EP.192 Each Person’s Stage (6)
Raniel walks towards the gap.
She sees the various soot engraved on the floor. It’s a spell-like soot—marks from clashes between spells tearing into the ground. Raniel thinks of the mage who must have stood here fighting fiercely.
Braver, Kelharlem.
He sacrificed himself to swallow the shadow.
He protected the children who were targeted by that shadow.
Next, Raniel notices the sword marks etched into the floor. Following the trail of blood, she sees Kalt leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Looking at him, Raniel thinks.
Knight, Kalt.
He faced disasters at the cost of his own life.
He managed to buy time from the calamity.
“… it’s a great feat.”
Kelharlem and Kalt.
They all fulfilled their roles. Each of them achieved what they needed to on their respective stages.
‘Then, what must I do?’
That was already decided.
‘So that the time they have earned isn’t meaningless.’
‘So that their resolve isn’t trampled on.’
‘So that their feats can shine.’
It is to put a period to it all, that is her role.
“…”
Raniel looks at the gap from which the shadow seeps out.
On the other side, there is her stage.
2.
Ayla walks through the darkness shrouding Apuria.
Her movements do not exude grace. Not a confident step like usual, nor an elegant stride caring for others’ gazes. Ayla walks in a manner just like any other girl.
She is not the Fourth Princess.
Nor is she a child loved by the stars.
Just a girl named Ayla, she gropes her way forward through the darkness. The star’s prophecy does not reach her, but still, the star bestows its favor upon Ayla.
Thud.
One step, then another.
With every step that feels uneasy, light glimmers. The light seeping from where her footfalls land becomes a marker.
A marker for those who will awaken from nightmares.
A light for those who will follow.
Leaving her footprints behind, Ayla heads towards the altar.
“To resolve the current situation neatly, the altar must be destroyed. That must be the key.”
“But, I cannot destroy the altar.”
Ayla recalls the request she received.
“The special barrier surrounding the altar, I cannot endure it. Most mages wouldn’t be able to. It’s poison that corrupts mana.”
She told Ayla.
“But Your Highness is different. The blessing you have from the stars allows you to control the flow around you. It means you can endure even within the barrier.”
This is.
“Only you can do this.”
It is something only you can do.
So, I will ask you.
She whispered to Ayla.
‘That’s what she said.’
What might the identity of that woman be?
Ayla thinks of Rania van Trias, the woman known by that name. The events from their first meeting to now flash through her mind.
Looking back, there were many hints.
She spoke similar words in similar situations, gazed at her as if familiar… approached her with an unguarded attitude. Those were all too familiar occurrences.
‘So, I only kept doubting.’
Until now, the star has denied Ayla’s suspicions.
Her intuition was marked as ‘wrong.’
Having lived relying on the star, Ayla didn’t deeply ponder the matter. If the star was wrong, then it must be.
But today.
Today, unlike any other day, she chooses to ignore the star’s voice and step forward on her own. Ayla affirms her intuition. She accepts what she feels as it is. In that way, Ayla reaches a conclusion.
‘Rania van Trias.’
That professor with ashen hair and blue eyes is.
‘Raniel van Trias.’
The person whom she had admired.
The magician who had become the only color of her childhood.
“… truly.”
A smile forms on Ayla’s lips.
Raniel, the Ashen Mage.
She had been a mentor, a conversational partner, always looking at her without pretense. Just thinking of her made Ayla smile.
The savior of her life.
An idol.
The first person she cherished in her heart.
That person told her. That they needed her help, that this is something only she can do. Those words hold immense value for Ayla.
‘Not just someone to be protected.’
It was different than back then.
She saw her as a collaborator to be with.
That realization brings joy to Ayla.
‘So, I will meet those expectations.’
Clink.
Ayla stops her steps. Standing in front of the swirling barrier, she looks back. Behind her, the footprints she left behind stretch long.
A dimly glowing marker in the darkness.
A streak of light left behind for those lost in nightmares to awaken and for those who will follow her.
As she feels that light, two people approach.
Though their faces are obscured by the darkness, even without seeing them, Ayla knew who they were.
For if they could sense the starlight she left behind, there were only two such beings in Apuria.
“Welcome.”
Ayla smiles gently.
The princess, who chose to step forward, faces those who would become her strength. Looking back, she sees two girls standing there.
Resti Elenoa.
One who reads the context of the stars, a Watcher.
Chloe.
A chosen child of the stars, a Braver.
Those who arrived here following the light in the darkness. Ayla begins to explain to them. About the current situation, and what they can do together here.
“… It seems there’s no other option.”
Resti nods.
She had faced a similar situation before. Therefore, she quickly comprehended that smashing the core is essential.
“If I can help, I want to.”
Chloe asserts her intention firmly.
“That’s why I was chosen by the star.”
Though still young and immature, she understands the power she possesses and the accompanying responsibility. Understanding this, she willingly stands by Ayla.
“Right.”
Ayla nods.
She points at the swirling barrier.
“Shall we go together?”
A cluster of star lights blooms around her.
It is a flower in full bloom. For years, Ayla’s starlight had always possessed that form. And now, Ayla is about to blossom.
Pop.
The flower buds begin to burst open one by one. The flowers of the stars that bloom in the darkness adorn Ayla’s side. They are not brightly shining flowers. They aren’t splendid flowers either. Just flowers that contain a gentle light.
“Please stand by my side.”
The gentle light drives away the darkness.
Her surroundings become a starry world. From the darkness-enshrouded Apuria, a small light is born.
The child who has received the love of the stars, Stella.
But, the child becomes an adult.
Choosing not to blindly trust the love of the stars, she chooses to step forward on her own. She decides to live her life as a human, shedding the protection of the stars on her own feet.
In response to that will, the stars react.
The stars no longer bless her path.
Instead of conveying prophecies, the stars illuminate the path chosen by the child they love.
Even if that may be the wrong answer, it doesn’t matter.
The path chosen by oneself is correct in itself.
“Follow me.”
The star child walks at the very front.
Walking ahead of anyone else.
Such a person is called a leader by the world.
3.
Ripping through the warped space, she enters the Otherworld.
The world loses color in an instant. Stepping into this monochrome world, Raniel keeps walking.
One step, then another.
She follows the black fog flowing on the ground. With each step, her heart beats fiercely. The curse pooling in her heart reacts with the fog. That fact is hardly surprising.
‘I expected it already.’
The fog on the ground is a fragment of the Demon Lord.
Raniel had predicted that the demon lord’s curse would react with her heart. She overheats the circuits engraved on her chest.
Her body takes a toll.
The damaged body becomes even more damaged.
In an instant, pain approaches, and Raniel stumbles. However, that happens only once. Quickly regaining her balance, Raniel continues to walk.
It was a long time.
Raniel recalls the day she encountered the Demon Lord. The memory of that day, when she weighed half her lifespan, will never be forgotten. The helplessness she felt that day had to be reflected upon time and again over the past few years.
The Demon Lord.
An incomprehensible concept.
Something that denies existence itself.
Everything Raniel had built meant nothing before the Demon Lord. Thus, her life was thoroughly denied in that place, at that moment.
There is nothing she can do.
Before that being, she is but a mere human.
A human who must accept death.
‘But.’
Raniel did not forget herself.
She is a mage. Even if everything she has piled up is denied, the fact that she is a mage does not change. Therefore, Raniel seeks answers.
‘She seeks answers.’
To understand the incomprehensible.
To confront the unbeatable.
To achieve what cannot be done.
“Right.”
Raniel stops walking.
“You must have tried the same.”
She looks ahead.
That is the starting point of the black fog. There stands a human engulfed in the black fog.
“You must have sought answers.”
A human who has lived for over a century.
A superhuman who has struggled madly in search of answers.
A mage who had to find answers.
“Isn’t that right?”
Raniel gazes at him.
“Kelharlem.”
Braver, Kelharlem.
He slowly turns his head. His eyes, losing sanity, face Raniel. The fog seeping from him thickens on the ground.
Creek, creak.
Twisted circuits rise around Kelharlem.
From dozens of circuits, Kelharlem opens his mouth.
“Do you know me?”
The voice of the braver echoes as if boiling.
That image was just as Raniel expected.
‘The constraints are all shattered.’
Kelharlem is free from all restraints and has lost his mind. Everything approaching is seen as an enemy. Even the shadow by his side makes it quite cumbersome to confront him.
“… I do.”
Answering the question, Raniel continues her stride.
“I remember the name of the one who ran away. To be honest, that duel was a bit… shall we say it was not quite a duel…?”
Muttering, Raniel steps closer to Kelharlem.
At that moment, Kelharlem reacts. He swings his hand, and a completed spell shines. The black fog dissolved into the spell brutally rips through the area.
Whoosh!
It’s a spell akin to a fierce storm.
The spell containing shadows ignores all magical effects. It cannot be blocked with whatever methods the mage has, nor can it be passed through. So, nothing will remain where the spell rips through.
The braver unconsciously anticipates this.
“So I’m saying…”
However, that anticipation goes awry.
“It’s like a rematch.”
A human walks through the place the fog ravaged.
In her hands, there is no green mana shining like always.
“You too, along with what you hold.”
Raniel, the Ashen Mage.
What shines from her hands is ashen mana.
“Four years since the defeat.”
For someone, four years wasted in despair.
However, for someone else…
“It’s been enough time to seek answers.”
Enough time to find victory’s answers.
Clap, Raniel slaps her palms together. The circuits engraved all over her body ignite.
Fwoosh.
The ashen mana that springs from her palms devours hundreds of accumulated spells.
“Spells are faced with spells.”
She curls the corners of her mouth upward.
“Curses are faced with curses.”
Cursed mana.
The mage who survived the self-consuming curse gained a way to confront it. This is the answer Raniel has found.
“It’s a rematch, Kelharlem.”
Mage versus mage.
Superhuman versus superhuman.
Human versus calamity.
And again, human versus human.
To determine the outcome, they dash towards each other. Spells crash into one another, shaking the Otherworld. Mana that swallows curses swirls, ripping apart the space.
To a place where no one’s gaze can reach.
Just one step off from the world, the stage is set behind them.
That is the stage given to them.
