『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Erin Danua (4) ༻
A never-ending repetition of 3 days. The city of unending darkness was now unbelievably bright.
The Sun which had descended while pushing back the power of the Moon was showering the city with a radiant light.
A bright sun had forced the night away. Soon, the Grim Reaper appeared in front of me as I watched that divine miracle unfold.
《You have done it.》
The Grim Reaper residing in the City of Death smiled faintly as it gazed at the bright city that had been cleansed in the blink of an eye. His smile resembled that of an office worker, who finally had an end to a 300-year-long overnight shift.
《Impressive. Was not expecting you to do something like this with a leftover treasure of the Danaans. Perhaps you will be the next successor of the Divinity of Nuada.》
“Well, it’s just a once-in-a-lifetime trick. It was only possible thanks to all the Rune Letters that were carved across the city over the past 300 years.”
With my current pool of mana, it was still hard to concentrate the power of the Sun let alone manifest it. There was no way I would have been able to manifest a Sun that was large enough to cleanse the whole city without the help of Erin.
“More importantly, does that count as me fulfilling my side of the contract?”
《I do acknowledge it. You have definitely kept your word.》
“Then it’s time for you to do the same.”
《There is no need to remind me. Well then, Queen.》
“…”
The Grim Reaper turned to Erin, who was blankly watching the city turn brighter behind me. She sat there and murmured to herself.
“It, really is over. Finally…”
For 300 years, she had been tied to the city of the dead.
Was she happy to be released from that curse? I wasn’t sure, but nonetheless she blankly continued staring at the white city.
“Thank you Korin. Thanks to you, I was finally released from my contract, which I thought was going to last forever.”
“I was simply doing what had to be done.”
“Korin. Once this contract is over, I…”
“I know.”
“You… know?”
“…”
Intentionally, I avoided her eyes and also turned to the city. I felt her eyes staring at me from the side but I continued looking forward.
Soon, she returned her eyes to the front and looked at the same place I was staring at.
“You’ve worked hard,” she said.
“I did work hard.”
“Did you stumble a lot?”
“Quite a few times.”
“Did you cry?”
“Always.”
“Even if you don’t see a path in front of you, I want you to stay proud of yourself. Hold onto your conviction and go straight. If you do…”
You will be a hero.
It was funny. The current Erin obviously had different memories and a different set of experiences and yet she was consoling me with the same words as my master from that time.
At the same time, that wasn’t anything strange. She was just that kind of person, and that was why she could nonchalantly decide to die for my sake.
“And…”
She then said the same words as the one I heard before. After some hesitation, she stroked my face and opened her mouth.
“Let me imbue into you, the blessing of a goddess.”
As proof of her affection, she would now kiss my forehea…
“Uhp?”
Warmth was conveyed through the skin with a chu as her lips aligned with mine… Vacantly, I looked forward into her wet eyes and blushing cheeks.
“I sincerely wish for your happiness.”
Despite having tears threatening to drop in her eyes, she showed a smile brighter than everything else in the world and gave me her blessing.
After finishing its due responsibility of cleansing the city, the Sun disappeared and darkness covered the area again.
And Erin was nowhere to be found.
****
Nazrea was fully cleansed.
The city once cleansed was in complete ruin. There was no sign of life anywhere in the ruined and broken city, but at the very least, it was ready to accept new life now that the unnatural scenes of daily life had been removed from it.
Even though there had been things pretending to be alive in this land of death, after all, their nature was still that of the dead.
– The effects of your Rune Magic are enhanced.
The specialty, Rune Amplification was what I gained as a reward from the Precept. It didn’t look too bad.
To test it out, I tried using Kenaz.
– Hwaruruk!
“Ohh~”
The Rune of Flames burned ever brighter than before, helping me understand the impact of this specialty.
The upside of Rune Letters was that anyone could use it regardless of whether they were a mage or not. Although that sounded great, the downside was just as big; it was hard to make them stronger than an elementary-grade spell.
In the end, the only way to use a strong Rune Magic was to carve as many of them as I could and make them resonate at once using a special artifact like the Silver Spear.
Not only was the general power output of Rune Magic enhanced thanks to this specialty that I just acquired, but I was now also able to increase the power of the spell in conjunction with the mana spent.
‘Maybe not as strong as a high-grade spell, but I can make a single letter have the power of a medium-grade spell now.’
It might not mean much when it came to the Resonant Activation ability since that was powerful enough already, but it would be incredibly useful during fights.
‘The rewards this time seem to be that and this ‘Primal Rune’.’
I took out the rune stone which I had prepared beforehand, which now had the Primal Rune, 『n』 engraved onto it.
This was the rune of the Prime which promised the everlasting presence of paradise. With this, it was one less Primal Rune that Tates Valtazar could obtain.
On the way out of the city after packing up my belongings, I found the priests creating a ruckus in the distance.
– What in the world is going on…!?
– Contact the closest branch! Tell everyone to come here!
– Did you see that Sun? Who is it? Who did it?
They were the priests of their respective doctrines that were here to monitor and observe Nazrea.
Before long, they would realize that this was due to the Sun, Claiomh Solais. Whether it be the Old Faith or the New Faith, the 4 treasures of the Danaans were seen as legendary treasures passed down by the gods.
Well, they weren’t necessarily wrong because those had indeed been items belonging to gods.
If I were to show up in front of them right now and show them Claiomh Solais, they would probably see me as the champion of the God of Sun.
God of Sun; the Great Danaan of the Sun, Nuada Airgetlam – the generation previous to Master Erin.
And that would have a lot of implications. Gaining the support of a religion; an enormous religion like the New Faith as well as the Saintess and one of the successor candidates to the throne, Estelle Hadassa El Rath, meant a lot.
Unlike the time in the past when all 4 of the treasures were in the hands of the enemy, one of them was on me, and that was great but…
“I wonder how Miru that princess is doing.”
Miruam Elizabeth El Rath.
She was the 2nd Princess of the kingdom with the Old Faith and the Tower of Mages behind her; a villainess of ❰Heroic Legends of Arhan❱ opposing the Saintess, Estelle Hadassa El Rath.
『Knight Korin. Look. This is our child. Beautiful, right?』
“Kuhum…!”
I remembered the time I was first approached by that snake-like princess.
‘Well, it’s not the time to get myself involved in politics just yet.’
That was something worth thinking about, but not until the end of the Tower of Mages incident and until I successfully stopped the murder of Chairman Eriu Casarr.
The key characters of the upcoming event were Dun Scaith and the wolf siblings.
‘I killed the strongest animals of Dun Scaith, the black bull and a dragon, but there’s still the brown ox and the white-horned cow.’
And Ren and Ron. The two of them were on my side so it was a lot less concerning on that end.
“First off… will be the new semester.”
There were only 10 days left until the end of the holiday so I put that on the top of the priority list.
Escaping the city while hiding from the priests wasn’t that difficult.
****
Inside a dark palace, the Queen was sitting all alone on the throne.
The lonely palace had no visitors except for a long disciple of hers whom she had been raising ever since a young age.
It was all because of the seal 80 years ago… due to the betrayal of her cherished disciple and a potential successor. 80 years ago, she had been sealed.
That was why the Queen, Erin Danua, had been staying asleep for a long time with silence and serenity being the two of her few friends. It was therefore normal for her life to be a dull one with no ups and downs.
The reason she suddenly woke up from her long sleep was because of an abrupt wave of memories.
『Grim Reaper. Let’s make a contract.』
Those were memories from 300 years ago, around the time when she was wandering across the world, and were about Nazrea which she had forgotten until now for some reason.
『That makes this the 3,784th cycle.』
An endless struggle against the black mage who was tied down to the city just like her.
“Uhht…!”
They flooded in without an end. With little regard to the mental burden it would cause her, they flooded in like a tsunami covering a town.
But at the same time, she understood that if it was her, she would have forged a contract with the Grim Reaper and that she would have been holding on for a long time.
In the midst of those boring and tedious memories of the past 300 years; from that endless history of struggle…
『You… must be my disciple from a distant future.』
A memory she couldn’t disregard entered her brain. It was recent… but the most surprising factor was the person involved.
“Korin… Lork?”
The disciple of Valtazar the traitor. He was the one who came to her after betraying his own master… or so she thought.
Why was he there? Did he go to Nazrea during the festival? If so, what was he planning on doing…
『Grim Reaper. Let’s make a contract.』
“W, wait…”
That was way too reckless of him. A contract with the Grim Reaper…? Even she had to live amidst 300 years of struggle after being separated from her main body and yet… how could a soul this young make such a horrifying contract with his own reincarnation on the table?
『This time, I want to be the one saving you.』
Why was he, who should be Valtazar’s disciple, calling her master and…
『I told you; I’ll definitely save you this time. I’m here to save you, Erin.』
And why was he looking at her with… such emotional eyes…?
『Can I kiss you?』
“Aht! Uht! Aht!”
『You are such a special person to me.』
“Uhht?! Ahhht?!”
It was embarrassing. His eyes and words were too much to take in for an old maiden who had never even held onto a man’s hand before.
“I, I… was in that kind of relationship…? With Student Korin?”
Questions were constantly surging up in her mind but those were all erased momentarily by the last bit of memory.
『Let me imbue into you, the blessing of a goddess.』
Chu! There went the first kiss of her life.
– Vuiing…!
“Erin. I found a new book you might like. Would you like to… What are you doing?”
The only visitor allowed in the palace, Josephine Clara, looked curiously at Erin, who was twisting her body on the throne while covering her face with her palms.
“Uahhhh… You are crazy. You are crazy…”
She continued mumbling incomprehensible words for a while.
****
In the extreme colds of the Northern Kingdom was the Dingle Peninsula.
The cold and hellish environment full of demonic beasts, the northerners were always prepared for a battle.
Under a freezing blizzard, they built stone walls and created fortresses. Those fortresses were placed all across the land and served as a shield that stopped the marching monsters.
As a result, the idol of people living in the Northern Kingdom ended up being a powerful warrior, and those with strength were thus revered and admired.
And around 80 years ago, a warrior had shown himself on the Dingle Peninsula.
Tates Valtazar.
Although he was hiding his name and his true identity, his mighty presence and power were more than enough to force the barbarians of the north under his command.
“Hueeekk…”
Lying on the ground was the cluster of snakes, toads, magic bulls, and dragons; the content of the Magic Cauldron of Undry. The crazy and ferocious beast was humbly kneeling before the King.
“I am, very sorryyy… Master.”
“…”
A red pair of eyes gazed down at him from the throne. Under those eyes of an undisguisable sign of blood, violence, and cruelty, Dun Scaith trembled as he constantly drove his forehead into the floor.
“…”
Meanwhile, Dumnorix the Great Sage of the Forest was standing still with the apathetic eyes of an old tree. Strictly speaking, he should be somewhat responsible for the failure but his position was different from that of Dun Scaith.
“The Sun was taken, huh.”
“Huiik…!”
Dun Scaith drove his forehead into the ground once again. Suddenly a pure white spear stabbed through the floor while grazing past his cheeks.
“Kuhik…!”
Even though the spear barely touched his cheeks, Dun Scaith screamed and howled in pain. The power of light that threatened to slice his soul and heart was too much to bear for the beast of darkness.
“Dumnorix. Anything you have to say?”
“Nothing, sir.”
“Good. So, who exactly is this person?”
As soon as Valtazar gave his permission, Dun Scaith raised his head and blabbered out everything he knew.
“Korin Lork…! That’s his name! And he is also the one who killed Fermack for sure! He called himself the First Spear of Erin Danua!”
“Korin Lork…”
“Do you know him, sir?”
“He is my nemesis, guided by Lia Fail.”
“…!!”
Even Dumnorix couldn’t hide his shock after hearing his words.
Tates Valtazar.
He was the strongest knight with the name Spear Saint from 80 years ago. He was literally the god of war and Dumnorix had never seen anyone stronger than him in the long years of his life.
Fermack Daman, Dun Scaith… and even the almighty King of Beauty, Eochaid Bres, were nothing but kids before the God of War, Tates Valtazar.
Korin Lork… was he really his opposer and nemesis?
“Did you not say it was a boy called Park Sihu?”
The Stone of Destiny, Lia Fail. It was one of the four great treasures of Danaan which alerted its user of one’s destiny. Dumnorix recalled that the nemesis notified by the great treasure symbolizing the power of the Supreme King had been a different person.
“It has already been more than a year since it changed.”
There was a boy who should have grown to be his destined nemesis but Lia Fail had severed that string of fate. That was 1 year ago near the end of February, right when another boy opened his eyes and woke up.
“I see… He calls himself the First Spear of Master, huh.”
Tates Valtazar stood up from the throne. That single movement of his quaked the air nearby and forced every living thing to get on their knees and worship him.
The pressure leaving his body was incredible and unbelievably powerful. Even the Great Sage of the Forest who had been living for centuries felt like worshiping him on his knees.
Erin Danua.
The last Danaan of this land – his beloved master whom he loved and detested.
Hearing that name made his blood and fighting spirit boil without an end.
“I shall pay a visit myself.”
“Will you be personally cutting him down?”
“No. Lia Fail has yet to join our fate. Undoing the knot in the strings will have to wait for the time being.”
That was one of the weaknesses of Lia Fail. It gave certainty to the destined future of the one being shown and made it happen no matter the cost; even if it was by going against the law of nature itself.
The successor of the Paradise and the successor of the Void. Tates Valtazar and Korin Lork’s lines of fate were being strongly attracted to one another.
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