Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: Reunion
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"Elsia."
Ronan's lips parted softly. The silver hair and ruby-like eyes were features impossible to forget after just one glance. Adeshan asked in bewilderment.
"...Someone you know?"
"Probably."
"Ro, Ronan? Where are you going?"
Ronan didn't answer. He moved forward like a sardine drawn to the light of an anglerfish.
He had found her. Finally.
Elsia's head turned suddenly, and her eyes met Ronan's. He stopped in place and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting.
"Elsia! I've come to see you!"
His voice echoed against the cliff, reverberating through the air. Elsia, hearing her own name, raised an eyebrow. She stopped stroking Hiran.
-Pyoaaaaa!
Suddenly, Hiran spread its wings and took flight. A fierce gust whipped up, strong enough to push their bodies back, but no one except Adeshan paid it any mind. Ronan approached her, explaining the purpose of his journey to the Ghost Sea.
"My name is Ronan. That building up in the sky... what was it, right. I saw it on a map in Drimor. I don't know if it was left by you or my father, but..."
It was a pretty solid explanation. Concise and to the point, it was clear enough even for Adeshan, who was hearing the story for the first time. Every time she unintentionally learned a secret of the world, her shoulders tensed up rigidly.
"To think something like that was happening up in the sky..."
However, Elsia simply stood there blinking, showing no other reaction. It was almost suspicious, like she might have secretly swapped places with a wax doll.
He was debating whether to rudely use his aura to pull her in. Suddenly, Elsia turned and began walking away. Ronan's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait a second!"
Ronan instinctively drew his sword and activated his aura. The sunset-hued beam shot toward the cliff, blending with the aurora to create yet another surreal sight.
But Elsia had already vanished beyond the cliff. Ronan sheathed his sword and set Aradan's body down on the ground. His thighs, reinforced with mana, swelled massively.
"Damn it, I can't let her get away like this."
"Ro, Ronan!"
Boom! Leaving the flustered Adeshan behind, Ronan leaped straight up. He had no idea why they called her and then ran away. This time, he had to catch her no matter what.
"Shit, how did she get that far already?"
Ronan sighed as he reached the top of the cliff in just five leaps. Elsia's silhouette was already too distant to see clearly. Her footprints, spaced at regular intervals, marked the path she had taken.
"I said stop!"
Common sense said that speed wasn't possible, but stubbornly chasing her was his only option. An unexpected pursuit unfolded. Boom! Boom! Each time Ronan kicked off the ground, large chunks of ice sprayed upward.
The bizarre chase lasted nearly an hour. The distance to Elsia didn't close at all, strangely enough. He'd think he was almost caught up, only to realize she was miles away again the moment he refocused.
The icy seascape flashed by on either side of his vision. Ronan stopped mid-leap.
"Huff... ha, what?"
Elsia was gone. The footprints that should have been in the snow had vanished without a trace. Clutching his heaving chest, he grabbed his forehead.
"This can't... huff, be happening..."
He was certain he hadn't taken his eyes off her even once. Losing her was impossible. The footprints disappearing was even more so.
As Ronan groaned at the eerie phenomenon, a voice gasping on the verge of collapse came from behind.
"Fi...nally... caught up...!"
"Adeshan."
Boom! She finally landed beside him, bracing her knees and panting. Carrying two backpacks front and back had slowed her down.
"Sorry. It was such an important matter."
"Haaa... No, it's fine. That can happen. Why'd you stop suddenly?"
"Elsia disappeared. This shouldn't be possible."
He even swung his sword through the air, suspecting an illusion spell. But only the sound of the blade cutting wind returned, with nothing happening. Adeshan, fiddling with her frozen hair, spoke up.
"Hmm, seems like she used magic to deceive the eyes. Want to swing your sword? You can cut mana."
"I just tried. Nothing happened."
"Really? That's weird... I can definitely feel mana surrounding the area."
Adeshan's mumbling carried conviction. Ronan's expression grew serious. If she said so, there had to be a reason.
'A different type of magic than before?'
Should he try once more? Taking a deep breath, Ronan sharpened his senses. In his gradually expanding, clarifying vision, something invisible until now came into view. Bluish mana traces, like those in his father's room, flickered faintly on the ground.
'This is...'.
The intermittent traces converged like a bonfire about three footprints away. Before his awakening, he wouldn't have detected it at all—it was that faint.
He knew what to do. Striding forward, Ronan thrust his sword tip into the mana clump without hesitation. Squish! The sensation was like dipping a blade into water, and the surrounding scenery began to change.
"Ha. It's real."
Ronan let out a hollow laugh. The icy plain shifted subtly, and Elsia's interrupted footprints reappeared. Not far off, a right-triangular structure emerged, like the entrance to some facility.
Elsia stood demurely before it. The problem was the translucent tortoise that appeared last.
The red tortoise standing squarely between Elsia and the two was enormous, like five ogres mashed together. Its dome-like shell, protruding like a grave mound, glowed like hardening lava.
The head atop its long, wrinkled neck gazed down at them. Seeing it, Adeshan cried out in horror.
"Th-that thing!"
Having diligently attended spiritology classes, she knew. The tortoise before them was the high-ranking fire spirit Bayardo. The incarnation of flame that could incinerate villages or mountains with a mere yawn.
Not as overwhelming as Hiran, but a being of such high order that most spiritists couldn't even meet its gaze. Was this another spirit under Elsia's command? Bayardo, staring blankly at them, opened its mouth.
"Hwaaaam..."
"Fuck."
Ronan cursed. Crimson-black flames boiled deep in its massive throat. He stepped in front of Adeshan and shouted.
"Damn it, get down!"
"Y-yeah!"
Adeshan did so. At the same moment, flames poured from Bayardo's mouth. Roooar! The viscous, liquid-like fire was pure mana.
Ronan drew his sword and held it vertically. Roooar! The flames split left and right, passing beside them. Intense heat, blinding even with eyes shut, enveloped Ronan and Adeshan.
"Urgh..."
It was hard to even open his eyes. In that moment, Ronan realized this tortoise was the one that had burned Varca's secret army. Bayardo scorched them, and Hiran handled the evolution and cleanup afterward.
"...What the hell is this?"
Bayardo showed no sign of stopping its fire breath. Ronan gritted his teeth. He didn't know the intent, but the prank had gone too far.
"Enough!"
In an instant, Lamancha’s blade turned scarlet. Ronan lunged forward, flipping over head-on and swinging. Thwack! The sword energy sliced through the flames, striking Bayardo's face directly. A crescent split its broad face in half and exited through the back of its head.
"Meee..."
Thud! Bayardo's massive body tilted and collapsed. Its body, made of pure mana like the flames, dispersed into particles. Ronan spun around urgently, grabbing Adeshan's shoulders.
"Adeshan, you okay?!"
"Y-yeah. I'm fine."
Fortunately, she seemed unharmed. Flushing at being called by name so suddenly, with Bayardo gone, Elsia revealed herself behind it.
"You crazy bitch, what the hell do you think you're—"
Ronan gripped his sword hilt, about to yell. Suddenly, Elsia bowed her head. A beautiful voice flowed from beneath her snowy hair.
"Nice to meet you, Ronan."
"...You know me?"
Ronan's eyes widened at the unexpected response. Her attitude was polite, like addressing a superior. Lifting her head, Elsia continued.
"Yes. I've known you since the day you were born. And congratulations on passing the test splendidly."
"Test?"
"Yes. What you just went through was the process to verify your identity. Someone who inherited his blood should be able to find and sever the mana invisible to others. It's my role to guide you here after you've found the answers."
Elsia said she'd been waiting for Ronan for a very long time. Her straightforward words and actions made sense now.
She explained the illusion magic and the fight with Bayardo were all part of the test. Her calm tone showed no malice. Letting out a faint sigh, Ronan pointed to Adeshan behind him.
"Well, if that's the reason, fine. She didn't get hurt."
"Pardon?"
"Lucky for you. Things went wrong, you'd be dead here."
His tone was calm, but his presence wasn't. Elsia's eyebrow twitched. Killing intent prickled from Ronan, numbing her fingertips.
Blood can't lie, after all. She murmured softly and bowed again.
"...Forgive my rudeness. I was so focused on your test that I neglected your companion."
"It's fine now. So, what's this building?"
Ronan looked up at the triangular structure. A metal door of unknown material was attached to the vertical face against the ground. It gave a similar impression to the ruins he'd seen in Dinahar. Elsia said.
"A warehouse that stored plant seeds."
"Seeds?"
"Yes. One of the relics built in the world's most brilliant era. Made in preparation for destruction, but never used. Now, I've modified it..."
Suddenly, Elsia trailed off. She seemed like someone who'd unintentionally brought up a painful past. A subtle melancholy settled on her beautiful face. In the end, she turned away mid-sentence.
"...That was a long preamble. Follow me. Someone you need to meet."
"Someone to meet?"
Instead of answering, Elsia operated the device beside the steel door. A rectangular metal panel had buttons numbered 1 to 9 densely packed on it.
Beep beep beep. As Elsia pressed them in a specific sequence, the entrance opened. A long, narrow staircase led underground. Round lights lined both sides at regular intervals—much brighter and easier on the eyes than torches. Ronan tilted his head.
"Magic lights?"
"No. Made by modifying a substance called light-emitting diodes. Another lost technology."
"Light-emitting... what?"
He couldn't comprehend it at all. The two followed Elsia down. Seeing the door from the side, Ronan let out an incredulous admiration.
"What, this thick?"
The door panel, made of unknown metal, looked sturdy enough to withstand a dragon's step. Adeshan, who loved such things, sparkled with interest beside him.
"Wow..."
Anyway, the three continued walking. It took nearly 20 minutes just to descend the stairs. After passing three more steel doors like the entrance, a large, wide corridor appeared. Bright as daylight, probably using those light-emitting things again.
"Elsia. I have a question..."
"Later. Meeting him comes first."
Despite all the questions bubbling up, Elsia ignored them all. Every query got the same cold reply: she'd explain after meeting that person.
The story progressing straight to the point was nice, but wasn't this too rushed? Greeting on her terms, testing on her terms, dragging them to the basement on her terms.
'Eh, she'll explain later.'
With no other choice, Ronan silently followed. After another thirty minutes or so, Elsia stopped before a large door and turned to them.
"We're here. Absolutely no making noise or touching anything."
Ronan raised an eyebrow. This door was different from the others. Much larger, covered in all sorts of attachments, it strongly suggested something important inside.
Elsia operated the buttons on the wall. Hiss... With a sound like escaping air, the thick steel door parted left and right.
White gas of unknown composition leaked out like mist. Seeing the interior, Ronan and Adeshan's eyes widened.
"This is...!"
The vast room, like a plaza, was filled with machinery. Bluish glow filled the space, multicolored wires snaked across the floor like tree roots. The blue light haze emanated from a glass tube in the room's center.
Inside the liquid-filled glass tube floated a man. Back to the door, so his face was hidden, but the silhouette was startlingly familiar.
'No way.'
A chill ran down his spine suddenly. Ronan's heart raced. Elsia closed the door and spoke.
"Greet him. Our eternal savior and founder of Nebula Klazie. And..."
She trailed off briefly. That fleeting moment felt eternally long. Wetting her lips, she continued.
"Ronan, your father."