Chapter 33: Bahamut (Page 2)
Ianna retraced what she knew of Roberstein’s extensively long life as she hunted down the Bahamut imperial family. She couldn’t immerse herself into Roberstein’s memories because her attention was divided, but she could skim over them.
Roberstein was the first god.
She had been born with the power to produce an enormous amount of divine power as the firstborn of the gods, and the Balance had dictated that it was her duty to maintain the world’s equilibrium in return. The duty had been forced on her, but she had accepted it obediently. The fact that she had been the very first being to lay her eyes upon the beautiful world had made her willing to bear that burden.
Her powerful heart had engaged with the Balance, the Truth of the World, and she had obtained the miraculous power of Judgment, which she could use under the condition that she was maintaining equilibrium in the world.
Roberstein had been very lonely in the beginning of her life. She had been separated from the other gods, and she had spent most of her time like an inanimate object because she was charged with maintaining neutrality at all times and could not grow close to anyone in particular.
And then, she had met the black colored boy who yearned for the light.
The seeds of pity had sprouted in Roberstein’s heart. She grew attached to the boy, who knew no one but her, after a little time had passed. Then, after a long time had passed, she grew deeply in love with the youth who told her that he loved her as he clung to her.
But a predestined tragedy had befallen the two of them.
Roberstein had always sought ‘equilibrium’ and ‘peace.’ This was why she had frequently chosen to mechanically maintain her neutrality. Her mistake had been that she had focused only on maintaining the ‘peace’ and had simply remained as an onlooker as the gods took the easy path and threw away their evil emotions and bad memories into the abyss.
The gods had pursued only their right to happiness and had abandoned any responsibility for their personal emotions in so doing. And Roberstein had simply let them be because all she cared about was the fact that the world was at peace once more.
But all that responsibility had fallen upon the man she loved, and he had long since Fallen.
Her lover was at odds with the gods.
The woman had withered away, unable to bring herself to pick a side. Neutrality was the only value she saw in her own existence, and she began to die. She had lost herself in lethargy and deep depression by the time the Holy Age had come to an End. Her emotions had fluctuated dozens and hundreds of times each day. Ianna was loath to reminisce over these memories because the simple act of recalling them took a huge emotional toll on her.
‘And this is where the detailed memories end.’
The memories didn’t end with Roberstein’s depression but instead continued on. The second half of Roberstein’s memories were not only all jumbled together, but there were also pieces missing from it, as if they had been cleanly cut out.
Next, was Roberstein’s memories of the End.
Roberstein had lost her will to live during the End. Her mind was clear once she had decided to die. That was the state she had been in as she stabbed Roygen in the heart. And Roberstein had completely put down any lingering attachments she had to life once she believed that Roygen was dead. She had flinched when she saw Laos running toward her from the distance, but those emotions had been short and fleeting.
A god’s heart, their fragment of chaos, collapsed once their soul lost its ego. Roberstein’s heart was no exception to this rule.
But Roberstein had not been able to die because Laos had prevented her death and had sealed away her heart and soul. Roygen, too, had not died and had continued to live.
And then, a long, long time had passed.
Laos’ seal had become undone about twenty years ago.
Roberstein’s time had resumed its flow.
Roberstein’s heart should have been destroyed, and her existence should have been erased from the world, as soon as the seal was undone because Roberstein had wanted to die during the End. But her soul had created a new seal to prevent her heart from collapsing, and it had then been reborn as Ianna.
‘She wanted to die so badly, so what made her suddenly decide to live?’
Ianna guessed that the reason behind Roberstein’s change of heart was buried somewhere within the second half of her memories. Those memories were of vital importance. And they were probably closely related to the mysteries that Ianna still hadn’t been able to solve, such as the seal that Roberstein had placed on Lebony and Laos’ identity.
‘Of course it’s my memories of the second half of her life that are missing.’
Had Roberstein cast them cleanly away because she could not bear to keep them?
Or had someone else erased them forcefully?
And if they had been erased, then was it Laos who had erased them?
What did Ianna need to do to obtain those memories?
Ianna tried to find a solution by rummaging through Roberstein’s memories, but they didn’t provide her an answer. Her only choice now was to try bringing herself closer to ‘Roberstein.’
“I found them, Your Majesty.”
Her thoughts were broken away after they had teleported for the seventeenth time.
They had finally caught wind of the Bahamut imperial family. They had left traces of themselves behind all over the blackened and burnt ruins. The aftermath of a massacre trailed across the earth like fire and created a path of soot.
It was almost like they were beckoning Ianna over. They were luring her so openly that Ianna would almost feel sorry if she didn’t notice it.
“Let’s hurry.”
Ianna put aside her thoughts and raised her tension. She continued,
“Are you capable of holding your ground against the imperial family, Dorcianni?”
“I absolutely don’t stand a chance against Taylon, and I can’t hold my own against Isabella or Shailince either if I’m fighting alone. But I can provide support like what I did back at the Bahamut imperial castle without a problem.”
“Then focus on supporting me in battle, and ignore me and return to the castle by yourself if you think you’re in danger. I’ll do my best to protect you, but there are too many variables at play for me to guarantee anything.”
“Got it.”
Ianna ran, and Dorcianni used Blink, a short-distance teleportation spell, and Fly to race along the path.
And at the end of the path, they found the backs of two people so familiar that Ianna wished they were dead. Isabella and Shailince were scattering spells all around them as they destroyed the earth.
Isabella turned around to look at Ianna.
“You’re late.”
Swiiiish!
Ianna, who had been preparing to attack in advance, brandished her sword. The semi-circular fortification that trailed after the arc of her sword bore into the place where Isabella and Shailince had just been standing. Normally, they should have been bisected horizontally in two, but their figures wavered like an illusion and faded into a black aura instead.
It was illusion magic. They had also been prepared. Ianna spotted their retreating figures in the distance even before she could spread out her senses to track them down.
“I’m so happy you came to us!”
Isabella shouted as she ran away. She continued,
“I was acting with my mother because I knew I might get myself killed if I was alone —an excellent choice, if I do say so myself.”
Ianna didn’t return the greeting as she chased after them. The distance between them didn’t change between both prey and pursuit were equally as fast.
Bang! Babang!
Ianna sent ranged attacks flying at the mother and daughter, and Dorcianni provided her support, but Isabella and Shailince blocked them readily. Ianna’s ranged attacks were typically meant for crowd control, so they were weaker than her close quarters attacks.
Isabella and Shailince were heading toward the camp where the armies of several small and mid-sized kingdoms from the South were stationed.
“Ahhh!”
“Eek!”
They killed everything in their path that had been alive, just as they had forewarned. The soldiers took fright and tried to stop them by brandishing their weapons, but there was no way they could possibly block Isabella’s and Shailince’s rush of attacks when they were being serious.
Ianna sent her fortification flying to stop some of their attacks, but it was impossible for her to stop all of them.
Crunch.
The sound of something breaking resounded from the crevice of a distant door.
~~*~~
“You monsters!”
a soldier cried as he furiously thrust his spear. His eyes were filled with fear as he looked to the Bahamut soldiers before him.
Pow!
His spear slipped between the plates of armor and fatally wounded his enemy. But the Bahamut soldier paid no heed to his wound and grabbed the spear that was penetrating through his body. Then, he slashed his sword and cut off the spear’s owner’s head.
Similar situations were breaking out all over the battlefield.
The tides of battle were inevitably changing in Bahamut’s favor.
There were several reasons why.
First, Bahamut had amassed together a lot of power as she stayed quiet and did not wage any large wars for the past twenty years. Her armies had only billowed in size as she diligently continued to recruit soldiers and train them. In particular, the high-ranking knights and mages were exceptionally strong because of their intense training and intake of Life.
Second, the Bahamut army continued to push forward and butcher their enemies no matter how badly wounded they were, perhaps because they were either drugged not to feel any pain or bewitched to simply shrug off any pain.
And it wasn’t only their physical sense of pain —they didn’t seem to feel any emotions either. They didn’t react when their comrades were killed right next to them and simply continued to brandish their weapons at their enemies, and they didn’t seem to care even if parts of their own bodies were cut off. They were like dolls whose only purpose was slaughter. It was only natural that their enemies, who did feel pain and terror, were at the disadvantage.
Screeeeech!
Kyaaah!
Third, not only was the Bahamut army terrifying, but merciless monsters had also joined forces with them. Several of the were high-leveled monsters of legends.
And lastly, the Bahamut armies, which had made their camps in enemy territories, had nothing they needed to protect, whereas their enemies had much they needed to protect.
Their enemy kingdoms suffered helplessly. Many kingdoms were so busy trying to stop the onslaught of the Bahamut army that they ended up being crushed underfoot.
The only kingdoms that did manage to stop the Bahamut onslaught were those kingdoms who had well-trained standing armies —namely, the kingdoms belonging to the alliance between Ex-knights, Roanne, Jinzai, and Toraca. They teleported to each other directly or by using the network of Gates that Arhad had set up to help each other out. And thus, they managed to avoid getting unilaterally crushed by Bahamut.
But there were always massive losses wherever the Bahamut imperial family went even though Ianna and Arhad blocked them relentlessly.
“Ahahahaha!”
The imperial family indiscriminately deprived everyone around them of the ability to control mana and slaughtered them.
Arhad faced Taylon, and Ianna faced Isabella and Shailince. Arhad could limit Taylon’s power to deprive everyone of their ability to control mana, which allowed his allies to keep using magic and fortification. But Ianna did not have any Demon’s fragment owners with her who could wrestle with the imperial family’s domination over mana, so the losses only continued to snowball.
People used magic or fortification to protect themselves whenever Isabella and Shailince showed up, but they died haplessly because the mana wouldn’t obey them.
“I can’t use magic…….”
“What’s going on?!”
This was the Age of Magic, and the people relied heavily on mana. They fell into a panic when they were faced with the Bahamut imperial family for the first time because of the disobedient mana. The Kingdom of Roanne’s army had experienced the Bahamut imperial family’s strange ability previously because Roanne had been at war with Bahamut for a very long time, but the people from other kingdoms had never experienced anything like this before.
The people had always taken mana for granted and regarded it as a gift from the gods, but they were slowly beginning to realize that they were wrong.
“Die! Just die! You die too!”
Isabella and Shailince indiscriminately demolished, destroyed, and murdered. The desire for destruction that they had been suppressing for so long was exploding for the world to see.
Only Ianna and Dorcianni, who could use divine power, could stop them. No one else could even hope to defend themselves.
‘Shit!’
Ianna cursed wildly to herself. She only grew more anxious as time passed, and her nerves were as taut as a tightly pulled string. The Bahamut imperial family only grew more vigorous as they savored their massacres and absorbed more divine power, but Ianna was beginning to grow exhausted.
Snaaaaap!
A whip studded with metal spikes ruptured the ground where Dorcianni had just been standing. It had happened so suddenly that a normal person would have thought that the earth had shattered for no apparent reason.
“That was dangerous.”
Dorcianni could have been splintered in half had Ianna not grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away. She continued,
“I’m really starting to get fed up with that old hag’s attacks.”
Shailince tried to attack Dorcianni whenever she had the chance.
“Is this because I cut off your hand? But you regenerated it instantly anyway.”
Shailince also seemed to be getting stressed out as she continued to fail to kill Dorcianni. Her eyes were growing redder by the day as she glared at Dorcianni, and her face was beginning to look like a ghost’s.
“Help me, Your Majesty.”
Ianna shared her divine power with Dorcianni.
Crackle, crackle.
Dorcianni’s hair began to float because of all the high voltage currents in the air. Lightning struck as it illuminated the dark sky, and it illuminated half of her face brightly as well.
Booooom!
Hundreds of lightning bolts rained down from the heavens.
Crash!
“Ack!”
Large bolts of lightning fell squarely on Isabella and Shailince. The blackish aura lingering around them acted as a shield and offset some of the lightning bolts’ power, but they had been created with Ianna’s divine power and broke through the shield, striking at their bodies.
Ianna’s and Dorcianni’s joint attack hadn’t been entirely useless. But Isabella and Shailince were being safeguarded by the blackish aura……Taylon’s protection, that is, and it was impossible to strike a mortal blow against them from afar.
Ianna had to get up close and cut off their heads with her sword.
Ianna rushed in while they were shocked by Dorcianni’s magic. But her sword only cut through empty air because they had broken through the lightning and fled.
The two crazy women were so quick to flee that they never gave Ianna a chance to close the gap between them. They knew all too well that they would die if they allowed Ianna to engage them in close quarters.
“That tingled!”
Isabella was cackling even though her skin was burnt black, and Shailince quickly healed her wounds with divine power before she resumed attacking her surroundings.
Ianna and Dorcianni were desperate, but Isabella and Shailince almost seemed to be fooling around. Ianna was boiling on the inside because she could not kill Isabella and Shailince even though she felt like she should be able to.
She had tried summoning the spirit kings too, but the imperial family already devised a way to deal with them. They attacked the spirits with a vicious malice and forced them to de-summon, just as Arhad had once done to Innis previously.
Ianna felt like she would be able to kill them if powerful allies like Schneider or Miriam aided her, but they were the key defenders of their own respective kingdoms. They could not leave their positions because their kingdoms would fall in peril as soon as they did. Arhad, who was chasing down Taylon, fared no better.
“Have you made any progress with removing the seal, Your Majesty?”
“I’ve made progress, but now I’ve run into another problem.”
“What is it?”
Ianna bit down at her lip, unable to readily reply.
Ianna was concentrating on ‘Roberstein’s’ consciousness even as she hunted down the imperial family. And she was quickly growing closer to Roberstein because of this.
But Ianna felt like she was becoming a different person altogether the closer she grew to Roberstein. She ended up thinking things that she would have absolutely never thought as Ianna when she tried to think from Roberstein’s perspective.
Both Roberstein and Ianna hated it when people died so fleetingly. But the problem lay in their thoughts and feelings about the Bahamut imperial family.
‘Is there no way for me to coexist with him?’
Ianna simply wanted to kill the Bahamut imperial family, but Roberstein carried love, affection, guilt, and a deep hatred for them. They were the same feelings that she carried for Roygen.
Roberstein cycled between trying to find a way for them to coexist and resigning herself to fate.
‘I have to kill him, but I don’t want to…….’
‘But I still have to kill him.’
She had to kill him. But she didn’t want to. The two opinions continued to clash against each other, but having to kill him always came out on top.
‘I think I’m starting to understand.’
Despite the disgust and loathing she felt about having feelings of love for the Bahamut imperial family, Ianna was beginning to grasp Roberstein’s general goal for creating the seal as she continued to assimilate with her.
‘Roberstein wants to live because the Demon’s still alive.’
When Ianna tried to envision a future after the Bahamut imperial family was dead and gone as Roberstein, she lost all her bloodlust and became extremely listless for some reason. It was like she had lost her reason to live because she had completed all the duties she owed to the world.
That was how Ianna had noticed.
Roberstein wanted to live so she could kill the Demon. It was obvious that she had sealed away her own heart and reincarnated herself only so that she could wait for the day she could finally kill the Demon. Roberstein would have chosen to die as soon as Laos’ seal had become undone if the Demon had no longer existed in the world.
And then, Ianna had run into yet another unsolvable problem.
‘If her goal is to kill the Demon, they why won’t she release the seal?’
Ianna was desperate to kill the Bahamut imperial family. She was also extremely determined to destroy the Demon’s heart. It would’ve only made sense for Roberstein to have released her seal ages ago. So, why hadn’t she?
‘I have to kill him.’
Her bloodlust and desire to kill the Bahamut imperial family only persisted.
“That’s quite the predicament.”
Even Dorcianni, to whom Ianna had explained her problem, had no novel solutions for her.
Ianna pursed her lips tight. She wouldn’t be able to solve anything if all she did was chase after them like a headless chicken.
The answer surely lay within the second half of Roberstein’s memories.
She had to obtain them and undo the seal.
The dragons of the four corners did not know about those memories. They did not have the authority to tell Ianna about them even if they did.
There were only two beings who knew that secret. Laos and Kandemayon.
~~*~~
“How boring.”
Taylon sighed as he scattered about his magic and fortification, which was like darkness itself. Arhad blocked him and frigidly replied,
“You’re the one who made things boring.”
“Oh yeah?”
Taylon intoned and contemplated briefly before the edges of his lips curled up. He continued,
“Then, shall I make things a bit more exciting? But before that…”
He snuck a glance at Arhad, who was hot on his tail.
“Why don’t we have a bit of an honest discussion since it’s just the two of us, Arhad Ro Ralzo Bahamut?”
Arhad was not surprised to hear Taylon call him by the name that no longer existed because he had erased it.
“You’ve most definitely obtained my past memories, I see.”
“Do you really think that’s all I’ve obtained? I’ve obtained most of my past memories as well.”
Arhad still wasn’t surprised, but he had already assumed that it was possible. His power to erase time had only appeared when he turned back time after Ianna had died, and accordingly, that was also the first time he had ever used it. Arhad did not know much about his power or what its weaknesses were.
It could erase time from a specified target, such as the entire world. Erasing time required an exorbitant price. And he could not have erased the world’s time on his own —these were the only things that he was certain about.
Arhad had received help from ‘Laos’ and ‘Kandemayon,’ two mysterious beings whom he had known nothing about until Roygen of the Holy Age had perished, at the heart of the Lotso Mountains during his past life.
He had no way of knowing what the side effects of using his power had been.
Recently, he had confirmed thanks to Angelina, who saw dreams of her previous life, that dregs of the erased time could exist at the very bottom of people’s souls.
Thus, Arhad had believed that the same could be true of Taylon as well. And now the man in question had just confirmed it himself.
“I was so aghast when I first obtained the memories that I wanted to murder you at once, and I really did seriously consider it. But I decided to endure it so I could defeat you in the same exact manner that you defeated me in our past lives.”
Taylon’s bloodlust descended upon Arhad like a storm. He continued,
“I will drink your blood and take everything that you have without fail. And that includes your woman, of course.”
Arhad wasn’t provoked. He might had lost his ability to reason previously, but now his world was filled with his love and trust for Ianna.
Arhad ignored Taylon’s nonsense and replied,
“You seem pretty eager to kill me.”
“Isn’t that only obvious? The only reason why I’ve been able to endure it so far is because I’ve already murdered you countless times in my heart. I’ve already killed you so many times in the same exact way that you once killed me. That’s the only reason why I’ve been able to keep my composure, little brother.”
Arhad briefly recalled the last time he had seen Taylon in the past. Taylon had fallen for the multi-layered trap that Arhad had set, had been rendered helpless as Arhad dealt the final blow, and had been crushed beneath Arhad’s domination. Taylon had been incredibly strong back then too, but he had died at Arhad’s hands because of the snare that Arhad had slowly closed around his throat.
Arhad had sat on Bahamut’s imperial throne, which had originally belonged to Taylon, and had forced Taylon to his knees. Then, as Taylon glared at him like looks could kill with bloodshot eyes, he had told Taylon to kill himself if his ego was that bruised, and he had beheaded Taylon just as the latter was actually about to commit suicide.
“…….”
Arhad pressed against his glabella.
This was both his karma and the price he had paid.
Everything in the world had a cause and an effect. If you obtained something, then you also lost something in return. Arhad had obtained Ianna by erasing time, and this crazy bastard, whom he had looked down on because he’d thought that he’d never have to suffer him again, had also been resurrected in return.
Arhad brought his hand down from his head and coldly asked,
“But the reason why you still haven’t starting moving for real is…?”
“I’ve already told you so many times —it’s because I’m waiting for the right time.”
Taylon did not readily expose his intentions. And so, Arhad decided to simply provoke the hell out of the damned bastard because figuring out when this so-called ‘right time’ was seemed difficult.
“You did the same thing before I erased time too. And you died like a dog. Looks like you haven’t learned a thing from that experience. Especially considering how you’re exposing your back to me like this out of sheer arrogance.”
Taylon scoffed at the ridiculousness of it all.
“You aren’t a match for me right now. I’m strong enough to strangle you this instant if I so wished. You should be grateful that I’m giving you this opportunity instead of killing you right here and now.”
“You’re the one who should be grateful. It’s because I erased time that you’re even able to wag your tongue without knowing what the hell you’re actually talking about after I’d beheaded you and hung your headless corpse disgracefully off the castle ramparts.”
“Oh, how very kind of you. I’ve so very grateful.”
Taylon readily returned Arhad’s sarcasm and sent offensive magic and his special brand of divine arts flying around him. Arhad blocked his attacks by shifting the mana and divine power away.
Boom! Boooom!
A small wrinkle appeared on Arhad’s forehead when screaming broke out around them.
He could block the magic, but he couldn’t block the special divine arts that the bastard had apparently developed freshly in this life just yet. The divine power, which was black just like its owner, craved life just like mana did, and it could even burst open the hearts of living creatures and seize their divine power.
Losses would be unavoidable until Arhad figured out how to nullify Taylon’s divine arts. And if losses were unavoidable, then it was better to focus on observing rather than defending so he could figure out its weaknesses and how to nullify them as quickly as possible.
The blackish divine power that filled Taylon’s being seeped out from his lips when he felt Arhad’s persistent staring.
“The gap between you and me will only continue to grow wider as I continued to absorb more divine power. Why don’t we eat together? Aren’t you already used to doing this?”
He had asked it as if he was simply asking if Arhad wanted a smoke, but Arhad did not respond. Taylon continued,
“Quit the act. I know you very well.”
Taylon sneered at Arhad.
“You wouldn’t feel anything even if everyone around you died as long as Dame Rise was all right with it. You’d be willing to sacrifice the entire world so you could offer it to her. And the reason why you erased time to begin with was probably because of that women, whom I have no information about in my memories.”
Taylon poured out more attacks, and Arhad defended.
Their surroundings were burnt to the ground as their fierce battle continued.
“You’re only trying to stop me because you’re afraid that Dame Rise will be tormented otherwise. Love is beautiful indeed.”
Arhad snorted.
You think you know me well? Don’t be absurd.
After all, he had changed so much.
Those whom he had only ever seen as pieces on a chess board had suddenly become people —his equals— as he chased after Ianna’s light. He had begun to feel affection for the people that he and his beloved Ianna led together. He had developed a sense of responsibility toward them.
As he was now, Arhad was neither the Demon of the Holy Age nor the Bahamut emperor of his past life as Taylon knew him.
He was the king of Ex-knights, the country he had founded together with the woman he loved.
It was true that there was nothing he couldn’t do if it was for Ianna’s sake. That was why he no longer wanted to treat the citizens of Ex-knights, whom he led together with Ianna, as if they were meaningless to him.
“You’re thinking that you’ll just haphazardly keep blocking me for now and that you can always erase time again if things take a turn for the worse, aren’t you? After all, the power of ‘Time Erasure’ is essentially a miracle that gives you the opportunity to start over again from a clean slate.”
Taylon’s voice had turned slightly irritable. It was a subtle change, but Arhad had not let it slip his notice. Taylon continued,
“Isn’t it because of that power of yours that you’re so composed right now? But you can’t abuse that ridiculous miracle either. Am I wrong?”
Arhad promptly realized that Taylon had made the ridiculous suggestion that they share an honest conversation because he wanted to dig into the secret of Time Erasure. Without hesitation, Arhad replied,
“I can use my power as much as I please —the only reason why I haven’t used it is because we haven’t reached the worst-case scenario yet.”
He was bluffing.
Erasing Time was essentially a power he could only use once.
Arhad had experimented with his power after turning back time, but he always vomited blood after erasing even only a little. His heart had been put in bad shape as the price for erasing the world’s time, and it could no longer handle using even a little of his power. It was only natural that he would no longer be able to erase time on the scale of the entire world.
This was why he had decided not to use his power of Time Erasure in this life if he could help it. Ianna was an exception to this rule, of course, and Eiji might become an exception too if he never woke up.
That was it.
But Taylon had no way of knowing this.
The bastard seemed quite touchy about Arhad’s power over time. Arhad had to be sly and make bluffs too, just like how the bastard was being all secretive about his schemes.
“So you mean that I’m out of luck.”
There was a crack in Taylon’s arrogant sneer. The change in his composure was so subtle that he probably hadn’t even noticed it himself. It was highly likely that it was only Arhad, who had carefully studied the changes in Taylon’s emotions over a long stretch of time in order to grasp his weaknesses, who could. Taylon continued,
“If you can turn back time, then do so as much as you’d like. I’ll kill you again every time you do.”
Arhad attacked when Taylon left an opening. But Taylon simply beat it away as if it was a ball.
It made Arhad grumpy that his attack hadn’t connected.
There was one thing that he always regretted whenever Taylon acted so conceitedly. It had been a mistake to simply waste time as he waited only for the day he would meet Ianna again. He should have used that time to murder Taylon. Ianna wouldn’t be going through so much trouble right now if only he had.
But regret was nothing more than regret. It would be foolish to fail to focus on the present because he regretted a past that he could no longer redo. Arhad decided to stop regretting it as of today and focus only on winning.
He had already defeated the bastard once, so why on earth wouldn’t he be able to do it again?
Arhad’s gaze seemed to shred Taylon’s divine arts to pieces. Observation had been his specialty since ancient times. Neither Taylon’s divine arts nor Arhad’s own power were anything special to him. After all, the Demon had been so skilled at observing that he had been able to copy the gods’ powers through magic.
Observation was an exceptional tool. He had been able to catch Taylon in the past because he had taken the time and effort to observe him, and the same would surely be true in this life as well.
“I’ve been bored because our conversation is getting nowhere and things are progressing at a snail’s pace, so I think I’ll make things more exciting like I said I would earlier.”
Taylon raised his hand. He continued,
“I think you guys need to be in even greater danger. The kind of danger where your people die, instead of one that causes the entire continent to suffer.”
Taylon snapped his fingers, and the mana that he had placed on standby was activated and sent a signal off into the distance. Arhad, too, immediately used magic to send a signal to Ex-knights.
~~*~~
Every living creature in the world needed to sleep.
Isabella and Shailince needed to sleep too, though only a little. But they always woke up, as if someone had shaken them awake, and fled more ferociously than before whenever Ianna tried to sneak up on them while they were asleep.
Thus, Ianna and Dorcianni also decided to sleep or recover whenever Isabella and Shailince were asleep.
Dorcianni was exhausted and practically passed out as soon as she summoned a blanket and lied down, but Ianna’s red eyes still continued to burn through the night. They weren’t burning in their normal vigor, but rather with an unusual obsession.
‘A little more.’
Just a little more…….
Ianna felt like here consciousness was splitting in two as she continued to tell herself ‘just a little more.’ It was becoming difficult to maintain her ego as Ianna as she continued to assimilate with Roberstein. She almost wondered if she might end up with split personalities.
The world of Roberstein’s consciousness that was recorded in her soul was vast, as befitting of a god who had lived an immeasurably long time.
On top of that, Roberstein had also gone insane.
Sure enough, Roberstein wasn’t in her right mind. The emotions that Ianna experienced as she grew closer to Roberstein were so nauseating that she wanted to vomit them all out.
The emotions were nauseating, but Ianna couldn’t find what she was actually looking for no matter how hard she tried. The world before her eyes was dizzying. It was difficult to maintain her rationality. This meant that this was what Roberstein had experienced in the second half of her memories.
Smack!
“Phew!”
Ianna slapped herself hard on the cheeks whenever she wanted to break from Roberstein’s consciousness, like how a hypnotist snapped their fingers.
‘This can’t continue.’
It had already been several days since Arhad had sent his signal. The Bahamut army had increased the intensity of their assault on Ex-knights ever since Taylon had spouted nonsense about making things more exciting. Ianna had even heard that the army corps that had been conquering other kingdoms had stopped and closed in on Ex-knights too.
“Damn it.”
Ianna roughly brushed her hair back. She felt like her anxiety and rage were burning her brain white hot.
‘Is killing the Demon her real goal? Or did I miss something?’
Ianna made a decision.
‘I’ll never be able to solve the problem like this. I need to obtain her memories of the second half of the Holy Age.’
Ianna summoned a small spirit and asked it to keep track of Isabella and Shailince, woke Dorcianni up, and returned to Ex-knights’ royal castle.
Arhad was visiting the castle temporarily to reorganize their army.
Arhad spread open his arms when Ianna showed up suddenly and without warning. Ianna ran into his arms, and Arhad pulled her tightly into his embrace.
But Ianna grew bewildered for a moment.
Why was it?
Her heart, which was boiling like hot water, would not settle down even though she was in Arhad’s arms. She had always found peace in Arhad’s arms, like being submerged in warm water, no matter the situation before, but now he was only making her more anxious.
She could hear Arhad’s heartbeat through her ears. Thump, thump. I’m so anxious, so anxious that I might go insane. Thump, thump, thump. Right this instant, I have to…….
Ianna tugged hard at Arhad’s clothes. She couldn’t breathe, and the insides of her head was turning white. She tensed up as much as she could as an unidentifiable violent impulse surged from within her. She was so dizzy. She felt like she was going to explode.
‘This is dangerous.’
She didn’t exactly know why, but she sensed that things would get dangerous if she was with Arhad in this state.
“Arhad.”
Ianna looked like she was seething as she pushed Arhad away and slipped out from his embrace. She continued,
“I’m going to pay Kandemayon a visit.”
“Go ahead.”
Arhad held Ianna’s shoulders steady because she looked so unstable. Ianna had already told him everything. It made him uneasy, but he supported Ianna’s will nevertheless. He believed that Ianna always made the right choice no matter what. He continued,
“I’ve been growing curious too. What happened during the latter half of the Holy Age that made Roberstein decide to kill Roygen, and what was her goal in creating the seal that she’s not releasing it and making you suffer like this?”
There was only one thing that Roygen of the Holy Age had known for certain.
Roberstein had given up on being angry with Roygen in the second half of the Holy Age, and she had been utterly listless.
Roygen had watched over her as he decided to kill every god except for Roberstein and Phaemdra. The conflict between Roygen and Roberstein was generally due to Roygen’s clashing against the other gods, and Roygen didn’t want to keep fighting Roberstein any longer.
The pleasure he took in destruction and his hatred for the gods factored into his decision too, but his yearning to live alone with Roberstein in peace incited him more.
But then, as the world was continuing to push toward the End, Roberstein had suddenly vanished. Roygen had sought her like crazy, but he had not been able to find her anywhere. He had almost wondered if she had died. But there was no way that Roberstein would have died and left him behind.
It was only after a long time had passed that Roberstein had reappeared before the world. She had smiled comfortingly as she looked around the world, which had neared the End in her absence, and had consoled Roygen in his fury. When he demanded to know where she had been, she had sweetly whispered her love to him, saying that she had wanted to rest, that she couldn’t understand why he was so furious, and that there was no way she would simply abandon him and leave as she embraced him.
Eventually, they were the only gods who were left, and Roygen let go of his madness and regained his peace now that the gods had disappeared from the world.
And then, Roberstein had stabbed Roygen in the heart with her sword. She wiped away her smiles and shed only tears as Roygen lay betrayed and dying.
That was all that Roygen remembered about Roberstein in the second half of the Holy Age. Roygen did not know what had happened to Roberstein while she had gone missing. Roberstein had been angry with Roygen, but she had never expressed any bloodlust toward him before that, and even Arhad was curious to know what had changed her mind and made her decide to stab Roygen and follow him in death.
And it was highly probable that Laos and Kandemayon, whom he assumed had been born after that incident, had torn Roygen’s soul to shreds and skewered his heart into the center of Pandemonium, knew the answer.
“You know that I can’t leave, Ianna. You’ll have to visit Kandemayon alone. Go and resolve all of your questions.”
Ianna arduously nodded back.
“What kind of dragon is Kandemayon?”
“The term ‘chaos’ describes Kandemayon best. You said that you saw Kandemayon’s scale at the Great Temple of Laos before, right? Do you remember what you felt back then?”
To put it to words, the scale had felt like disorder and death. It was similar to the feeling that Taylon gave off.
“That’s all that I know.”
Arhad knew next to nothing about Kandemayon. Even the dragons of the four corners, like Millanikonè, didn’t know much about the Chaos Dragon. Kandemayon had been with Laos from the beginning, and was a mysterious being who had existed before the other dragons had been born. Arhad continued,
“You might feel uncomfortable, but Kandemayon will never harm you. Be careful on your way.”
Ianna concurred with the opinion that Kandemayon would not harm her.
“Do you want to go right now? I can teleport you nearby.”
Ianna hesitated, unable to give an immediate reply. She had declared that she would visit Kandemayon herself, but she could not bring herself to leave so soon because she was uneasy.
“But if I leave, then what about Isabella and Shailince……?”
Things were already in such a mess because no one could stop them completely, and they would lose their only shield that had been mitigating their losses if Ianna suddenly left. What if they decided to come to Ex-knights? The mere thought of it was dreadful to Ianna.
“I was meaning to tell you this for quite some time, Ianna…….”
Arhad pulled Ianna into him again and wrapped himself around her shoulders. He continued,
“You’re not responsible for stopping all casualties. That’s not even possible to begin with.”
Ianna swallowed back a sudden surge of discomfort. She couldn’t stand herself for feeling so strange around Arhad. But the rage she was directing at herself subsided a little as Arhad, who was oblivious to what she was feeling, continued to speak to her kindly.
“……I know.”
“Besides, there are still people in this world who are capable of standing against Isabella and Shailince if we comb the entire world. We can leave the defense to them while you’re away.”
Ianna learned who Arhad had been referring to the very next day.
“I’m here to do what I need to do.”
It was Princess Angelina Muziniel Roanne.”
Angelina had been like a young girl who was lost in her dreams even during Ex-knights’ founding ceremony, but she had matured a lot since Ianna had seen her last. She had grown tremendously stronger too.
“My Lord Brother asked me to express his gratitude toward you for traveling all over the entire world to minimize our losses, Little Ianna. He also apologizes for pushing all the responsibility on you and His Majesty Arhad.”
Angelina clasped her hands together. She continued,
“Both my Lord Brother and His Majesty Arhad told me that I could help stop the Bahamut imperial family. They’re so scary that I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to, but I promise I’ll do my best. Besides, I’ve grown a lot stronger.”
Ianna looked back at Angelina with worry as the latter balled her hands into tight fists.
Angelina had been doing great things for Roanne recently. She had been growing stronger more quickly than any other as she studied magic under Schneider and Solsavier, the Archmage of Defense, and she had made great feats in minimizing her allies’ losses on the battlefields.
Ianna had heard about Angelina’s accomplishments. But she still doubted whether Angelina would truly be able to stop Isabella and Shailince.
“Did you bring them, Princess?”
“Yes.”
Angelina opened her subspace and pulled out something long. It was something that Ianna was familiar with —Miriam’s, the pope of the Great Temple at Jinzai’s, staff, which was one of the five holy relics.
“The pope of the Jinzai temple entrusted this to me. She told me to use it as I needed and hand it over to you. And…”
Then, Angelina carefully undid the clothing that was wrapped tightly around her neck. Vines were wrapped around her neck underneath like a necklace. She continued,
“The pope of the Great Temple at Roanne entrusted this to me too. He also said to use it as I needed and give it to you.”
The vines were the core of the vines that had been stuck to the bottom of the gravestone on the ceiling of the lowest level of the temple.
“And this is something that my Lord Brother told me, but…….”
Angelina told Ianna about the secret that tied the royal family of Roanne and the Bahamut imperial family together. The Bahamut imperial family could not directly kill any members of the royal family of Roanne —quite the large secret indeed.
Ianna finally learned how Roanne had managed to stand as Bahamut’s equal when she had the weaker military.
Angelina, a member of the royal family of Roanne, was armed with two relics.
But Ianna still couldn’t help but worry. Angelina was far too pure to stand her ground against those two evil women. Would Angelina be able to endure their cruel provocations?
“Please don’t worry about me.”
Angelina shook her head heartily as if she had read Ianna’s mind. She continued,
“I’m not as hopelessly naïve as I used to be. I admit that I’m scared, but I’ll do my best so that you can step away, Little Ianna.”
The princess of Roanne looked so reliable as she firmly asked Ianna to trust her with the vines wrapped around her neck and the staff held tightly in her hands that Ianna was comfortable with complying.
“Thank you, Angelina.”
Ianna took Angelina’s hands. Her hands, which had once been like soft down, were so rough now. Ianna continued,
“But how did you prepare all that and make your way here in just a day?”
“His Majesty Arhad asked me to make preparations just in case you had no choice but to step away, Little Ianna, a few weeks ago when Bahamut decided to start fighting for real. He also told me to ask Their Holinesses to give me the relics in advance.”
Ianna turned to Arhad, and he calmly replied,
“I made some preparations because I knew that it was possible you might have to leave for the sake of your growth. I thought you might need to go into a trance and train your mind after realizing something, or that you might need to go pay Kandemayon a visit in order to obtain a clue.”
Ianna was grateful that he had foreseen her worries and had acted to lessen them. Arhad continued,
“I’ve also prepared other personnel and mages to support the Princess.”
The people Arhad had hand-picked to fill Ianna’s shoes were all rather impressive.
Herrace, Konya, and Taro were in charge of close quarters combat. And Lalatua, Dorcianni, and Silausa, the Towermaster of the Tower of Truth, were in charge of ranged combat.
“Yo, it’s been a while, Lil’ Ianna!”
“It’s been too long.”
They were all gathered together in one room.
“I’m glad I can be helpful to you, Little Ianna. I’ll do my very best,”
Herrace said confidently.
Herrace had been growing blindingly stronger now that he was free of the fragment’s restraints. He had been racking up many great accomplishments at Ex-knights’ citadel as of late because he had not only been training under Ianna for a very long time and had an incredible amount of divine power because Ianna had shared hers with him, but because was also very skilled at controlling his divine power.
“We’ll be workin’ hard to stop them, so go and come back stronger, Master.”
Konya, too, had grown monstrously stronger ever since she had moved to Ex-knights. Not only was she training under Ianna and receiving Ianna’s divine power like Herrace was, but she was also working even harder due to the rivalry she felt against Herrace. Herrace, who had only gotten himself beaten up one-sidedly in the Western deserts, had caught up to her in just a blink of an eye, and now he was even beginning to surpass her. Konya, who was to be next head of the Lion Clan, was even stronger than the current head because she had worked harder as she blazed in her rivalry against Herrace. She continued,
“And I’ve got Titanus here with me too!”
Konya was holding Titanus, Phaemdra’s leaf, in her hand. It wasn’t difficult for her to handle the divine power that was flowing out of it. After all, it felt similar to Ianna’s divine power, which she was already accustomed to.
“You have my full cooperation if it means we can get rid of Bahamut.”
Silausa, who had been ignoring Bahamut until now, had decided to cooperate with Ex-knights because she had realized that the mermaids would no longer be safe at this rate. Now was the only chance she would have at eliminating Bahamut, the terrifying monster from ancient times.
Silausa was holding the flower, relic that she had previously given Ianna. She was able to handle the flower’s divine power readily because she had been watching over it for a very long time and had been through thick and thin with it.
“You’ll slay Bahamut for us when you get back, right?”
There was nothing more to be said about Lalatua and Taro.
The group, which had been brought together under Arhad’s command, had been practicing working together whenever they had the time to spare. It was finally time for their efforts to bear fruit.
“Everything Your Majesty does points to the Truth in one way or another. I hope you’ll share a long conversation with me once all our trials are over.”
Dorcianni, who had been working together to stand against Isabella and Shailince for some time already, was also a member of this group.
“Oh my, why have a bunch of little brats come in our adorable Dame Rise’s place?”
“I think they’re Lady Rise’s friends, now that I take a closer look.”
“Oh? You’re right. Very well, I’ve decided. I’ll ruin you all so badly that Dame Rise regrets ever sending you here at all before I murder you.”
Arhad’s scheme had proven successful.
“You cocky little bastards!”
The special forces unit was successful in blocking Isabella and Shailince. Isabella and Shailince, who had been toying with the unit and attacking with the intent to kill them at first, were growing more enraged by the day.
After all, a bunch of people whom they had absolutely no interest in were nibbling at them. Not only did Ianna’s friends run around like bugs when Isabella and Shailince seriously tried to kill them, but Isabella and Shailince found that they couldn’t even get close to killing them no matter how hard they tried because of both the mysterious aura that the princess of Roanne was giving off and the fact that they also had Arhad’s protection. It was just like how Ianna hadn’t been able to kill Isabella and Shailince previously, and the situation simply repeated itself.
“Fine, let’s do this until the bitter end, shall we?!”
They had even started focusing solely on the special forces unit, unlike when they were slaughtering the masses to grate on Ianna’s nerves.
Ianna was watching their battle from afar, and she made up her mind to leave once she saw that the special forces unit was doing a much better job at stopping the Bahamut imperial family than she had anticipated.
“I’ll be going now. I’ll come back as quickly as I can.”
She needed to hurry. Her friends had other important roles they were supposed to be playing elsewhere. Countless people were undoubtedly suffering in order to fill the vacuums they had left behind.
Arhad took Ianna’s hand.
“Trust me, and just focus on getting the seal removed.”
He planted a kiss on the back of her hand and continued,
“Go now.”
A ripple of love spread from the back of Ianna’s hand all the way up to her heart. But the offensive repulsion that she had been feeling as of late also ate away at her heart alongside the love that she felt.
She could no longer tolerate Roberstein’s seal for making her feel such strange emotions for the man she loved. Ianna nodded back firmly as she walked up to the Teleport spell that Arhad had prepared for her.
Buzzzzz.
Arhad teleported Ianna a short distance from the heart of the Lotso Mountains.
There was a forcefield around the heart of the Lotso Mountains that prevented the flow of mana. It was impossible to use mana inside it. Thus, Arhad had teleported Ianna as close to the heart of the Lotso Mountains as he could.
Crunch.
Ianna stepped over grass and passed giant trees and she continued to walk in one direction. She didn’t need to look at a compass or the sky. She could immediately tell where the heart of the Lotso Mountains was as soon as she had arrived.
She could not feel the aura of life coming from the forest. The Lotso Mountains were quiet because most of the monsters had escaped into the rest of the continent. But that wasn’t the only reason why this forest was so silent.
The forest started looking stranger the farther Ianna walked. The lines and curves that defined the shapes of life distorted and shimmered. The boundary between the forest and sky began breaking down as the lines that defined each separate entity grew obscure. Order was turning into disorder.
At some point, the presences of the life inside the forest grew faint, and a black fog began to take its place. Everything inside that space became the black fog shortly thereafter. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the fog had killed all the life inside it.
A primitive fear and repulsion began to seep up from the depths of Ianna’s instincts. It was like what she felt when she recalled the experience known as death.
A space of pure death.
This was Kandemayon’s, the Chaos Dragon’s, territory.
Ianna lost her sense of direction. The black fog was everywhere. It was in front of her, next to her, above her, and beneath her feet —she felt like she was trapped inside a dark cloud. The fog enshrouded her legs below the thighs, making them lose their form like they had melted into the fog.
It felt like terror itself, but Ianna protected her legs with divine power and continued to press onward.
And once she had been walking for a while.
[You’ve finally come.]
Ianna straightened up when she heard the eerie voice echoing all around her. Then, the dense fog surrounding her began to clump together before her.
The space found its order once more and returned to being a green forest. And the clump of black fog became a part of a colossal dragon.
Kandemayon, the Chaos Dragon.
The dragon felt like the perfect personification of the chaos that Ianna had been feeling from this place. No light passed through the dragon’s black scales. They were so black that Ianna almost hallucinated that they were sucking in the light itself. The dragon looked exactly like the pictures in the books.
Ianna was not daunted by Kandemayon. She straightened out her shoulders and stared penetratingly into Kandemayon’s black eyes.
[It’s good to meet you. I am Kandemayon.]
Kandemayon, the vicious dragon of legend, did not immediately use a breath attack like the legends suggested.
“I am Ianna.”
She had believed that the dragon would not attack her, but she had been nervous and was relieved nonetheless.
Kandemayon’s gigantic figure huddled down.
[Skip the long introductions, and tell me why you came to find me.]
“I have a few questions that I’m hoping you’ll answer for me.”
[Is that so? Then I shall answer you what I can. Ask.]
There was much that Ianna was curious about. All the questions she hadn’t yet been able to solve for such a long time had been layering up like the earth’s soil.
But there was something she wanted to confirm first before she showered the dragon with her questions.
“When were you born?”
[During the Holy Age, alongside Laos.]
Ianna had asked just in case Kandemayon was also one of Laos’ creations, like the other dragons were, but this was not the case. Kandemayon’s reply opened a completely different treasure trove of answers that the other dragons could not give her.
“Then, do you know what happened to Roberstein during the End of the Holy Age.”
[Of course I do. I was always with her, after all.]
Finally. Ianna’s heart began to race with anticipation.
“What is your relationship with Roberstein?”
[I have a deep connection to Laos, but I don’t have any special relationship with Roberstein in particular.]
Not with Roberstein, but with Laos.
“Then what is your relationship with Laos?”
[I cannot tell you.]
Ianna’s nerves nearly snapped at the dragon’s stern answer.
She had heard this so many times before. Disappointment washed over her. Was Kandemayon no different from the other dragons after all?
“Why not?”
[While I’m sure this is a disappointment to you, I, too, cannot tell you the details about Laos’ personal circumstances ‘regarding the Holy Age.’ But this isn’t because I’m being restricted like the other dragons, but rather because Laos requested it of me. Go and hear the details from that rascal directly once you meet him.]
The dragon returned the same reply that Phaemdra had.
Why didn’t Laos want Ianna to know about him? Would there really come a day when he actually came to find her?
Ianna had spent her free day to visit Elly and Nissi on the day she had declared that she would pay Kandemayon a visit. And she had asked them,
“How much longer must I wait, Elly, Nissi? I want to meet Laos. I truly, truly mean it.”
Neither the girl nor the cat had given her a reply. Ianna felt like her insides would explode, but she decided to step back. She could only hope that her wishes had been conveyed to Laos. There was almost nothing more she could ask for as long as he showed up. But, as always, Laos did not come to find her, and Ianna was devastated.
[But, unlike the other dragons, I am able to give you hints or brief answers so long as they do not breach Laos’ request.]
Ianna’s ears twitched. The Chaos Dragon continued,
[You wanted to know more about my relationship with Laos, yes? He and I are two sides of a mirror. We are more similar than any other, but we’re also complete opposites. That is my answer.]
It was like a riddle, but clues could lead to the truth once they were gathered. Ianna was grateful for anything she could get.
“I see. Next, can you please tell me about what happened to Roberstein during the latter half of the Holy Age and how her emotions changed?”
[No.]
Ianna had already known this, but the fact that Kandemayon could not give her even a hint confirmed that Roberstein’s life during the second half of the Holy Age was deeply connected to Laos.
Ianna couldn’t ask about Roberstein directly, so she needed to obtain more hints by asking indirectly.
“You’re called the Chaos Dragon, but what exactly does that mean?”
[All dragons each possess their own special powers. I am called the Chaos Dragon because I possess the power of disorder and death.]
“What are you doing here? Are you watching over equilibrium and the Pandemonium’s boundary like the other dragons?”
[Yes, but there is also something else that I am guarding.]
Something else?
Ianna recalled the words that Kandemayon had left behind in the legends.
All ye who seek the gods’ secrets will die in the fires of hell.
“May I ask what that might be?”
[Laos.]
Surprisingly, the dragon returned an answer. Kandemayon continued,
[Laos wandered through many lives, but he eventually grew exhausted and fell into a deep slumber. Right here, in my embrace. I was watching over the rascal as he slept.]
Laos had lived a very long life during the dawn of the Age of Magic, but then he had suddenly vanished one day. People had claimed that the god that either returned to the sky or had perished.
But he had been here all along.
Kandemayon had spoken in the past tense, however, which suggested that Laos had either died or had woken up and left. The former wasn’t likely, so it must be the latter.
“Then where is Laos now?”
[I cannot tell you.]
Ianna had expected an answer, but she was not given one. Kandemayon continued,
[There is a limit to what information you can obtain even if you continue to ask me these circular questions. So, I will simply tell you everything I am able to. You wanted to know what happened to Roberstein during the latter half of the Holy Age, yes?]
“Yes.”
[Only Laos may tell you about her. Stop wasting your time, and just wait for Laos to finally show himself to you. Besides, even Laos doesn’t know everything about Roberstein’s change in emotions. Only the person in question would know that. And by that, I am referring to your soul.]
Ianna suddenly grew listless and dropped her head when she heard that. She needed to meet Laos if she wanted to learn what had happened to Roberstein during the second half of the Holy Age, and she needed to know what Roberstein had felt. Her future looked dark because neither of those things seemed very easy.
[Is it because of the seal on your heart that you wish to know about Roberstein?]
There was nothing that Kandemayon didn’t know. The Chaos Dragon said something shocking when Ianna listlessly affirmed it. Kandemayon continued,
[The requirement for releasing the seal is for you to accept Roberstein’s goal and embrace the will to carry it out. I will tell you how you may uncover her goal.]
Ianna raised her head back up in surprise and looked to Kandemayon.
[Assimilate with Roberstein. As if you were Roberstein herself.]
Kandemayon’s solution was remarkably simple. Ianna furrowed her brows.
“I’m doing that already.”
[What I mean to say is that you should give ‘Roberstein’ control over your soul. ‘Roberstein’s’ ego will wake up if you completely let yourself go as ‘Ianna’ and follow the trail of your subconscious, and then you will be able to see what she thinks and how she acts after you’ve given her control. You will most certainly be able to ascertain what her goal is this way.]
To wake up Roberstein’s ego and give her control……. It was a question worth contemplating over. Ianna had never even imagined trying to let go of herself completely because she had no way of knowing what might happen to her if she gave Roberstein, who was insane, control.
Moreover, Ianna was reluctant to let Roberstein act as she pleased when she didn’t even know what Roberstein’s goal was. What would she do if Roberstein’s goal was something that she could never agree with and Roberstein went ahead and accomplished it anyway?
[It won’t be difficult for you to wrest back control so long as you keep your wits together. ‘Ianna’s’ heart is complete and is your soul’s current container, whereas ‘Roberstein’s’ heart is not only merely connected to your soul but is also incomplete and fragmented. You will have the advantage because the seal cannot be completely removed so long as the relics are not gathered together. I mean to say that all you have to do is ascertain what Roberstein’s goal is and wrest back control before she can accomplish it.]
There would be no problem, if that was the case. Ianna decided to try it as soon as she got back.
But then, Kandemayon quietly asked,
[Are you planning to meet the requirement and undo the seal?]
“If possible, yes.”
This was why she was going through so much trouble to begin with, after all.
[Let me give you a warning, since it doesn’t seem as though you’re aware.]
Kandemayon’s eyes narrowed. The dragon continued,
[The reason why you aren’t able to undo the seal is because Roberstein’s goal is inconsistent with your ego.]
“I’m aware of that.”
[And unilaterally meeting the requirement is to declare that you will bend your will and prioritize Roberstein’s. It is the same thing as admitting defeat.]
“……!”
[It is difficult for a reed to stand back up before the coming storm if it already been bent once. Your soul would grow much closer to Roberstein’s ego the very moment you fulfil the requirement and undo the seal. You would be crushed, and you would have to push back Roberstein’s powerful ego and take back control in that state. Roberstein will claim possession of your body and soul otherwise.]
The dragon’s words were chilling, but Ianna resolved herself nonetheless.
“I can win.”
[Can you? Both ‘Ianna’ and ‘Roberstein’ will have equal rights over your soul as soon as you undo the seal and obtain her complete heart. Are you certain that you’ll be able to beat her back from a disadvantageous position when you already can’t break her seal by force?]
“I am certain.”
Kandemayon was making light of Ianna’s sheer obstinacy. Ianna never lost when it came to ‘herself.’ Ianna was obsessed with her current life, and her obsession would never yield to Roberstein.
[Even if you do prevail, Roberstein’s ego will continue assaulting you for the rest of your life so long as you aren’t able to suppress her completely.]
“I can suppress her.”
[Let us assume that you can. But what will you do if the requirement for undoing the seal is something that you’ll never allow? What if her goal is to destroy the world, for example?]
Kandemayon promptly pointed out the weak spot in Ianna’s argument. The dragon continued,
[Will you allow yourself to be defeated even still?]
The blood drained from Ianna’s face. She felt like she had lost hold of the solution and dropped it into a bottomless pit as soon as she had found it. When Ianna didn’t reply, Kandemayon slowly continued,
[If you cannot allow it, then you have no choice but to keep fighting, like what you’re doing now, and break open the seal by force. Roberstein’s ego will not awaken even after you obtain her heart if your own ego grows strong enough that you can break the seal. And she will never be able to hold any influence over your life either.]
But Ianna had visited Kandemayon precisely because she couldn’t do that at the moment.
[You also have the option to persuading Roberstein to agree to a compromise with you after her ego has awoken and undoing the seal afterward.]
It was worth trying, but there was no guarantee that this option would succeed.
[But both options so far are unreliable……. Shall I tell you how to break free from the seal without fail?]
Ianna opened her eyes wide and quickly snapped her head back up.
[With this method, you would be able to live as ‘Ianna’ for the rest of your life without any relation to Roberstein whatsoever. You would exist only as yourself, free of Roberstein, and be able to focus solely on your own growth.]
It almost sounded like a dream.
[But in return, you would lose access to Roberstein’s infinite supply of divine power and the robustness of her heart. You may be able to use your power, but your heart would have to bear a significantly greater burden.]
The price for freedom was hefty. But Ianna, who was furious after recently realizing that Roberstein was holding her back by the ankle, thought it wasn’t too steep a price to pay.
“Please tell me more.”
Kandemayon looked entertained when Ianna didn’t decline the option and replied,
[You would need to burn Phaemdra’s first body, the relics, where Roberstein’s heart is sealed.]
Ianna truly hadn’t expected to hear this. She opened and closed her mouth in silence, unsure how to respond, and thought she might have misheard.
“You want me to set the relics on fire?”
[Indeed. You must burn all five relics. The vines, the leaf, the flower, the branch, and the trunk in the Roberstein territory —all of them. This way, you will destroy both the seal and the heart. When you destroy a seal’s medium while whatever is being sealed is still inside, then that, too, will go extinct from the world.]
“Extinction…….”
[This is the much easier option if you don’t particularly need Roberstein’s power.]
Kandemayon’s subtle voice resounded in Ianna’s ears. The dragon continued,
[Roberstein’s memories and emotions, which are recorded in your soul, will become a mere part of your previous incarnation once her heart no longer exists —just like with anyone else.]
“Just like with anyone else……. Do you mean that others have previous incarnations too?”
Ianna recalled the Akashic Records. The souls of all beings went there after death to rest, go extinct, or reincarnate.
[Indeed. Everyone in the world has previous incarnations so long as they aren’t a newly born soul. But prior incarnations are merely histories recorded in the soul. They don’t influence the soul’s current life once it’s been reincarnated. Actually, this was what Roberstein had originally wanted too.]
There was information that Ianna could not possibly ignore in the words that Kandemayon had let slip —whether intentionally or otherwise. Kandemayon continued,
[If things had gone according to Roberstein’s wishes, then you were never have supposed to obtain her divine power and her heart or remember her memories, emotions, and knowledge. You were supposed to live with only your heart, your soul, your memories, and your emotions as Ianna. But you and Arhad exist as you both are now because everything went awry due to Laos’ stubbornness.]
Kandemayon’s words and Roberstein’s memories gradually began to overlap. Ianna felt like she could finally make a rough guess as to how she had been born into this world.
Ianna didn’t know how, but Roberstein had most likely been aware of the concept of reincarnation.
Roberstein had wanted to die during the End, according to her memories. She had wanted to give up on her life completely, and she had wanted to erase everything about the life she had lived as a god. She had wanted to become someone else entirely if she was to be born again. And if that wasn’t possible, then she had simply wanted to go extinct.
But she had not been able to die completely because of Laos’ seal. Roberstein’s soul had never made it to the Akashic Records because it had been sealed inside the Roberstein Clan’s blood instead. She had been kept vaguely alive until she had finally been stuck unto Ianna’s life.
Why had Laos sealed Roberstein away and made this happen in the first place?
[I digress. Shall we return to the main topic at hand and summarize what you will be able to obtain if you burn Phaemdra’s first body to the ground?]
Roberstein’s ego lived inside Ianna’s ego because Roberstein’s heart still yet existed in the world. If Roberstein’s heart disappeared, then her ego, which was vaguely alive because it was leeching off Ianna’s soul, would also disappear completely. Her will would disappear too, once her ego had vanished, and the seal on the sword that was pierced through the Demon’s heart in Pandemonium would also disappear, making it possible to draw the sword.
A power was an ability that belonged to the soul, so Ianna would be able to continue using it because she had already acknowledged it as hers. Rather, Ianna stood to benefit because her power would belong solely to her alone and would not be influenced by Roberstein.
[But the heart is the medium that allows the soul’s power to influence the physical plane. Unlike a fragment of chaos, a heart belonging to a living creature of the Age of Magic is a part of the body and cannot withstand a power too great. As I told you earlier, your human heart will be forced to bear a tremendous burden once you lose the god’s heart that once shared the burden of your power. And your heart could be ruined, just like that of Arhad’s, who is the present-day Roygen.]
Ianna heard something that surprised her as she was organizing her thoughts while Kandemayon was speaking. She looked perplexed as she looked up.
“Why did you suddenly mention Arhad’s heart?”
Kandemayon seemed to be implying that Arhad’s heart had been ruined because of his power, but this was Ianna’s first time ever hearing about anything of the sort. She simply thought that she was misunderstanding something.
[I meant exactly what I said. Arhad’s heart was ruined because of the burden imposed by his power, and it is now unable to perform some of its intended functions.]
But Kandemayon had confirmed it instead.
“Arhad has a power?”
What kind of power was it? Roygen had never had a power in Roberstein’s memories.
[It appeared much, much later in his life,]
Kandemayon growled, seemingly entertained. The dragon continued,
[Every soul in this world is capable of obtaining a power when it wishes for something desperately, assuming it has enough divine power, and its wish is consistent with the equilibrium that the Balance always seeks. This is a Truth of the world, which not even Laos can do anything about.]
Roygen had never been given a power because his greed was too large in comparison to how little divine power he possessed and because he went against the Balance. And he had stopped wanting a power altogether because he could do everything by himself once he had obtained the power of mana anyway.
But ‘he’ had suddenly obtained a power ‘one day.’
[Arhad sacrificed his own heart to manifest his power, which is nothing to say of Roygen’s heart.]
Arhad had never told Ianna about this before.
……Or, had he?
The homework that he had given her.
Their duels.
The strange ability he had used when he had restored her ruined arm. What if that ability, which consumed divine power every time he used it, wasn’t some kind of special divine art but rather his power?
‘What kind of power is it?’
Arhad had told Ianna that his heart had been acting up ever since he was young. In other words, his power had manifested sometime between Roygen’s life and Arhad’s current life.
But, when exactly?
And what had he wanted so desperately that he had obtained his power?
Ianna clenched and unclenched her hands.
She felt uneasy —like she both about to grasp it and let it slip between her fingers, like she was curious but didn’t want to know, like it was a riddle that intrigued her but she didn’t want to solve.
Ianna couldn’t organize anything because her mind was in such chaos, but she still asked,
“When exactly did his power manifest?”
[Who could say?]
Kandemayon avoided answering. The dragon continued,
[But I am certain that this isn’t the important issue at hand. Shouldn’t you resolve your issue with Roberstein first?]
The dragon was right. It didn’t matter whether Ianna knew what Arhad’s power was or not because he could never use it anyway if it was bad for his heart. She needed to focus on her own growth for now. And so, Ianna did her best to push her questions to a corner of her mind. Kandemayon continued,
[I have told you every method that I know. The choice is yours to make.]
Kandemayon had opened up a new path before Ianna.
‘I should start by figuring out what Roberstein’s goal is.’
It wouldn’t be too late to decide after that.
[Personally, I want to recommend that you burn the relics. After all, you will need to struggle against Roberstein constantly so long as her heart still exists.]
Kandemayon seductively touched Ianna’s soul. The dragon’s chaos turned everything into disarray. Even people’s wills.
Ianna bit down hard at her lip. Burning the relics would be her option of last resort. Putting aside the fact that she would lose access Roberstein’s powers, she was also loath to set Phaemdra aflame. The thought of simply erasing Roberstein’s existence for expediency’s sake because she couldn’t beat back Roberstein’s stubbornness also enraged her. Ianna believed that people should fight to win the things they wanted, and this method went against her idea of justice.
[But that is only what I think —do take the time to think for yourself,]
the colossal dragon said and stood up. Kandemayon continued,
[Go now. It has already been a week in the outside world since you first entered this place.]
Ianna, who had been lost in thought, startled.
“A week?”
[Indeed. Time flows differently here than it does in the outside world. I thought that you might be wasting your time here because you didn’t know.]
It was fortunate that Kandemayon had told her. Otherwise, Ianna might have stayed here and asked the dragon more questions in an attempt to solve even the riddles that she didn’t need to solve quite just yet. The dragon continued,
[I am certain that he knows of this. Did he not tell you?]
It was about whom Kandemayon was referring to.
Arhad had most likely not informed Ianna that time flowed differently in Kandemayon’s territory because he didn’t want to rush her.
He had said that he trusted her. He had told her to take her time because he would safeguard Ex-knights until her return. Ianna wanted to repay the trust he gave her.
“I’ll be leaving now.”
[Come find me again if there is something else you wish to know. And…….]
Kandemayon’s frame slowly began to scatter into the darkness. The dragon’s body was the very space itself where Kandemayon existed. Kandemayon continued,
[I will open up a path for you anytime should you wish to go to Pandemonium. I wait only for the day you finally draw the sword from the Demon’s heart.]
Ianna nodded back, and then she turned around and quickly left Kandemayon’s territory.
[Foolish, pitiful Laos.]
Kandemayon watched Ianna leave for a while before the dragon’s eyelids closed. The dragon continued,
[Let us put an end to our ages-old bet now.]
~~*~~
Ianna ran quickly once she had broken free from Kandemayon’s territory.
She felt like she had woken up from a dream. She could hardly believe that an entire week had passed when all she had done was share a brief conversation. It was practically the same as passing out and waking up a week later.
Ianna continued to clench and unclench her fists as she ran. The lines of her body, which had grown indistinct and had felt like they would scatter like little dots while she had been inside Kandemayon’s territory, had returned to normal. It had been a very uncomfortable experience for someone who lived in the flow of time.
The coercive power that could turn Something into Nothing.
Kandemayon, who was death itself.
‘Is it even possible to kill Kandemayon?’
Ianna pondered over the question and concluded that it was possible. Kandemayon was still a living creature that lived on the axis of time, so there was surely a way to kill the dragon.
‘Could I defeat Kandemayon in battle?’
Ianna didn’t think that she would lose if she fought the dragon seriously, but she couldn’t guarantee her victory either.
They had no reason to fight because Kandemayon wasn’t an enemy, but Ianna pondered this anyway because the dragon made her uneasy for some reason……. Would she be able to protect Arhad and Ex-knights from Kandemayon if, just if, the fearsome dragon became their enemy? She couldn’t help but wonder. The Bahamut imperial family was one thing, but Kandemayon felt truly strange in a way that she couldn’t quite describe.
……Would I really be able to protect them?
But there was no point in asking the question.
She had to protect them against any enemy, no matter whom or what.
Ianna had a clearer understanding of her own goal after meeting Kandemayon.
I’ll grow stronger, and stronger, and even stronger.
And I’ll become a sword that can cut down everything in the world.
A sword that can protect my allies from any enemy, no matter how powerful.
That’s the kind of sword I want to be.
She had to do something about Roberstein’s seal first in order to achieve this. She couldn’t achieve anything as she was now, much less eliminate the Bahamut imperial family.
Ianna promptly contacted Arhad.
[Ianna?]
Ianna felt like she could fly from relief because hearing his voice had confirmed his safety, but at the same time, the unpleasant feeling that had been creeping up inside her for some time now felt even dirtier. She had to put an end to the seesaw of emotions that this insane feeling was putting through. Damned Roberstein!
“I’ve finished speaking with Kandemayon. The dragon told me that an entire week has passed —I never imagined that I’d spend so much time like this.”
[Time flows strangely in Kandemayon’s territory. Were you able to share a full conversation?]
Ianna activated the Teleport spell in her ring instead of replying. Their rings made it possible to teleport to wherever the other was.
“Arhad!”
“You’re here.”
Arhad opened his arms when Ianna appeared out of the blue. He continued,
“I missed you.”
The deep affection dying his features made it obvious that he had missed Ianna dearly. It made Ianna pity and adore him so much. Oh, I can’t live without this man anymore. I like him so much. Ianna hugged Arhad tight and kissed him. Who cared about the strange emotions that Roberstein was triggering? —Ianna wanted to kiss Arhad.
Ianna only broke free after satiating her greed. She regained her ability to reason and grew puzzled as she looked around.
“Why are you in the castle?”
Arhad, who was supposed to be hunting down Taylon, was presently inside the castle.
“There’s been a bit of a problem. There was an attack on Eiji a few days back.”
“On Eiji?”
Ianna’s heart skipped a beat, but Arhad’s composure told her that they had been able to block the attack and that Eiji was all right. She continued,
“Who attacked, and how? Is that even possible?”
The room where Eiji was sleeping was under Arhad’s thorough protection. There were also elite knights guarding the entrance. Only the Bahamut imperial family was capable of penetrating the castle’s defenses.
“The empress dowager of Bahamut came here in person.”
And sure enough, it had been the empress dowager who had attacked.
The situation had gone down as thus. Shailince had noticed that Dorcianni teleported to where Eiji was during her brief respites from battle and had kept her eye on the coordinates.
And then Dorcianni, who had been grating at Shailince’s nerves to begin with, had truly managed to wound the empress dowager’s pride that day. Dorcianni called Shailince things like ‘old hag’ on a usual basis, but this had happened while Ianna was away.
Shailince was always prepared to kill Eiji, and she had teleported to the coordinates she had memorized beforehand as her anger finally got the better of her and she raged about finally murdering them both. Her personal knight order, which had been on standby, was teleported over with her. Taylon had also helped support her spell.
And, surely enough, the coordinates had brought her close to Eiji’s room. But Shailince could not breach the room because it was under Arhad’s protection. Thus, she had tried to kill others inside Ex-knights’ royal castle instead.
“Were there any deaths?”
“No —only a few injured.”
This surprised Ianna. The empress dowager herself, along with her personal knight order, had invaded the castle, so how had no one died? Arhad continued,
“Our soldiers aren’t your run-of-the-mill soldiers either. It also helped that the people who had been engaging Isabella and Shailince in your absence came back immediately. Herrace, in particular, really did his best while you were away. He stopped most of the attack by himself.”
Ianna was relieved to hear that.
She recalled the good and righteous light in Herrace’s eyes in her relief. He had said that he wanted to be helpful to her, and he was absolutely playing his part as one of Ex-knights’ core forces.
“Everyone is bedridden now as a result, but I’m sure they’ll recover soon now that you’re back.”
Of course they would. Ianna planned to find them as soon as she had finished speaking with Arhad.
“And our enemies?”
“I abandoned my pursuit of Taylon and returned to the castle as soon as I heard the news, and they all fled upon my arrival.”
Ianna could understand why Arhad had returned to the castle. But he probably had yet another reason for having stayed here. Arhad pressed hard against his forehead as Ianna waited for him to continue.
“Taylon quickly devoured an entire kingdom to the South while I was maintaining the situation here, and he declared a one-on-one war against our kingdom.”
Taylon did not intend to touch another country in the meanwhile. But he had also cautioned other countries to lay low because he would focus Bahamut’s attacks on them first if they tried to aid Ex-knights.
The smaller and mid-sized countries had immediately accepted Taylon’s proposal as a matter of course. It was in their best interests to stay out of a battle between goliaths. They knew that they would be next should Ex-knights fall, but they had no choice if they wanted to keep existing in the immediate.
“Isabella and Shailince regrouped with Taylon. They still intend to stick to their plan of avoiding us and slaughtering our armies. That’s why I decided to stay in the castle and prepare for the coming battle too.”
“This is quite the problem indeed.”
Ianna thought that she needed to visit the citadel and study the situation there as soon as she was done seeing her friends.
“I wanted to be done with this conversation after I welcomed you back, but……. What did Kandemayon say, Ianna?”
Ianna explained her conversation to Arhad in detail without hiding a thing and also confessed the full extent of her plans. Once she was done, Arhad said,
“So you want to try becoming Roberstein altogether.”
Arhad didn’t seem too happy about her plan, as Ianna had expected, judging by the faint wrinkle that had appeared on his brow.
“Yes. I’m planning to start trying today. I need time to concentrate.”
“It’ll be difficult for you to concentrate because the situation is in chaos right now, so I’m wondering if it might be better for you to go to one of the four corners instead.”
“No. I can’t do that. I need to be able to intervene immediately if Ex-knights is in danger. I’ll sequester myself in the castle basements and try from there.”
“I see.”
Arhad had only seemed displeased initially, and his expression had cleared up now. Ianna couldn’t help but ask,
“Don’t you hate this plan?”
“…….”
Ianna squeezed Arhad’s hand when he stared openly back at her. Much of the strange feeling that had been creeping about her heart had subsided after they had kissed. She had been able to completely subdue and suppress Roberstein, who had been trying to invade her will, with that kiss.
Slowly, Arhad responded,
“You’ve been acting a little off lately as a side effect of assimilating with Roberstein, haven’t you?”
Ianna had tried not to let it show, but, as always, Arhad had noticed.
But of course he had. Arhad was extraordinarily sensitive to the changes in Ianna’s emotions. And he was especially sensitive, like he was handling a delicate and fragile artwork of glass, when it came to the love that Ianna expressed toward him.
Ianna had no room for excuse and slowly nodded back, prompting Arhad to continue,
“Of course I hate it.”
Arhad truly despised the idea of Ianna mixing into Roberstein. It was because he thought Ianna might be affected as she obtained more connections to Roberstein.
And, just as he’d feared, Ianna had changed, albeit only temporarily, as she began assimilating with Roberstein. But Arhad didn’t express any of the anxious and morbid repulsion that he would have displayed before.
He grabbed Ianna’s hand back.
“But I trust you.”
I trust you, and that’s why I support your choices like I’ve always done. I will hold the love you gave me close to my chest and wait for you patiently.
Ianna was moved by Arhad’s words, and she grabbed him by the cheek to kiss him deeply. She absolutely did not want to make him sad.
“Please trust me. I swear I’ll figure something out.”
“I know. You’re the kind of woman who always does as you say you will, so I’m sure everything will work out one way or another.”
Ianna smiled.
“Oh, and Kandemayon told me that you had a power.”
Arhad froze up for a moment.
He only began to relax again after Ianna had explained herself, and he smiled wryly as he replied,
“That dragon has loose lips.”
Though admittedly, Kandemayon hadn’t disclosed the important part.
“I knew it —it has something to do with my homework, doesn’t it?”
Arhad did not deny it and instead affirmed. Ianna continued,
“I’ll need a little more time to think about what exactly your power is.”
Ianna took a step back.
“I do want to just ask, but this is a match between us, and you won’t be able to use your power for this war anyway.”
“You hit right where it hurts. Take all the time you need.”
Ianna committed the fact that Arhad had been visibly shaken to memory. Arhad’s power had undoubtedly manifested sometime between Roygen in the ancient past and the Arhad of the present……but it most likely meant something incredibly important to the present Arhad too.
Ianna immediately made her way to Eiji’s room after she had finished speaking with Arhad.
Eiji was still asleep.
Ianna sighed deeply in relief and wistfulness, and then she left to visit her friends who were bedridden after their battle against the imperial family. They were each resting in their respective rooms.
Ianna visited Angelina first.
Angelina was resting in Ex-knights instead of returning to Roanne. She was pallid. She wasn’t visibly wounded, likely because she had been properly defended, but she still looked exhausted even though she had been resting for several days, perhaps because she had scraped together every last drop of strength she had in her body.
“Little Ianna? You’re here.”
Angelina greeted Ianna, and Ianna took Angelina by the hand and shared some of her divine power. Warmth began to circulate in Angelina’s pallid visage once more.
“It’s so warm. But I wonder why? I feel like I’m about to cry.”
There were tears welling in Angelina’s eyes.
She felt like she was about to cry. This was something that believers of Laos said whenever they witnessed Roberstein’s or Ianna’s divine power. Angelina, who was heavily influenced by Laos, was apparently much the same.
“Thank you for protecting Ex-knights, Angelina.”
“Was I helpful to you, Little Ianna? I’m so glad.”
Angelina beamed when Ianna thanked her. Ianna stared openly back at the princess and suddenly said,
“I thought you said you’d just call me Ianna.”
That was what Angelina had declared during their last party together in Roanne, but Angelina had continued to address Ianna as ‘Little Ianna’ ever since.
“Oh.”
Angelina blushed. She continued,
“W-w-why, yes, I did, but then I didn’t get to see you again for such a long time. And then you suddenly became the ruler of a kingdom, so I wasn’t sure if I could still call you by just your name anymore…….”
“I permitted it, and you’re my friend —so of course you can.”
“Your friend!”
Angelina opened her eyes wide and brought her hands up to her cheeks. Then, she beamed again while still blushing furiously and pulled Ianna into a hug. She continued,
“Yes, you’re right. We’re friends. You and I are friends, Ianna!”
Ianna calmed Angelina, who was jumping up and down with joy, down and visited Dorcianni’s room next.
“You’re here, Your Majesty.”
Dorcianni, who claimed to have a fast recovery speed, was sitting down while smoking a cigar. Ianna could see the bandage that was wrapped around her flat stomach behind her loose clothes. It looked like she had been stabbed by a sword.
“You should mind your tongue a little more.”
“So you heard? I only wagged my tongue a bit because I was annoyed that I couldn’t kill Shailince no matter how much I want to.”
“Why didn’t you get yourself healed?”
The high-ranking spirits that the high elves summoned couldn’t provide a complete recovery like the spirit kings did, but they were more than enough to heal wounds.
“Because I was pissed.”
Dorcianni was expressionless, but Ianna had never seen the mage be this vexed before. But Ianna couldn’t grow angry with her because she understood why Dorcianni was so frustrated.
Ianna treated Dorcianni, scolded her a little, and left her room. She visited Herrace’s room next.
“Oh, Little Ianna!”
Herrace was still in bed as he waved to her like a puppy wagging his tail. He was exhausted and could not sit up. Elly, who had been sitting next to him with Nissi in her arms, grabbed the cat’s front paw and waved too.
Ianna walked up to Herrace.
“Thank you.”
She had cut out everything else, but Herrace had been with Ianna for a long time and immediately understood what she wanted to say.
“It was something that I already had to do anyway. Was I helpful to you, Little Ianna?”
“Of course you were. You’re always a huge help to me.”
A slight fever entered Herrace’s features.
“I’m glad to hear it. I’ll keep working hard so I can be a source of strength for you, Little Ianna.”
Ianna visited every last person who was bedridden, thanked them, and helped them recover.
Then, she quietly visited the western citadel once she was finished.
She stood at the very top of the citadel and glared at the swarm of Bahamut soldiers. The entire situation was urging her to grow stronger quickly so that she could finally kill the Bahamut imperial family.
Ianna secluded herself in the castle basements as soon as she had returned to Semastair. She sat down with her back straight, cast aside any lingering attachments she had for her body, and focused solely on each and every Line of her soul.
What is it that you want so badly that you keep clashing with me?
Why don’t we settle this once and for all? I’ll at least listen to what it is that you want.
‘So, wake up.’
Ianna cleared her consciousness and let herself sink into unconsciousness.
~~*~~
A full-scale war broke out between Bahamut and Ex-knights the very next day.
Powerful figures from the Alliance came to aid Ex-knights now that their own countries were out of immediate danger. They couldn’t act on the national scale, but they formed a reinforcement army for Ex-knights and fought under Arhad’s command. Bahamut paid them no heed because they were aiding Ex-knights as individuals.
There were a lot of casualties because this was a war between those who charged blindly forward like rabid dogs and those who could not escape the former’s fangs.
The battle didn’t conclude in just one day and continued on.
Crash!
Craaaash!
There were aspects of the battle that drew everyone’s attention despite all the fighting around them. Two blackish auras were clashing furiously against each other. The people watched Arhad and Taylon fight and learned what kind of power the people who stood at the peak of strength possessed.
Taylon’s opponent was, naturally, Arhad. Taylon was constantly trying to escape the battle to avoid fighting Arhad, but Arhad had already caught him by the tail once and did not let go, which drastically limited Taylon’s ability to avoid him.
Arhad attacked his enemy army ferociously even as he guarded himself against Taylon and defended his allies when they were in danger. He was so skilled that it was almost as if he had dozens of bodies.
“Whoaaaa!”
The people of Ex-knights had known that Arhad was strong, but this was their first time witnessing the full extent of his strength properly. The Ex-knights army shivered before her master’s might and fought even harder.
Ianna was absent from the battlefield, but this didn’t affect the tides of battle too much because the cream of the crop from their allied countries had come to assist in their individual capacities.
But their losses only continued to pile up because it wasn’t easy to respond to the dizzying attacks that Bahamut was launching after having prepared them for such a long time.
The Ex-knights army naturally sought Ianna.
Where on earth was Ianna, the heart of Ex-knights and their goddess of war?
~~*~~
Ianna was currently unconscious, and both her and Roberstein’s egos were asleep. Roberstein did not awaken even though Ianna had purposely made room for her. Her time was still at pause.
But then, the castle grew noisy.
The clashing of weapons, the buzzing of magic and fortifications, the screaming of the people —the noises echoed all the way down to the depths of the castle basements and reached her ears.
Her hand twitched.
She opened her eyes.
Two egos woke up simultaneously and awakened in one body.
Ianna had awoken because Ex-knights was in danger, and Roberstein had awoken because of the duty she had tenaciously been adhering to.
“…….”
She was presently in a vague state of being where she didn’t know whether she was Ianna or whether she was Roberstein. She was in a haze, as if she had just woken up from a deep slumber, and she staggered as she stood up.
She stepped outside the castle, and the cruel battlefield spread out before her eyes.
Ianna saw that Ex-knights was suffering, and Roberstein saw a reenactment of the last days of the Holy Age.
The relics began resonating furiously as soon as she appeared.
It was like they wanted her to hurry up and gather them together.
Like they wanted her to take them.
Or perhaps, like something was telling her to throw away her feeble heart and take it back.
But she ignored the ardent call of her heart, which was sealed inside the relics. Instead, she was drawn to where two great powers were clashing.
Poow!
Ianna took up Rise and slaughtered the Bahamut soldiers that had been tormenting Ex-knights.
Buzz…….
Rise appeared to be uncomfortable in her hands, for some reason. It was not in complete harmony with her like it normally was, as if it, too, was confused about whether she was truly its master. But it still moved in accordance to her will nonetheless.
And so, she moved forward while sweeping through the mess of the battlefield. A wide path was made before her.
Arhad and Taylon, who had been exchanging heavy blows, both turned to her immediately. Both of their hands stopped in their tracks.
“Oh, Dame Rise. You’re finally here.”
Taylon called out to her in welcome.
She didn’t reply and quietly took both Arhad and Taylon into her view.
Ianna felt a dreadful love for Arhad and a dreadful bloodlust for Taylon.
Roberstein also shared the bloodlust for Taylon. But she also felt love alongside that bloodlust.
Ianna was disgusted by the feeling, but she didn’t react and kept her silence so she could figure out Roberstein’s goal. Ianna’s and Roberstein’s combined bloodlust made her red eyes freeze over appallingly.
Craaash!
Ianna sent a fortification flying at Taylon. Taylon successfully guarded himself against her sudden attack, but he was pushed back by its sheer power. Taylon’s lips moistened ever so slightly as they tore from the impact.
“How strange. Something feels different about you today.”
Something was different about Ianna today. There was something different about her divine power when she had attacked him just now in comparison to her divine power that he had observed previously.
It was more alluring, and it pulled him in.
It was more endearing, and it was beautiful.
And he hated it even more.
Taylon was boiling, as if the dark obsession he had been suppressing was about to blow its lid and spill over.
He had always been seething in his greed for Ianna, who was both Arhad’s woman and someone who was probably precious to the Demon. But that was something that was beyond Taylon’s control.
There were three souls flowing inside Taylon’s blood.
Taylon’s, Bahamut’s, and the Demon’s.
Taylon had recently found the heart that Bahamut had hidden away thanks to Bahamut’s memories and power as the latter awoke from inside Taylon’s blood.
That was when Taylon had starting absorbing Bahamut, his progenitor. And Bahamut accepted the fact that Taylon was absorbing him. It wasn’t difficult for him to endure this. After all, this was happening because Bahamut’s ancient habits of enduring and enduring as he devoured powerful enemies had been passed down to Taylon.
And Taylon, who had inherited Bahamut’s dark habits, was enduring even more, including the grudge he bore against Arhad. But right now, his heart was beating so hard that it was troubling him. The Demon’s emotions were agitating all three souls.
“Did you do something since the last time I saw you?”
But a menacing sword wrapped in a crimson aura came at him in the lieu of a reply.
“Ack!”
The relics, which were scattered about, began bursting with a crimson light. The people who had been carrying them startled.
Shaaaa!
The divine power that had been pooling inside the relics came flying out like streams of water and wrapped itself around the sword. But its color was closer to the dark red of coagulated blood rather than the fiery sun.
“Haha…….”
Taylon understood that he was in danger even as he laughed. His instinct contradicted itself and told him that he both could and could not block that attack, and it rang alarm bells in his head.
His heart prickled.
Was this fear? Terror? Rage?
Was this love?
Taylon decided that he had to fall back. He had to, lest he wasted all the time he had been patiently enduring.
Seeing Ianna acting so strangely made him feel as though the time that he was so eagerly awaiting was soon to come. All that provocation was paying off.
“Retreat!”
Taylon’s short command spread over the battlefield like a cloud of dust. His command was like a string, and the Bahamut army, which had been attacking like it meant to devour Ex-knights, was pulled back like a puppet and retreated like an ebbing tide.
“Attack!”
Countless soldiers died as the result of turning their backs to their enemy, but not a single member of the Bahamut army went against Taylon’s orders.
“…….”
Taylon tried to teleport away.
But tears fell from her eyes just then.
Taylon froze up, but he couldn’t know why. It was not his will that was making him freeze, but the Demon’s influence.
Shaaaaaa!
A chain of divine power burst out from her sword and took the opportunity to attack him.
Pooow!
“Kgh!”
It was only after Taylon had been mortally injured that he snapped back to his senses and teleported away.
Whoaaaaa!
The Ex-knights army began chanting Ianna’s name because the Bahamut army had been pushed back as soon as she had appeared.
Ianna Ex-knights Rise!
Ianna Ex-knights Rise!
“…….”
But Arhad was simply looking at Ianna. His hands were balled into fists because he did not dare touch her carelessly.
It was difficult for him to call out to Ianna. He had no way of knowing whether the woman before him was the present Ianna or Roberstein. Nor did he know what he was supposed to do at the moment.
But Arhad finished thinking quickly enough. This was because her eyes had pointed directly to him as soon as Taylon had disappeared.
Ianna felt a deep love as she watched Arhad in his bewilderment. Roberstein felt love for him as well.
But Roberstein and Ianna were different.
Roberstein also felt a dreadful bloodlust for Arhad.
Roberstein reacted the same way to Arhad as she had to Taylon.
‘I need to kill him.’
Kill Arhad?
Ianna could never understand why she was feeling bloodlust for Arhad, nor could she tolerate Roberstein for making her feel this way.
And so, their consciousnesses promptly clashed.
And agony and chaos so great that it felt like her soul was ripping in two, like it was splitting apart, swept over Ianna.
“Ahh!”
Ianna screamed as she buried her face in her hands. She covered her eyes so she could not see Arhad. But Roberstein’s ego continued to force her will unto Ianna now that she had awoken.
The bloodlust that Roberstein felt only grew deeper as Ianna recalled more of the love she had for Arhad. Her bloodlust grew deeper the more she loved. It was worse than it had been with Taylon.
‘I need to kill him.
‘I need to kill him!
‘This isn’t the future that I wanted!
‘Roberstein’s and Roygen’s lives should have ended back then! Our lives should never had continued and influenced the future!
‘For the world, for us, and for ……!
‘I was wrong. But there’s no going back.
‘I need to die.
‘I need to kill him.
‘I need to kill him, and I need to die too.
‘We both need to die, together.
‘I need to kill him, and I need to die! Kill him, and die!’
No! Stop this!
I’ll never do that!
Ianna was still clutching her face as she shuddered.
“Withdraw!”
Arhad put aside his worries and pulled Ianna into his arms when he realized that her condition was serious. The soldiers who had been cheering and the soldiers who had been attacking the retreating Bahamut army grew puzzled when he ordered them to withdraw. But their commanding officers quickly realized that Ianna was acting strangely and promptly turned around and led the withdrawal.
Arhad immediately teleported Ianna and himself inside their chambers in the castle.
“Ianna.”
He hugged her so tightly he almost crushed her in his embrace.
“It’s okay. Calm down.”
But Ianna couldn’t calm down.
“What is it that you want? What can I do for you?”
I want you to love me.
I want you to die.
Ianna hugged Arhad back. She pulled so hard at his clothes they nearly tore. She could not believe herself for thinking that. She wanted to erase Roberstein, the origin of those thoughts, from her entirely. But Roberstein seemed to disagree.
She clawed his back like she meant to rip his heart out. And she took over Ianna’s lips and mumbled,
“I want you to die.”
“…….”
Arhad was rendered momentarily speechless when he was asked to die. But his silence only lasted for a moment. He hugged Ianna even tighter and brought his lips down to her ear.
And then, Arhad whispered,
“Shall I die for you?”
No!
Ianna screamed.
“I’m always willing to die if that’s what you want. I don’t mind even if you pierce into my chest and rip out my heart right here and now.”
……Shall I? Shall I kill you and then die too?
Roberstein smiled in her melancholy.
“But I won’t let you be the one to kill me.”
Why not?
The both of them asked.
“After all, it’s not Ianna who wants me to die.”
Ianna snapped back to her senses like she had been struck on the head when she heard what he had said. The light began to return to her dull and unfocused eyes like a match being lit in the darkness.
Thud!
Arhad pushed their entwinned bodies against the wall. He held Ianna tight as he kissed her. It was so hot that Ianna thought she might get scorched as their noses pressed against each other, as their lips clung to each other with no space in between, as their entire beings were crushed, and she accepted his kiss.
“Look at me, Ianna.”
They both left marks behind as they parted. They stared at each other from up so close that their fields of vision entangled like twinning branches. Arhad continued,
“Who am I?”
It was only then that Ianna could finally see the man she so loved clearly.
“Arhad.”
“That’s right, Ianna.”
Ianna’s consciousness awoke completely at Arhad’s firm reply. Then, Roberstein’s consciousness separated away from hers.
Roberstein thought,
‘I’m going to kill him. For the world, for us, and for …….’
She was the person thinking this, but Ianna couldn’t help but feel like these thoughts were coming from another being entirely. And that was why she replied,
“No.”
Ianna’s and Roberstein’s thoughts mixed into each other.
‘I need to kill him. For the world, for us, and for …….’
‘This is my life. It’s not your life anymore.’
‘I need to kill him. For the world, for us, and for …….’
‘Your world, you two, and your …… don’t exist in this time anymore! What even is ……? I don’t know what that is. Those are all yours. They’re not mine. Arhad isn’t Roygen.’
‘I need to kill him. For the world, for us, and for …….’
Roberstein was acting like a retard who couldn’t do anything but think about erasing ‘everything that had to do with Roygen’ from the face of the world. She closed off her heart and only repeated those words no matter what Ianna said —it was like she had been brainwashed.
Ianna’s will and Roberstein’s clashed endlessly, and they couldn’t find a compromise. Ianna’s head grew feverish. She felt like the fiery rage from the pit of her stomach was about to burn down her brain.
Ianna took Arhad, who was standing right before her eyes, by the cheeks and pulled. She kissed the man she loved on the lips like crazy.
‘I love his man. I will never kill him. I’ll protect him from any enemy, no matter whom or what. Even from my own prior incarnation!’
Ianna was the owner of her body, and her consciousness grew stronger. Ianna crushed and suppressed and wrested back control, and Roberstein’s consciousness began fading away like how she had been before she was awoken.
“Hwoo, hwoo.”
Ianna began to gasp for air as she looked to Arhad, who had quietly been accepting her crazed kissing. What on earth had she been thinking when she had rambled so senselessly to this beloved man? Then, she said,
“I’m sorry. I said something insane.”
“It’s okay.”
“But still.”
“I mean it. It wasn’t you who said that. And I quite liked the kiss I got in return.”
Arhad’s lips were torn as he smiled provocatively. A smile leaked out from Ianna too as she found Arhad ridiculous for saying something like that when now was clearly not the time for jesting. Arhad continued,
“Are you all right now?”
Arhad let Ianna out from his arms now that she seemed to have fully returned to her senses. But Ianna leaned back into him and said,
“No, I’m not all right. Please stay with me like this.”
Arhad stood there like a tree and propped Ianna up, just like what she had asked. Ianna closed her eyes and began to straighten out her heart.
Ianna had been successful in suppressing Roberstein’s consciousness, but she had failed to break Roberstein’s will.
‘And now I know for certain.’
Roberstein’s goal in sealing away her own heart.
Roberstein’s soul had awoken briefly from the Roberstein Clan’s blood when Laos’ seal was undone and her heart had been exposed to the world. And she had sensed the Demon’s presence even as she was unconscious.
That was why she had sealed away her own fractured heart, which had begun to go extinct when Laos’ seal had been undone. She had done it so that she could maintain her ‘power’ and her ‘will,’ because she believed that she was the only being in the world who could slay the Demon.
This was why Ianna hadn’t been able to undo Roberstein’s seal. Roberstein wanted to kill ‘Roygen.’ In other words, she wanted to kill not only Taylon but also Arhad as well.
This put Ianna’s heart, which loved Arhad deeply and wanted to protect him, at complete odds against Roberstein’s will. It was only natural that she couldn’t release the seal.
Ianna also understood what she had to do in order to release the seal now. She buried her face into Arhad’s chest as she pondered.
‘Do I have to kill Arhad?’
The adamantine seal shook as soon as she entertained the thought.
This was it. She would need to genuinely resolve to kill Arhad if she wanted to release Roberstein’s seal. She would have to betray the vow she made when she became Arhad’s knight and swore to protect him for as long as she lived. Ultimately, this was something she could never allow. She didn’t even want to assume that she might do this. She could never fulfil this requirement.
‘It’s going to be impossible to persuade Roberstein into releasing the seal.’
Roberstein’s ego was awake now, but she could not think normally because her heart was still sealed away.
Roberstein’s ego was currently harassing Ianna through the records that were left in her soul. That was why she could only think, ‘I need to kill him. For the world, for us, and for ……,’ in repeat. Roberstein’s time was essentially paused, and it was difficult to persuade her in this state.
‘And it’ll be difficult to force her to bend to my will too.’
Slaying the Demon was something that Roberstein had given up her dreadfully deep love for Roygen and her eternal life to accomplish. Her terrible Idea, which had withstood both parting and death, was dizzyingly powerful, sturdy, and had no openings whatsoever. Was this something that Ianna could possibly break in a short amount of time?
Bahamut was pointing a blade at the people who were precious to Ianna, and she was running out of time.
“…….”
Roberstein continued to repeat herself, like she was trying to brainwash Ianna, and told Ianna to kill Arhad even as she stood in his embrace. Roberstein’s ego was awake now, and it refused to fall back asleep no matter how much Ianna suppressed and suppressed it. And this would only continue so long as Ianna was unable to suppress Roberstein completely.
‘I think I’m going to lose my mind.’
Ianna, who had been clutching onto Arhad’s clothes, squeezed tighter. His black shirt, drenched with blood, crumpled like Ianna’s psyche was.
Her rage lost its direction and surged up to the very top of her head.
She was angry at Roberstein, but she was also so furious at herself for not being about to beat back Roberstein’s will at once that she thought it would drive her insane.
This was her limit.
Ianna only wanted erase Roberstein now.
She wouldn’t change her mind even if she could break the seal by force and suppress Roberstein completely. How could she possibly keep something so dangerous, albeit latent, inside her when it wanted to kill Arhad and threatened her own ego so endlessly?
The mere thought was ridiculous!
The very idea of obtaining Roberstein’s heart was dreadful to Ianna now. Ianna was finally able to fully understand why Arhad wanted to destroy the Demon’s heart.
Ianna would rather kill and erase Roberstein, who not only held her back by the ankle, preventing her growth, and tried to drag her down into the mire but also tried to sully her precious love too. She could still do well, more so than any other, even without Roberstein.
Ultimately, there was only one path that Ianna could choose. She needed to set the relics aflame and extinguish Roberstein’s heart entirely. It was a cowardly tactic that involved eliminating their duel entirely instead of winning fair and square, but Ianna could not care less at the moment.
“Arhad.”
“Hmm?”
“I will destroy Roberstein’s heart too, just like how you said that you’d destroy Roygen’s heart.”
Ianna didn’t explain herself, but Arhad had already understood the relationships at play through Ianna’s actions.
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
He wrapped his sturdy arms around Ianna and planted a kiss on her forehead. He continued,
“Let’s do everything the way you want to.”
~~*~~
The war against Bahamut had come to a lull. Everyone praised Ianna’s name. Many people had seen how Taylon had been grievously wounded by Ianna’s attack.
Meanwhile, Ianna visited Phaemdra in the Great Forest of Shaob.
[Hello, Ianna,]
Phaemdra greeted her calmly. The tree continued,
[Your soul is so rigid right now. And you feel different from usual. It’s making me nervous. What happened?]
[I’ll keep it short.]
Ianna was uncomposed, and she immediately explained the situation to Phaemdra as soon as she plopped down. She continued,
[Phaemdra, I’m going to burn your first body —the relics in which Roberstein’s heart is sealed.]
Phaemdra flinched and shuddered. And when Phaemdra, the parent to all flora, was shaken, all the plant life in the area shivered as well.
[I’m sorry. But I think I’m going to need to get rid of your first body and your old friend. Will it hurt you if I burn your body? Will it affect you in any way? But I’m hoping that you’re bear it for me. Please.]
Ianna didn’t exactly want to do this either. She especially didn’t want to burn Phaemdra’s trunk back in the Roberstein lands. It had been her one and only refuge in her past life and in this life as well before she had met Arhad. It was her friend and her cherished memory.
But she had to give up on it. She had taken the time to try and break Roberstein’s seal before visiting Phaemdra today, but she hadn’t succeeded.
[I don’t mind if you burn it. Nothing will happen to me as long as my soul isn’t in it.]
She welcomed Phaemdra’s reply.
[But will you be okay, Ianna?]
the tree asked hesitantly. It continued,
[Won’t it hurt you? Won’t you regret it? I’m more worried about you.]
Phaemdra could tell how fatigued and stressed Ianna was just by looking directly at her soul. Ianna was unstable, just like she had been in the past when she hadn’t known what to do with herself because of the sense of defeat she felt.
[I’ll be all right,]
Ianna thought.
She was blinded in her fury for Roberstein.
[In any case, I’ll assume that you’ve given me your consent.]
She was going to go and burn Roberstein’s heart at once now that she had been told that nothing would happen to the present Phaemdra.
~~*~~
Ianna packed Phaemdra’s vines, leaf, branch, and flower and made her way to the Roberstein lands.
“…….”
She was wrapped tightly in her robes as she blended into the crowd of people gathered in front of the gates to the territory.
She stood there quietly as she looked up at the flag that was fluttering over the ramparts. She had arranged everything when she left so that she would never have to come back her again, and yet here she was.
The Roberstein lands were prospering despite the mess that the rest of the world was in. She was doing much better than her neighboring lands.
This was because of all the same reasons as before, of course.
The first reason was that the Roberstein lands were located deep within Roanne territory, so it would be difficult for enemy forces to invade unless they had already breeched deep inside the kingdom.
The second reason was that the Roberstein lands were located directly beneath the heart of the Lotso Mountains, and it was difficult for most monsters to attack the Roberstein lands because doing so required crossing through the territories belonging to the more powerful monsters and the dragon that inhabited the heart of the Lotso Mountains.
A Gate had been opened in the Roberstein lands as well when Bahamut had first started infringing upon the rest of the continent, but she had hardly suffered any casualties. Something about how the monsters had indeed poured out from the Gate, but they had taken fright as soon as they crossed over and quickly scurried to other lands?
And so, it was recently rumored that the Roberstein lands, which had always been a target of its neighboring lands’ envy, had been blessed by the gods.
The Roberstein lands had been like this in Ianna’s past life as well. Ianna had personally returned the county to the crown, and the kingdom had dispatched someone to manage the county at Ianna’s demand, but the county had remained unscathed even though there had been no military force to defend it.
“The Roberstein lands have become so overpopulated as of late that I’ve heard that you need to meet some very complicated requirements in order to be allowed inside.”
“If only we could get in…….”
People who wanted somewhere safe to live were gathered in front of the gates to the Roberstein lands. Even people from lands that hadn’t suffered all that much as of yet had slipped away in order take refuge here.
According to the rumors, there were even some greater nobles, who had only been able to get a taste of the Roberstein lands previously because they did not dare touch one of the Five Founding Houses, who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to get their hands on the county. House Owen had fallen, so why couldn’t House Roberstein be felled too? Eiji had informed Ianna a while back that, while the other nobles couldn’t mobilize their troops against House Roberstein openly, some were already beginning to lay traps.
It made Ianna reconsider why everyone wanted the Roberstein lands so badly, why the Roberstein lands were so safe.
She pulled out a map and confirmed the Roberstein territory’s location. The county’s geographical peculiarities were easy for her to spot now that she knew about Phaemdra’s secret.
The world had stretched out its roots with Phaemdra at its center at the beginning of the Holy Age. In other words, the hill with Phaemdra’s trunk was the very center of the continent.
And the hill branched out directly south from the heart of the Lotso Mountains —where Kandemayon, the Chaos Dragon, was. The Lotso Mountains, the continent’s backbone which had not existed during the Holy Age, spread out around the hill like the mountains were safeguarding it.
And the Roberstein lands were located around the hill.
The Holy Book stated thus:
There was nothing left in the End.
Only one mission was given to Laos, who stood alone —the mission to recreate the fallen world.
The first thing he did was to erect a large mountain range across the Demon’s heart with Phaemdra at its center and steady the unbalanced world.
People said that Laos had erected the Lotso Mountains to block the Demon’s malice and rebalance the world because they did not know what Phaemdra was. This technically wasn’t untrue, but Ianna had to reconsider this passage because she knew what Phaemdra was now.
The token of Roberstein’s promise with Roygen.
The medium in which Laos had sealed away Roberstein’s heart.
Had protecting Phaemdra’s trunk been one of the reasons why Laos had erected the Lotso Mountains? Kandemayon had probably been keeping a tight leash on the monsters who called the heart of the Lotso Mountains home so that they couldn’t get near the trunk.
But if this was true, then the Roberstein lands would become no different from its neighbors after today.
Ianna slipped past the gates like a ghost. No one at the gates noticed her presence.
Ianna promptly made her way to the hill. The path leading to the trunk was so familiar to her that she could walk it with her eyes closed.
She walked through the dense forest for a while before she could finally see light filtering in from afar. She quickened her pace until she finally reached the light.
Shaaaaa…….
The wind pressed down upon the grasses and flowers and rippled far away like a wave.
This was the one and only place that hadn’t changed as it awaited Ianna’s return —it was like time itself had stopped here. Ianna stood there for a long time as she slowly took in the scenery and closed her eyes. Then, she summoned Kagomyne.
[Oh, this is…! I missed this place!]
Kagomyne began prancing around cheerfully as soon as he was summoned. Ianna watched over him for a while, and when he gently landed on top of Phaemdra’s trunk, she said,
“Will you please do me a favor, Kagomyne?”
[Yeah, sure!]
Ianna placed the relics she had brought on top of the trunk.
They had been gathered together for the first time since they had been scattered. The divine power flowing out from them came together and resonated. The heart that had been sealed inside them hadn’t quite been made one and whole yet, but it began beating as it if had.
Her soul stirred.
Frigidly, Ianna continued,
“I want you to burn all of this. Everything, including the trunk and its roots beneath you.”
[Hmm? Huh? Huh?! W-what did you say?]
Kagomyne tilted his head to the side at first, as if he hadn’t been able to understand what Ianna had asked, before he jumped up in his surprise. He continued,
[Are you……serious?]
“Yeah.”
Kagomyne dropped his jaw in shock.
[But this is Phaemdra’s body.]
“I know. But Phaemdra said it’s all right.”
[And Roberstein’s heart is sealed inside. Anything that’s been sealed will disappear too if its medium vanishes.]
“That’s why I want to burn it.”
[But why? You won’t be able to obtain more divine power or use your ability safely anymore once you burn this. Didn’t you need Roberstein’s powers because of Bahamut?]
“It’ll be all right. Please burn everything to the ground.”
Kagomyne’s eyes swam nervously.
[But Ianna……everything here is dyed heavily in your affection. Isn’t this place important to you?]
Kagomyne was right. Roberstein needn’t be a part of the equation —this place had long since been Ianna’s precious refuge. But…
“Please burn it, Kagomyne.”
[Mmm. If that’s what you want…….]
Kagomyne quivered, and flames suddenly fell from his eyes. But the flames extinguished as soon as they touched the trunk. Then, Kagomyne said,
[I can’t. It might be nothing more than its old body, but I still can’t bring myself to burn Phaemdra, Ianna…….]
Kagomyne’s eyes were pleading as he looked back at Ianna. Flames were welling in his eyes like tears.
Ianna had called Kagomyne here because he had hoped that he could burn everything cleanly to the ground with divine power, but she had been shortsighted. She didn’t want to torture him.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just been so busy. But I need to burn all of this, no matter what. You can go back.”
[Do you absolutely have to……?]
Kagomyne was afraid as he stared directly back at Ianna. Her will was solid, but her soul was so unstable. He continued,
[No, I don’t want to. I want to stay with you, Ianna.]
Kagomyne could not bear to leave Ianna behind when her condition was so strange. He jumped down from the trunk and began pacing around Ianna because he didn’t know what else to do.
Ianna pulled out a flame artefact marble that she had brought with her just in case. An ultimate spell that could absorb mana endlessly and ignite a colossal flame that would never extinguish had been inscribed into it.
It was a single-use artefact that Arhad had manufactured for her. The spell had been created with Arhad’s will and divine power, and it was so powerful that even Ianna could not easily break through it. Ianna had asked Arhad to make it this way just in case Roberstein interfered and tried to make her take back her choice.
Buzzzzz…….
The marble was dyed crimson as soon as she imbued it with mana. The marble began to keep devouring mana, in accordance to Arhad’s will, even without Ianna’s control once it had started.
Everything would be over once she threw the marble, it shattered, and the flames ignited.
Ianna did not hesitate.
Swish!
But then, someone suddenly grabbed her wrist from behind.
Ianna was alarmed —she had been certain that she and Kagomyne had been alone— and turned around.
And she opened her eyes wide.
Standing behind her was someone whom she had never even imagined she would find here.
A young man whose appearance was entirely blue.
Her older half-brother.
Harchen Roberstein.
“How…are you here?”
All sorts of questions began sullying Ianna’s mind, which had been filled cleanly with only her single resolve to burn everything to the ground.
She was certain that she hadn’t felt anyone nearby. Ianna may not have been in her right mind, but there was still no way that she would have failed to notice Harchen, a mere civil official.
But no —the bigger question was how he was even here to begin with. No one could enter this place without Ianna’s permission, and no one even knew about this place. So, how was Harchen here right now? And with such timing too.
“Don’t do this, Ianna.”
The complicated thoughts in Ianna’s mind turned white at Harchen’s words.
And a blaze began raging inside her.
“……Please let go.”
But Harchen did not let her go. And like water being showered over raging flames, he tried to stop her.
“Don’t do this. You’ll regret it. This isn’t like you.”
Ianna’s head began to boil when someone whom she had never imagined would be here was getting in her way at the bitter end. Who do you think you are? What could you possibly even know? You don’t even know how I’m feeling right now! Ianna began preparing to break her wrist free from Harchen’s grasp. Harchen continued,
“I’m sure there’s some other way. I don’t want to watch you do something that I know you’ll regret. And…….”
Harchen felt Ianna tensing up and added something else on top of his plea.
“I’m hoping that you’ll consider that child’s feelings too.”
Ianna had no idea what on earth he was talking about. She didn’t even want to know. The only thing she had to think about, to put into action, right now was to burn Roberstein’s heart and erase her existence.
“Let go!”
Ianna furiously brushed Harchen’s hand away.
And she hurled the marble over to the relics, which were sitting on top of the trunk.
Clink!
The marble shattered, and the spell, which had devoured so much mana, activated.
Shaaaaaaa!
Fire began to blaze like it meant to pierce the heavens. Its flames readily swallowed Phaemdra’s former body.
Phaemdra, who had once been a colossal world tree, carried equal shares of the four elements —water, earth, fire, and wind— in its body. It did not burn, rot, or otherwise change just because one of the elements had suddenly grown stronger. But the tree lost its equilibrium and began to burn black once the aura of fire became overbearing.
Both the heart that was sealed inside Phaemdra’s old body and Ianna’s own heart were also heating up. Ianna was drenched in sweat. Her vision grew blurry. She clenched her fists as she gasped out a feverish breath.
‘I’m going to sever you from me completely.’
Ianna planned to destroy Roberstein’s heart and erase her life, just like how Arhad planned to destroy the Demon’s heart and erase the Demon’s life.
‘If you want to die so badly, then do it alone.’
She had been mistaken for trying so hard……to accept, inherit, and understand everything that had never been hers to begin with. If it was possible to separate it from herself, then that was undoubtedly what she ought to do.
‘Just die!’
Crack, crack.
The tree trunk and the relics were swept into the flames. The fire spread along the entangled roots and tried to set the entire land ablaze.
“…….”
Ianna was dripping in sweat as she stared at the burning tree. She felt like she was standing on a red-hot grill heated from the flames of hell. Her surroundings were dyed scarlet, as if the world itself had turned into a sea of flames.
Her vision grew hazier as she sank down.
“Ahhh…….”
She clutched at her clothes.
She felt like she was burning alongside the flames.
She reached out.
‘I need to put the fire out.’
Roberstein’s heart grew agitated inside the flames, and Roberstein’s ego wished to put the fire out from within Ianna’s soul.
But Ianna clenched her outstretched hand into a fist. She pulled back her quivering fist with her other hand and held it tight.
“I won’t put it out. I’ll never put it out.”
Besides, it was already too late. The mana clung to the divine power that Roberstein’s heart was producing and dragged even that inside the fire to fan the flames. It was like she had ignited a bottomless sea of oil.
Crack, crack.
The relics struggled desperately so that they wouldn’t be destroyed. But they were gradually being roasted, and they would reach their limits and be reduced to ashes before long.
Roberstein’s ego slowly awoke from within Ianna as the flames burnt the trunk so badly it was beginning to affect the seal. Roberstein’s paused time began to flow once more.
Piiiii…….
A shrill noise began ringing inside Ianna’s head and wrung her brain. Ianna clenched her teeth and clutched her head because it hurt so much that she thought her head might burst open.
‘I can’t die like this,’
Roberstein thought.
‘Put out the flames. I have to.’
Roberstein tried to wrest control away from Ianna, who was trying to erase her existence, in order to maintain her existence.
‘How dare you?!’
But Ianna flung her aside.
The soul currently resided inside Ianna’s heart. Ianna’s tenacity might not have been able to overwhelm Roberstein’s, but that didn’t mean that she was any less obstinate.
‘You’re nothing more than a past that’s already gone by.’
‘Nothing more than a parasite on my consciousness.’
I’m just going to cut you off for good if you keep getting in my way.
‘Just die.’
‘I need to put the fire out.’
Ianna had assimilated with Roberstein and almost summoned Innis here for a moment. It made her dizzy, but she immediately shut that thought down and Innis did not come.
‘I can’t die yet. Roygen’s still alive.’
Arhad and Taylon crossed Ianna’s mind when Roberstein thought this.
Arhad isn’t the Roygen that you know, you god-damned god!
‘He is Roygen.’
No, he’s not!
‘His soul is Roygen.’
Ianna very nearly blacked out then and there. She felt like her consciousness was about to split into two.
Arhad was not here to support her. But she wouldn’t have relied on him even if he was. This battle was hers and hers alone.
‘I broke my promise, and I couldn’t protect him from the world,’
Roberstein muttered to herself.
I won’t be able to protect him no matter how hard I try.
Roygen will only keep killing more gods.
He Fell……and he will probably die too.
And he’ll probably even end up destroying the future that …… created.
I can’t just sit and watch as Roygen keeps Falling because of the err that the other gods and I committed. I can’t bear this anymore.
I’d rather die.
But I can’t just leave him like that.
And I won’t just watch as …… dies too.
So I need to die together with Roygen. Roygen wanted to be with me forever, didn’t he? We’ll both die completely and start anew. I’m sure we’ll meet each other again even if we die. We’ll meet each other again not as Roberstein and Roygen, but as entirely different beings.
A pessimistic melancholy surged up from within her.
So, let’s die together.
Let’s meet again on the day of Phaemdra’s prophecy, when the new sun comes upon this world, and live happily.
There’s a chance that we might not be able to be reborn. We’ll be punished for a very long time in accordance to the Truth……. But that’s fine too. Roygen, if we can’t be reborn, then let’s be together forever in the chaos. You’ll do this for me, right?
I’m sorry. I’m sorry for deciding this on my own.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I was a fool who couldn’t keep my promise to you.
Her long rumination ended, and Roberstein thought,
‘I can’t disappear like this. I need to die together with Roygen. If he’s still alive and breathing……. Ianna.’
Roberstein finally took note of Ianna’s existence and called her name. Roberstein continued,
‘The world will disappear, and, though you’re so extremely opposed to the idea now, you’ll end up walking down the same path as me.’
‘Arhad isn’t Roygen, and I’m not you.’
‘No —you are me, and Arhad is Roygen.’
‘I’m not like you!’
Was being inflexible and stubborn simply innate to their soul? Roberstein refused to bend her will no matter how loudly Ianna shouted.
‘I need to kill him. I need to put the fire out and kill him at once. Everything will be finally over once I kill him.’
Their thoughts began mixing into each other again. There was no way to tell whether these thoughts belonged to Roberstein or Ianna.
‘So, don’t get in my way.’
Ianna grabbed her arm.
“You stop getting in my way.”
She dug her nails, with which she had tried to claw into Arhad’s back just a few days ago, into her own arm. Her nails broke her flesh and drew blood. Ianna glared at the burning trunk with bloodshot eyes. She continued,
“I’m not you.”
The words that she uttered aloud became her strength.
“Unlike you, I’m confident that I can keep my promises. You failed, but I’m going to succeed. I’m going to protect Arhad from any enemy, no matter whom —even from the entire world if I must. And even from you!”
Ianna began shouting.
“If you’re going to keep getting my way, then just die. Stop trying to drag me down!”
Roberstein’s seal shook viciously. And the flames had finally reached the seal’s core.
But just then.
[Ro.]
She heard Phaemdra’s voice from the burning trunk. She —was she Ianna or was she Roberstein?— was so alarmed that she jumped up.
The astral plane opened.
Phaemdra’s soul was inside the trunk that was wreathed in flames. Its soul had migrated here from the Great Forest.
[Go back, Phaemdra!]
she screamed.
But Phaemdra ignored her and calmly replied,
[‘Laos’ said that he regretted preventing your complete death, Ro.]
Roberstein’s ego was greatly shaken.
[But Ro… The situation may be tangled up in weird ways, but I am certain of this. You died back when you decided to die, and Ianna’s life isn’t yours. Roygen died back then too, and Arhad’s life isn’t his either. The both of you are nothing more than specters of the past that are getting in the way of their lives.]
‘…….’
[Ianna made me a promise. She promised me that she would protect the person she loves. And I agreed to become a token of that promise, just like I did before.]
‘…….’
[I’m really hoping that this promise will be kept. But you need to stop interfering for that to happen. Actually, I’m hoping that you won’t only stop interfering but that you’ll help Ianna too.]
Calmly, Phaemdra continued,
[Ianna is planning to destroy Roygen’s heart in order to protect Arhad. That would also mean Roygen’s complete death —what you wish for. Think about it for a minute. Your goal and Ianna’s are ultimately one and the same.]
‘…….’
[I know what you’re worried about. But Ianna’s and Arhad’s circumstances are different from yours and Roygen’s. This beautiful world is going to soar into its future, not crash into its End. I can see the future, so please trust me. If you still think of me as your friend, then please put your faith in Ianna and watch over her, for my sake.]
‘…….’
Roberstein’s ego fell silent.
And Phaemdra drove in the final wedge.
[For Laos’ sake too.]
Roberstein’s ego flickered off.
And, in that very moment, Ianna had felt it.
The seal wasn’t undone, but it had been greatly weakened.
And Roberstein would no longer try to kill Arhad.
This didn’t mean that Roberstein was bending her will. She had simply been persuaded by Phaemdra and had acknowledged that Ianna’s goal, which involved destroying Roygen’s heart, was in line with her own.
Roberstein still believed that Roygen would bring about the end of the world. Moreover, she did not believe that Ianna, her reincarnation, would succeed. That was why she did not entrust her heart to Ianna completely.
But she would no longer get in Ianna’s way. She would even aid Ianna if Ianna asked. And she would undo the seal too, albeit only temporarily.
And so, she planned to watch over the course of Ianna’s and Arhad’s lives.
“Cough!”
Ianna snapped fully back to reality.
Everything around her was enshrouded in flames by the time she pulled herself together.
[Ahh…….]
Phaemdra’s voice was growing faint. Both its body and its soul were burning. The greedy magical fire was sucking in even Phaemdra’s divine power to fuel its flames. Phaemdra would go extinct at this rate.
“No!”
Ianna immediately poured out both her mana and her divine power.
“Go out. Go out already!”
But the greedy fire would not go out just because she had cut off its fuel source. It would only subside after it had accomplished its purpose.
Ianna called for Innis.
[Ack! It’s a sea of fire! No wait, Phaemdra’s on fire!]
[Hey, hurry up and put it out already!]
Kagomyne, who had been waiting besides Ianna with bated breath, ran over and beat back the flames with his tail. Innis dumped water over the flames. But they were not quick to extinguish.
Kagomyne began hopping around.
[Ianna! Hurry up and call the others too!]
Ianna rushed to call forth the other two spirits.
[Raise your auras —quickly!]
The spirits poured all the strength they had into Phaemdra at Kagomyne’s instruction. The auras of water, earth, and wind grew significantly stronger, and Kagomyne was doing his best to suppress the aura of fire, but the colossal flames were still blazing, though they had weakened just a little.
“Please stop…….”
Ianna reeled as she reached out. One of the controls that Arhad had snuck into the spell activated as soon as Ianna’s will was conveyed to it through her touch and voice.
The fire leaned in toward Ianna and brought its tip into her outstretched hand. If you really want me to stop, then prove to me that you’re Ianna, it whispered as it swirled into Ianna’s fingertips.
The flames were sucked into Ianna’s divine power. The fire grew excited when it confirmed the feeling that was innate to Ianna. And Arhad’s will, which had been its core, vanished.
Whooosh!
The flames scattered as they lost their core, and the fire quickly vanished into the air.
Ianna fell over the trunk, which had been singed at the ends. She breathed heavily as she cried.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…….”
Phaemdra sighed in relief and replied,
[Why are you sorry, Ianna? I was the one who intervened. I’m sorry for forcing my way into your decision, my friend.]
Ianna fiercely shook her head no. Phaemdra continued,
[But I’m glad that everything worked out in the end.]
She could hear Phaemdra chuckling.
[Ahh, I’m so tired.]
The tree’s voice was feeble.
[I think I’ll need to go back and sleep now. I probably won’t be able to wake up for a while.]
Those were the last words that came from the trunk. The spirits kings also hugged Ianna in turns before they went back.
“Sniff.”
Ianna sniffled as she hugged the relics that she had placed on top of the trunk. Divine power was gushing into her as if the wall that had been obstructing it before had vanished.
“Sniff…….”
She was grateful for Phaemdra for intervening so that she wouldn’t need to feel cowardly, embarrassed, or regretful. And she was ever so sorry. Ianna hated herself. She wept as the shame, rage, and relief washed over her. She sobbed for a while. She vigorously wiped away her tears with her soot-covered sleeves. But her tears just wouldn’t stop.
Someone handed Ianna a clean handkerchief as she continued to sully herself with soot and ash.
It was Harchen, who had watched over the entire ordeal.
“Harchen…….”
Ianna didn’t take the handkerchief and stared at him distantly instead. She continued,
“How are you here?”
Harchen’s presence felt so out of place here.
Who on earth was this man?
Harchen’s tone was plain as he honestly answered,
“God asked me to come here.”
Ianna was dumbfounded.
“God……? As in, God Laos……?”
“Yeah.”
What in the world?
“But…how? Have you met Laos? When? And how?”
The god had refused to see her no matter how much she clamored about wanting to meet him, so why had he met Harchen?
The bluish young man before her eyes was undoubtedly the very same Harchen that she had always known.
And yet, he seemed so unfamiliar.
Quietly, Harchen said,
“On that day when your soul implanted itself in your mother’s womb.”
A hot wind breezed between Ianna, who was sitting, and Harchen, who was standing. The ashes, the remains of the grasses that had been burnt, rose up and obstructed their vision. Harchen continued,
“I met God that day, when I realized that I had returned to the past.”
Harchen’s unfamiliar azure eyes struck Ianna’s heart.
“Returned……to the past?”
“Yeah. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, since you came back too.”
But she couldn’t understand. The question, ‘what on earth are you talking about?’ was hammering at her entire mind. She comprehended what his words meant, but, surely, she had misunderstood him because she was a fool. It didn’t make any sense otherwise. Harchen continued,
“I don’t know when you died and came back, but I came back on that day when you killed my father and me. I came back to that day eight months before you were born.”
Surely, Ianna had either misheard or misunderstood.
Harchen……had returned to the past.
Ianna wasn’t able to bring herself to speak for a while, and she stared at him vacantly before, in a quivering voice, she finally asked,
“But how?”
Until now, the fact that she had been reborn was a secret that she herself had known. She could not believe that she had actually been sharing the secret with another this entire time.
“God said that it was actually due to your influence.”
Harchen looked refreshed as he looked back at Ianna, as if he had long since been prepared to answer her question. He continued,
“According to God, something incredible happened shortly after you died, and an entire section of the records of the world’s time was removed. All the history that happened in that section, along with everyone’s memories of it, was erased too. But your soul resisted all that, apparently. Your body regressed, since you couldn’t go against it completely, but that’s why your memories are still intact.”
The ‘reason why she was reborn’ that she had long since wondered about, but had simply accepted and moved on from, was being unveiled to her from the last person she had ever thought might know.
“Time was erased up until the point where your soul implanted itself into the heart of the fetus inside your mother’s womb. But your soul was also flowing inside our —House Roberstein’s— blood at that point too. And it was flowing especially strong in me because I was the latest generation.”
Ianna continued to listen blankly as Harchen hammered the point home.
“I retained my memories because I was affected by your soul. That’s why I remember everything that happened before I came back to the past. ……And that was ‘God Laos’’ answer to the question, ‘How?’ I asked him how this was possible too.”
Harchen answered Ianna sincerely. But Ianna remained silent.
“On that day that I came back, I…….”
He began reciting the tale of his childhood in the lieu of waiting for Ianna’s next question.
~~*~~
Harchen had retained all of his memories and had returned to the past when he had still been just four years old.
He had returned to a moment when he had been playing with a very old toy.
“…….”
He stared at his tiny hand, at the tiny horse toy that he was holding. It had been one of his favorite toys as a young child. It was also a toy that he had put away inside a box at some point and had never looked at again.
Harchen slowly stood up and looked at the mirror hanging in the room. He saw a reflection of his younger self.
Harchen was bewildered. He could not comprehend what had happened to him.
Was this a dream, or was this real?
Was this a nightmare, an illusion, a delusion, or his life flashing before his eyes?
He brought a trembling hand up to his throat. The last thing he remembered was his vision turning upside-down as Ianna, who had hogged all of Schneider’s trust, beheaded him. And yet, his head was still properly attached.
He looked at the desk. A calendar with a rustic design was fluttering in the breeze that was blowing in from the open window. Harchen saw the year that was printed at the top of the calendar.
1496 of the Roanne Calendar.
But he was certain that it had been the year 1521 in his most recent memories…….
Harchen stared blankly at the year for a moment before he suddenly threw his toy aside and began running like crazy.
Mother!
“Goodness, my dear son. What’s with the long face? Did you have a bad dream?”
His mother was alive. She continued,
“Come here.”
His mother, Sarachè, whose very memory pained his heart to the point of insanity like a thorn embedded under a fingernail, smiled sweetly as she spread open her arms. Harchen ran into her embrace and burst into tears.
“I love you, Mother. Please live for a long, long time.”
“Of course I will. I’m going to live for a very long time. I might even outlive you, my dear son.”
Harchen hugged her tight as he bawled. Sarachè patted him gently on the back because she thought he’d had a nightmare.
Harchen was a child on the outside, but he was still a fully grown adult who could take care of himself on the inside, and he calmed down quickly as he enjoyed a cup of warm tea with Sarachè. Then, he roamed around the manor in order to get a better grasp of the situation.
“Hello, Young Master.”
“We have some freshly baked apple pie. Would you care for some?”
He could not find the bloodied manor, ruined by Ianna’s sword, no matter how hard he looked. Everything was peaceful.
“Hmm? Did you have a bad dream?”
“What are you talking about? Ohoho!”
He tried asking around on the sly, but no one remembered the time that had been erased. Only Harchen remembered those frigid days when he felt like he had been walking on top of thin ice.
‘This is a chance that was given to me by God. A chance to make right everything that was wrong.’
But then, what did he need to do? What did he need to do to make sure that everyone could be happy? What did he need to do in order to undo all those ill-fated relationships?
‘First, I need to prevent Mother’s death and make sure that the household isn’t unkind to Ianna while she’s still young. I need to be good to her.’
But that would be difficult. Would he truly be able to accomplish this when he was so powerless?
And more importantly, he despised Ianna.
But he still had to do it. After all, he understood that Ianna had not been at fault when she was just a child. He had to erase his hatred and start fresh from the very beginning.
“I hope you’ll be born soon.”
Lebony was sitting in a rocking chair as she wrapped her arms protectively around her precious belly. Lebony, who had only ever been venomous in Harchen’s memories, was smiling ever so warmly.
Harchen lost himself to his past as he looked at her.
Lebony had been the trigger of the tragedy, but the tragedy itself had been orchestrated by everyone together.
His father, Cherno, had always failed to conduct himself properly, and the people of the household had been so ruthlessly cruel to Lebony and Ianna. The household had been especially cruel to Ianna, who had known nothing at the time. They had ignored her, hated her, ridiculed her, and tormented her. It had been the household itself that had coaxed Ianna into completing the tragedy.
It had only been after he had spent his teenage years boiling in cold hatred that he understood how his household had sinned.
But he had never felt the need to act on that knowledge. Sarachè’s poisoning had been a turning point that could never be undone. Everything had gone downhill after his mother had been poisoned to death.
His heart was still wounded greatly by how his mother had rotted away from the poison right before her funeral. He had understood that something was very wrong in his household, but he did not want to assertively do anything about it because he could not cut away the persistent hatred inside him.
Harchen had become the junior count after he had graduated from the Theodore Academy, and his heart had been in turmoil until he had finally died to Ianna’s sword. He genuinely believed that all the misfortune that had fallen upon his household had been the natural consequence of their sins.
Harchen looked to Lebony again.
‘But I still hate that woman anyway.’
Harchen despised Lebony. He had many reasons for despising her, but the biggest was the fact that she had murdered his mother. He felt both loathing and guilt toward Ianna, but all he felt toward Lebony was hatred. He had always ignored her out of the disappointment he harbored for Cherno, but he could not do anything about the fact that he hated her.
Despite his mild temperament, Harchen had learned a lot of things as the heir to a county. He had learned a lot of dirty tricks as well. And that was why he suddenly realized that there was a very easy way to prevent all the misfortune that had befallen him.
All he had to do was to get rid of Lebony.
Then, Ianna would never be born, and he would be able to rip out the problem from its very roots.
Smack!
Harchen slapped himself in the face as soon as the thought crossed his mind. He must not think like that. Surely, God hadn’t brought him back to the past to do something like that. Heaven would surely punish him if he resorted to such base means.
‘Let’s say that I’ll be able to comfort Ianna —but what do I do about Lebony?’
Lebony was incorrigible. She had let it get into her head when Ianna had started growing famous for her swordsmanship. She had tried to tear House Roberstein to pieces because of the love and hatred she carried for Cherno, who had never looked back at her until the bitter end.
‘Will everything be okay if Father is good to that woman?’
But Harchen erased that idea from his mind as soon as he thought it. It didn’t matter whether he was right or wrong —that simply wasn’t something he had control over to begin with.
This was undoubtedly a chance that he was given, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to do with it.
If only God Laos could give him the answer. Harchen was a believer of the God Laos, so he offered Laos a prayer.
“God, why was I able to return to the past?
“What did you send me here to accomplish?”
He felt like he was lost in a maze.
[Hey there.]
And then, God Laos had really come to him in the middle of the night just as he was about to fall asleep while tossing and turning over countless thoughts.
God Laos was a colorful myriad of somethings.
Harchen could not tell what God Laos was when he met the god for the first time. Laos was simultaneously like an old man, a young man, and a child. Laos was simultaneously like both a man and a woman. Laos was simultaneously like a human, like a beast, like an insect……and like a giant and like an overwhelming monster from the legends.
[I have a debt to repay to the Roberstein Clan. I ignored your will and forced my lingering regrets upon you. I’m really sorry about that. And to you, especially.]
God Laos apologized to Harchen.
He was a small white bird by the time that Harchen snapped back to his senses and looked again.
[I…….]
Laos candidly told Harchen about the burden he had imposed on the Roberstein Clan because of his lingering regrets.
Laos confessed that long ago, in the distant past, there had been a god named Roberstein, and that he had created the Roberstein Clan and used them like a safe in which to seal away her soul because he hadn’t wanted her to die.
He also confessed that Roberstein’s soul would be born again as Ianna.
Laos did not tell Harchen all the details, but he told Harchen enough that he could understand what had happened.
“So in the end, I came back to the past because Ianna died. And Ianna will remember everything too once she’s born.”
[Yeah.]
“Then, what am I supposed to do moving forward?”
Harchen grew extremely listless.
He was no longer the center of his world. He felt like he had become a side character in a story where Ianna was the main character.
[You’re the main character of your life —Ianna doesn’t change that. You can just do what it is that you want to do.]
Laos swept away Harchen’s bewilderment and helped him pull himself together. Then, he continued,
[But, don’t think about killing Lebony no matter how much you hate her, okay? She suffered a lot because of me too. This is a request. And please be good to Ianna too. I promise you that child will change, and that the future will change into a better direction too…….]
“Will it? I find that difficult to believe. Ianna resents House Roberstein all the way down to her bones.”
It hadn’t even been a full day yet since Harchen had been beheaded by Ianna’s sword after exchanging only frigid silence and loathing with her for so long. Harchen touched the cool skin on his throat. He was still frightened and on edge. He continued,
“And I still hate Ianna too. I don’t think I’ll be able to get along with her if she retains her memory of our past lives like I do.”
Harchen believed that he could create a new future with a young and innocent Ianna who didn’t remember anything, but he was not confident that he could do the same with an Ianna who remembered her past life.
Ianna was his younger half-sister who had murdered his parents and devastated his house. And, ultimately, their relationship had ended as murderer and victim.
Would Ianna reject him first even if he tried to get along with her? Would she try to slaughter the entire household again just like she had in her past life?
Harchen began to squeeze his fingers.
Laos flew up to Harchen’s shoulder when the latter began squeezing his own throat because was so repulsed that he slowly grew terrified. Laos brought down Harchen’s hand and comforted him.
[I spoke too thoughtlessly. In that case, why don’t you take the time to think about what you want to do while watching over the situation?]
“…….”
But Harchen didn’t have the leisure in his heart for that. What would he do if his mother died again while he did nothing but watch Ianna and Lebony as he took the time to think, and the situation grew worse than what it had been before?
[I know what you’re so worried about. I won’t interfere with the present unless the worst comes to pass, but…….]
Laos pecked the back of Harchen’s hand. He continued,
[Your clan will finally be freed from the burden that I imposed on you once Ianna is born. You are the last member of the ‘Roberstein Clan,’ so as your reward, I’ll stay near you and prevent the worst misfortunes from happening to your family for as long as you’re alive. That includes your mother’s death.]
Harchen could feel something warm coming from Laos’ beak.
[I promise you this as the god of ‘Law.’]
The god’s promise was like the Truth itself.
And then, roughly eight months later…
Ianna was born.
Meanwhile, Harchen had spent his time ruminating over his past life, introspecting and self-reflecting, and thinking about the future. He had lost his direction because his heart was being shaken like a flag standing in a hurricane, so he decided to do as Laos had said and watch over the situation while focusing only on himself. He could only find the composure to do so because Laos had promised that he would prevent the worst from happening.
Laos tended to show up without warning while Harchen was thinking. Laos took on a different form every day. A puppy, a songbird, a boy, and old woman, and so on and so forth……. Laos took on whatever form he pleased whenever he spoke with Harchen.
One day, unable to best his curiosity, Harchen asked,
“Why does your appearance keep changing? What is your real form?”
“All of them are my real forms,”
Laos said with a sigh —he was currently taking the form of a white-colored boy around Harchen’s age. It was the appearance that Laos had taken when he had created the world, which Harchen had seen depicted many times in temples or in the Holy Book. Allegedly, Laos had been a young boy who had grown up very, very slowly, and he had become an adult at the very last moment before vanishing from the world. Laos continued,
“I experienced all kinds of different lives after I left my believers. That’s why every form you see are all my real forms.”
“Why did you do that?”
“I wanted to know what kind of lives the lifeforms who were born under the Laws that I decided lived.”
According to Laos, the Law was simply the order that nature and life adhered to. Laos had established countless Laws to bring order to the chaotic world. The world became diverse as it moved according to those Laws, and various kinds of lifeforms had been born to live in it.
The most fundamental Law of them all was that the hearts of every being had a finite lifespan. Nothing that lived in the world was an exception to this Law because Laos had decided it thus.
“Why did you set a lifespan?”
“There were too many drawbacks to eternal life. There were a lot of problems that came with maintaining eternal life, and it was generally bad for individuals, for societies, and for equilibrium. So I decided to set a finite lifespan from the very get go.”
Laos sighed as if he was bored and rested his chin in his hand. He continued,
“To be honest, boredom was also one of the reasons why I decided to live so many different lives. It’s very boring to live forever when you’re surrounded by mortal creatures, you see. I only grew wearier as I waited with no end in sight, and I couldn’t even die when I wanted to. I got bored of living like that at some point too, so I slept for a very long time while I waited. Sleeping is nice.”
“What were you waiting for?”
But Laos simply smiled and did not answer.
Laos always came to Harchen to chat whenever the latter’s thoughts about the future grew complicated, as if he somehow knew.
The Creator’s stories were both interesting and grand. Harchen felt like he was growing smaller whenever he spoke with Laos, as if he was simply a speck in the vast universe.
Harchen grew humbler and more composed as he continued to learn just how vast the world was through Laos indirectly. He also grew more devoted to his faith and felt like his god was always with him even if he couldn’t see Laos because Laos always took on a different form whenever they met. He was able to stabilize his heart thanks to Laos’ promise, and he was able to break free from his anguish.
And the decision that Harchen made before Ianna was born was that he would watch over her and adapt to her choices.
Meanwhile, he also had the chance to think about his own future —something that he hadn’t been able to do in the past because he had been too swept up in the circumstances that surrounded him.
‘What do I want to do?’
The Harchen of the past had not carried any fervent desires. He had focused only on his successor classes after his mother had passed away because he hadn’t had the leisure to think about wanting to do anything else, and he had been so listless after he had realized just how wrong things were going in his house that he had stopped taking interest in anything.
And Harchen had no desires in particular even now that he had a new chance at life. Not only had he previously died after living such a bitter life, but he was innately someone who paid more interest to those around him than to himself and this had only become truer now that he had matured a little more.
But there was something that he wished for.
Peace.
He wanted to live quietly while doing trivial things in a time of peace. He felt like he might enjoy reading his beloved history books and researching history, and he also thought it might be fun to observe his surroundings and record the things around him.
He was content to live peacefully.
But would Ianna want peace too?
If only she would…….
On the day that Ianna was finally born.
The mood seemed to freeze over all throughout the household.
Everyone cursed at Lebony and Ianna, who had only just been born. Even though Ianna had never done anything wrong.
The circumstances of Ianna’s birth pained Harchen’s heart even though he was so anxious.
Ianna had been cursed by everyone around her from the very moment she was born. No one had celebrated her birth. Even Lebony, who had been waiting for her daughter to be born for so long, changed violently and left Ianna to the midwife like she was throwing the baby away before whisking off to somewhere.
“Wanna come with me?”
Harchen had started speaking casually with Laos at some point. The young Harchen holed himself in his room and claimed that he was reading whenever he wasn’t taken lessons, but he had actually been chatting with Laos the entire time.
Laos was a god, but he was easy to talk to because he was like any other human being if you took away the transcendental aspects. Harchen had become good friends with Laos at some point.
[Sure.]
Laos was a small white mouse today, and he quivered as he hid inside Harchen’s pocket.
Harchen visited the maternity room in secret with Laos’ help. Ianna had been cleaned up and abandoned there in her baby blanket. She looked truly harmless as she slept.
And Harchen nearly burst into tears.
Why were people so cruel to this tiny baby? Why hadn’t he paid any attention to Ianna at all in his past life?
[That’s because you were just a young child back then too, Harchen,]
Laos said quietly. Harchen knew that. He knew. But he was still sad, and he still felt guilty. The fact that he had only been a child sounded like an excuse.
“I’m so sorry, Ianna.”
He felt ashamed as he took Ianna’s tiny hand. He continued,
“And thank you so much for being born.”
The entire manor was walking on thin ice, and everyone was horribly cruel to Ianna.
Lebony neglected Ianna, and Sarachè sent Isphee to be Ianna’s nanny out of pity for the child.
Isphee.
Harchen suddenly recalled how Isphee had suddenly died one day in the past after being whipped by Lebony. His heart shivered. Ianna truly had not had a single protector to rely on in the past.
Harchen also gave up on the notion of changing the people of House Roberstein. He had recently realized that he was much too young. What adult would ever take the grumblings of a four-year-old seriously? They would only see him as a toddler mumbling nonsense no matter what he said.
“Ianna’s just a baby.
“Stop being so mean to her. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
They grew a little embarrassed in the moment if Harchen spoke up, but everyone continued to hate on Ianna anyway. It was ridiculous how only Harchen was praised whenever he took Ianna’s side and Ianna, who had done absolutely nothing, was only hated even more.
The kind and considerate young master.
And wicked little Ianna for making the young master nag.
Harchen ended up poisoning Ianna’s surrounding even more every time he tried to speak up.
Sarachè, who was the kindest person in the household, was cynical and sarcastic when it came to Lebony, but she did her best to look after Ianna. But the servants hardly ever told the sickly Sarachè about what was happening to Ianna. Moreover, Sarachè’s hands were tied too because Lebony always grew hysterical and threw a fit about not letting Sarachè interfere whenever she tried to do something for the child.
“Ianna has never done anything wrong, Harchen. But I still want you to be careful around Lebony…….”
It was difficult for Harchen to approach Ianna too because Lebony despised both him and his mother.
“Stop spouting nonsense and go read in your room, Harchen.”
Cherno was particularly excessive. Harchen’s normally considerate father curtly told him to go to his room whenever Harchen said that he wanted to see Ianna. Cherno did not even try to hear Harchen out whenever he tried to say something about Ianna. The relationship between Harchen’s parents and Lebony was a sensitive topic between the three of them, and there was nothing that Harchen could do to squeeze in.
And so, Harchen had no choice but to stay away from Ianna. He didn’t really remember it, but this was likely what had happened in their past lives as well.
“This is so hard, Laos.”
[I know. It really is.]
Harchen made yet another painful realization as he watched over the people who refused to hear what he had to say. It had unquestionably been the adults’ fault that his relationship with Ianna had turned out so badly.
Ianna and Harchen had only been young children as they grew up surrounded by the adults’ sins, and they’d had no choice but to follow in the adults’ footsteps. This was why Ianna, who had been starved for affection, had unwittingly put poison inside Sarachè’s tea, and why Harchen, who had grown up isolated from Ianna, had shunned Ianna as he listened to the people around him.
What was even worse was that Ianna had spent her entire childhood, before she ever had the chance to properly develop her ego, being ignored and mocked. This was, plainly, abuse. The hatred that Harchen carried for her in his heart vaporized into dust, and the guilt he felt only grew bigger.
Time flowed.
Ianna was growing up.
And Harchen grew increasingly nervous.
“You’re back, Young Master!”
Isphee greeted Harchen cheerfully whenever he borrowed Laos’ help to visit Ianna in secret. She was grateful that he always came to play with her when everyone else ignored her.
The eight-year-old Harchen watched quietly as the four-year-old Ianna played with her dolls.
She looked normal, but she also looked strange. Ianna ate when she was hungry, whined when she needed something, and played well when she was given toys, but there was something about her that also felt vacant. It was like she was always wondering why she was doing what she was doing, or like she was a puppet being pulled along by strings.
She wasn’t even reluctant to be around Harchen.
“Are you sure that Ianna retained her memories, Laos?”
[Yeah. But only she would know why she’s acting the way she is or what she’s thinking right now.]
Harchen continued to watch over Ianna.
And then, Ianna suddenly changed one day when she was five.
A shadow fell over her visage, and her eyes lost their light. She had no emotion on her face, and she neither cried nor laughed. She stopped acting like a young child altogether, and she started speaking less. She chased Harchen away whenever he came to visit her. Her personality had changed so starkly that Isphee grew worried.
‘It’s finally time.’
Harchen was nervous even though Laos had promised to protect his family. His ill-fated relationship with Ianna was entrenched deep inside his head.
But his guilt overpowered his hatred and fear of her now.
His thinking had solidified over the last five years.
He hoped that everything would go in accordance to Ianna’s wishes.
But he also hoped that the members of his household, as foolish as they were, could keep their lives too. That was his one and only personal wish.
He had decided not to tell Ianna that he remembered his past life too. Ianna would be too wary of him to act as she pleased if he did.
Harchen wanted to be as close to Ianna as possible, but the household always got in his way and Ianna shuddered in disgust at the mere sight of him.
‘In that case, I should send her flowers.’
After all, flowers didn’t talk.
They simply sat somewhere in one’s line of sight and quietly comforted the heart.
Harchen had decided not to meddle with Ianna’s life or the choices that she made, but he did hope to bring what little warmth into her childhood that he could. He hoped that his flowers and the good meanings they carried could comfort her, even if only a little.
“Goodness, Young Master…….”
Isphee was overjoyed as Harchen sent Ianna flowers every day.
Ianna hated it. She even crushed them underfoot or threw them out as soon as she received them sometimes. But Harchen persisted and continued to send them anyway.
He spent three years sending her flowers while watching over her.
Ianna felt like she was a marionette who was trying to act under something else’s control. But she had already lived her life once, and she could not help the fact that she was different now than when she had been a young child in the past.
She had always been chasing after Lebony while fretting in her past life, but she ignored Lebony in this one. Nor did she crave for affection from others’ either.
The people who had never changed no matter how loudly Harchen had yelled began to change ever so subtly as Ianna grew colder. Harchen thought their subtle change was shameless.
And then, that day finally came.
But Lebony did not give Ianna the poison.
Ianna did not put poison in Sarachè’s tea.
Sarachè had been poisoned, but she had survived.
Laos had kept his promise.
And the future had changed.
It was a brand new day, where something that was supposed to have happened had not occurred.
Harchen buried his face into Sarachè’s bed, in which she was lying pallid, and wept.
‘Mother’s still alive.’
Laos had poured a mysterious and pure power into Sarachè and had told him that she would recover quickly. Harchen stumbled over his words of gratitude.
His tears washed away the hatred, loathing, and terror that had dominated his past life. Today was the day of his mother’s death, and yet here she was, alive. The emotions that had lost their cause also lost their purpose and faded away.
And the pity, pain, and guilt he felt toward Ianna stabbed Harchen’s heart like sharpened thorns.
Harchen did his best to be good to Ianna.
But he was keeping secrets from Ianna, and there was something awkward about his kindness because he felt so sorry that he didn’t quite know how to be good to her —in the end, Ianna ignored Harchen and rejected him.
Only time passed as they lived like parallel lines that were destined never to meet.
“Young Master! Have you seen the young Lady Ianna?”
Harchen met Madame Puralsonne, who was hopping mad because Ianna had skipped her lessons. There had been many complaints about Ianna’s poor behavior previously, but this was the first time that Ianna had skipped her lessons entirely. Harchen began looking for her because he was worried, and then he found her while she was being chastised by Cherno. She had a terrible expression on her face.
Harchen approached Ianna as she was heading back inside.
“Are you okay? Did you get in a lot of trouble with Father?”
If you’d like, I’ll talk things out with Father so that you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to. If you’ll allow it, I’ll fight in your stead so that the people of our household can’t insult you anymore.
But Harchen could only look at her, unable to say what he wanted to say because he was afraid that he would end up interfering in her life, and then he realized that Ianna was acting strange today.
“…….”
Ianna didn’t reply, which was quite typical of her, but the mood around her today was boiling and felt like it might explode at any moment. I guess she really didn’t want to take those lessons. She probably won’t like it if I step up too assertively, so should I just ask, “Should I say something to Mother if you hate those lessons that much?” instead?
But Lebony approached them just as Harchen was debating whether he should say that or not.
Harchen left without returning Lebony’s greeting because he hated her. But he didn’t get far before he turned around because he remembered that Ianna had been acting strange, and he witnessed Lebony slapping Ianna across the face.
[Don’t go.]
Laos, who had taken the form of a white rat, tugged at the ends of Harchen’s pants as Harchen was just about to run back to Ianna in alarm.
“Why is Lebony treating Ianna like that, Laos?”
[…….]
But he wasn’t returned a reply. Harchen thought that they were rather close friends now, and Laos generally answered most of the questions he asked, but Laos was always silent when Harchen asked the god about anything that had to do with ‘Roberstein’ or ‘Lebony.’ Laos’ expression always looked terrible too. Harchen had spent a lot of time with Laos, so it was easy for him to tell.
He’ll tell me someday, right?
I hope that he does.
Harchen simply regarded Laos as a close friend now. A special and precious friend with whom he could share everything. Harchen hoped that Laos would consider him a real friend someday too, and that Laos would share his secrets with him someday.
“There was something off about Ianna today.”
Harchen decided the change the topic. He continued,
“I wonder why?”
Laos watched listlessly as Lebony quickly fled the scene and Ianna glared back at Lebony chillingly.
[Ianna hasn’t been able to break free from her past life. And it’s been piling up. She’s about to explode.]
Her past life.
‘I see. So that’s why Ianna looks like she being dragged along by something against her will.’
He had been wondering why she was quietly staying in House Roberstein even though she very obviously hated it. He had found it odd even as he wondered whether she might be trying to get along this time around.
He did not know what kind of life Ianna had lived after she had massacred House Roberstein. But, no matter how she had lived, he was certain that she would not want to make amends with the household.
It was the past that was controlling her actions. Harchen had been able to break free of his past life and the shock of finding himself in a new one easily because Laos was with him, but Ianna had no one by her side.
Harchen felt wistful as he asked Laos,
“Can’t you help Ianna?”
[No. I see. I just can’t.]
Laos lowered his head and crawled inside Harchen’s pocket. He continued,
[……I’m too scared.]
Harchen didn’t know what Laos was so afraid of, but Laos curled up inside his pocket and refused to speak after that. He didn’t know why, but Laos, despite the god’s usual maturity, felt like a frightened young child from time to time.
‘What should I do?’
Was there nothing he could do to help settle everything that was piling up inside Ianna’s heart?
Harchen had mixed feelings and headed out early. He had planned to buy books to read at the bookstore before visiting the flower shop, but he visited the flower shop immediately instead because he no longer felt like reading today.
“Young Master! Welcome!”
“Hello.”
Harchen greeted the flower shop owner and took a moment to pass his eyes over the flowers that were filling the florid display.
“Shall I recommend you some flowers with nice meaning behind them again today?”
“Yes, ple…….”
Harchen spotted a vivid crimson flower in the middle of his sentence. It was his first time seeing it, but he was captivated because it was crimson just like Ianna was. He continued,
“What’s that flower over there?”
“Oh, that’s a nice flower too, but it doesn’t symbolize anything great in the language of flowers. It’s a wildflower called an Adonis.”
“And what does it symbolize?”
“Memories and reminiscence.”
Harchen flinched. The flower shop owner sighed. The owner continued,
“If you trace its meaning back to its original source……. They say that the memories it symbolizes aren’t happy ones, but sad ones. But it’s still one of my favorite flowers.”
The flower shop owner smiled when Harchen stared.
“I don’t have any here, but there is a golden variety of Adonis flowers too. They symbolize eternal bliss in the language of flowers. That’s why I like the Adonis so much. There are times when you’re seized by the past as you reminisce over sad memories, but you beat them back in the end and attain eternal happiness. Everyone has at least one unhappy memory. Don’t you think it’s the perfect flower for comforting someone with?”
Harchen stared at the crimson Adonis flower for some time before he bought an entire bouquet.
“Goodness, Young Master. You’re so early today…….”
Harchen returned to the manor and told Isphee about what the Adonis flowers symbolized as he handed her the nicely wrapped bouquet. Isphee replied,
“I’m always so grateful to you, Young Master.”
“I should be thanking you for always delivering my flowers for me.”
“If only Miss Ianna could see how wonderful you are too.”
“Not at all, Isphee. I only hope that my flowers will give her some comfort, even if only a little. Oh……. Don’t tell her I said that. I don’t want that child to feel burdened. You’ll keep quiet for me, right?”
Isphee nodded back with a firm look on her face.
“I understand where you’re coming from, Young Master. But I’m going to make sure to put these flowers in the vase insider her room.”
Harchen returned to his own room after parting ways with Isphee and pulled out an illustrated plant book from his bookshelf. He opened the book to where the Adonis flowers were, and the crimson and golden flowers blossomed over the page. Harchen leaned over his desk and stared at the flowers until he slowly closed his eyes.
He recalled the gorgeous sight he had seen at the flower shop today.
He hoped that Ianna’s heart would be filled with beautiful flowers as well.
They might not mean anything to her now, but he hoped that the flowers he gave her would fill her heart like a field of flowers one day.
It would be nice if Ianna one day found the composure to enjoy the flowers……and if he could apologize to her sincerely. It would be nice if he could gift her golden Adonis flowers while praying for her happiness.
And so, time passed……and Harchen left Ianna because he was enrolled into the Theodore Academy. But he still continued to gift her flowers.
He heard surprising news when he was nineteen. Ianna had murdered Horeby, her grandfather, and Lebony had gone missing.
And Ianna had enrolled at the Valgenta Institution’s Swordsmanship Department. Harchen didn’t know when she had first taken up the sword, but it was clear to him that she had finally broken free from her past life.
My sincere congratulations for getting into school.
Contact me anytime if you need anything.
I know you’re probably sick of these, but I wanted to give this to you anyway.
Harchen had visited Ianna during her induction ceremony and had gifted her more flowers. And Ianna, who had always ignored him previously, had asked him,
“There’s something I’d like to ask you.
“Why do you always give me flowers?
“You have no obligation to do this for me, Young Master, and neither do you have any reason to.”
……Why indeed?
A long time passed after that too.
And so much had happened.
Ianna had left House Roberstein, had found good friends, and had begun sharing warm emotions with the man she loved.
And Harchen had learned a lot more from Laos, who had finally opened his heart to him. And today, Laos had come to him in tears and had asked him for help. Harchen had not refused him.
~~*~~
“I’m sorry.”
Harchen apologized to Ianna once he was done telling his tale.
“Why…are you apologizing?”
Ianna trembled when she learned that Harchen still remembered everything.
Harchen had done nothing wrong. That was what she sincerely believed.
She did not regret murdering him. She’d had no choice back then, and she had also wanted to kill him. Regretting something that you had already done and could never take back was simply another form of self-deception.
But it wasn’t that Ianna didn’t acknowledge her own sins. Their past lives had disappeared, but Harchen was a very vivid vestige of the sins she had left behind.
Ianna was uncomfortable around Sarachè and Harchen. She was uneasy around them because she had killed them with her own hands. Especially Harchen. She could write off Sarachè as having been killed by Lebony through her own ignorance, but she had killed Harchen by choice.
‘And yet……he still remembers everything?’
Ianna couldn’t speak.
She had been a victim, but she had been an assailant too.
She had been Harchen’s assailant.
There was only a four year difference between her and Harchen. How much had he hated Lebony and her daughter for making a mess of his household when he was still so young? How much had he despised the woman who had planned his mother’s poisoning and the woman’s daughter, who had actually poured in the poison? How much had he loathed them for wresting control over his house away from him?
Harchen had lost his parents, his family, his house, his territory, and even his life to Ianna.
Ianna could have simply believed in herself and left the household without caring one whit about who hated her or not, just like what she had done in this life, but she hadn’t been able to give up on House Roberstein and her perverse desire to be acknowledged, and she had wreaked havoc on Harchen’s life from beginning to end because of the foolish hatred that had stemmed from her attachment.
She had been no better in this life either. Ianna had only ever ignored Harchen because she had been too busy tending to her own wounds. If Lebony had given her the poison again in this life, she probably would have gone through with poisoning Sarachè all over again too.
But the past that she had thought had disappeared had actually still existed all along.
And Harchen had given her flowers even still.
“Ahh…….”
A shadow fell over Ianna’s mien.
She did not dare look up. She was so ashamed of herself that she could not bear it. First it was Roberstein, and now it was Harchen too. She was so ashamed that she could not stand it.
Ianna clutched at the scorched grass.
“I’m……sorry,”
she apologized with a quiver in her voice. She continued,
“I’m so sorry.”
Harchen, who was watching as Ianna felt so ashamed that she didn’t know what to do with herself, replied,
“Yeah.”
His voice was gentle, like it always was. He continued,
“You can’t blame a young child for being ignorant, but that doesn’t mean that there were no victims. Like how you poisoned my mother and toppled my house. And like how I quietly went along with all the abuse you were suffering unjustly.”
“…….”
“I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say that neither of us need to apologize because our past lives were erased anyway. So, that’s why I want to apologize to you too. I’m sorry for neglecting you.”
“Of course…I forgive you for that. But…”
Ianna’s voice quivered as she continued,
“The things I did to you after I poisoned the countess to death weren’t simply due to a young child’s ignorance. I did all that because I was a fool. I’m so sorry.”
“Ianna. It was us, House Roberstein, that forced your hand. If only the household didn’t ostracize you in our past lives. If only I didn’t look away from everyone’s blind hatred for you……then none of the tragedies we faced would have ever happened. I think I only got what I deserved.”
“You’re wrong! There’s so much that I have to apologize to you for.”
“In that case, let me apologize to you too. The past was erased, which means that I, who will succeed House Roberstein, bear the responsibility for all of its sins,”
Harchen said calmly.
Ianna looked up at him with shaking eyes.
“I’ve…always been ignoring you. I intended to poison Countess Sarachè in this life too.”
“I hated you in this life at first too. There was even a time when I considering stopping you from being born entirely even though you hadn’t even done anything yet.”
Harchen knelt down on one knee before Ianna, who still couldn’t bring herself to stand. He took her by the shoulders and very clearly told her,
“I’m sorry, Ianna.”
Ianna felt like she was about to cry for some reason.
“I’m sorry too. And I forgive you, though I don’t know if I even have that right to begin with.”
“I forgive you too. Actually, I forgave you a long time ago.”
Harchen smiled gently. Ianna recalled all the flowers he had gifted her. She felt like they were all blooming in her heart now, one blossom and bouquet at a time. Harchen continued,
“It’s hard to live life while ruminating over painful memories. But we still beat them back anyway. And now, it’s time for us to find happiness.”
Harchen reached into his pocket.
And what he pulled out……was a golden Adonis flower.
“You’ll find your happiness without fail.”
May you, the person you love, and your lands be blessed.
I pray that you’ll remember this flower always.
You’ll find happiness in the end, no matter how hard things may get.
Harchen smiled quietly as he placed the Adonis flower inside Ianna’s hands.
Ianna accepted it, as if happiness itself had been given to her.
Harchen’s eyes were filled with the light of a myriad of emotions, like he was sad, relieved, or deeply moved, as he stared at the Adonis flower in Ianna’s hand and slowly stood up. He looked toward the manor, which was busy trying to manage all the people of the territory who hadn’t the faintest clue about what had just happened in the mountains behind the manor.
“Did you know that the Roberstein Clan is a lineage that Laos created in order to keep Roberstein’s soul safe?”
Ianna, who had been lost in her emotions as she clutched the Adonis flower with both of her hands, looked to the same direction that Harchen was looking and nodded.
She looked to the manor, which had only wounded her in the past but hadn’t been filled with only misfortune for her in this life thanks to Isphee and Karnitz.
“Yes, because the dragons told me.”
“You’ve met the dragons?”
The nuance of his words carried only just enough curiosity as if he was simply saying, “Oh, you’ve met them too?” He was not surprised to hear about the dragons. Just how much had Laos told him? Harchen continued,
“Anyway, I think that’s why the people of the Roberstein Clan are both the closest to and farthest away from the God Roberstein than any other.”
Ianna knew this too. The lineage of the very first human that Laos had ever created in order to prevent Roberstein’s soul from going extinct. The Roberstein Clan had kept Roberstein’s soul safe in their blood for a very long time.
“So, about our father…”
Harchen’s azure eyes captured Ianna’s crimson as she stared distantly at the manor.
“He might have been repulsed by you, who is Roberstein’s soul, because he’s a member of the Roberstein Clan.”
Ianna stared back at him.
“And, though he doesn’t remember everything like how I do, it’s also possible his memories weren’t wiped away completely. I was told that it’s entirely possible that he rejected you in this life too because he was influenced by his past life. That’s what Laos told me.”
Ianna thought about Angelina.
Angelina had said that she saw nightmares every day. Nightmares where all she could do was cry in her powerlessness before she was beheaded at Arhad’s command.
Angelina had smiled bashfully as she said that she didn’t know if her nightmares were prophetic dreams or simple delusions, but Ianna knew that her nightmares were undoubtedly about her past life.
Angelina had started being afraid of Arhad, whom she had been crushing on, and idolizing Ianna, whom she had disliked, once her nightmares had begun. She had likely felt this way in the past too. She had been influenced by her memories of her past life, which had not been cleanly wiped away. So it was possible that the same thing had happened to Cherno too, like what Harchen was suggesting.
“I’m not trying to make excuses for him. But I thought that this was something you needed to know, and I’m only telling you because you tend to delve into all the details once you decide to learn about something new.”
“It’s an interesting topic. Thank you for telling me.”
Nothing stopped them from conversing with each other anymore —it was like a sticky shell had been peeled away from them. Before today, it had been like a stuffy ball of fur had clogged their throats and had prevented them from speaking freely.
“I’m glad.”
Harchen smiled as he extended a hand toward Ianna. Ianna took his hand without rejecting him as she stood up. Harchen continued,
“Shall I tell you more about the relationship between the royal family of Roanne, Laos, and the Roberstein Clan?”
“Is it all right for you to tell me?”
“I think so. Laos specifically pointed out the things that I can’t tell you. Wanna walk as we discuss?”
Harchen took the lead and began climbing down the mountain. Ianna was about to collect the half-burnt relics before she stopped and placed a hand on top of Phaemdra’s trunk. The spirits had restored the truck to its original state.
‘Soon.’
I’ll come back soon.
Badump, badump.
Roberstein’s heart, beating from within the relics, felt a cut closer.
Roberstein had permitted Ianna to use her powers. But she did condition her permission.
Roberstein’s ego spoke,
I won’t get in your way and I’ll even help you, so fulfil just one obligation as the token of our promise so that I can trust you. Destroy the Demon’s heart, just like how you and I both wish.
And once you’ve destroyed the Demon’s heart, kill and eliminate Bahamut, our shared enemy, and show me that you will live happily ever after with your beloved Arhad.
If you do this for me, then I will do whatever it is that you wish of me. I’ll slumber forever if it’s my power that you want, and I’ll even go extinct if you wish to exist solely as yourself.
‘Thanks, but that’s not for you to decide.’
Ianna replied calmly. She continued,
‘I’ll be much stronger than you by then, so you won’t have a choice but to adhere to my wishes.’
Perhaps……, Roberstein replied emptily.
Ianna pursed her lips, which she had been moving silently, tight.
There had never been a reason for them to fight to begin with. There had been some confusion about whom exactly their intended targets were, but their goals had ultimately been one and the same. And their having to coexist together had never been a problem because Roberstein had always wanted to die. They had simply not known enough about each other because of all the restrictions they were both under.
Ianna could vividly ruminate over Roberstein’s deep depression now that she had regained her ability to reason.
Love and duty.
Roberstein had lived an unimaginably long and lonely life while bearing the burden of her life’s mission to maintain equilibrium, and, though she had very briefly known happiness thanks to love, she had lost everything in the end.
Just how much anguish had she been in?
Just how much had she hated herself for being so powerless to do anything?
Just how long had she been drowning in the sea of her frustrations?
How badly had she wanted to die?
And yet, she had been unable to die. She had tried to end everything but had been unable to die because another had interfered, and she was living only because of her adamantine will to end everything properly this time around.
Ianna did not thoughtlessly judge whether Roberstein had lived her life properly or not. But she did pity Roberstein, who was so depressed and exhausted, and wished for Roberstein’s comfort and happiness. Ianna knew that she was only deluding herself because she didn’t know how to make it happen.
‘…….’
The exhausted ego squirmed as she was understood by another for the first time in her existence.
‘I’ll do my best so that I can make your wishes come true, to the fullest extent that I’m able,’
Ianna mumbled to herself. She continued,
‘So, I want you to reconsider it if killing Roygen and dying with him is really all that you want. I’ll help you, just like how you said that you’d help me.’
Her raw sincerity was conveyed to Roberstein.
‘I’ll figure out a way, no matter how difficult things may seem. I’ll grow strong enough to solve all your problems, no matter what they are.’
Ianna stopped thinking for a moment and breathed out a sigh.
‘I was wrong this time.’
Ianna would have been able to avoid the immediate danger if she had erased Roberstein like she had tried today, but she most likely would have regretted it later. The fact that she had shirked this ‘struggle,’ which was practically her own identity, would have tormented her, and she would have regretted it every time that she recalled Roberstein’s melancholy, which she would have abandoned without ever resolving.
‘I’m sorry.’
You don’t need to be sorry. All I want is for Roygen’s and my deaths. If you want to help, then I want you to help us finally die completely. Roberstein’s ego had been ever so briefly shaken, but she remained calm and firm.
‘Let’s have a proper conversation again sometime.’
Ianna placed the relics inside her subspace and followed after Harchen.
“The Roberstein Clan has always played the role of the key that grants the royal family of Roanne a special power. Do you remember the ritual that we conducted at the Great Temple a while back?”
“Of course I remember.”
“Do you understand what the purpose of that ritual was?”
Ianna shook her head no.
“You who made a contract in the Chaos and was born as the Law. I seek to fulfil the covenant forged with the Law, paid for by the perpetuation of existence, with my life.”
“I am your spartoi, your Guardian.”
“I, Schneider Lezè Roanne, hereby greet you.”
Ianna had generally concluded that Laos must be a white dragon and that Schneider was both Laos’ spartoi and Laos’ Guardian, but she could not be certain. Everything Schneider had said during the ritual had been a riddle to her.
“I’ll assume that you already know everything as I explain. Just ask if there’s anything you don’t know.”
Harchen organized his thought before he slowly continued,
“Kandemayon and Laos —the two of them govern Chaos and Law respectively. You can say that Chaos represents death, disorder, and stopped time, whereas Law represents life, order, and the flow of time.”
Ianna had already given up on being surprised by what Harchen had to say. She simply nodded along as she listened what he was telling her.
“Souls that have died along the flow of time head toward a place of chaos where time is all jumbled together but doesn’t flow —the Akashic Records. There, they pay the price that the Balance has set on their karma and either walk the path to total extinction or reincarnation. Being reincarnated means that the soul is given a new life and systematically returns to the flow of time.”
This was something that Ianna had only been vaguely aware of and had not been able to discuss with another. Ianna felt herself growing closer to Harchen.
“Laos is the god who governs over ‘Law.’ He has the authority to decide every rule and promise in the world as long as he doesn’t disrupt the world’s equilibrium too badly.”
Harchen tapped a low hanging branch as he walked.
“Everything in this world is formed by Laos’ Laws. This branch here is hanging so low because it’s obeying Laos’ Laws.”
It was safe to call Laos the God of Creation.
“Laos created ‘Roanne’ next after he created the Roberstein Clan. He said that he broke off a portion of his own body and soul and devoted himself into creating the most powerful and beautiful being in the world.”
“Why did he work so hard on her?”
“I don’t know, since he wouldn’t tell me. You know that Laos is a white dragon, right? Queen Roanne was his first ever spartoi, as well as the first ever Guardian who was contracted to him.”
Spartoi were soldiers created from a piece of a dragon, and Guardians were beings who helped the dragons maintain the equilibrium of the world in exchange for a wish.
“He wouldn’t tell me what Queen Roanne wished for either,”
Harchen explained before Ianna even had the chance to ask. He continued,
“Anyway, you can technically say that all of Queen Roanne’s descendants who were born afterward are Laos’ spartoi because they inherited Laos’ physical genetics, but some of them happen to be especially special. Laos said that he allows a few certain souls from the Akashic Records who have sturdy egos and a powerful will to live to form a contract with him and be born as a part of the ‘royal family of Roanne’ in exchange for the perpetuation of ‘Roanne’s’ existence. Most of them brought a great renaissance to Roanne during their lifetimes.”
“Does that mean that every member of the royal family of Roanne has a contract with Laos?”
“No —like I said, it’s only a few of them. There are a lot of cases where a perfectly mediocre soul was born into the royal family purely by chance. Conversely, there are contractors who’ve failed to become rulers too.”
“Why is that?”
“Even the most powerful souls are still influenced heavily by their genetics or external factors like how they were taught as they grow stronger in the physical plane, and there are a lot of political issues that play into who succeeds the throne too.”
Every ruler of Roanne conducted the ritual beneath the temple, and there had been rulers in the past who had not felt anything special and had simply recited the words that the pope had told them to say because they had not been contractors. Harchen continued,
“The contract only activates for real once the contractor assembles the two scales together and conducts the ritual. Then, the contractor feels a heavy duty to ensure the perpetuation of Roanne’s existence, and they grow significantly stronger, as if they were suddenly enlightened. But that’s where the merits of being a contractor ends. The true power of the ritual, which applies not only to contractors but to ‘every’ ruler of Roanne, starts right after that. The crimson aura that comes down from the vines and envelopes the scales…….”
Ianna recalled how the vines that had been growing off the bottom edge of the gravestone had wrapped themselves around the dragons’ scales. She vividly remembered the sorrow she had felt back then.
“God Roberstein’s heart creates a protective shield over the ruler, hastens their recovery rate, and supplies them with divine power. She protects them from the Bahamut imperial family. It was because of her power that the rulers of Roanne have always been able to defend the kingdom.”
Ianna recalled how strangely Roberstein’s heart had acted during the ritual and, in her bafflement, asked,
“Why would Roberstein’s heart do something like that?”
“I’m told that Roberstein wants to protect Laos. So she probably wants to protect the royal family too, since they’re a part of Laos. Her heart was probably only following what little of her will remained inside of it.”
“…….”
Ianna recalled the pain she had felt during the ritual.
She had worried, had pitied, had felt guilty, and had wanted to protect.
‘Laos.’
Everything began with that child, and he was at the center of everything.
It was clear to Ianna that ‘Laos’ was the person whom Roberstein had screamed about needing to protect even though she couldn’t recall his name, as well as the central character in the pieces of her memories that she was still missing.
The god who had never existed until Roberstein had gone missing.
He had been a very young child.
And he was a dragon, just like Roygen.
The god who was the reason why Roberstein had convinced herself to die with Roygen.
‘Then, Roberstein and Laos are…….’
Ianna stared at the ground and asked Harchen,
“Where is Laos right now?”
“He’s probably somewhere, right?”
“…….”
Harchen sighed when Ianna closed her eyes in resignation.
“Sorry. But I wasn’t only joking —I can’t really tell you because he asked me not to. That child really doesn’t want to meet you if he can help it. He knows that he has to at some point, in order to unravel all the tangled strings of fate, but he keeps pushing it back.”
But I’m sure that he’ll come to find you soon. He’s actually a very timid child at heart, so I hope you’ll understand.
They had finished climbing down the mountain as they conversed.
Ianna wrapped herself tightly in her robes just before they reached the entrance to the manor. Harchen turned around to look at her.
“You should go now. You’re busy, aren’t you?”
Ianna activated the Teleport spell imbued in her ring. Mana swirled around her as the Teleport magic circle began to draw itself beneath her feet. Harchen continued,
“I’ll always be praying for your victory. Fight hard.”
He felt refreshed as he prepared to part ways with Ianna. His smile reached his eyes as he looked to the Adonis flower that Ianna was still holding.
The Teleport spell was about to be completed.
“If everything works out well…,”
Ianna suddenly said. She continued,
“Then maybe…….”
Her lips squirmed a little before they utter words that Harchen had never imagined he would ever hear.
“Would you mind having some tea with me sometime?”
Harchen opened his eyes wide.
Ianna avoided his gaze.
“I’d love to.”
And Harchen, who always smiled quietly and conservatively, beamed brightly and unhindered.
~~*~~
“Ianna!”
Arhad had been pacing around his room because he was so worried about Ianna, who hadn’t looked well in the moments before her departure. He pulled her into his arms as soon as she appeared before him.
“…….”
Ianna weakly let him hold her.
She was thoroughly exhausted. She hadn’t let it show when she was with Harchen, but her struggle against Roberstein had drained a lot of her emotional strength. And her head was in a jumbled mess because of all the new things that she had learned.
“I’m so tired.”
Arhad realized that things had worked out well, in one way or another, when he saw that, though she was visibly fatigued, she no longer seemed to be bewildered.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Arhad immediately comforted her without asking any questions as she grumbled. She would explain everything later anyway, so all he wanted to do right now was to be the tree upon which Ianna could rest as he propped her up.
Ianna dug her nose into her man’s shirt and breathed in deeply. Then, she turned her head and brought her ear close against his chest.
Badump, badump.
The impulses that had been disgusting Ianna after she had first awoken Roberstein’s consciousness no longer bothered her.
‘I’ll protect this person no matter what.’
Ianna clutched Arhad’s clothes as she sighed. Ianna hadn’t been able to push Roberstein back herself, and Roberstein had only agreed to step back after Phaemdra had persuaded her, but it had still been fortunate nonetheless.
Her relief fell over her exhausted soul like a warm blanket. She wanted to fall asleep right here and now. But Ianna was not the kind of person who procrastinated on doing important work.
Ianna looked rough when she had rested enough in Arhad’s embrace and pulled away.
“Do you want to rest your eyes for a bit?”
Arhad looked like he was ready to carry Ianna to bed at a moment’s notice.
“No. I want to talk. Will you prepare some tea?”
“If you’re all right with that.”
They were currently in Arhad’s study. His desk was absolutely littered with reports summarizing the present situation and all kinds of battle strategies. Ianna, who had looked over his desk inadvertently, bit down hard at her lip.
‘I want to let him rest soon.’
She would need to work a little more to achieve that.
Ianna pried her eyes away from his desk and turned to the empty vase on the table next. The simple vase had once been filled with fresh flowers that had colored Arhad’s otherwise dreary study. But then the war had started, and the vase had begun collecting dust instead of flowers because Arhad was away so often.
Ianna wiped the vase clean with a handkerchief while Arhad was boiling water. She filled the vase with water and carefully placed the Adonis flower inside. Arhad was openly surprised to see the golden flower that had appeared out of nowhere.
“What’s with the flower?”
“Harchen gave it to me.”
“Harchen?”
Arhad could not for the life of him comprehend why or how Ianna’s half-brother’s name had come up in this situation.
“When I arrived at the mountain behind the manor…….”
Ianna calmly began to tell Arhad everything that had happened.
Though she left out the parts about how time had been erased or how she had been reborn.
Ianna pondered over whether she should tell Arhad about her past life as she spoke, but she ultimately decided not to.
She had already grown exhausted after talking about the past with Harchen. And the shame and embarrassment that surged inside her still stung her heart. She really just wanted to pass out and fall asleep.
It had already been so difficult to speak about it with Harchen, so how much harder would it be when she confessed everything to Arhad? Arhad may not remember anything, but Ianna was certain that confessing everything about how she had thrown tantrums at him out of her sense of inferiority in her past life would greatly exhaust her mental reserves.
And more importantly, she was planning to confess everything once they had destroyed the Demon’s heart and she had surpassed Roberstein —when the both of them were finally whole. She knew that not everything would always go the way she wanted, but she hoped that her confession of her past life, at the very least, would. Though there was still the problem in that it might take longer than she had originally expected because Roberstein’s will was stronger than she had expected it to be.
Besides, hadn’t that time been erased from everyone except Harchen and herself anyway? There was no reason for her to deal with it right now.
Ianna told Arhad everything else. Arhad suddenly grew tense once he had finished listening to everything Ianna had to say. The blood had drained from his face.
“Ianna, is Laos……?”
Arhad couldn’t bring himself to continue, but Ianna already knew what he had meant to say.
“Yes. I can’t be certain because my memories aren’t fully complete, but I think that Laos is Roberstein’s and Roygen’s child.”
Or so she said, but she was actually rather certain. Every piece of circumstantial evidence pointed to Laos being Roberstein’s child.
Perhaps Ianna might not have been able to figure it out if she had never experienced the worry and protective instinct that babies tended to draw out or the love and concern that a parent had for their child.
But Ianna had learned how truly frail babies were after meeting Evelyn, and she had watched Isphee and Karnitz resolve themselves to do anything and everything for their child, and so she was certain.
The memories that Ianna had seen about the End from inside Pandemonium flashed across her mind.
‘I have faith in your Prophecy that a new world will be born, Phaemdra.’
‘Lebony, my faithful follower. I entrust that child to you…’
Roberstein’s final thoughts.
“No……!”
“I want to die too! Please don’t leave me behind alone!”
The young Laos who had come running to her with his face in a tear-stained mess. His final scream, which had been distorted as Roberstein’s memories were cut away.
Had he meant to cry out, ‘Mom?’
Almost everything made sense if Laos was Roberstein’s child. Ianna didn’t know why Roberstein had chosen Lebony in particular, but she had probably handed all the divine power she had and sealed Lebony away in her hopes that Lebony would watch over Laos in her stead after she had died and the seal was undone.
But everything had gone awry, and Lebony’s seal had never been undone either, because Laos had sealed Roberstein away before she could die.
“Did Roygen not know?”
“No. He didn’t even know that Laos even existed.”
“Roberstein ultimately chose to commit murder-suicide with Roygen because she thought that Roygen, who dreamt of a Paradise where only the two of them existed and was slaughtering the gods, would kill Laos too. But neither of them were able to die completely because of Laos’ seal.”
“…….”
Arhad wasn’t able to reply readily, as if he had been rendered speechless. Ianna quietly organized her thoughts alongside him as she awaited his reply.
“Roberstein had good reason to believe that. Roygen thought that all he needed was Roberstein and Phaemdra back then. But…”
Roygen alone hadn’t been able to produce divine power when everyone else could. He had been tormented by the fact that he was ‘lacking life’ for a very long time, and he had firmly believed that it was impossible for new life to be born from him. Which was why…….
“But I can’t declare for certain that Roygen would want to kill the very first life that was born from him like a miracle…….”
“I was wondering why Roberstein kept their child a secret from Roygen too. Was it because she couldn’t trust him?”
Roygen, the Demon inside Arhad’s soul, was shaken.
‘Why, why, why?’
He had long since admitted defeat before Arhad’s bottomless love for Ianna and quieted down, but he was deeply wounded by what Ianna had said.
‘Just why? I always trusted you…….’
He sobbed like his heart was shattering.
“Or perhaps it was because she was so exhausted that she lost the ability to consider any other options?”
Roygen was devastated once more when he heard Ianna say that.
Arhad closed his eyes.
“The exact reason is probably inside one of my missing memories.”
Ianna had emptied her teacup at some point while they were talking. She put her empty teacup down and studied Arhad’s complexion. Then, she asked,
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. But Roygen isn’t.”
Of course Roygen wasn’t all right.
Ianna took a moment to consider her words and organize her thoughts before she said,
“We’ll need to uncover everything and organize everything that’s become so tangled up at least once. For our sake.”
“Yes. But you’ll need to fill in the gaps in Roberstein’s memories and meet Laos in order for that to happen. What on earth is Laos even thinking that he still refuses to show up despite everything that’s happened?”
“Who could say?”
Only Laos could know what Laos was thinking. Ianna continued,
“I think we could also try learning more about Phaemdra’s prophecy in greater detail.”
“Phaemdra won’t tell you what its prophecy was even if its entire body is burned to the ground,”
Arhad declared. Ianna was puzzled because she didn’t know why Arhad had gone out of his way to pick out such specifically violent words in his certainty. Despite her confusion, however, it was impossible to ask Phaemdra about the prophecy at the moment anyway. The tree would have to sleep for a long time because of the atrocity that Ianna had committed.
“In any event, all we can do right now is to do what we can.”
“Which is?”
“Destroying Roygen’s heart in Pandemonium.”
Arhad focused on Roygen’s consciousness, which was still lurking within him, when Ianna said that.
Roygen had stopped crying. He was simply empty in his resignation.
‘I’ll just die.’
‘I’ll do as she wants.’
‘I will die.’
Roygen, who had been carrying his love, hatred, and questions for Roberstein for over a lifetime, completely let go of his greed for life, which had always craved to the point of insanity, when he finally learned the truth. He laid everything down.
And then, his consciousness cut away completely. Arhad could not think from Roygen’s perspective anymore no matter how hard he tried.
‘I pity him.’
Arhad was sad for Roygen. He was sick and tired of the bastard too, but he was uncomfortable with the idea of simply erasing Roygen as he was now and wondered if it truly was the right thing to do.
“But I’d like to try talking to Roberstein just one more time before that. I want to ask her if she’s truly all right with letting things end with Roygen like this.”
Ianna shared in Arhad’s sentiment.
“Let’s do that.”
“I’ll rest up a little first, and then I’ll try to wake Eiji up using my power before I try talking to her. In any event, what has Bahamut been up to?”
“They’ve been strangely quiet.”
“That’s a good thing. Do you think it’s because Taylon was gravely injured? If only he’d just drop dead.”
“Oh he’s still hale and hearty, if only because he’s so damn persistent.”
“That’s most unfortunate.”
Ianna let out a long sigh after she had finished talking about everything she had to talk about and rested her arms atop the table as she slowly sank down into them.
She was tired.
She was so tired.
But…….
Ianna stared at the golden Adonis flower and mumbled,
“I wish this flower will never wilt.”
“Why’s that?”
“Do you know what Adonis flowers symbolize in the language of flowers?”
Ianna slowly recited to Arhad what Harchen had told her about the flower’s meaning. She continued,
“Even when things are hard…even when things are truly, truly hard…and despite all the painful memories…as long as you’re alive…and you work hard while dreaming about the future…you’ll attain happiness eventually…and it gives me strength to believe that there is happiness waiting for us at the end of all this hardship.”
Ianna poked the golden petals with her finger. She continued,
“I feel like I can do anything when I look at this flower. I feel like I can always emerge victorious no matter what hardships I’m going through. That’s why I wish it’ll never wilt.”
The gorgeous flower filled Ianna’s vision as she blinked.
“And this flower also reminds me of you.”
Her eyes were filled with her deep love as she lowered her eyelids ever so gently.
“You are always there inside my happiness. And I…I can do anything if it means I can protect my happiness.”
Ianna smiled with all the love she had inside her being.
“I love you, Arhad.”
Time stopped for Arhad for a moment.
“Oh…….”
It was very rare for Ianna to confess her love so single-mindedly. She usually said it playfully, like she was teasing him, and had great fun watching as he was shaken and overjoyed. Arhad thought it was rather distasteful of her, but he still ended up smiling or showering her with kisses anyway because he still found her so endearing.
So, why was it?
He couldn’t even kiss her right now, and all he could do was drop his jaw like an utter fool.
The outpour of Ianna’s sincere love made his head go blank.
Arhad’s face flushed bright red. He didn’t know what to do with himself before he just barely manage to spit out,
“Do you want me to cast a spell on that flower?”
“Haha!”
Ianna found him so funny for saying something so completely unromantic even though he was absolutely dribbling with emotion that she laughed out loud. She continued,
“That’s all right. I should leave it in nature’s flow.”
Ianna looked back at Arhad lovingly before she closed her eyes.
“Sleep in our bedroom if you’re going to sleep, Ianna.”
“I’m only going to close my eyes for a moment.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I just…”
Ianna pushed out her hand toward him. She continued,
“I just want you to hold my hand right now.”
She was acting spoiled.
But how could he not take her hand when she said that?
Arhad wrapped his fingers around Ianna’s calloused-filled hand like it was the most precious jewel in the world. His rough fingertips brushed over her each and every finger before he laced their fingers together. Ianna squeezed his hand back tightly.
“You added a trait to your magic to so that it would really stop if I wanted it to, didn’t you?”
“I did. We decided to do everything the way you wanted, after all. I made it so that my spell would stop anytime as long as it was ‘Ianna,’ and not Roberstein, who wanted it to stop.”
“Thank you. For making it so that I didn’t end up regretting anything.”
“I added it just in case, and I’m glad that it was helpful.”
“It must’ve been difficult.”
“Not really.”
His words would have made every mage in the world cry tears of rage. He continued,
“I’ll do anything if it’s for you.”
“Anything?”
“Yeah.”
“Why is that? Why are you able to do so much?”
And once again, as if he was saying it for the first time, Arhad replied,
“Because I love you. I can do anything because I love you.”
The strength finally left Ianna.
The overlap between what Phaemdra had said and what Harchen had said some time ago suddenly invaded her fading consciousness.
Time had been erased.
Was that something that Laos, the god of Law had done?
Or was it Kandemayon, who governed Chaos?
Or perhaps…….
“According to God, something incredible happened shortly after you died, and an entire section of the records of the world’s time was removed.”
Shortly after she had died.
Shortly after…….
…….
~~*~~
Ianna made her way to Eiji’s room as soon as she woke up.
She was confident that she could wake him up now.
Swing.
Ianna saw Dorcianni, who was sitting next to Eiji’s bed with her chin resting in her hand, as soon as she opened the door. The small water spirit in the room also greeted Ianna happily.
“Do you ever sleep?”
“I sleep when I’m sleepy. The problem is that I haven’t been sleepy.”
Dorcianni slowly straightened herself out. She continued,
“Did you find the solution you were looking for, Your Majesty?”
“It wasn’t a perfect solution, but yes.”
Ianna walked over and quietly took Eiji’s hand. She continued,
“I can wake him now.”
Ianna trusted herself. She could make it happen. The Balance would respond.
Ianna aroused the power of Judgment. And then, she shouted,
‘I want to wake Eiji up.’
The Balance could not wake him. So instead, it offered Ianna an amazing but risky opportunity to wake him up herself. It invited her deep into the Akashic Records, the cradle of all time and souls.
Ianna locked eyes with Dorcianni, who had been staring quietly back at her. After all, it was the princess’ job to wake up the slumbering prince.
“You wanted to learn more about the Truth, right?”
Ianna reached out to Dorcianni. She continued,
“Want to come with?”
Dorcianni blinked.
“I can go too?”
“Yes.”
“I always knew that I placed my bets on the right person.”
Dorcianni grabbed Ianna’s hand without a moment’s hesitation.
Ianna’s heart could not manifest this power alone. It might be overloaded and burst open if she ever tried.
So she pulled out the relics from the subspace.
‘I want to wake up my friend.’
Roberstein’s consciousness slowly awoke. Ianna continued,
‘Will you help me?’
Very well……, she felt she heard Roberstein reply.
The seal trembled, and a bright light burst out from the relics.
Shaaaaaa!
It was still in pieces, but Roberstein’s heart was connected, and the absolute god’s divine power poured out from the relics like a tsunami. The room was flooded by a light that was the color of blood, and Ianna’s vision was dyed red by Roberstein’s great aura and her own fierce flame-like aura in an instant.
Swiiiish!
All the divine power vanished at once, and the chains of Absolute Truth pierced through space. The chains promptly wrapped themselves around Ianna and Dorcianni, who was holding Ianna’s hand, and pulled them into a rift in space.
They were in the Akashic Records.
Ianna looked up as the chains dragged her downward.
She could see all of the ‘present’ world where time was flowing forward.
She could see anywhere in the world from here.
Herrace was training hard, Lalatua and Taro were conducting magical research, Rikijen was working with bloodshot eyes, Absilot and Maimayè were glaring down at the Bahamut army, Gilchop, an enemy mage, was meditating, Isabella was sighing in her boredom, and Shailince was ripping out her hair in frustration.
Taylon’s eyes were glistening in the darkness, and Arhad was waiting for Ianna with his eyes closed.
And the space-time flowing forward was heading toward Nothingness —an undetermined future.
Ianna and Dorcianni then looked endlessly downward.
They could feel like everything was gathering toward one point as they continued traveling down, as if they had become a single grain of sand inside an hourglass. That singular point was the cradle of souls. It was teeming with souls.
They finally started slowing down and stopped in mid-air.
“Look up, Your Majesty.”
Ianna, who had been looking down at the world of souls, looked up.
There, she saw the souls that had not quite broken off from the world and were still dangling from it.
“Eiji’s right above us.”
Just as Dorcianni had pointed out, Eiji’s soul was dangling above them while still looking bloodied and battered as if he had never been restored.
Snap.
The thin thread tying a soul to the world broke, and they watched as it fell endlessly down.
That soul had just died. And then, it passed through the point, like sand slipping through the middle of an hourglass, and continued to fall down toward the bottomless expanse beneath.
“It didn’t go directly to the world of souls. There must be something else underneath.”
“Who could say? Anyway, we need to wake Eiji up first.”
Ianna understood that she had to wake Eiji up from here. His soul would be drawn back into the world once he woke up. The chains of the Balance brought them over to where Eiji was when Ianna thought about wanting to go to him. Ianna took hold of Eiji. More precisely, Ianna’s soul took hold of Eiji’s soul.
‘Wake up, Eiji.’
Ianna shook him. But he was bloodied and battered, and he did not wake.
‘Wake up!’
She tried pouring a heap of divine power into him, but to no avail. His soul already had plenty of divine power. It was being supplied to him from his heart in the physical world, which was connected to his soul. He simply wasn’t conscious. Just how badly had he been tortured……?
“Don’t you think he’ll wake up if we drag his soul back, Your Majesty?”
“No, just bringing his soul back won’t be enough. He has to pull himself together.”
“…….”
Dorcianni slowly approached Eiji too.
Then, she grabbed his cheek without any warning and planted a kiss on his lips. Her kiss brought their souls together.
And their souls were still connected as she whispered to him,
‘Are you really just going to die like this? Weren’t you always desperate to live?’
Eiji didn’t open his eyes. But his lips began to move.
‘But I’m so exhausted now.’
He was still unconscious, and he was only babbling as if he was talking in his sleep. He continued,
‘It’s hurts so much. I tried to endure it, but I was in so much pain. The words and curses that woman abused me with were so awful. I didn’t want to listen to her, but I had no way to cover my ears.’
Ianna clenched her hands into tight fists. She wasn’t about to let Shailince off the hook for this.
‘Don’t you want to live?’
‘I do, but is there really any point in me staying alive?’
Eiji’s soul smiled feebly. He continued,
‘I’ll only be a liability at this rate. That woman sees me as nothing more than bait to catch you all with. She said that she’d kill me before your eyes in the worst way imaginable once I’ve played my part. And then, she said that she’d kill you all too.’
‘And you believed her? Her Majesty is invincible, remember? She’s already rescued you.’
‘I didn’t, but I’m so exhausted.’
‘You’ve already been saved…….’
‘Can I really live? I don’t know if I can. Actually, I think I’m going to die. If I’m going to die anyway, then it’s better for me to keep my pride and die quickly before I become a liability to everyone.’
Eiji’s conversation with Dorcianni became a catalyst.
His consciousness cut away. And so did the thread that was keeping his soul connected to the world. Then, his soul began to fall.
‘Grab him!’
Dorcianni, who was the closest to Eiji, grabbed hold of him as he was being swept downward. Ianna grabbed hold of Dorcianni’s physical body.
The invisible force that was pulling Eiji down was powerful. It was not something that those who had broken the Law to come here could go against. Ianna and Dorcianni began to be pulled down alongside Eiji. They quickly passed through the point where souls were gathered.
Claaaaang.
The Balance tilted the other way.
And Ianna opened her eyes wide.
On the other side of the world, was yet another world.
It was a reversed space-time where time flowed backward.
More precisely, it was simply a dimension where all the time that had already passed was playing in reverse. Ianna understood this instinctively.
‘We can’t let him go there!’
Dead souls first reflected on the time that they had lived inside the dimension of retrogress before they entered the cradle to be judged by the Balance. They would not be able to return to the dimension of progress unless they were reincarnated.
‘Kgh!’
They were too late. Eiji was sucked inside, and so was Dorcianni, who had been holding onto him.
But Ianna was still holding onto Dorcianni’s physical body. Her body stayed behind, and only her soul had gone with Eiji.
Crack, craack. Crack.
This went beyond the scope of the opportunity that the Balance had granted Ianna. The Balance’s chains were breaking apart. All of them would die if the chains broke completely. Ianna reached out and pulled hard at the chains that were wrapped around her.
‘Link the chains again!’
But the chains continued to break apart no matter how many times Ianna used her power to restore them. And so, Ianna activated her power over and over again. The arm she was using to hold onto the chains with was tearing apart. But she resisted the flow of time that dictated that the chains would break even still. She pulled Dorcianni’s body closer and bore all the overloaded burdens by herself. She had to endure it until Eiji and Dorcianni made it back.
And then, the world that Dorcianni was seeing quickly flowed into Ianna’s head because she was close to Dorcianni’s soul.
Eiji’s time was rewinding. And Dorcianni was inside his would as a bystander because her soul was still holding onto his.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Hurry up and blabber away.”
Dorcianni watched as Eiji was tortured by Shailince right before her very eyes.
She couldn’t do anything but watch because this time-space was heading toward an already decided past. But Eiji’s soul’s arm was still jutting out from his physical body, unable to settle completely inside, because Dorcianni was holding onto it.
Dorcianni turned her head. She was bright, and she quickly grasped the general idea of the Truth. She knew that she still had a chance.
They passed the torture.
They passed Eiji’s kidnapping too.
Dorcianni felt time slowing down as they approached the moments that they had spent together. Soon enough, they arrived at the times when they had both worked day and night for Ex-knights.
Dorcianni’s soul was connected, albeit unstably, to her body when she met herself in the world of retrogress. She learned that she could borrow her body’s lips to exert influence on Eiji if she exerted herself.
“Pull yourself together.”
She kept calling out to him whenever she had the chance.
“You want to live, don’t you?”
Her words came out backward, but they sounded correct in Eiji’s consciousness. He grew puzzled whenever Dorcianni said something that she hadn’t said in the past, but he still could not wake up.
“Her Majesty and I came to rescue you.”
Eventually, more time passed and they arrived at the day when Ianna had saved Eiji from Margarita’s clutches while they had still been exchanging blows with the Black Fox in Roanne.
“Her Majesty is working hard and trying to save you with everything she has, again. Just how much longer are you going to stay like this?”
“……You really haven’t changed at all, Dorci.”
“No, people do change sometimes, Eiji.”
Unlike in the past, her once-emotionless blue eyes were flaring with anger. Dorcianni continued,
“So come back to me already, my cute little boy.”
They had arrived at the time when Dorcianni had first clashed against Ianna. And then something extraordinary happened.
Crackle!
A rift appeared in the dimension of retrogress when the power that Ianna had used while fighting Dorcianni in the past intersected with the power she was using now as she continued to hold onto Dorcianni in the present. And the present Dorcianni’s flow of progress began to seep in.
Time mixed into each other and began to shake.
Eiji’s expression became blank as the sun shone blindingly from behind Ianna as she looked down at him.
Time rewound quickly during the times when Dorcianni and Eiji couldn’t meet. Eventually, they arrived at the time when Eiji and Dorcianni had parted ways while Eiji had still been a child.
“Please spare me. Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything that you ask of me, my Mas…….”
Eiji stopped mid-sentence.
His world was already beginning to break apart because he was going against its logical flow. Dorcianni, who had finally gained the freedom to move, strolled up to Eiji, who was bowing before Shailince’s feet like a dog, and helped him stand back up. Eiji’s shaking eyes turned toward her.
“This is the bygone past. You’ve already found your light.”
They passed over the time that Eiji had spent with Dorcianni as a child.
And at long last, they arrived at their first meeting.
Dorcianni had met Eiji while he was being tortured by Margarita in the latter’s laboratory. But unlike in the past, when Eiji’s eyes had been dull and deadened, his eyes were alive and sparkling as he looked directly back at Dorcianni.
“What an interesting child.”
Dorcianni smiled gently as she reached out to him. She continued,
“Let’s go.”
Eiji took her hand. And just then, Eiji’s soul was flung out from the dimension of retrogress because of the distortion in time.
“Hah!”
The overloaded burden Ianna had been bearing was released as Dorcianni and Eiji came back out. Ianna gasped out the breath that she had been holding. The arm she was using to hold onto the chains was ruined so badly it barely even looked like an arm anymore, and her body had been ripped nearly into two. She said,
“You did well.”
Dorcianni clutched her head and groaned,
“I feel like I’m gonna die.”
“I feel like I’m gonna die. Don’t you dare let go of him.”
Eiji’s soul had been reconnected to the world of progress as soon as he pulled himself together and regained the will to live, and now he was being quickly sucked back up. The chains of the Balance hastily pulled Ianna and Dorcianni, who were also beings from the world of progress, back up.
Ianna’s power ended as soon as they passed back up the point and Eiji’s soul had returned to the world of progress.
Ianna and Dorcianni were spat out from the Akashic Records.
And Eiji slowly opened his eyes.
“…….”
He blinked for a while, unable to fully regain his senses.
Dorcianni and Ianna slumped against the wall as they watched over him.
“I saw a really strange dream. Was that my life flashing before my eyes?”
“It was neither a dream nor your life.”
“That’s what I thought.”
[Ianna! Ianna! Uwaaaah!]
Ianna summoned Innis and Towe. The spirits cried —they had never seen her this injured before— as they healed her.
Eiji stared quietly at Ianna, who was severely injured, and Dorcianni, who was half-closing her eyes.
“Sorry.”
“I have no right to hear an apology from you. This was my fault for failing to be wary of the Bahamut imperial family and traveling around the North without stopping to check in.”
“But I still want to apologize.”
“What are you so sorry about?”
Eiji smiled flippantly.
“This is the second time you’ve had to rescue me. I’m really useless, aren’t I?”
“And I can’t even smack you because you’re a patient,”
Ianna said as the spirits finished treating her and she gripped the wall to stand up. She continued,
“I promise that I still have need of you, so you better repay me twice-fold now that I’ve saved you twice.”
“Wow, isn’t that a bit much? Should you really be saying that to a patient who almost died after being tortured like crazy and only just managed to wake up?”
Eiji wiped the smile off his face after he’d finished grumbling.
“Thanks, Little Ianna,”
he continued sincerely.
“I won’t ever tell myself that I’m useless ever again. I’ll never consider dying again no matter what happens. I’ll work a hundred —no, a thousand times harder than I have been. I promise you this on my dear friend’s name. I mean it.”
Ianna scrunched her nose as she smiled.
“Isn’t that only obvious? I’m going to work you to the bone until the day you die.”
Ianna left Eiji and Dorcianni in the room and walked out.
Her man was waiting for her outside.
‘Thank you, Roberstein.’
Ianna stoutly took Arhad’s hand.
‘Why don’t we talk a bit now?’
Ianna was ready to pull Roberstein’s sword out from Roygen’s heart. She wanted to hear what Roberstein had to say before they went past the point of no return.
Ianna was the type of person to sweep through everything like a storm if she had work to do. But she still had to spend an entire day sleeping by Arhad’s side because she was in such bad shape after abusing her power that it was only on the next day that she was able to sit down and have a proper chat with him.
She was surprised by what Arhad had told her.
“It’s been a week?”
Eiji’s life, which Ianna had seen through Dorcianni whilst inside the Akashic Records, had sped past her like she was watching something from a horse galloping past at full speed. She had only felt like she had spent an hour inside the Akashic Records, but she had apparently actually spent quite a while in the real world. She continued,
“You must’ve been worried.”
“I was, but I trusted you and waited,”
Arhad muttered as he rubbed his cheek against Ianna’s head. Ianna had vanished from the face of the world yet again, but she had come back safe and sound after he had calmly waited for her return. Arhad continued,
“You should discuss with Roberstein now.”
Ianna closed her eyes and waded into the abyss.
‘I’m going to go and destroy Roygen’s heart now.’
From Ianna’s perspective, she didn’t care about whether Roygen’s heart was destroyed or not. The person Ianna loved was Arhad, and destroying Roygen’s heart wouldn’t affect Arhad’s soul very much.
‘Are you truly all right with that?’
But this was the heart of the person whom Roberstein loved.
‘Destroy it at once,’
Roberstein replied like a marionette who could say nothing else.
The god was very dry and empty now that she had stopped opposing Ianna. Roberstein had long since finished coming to terms with her firm fixation, almost to the point of madness, on the fact that Roygen must die, and she no longer expressed any emotion, as if she had cut them all away. It was like all that was left of her was her duty to slay Roygen.
‘Roygen must go extinct from this world.’
Roberstein conveyed her thoughts directly into Ianna.
‘His heart is collapsing the world that …… rebuilt, and his soul is topping the world’s equilibrium by killing so much life.’
Roberstein transferred her knowledge to Ianna too.
The Point of Stillness at the center of Pandemonium exerted a powerful contractile force upon all spacetime and was trying to bring the world back to how it had been in the beginning. It was living beings and their will to live that kept the world from collapsing in on itself. Their will to live exerted an expansive force and expanded the world.
But Roygen’s heart had tumbled into the Point of Stillness during the End, and it sucked in life in its endless yearning for it, lessened the world’s will to continue existing, added power to the contractive force, and hastened the collapse of the world.
The fragments of Roygen’s soul also embedded themselves into the hearts of evildoers and aided their carnage. Moreover, Roygen’s malice, which filled Pandemonium to the brim, seeped into the world through rifts and turned ordinary creatures into monsters, which in turn weakened the expansive force by committing wanton slaughter.
And so, the world was collapsing.
‘I want to protect the future of the world that …… built. Both Roygen and I must leave this world for that to happen. Our Age has long since ended, just as Phaemdra said.’
Ianna now knew that ‘……’ referred to Laos.
‘…… is Laos, right?’
But Roberstein didn’t return an answer.
‘He’s your child,’
Ianna continued forcefully.
‘Who is this Laos? I have a child?’
Roberstein mumbled blankly. She continued,
‘I don’t know. I don’t know who …… is. All I have left in me is the obligation I feel to protect the world for ……’s sake.’
Roberstein could undo the seal on her heart from time to time now, but she still could not remember who Laos was. Were the memories missing from her entirely? Or had Laos erased her memories of him?
‘Do you remember what happened during the latter half of the Holy Age?’
‘Not exactly, but to some extent.’
‘Why did you never tell Roygen about your circumstances? He felt so horribly betrayed by you.’
‘I’ll not make excuses for myself even if you criticize my choices,’
Roberstein scorned herself. She continued,
‘I failed in my life’s mission to mediate, and I lost my mind as my guilt denied my entire life. I was exhausted at my own powerlessness for not being able to stop Roygen from Falling after he was hurt.
‘He was already so deeply hurt by the other gods that he wouldn’t listen even when I begged with him to stop and pleaded him to live alone with me somewhere deep inside the world where only the two of us could go. That’s why I gave up trying to persuade him with words. He wasn’t going to listen to me anyway.’
Ianna knew that distrust had piled up inside Roberstein’s devastated heart every time she found herself in discord with Roygen. It was certainly easier to understand the details and empathize with Roberstein when she was directly experiencing how Roberstein thought instead of when she was merely trying to read Roberstein’s memories.
‘The Holy Age went wrong from the very beginning, and I want to put an end to it. I want to open up a new age.
‘Perhaps Roygen and I could have lived together in the world that …… rebuilt. But Roygen had already Fallen, and it felt like he would try to kill everything in the new world that wasn’t me. And I couldn’t know how he might react if I told him about ……. I couldn’t allow myself to be reckless.
‘It was difficult for me to dream of a world where Roygen and I could live in peace. I lost any confidence I had about persuading him, and I only wanted to die.
‘I would’ve simply committed suicide if my death alone could have put an end to everything. But I couldn’t leave Roygen behind alone and make him suffer, and I couldn’t guarantee ……’s safety either.
‘And Roygen was obsessed with life —do you really think that he’d simply agree and go along with it if I asked him to die with me? No, he wouldn’t have. That was why I decided to kill him and then kill myself without trying to persuade him first. That was the only way to wrap everything up nicely.’
Her twisted and warped life had been complicated. Ianna could vividly feel just how suffocatingly depressed and frustrated Roberstein had been.
Ianna hesitated for a moment and asked,
‘Do you want to try talking to Roygen?’
‘No, I don’t want to. Nor do I have any right to. All I want now is to finish up everything that I failed to finish in life and finally rest.’
Ianna could feel Roberstein’s obstinacy. Roberstein continued,
‘I’m grateful for your consideration, but I have no need of it.’
Ianna stopped thinking as her conversation with Roberstein ended.
She was tired. Talking to Roberstein always fatigued her quickly. Roberstein was so exhausted, and her depression was readily conveyed to Ianna. Roberstein had been devoured by her life’s mission to maintain equilibrium and mediate, and her thought process was so stiff that Ianna felt like she was banging against a wall of rock.
‘Is there no way for Roberstein to find salvation?’
Is putting an end to everything like she said the only way?
“Arhad.”
Ianna told Arhad, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, everything that she had discussed with Roberstein. He was wise, so perhaps he would find an answer.
“Hold on a second.”
Arhad tried to converse with Roygen one more time. He had already tried and failed multiple times over, but perhaps everything that Ianna had just told him would grant him a new opportunity. Roygen had definitely heard what Ianna had said because Arhad was forcing his consciousness awake. But the bastard still refused to reply. Arhad said,
“It looks like Roygen just wants to put an end to everything too. He’s refusing to talk to me.”
“I suppose there’s no helping it, then.”
This was a problem between the two gods. There was nothing that Ianna and Arhad could do when the two gods in questions refused to speak.
Ianna and Arhad had to move forward with their own plans now.
It was winter, and bitingly cold winds were blowing down from the north.
The day to fulfil the promise that Ianna had made with Arhad three years ago had finally come. The day, which had felt ever so distant at the time, had already crept up so close.
“I suppose everything that I’m curious about will be resolved soon.”
Ianna shoved all the headache-inducing problems to one corner of her mind and pulled out everything that she had been curious about for so long. She continued,
“I wonder how the world will change once Roygen’s heart is gone?”
Ianna recalled the conversation she had shared with Millanikonè two years ago.
“I suppose we would be freed. We would be allowed to leave the four corners, and we would be allowed to multiply, as do the other races. I suppose we would also be allowed to roam the skies freely.”
The dragons of the four corners would find freedom…….
“The world will be overturned soon.”
“The world as you know it will be shaken, and an age where every law will be reversed is soon to come.”
“It will be for the best that you are certain of the path you will walk before that time comes. For you will lose your way in the chaos if you are not.”
And, while Ianna didn’t know exactly quite how, the world would experience a cataclysmic change.
It bothered her that all of this would happen while they were still at war against Bahamut, but there was nothing she could do about it.
‘That bastard Taylon definitely wants the Demon’s heart for himself.’
Taylon may be acting quiet now, but he was undoubtedly scheming something behind the scenes. Ianna had spied on him from the Akashic Records, and he had almost fully recovered from the wound that she had given him. But he had stopped attacking Ex-knights and was lurking inside a Bahamut citadel with his eyes glistening like a beast’s even still.
They had to get rid of the Demon’s heart before the bastard found it first and cast sharing magic on it. That way, it would become next to impossible for him to obtain the Demon’s complete power.
‘No one knows what might happen in the events leading up to us destroying the Demon’s heart. We need to be careful.’
Ianna steadied her breathing, brushed off her hesitation, and stood up. Then, she reached out to Arhad and said,
“Let’s go.”
Arhad grabbed her hand and squeezed. He stretched his legs and stood up too. And then, he took his first step toward freedom.
~~*~~
It was very difficult to find a rift into Pandemonium. This was because the spartoi quickly closed them up the moment they found any. Besides, they couldn’t even slip into the rift if it was too small to begin with, so they rejected the idea of using a rift to get into Pandemonium.
The only ways to get to Pandemonium property were to obtain assistance from one of the dragons of the four corners to fly over to the opposite end of the world from the Lotso Mountains or to visit Kandemayon. So naturally, Ianna and Arhad decided to pay Kandemayon a visit.
[You’re here?]
Kandemayon stared piercingly into Ianna. The dragon continued,
[It looks like you successfully managed to convince her. You have my congratulations,]
Kandemayon growled and chuckled. The mysterious dragon evidently could see souls too.
[This place is directly behind Phaemdra, the center of the world. It was influenced by Phaemdra during its prime. The world tree’s roots original reached all the way here, but the roots retreated when the tree’s main body grew weaker, and the soil naturally weakened as well.]
Kandemayon’s colossal figure stood up.
Hwoo—.
The dragon breathed out black smoke, and the earth began to tremble like there was an earthquake as the black smoke touched it.
Rumble rumble rumble.
Crack!
A large fissure appeared along the earth.
[I’m sure you already know, but you will not be able to use magic, divine arts, or your powers inside Pandemonium because they will be distorted. Always bear in mind that reinforcement and your physical prowess will be the only tools you have at your disposal.]
Ianna and Arhad looked down at the bottomless fissure. It lead directly down into Pandemonium.
[I wish you luck.]
They jumped down without a moment’s hesitation.
Fwoooosh…….
The tunnel grew narrower as the fell, as if someone had driven in large, pointed stakes into the walls. The dark abyss grabbed hold of them and pulled. Their ears began ringing as their eardrums popped, and their breathing became shallow due to the lack of air. They grew dizzy as the only continued to plummet faster.
Ianna and Arhad offset the burden on their bodies with divine power and mana and persevered until the finally neared the end of the tunnel.
Then, they finally saw a dot. And the dot grew bigger until it became an area.
Ianna and Arhad locked eyes. They wrapped their bodies tightly in powerful divine power and willed themselves to resist the force that was pulling them down. It was only then that they began slowing down.
And finally, they had arrived.
At Pandemonium, the Great Chaos.
Ianna stopped in midair and surveyed Pandemonium.
Both time and space were distorted here. Just like Kandemayon’s territory or the Akashic Records.
Thump……. Thump…….
The Demon’s heart was fixed to the very center of Pandemonium.
[Pandemonium is the birthplace of the gods. But to be more exact, it is also the origin of the world. The world began at the heart of Pandemonium, at the ‘Point of Stillness,’ and expanded from there due to its ‘will’ to exist.]
That was what Terranodin had told Ianna during her first visit to Pandemonium. And Ianna, who had personally experienced the Truth, now understood what exactly the Point of Stillness was.
It was the edge of the ‘Akashic Records’’ axis.
The Akashic Records was shaped like an hourglass. The top of the hourglass was the dimension of progress, where Ianna currently was, and the bottom of the hourglass was the dimension of retrogress. The ‘origin point’ and ‘infinite space’ at the center of the hourglass was the world of souls.
And the Point of Stillness was the very edge of the axis where the heart of the dimension of progress, the origin point of the world of souls, and the heart of the dimension of retrogress lie.
The world of progress began at the Point of Stillness and expanded through the world’s will to exist. But the Demon’s heart was giving power to the contractive force and pushing the world toward collapse.
It had taken them a very long time to get here. It was now finally time to destroy the Demon’s heart.
Ianna looked to Arhad, who was floating next to her. There were many thoughts pooling inside his shadowed golden eyes like a puddle.
Ianna took Arhad’s hand.
He stopped thinking and looked directly back at her.
“I’ll draw the sword now,”
Ianna said briefly, and Arhad nodded.
Ianna gathered divine power at the bottom of her feet, kicked off against the air, and made her way to the center of Pandemonium where the Demon’s heart was.
Buzz…….
The sword began vibrating as if it was telling her to pull it out.
Ianna protected her hand with divine power. The Demon’s heart felt Ianna’s clean divine power glimmering nearby and tried to suck it in, but it could not steal the divine power away from Ianna’s hand.
Ianna grabbed the hilt of the sword that was in terrible shape and was chipped all over. She slowly summoned Roberstein’s consciousness, and Roberstein overlapped with her.
Ianna and Roberstein squeezed.
Shhhh…….
The sword, which had seemed like it would be pierced into the Demon’s heart forever, slowly began to break free. The seal that had been cast on the sword, too, slowly began to unravel.
Swish!
The Demon’s heart was freed from Roberstein’s seal as soon as the sword was completely drawn. The curse of time that had been cast on the Demon’s heart had vanished.
Shaaaaa!
The Demon’s heart furiously began sucking in everything around it, as if it had only been waiting for this moment. Pieces of space broke off from everywhere and gathered at the center of Pandemonium. Space itself was crumbling.
“…….”
The blood drained from Arhad’s face as he clutched his heart.
Ianna scowled as she glared at the Demon’s heart.
She could see Roberstein’s and Roygen’s last moments playing out before her like a hallucination.
Roygen was overjoyed because he and Roberstein were the only gods left in the world. He had forgotten his wrath, and he was laughing like an innocent young boy. Roygen pulled Roberstein into a hug.
Roberstein hugged him back tightly, pulled away, and immediately stabbed him in the heart.
Clatter.
Ianna let go of the chipped sword, held Rise high above her head, and aimed her sword at the Demon’s heart. For Arhad’s freedom and her own. Roberstein joined Ianna’s consciousness too. To finally bring everything to an end.
But just as they had raised the sword.
“Ro.”
He called out to her.
She froze in her tracks.
It had undoubtedly been Arhad’s voice, but his tone sounded different.
“Roygen has one last thing to say,”
Arhad said as he returned to being himself. He continued,
“I’ve decided to let him take the reins for a bit. Is that all right with you?”
Roberstein was shaken from within Ianna. Roberstein, who was normally as stubborn as a hard rock, was at a loss for what to do.
Eventually, Roberstein assented.
Ianna became Roberstein, who was her but also not her. Arhad, too, became Roygen, who was him but also not him.
“…….”
“…….”
The god and the demon who had crossed over an eternity met each other again and stared quietly back at each other.
“I’ll disappear from this world, just like you wanted, Ro.”
It was Roygen who spoke up first. His voice was prickly and dry, like the dry sands of the dessert. He continued,
“But there’s something I want to tell you first.”
Roberstein waited for him to pour out his criticism and hatred upon her.
“I’m sorry.”
But what he uttered instead was a sincere apology.
Roberstein was terribly shaken.
“Why are you sorry?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You should be criticizing me instead. Hate me and despise me!”
“No. I won’t criticize you anymore. I understood where you were coming from after hearing your story, and I realized what I did wrong.”
Roberstein’s eyes shook aimlessly like a ship lost in the middle of a storm.
“You never did anything wrong, Roygen.”
Her lips quivered as she only just managed to continue,
“Everything was my fault.”
I shouldn’t have simply stood by and watched as the gods abandoned their responsibilities and threw all their evil away inside Pandemonium. I was arrogant and believed that everything would turn out the way I hoped it would, and I shouldn’t have dragged you out into the world against your will.
I promised to protect you, but in the end, I failed to protect you from the world as it criticized you. I couldn’t choose between my life’s mission and my love, and I ended up ruining everything.
And ultimately, I was irresponsible and abandoned everything.
“I ruined your life from beginning to end. You have nothing to apologize to me for.”
“Even if everything went wrong from the very beginning.”
Roygen forcefully cut Roberstein off. He continued,
“Even if you say that you’ve committed countless wrongs against me.”
He smiled bitterly.
“You never ruined my life. I did. Because I was weak.”
Roberstein stared blankly back at Roygen. This was the first time in that Roygen was blaming himself in his life.
“I took a few days to look back on my life and do a lot of thinking. And I realized just how ridiculous I was. I only ever resented everything around me and always pointed the blame at others.”
I’m like this because the world was so unfair to me! It’s your fault pushing all of your negative memories and emotions onto me! It’s your fault for failing to accept me, for rejecting me, and for hating me!
“But Arhad, my reincarnation, is a bit different from me. He and Ianna love each other, and that was all it took for him to beat back all the hatred that I’ve been accumulating for millennia and suppress his greed. He found his own path in life. If only I, too, had erased the hatred —that wasn’t even mine to begin with— with my love and lived like he does.”
Ianna, whom Arhad is always watching over, lives an impressive life too. Everyone around her scorned her and hurt her deeply, but she climbed over them all with her powerful self-confidence and adamantine love, and she gained people who are precious to her. If only I had done that too.
“If I had looked only to the happiness I shared with you and walked my own path no matter how unfair the world was to me or what the other gods said…….”
Roygen slowly approached Roberstein. But he couldn’t make it all the way to her because she flinched visibly.
“You were always working so hard for me, Ro.”
Roygen lowered his head as he scorned himself.
“You loved me and showered me with overflowing life even despite your life’s mission. The world gave me absolutely nothing, but you, the most blinding being in the world, came to me.”
And Roygen confessed to Roberstein the conclusion he had come to after he had reminisced about his life.
“I had a change of heart recently. I realized that my life wasn’t unfair —all because I had you. I realized that I’d had a chance too.”
Roberstein’s entire being began to tremble.
“I wasted all of your precious effort because I was too blinded by my hatred and my inferiority complex. I didn’t lend an ear to your sincerity or to your desperate pleas. I made you lose your faith in me. I tried to drag you down to hell with me instead of climbing up to heaven where you were. Ruining my own life wasn’t enough, so I ruined yours too.”
Roygen smiled bitterly.
“I’m sorry. I really wanted to tell you that.”
Hot tears began to well inside Roberstein’s eyes. She felt like her eyes were burning. It hurt so much.
“I was able to reach this answer because of Ianna and Arhad. Ultimately, they’re only here because Laos created a new world for them to live in. Because you killed me. So, you made the right choice, Ro.”
“Ah…….”
“But I really wish that you had told me about Laos. I won’t ask you why you didn’t because you don’t seem to want to talk about it. No, I don’t even have the right to ask you in the first place.”
Roygen bitterly curled his lips into a frown. He continued,
“I really wish I had the time to make things right with you —I’m certain I could do well this time……but our time is already over. That makes me a little sad. We don’t have any more chances left, and our lives will ultimately end in our failures.”
“Ah, ahh…….”
Roberstein was quivering as the strength left her hand. But just as Rise was about to slip from her fingers, Roygen wrapped his hands around hers from behind and readjusted her grip on Rise.
“Let’s put an end to everything now. But before that, there’s just one last thing that I really want to say.”
Roygen embraced Roberstein tightly from behind. He continued,
“Even if everything went wrong from the very beginning.”
Roberstein saw Roygen’s face.
“Even if you say that you’ve committed countless wrongs against me.”
He was smiling brilliantly.
It was the pure and innocent smile of the boy she so loved.
“I love you. Even now.”
Roygen took Roberstein’s hand and aimed the sword at his heart.
“Goodbye, Ro.”
Pooow!
He stabbed Rise through his heart without a moment’s hesitation. The momentum the sword carried pushed it cleanly through his heart.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
The shocked heart spasmed and convulsed, and it gradually began beating irregularly as it lost strength.
Thump……. Thump…….
Roygen’s heart began to fossilize like stone.
Thump…….
…….
Until it finally stopped beating.
Craaack.
Cracks began to form from where Rise was pierced through it like a stake.
Shhhh.
The stilled heart began to disintegrate like dust in the light. It swirled into itself like a vortex before it swiftly vanished into emptiness.
“Ah, ahh. Ahh! Roygen! Roygen!”
Roberstein burst into tears and screamed. She buried her face into her hands and called his name as she wailed. Her tears streamed out from between her fingers like blood spurting from an open wound.
Roberstein’s consciousness flickered off. And Ianna’s consciousness instantly returned.
“Gasp, gasp!”
Ianna struggled to pull herself together in the turbulence of the emotions that Roberstein had left behind.
She couldn’t see well. Her vision cycled between going blurry, going bright, and going dark as her tears flowed endlessly. She couldn’t breathe. She almost wanted to choke herself to death right this instant.
Drip…….
Ianna finally woke up as she felt blood flowing down her neck and splash against her cheeks.
“Kgh!”
Arhad was heaving blood. His blood continued to flow, drenching both his and Ianna’s clothes. He shoved Ianna out of his way as he threw up more blood. His face was ghastly pale.
“Arhad!”
Ianna grabbed his clothes in astonishment.
“Don’t…worry. It’s just…the shock… I’ll get…better…soon…….”
But Pandemonium did not allow Arhad any time to recover.
Booooom.
The earth surrounding the space began to shake.
The world began to change now that the Demon’s heart, which had been affecting its equilibrium heavily, had vanished.
The expansive force pushing against it increased exponentially and pushed past the world’s boundaries. The world expanded, shrank, reduced, extended, rose up, and fell down.
The greedy trait of mana changed ever so subtly. The divine power of nature, which had been flowing quietly and unnoticed before, was suddenly amplified and spread out over the world like a cloud of dust.
The world experienced the Great Chaos in this cataclysm where everything was upheaved and upturned. And Pandemonium, the center of the world and the zenith of this chaos, became the most dangerous place to be in the world.
The contractive force, which was still trying to compress the world, and the suddenly increased expansive force, which was trying to broaden the world, clashed against each other. The two immense forces had no choice but to keep distorting violently until they finally found their equilibrium and settled down.
The earth that constructed the space around Ianna and Arhad continued to crumble apart, burn, clump together, liquify, vaporize, and freeze repeatedly. Clumps of fire, water, earth, and air formed around them and whizzed around at incredible speeds like comets. The great fragments of nature were created, flung away, clumped together, and extinguished, aggravating the chaos around them.
It was almost as if nature itself had been condensed and shoved inside Pandemonium.
Was this how the world looked like if one was hallucinating?
Even Ianna, with her steely nerves, felt like she was going to vomit as her surroundings continued to change so rapidly around her.
Swish! Swiiish!
Ianna had her hands full safeguarding the weakened Arhad as the fragments flew around like cannonballs around them.
She had already been at her wit’s end because of the vestiges of the emotions that Roberstein had left behind, and she felt like she was about to die. And Arhad was practically half a corpse himself.
‘We’re in danger.’
Who would have thought that the situation would change so drastically? They could be buried alive if they dawdled too long. Ianna wanted to give Arhad some time to recover, but that was time that they did not have.
Ianna swung Arhad’s arm over her shoulders and pulled him up by the waist. Arhad was flickering in and out of consciousness as Ianna supported him up. Then, she began crawling back up toward the surface through the path that was still open to them.
The path was perilous. The earth palpitated, waters rushed in, fires blazed, and the winds stormed. Space itself was twisting and made it look like they were inside a never-ending snake. And Ianna could not even begin to guess how much time had passed because time itself was expanding and shrinking like a rubber band.
But Ianna stayed firm and continued to climb. She could do this only because of how much she had trained both her mind and body.
“I’m…sorry, Ianna.”
“I’m all right, so please try to recover a little.”
Arhad apologized every time he came back to his senses, and Ianna encouraged herself forward as she consoled him. Her consciousness began to fade from time to time, but Ianna bit her tongue and brought herself back to her senses every time it happened. She had to exercise a stronger vice grip on her mind than ever before because Arhad was relying on her.
“Gasp, hack.”
How many hours or days had it been? Ianna had no way to know.
All she knew was that it had felt like an eternity.
Her nails had been ripped off as she had stubbornly continued to climb. Her clothes were a mess, and her body was battered and bruised.
But she had succeeded nonetheless. The sky was still dark, but she could finally see the boundary between the sky and the rift.
Ianna found hope and worked a little harder.
And finally, she reached the surface.
Thump!
Her hand touched the surface.
“Haah!”
She heaved Arhad up first before she poured strength into her trembling arms and arduously pulled herself up too.
Ianna sprawled out over the ground.
Her vision was going yellow. She felt like she was about to vomit.
She was so tired that she wanted to pass out on the spot, but the chill crawling all over her flesh made her raise her head and look at the world.
Was it because they were inside Kandemayon’s territory? All she could see was a blackish fog.
The world was undoubtedly going through cataclysm, running rampant with deafening roars and great tremors, but this place, enveloped by the black fog, was quiet. It had most definitely been like hell as they had crawled up from the tunnel, but it was so quiet here, as if time itself had stopped.
Had Kandemayon gone somewhere? No one had said anything even as Ianna and Arhad had crawled back out. Ianna felt an uncomfortable anxiety that she could not explain.
‘I can’t rest here.’
Her instincts were sounding the alarm. She had to return to the castle first if she wanted to rest.
But just as Ianna forced her quivering frame to stand up and was about to pull Arhad up too.
The black fog rushed in and pressed down on her hard.
Arhad pushed Ianna away.
Pooooow!
An explosion pushed Ianna down, tore her eardrums, and bore into her brain.
What? What? What?
That was the only word that circled in her mind. She was too afraid to look back. But she had to.
Ianna looked back, and time seemed to stop around her.
A certain, dreadfully familiar arrogant man was standing behind Arhad.
Taylon Helkan Bahamut.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment.”
Ianna could see Taylon with her eyes but could not feel his presence, as if he had assimilated into the ominous black fog itself. A shiver overflowed from his malicious voice as Ianna stared at the presence she could only perceive with her eyes.
Was she dreaming?
Ianna’s eyes were nailed to just one spot and could not break away.
Taylon had thrust out his sword.
And his sword was pieced into the left side……of Arhad’s chest.
Shaaaaa!
Taylon activated his Heart Sharing spell as soon as he had stabbed Arhad’s heart. His heart and Arhad’s was bound by a solid binding that could not be cut.
“Kgh!”
Arhad vomited blood and collapsed. Taylon stepped on Arhad’s body as the latter struggled and subdued him. He looked satisfied, like a hunter who had just caught the greatest beast in the world, as he waited only for his spell to be complete.
What is going on right now?
Ianna sat and stared blankly, unable to comprehend what was happening, before she flung her body forward like she had been struck by lightning.
“No!”
But the black fog suddenly closed in and grabbed Ianna like a giant’s fist just as she was about to rush forward with Rise in hand. Her drained mentality, her exhausted stamina, and the breathtaking shock kept her from fighting back properly.
Crunch! Pow!
A gigantic sword came down from above, pierced through Ianna’s right shoulder, and pinned her down to the ground.
The earth shattered, unable to withstand the impact. And at the center of the spiderweb of cracks that had formed was Ianna’s shoulder as she bled profusely.
Ianna quivered and clenched her teeth, unable to even scream, because the agony, which threatened to make her vision go dark, was too dreadful to bear.
Then, hundreds of daggers formed from black divine power appeared out of thin air and pointed themselves at her.
“Stay still. I’ll deal with you after I’m done.”
“Yeah, he’s right. You can’t move, Dame Rise. Don’t interfere, and just stay here with me instead.”
A voice whispered in Ianna’s ear like a slithering snake after Taylon had spoken.
“Stay still. I don’t want to ruin you any more than this.”
Isabella and Shailince were standing next to Ianna like venomous vipers dribbling with poison.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
Taylon chuckled as he grabbed Arhad’s head up by his hair. He continued,
“I’m going to rob you of everything as soon as you obtain it.”
His eerie laughter was filled with a bloodthirsty delight.
Taylon had been waiting eagerly only for this day.
This day when Arhad destroyed the Demon’s heart and became complete.
He could feel in vivid detail as his and Arhad’s hearts were being tied closer together. And he could feel his Demon’s fragment —more precisely, the fragment of Arhad’s soul he possessed— waking up so vividly that it sent shivers down his spine.
Taylon was the same being as Arhad and the Demon.
After all, they shared the same soul.
Rather, Arhad, who had completed the Demon in his past life, had practically been a higher form of the Demon. And that was why Taylon had chosen not ‘the Demon’s heart,’ but ‘Arhad’s heart.’
The Heart Sharing spell brought two hearts so closely together that one could act as the other.
Taylon could obtain not only all the Demon’s power and knowledge, which was accumulated inside the Demon’s fragment that he possessed, but also Arhad’s complete memories of the past if he began sharing Arhad’s heart. He could even think from Arhad’s perspective too.
Crackle.
Taylon twisted the sword that he had pierced into Arhad’s heart.
And the Heart Sharing spell spread out over Arhad’s heart.
He would rob Arhad of all the knowledge and memories that were accumulated inside his fragment.
And he would burst the bastard’s heart open as soon as the sharing was complete.
Then, he would steal Arhad’s soul —the final Demon’s fragment— that would burst outside once his heart was destroyed and take all the knowledge accumulated inside that fragment too. He would rob the bastard of his control over mana and all the divine power inside his heart.
He would rob Arhad of the kingdom he had labored so hard to build, and even of the woman he so loved!
Arhad’s heart, Arhad’s soul, Arhad’s memories, Arhad’s knowledge, Arhad’s emotion, Arhad’s mana, Arhad’s divine power, Arhad’s kingdom, and Arhad’s love!
He would rob Arhad of his everything.
Was this not the perfect revenge?
Such perfect ecstasy.
It was magnificent! All of his patience was finally paying off!
“Haha.”
Blood dribbled down from Taylon’s mouth.
Taylon was insanely ecstatic even as his heart, which was intimately tied with Arhad’s now, screamed in its shared pain, because the scene that he had imagined thousands, tens of thousands of time was finally playing out before his very eyes.
“How…?”
Arhad asked as his blood boiled. He continued,
“How are you here?”
Everything felt so surreal because he could not understand how this had happened. He could not even flare up in rage because he couldn’t understand. The questions that he could not answer filled his mind and distorted his perception of reality.
He could understand that Taylon had chosen his heart as the means to rob him of everything, and he could also understand that Taylon had planned to be here at precisely this timing. Arhad and Ianna had theorized this outcome once, but they had decided that this was impossible. After all, it involved Taylon obtaining information that he could never obtain through any normal means.
“Kandemayon told me everything,”
Taylon replied apathetically. He continued,
“God was on your side, so God’s shadow decided to take mine. It happened several years ago.”
Taylon allowed himself to soak in admiration as he recalled the day that he had first met Kandemayon.
Taylon had been searching for other fragments and wandering the Lotso Mountains for any rifts into Pandemonium ever since his fool of a father had lost their Demon’s fragment.
He could simply wait until the owner of the stolen fragment appeared in the future and kill the bastard then. His goal had been to gather more of the scattered fragments and to obtain the Demon’s heart before that. All so that he could bring the day that he was to rule the entire world ever closer.
“At long last…….”
And one day, Taylon had found a large rift into Pandemonium. He couldn’t believe his luck that such a large rift hadn’t closed up yet, but it had been real. Taylon had been delighted as he peered down into the rift.
The outpour of knowledge and memories.
The thrilling destruction and remembrances.
And yet.
“……Huh……?”
Scenes that he could not comprehend poured into him like a cataract and pooled inside his brain.
But those scenes had not been from the distant past. They were the memories of someone who had lived in a similar time as himself.
Taylon recognized that they belonged to a powerful enemy and memorized as much information as he could while also pinpointing key locations.
The grey magic tower, the Valgenta Institution, the Kingdom of Roanne.
The Kingdom of Woodruff, the Great Forest of Shaob to the East.
Cruuunch.
Taylon clenched his fists so hard they cracked.
He had seen something that he could not comprehend. Why did he look so wretched and ridiculous in these memories?
The owner of the memories had ultimately massacred the imperial family and usurped the imperial throne.
Arhad Ro Ralzo Bahamut. That was what they all called him.
Taylon learned of Arhad’s identity once his agitation had calmed down and had analyzed the fragmented scenes over and over again. He was both the thief who had stolen the Demon’s fragment from the imperial family as well as the Demon himself —the fragments’ true owner.
And Taylon, who had obtained both Arhad’s and the Demon’s knowledge, gained a general understanding of the mechanisms of how this was even possible to begin with. He had also figured out whether these were memories of the future or memories of the past.
They were memories of the past.
Arhad had performed the miracle of erasing time in order to accomplish something.
But Taylon couldn’t understand.
Why had Arhad, who had obtained everything, thrown it all away and erased time?
He was also astonished.
Arhad may have been the Demon himself, but he had lost?
Taylon had pondered about what he should do. Should he break into the Institution at once, kill the bastard, and take his soul?
He had needed to give the idea some thought.
He had no information about what state the bastard was in currently —had he come back in time, or was he repeating the past exactly as he had lived it before? Taylon also had not been able to find a quick answer as to how he should go about enacting his revenge for a past that he himself did not even remember.
And that was why he had wanted to accomplish his initial goals first. He would begin by obtaining the Demon’s heart.
[It is impossible for you to obtain the Demon’s heart in its entirely.]
But Kandemayon had suddenly interrupted him from behind. The dragon had continued,
[It is being sealed by a powerful will. You can’t even perform Heart Sharing magic right now, so there is nothing you could do even if you found it.]
Taylon had found the fact that a dragon, a being that he dearly hoped to kill one day, had appeared before him and was so obediently whispering important information to him absurd too. So many absurdities had happened to him that he had simply accepted them all.
In that case, he would go and kill Arhad immediately. He would find the bastard and see just how strong he was right now. And if Arhad was weaker than himself, he would kill Arhad and steal his soul.
But then, what would he do about his revenge for the past?
But Taylon hadn’t reached much in particular. They were another’s memories, after all, so all he felt was, ‘I died, but I’m alive right now, aren’t I?’ and found it all absurd. Or, perhaps it simply felt surreal?
But Kandemayon had offered him an interesting proposal just then.
[I’m hoping that you’ll murder him later when I tell you that time is ripe. I’ll offer you something in return if you agree. I will return your past to you.]
Taylon had agreed readily. His past self—it was an interesting concept. It would also be beneficial in dealing with Arhad.
And so, Kandemayon had brought him to the ‘Truth.’ It was there that Taylon had regained his past and had fallen to the depths of hell.
But he hadn’t gone insane once he had returned to the surface. He had simply draped his dreadful madness and merciless bloodlust on top of his chilling rationality.
I’ll murder you.
I’ll murder you in the most painful way imaginable.
I will rob you of your everything just as you’ve obtained it and cast you into the greatest despair as I murder you.
What must I do to make that bastard despair?
What must I do to make that bastard anguish?
[It would be good for you to stay low, gather the Demon’s fragments, and grow stronger for now.]
Kandemayon had chuckled. The dragon had continued,
[I’d like to help you, if you’ll permit it. I will grant you knowledge and power. I’ll even tell you the best time to kill him. Will you agree?]
“I don’t need your help.”
Taylon would kill Arhad with his own strength alone. He would also succeed in slaughtering the dragons —Bahamut’s long-cherished wish. It was ridiculous for him to receive help from a dragon when it was his desire to slaughter them. But Kandemayon had only gently whispered back,
[Think about it. The world is unfair to you, and I am only offering this to you in order to maintain equilibrium. You are destined to be defeated if you do not accept my help.]
“Destined?”
[Your enemies possess the memories, knowledge, and powers of gods, and they also possess their own transcendental and innate talents. All the dragons other than I will be amicable to them. Laos, the one they call the Creator of this world, is on their side too. And all life, which was created by Laos, will also lend them their aid. Don’t you find this unfair?]
“…….”
[Your only allies are your blood and those whom you have made your subordinates. You are destined to be defeated in the end no matter how hard you struggle. Just like how you were defeated in the past.]
Taylon had not grown agitated. Instead, he had scrutinized the dragon offering him a suspicious proposal with ice-cold eyes.
But he could not read the dragon, who was the color of a darkness so black that no light could exist within it. And that was why he had openly asked,
“Why would you do so much for me?”
And Kandemayon had readily replied,
[I made a bet with Laos, you see.]
I think that the black will of primitive greed and desire is stronger, whereas Laos believes that the white will of altruism that holds back greed is superior.
Black is close to death, and white is close to all that is life.
Which of these two will direct the flow of the world?
We could not come to a compromise, and so, we decided to wait and watch instead.
But Laos, the affectionate fool, continued to get involved with the world. Even though he knew that I, too, also had to lay my hand against the world every time he got involved.
[But a bet must not be unfair. And that is why I am helping you. I believe that it is only fair for you to kill ‘Arhad Roygen’ and absorb all that he is.]
Kandemayon had alluded to Taylon as the black will of primitive greed and desire, but Taylon hadn’t minded. He rather liked it, actually, since it was more entertaining to entrust his body to the greed welling up from the depths of his heart, and he quite enjoyed causing destruction in his hatred and rage.
In any event, even Taylon had to admit that it was unfair if the gods were on his enemies’ side like Kandemayon had said.
“I’m going to kill you someday.”
Taylon openly showed Kandemayon, who was offering to help him, his greed.
[I am aware. I know that you harbor malice for the dragons, and I also know that it is Bahamut’s will to devour everything in the world and stand at its very peak.]
“And you’ll help me even still?”
[Indeed. Did you say that you would kill me? Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to die. I am nothing but a shadow without real substance who cannot die unless Laos dies first. I am death itself, and yet I cannot die —isn’t that preposterous?]
Kandemayon cackled while breathing out the breath of death. The dragon continued,
[Allow me to conclude. If you wish to rule over the world, then your last and greatest enemy are not the dragons but the God ‘Laos,’ who is the progenitor of all dragons and the final god.]
Killing the final god. It was an attractive idea.
[I harbor no noteworthy feelings for Laos. Neither do I care if I die. I am happy to die a proper death, and I am also happy to watch the world forever, for that is amusing in its own right too. But I would like to see our tedious bet come to a conclusion. And if possible, I would also like to be its victor.]
“…….”
[What you want and what I want are in alignment. So now, I will ask you again. What will you do?]
Ultimately, Taylon had accepted Kandemayon’s proposal. And so, Kandemayon had granted Taylon knowledge and Taylon was imbued with all the dragon’s powers.
The dragon had also explained when the ‘best time to kill Arhad’ was. The day when the Demon’s heart was freed from its seal. That was the perfect time.
Kandemayon had not told Taylon what exactly the seal was. Instead, Kandemayon had told Taylon that he would be able to obtain both the Demon’s heart and Arhad’s heart once the heart was freed and that the dragon would summon him once the time came.
And that time was today.
“Phew…….”
Taylon erased his thoughts as he felt the Heart Sharing spell near its completion.
There was no reason to explain everything to Arhad in detail when he was about to die anyway. He had only told Arhad about everything that Kandemayon had told him because he had wanted Arhad to rage in his sense of betrayal and be made to keenly realize just how much of a fool he had been.
Taylon spat out the blood that was pooling in his mouth and sneered as he looked down at the shadows casted over Arhad’s mien. He had thought that Arhad might die before the sharing was complete, but the tenacious bastard was still alive.
And, at long last, Taylon’s heart was completely connected to Arhad’s.
“The sharing is complete.”
The gloomy memories and emotions that had been piled up inside the Demon’s fragment in his blood flooded him all at once. Even Arhad’s emotions from his past life seemed to surge up and squeeze at his throat.
They were all filled with the negativity that Taylon so liked.
Everything that had once felt like it had belonged to another when he had looked down into the rift so long ago felt like it belonged to him now. And Taylon happily devoured it all and digested it, as if it had always been his to begin with, without feeling even a little repulsed. Just like how Roygen once had during the Holy Age.
“What an unfortunate life it was,”
Taylon deplored as he regretfully sighed out black smoke. He continued,
“Equilibrium is such a ridiculous thing. If someone has it all, then someone else must have nothing.
“The gods were truly a ridiculous bunch too. They could only maintain their peace by using the Demon as the trash can for their emotions, but then they thought the Demon was hideous, pointed their fingers at him, and despised him.
“And the secret behind my birth is ridiculous as well. We, Bahamut, were born at the very bottom because Laos created a heavenly being called Roanne.
“It was because of equilibrium that Kandemayon gave me the golden opportunity to take my revenge against you too. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
Taylon muttered before he felt the body writhing beneath his feet and his lips twisted. His heart was being persistently reconstructed. And Arhad’s visage grew paler with every reconstruction. Taylon understood that Arhad was erasing time.
But his punctured heart could not function properly. All he could do was erase a few minutes at a time.
“You were happy in this life, weren’t you? That’s why you’re struggling so desperately to live. But, I’m sure I already told you.”
Swish!
Taylon drew his sword out from Arhad’s heart.
“I’m going to kill you over and over again no matter how many times you resurrect yourself.”
Pow!
And he stabbed him again.
“There will be no salvation for you.”
The world had its hands full dealing with the sudden cataclysm, and Taylon had even reinforced the area with his monster armies and knights, so no one would come to help Ianna and Arhad now. He continued,
“Just die already.”
Taylon declared a death sentence. He was having so much fun as he watched Arhad struggling so desperately.
“I’ll be sure savor your happiness with that woman of yours.”
He stabbed Arhad’s heart again.
Pow!
He stabbed Arhad so many times.
Pow!
But Arhad would not die.
Poow!
He would not die no matter how many times Taylon stabbed his heart.
Pow!
It was Taylon’s visage that paled every time he brought down his sword. More and more blood continued to pour out from his mouth. Taylon’s heart was sharing everything with Arhad’s now, which meant that the damage was accumulating in his heart too.
“It looks…like do don’t realize just how terrifying…sharing can be. Did you forget…what made me like this in the first place?”
Arhad laughed even though he was a right mess. He continued,
“I will never die.”
After all, my heart will simply erase time over and over again.
Until it truly reaches its very last limits.
But do you think that your ordinary heart will be able to withstand the shock until then?
“Tenacious bastard.”
Taylon went blind with fury, threw his sword aside, and stomped over Arhad’s heart, which was bleeding profusely. He meant to burst Arhad’s heart open so it could never had the chance to resurrect itself.
But a chill ran down his spine as soon as he pressed down, and he tried to defend himself.
Pow!
His body was put through immense shock even still and was sent flying away.
“Kgh…….”
He had nearly been sundered in two. He was actually fortunately that he had gotten away with only ripped flesh and a few broken bones.
Taylon looked at the thing that had tumbled beside him, which had flown at him like a meteor just moments ago. It was his own sword, which he had thrust through Ianna’s shoulder earlier.
He stood up, furious about the blood pouring down his back, and turned around.
Ianna, who had ripped off her entire right shoulder, looked like she had lost her mind as she stood before Arhad.
“Stay still.”
She struggled desperately to break free from the sword that Taylon had driven through her shoulder and from Isabella’s and Shailince’s restraints. But she was powerless in their hands because her body had reached its limit. The net of aura that they had firmly prepared for her was like a snare, and all she could do was struggle like a beast caught in a trap.
No. No!
Her tears blurred her vision.
Arhad was dying. The being whom she loved more than anything in the world would be stabbed by that dreadful sword over and over again before he finally vanished from the world completely.
Ianna had been struggling like crazy —struggling physically, calling the spirits, and activating her power— ever since Arhad was stabbed in the heart and she was rendered powerless.
But her body refused to obey her mind, the spirits weren’t answering, Roberstein’s consciousness was still silent, and her power, which she had always thought as her last resort, refused to activate.
She begged it to save Arhad.
She begged it to restore Arhad’s heart.
And if it could not do that, then she begged it to transport her and Arhad somewhere safe.
She begged the Balance in every way she knew now, but the Balance would not listen.
It was already being overloaded because it had to correct the equilibrium of the world.
Moreover, the Balance had determined that equilibrium meant that Arhad would die at Taylon’s hands and be robbed of his everything. It denied Ianna’s pleas in order to find equilibrium.
The Balance tried to persuade her when she tried to borrow its powers and citing equilibrium, but Ianna refused to think and rejected its coaxing.
How is Arhad’s death equilibrium?
I don’t care about your reasons —I will never accept that. Don’t be ridiculous!
The only thing that Ianna could trust was herself.
And so, she began to exceed her physical limits as she struggled even harder.
“Didn’t we tell you to stay still?”
Ianna saw Taylon step over Arhad’s heart.
Her eyes grew bloodshot.
And her world became insane.
I want to cut him. I must cut him. I will cut him. I will cut that bastard down and murder him.
I’ll rend him apart.
I’ll Rend him.
Rend. Rend. Rend. Rend!
And within her body and soul, the word ‘Rend’ became filled with her will and her thoughts and her instincts and her obsession……to the very brim.
Something was disintegrating from within her.
And at the same time, she lost her ability to reason.
……I will Rend apart everything that gets in my way.
No matter what it that might be!
Cruuuunch!
“Ack!”
Isabella and Shailince startled.
But Ianna was a single sword now, and the world she saw had changed.
Time was stilled. She aimed for an opening in Isabella and Shailince from within the paused world.
Pooow!
Ianna released every last drop of divine power that she had and broke free from their restraints with a strength that exceeded her limits. She tore out Taylon’s sword, which was still pierced through her right shoulder, poured her divine power into it, and, now that she had broken free from the shackles binding her, sent it flying with all her instincts, skill, and thirst for blood.
“Ack!”
It had truly been instantaneous.
Isabella and Shailince, who had only displayed a moment’s opening, could not avoid Ianna’s attack and crumbled as they were cut down.
Then, Ianna kicked against the earth as she hurled the sword at Taylon.
And in the same movement, she grabbed Rise, which had fallen next to Arhad. Then, she stepped in front of Arhad when Taylon was taken by surprise because he had been too focused on Arhad and collapsed.
Everything had truly happened in but an instant.
“A swordswoman who abandons her own arm. Remarkable. Or are you simply confident because you can always have the spirits restore it?”
Taylon glared at Ianna as blood gushed out of him.
An electrifying emotion ran along his blood vessels and spread into the tips of his fingers and toes even though she had interfered at such a crucial moment. The affection, so close to hatred, and chilling obsession had multiplied hundredfold ever since he had started sharing his heart with Arhad.
“I was planning to take you away nicely if you stayed still, but I suppose there’s no helping it. You leave me no choice but to cut off your limbs so you can’t move.”
Taylon’s heart was half-crazed from the pain. He licked his chops and picked up his sword.
They clashed.
Ianna was at the disadvantage because she only had one arm. The battle was very one-sided because both Isabella and Shailince were supporting Taylon with magic on top of that.
Poow! Pow!
The spells that were showering Ianna from all sides pierced through her left shoulder and tore the ligaments in her arm. They shattered her hips and penetrated her stomach.
But Ianna endured it all. She absolutely refused to collapse.
After all, she had to protect Arhad.
“You crazy…….”
Ianna was a bloodied mess, but the Bahamut imperial family had paid a hefty price to bring her to that state too. The imperial family shuddered before her sheer obstinacy.
But Ianna’s body could no longer keep up with her and began to plead with her. Her body’s pleas sounded the alarms and reawakened her ability to reason.
Craaash!
Ianna stabbed Rise heavily into the earth and fell to her knees. Then, she ripped out all of her divine power, which had been wrapped around her sword, and even all the divine power that had been inside Roberstein’s heart and created a semi-spherical barrier to shield herself and Arhad.
“Tch!”
Taylon, who was finally beginning to lose himself in fury, began to scream. Attacks that could destroy the world several times over began to beat against the barrier, as if he was betting to see who could last longer.
But neither his spells nor his sword strikes could penetrate the barrier, and they simply went up in flames. The barrier was an absolute shield, and it would not be destroyed.
And just then.
“Meow!”
A sudden clump of white appeared from within the black aura. It was running like crazy, and it ran to Taylon’s legs and bit him.
Taylon could not help but be distracted by the sudden appearance of a third party.
It was a cat.
And it had made a mess of the black aura while running here. The sounds of the war being waged outside began making its way inside.
Taylon kicked away the annoying creature. The cat was sent flying before she could even yowl, but someone who had burst inside the opening the cat had created alongside the ruckus caught her.
“That bastard is…….”
Isabella scowled. It was the bastard whose unwaveringly kind and calm features had annoyed her previously.
“Nissi!”
Angelina, who had hastily run inside after Herrace, took the quivering cat in her arms.
Herrace was holding his sword upright as he stood in front of the crimson semi-sphere. His posture was as solid as the earth itself and suggested that he would not budge no matter how hard he was kicked.
“Aren’t you Heinrich’s grandson?”
Taylon looked Herrace up and down as if he was mocking him. He had known Herrace in the past too. In the past, Herrace had been a weak and pathetic bastard who had chosen an ordinary life because he had failed to best the curse of mana.
He knew Angelina too. She was the princess of Roanne who had been so naïve that she hadn’t been able to grasp reality at all.
“Please fall back,”
Herrace asked in a completely unwavering voice. Taylon was astounded. To think he would hear something like that from a mere insect.
Shaaaa!
Herrace formed a fortification over his sword. It was a fortification that was refined by a pure and clean divine power.
“Ugh.”
Isabella groaned in displeasure as she stepped back.
“You people are obviously strong, but you’re also not in the greatest shape right now. I may not be able to defeat you, but I am more than capable of dealing with you.”
“He’s right! Fall back!”
the pallid Angelina shouted as she began to cast magic with her silvery divine power.
It was true that Taylon could not allow himself to ignore his current situation.
But he was still irritable. The mere fact that these brats had made him feel this way annoyed him. No, he was annoyed with the situation in and of itself.
He was supposed to have killed Arhad here, but he had failed to do that. He had brought both Arhad and Ianna to death’s door, but he had not been able to deal the final blow.
And his own condition was worse than it had ever been before.
He wanted to ignore the state of his own body and simply make a mess of everything, but the fact that Ianna was still inside that opaque crimson dome bothered him. That woman, who endured everything to the bitter end no matter how much he had attacked her, was like a fiend who refused to die.
His entire lineage would end here if she suddenly came out of there like she was perfectly fine. Not to mention that he only had a fifty percent chance of killing those brats too…
“Kgh!”
Taylon vomited blood again.
Pieces of his internal organs were mixed into his blood too now.
He made an ugly face as he raised his hand.
Shaaaa!
The black aura, so like a curtain of death, was sucked into his hand. The sounds of battle that had been seeping inside suddenly increased in volume and threatened to sunder the sky. The Bahamut army that Taylon had brought with him was engaged in a bloody battle against their enemy, the Allied Forces. It was quite the spectacle.
Taylon clenched his fists tight.
He had no choice but prepare for his next opportunity.
His bloodthirsty eyes turned to the crimson dome.
He would break inside it and kill them as soon as he recovered.
Though there was no knowing if they would even survive until then.
Taylon gave the order to retreat before he took his family and disappeared.
~~*~~
Ianna couldn’t even groan as she clutched Rise with every last drop of strength she had left. She wouldn’t be able to endure this otherwise.
Cruuunch.
Her broken nails dug into her palm. Her palm was wounded, but it didn’t really matter because she was already covered in blood and wounds.
She had started feeling the presences of people who were not the Bahamut imperial family outside at some point. They felt familiar. And the Bahamut imperial family, who had been beating at her with their spells and fortifications like they meant to shatter the heavens and the earth, had stopped attacking too. And it wasn’t long before the insidious aura vanished entirely.
But Ianna did not dare lower her barrier. She could not disregard the possibility that this was a trap. It would truly spell the end if she lowered her guard only to be stabbed from behind.
“Ah…”
Her mind was spinning, she was sweating in buckets, and her vision was murky. But all Ianna could see was the man who was collapsed before her like he was dead.
“Arhad.”
Arhad didn’t reply.
His face was as pale as a corpse’s, and there was blood all over him. Blood was still spurting out from the wounds carved into his chest. His eyes were closed, and he would not move.
She couldn’t bear this.
Ianna let go of Rise and placed her quivering left hand over Arhad’s chest.
She could feel a faint tremor from his half-shattered heart, but she could not tell if it was the beating of a still-living heart or the trembling of a dead heart spurting blood as it seized.
Ianna did her best to deny his death.
Was it possible for a heart that was wounded so severely to recover? She had heard so many times that it was impossible to restore the heart.
Ianna obstinately focused only on figuring out how to treat him. But the movements of his heart, which only continued to grow fainter at her fingertips, pulled her ever into despair.
“Arhad, Arhad.”
Arhad didn’t reply.
“Please answer me, Arhad. I’m begging you.”
He did not reply even though she was begging him so pitifully.
“Arhad.”
Sweat poured down from Ianna’s face.
Why wasn’t he answering?
It was like he was truly dead.
His body was frozen like that of a corpse’s. Ianna touched his cheek and body like crazy, but he was so stiff. She placed her trembling fingers over his nose. She couldn’t feel him breathing.
Ianna’s lips quivered.
“Are you going to die like this?”
Her trembling swallowed her whole.
“You can’t!”
She grabbed Arhad, who was sprawled on the ground, so hard that the veins in her hand popped out.
“Why did I come back?! For what purpose —why am I even alive?!”
Her eyes were bloodshot.
“It was because I was so determined to defeat you, who always defeated me! Because I vowed to be your knight since you wanted me so badly! Because you loved me even though I only knew how to look forward —all for you, you, you……!”
Something feverish welled up beneath her eyes.
“Because I love you like crazy……!”
A liquid —was it blood or tears?— began to drop from her eyes one after another.
“So what happens to me if you die like this?! Don’t die! Don’t you dare die! I’ll kill you myself if you die on me!”
Ianna screamed. She wanted to wake him up even if it meant saying things that made no sense at all. But Arhad still didn’t reply.
She refused to cry. She absolutely refused to cry.
And yet, her tears continued to fall like crazy and made her vision blurry.
“Ahhh!”
In the end, Ianna hugged Arhad tight and burst into tears.
She would grasp at any straw she could. The spirits. Could she call them now that the Bahamut imperial family was gone?
Ianna desperately summoned the spirits. Eventually, they accepted the vast quantities of divine power that had accumulated inside the barrier and appeared.
[Ianna!]
They were thrown in for a loop when they saw Ianna and nearly fainted.
“Save him!”
Ianna begged. She continued,
“Arhad —please save him. Please, please…….”
The spirits turned their gaze at Arhad, who was in her arms, at her desperate pleas. Towe rushed forward and took his hand.
[His soul is clinging tenaciously to his heart because it wants to live…….]
The faintest of hopes welled up inside Ianna. Towe continued,
[But his heart’s lost all of its function. He’s going to die at this rate.]
And the despair came over her again like rainclouds.
“Towe, all of you —please save him.”
[We can’t. We……can’t touch his heart.]
“Why not? Why? Why?!”
Ianna asked desperately even though she already knew the answer.
[Our powers will work while we’re creating a heart without an owner, but the heart becomes an intrinsic medium once it becomes affiliated with a soul, and it lives and dies with that soul,]
Towe, who was sharing Ianna’s emotions, answered in a quivering tone. He continued,
[The world creates the Truth in order to maintain ‘equilibrium’ and to correct equilibrium when it’s unbalanced. The fact that we spirits possess the great power to govern over the physical plane but can’t manifest ourselves in the physical plane unless someone gives us their divine power and summons us is one such Truth enacted in accordance with equilibrium.]
With authority came duty, and with power came restraints.
[A soul needs a heart to live in spacetime. Equilibrium determined that a soul, which is a psychological body, must possess a physical heart in order to live. All life must protect and manage their own hearts if they want to live. This is a Truth that has held ever since the gods were born.]
She understood this.
She truly understood this. She could accept what equilibrium had determined.
But she refused to understand the fact that Arhad was dying because his heart had been destroyed. Who cared about equilibrium when their loved ones were dying?
‘Please save him.’
The Balance refused her no matter how desperately she begged.
‘It’s no use.’
Roberstein, who had glimpsed Ianna’s desperation, advised her to give up. Roberstein was the god who was called the Arbiter, and she understood the Balance’s power better than any other. She continued,
‘The Balance won’t move for anything that isn’t aligned with equilibrium.’
Roberstein had lived a life of solitude, voluntarily or otherwise, because of the great mission that the Balance had given her in exchange for the great power she possessed. She had not been able to take her beloved Roygen’s side even though she knew he was hurting because she had to help maintain equilibrium. It was also why she had failed to save Roygen after he had Fallen.
Roberstein had slowly been driven insane because she was unable to let go of her life’s mission, and she had ultimately abandoned everything. Equilibrium had been her life, and it was a duty she could not escape even in death. Roberstein was powerless before equilibrium.
But not Ianna.
Equilibrium.
Equilibrium. Equilibrium.
That damned equilibrium!
And in that moment, Ianna felt a great defiance against the immense Truth that was equilibrium. She loathed the Balance for seeking Arhad’s death just to maintain equilibrium. The world had no meaning to Ianna if Arhad was gone.
Ianna held Arhad tight. Her tears continued to fall. They mixed into the pools of blood. Ianna’s hand shook as she caressed Arhad’s cheek.
Don’t die……. You can’t die…….
You can’t leave me alone…….
No……. Don’t do this…….
You can’t do this…….
My king, my love…….
Turn back time.
Please, turn back time.
Please undo my foolish carelessness. Please, please…
Ianna found herself cornered before the great Truth. The power of Judgment, which she had thought was her trump card, was utterly useless to her, Roberstein, who had agreed to help her, was listlessly advising her to give up, and the spirits, who wanted to help, were powerless.
And so, Ianna was alone.
But she did not despair just because she was alone. Instead, it made her dreadfully spiteful. Just like she had always been.
Her blood cooled swiftly.
“…….”
It struck her like a bolt from the blue. Since when did I start relying on the Balance’s power so much? I was the one who always said that people would start relying on miracles if they experienced them one too many times, but that’s exactly what I’m doing now.
She had been mistaken. The Balance’s power was not hers. Roberstein’s heart wasn’t hers either. Ianna could not use them no matter how much she wanted to if they refused her.
And there was yet another thing she had realized. People were doomed to become powerless when the worst came to pass if they only relied on others. After all, they would not be able to obtain that which they wanted so desperately.
If you wanted something, then you must fight for it and win it with your own power.
Ianna had always done this, but she had forgotten about it at some point along the way.
A blazing pair of eyes turned to Rise.
Ianna still had a single blade that would never break. It was the one and only power that had never once betrayed her —her ‘sword.’
A ferocious question appeared in her mind now that she was cornered.
‘Is it possible for me to cut down the Balance?’
But she had never even needed to question it. After all, if she so much as even thought that it would be difficult to cut down, then she truly wouldn’t be able to.
‘I must Rend it.’
She would Rend it. She could Rend it. She absolutely must Rend apart the insane Balance that had declared that Arhad must die.
But there was a single grain of uncertainly even in saying this. And even the smallest uncertainty would be enough to prevent her from cutting it down.
If she truly wanted to Rend it, then she must be beyond absolutely sure that she could and carry only this one absolutely unwavering fact inside her.
‘I’ll Rend it.’
I’ll Rend it, I’ll Rend it, I’ll Rend it, I’ll Rend it, I’ll Rend it.
That was all she could think —it was almost as if she had lost her mind.
‘Arhad.’
She clutched Rise tightly.
I am your knight. Your sword.
I can do anything if it means I can protect you.
If the Truth forces you to die…
Then I’ll destroy even the Truth in order to protect you.
I will protect you, even if I must Rend apart the entire world to do so.
Shhhh.
Ianna pulled Rise out from the ground.
Her soul slowly became as one with Rise.
Her yearning and aspirations, her wishes and hopes, her desires and greed.
Her military might and skills, her stamina and focus, her vigor and vitality.
All the strength that Ianna had been training for so long came together as one. And her unbreakable will eventually soared up and crashed against the doors that lead to the very peak.
‘I will Rend the Truth!’
The strongest will in the world became as a single sword.
Boooom!
The world in Ianna’s vision was upturned.
Fwooooosh…….
And it became a world limited to darkness and light, black and white. And it was also an infinite world with neither beginning nor end. Black and white mixed into each other and moved endlessly. It was like they were trying to correct the disjointed equilibrium.
Ianna instinctively understood that this world of chaotic monochrome was the Balance itself.
This great world was the foundation of the world itself, and it would not vanish just because Ianna shattered it. But Ianna calmly raised her sword anyway.
She took a deep breath.
She put her everything into her sword.
‘It’s fine even if it’s only for a single moment.’
She needed the absolute power to destroy everything.
The power to shatter even the absolute Truth!
Ianna brought her sword down. She drew and line so straight and clean that it was chilling.
Shaaaaaaa!
Crack!
The world of black and white screamed as it was sundered. Equilibrium was shattered, and all the Truth in the world stopped functioning for a single moment.
Ianna shot her eyes open.
“Now!”
The spirits understood that Ianna had just accomplished something incredible. They’re restraints were undone. They determined that they could fulfill Ianna’s wish now and rushed into Arhad’s heart.
Shaaaaa!
The Four Spirits worked hard as they began to restore Arhad’s ruined heart.
Robust blood vessels and clean new flesh began to form along his once-destroyed heart. It regained its original shape so quickly that it was almost as if it had never been destroyed to begin with.
Thump, thump…….
Hot blood raged and poured into his new heart, and it began beating as it circulated blood all throughout his body. Its beating never stopped and continued endlessly.
It had resurrected into a robust and complete heart.
[We did it!]
The Truth regained its place just as the spirits cheered, and Ianna’s mind went black.
The price for shattering the core of every Truth in the world, even for only a moment, was immense.
“Oh…….”
She was overcome with a terrible agony that made her feel like she was on fire.
The world went red, blue, yellow, and white. Objects became two, then three, and then became a circle. Her body was shaking even though she wasn’t aware.
Spurt!
Her blood flowed backwards and burst out from her nose, mouth, and ears.
The Balance sought for a way to find equilibrium with Ianna, who had destroyed even the Balance itself as she triggered the Imbalance. But the Balance had no way to restrain a will so powerful that it could even shatter the Balance or prevent it from causing another Imbalance. There was only one solution —Ianna must disappear from this spacetime.
The Balance could not directly destroy a soul. But it could trap it somewhere and coerce it to choose death for itself.
Creeeeeak.
Ianna was the weight sitting on one side of the Balance, and the Balance placed her extinction on the other side. Ianna had once been the Balance’s innocent and obedient Arbiter, but from this moment on, she was a dangerous heretic who must be eliminated from spacetime, so the Balance did everything it could to knock down her body and tie up her soul with the chains of the Truth.
Absentmindedly, Ianna thought,
‘Am I going to die?’
Perhaps she would.
She slowly caressed Arhad’s cheek, which was slowly regaining its color.
“……Arhad.”
I am your knight.
I’ve protected you, and now I feel so much more rewarded for my efforts than I have ever been before.
But will I truly have no regrets just because I was able to protect you even if I die like this?
No.
I want to live, Ianna clenched her teeth and thought even as her thoughts grew far away. Her fingers trembled. Unlike in the past, as she had died after being pierced by Arhad’s sword, her lingering regret and desire not to die billowed like raging waves.
There were only two types of people who had no lingering attachments to life.
Those who were so happy that they could not feel regret.
And those who were so unhappy that they didn’t even want to feel regret.
That was why Ianna had accepted death without regretting it in her past life. She had been so unhappy.
But there was still so much happiness waiting for her in this one.
The man she loved like crazy, her country that was developing at blinding speeds, her people who envied her as they lived their best lives, her precious friends who laughed and chatted with her, the dreams she wanted to fulfill, the goals to which she aspired, the work she still needed to do —there was still so much that she needed to do, that she could do, that she wanted to do.
Ianna wanted to be happy. She was happy now, but she wanted to be even happier.
I don’t want to die. Right, I…I……want to be with everything……and by Arhad’s side…….
Blankly, Ianna mumbled,
“I……want……to live……..”
[We’ll save you, Ianna!]
[Pull yourself together! Don’t die!]
the spirits screamed wretchedly. But Ianna couldn’t hear them.
Eventually, even her lingering regrets began to fade, and Ianna lowered her head. Her body lurched forward. Her disheveled crimson hair swept past the air.
Thud.
Ianna’s face fell listlessly on top of Arhad’s. Only her arm refused to let him go, as if to prove that she had protected him.
Swish!
The barrier that she had been maintaining vanished.
“Your Majesty!”
“Dame Rise……ack!”
The very first thing that the knights of Ex-knights found as they rushed in was Ianna’s right arm, which was lying in the mud. The blood pouring out from her severed arm was dying the earth crimson, just like her crimson hair.
The next thing they saw was a terrible pool of blood. And in the middle of that pool was Arhad, who was pallid and collapsed, and Ianna, who looked appalling as she continued to hold him tight but did not move a muscle.
[Ianna! Ianna!]
[Wake up!]
The auras of earth, water, fire, and water rushed into her ruined body and heart. The knights were so stunned and shocked that they could do nothing but stare foolishly.
And just then.
“Ugh…….”
Arhad groaned and opened his eyes.
He startled because the first thing he saw was the gruesome state that Ianna’s face was in.
Drip.
A drop of blood fell.
“…….”
He mindlessly wiped away the blood that had dribbled over his cheek as he failed to grasp the situation, and then he looked like he was suffocating as he saw that Ianna’s mouth and nose were drenched in fresh blood.
Driip.
A drop of blood that had been pooling inside her mouth fell out from her lifelessly parted lips and onto Arhad’s. It was almost like a final kiss.
[This is terrible. Ianna’s soul disappeared.]
[What do we do?! Hurry up and do something!]
[What am I supposed to do?! You try doing something!]
Yet another drop of blood fell onto Arhad’s face as the spirits wailed.
He couldn’t hear her breathing.
Arhad raised a trembling hand and caressed Ianna’s cheek, but she did not open her eyes. Her skin was cold.
“Ian…na?”
Arhad’s face began twitching.
—“Bahamut” End
ToC Chapter 34