The temple that had been shaking has now quieted down.
The door of the temple, which had been firmly closed, swung open. Not long after it opened, the expedition members returned to the entrance of the temple, and Kalt received a brief explanation from them.
The crusade against the Gletus was over.
There was only one casualty: the Sword Demon, Draka.
Kalt couldn’t know what they experienced inside the temple, but seeing their pallor and condition, it was clear that they had a tough time.
“You all worked hard.”
After a brief greeting, Kalt leaned against the temple door and sat down. After waiting a little longer, he sensed two presences coming from inside the temple.
A light step, tap, tap.
Kalt lifted his head and glared at Raniel, who stepped out of the temple.
“You’re here, Senior.”
“What’s up? You’re all in one piece, huh?”
“Keeping the same tone from the first sentence, you seem fine too, Senior. I take it the operation was a success.”
“Not entirely fine, but yes, it was successful.”
Raniel tapped her empty eye sockets with her empty fingers, and Kalt swallowed hard.
“Uh… will that recover?”
“Not sure. I’ll have to figure something out.”
Raniel let out a long breath and plopped down next to Kalt. After sending Cardi on ahead, she slowly opened her mouth.
“What about Uncle Kuntel?”
“I sent him off well.”
“What did he say at the end?”
“…Did you know?”
“I entrusted him to you because I knew.”
Kalt shot a sidelong glance at Raniel.
Raniel’s blue eyes were gazing not at Kalt, but at the quaking meadow in front of the temple.
“A strong-willed person, especially one who is superhuman, tends to leave behind a few words right before death. It’s as if they’re tying up the loose ends of their lives.”
“Is that so?”
“At least, that’s how the superhumans I’ve seen have acted. So, what did Uncle Kuntel say last?”
Kalt tapped the hilt of his sword, tap-tap.
“He said it was excellent.”
“Did he look satisfied?”
“Yes, probably.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Raniel let out a faint smile.
Suddenly, as if something came to mind, she drew in a short breath and said, “Hey, Kalt.”
“What is it?”
“If you’ve beaten Uncle Kuntel now, don’t you think you’re truly the strongest warrior of humanity? Just how much stronger have you become?”
The strongest warrior of humanity, huh?
Kalt forced a wry smile and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’d like to shout that from the rooftops.”
He pointed to above his head with a swoop.
Perhaps he was pointing to the sky. Beyond the heavens lies another sky. Kalt muttered to himself, recalling such words.
“Isn’t there just one more person above me? The one who is currently asleep.”
“Kyle? Well, if you include him, I think there’s not just one, but two above you.”
“Who’s the other one?”
“There’s the Mage of the Sword.”
“I think I know who you’re talking about.”
Kalt chuckled lightly.
“That’s the person we’re supposed to face next.”
“Good awareness.”
“Looks like it’s mountain after mountain, huh.”
Well, that’s how it is.
Muttering to herself, Raniel brushed off her knees and stood up. Standing tall, she lightly tapped Kalt’s shoulder and smiled.
“Good job, again.”
“Thank you for your hard work too, Senior.”
Kalt added one more thing.
“Because of this crusade, the number of floors I expect from you has gone up by one. Just so you know.”
“How high does that go?”
2.
“You can’t use mana anymore?”
“That’s what happened.”
Keltarlem’s words made Raniel blink.
“Why?”
“Why, you ask? I sacrificed it as the price of the transaction.”
Keltarlem responded calmly.
Raniel was quite taken aback by that answer. For a mage, losing the ability to use mana was like death. While she anticipated Keltarlem would lose something during the crusade, she never expected it would come to this.
“Are you… okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? If anything, I feel liberated.”
Keltarlem’s response was incredibly calm, unlike Raniel’s worried tone. Even though he was saying his accumulated magical power from a lifetime had crumbled down.
“Huh…”
Raniel’s face twisted in confused disbelief as she let out a long breath and shook her head. It didn’t matter if he was okay, but…
‘Isn’t that too calm…?’
Keltarlem looked more peaceful than ever.
He showed no sign of regret for his choices. As Raniel looked at Keltarlem, she suddenly grasped something.
“Keltarlem, your constraint…?”
“I said, didn’t I?”
The mage once called madman let out a chuckle.
“I told you, I feel liberated.”
His facial expressions, the curve of his lips, the manifestation of all those emotions seemed so natural. It wasn’t a face a madman, who had been living like a puppet with his emotions shackled, could make.
“I didn’t just sacrifice my mana. I sacrificed everything that constituted me, the madman Keltarlem. That likely included my madness as well.”
All the things he couldn’t let go—even for the sake of keeping promises and achieving his goals—Keltarlem had let go of all of that through this fight.
“The madness, the eternal life I once bore, the strength those kids had given me, the mana I needed to achieve my goals, all of it was relinquished.”
Perhaps, Keltarlem muttered.
“The madness, which was supposed to be the price I had to bear, might’ve been taken by the stars; thus, he might consider it part of the life he’d sacrifice. Rather than a punishment for a sinner who broke taboos, it seems he viewed it as something valuable.”
It’s a perplexing matter, indeed.
As Keltarlem spoke, he smiled lightly. The laughter of a man who had achieved his goal and was now free of all his burdens was light—so light it appeared beautiful.
“Congratulations on your liberation, Keltarlem.”
“Well, from your position as the commander of the battlefield, it isn’t really a matter to congratulate me on, is it? I’ve lost a vital combatant.”
“Anyone would be mad not to congratulate a soldier retiring in one piece after more than a hundred years on the battlefield.”
“That’s one way to see it.”
“And I also somewhat expected you would retire after this fight.”
The crusade against the Gletus.
That was the purpose of his life.
Raniel chuckled lightly and asked.
“Have you thought about what you’d do after retirement?”
“Not really.”
He was no longer under the dominion of madness. Free from its grasp, he didn’t need to restrain his emotions. Furthermore, now that eternity had left his body, he could age with the passage of time like any other ordinary human.
A life that had changed in many ways. Keltarlem had no idea how to live that life yet.
“If you haven’t thought about it…”
To that Keltarlem, Raniel offered advice.
“Would you like me to recommend you a job? A good one.”
“A job?”
“Yeah, it’s probably a job you know well.”
Raniel rummaged through her robe.
After some digging, she pulled out a piece of paper. The paper was blank. However, the moment Raniel inscribed letters onto it with her mana, it became a recommendation letter.
A recommendation letter guaranteed by the Hero, Rania van Trias.
No one could deny how much value it held. With just this letter, wherever he went, there wouldn’t be any need for questions or challenges. On that letter, Raniel inscribed the name of an academy.
A cradle of learning.
The best magic academy.
“The professor of Apuria Academy.”
Raniel handed the recommendation letter to Keltarlem.
“It’s the perfect job for a capable mage retiring from the battlefield. What do you think?”
3.
Standing at the entrance of the temple, I stretched widely.
I cleared up what needed to be cleared.
This amount of rest was sufficient. Glancing around, the sight of the expedition members ready to depart caught my eye, along with Destel sprawled on the summoned steeds, complaining of exhaustion.
Now it was time to return.
To our land, to our base.
Looking around and gazing at the sky, I began to notice things that were slowly crumbling. This place, Alkeia, was a realm built with the divine power accumulated by the Gletus, created for those who did not have faith.
It was a holy site and sanctuary solely for her.
Now that the owner of this land had departed, Alkeia was returning to its original form. Deep within, in the place where starlight did not reach, her escape spot was beginning to collapse.
Crackle, crunch.
The sun high in the sky crumbled. The blue sky split apart. The wind that was blowing vanished. Among the many vanishing things, darkness seeped in. The blending of blue skies and darkness resembled paint being mixed together.
Boom, rumble.
Following that, the temple collapsed.
The sins committed by the Gletus, those who suffered because of her, and the remnants of the summoned beasts she created—all would be buried and disappear in this land. I snapped my fingers towards the crumbling temple.
Though my body was too damaged to weave any more spells, I had to bring this to an end nonetheless.
Ashes to Ashes.
I ignited the ashes I had scattered while leaving the temple with Cardi. The ashes did not explode noisily. They simply became flames, engulfing the remnants of the temple. Calmly. And assuredly.
“Let’s go.”
Leaving the burning temple behind, we ascended towards the ground. We had to inform those awaiting our return of our victory.
“Ah.”
As I climbed back up the vertical tunnel and walked through the forest that had turned to ashes, I muttered absent-mindedly.
“I should deliver a speech from the platform…”
“Because you don’t look the part.”
Cardi, walking beside me, replied to my muttering.
Cardi was right. That was precisely what I was worried about. At least, to the knights, I was supposed to be a symbol of victory who wouldn’t falter or get wounded.
“Have you got any disguising artifacts? Cardi?”
“Would I?”
“Tsk. Hmm… it’s fine if it’s a hidden injury, but this is too obvious. I can cover my fingers, but my eyes are the problem, my eyes.”
Should I wear something like spectacles?
Just then, as I contemplated this.
“I don’t have any artifacts to help you.”
Cardi pulled something from his pocket.
“But I do have a sacred relic that might be of some use.”
“A sacred relic?”
Cardi shook the chalice in his hand.
What was contained in that chalice was pure white divine power.
I opened my eyes wide. That divine power…
“It’s a gift to a bold junior; she asked me to convey it.”
Cardi tossed the chalice to me.
Receiving it, I let out a hollow laugh.
“Wait, you still had the strength left to squeeze this out?”
“Since it’s a wound she inflicted, it’s only right for her to heal it. Thanks to that, the time I had to converse with her was reduced by about a minute. I hope it’s worth it.”
“That comes with a thorn, huh.”
“It’s all in your head.”
Regardless, I smiled.
“She’s still very much like a saint until the end.”
“Unlike the current saints, she’s a real one.”
Glancing at Cardi, who seemed somewhat proud, I shrugged my shoulders. Unlike in the past, Cardi didn’t make a pained expression while discussing Gleria. He must have been liberated from that burden.
“Thank you.”
“Give your thanks to Gleria, not me.”
“Can I toast to the heavens?”
“Do whatever.”
And so, I really did just that.
Raising my chalice to the sky, I mimicked a toast.
“In honor of the martyr, Gleria Bel Armias.”
