EP.141 The Past, Even Further Back (4)
A party was formed to take down the Demon Lord.
It was a party that gathered the expectations of the entire world.
Hero, Ganikalt van Galatrick.
Sorcerer, Belial van Dragonik.
First Saint, Gleria Bel Armias.
Grand Magus, Cardi van Armiel.
There was no one in the continent who didn’t know their names. Before being chosen by the Star, they were already superhumans. Each of them gathered under the Hero with their own purposes.
“I lost everything to the Demon Lord. I hope no one like me comes into existence again. The current world is wrong.”
Shadow magic, known as the magic of dragons.
Sorcerer Belial, who wielded it freely, lost his child to the cursed army commanded by the Demon Lord. He sought revenge against the Demon Lord. He also hoped that no one else would suffer like he did.
“Just praying to Deloheim won’t save us. Isn’t it better to directly take action and make the world a tad more beautiful than locking myself up in the cathedral praying?”
The Saint, called the avatar of Deloheim.
First Saint Gleria wanted to save more people. She wanted to embrace those suffering from curses. Through the miracle bestowed upon her by the God, she hoped to make the world beautiful.
“If what I’ve built can help the world, I will gladly do it.”
Master of the Sacred Site of the Sword, the owner of Galatrick.
The first Sword Master, who awakened the extreme of the sword, merely wished to help the world. He hoped that the sword of the Star he wielded would cut the darkness that has engulfed the world.
And.
“I have to keep an eye on this klutz.”
“Ow! Why are you hitting me, Armiel!”
“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve told you not to call me by my baptismal name? This is already the 3752nd time. It feels like I’ve been saying this for almost ten years, once a day.”
“Just give up already!”
“You should give up. Elves don’t know how to give up.”
The pinnacle of magic, a magician nearing the truth.
The Grand Magus, owner of the largest tower in the royal capital, joined the journey for truly trivial reasons.
Each of them was a genius born from their era.
They were superhumans perfected through hard work, not satisfied with their talents. They were stronger than anyone.
– Hero, Ganikalt!
It was only a matter of time before their party became renowned across the continent. Victory cheers filled the paths they traveled.
Rustle.
Every time Ganikalt swung his sword, the Demon Lord’s army fell apart. A once-called strongest swordsman received the blessing of the Stars. There were hardly any that could stand in his way.
The Hero clears the path.
The Saint stands by his side.
The Sorcerer supports from behind.
The Magus turns the battlefield into chaos.
It was the simplest, yet most effective strategy. They cleared everything with a direct assault. As they slashed through the curses left by the Demon Lord, they moved forward, always moving forward.
They dropped the sun that illuminated the curses.
They purified the cursed lands.
They burned the lakes that were consumed by curses.
They vanquished the King of Beasts.
They achieved feats that everyone thought were impossible. They became the light symbolizing victory. Thus, they were called heroes.
“The term ‘Hero’ isn’t something someone decides upon. A Hero is created by the world.”
Ganikalt, who always walked ahead, said.
“If someone finds comfort by watching him, if his path is just, and if he restores light to everyone, then that person is a Hero.”
It doesn’t have to be him.
As long as someone can light the way ahead, that person is a Hero. It was a phrase Ganikalt always kept in mind. That’s why he was the most heroic of all.
“That was a long-winded speech. Let’s get moving.”
And so.
“Cardi!”
“I’m already doing that! Just hold your sword properly!”
They fought.
“Oh no… Belial, my arm…!”
“Save your strength, Gleria. I know my body better than anyone. Being the master of my own sorcery… I’d expected this much. It’s not your fault.”
“But…”
“Honestly, having my arms become those of a dragon, I’m quite fond of it. This means I can last longer by that ridiculous Ganikalt’s side.”
They fought while wearing themselves down.
“…It’s too late.”
“……”
“Ugh, ugh…”
“Get up, Gleria. Don’t even think about using a resurrection miracle. Even if they come back, they won’t be able to live normally.”
They saw countless horrors.
They witnessed hell and crossed through it.
“Is that so.”
At the end.
“…We’ve arrived.”
“Finally, we’ve arrived, cough. Cough…”
“Just as I heard. This is the Temple of Shadows. The Star’s prophecy definitely pointed here…”
“It’s an unpleasant place.”
They reached the Temple of Shadows.
Taking a breath before the court where the King of Beasts dwelled, they steadied themselves.
Swish.
Ganikalt firmly gripped his sword. Belial loosened his body, which was partially turning into a dragon. Gleria scattered blessings, and Cardi prepared a spell that would overturn the temple.
And then.
Creeeak.
Crreeeak, creaking…
With a strange sound, the temple doors creaked open. The writhing darkness within the opened doors revealed a deep, fathomless void. Thus, an indescribable existence unveiled itself.
“It’s coming.”
That was.
“I’ll go first.”
The last image Cardi remembered.
There, their journey came to an end.
No, it had to end in some shape or form.
2.
“I’m sorry.”
In the tower positioned at the peak of the Kurakt Mountain Range.
Cardi mumbled with his head bowed.
Sorry, I couldn’t keep my promise, thus, I couldn’t protect you. Cardi repeated the same line like a broken machine.
He failed.
Halfway up the mountain, he ground his teeth at being called a failure by Skebal, but that was a truth that could not be denied. Cardi had failed. Horribly failed.
Demon Lord.
A being fundamentally contrary to the order of existence.
‘I shouldn’t have thought to catch that.’
From the beginning, the method was wrong.
He should never have tried to capture the Demon Lord by uprooting the curse. He should have blocked it from growing in the first place. Given that the method was wrong, it was only natural to fail.
Realizing that was something that came much later.
“Gleria, Ganikalt, Belial.”
Cardi saw visions before him.
Visions of the past. Reaching out would only let his hands pass through these fleeting reflections of the past, and Cardi continued to speak.
“I lost you and saw many things. I could only see and endure alone.”
The visions did not listen to Cardi.
Even knowing that, Cardi continued speaking as if repenting.
“No one remembers us. That was the price of the contract. Your records were erased. The kingdom we once stayed in… you destroyed it with your own hands.”
The hero’s journey vanished as the price of the contract.
No one remembers them as heroes. Transformed into disasters, they burned the kingdom.
“I couldn’t stop you.”
Everything felt utterly meaningless.
“Ganikalt, you once asked me to protect humanity. I’m sorry. I couldn’t keep that promise.”
“Belial, you wished for no one to lose their family. I’m sorry. Numerous nations have disappeared. The laments of those who lost their families fill the streets.”
“…And, Gleria.”
Cardi’s voice trembled.
“I couldn’t protect you. I saw you become something no longer you. I’m sorry.”
His repentance continued.
“I sought the answer.”
“The contract with the Demon Lord, how to revert the contract, how to turn you back into humans… I ceaselessly contemplated. I sought an answer.”
He researched endlessly.
Searching for ways to twist the contract, to create a gap, to return them to their human forms.
“I built a new tower and researched new things. I dabbled into alchemy that I had never touched in my entire life. I truly, truly tried so many things.”
However.
“I couldn’t find a method.”
Ultimately, he was powerless.
The feeling of helplessness withered Cardi. He looked at his hands with hollow eyes. Scars marred his hands, scorched by the potions.
“…I couldn’t find it.”
Thud, Gleria before him took a step forward. She moved away from Cardi. After walking to the platform, she turned back for a moment. The appearance was one Cardi also recalled.
“…Please take care, Armiel.”
“Please take care, Armiel.”
She smiled.
“I will trust in you.”
“I will trust in you.”
Those were words Gleria uttered while looking back at him when their journey had barely begun, when she was still pure white. Following those words, Gleria’s vision vanished.
“……”
As Cardi mulled over those words, he closed his eyes.
“…I couldn’t find it.”
When he opened his eyes.
“I couldn’t give up.”
Thud, he took a step forward.
His hollowed pupils resembled ashes. His yellowing eyes had lost their light. Like the remnants of burnt ashes, he staggered towards the center of the church.
Thud.
With each step he took, the circuits engraved on the church walls illuminated. This place was, in a way, a ‘library.’ A library that recorded a history nowhere else remains.
‘Exclusively, a library known only to me.’
Erased history still exists wholly here. The records of those who were once heroes remain intact here.
Creak.
Cardi traced the circuits engraved on the walls.
The walls documenting the past brimmed with tales of adventures he’d shared with his companions. Reminiscing the past, Cardi continued to walk.
After walking and walking.
Thud.
“Ganikalt, you once said.”
He stood at the center of the church.
Where Gleria had vanished, there Cardi drew out a box from his chest.
“Living in the moment, humans make sacrifices for the next. Because there are many things that cannot be achieved merely by burning through a short life, I vow for the next and the next.”
He placed it on the altar.
“…If it can’t be done by me.”
The altar shone brightly.
“If it’s something impossible for me, then I shall follow your words as well.”
For the next. Again, the next.
“…Someone.”
Cardi engraved circuits into the light.
“Someone will recognize our history. Someone will complete the ends we couldn’t tie up…”
Thus, it would lead to the truth.
“For the first time, I will pray to God.”
A magician who had never believed in God prays to Him.
“I dedicate this.”
The ash becomes nourishment.
For a new flame, the ashes settle below.
『The contract has been established.』
There, the contract was executed. A new clause arose beneath the contract made with the shadows. In a place where no one’s gaze reaches, the contract deciding the fate of humanity was successful.
No one knows of the contract.
No one knows the truth.
Thus, time flows.
Numerous histories flow. The Demon Lord merely exists as the Demon Lord. Countless nations burned and disappeared. Countless humans died. At that point, the four disasters were named.
The Black Storm.
The Heretic.
Death’s Blade.
The Ancient Lich.
At first, even the names remained unknown. However, they began to spread through the ancient dragon’s magician who remembered that era.
The Black Storm, Belial.
The Heretic, Gletus.
Death’s Blade, Ganikalt.
The Ancient Lich, Skebal.
Chaos arrived. The Hero appears and disappears repeatedly. Humanity’s history continues to the next, again to the next.
Time keeps flowing.
From the fleeting lives of humans to returning to humanity. The blood they spilled flows and flows, moving on to the next. Continuously next, next…
Thus.
“……”
Even amidst the endlessly flowing time, an end arrives.
After hundreds of years pass, someone reaches the truth. She is a human. She doesn’t live as long as an elf. She isn’t a Hero chosen by the Star. Just, a mere human.
Just a mere human.
Having risked her life every moment.
That is why, the shining human reaches out. She reaches out to a history that remains nowhere. She seized the right to accept it with her own hands.
“Cardi.”
The story of ancient heroes, which was brilliant yet came to an unremarkable end. The final chapter of that story saw her slowly close her eyes and then open them again.
“Is this what you wanted to show me?”
The human who reached the truth.
Raniel van Trias, the Ashen Mage.
She sees what lies before her.
It is four shining stars.
Like the starlight of the Hero.
