It was said to be a forbidden art, a power directly granted by Neigalas, the lord who annihilates death, allowing one to resurrect the bodies of the dead and control them at will.

Whether or not to leave memories of their former life in the resurrected body was up to the discretion of the caster…

"—During the Black Spot incident, I believe Tourana took Rin's body, and Chief Engineer Ocelot took Lysta's body and Schurpen. It seems they handed them over to Ellamas."

Since Valensidis testified as such, there was now no doubt that Ellamas had resurrected Lysta's body and was using it as her assassin.

Is it because of me?

It is because of me.

Because I left a promise to return, Lysta's body couldn't decay and remained in the Vatican basement, and that's why this is happening now…

"Aruu?"

Setsunen, hanging on my back, wiggled worriedly and poked her face over my shoulder. As if to reassure her, I briefly rested my cheek on her head.

"It's because I'm focusing my strength on healing my body while maintaining the barrier. Setsunen's power is truly a healing touch."

Perhaps because the powers of the two *yeouiju* (wish-granting orbs) were combined, the speed of my body's recovery was incredibly fast.

While it wasn't super-fast regeneration comparable to an absolute lifeform, one could see with the naked eye internal organs returning to their places and torn blood vessels and flesh being sutured.

Setsunen tilted her head as if to ask if it was true.

"Aruru?"

"Yes, a healing touch."

"Aruarua!"

And she powerfully thrusts her fist forward.

A bad habit learned from Aki.

"Our Nen is much more well-behaved than Aki unnie. If it were Aki, she would have drenched my head by now."

"Aru."

Setsunen solemnly nodded as if in agreement.

No, is this kid slandering her unnie?

At times like this, she should firmly shake her head and say no… I'll have to give her a stern talking-to.

"Hey."

Then, from the darkness, Miria opened her mouth with a voice and face identical to Lysta's.

"I have something to ask you."

Although she always maintained a cold and serious demeanor, this time she had an even more serious expression than usual.

She straightened her back, pressed her fist firmly against her chest, and stared at me as if glaring.

As if she had something to say, it was only after opening and closing her mouth several times that I could hear her voice.

"You, who exactly are you?"