Chapter 412
Chapter 412
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 412
Chapter Title: 2-35. Every Time I See the Sunrise
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#35
"H-Hey...!
Your eyes!"
"What's wrong with my eyes?"
"Your smashed eyeballs have regenerated! Wipe off some of that blood. My god, what a miracle!"
The area was in an uproar.
The particles of life spreading in all directions had healed even the gravest wounds.
People were simply witnessing the miracle and marveling in awe.
They had even momentarily forgotten that Navardoje had awakened.
I tilted my head as I looked at her.
"I was going to go there anyway... but suddenly?"
"Yes. Something's off."
Navardoje's eyes wavered.
Her stiffened expression was filled with bewilderment.
She began murmuring to herself, explaining what had happened.
"I just can't understand it. That thing only attacked me right at the start of the battle."
"What?"
"The whole time inside the sphere, it just twisted space to flee. Akasha... didn't seem to want to fight at all."
My brows furrowed.
This sounded utterly ridiculous.
They had caused such chaos, yet hadn't even fought?
"Unbelievable. Then what was all that flashing inside the sphere? Why did you suddenly plummet?"
"Most of it was my attacks. I poured everything into killing it, even at the cost of my life. But Akasha barely countered after the first few times. I lost consciousness... because of the shock from the healing."
"Healing?"
"Yes. It happened in an instant. The wave bursting from the center of the sphere instantly healed all the accumulated injuries on my body. Even the scars I'd carried from ages past, ones I thought would be with me forever..."
Navardoje glanced around.
The people whose wounds had healed were cheering.
Orse, having exhausted all her strength, was asleep beside her.
She was about to continue with secondary explanations.
Crackle!
A bursting sound like lightning striking high above echoed.
"What was that?"
"...We don't have much time."
We looked up almost simultaneously.
Navardoje frowned.
In the gradually brightening dawn sky, a red fissure was gaping open.
It was the rift Akasha had fled through.
Unlike the ones I'd slashed that lingered, this one was rapidly closing and vanishing.
"What's going on? Why's it doing that?"
"...I think this is our last chance. Let's go!"
"Whoa."
Suddenly, Navardoje wrapped her arms around my waist.
Red wings unfurled from her back.
My body lifted, and the ground fell away.
"Ro-Ronan?!"
"Lady Navardoje! Wh-Where are you going all of a sudden?!"
The people gathered below cried out in confusion.
I wanted to respond, but there was no time.
We arrived at the rift in an instant.
The red maw was shrinking in real time.
Navardoje snapped her fingers.
Rumble...
A reef rose from the sea, splitting the waves, serving as a platform into the rift.
Landing beside me, Navardoje gripped my shoulders and warned.
"Be careful, Ronan. That mage's power defies imagination. Honestly, I don't even know if my attacks landed even a speck."
"Don't worry. Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you more than anyone. But this is a different matter. And... ptui!"
"Gah, what?!"
Suddenly, Navardoje spat something from her mouth.
My eyes narrowed.
A glittering ore fragment lay in her palm.
"Phew... here."
"...This is?"
The fragment was coated in sticky saliva.
I picked it up as if entranced.
The fragment, presumably part of a massive gem, shimmered with a familiar hue.
Right, it was the piece I'd found in Seniel just before meeting Akasha.
Navardoje continued.
"I swallowed it during the fight. It was part of what made up Seniel. I thought it'd be more useful to you than me."
"This?"
"Yes. You have to keep chasing Akasha... If the next parallel world is ruined like ours, this could come in handy, right? Though I'm not certain."
Navardoje smacked her lips.
She seemed a bit unsure.
It didn't radiate power like the spreading particles.
Probably just the dregs after all life force was drained.
"Thanks. I'll make good use of it."
Still, I pocketed the fragment.
It was relatively weak, but held considerable life force.
In a parallel world without Citadels, it could prove useful.
"Sorry to send you off so suddenly. We should've had a proper farewell."
"It's fine. It was bound to happen eventually."
"...I still don't want to let you go. I know it's inevitable, but..."
Only the wind whispered in the silent sky.
The sun's crown was rising over the dim horizon.
Suddenly, Navardoje, gazing at me, spoke.
"Child. Come closer for a moment?"
"Huh? Why?"
I approached without thinking.
Mwah.
Suddenly, Navardoje stood on tiptoes and kissed my cheek.
"Uh."
I had no time to react.
She lowered her heels and smiled with her eyes.
"Hehe, thank you for saving our world. Farewell."
"...Navardoje."
"Adeshan must be so jealous. You'll make a wonderful spouse."
Navardoje stroked my head.
The spot her lips touched burned.
It was her way of saying goodbye.
My nose tingled; it was a damn good farewell.
But what to do—I'd prepared words for this moment too.
Rubbing my cheek, I bowed at the waist.
"Wh-What are you doing so suddenly...?"
"Nothing much. Just one word before I go."
Navardoje flinched.
Her crimson eyes, seen up close, were already brimming with tears.
I don't enjoy making women cry, but no choice.
I had to say this.
I gently pulled her into an embrace and whispered in her ear.
"Stay healthy, Mother."
"...!"
"It was just a passing shower. As long as the spark of life doesn't go out, the world will return to normal. No matter how harsh the winter, spring always comes."
Ending the brief hug, I straightened.
Navardoje stood frozen, speechless.
The full dawn was breaking over the horizon.
A landscape similar to sunset yet wholly different.
The water droplets dancing in the wind, scattering light across the world, were beautiful.
"Thanks for believing in me to the end. I won't forget treating me like a real son. Or getting mad, asking who dared touch your child. Honestly, I was jealous as a kid. Kids with moms."
Navardoje bit her lip.
Tears finally overflowed, sliding down her cheeks.
After bowing her head for a long while, she looked up at me.
From lips marked by hard biting, her main voice emerged hoarsely.
"...Every time I see the sunrise, I'll think of you."
I grinned instead of replying.
The dawn light was so bright my vision blurred.
I turned away.
The shrinking rift was now barely wide enough for one person.
I waved one last time and stepped into the rift.
It was full morning.
The sky where the rift had vanished was spotlessly clear.
Flocks of seabirds glided through the fresh air.
Suddenly, a resistance fighter repairing debris heard a strange sound.
"Waaah... waaah...!"
"Huh?"
It sounded like a child crying.
He looked around but saw nothing unusual.
Thinking he'd misheard, he started walking again.
"Sob, is no one there? My legs... my legs...!"
"My god!"
This time it was clear.
Turning toward the sound, the man gaped.
In the middle of the ruined beach lay a woman.
Sobbing like a child, both her legs were gone below the knees.
The man hurriedly called for help.
Soon, a dozen people rushed over.
Recognizing her, they gasped.
"My god, Mage Rtansee!"
"Wasn't she dead?! How did she end up here...!"
"S-Sob, I don't know... The scenery suddenly changed, and my legs...!"
Rtansee explained she'd lost consciousness mid-conversation with Ronan.
When she woke, the battle was over.
She'd only just noticed her legs were severed.
"D-Do I really never walk again? Sob... waaah...!"
"Don't cry. Let me take a look."
A medic nearby approached.
Examining the wounds carefully, he slapped his forehead in admiration.
"Wow, cut clean as can be...! We can reattach them no problem."
"R-Really?"
"Of course. A miracle."
Thanks to the life-force particles, the cells hadn't necrotized and were fully viable.
With her original legs preserved and HQ's advanced equipment, perfect reattachment was possible.
The excited medic gripped tighter.
"Ow, that hurts! Eek!"
"Oops, let's go. Hang in there."
"I swear I'll never do bad things again! Waaah! Please save me!"
Rtansee thrashed and screamed.
People carefully supported her to the infirmary.
"Hm."
Phantasion watched the farce with a faint smile.
He was the one who'd found Rtansee's legs in the rubble.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.
"Won't you reattach your arm too, Phantasion?"
"...No need."
Glancing back, Phantasion shook his head.
Abel, ragged as a beggar, sat on a rock.
Having suffered together, his anger had faded.
This was his first appearance since falling after Akasha's attack.
"You think you've paid for your sins. Rtansee must too... That Akasha was a messenger come to collect our debts."
"Oh ho, quite the intriguing claim."
"Why'd you throw yourself to help Ronan? When you were just waiting to kill him."
"Frustrated, that's all. I meant to ignore it, but old memories kept surfacing."
"Old memories?"
"Yes... from before fluff like you was born."
Abel gave a wry smile.
Despite eons lived, some things lingered unforgotten.
He still dreamed occasionally of walking snowfields hand-in-hand with Cain.
The rookie's hand brushing ashes felt remarkably like his brother's.
"I'm vanishing now. No place for villains in the new era... Coming with?"
"Get lost."
"Knew it. Then, as your old boss, one piece of advice. If you truly want atonement, skip the cow dung philosophy and posturing—use those arms and work like an ox."
His voice dripped with mockery.
Veins bulged on Phantasion's forehead.
"You bastard."
Each syllable grated.
Not wrong, and that was the problem.
But when Phantasion turned, Abel was gone.
Instead, his own severed left arm lay where Abel sat.
Middle finger raised defiantly.
"...Damn bastard."
Phantasion growled.
No sign of him anywhere.
Looking around, he picked up his arm.
Then followed Rtansee's screams.
Navardoje, watching them, turned to the sea.
"Hehe. Good thinking."
Phantasion's choice satisfied her.
Suffering alone didn't erase wrongs.
She strolled the beach.
Waves lapped her feet, wetting and receding.
"That child."
She turned at the sudden voice from the sea.
Orse, unable to bid Ronan farewell, circled the rift area, spewing fire.
Dishonest, but affectionate kid.
"Ronan."
Navardoje murmured.
Having sent Ronan off, she alternated gazes between land and sea.
The sunrise peaked.
The morning sun fully revealed, bathed the world in light.
The landscape resembling her departed youngest son blurred her vision again.
"...Ronan."
The months together flashed before her eyes.
A blink for her, but unforgettable until life's end.
A short, beautiful time like dawn.
Turning from the sun, she faced forward.
A vibrant landscape unfolded.
On the ruined earth, people bustled to repair.
Reality.
The world she'd live most of her life in, save dawn's glow.
"A passing shower..."
Ronan's words echoed.
Even torrential rain ends.
Winter yields to spring.
All she saw proved it.
Wiping her eyes, she smiled softly.
"Yes, let's try again."