Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Old Story, End
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“Commence the transfer circle!”
Rushing toward the imperial palace, I saw the Archmage assembling the mages and shouting orders.
The screams of the imperial capital’s citizens pierced my ears.
Trembling mages approached the summoning circle and knelt, pressing their hands to the ground.
Someone raised their head and shouted.
“The transfer circle isn’t complete yet!”
“Then should we burn to death?!”
The Archmage bellowed.
The mages bit their lips and bowed their heads.
They had no words to argue back. With heads lowered, the mages began chanting in unison.
Light swirled around the transfer circle.
“The next group, don’t just stand there—get ready now!”
Bluish flames erased the darkness.
Hecate was already leading the first escape group, waiting for the transfer circle to activate. The circle’s light illuminated the faces of the empire’s citizens, who wailed in despair.
I could leave this place to Hecate.
Having assessed the situation, I turned my body. I needed to instruct the knight order members to guide the escape groups swiftly. Even with the entire knight order mobilized, we’d be short-handed managing dozens of groups.
After relaying the orders, I’d head straight for the flames.
With that judgment made, I dashed out of the palace.
***
Kisis stood before the flames.
After issuing commands, I ran straight to the fire and widened my eyes upon encountering the man who should be at the emperor’s side.
“Sir Kisis!”
Grabbing his arm, Kisis whipped his head around.
“Even if I tell you to return to the palace, you won’t listen, will you?”
“Is that a question?”
“No.”
I smirked, then drew my sword.
The corruption before my eyes was sliced away and crumbled to dust.
I walked to the prince’s side, who wiped sweat from his brow with his forearm while gripping his sword straight.
“It was just a polite suggestion.”
I fixed my gaze on the flames.
With a heavy heart, I watched the buildings burn and collapse. The lives perishing alongside the inferno within, the traces of history.
Agonized death cries mingled with the roar of the flames.
Though I was seasoned enough to maintain my reason amid such horrors.
Seeing the world I’d fought to protect crumbling away was gut-wrenching all the same. It was a place filled with things I wanted to safeguard. A space where Kyle, Ray, and countless precious people had spent their time.
“What escape group is this?”
Turning at Kisis’s question, I met his violet eyes and gave a faint smile.
“The last one.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Kisis grinned crookedly, then turned his head.
His silver-blond hair, nearly golden, whipped back in the wind stirred by the flames.
“If we survive to the bitter end, let’s jump in together, fledgling.”
I nodded.
Thinking that if we survived to the very last moment, we’d leap while watching the collapsing capital.
Vowing that if necessary, I’d push Kisis in first.
Hoping I wouldn’t survive alone in pathetic isolation again.
Clutching that desperate wish, I faced the surging flames.
I felt Kyle and Ray running toward me.
***
My throat ached, and my eyes stung.
The capital was nearly engulfed in flames.
Never once looking back, I had no way of knowing how the evacuation was progressing. I focused solely on slowing the approaching fire’s speed, with no spare attention for anything else. The World Tree’s offspring had rushed in droves to aid the effort. Yet the flames were overwhelmingly fierce.
Now, the blue fire would soon reach the palace.
Backing across the vast capital, we found ourselves stepping onto the palace stairs before we knew it.
“Yvon.”
I grabbed the arm of the knight panting beside me.
“Go to the transfer circle.”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s an order.”
At my cold tone, Yvon looked at me with hurt eyes.
I peered into his eyes and smirked.
“You need to move now.”
“…Let me stay until the end, too.”
“No.”
Pushing back my staggering subordinate, I shoved his shoulder.
He seemed barely able to run to the transfer circle.
Swallowing that worry deep in my throat, I issued the icy command.
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
Yvon bit his lip until it bled.
He finally gritted his teeth and turned away. Feeling his presence recede, I let out a sigh of relief. I was grateful he’d obeyed.
Now it’s truly the end.
Exhaling a long breath, I gazed down at the flame-shrouded capital.
The capital writhed in black, cloaked in fire.
“No memories left to cherish.”
I heard Ray’s mutter.
“Didn’t think we’d leave like this.”
At that moment, someone came running from behind.
Turning at the sound of hurried footsteps, I saw Yoo, drenched in sweat.
The dried blood on his clothes sent a chill through me.
Whose blood is it?
“Your Highness.”
Even as he stopped, gasping, he uttered the title Kisis hated most.
Likely to draw the attention of Kisis and everyone else.
“You must go now.”
Kisis turned cold eyes on the strategist.
Fortunately, he didn’t lose control. He neither raged nor brandished his sword. He simply stared at Yoo with chilling intensity.
Yoo didn’t avert his gaze from his opponent. He merely steadied his ragged breath and met Kisis’s eyes directly.
The violet-eyed man moved swiftly.
For the first time in hours, he turned his back to the flames.
“Let’s go.”
The people facing the flames turned.
“There’s nowhere left to hold the line.”
The flames had indeed encircled the palace.
No one protested. We silently tore our eyes from the fire and followed Kisis. The World Tree’s offspring and skilled knights walked in silence.
Unaware of what we would witness.
Doing our best to believe that the people we loved had escaped safely.
***
I never thought everything would go smoothly.
But I hadn’t expected it to go this wrong, either.
“The first group was wiped out.”
Deltei stared blankly at the blood-soaked dimensional transfer circle.
“The circle devoured them.”
“…And the next group?”
“Who knows. They didn’t get mashed into meat between dimensions, but they might wander forever between realms. We couldn’t input the destination properly.”
“What about the one after?”
“The mages activating the circle vomited blood and collapsed, so I can’t guarantee they made it.”
“Any successful groups?”
“A few lucky ones in the middle. Even those only seemed successful.”
It was a sea of blood.
The scene was gruesome. Arriving at the temple housing the dimensional transfer circle, we faced blood clots covering the ceiling and walls. Mages vomiting blood and dying beside it. Corpses of mages shriveled and twisted in death.
Traces of squeezing out their last fluids to cast the spell.
The space held only the final escape group and the corpses.
The capital’s citizens who had witnessed this catastrophe huddled trembling in the temple’s corner. The surviving mages’ eyes were unfocused. I knew that expression all too well.
People whose will to live had extinguished, reduced to living dolls.
Beside them remained the emperor and the Archmage.
Grand Duke Zack, too.
The First Prince and First Princess.
“Kisis.”
The man whose emotions I still couldn’t read today.
The fallen empire’s sovereign called his son’s name.
Kisis, standing resolute at the temple entrance, raised his head.
Kisis silently regarded the emperor.
“You are their leader now.”
The emperor didn’t wait for Kisis’s reply.
“We’ll activate the circle, so take the rest and go.”
“What?”
The knights’ voices rose.
“What do you mean, Your Majesty?!”
The emperor ignored the ensuing pleas.
I judged the situation with sunken eyes. I understood why they’d made this choice. They alone could activate the dimensional transfer circle now. The emperor, First Prince, First Princess. A few mages survived, but none had the stamina left to power it. Some were barely clinging to life.
Ah. Kisis couldn’t use magic.
Cowardly as it was, that fact brought me deep relief.
“You’ve worked hard holding back the fire.”
The emperor addressed the weeping knights and World Tree offspring matter-of-factly.
“Prepare to evacuate now.”
“Your Majesty!”
“We’ll stay too!”
“Enough nonsense.”
The chancellor sneered coldly at the sobbing group.
“What difference does it make if you stay?”
“Won’t you go, Grand Duke?”
I asked calmly, suppressing a foreboding feeling.
“You can’t use magic.”
The chancellor turned his gaze to me.
His beard white as mountain ash blossoms. Upright posture. Impeccably neat attire as always. He looked as if he’d stepped out from his office mid-work.
As if he’d smirk and say a meeting was soon, prepare the escort.
The chancellor flashed his signature crooked smile.
“I have calculations to make.”
“Grand Duke.”
“Can you calculate as precisely as I can?”
Grand Duke Zack ignored my trembling voice.
“Do you even know the method?”
Once again.
My heart tore.
We’d had this conversation before. In my childhood, when I was ignorant of the world’s cruelty. The priests had shoved me into the temple with smiles like that.
Smiles choked with love and resolve.
I never wanted to see it again.
“I ask the two knight commanders to support Kisis well henceforth.”
I raised my head at the First Prince’s voice.
His expressionless face mirrored the emperor’s exactly as he discarded his tattered cloak on the floor.
“The youngest is so inexperienced.”
“Jeffrey.”
“Kisis. Listen well.”
The First Princess bowed at the waist before the magic circle, adding her words.
“They’re the ones who’ll help you without cunning.”
Kisis ground his teeth.
I pretended not to notice his clenched fist. Averting my eyes, I took in the remaining people preparing to activate the circle.
The encroaching heat grew closer.
For the first time, the imperial family knelt before us.
Three royals kneeling before the massive magic circle.
As they touched it with their hands simultaneously, the circle shone brilliantly.
“Go in.”
Deltei rasped to the people in the corner.
“Thank you for waiting until the end.”
The final escape group.
Most were weeping. Trembling, shedding tears. To prevent any mishaps, I walked to their side, hand on my sword hilt. I watched the woman at the front, short black hair and cloak stained with blood, bravely step toward the circle.
She bowed deeply to the royals, then leaped in.
“Don’t stop—keep going.”
Yoo directed.
The people obeyed. We watched them vanish into the dimensional circle. People plummeting into the light that brightly illuminated the blood-soaked temple.
After sending them off, I sent Deltei, Yoo, and the World Tree offspring in turn.
Once the offspring entered, I shoved the knights.
“I’ll enter last.”
“No.”
I flatly refused Noir’s words.
“Don’t overstep.”
Noir gritted his teeth like Yvon, who had jumped in earlier.
He was even more stubborn than Yvon. He stood firm by my side, refusing to move despite my words.
What a rigid fool.
Truth be told, Ray, Kyle, and I should be the last ones left.
Sighing in resignation, I prepared to push him away.
At that moment, the temple shook.
Boom!
“Ah.”
We all turned to the entrance simultaneously, letting out short sounds.
“Fuck.”
A dragon.
The same breed that had guarded the World Tree’s front.
But far larger. And far angrier. It showed no forgiveness for us, who had unleashed the apocalypse.
If I’d faced this dragon that day, I wouldn’t have survived.
No guarantee now, either.
Of all ways for things to go wrong.
“Captain!”
“Go.”
As the dragon’s tail struck the temple, I shoved Noir into the circle.
Kyle and Ray leaped to protect the royals and chancellor.
As Kisis spun to face the dragon, Kyle and I shouted sharply in unison.
“Jump in!”
Don’t hesitate like idiots—jump!
Dozens of subordinates hadn’t entered yet.
The dragon, enraged by the World Tree’s loss, was formidable. Even as Kisis and I charged together, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Spears shattered, ceilings collapsed. The dragon’s powerful tail whipped the survivors viciously. I felt one subordinate perish from a glancing blow.
Fool.
He could’ve lived if he hadn’t hesitated.
Ah.
Now the floor’s collapsing too.
“Ray! Kyle!”
Clearing falling debris, I called to my comrades protecting the unmoving royals and chancellor maintaining the circle.
“Jump down!”
“What about you!”
“I’ll follow—jump!”
If the floor collapsed, the circle would vanish.
Slicing the dragon’s flames, I watched the massive crack widen.
Urgency laced my voice.
“Now!”
Kyle hurled Ray.
Ray vanished into the light with a sharp curse. Subordinates followed one by one.
Now only the royals, chancellor, and Kyle remained. Precisely those who should be last in the crumbling space.
Kyle, looking down at the circle, raised his head to me.
His black hair swayed in the magic’s waves. Golden eyes gleamed in the white light.
His gaze conveyed his intent.
Heavy responsibility and fighting spirit. Will to live.
“Let’s go.”
Kyle jumped.
At that instant, the dragon roared.
“Sir Kisis!”
I twisted to grab the prince.
“Hurry….”
Whoom.
The sword blade grazed past.
The shock from the swung blade pushed my body. My lower half slid into the circle. Grunting in pain, I clutched the intact floor with my upper body—and witnessed swordsmanship beyond imagination.
Waves bloomed from the blade, slashing the dragon.
Bluish waves. They tore the dragon’s foot as it struck the floor. Scales rent, blood burst.
The dragon’s agonized roar battered my ears.
“Hah.”
Grand Chancellor Zack exclaimed from behind.
“So that’s why auras aren’t just legends.”
The floor began crumbling.
I tilted my head back to look at Kisis.
The knight who had shielded the circle from the dragon’s assault now gazed down at me calmly.
“Sir Kisis.”
Desperation filled my voice as I reached out.
I couldn’t fall into the circle like this.
“Kisis. Jump now—it’s not too late.”
“No. The destination must be inputted after everyone jumps. You didn’t memorize the order, did you?”
“Then I’ll escort the chancellor—jump now!”
“You’re the leader now.”
Kisis smiled down at me.
The same smile he’d shown when I cut his hair.
Beautiful yet chilling—the smile that earned him infamy.
The smile of one unafraid of death.
“Hildebert. Whatever comes, make decisions that save as many as possible.”
“Kisis.”
“Save as many of my people as you can.”
“Kisis!”
“Take care of them.”
Boom!
The writhing dragon flapped its wings, positioning behind Kisis again.
But Kisis didn’t turn. Wind from the wingbeats tousled his platinum hair, curving his violet eyes.
A radiant smile.
“Sorry to burden you with such a heavy load.”
Please.
“But you’ll make the right choice. My fledgling.”
Please…!
Boom!
Impact struck.
I couldn’t see exactly what.
What mattered was that the shock sent me tumbling into the circle. Without grasping Kisis. Without stopping him from turning to face the dragon.
Failing once more to protect what I had to.
With the collapsing floor, I fell out of the world.
Parting from the world, leaving behind what I had to safeguard.
“I’m sorry, Hildebert.”
Those were his final words.
***
“That’s why I.”
Never regret coming to Earth.
All those sacrifices.
All those efforts.
All that will, poured into crossing over.
How could I, of all people, regret setting foot on Earth.
I, who bore his final command—how dare I.