Book 9 Chapter 19
Chapter 218
The Aroele Grotto, now unvisited and unmanaged by anyone, exuded a rather eerie atmosphere instead of a sacred one.
The dense jungle in the central part of the Adrion Continent, famous for its tropical climate, merely covered the surface of the grotto.
The roots of giant trees pierced through or climbed up and down the structures, and what little remained of intact stone pagodas were dominated by vines and moss.
“As a result of reading Ovin's memories, Elamas's real name is Elsara. She was the youngest Judge of the fairy race.”
Elsara?
I had heard of her from Shimian, the wandering Judge I met during the period of upheaval.
Was she a Judge who existed 200 years ago, that is, 500 years ago from the present time?
She was called the Judge of Seollyung (璇烿) because she freely wielded the power of flame.
I had heard that story in front of the Shalesarum statue at Lanoa Grand Bridge, and it was said that the two had a father-daughter-like relationship.
‘So that Elamas was Elsara after all…’
But there's something I can't understand.
They had a father-daughter-like relationship, and according to Shimian, she achieved tremendous feats, so how did she end up becoming the Black Church's second pillar?
Turayna's last smile flashed before my eyes for a moment, and all my doubts vanished.
‘Yes, the hearts of intelligent beings are weak… no matter if they are fairies.’
As the jungle, which had encroached on the area with a green hue, swayed in the humid and hot wind, the cries of insects, birds, and wild beasts could be heard.
“Aru…”
Just as Setsnen trembled, the fabric of Seresia, sensing the wearer's body temperature, noticeably thinned and cooled.
“Aru?”
Apparently very pleased with the coolness, the Great Golden Dragon burrowed into Seresia, inside my arms, peeking out only its face.
“Aru!”
There was no worry of the fabric stretching or tearing. Seresia's fabric stretched freely.
“Did you learn this from Aki too?”
“Aru?”
As Setsnen tilted its head cutely, a smile formed despite the unbearably difficult feelings.
“…”
Ovin, who had only recently regained consciousness, gazed at us intently, then, when our eyes met, he laughed awkwardly and averted his gaze.
“Why, do you want to hold him too?”
“N-no, I'm okay. I… I also… had a younger s-sibling, that's why.”
“It's okay. Try holding him.”
I took Setsnen out of Seresia and placed him in Ovin's arms.
“Aruuuuuuuu…”
Setsnen puffed out its cheeks as if dissatisfied with being forcibly taken out of the clothing, but it was relatively calmer than Aki at this age and nestled well in Ovin's arms.
Not only that, Ovin seemed quite accustomed to holding a baby, as if he really had a younger sibling. That is, he held the baby comfortably.
For some reason, there was a glimmer of moisture in Ovin's eyes as he looked down at Setsnen.
“…”
Valensidis, who had been looking at Ovin with a sympathetic gaze, opened his mouth again.
“What Elamas spread throughout the kingdom, claiming to purify the plague, is the Taesungjin. If this is activated, the entire Solonde will become a land of plague.”
This was what Shalesarum had told me before.
To neutralize the magic circle, one must enter the royal palace of Solonde, the Palace of Bara in the Sun Fortress.
With this in my hand, a red dragon scale the size of an adult's palm.
– This is my last physical form, so take this and enter the barrier. Then its power will be broken on its own.
It would be a race against time: whether the Taesungjin activates first, or if we reach the royal capital before that.
“It's also surprising that the Adrion Continent just stood by until things got to this point.”
Miria said with a confused expression.
Goblin subjugations often came to the Adrion Continent, but they didn't know that Solonde's problems had become this severe.
They had said some strange disease was spreading, making people reluctant to go there, but in just half a year…
“It's natural that you don't know. Spreading the Soul-Destroying Disease in the form of a plague is a highly intelligent act.”
“Intelligent?”
“If people hear a plague has spread, they're reluctant to go there, and they don't want to accept people who come from there.”
“So information was automatically blocked.”
“Yes, that's why it gets concealed until the situation becomes truly serious. By the way, it seems the witches of the Southern Republic are quite cautious, aren't they?”
Valensidis shook his head at my question.
“Solonde is an independent kingdom not affiliated with the Republic. There are more than enough reasons not to intervene. Even within the Republic, coordination is difficult.”
“Hmm.”
“Anyway, the number of members who attacked us in Lanoa was three… It would be good if that were all, but it's better to assume there might be more.”
The activation of the Taesungjin is gradually accelerating.
It is a time when the brigade, which took opening a new dawn as its banner, is close to achieving its goal.
If the escape of uninvited guests is reported, a gathering order would have been issued to all brigade members who might have been scattered throughout the kingdom.
‘Considering that Ruelaia's presence was faint compared to the three who appeared later…’
It must already be a given that we will have to face several powerful enemies who surpass Ruelaia.
– They are all spirits of fairies, and should not be underestimated.
Miria, who had been stroking her chin for a while, spoke.
“Then shouldn't we just go straight to the royal capital? It's the king's return. Couldn't we reveal Elamas's evil deeds to the world and execute her?”
“It won't be that simple. If we put the stories together, there will be far more people in the royal palace who support Elamas than the royal family.”
At my realistic remarks, Ovin scratched his head as if apologetic, smiling bravely, but the corners of his mouth trembled.
No, I shouldn't make him feel bad for nothing…
At that moment, Valensidis spoke in a meaningful voice.
“Indeed, no one knows what will happen.”
“?”
“For now, we'll move to Solonde, but we also need to gather our full strength. I hope we can somehow contact your comrades.”
You mean Rem and Bart.
If that's the case, Serwebon will surely be leading them to me.
“You shouldn't say it like that.”
“Strange. Did I make a slip of the tongue?”
“Yes. They're not ‘my’ comrades, but ‘our’ comrades, aren't they?”
That was something Lista had told me a long time ago, before I had gotten close to the members of the hero's party.
– They are not ‘my’ comrades, Rin.
Come to think of it, this guy resembles the old me…
– They are ‘our’ comrades.
Valensidis still makes me feel indignant, annoyed, and infuriated every time I see him, but I believe he deserves to hear something like this.
Because if it weren't for him, I would have died several times already.
Before I knew it, our distant and hazy relationship had reached the point where I thought that.
“…Hmph.”
Valensidis, who had been staring blankly at me, eventually let out a hollow smile after a long pause, and shook his head as if defeated.
“Yes, then it would be good to call ‘our’ comrades. Are you satisfied now?”
“Come here, Pipi.”
“Pipi, Pipi, Pipi.”
Pipi responded in a weak voice.
“Go to Rem and Bart. Explain about the Taesungjin and…”
Actually, I don't need to send Pipi anywhere. With Serwebon's guidance, I will somehow be able to meet Rem and Bart.
But I didn't want to take Pipi to the battlefield we were about to go to.
Getting blood on my hands, the blood of a comrade, Lista's blood, is enough for me alone. It's not a burden for Pipi, who has waited hundreds of years for me, to bear.
‘That is the burden I must carry…’
It is the last thread of a connection I must sever, one that left an indelible scar on my comrades' lives with promises I couldn't keep.
– We'll still be comrades even after this journey ends.
This memory was probably from when the journey during the period of upheaval was slowly coming to an end.
– Now, we're like family to each other.
As Fride's meal prayer ended, Lista suddenly said that.
– So, if one of us seems to be going down the wrong path, that's when we gather again.
Fride, who was feeding Pipi a handful of corn from her palm, smiled playfully.
– Are you openly targeting Rin with that? Yes, that infuriatingly arrogant kid does seem likely to go astray.
– No?
– Yes, yes, yes, 100 percent, 100 percent, 100 percent.
– Pipi, what kind of talk is that to your master!
– That's not what we're talking about right now.
At that moment, Lista wore a somewhat bitter smile, and the playfulness also vanished from our faces.
– Even if our journey succeeds, as time passes, the gods' seals will weaken and the power of the abyss will grow stronger. No one knows what will happen to our bodies either.
When one of us falls into the abyss, we will gather again. Because we are comrades and family in the hero's party.
– So let's protect each other. Let's help each other not to do evil. Let's give peace to our souls. So that those souls can reach the embrace of the gods.
Lista, did you somehow foresee that things would turn out like this back then?
As I opened my eyes, which I had closed for a moment, lost in memories, Pipi was playfully pecking my nose with its beak.
Lately, the time spent taking care of Aki and Setsnen has greatly increased, reducing the time we have together, but Pipi is still my most cherished friend.
“Understood, Pipi?”
Pipi's eyes showed it wanted to go to Lista with me, but I pushed away Pipi's wish with a sorrowful smile.
“Pipi, go, to Serwebon, to Serwebon.”
Pipi, who had been gazing deeply into my eyes, finally flapped its wings powerfully and soared into the sky above the jungle.
“Alright, then let's get going too. We can't be late, can we? We have a long way to go.”
Miria's expression, looking at Rain who wore a deliberately cheerful smile, was only dark. She even felt as if the Demon Sword at her hip was sobbing.
‘To leave Aki here and send Pipi far away.’
Even if Aki was to be returned by Shalesarum when the time was right, sending Pipi to another place as well…
‘It's like someone giving up everything and going to die alone.’
* * *
Fire Dragon, Vel'Dakidun.
A divine dragon separated as an individual entity from the supreme Three Divine Dragons, Asura, and a being akin to the ancestor of the Red Dragon Legion.
To help with the duty entrusted to you by God, five appendages were created, and those are the Red True Dragons.
“Your mother was the first of those True Dragons.”
Mother?
Mom? Mommy?
Miria's face flashed in Aki's mind for a moment, but unable to grasp even the general outline of the story, Aki merely laughed foolishly.
“And I am the second, born from the egg a year later than your mother, so call me Falkire.”
“Aki doesn't know what a Falkire is!”
“In human language, it is the dragon word for 'uncle'.”
Aki stood in a space where mysterious flames blazed, from one end of the horizon to the other.
This was Shalesarum's constructed mental space, an eternal world that only those belonging to immortality could enter.
Transcending the limitations of time, one could utilize a single unit of time seven times longer.
“Un-cle?”
And standing before such an Aki was a handsome young man with red hair blazing like flames and clad in dragon-scale armor.
Aki initially mistook him for Rain, but he was taller, more powerful, and most importantly, his red hair was somehow different from Rain's. After all, Shalesarum himself possessed hair like flames.
“Shale-sa-rum Un-cle!”
At Aki's spirited yet innocent reply, Shalesarum inadvertently let out a laugh, forgetting his dignity as a True Dragon.
‘She's completely different from Alakish. She was so precocious that she felt like an adult even in her childhood.’
Since mental growth influences physical growth in dragonkind, Alakish's body also grew to be closer to an adult form faster than any other True Dragon.
‘But how can their personalities be so different? The offspring of a True Dragon are like their own clones…’
No, perhaps she had such a personality but couldn't indulge in childish behavior due to the limitations of being the eldest daughter.
Akirea, how arduous and lonely must have been the life of a sister who had to give her daughter the name 'Freedom'.
The name of the daughter who appeared only now, a thousand years later, seemed to explain the entire truth of that life, and he felt a heart-wrenching pain.
Shalesarum didn't ask why Alakish couldn't come here herself. For he didn't need to hear the answer.
“You harbored the desire to become strong yourself, and so you followed me. Akirea, what is the reason for that?”
A reason to want to be strong?
Is he asking why I pursue martial arts? If so, I've learned the answer from my master.
“To protect those who are weak and powerless, just like a dragon!”
“…?”
“And there's more, to illuminate the dark places of the world!”
“…!”
“Aki wants to be like Dad. So Aki helps many, many people who ask for help.”
At that moment, Shalesarum felt his soul resonate profoundly.
Was it because he glimpsed the great will underlying that pure cry?
No, it was probably because, even if their personalities and forms were different, her beautiful heart resembled Alakish's so incredibly much.
“You are still young, Akirea. But if you can grow into an adult with that heart, you will become a great being capable of protecting and caring for everyone.”
Ah, Alakish…
My sister's child will surely become a good dragon. A dragon that will resemble the life of a great flame. Just as you did.
Though this unworthy younger sibling has failed.
‘All of this must be thanks to you.’
Guardian who carries the scent of a god in your soul. I now understand well why Alakish trusted you and entrusted Akirea to you.
“The Fire Dragon gave birth to us in His own image, resembling His form, for He wished us to live a holy and noble life like Him.”
“Aki doesn't know what that means!”
“You will realize it later. For now, just remember that the power you were born with is not solely for yourself. That is enough.”
Shalesarum placed a hand on Akirea's head. Just as his sister had done for him long ago.
“Un-cle! Can Aki become strong?!”
“Of course. I, too, often engaged in battles not as a dragon but in a dragon-human (龍人) form. I will have much to teach you.”
“Then will Aki get very, very strong?”
“Yes.”
“Very, very, very strong?”
“You are the daughter of the greatest True Dragon among the Red True Dragons. Your potential is immeasurable.”
“This much, very, very much? Then Aki can protect Dad?”
Shalesarum, who had knelt on one knee before an Aki fussing with anticipation, smiled kindly and then pressed his forehead against Aki's.
“Because you harbor a great heart, you will become stronger than anyone else in this land. And thus, you will become the flame that brightly illuminates this pitiful world. Just as your mother did.”