Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Ghosts of the Past (4)
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“What do you mean by that?”
“As members of society, there are times when we Guardian Shadows can’t act freely. For example, what if magical beasts rose up in large numbers in one’s own domain, forcing them to tend to it?”
“Hmm…….”
Indeed, just looking at Kairen or Burein made it clear that the Guardian Shadows tended to select their members from people with social influence. They had enough martial prowess on their own, so they needed the power they could wield as members of society.
“These days, everyone’s tied down by their own positions. In any case, we’re doing our best.”
“I see. But what’s the reason you keep following me around? To confirm if I’m the one from the prophecy?”
“That’s part of it.”
“But not the only reason, right? What’s the other purpose?”
“I’m hoping that if Reygers shows up again, it’ll be in front of you.”
“You’re hoping for that?”
Azel furrowed his brow. According to what Balsel had told him last time, the Prophecy Guardians had already clashed with Reygers’s Undying and been smashed to pieces. And yet, he was anticipating his appearance?
“Do you have confidence in taking down Reygers’s Undying? Or is this premised on forming a united front with us?”
“As long as he’s an Undying, I can handle him alone.”
“…….”
Azel stared straight at Balsel. He was a highly intriguing fellow. Azel knew he was a Spirit Order practitioner, but he couldn’t gauge his skill level at all.
Normally, in such cases, one would judge the opponent as a formidable expert. Yet Balsel had an elusive aura that defied such a straightforward assessment.
Balsel spoke.
“But… yes. If there are non-Undying involved, it might be tough for me alone. In that case, I’d like to form a united front with you all. At the very least, when fighting the Dragon Demon Worshippers, we can be reliable allies.”
“Very well. But our movements shouldn’t have been exposed to the enemy, right? Don’t tell me…….”
“If you’re thinking I might have lured them to where you are, no. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m the least exposed among the Prophecy Guardians. They probably don’t even know my code name.”
“Code name, huh. Come to think of it, you were using ancient characters like Delta and Theta. What’s your code name?”
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega.
The Prophecy Guardians used the 24 ancient characters known to predate the legend of Babel as their code names. This was also a method commonly used by mages when constructing magical rituals.
Balsel answered.
“Alpha.”
“Alpha is the first of the ancient characters. Are your code names related to rank?”
“Yes.”
“You can just tell me that?”
“We decided among ourselves that it’s fine to share this much information with you.”
“I’m grateful for the high regard. So that means you’re the first Prophecy Guardian… but doesn’t that contradict what you said before?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you quit being a knight 50 years ago. If you became a Prophecy Guardian then, you’d be after Lennon, who became one during the Great Darkness, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“That doesn’t add up.”
“I’m the one who inherited the code name after the original Alpha died. My memories of him are hazy, but I believe he was my uncle.”
“You believe? What do you mean by that?”
“It means I don’t have much memory of my life before becoming a Prophecy Guardian. It’s probably the price paid in the process of dying once as a human and being resurrected as one.”
“Hmm?”
“Apparently Lennon didn’t tell you this. We Prophecy Guardians have all died once as humans and been brought back to life.”
“Died and come back to life? You expect me to believe that?”
“I know it sounds absurd. But that explains why we don’t age, starting from there.”
“Hmm…….”
“We understand it as the magical core forming the Guardian Shadows contacting us at the moment we were killed by the Dragon Demon King’s slayer, harboring an indelible grudge, and resurrecting us. Since it happens right after death, it seems somewhat plausible.”
“Somewhat? Isn’t that too sloppy?”
“Mages among us argue about this endlessly but can never reach a conclusion. The non-mages just accept it. After all, what matters to us is exterminating the Dragon Demon Worshippers—nothing else.”
“Ha…….”
Azel let out a hollow laugh. What an absurd guy. He rattled off these monumental facts as casually as chatting about a neighbor’s trivial affairs.
“You said you lost your memories?”
“Yes. I have almost no memories from my previous life. Only the reason why we’re doing this remains.”
“And you don’t even suspect anything?”
“Suspect what?”
“That it might all be someone’s fabrication.”
He had lost his memories from life. He didn’t know who turned him into this. He didn’t even know the criteria for becoming a Prophecy Guardian.
In that state of ignorance, he followed only the instincts surfacing as facts, becoming an incarnation of vengeance. Bearing a human body yet forsaking humanity, devoting himself solely to exterminating the Dragon Demon Worshippers.
“…You’ve never even considered the possibility that it was all fabricated by magic?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“…….”
“You have that look like you can’t believe how foolish we are.”
“You say it as if you can see it.”
“I can.”
“Even with your eyes closed?”
“I’m not blind, and closing my eyes doesn’t hinder my vision. In any case, yes. The moment we become Prophecy Guardians, we receive a proposal from an unknown entity and choose. Since I remember the choice, I don’t doubt it.”
“Is that enough?”
“Yes. Or do you want me to doubt even that process and deny my own existence? I’d rather not.”
“Are you afraid?”
“No. I simply believe that hatred proves the choice.”
“Hatred?”
“Amusingly, I feel nothing real. Even talking to you now feels like a daydream.”
Yet the moment he faced the Dragon Demon Worshippers, he felt truly alive. The blaze of hatred toward them reminded him that he still breathed in the real world.
Azel suddenly felt he understood the madness he’d sensed in Lennon. These were people who had truly lost everything. Stripped of all the elements that made up their former selves, they were hollow dolls left only with hatred for the Dragon Demon Worshippers.
‘Just who created this system?’
Azel couldn’t bear not knowing. How deep must the grudge of the one who made the Guardian Shadows have been to enact such a cruel miracle?
Balsel spoke.
“Sir Azel, consider this a warning. Reygers will definitely come for you.”
“How do you know? According to Laura…….”
“They have someone with the ability to find you. We know that.”
“You speak like a prophet.”
“Almost.”
“What?”
As Azel looked shocked, Balsel replied calmly.
“Among the 24 Prophecy Guardians, only two have fixed roles. Alpha and Omega. Regardless of the order they became Prophecy Guardians, the one named Omega can glimpse what happens in the Dark Snowfields. Those within the Great Darkness that forms the basis of their actions—what powers they possess, and what they can do…….”
“So you can use their intelligence network against them?”
“Not that precisely. It’s not that helpful. We don’t know when or what we’ll learn. But once we do, it’s accurate.”
“I think this every time…….”
Azel clicked his tongue.
“I can’t tell if you lot are brilliant or sloppy.”
“The world can’t always be convenient.”
Balsel replied impassively.
Soon after Azel left, Balsel spoke toward the trees.
“You can come out now, Omega.”
“…….”
“He’s far enough away.”
“…Still, you might get caught.”
Soon a young girl’s voice replied. With a rustling sound, a girl emerged from the bushes between the trees.
If Azel had seen her, he would have been astonished. She hadn’t been that far away, yet she had perfectly fooled his senses?
She appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen. Nothing special about her looks. A plain girl’s face with freckles and messy twin blonde tails from hiding in the bushes.
But her green eyes were eerie. Though her face was toward Balsel, they lacked focus entirely. As if she were blind……
And she had as little presence as Balsel. That was why Azel hadn’t noticed her.
Balsel said as he ladled a bowl of soup.
“It wouldn’t matter if he caught us, would it? At least for now, he’s not an enemy.”
“But he hates us so much.”
“Seems that way.”
“I don’t want to be hated. At least not by showing up in front of him and getting those looks.”
“Because he might be the one from the prophecy?”
“Yeah.”
Balsel handed a bowl of soup to Omega, who nodded. She took it without fumbling, despite her unfocused eyes staring into space.
“If he’s the one from the prophecy… we’d have to give him everything. I don’t want to do that for someone who hates me.”
“We’re already all hated, it seems.”
“That’s why I don’t want to show myself to him until that moment. Unlike you, I don’t want to be hated as an individual, not as part of the Prophecy Guardians collective.”
Omega said this as she slurped down the soup.
Balsel remarked.
“You’re still so attached to romance.”
“Unlike you all, I’ve even lost my name.”
Omega spoke calmly of her loss. Having received the final code name out of sequence, she remembered nothing from her previous life—not even her name.
Balsel said.
“You’ll know soon enough.”
“How do you know?”
“Just a hunch.”
“You sound like a prophet.”
“I may not know much else, but my bad hunches tend to be spot on. It’s been that way for 50 years, so it’s somewhat reliable.”
“That’s why you called everyone?”
“Yes.”
Balsel nodded. Their conversation ended there. Both fell silent, blending into the surroundings like part of the landscape, their presences buried in the stillness.