Chapter 118
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: The Revealed Truth
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[Blazing Glory: I am the warden who guards the Avici Prison.]
Warden?
I had my suspicions, but you're really the warden?
...
Then that means we've been blabbing about breaking out a prisoner from that place right in front of the warden all this time.
No, wait a second.
More than that, doesn't this feel a bit too contrived?
Did '0' know about this and choose the warden as a follower on purpose?
Come to think of it, the timing is certainly...
Did they foresee this as well?
At that moment, the conversation cut off, and a strange silence settled in.
It was understandable. Just as Blazing Glory had joined, the preparations for the Secret Scales had wrapped up.
And Merciful Crown's request was related to Avici, with the newest member turning out to be its warden.
Anyone would feel like this was a deliberate setup.
Watching this flow that seemed built from a single thread—
I, for one, couldn't hide my astonishment.
The person who happened to pick up the manaphone was, of all things, the warden of Avici Prison.
What kind of coincidence was this?
Tower of Intellect and Merciful Crown seemed convinced that '0' had orchestrated the whole thing, but of course, I hadn't planned any of it.
The current atmosphere was changing so rapidly that even I couldn't predict what was coming next.
Would I know what Merciful Crown was about to request and bring in a new member accordingly?
Besides, the people who picked up the manaphones weren't chosen by my will in the first place.
I was gripped by an inexplicable emotion.
What was it? This sense of everything clicking perfectly into place.
If I had to define it, it was an eerie strangeness.
I, the successor to Sephiroth.
Merciful Crown, the descendant of Ser Kanos who received Sephiroth's promise.
And that promise had gone unfulfilled, passed down to me.
And right then, in this chat room, was Blazing Glory.
Was it just my imagination, or did it feel like we were all swept up in some massive current?
I'll tell you what I know.
It's not a difficult matter.
How long have you been the warden?
Since the day I was born.
Watching over the prisoners there is no different from my mission in life.
...A mission.
Then you'd obviously block anyone from secretly meeting one of the prisoners there, right?
Because it's your mission?
I should have considered that.
Is that even something to think about...?
Merciful Crown fell silent.
They would think they'd hit a roadblock.
No, anyone in this chat room would feel the same.
Blazing Glory was the warden, the guardian of Avici Prison.
He would have to stop us if we tried to meet a prisoner in secret. That was the role given to a warden, his mission, as he himself had said.
It was only after a long pause that Root of Understanding cautiously spoke up.
Still, there must be a reason '0' brought them in, right?
Even Root of Understanding carried a hint of uncertainty.
From a third-party perspective, Blazing Glory was a follower chosen by the owner of this chat, '0'.
That made it more reasonable to assume their mission had changed.
But Blazing Glory had only just joined, and they weren't the talkative type.
It was natural to feel skeptical.
Of course, I was beyond that skepticism.
Knowing full well that all of this was coincidence left me in an awkward spot.
Then, Blazing Glory spoke.
I've lived my whole life doing as I was told.
What I call a mission is simply what I was taught.
No way, are you from the Daon tribe?
Daon tribe?
What's the Daon tribe?
You might not know.
It's a very, very old story.
Hmm...
Since it's fact, I'll tell you.
Back then, it was trendy to capture and raise Daon tribe members.
They come into the world perfectly pure white from birth and accept whatever they're taught.
And they live a long time.
Everyone coveted them. Engrave your will into that clean vessel, and you could have absolute obedience.
They live treating the goals imprinted by their master as their mission.
Doesn't it sound just like what Blazing Glory is saying?
I've... heard of them too.
Some called them the blessed race, others called them raw material.
It's a plain fact recorded in history.
But I heard they went extinct quickly because they were hunted so indiscriminately.
Are you saying I'm from the Daon tribe?
You don't know?
I don't.
I've never wondered about such things.
His words were calm, but that only made them sound stranger.
A being who didn't even know his own race.
It was the moment when it became clear he had lived solely fulfilling the role given to him, ignorant even of his own identity.
Hearing that just makes me even more convinced.
If that's true, then what Blazing Glory calls a mission...
...is just a command imprinted by someone else's will.
Saying that right to their face...
That's a cruel thing to say.
I'm not so stubborn that I have to speak only facts.
But this feels like a situation where I have to say it.
This is getting awkward.
Awkward?
Daon tribe masters traditionally never let their charges interact with the outside world.
They saw contact as pollution.
I could sense the true intent behind Naked Truth's words.
It was an opportunity.
In other words, a chance to instill new teachings, a new will, in Blazing Glory.
But Tower of Intellect showed clear aversion.
That's exactly the kind of thing I despise.
I loathe treating anyone like a slave.
...Unexpected.
What's so unexpected about it?
Even back when I ruled my race, slavery was unthinkable.
Were you... a king?
Not anymore.
Hmm.
I think I know who you are, but...
I won't say it.
It doesn't matter.
[Tower of Intellect: I am of the Heavenly Dragon Clan.]
The moment he revealed his race, the chat room's atmosphere shifted dramatically once more.
Heavenly Dragon Clan?
The king of the Heavenly Dragon Clan?
No way, are you the Demon King...?
That's what they call me now.
Your interest in the Hero and the fact that you slept for so long before awakening...
I suspected, but it really is you.
...Wow.
With that short exclamation of awe, all conversation halted.
I stared at the screen, my fingers frozen. In an already complicated situation, learning Tower of Intellect's true identity left me dumbfounded.
Tower of Intellect was... the Demon King, defeated and sealed by the Hero in their final battle?
I'd thought there might be some connection given their keen interest in the Hero, but...
Wait, that means the Hero and the Demon King are both in this chat room right now.
You awakened from your seal?
I don't know the details myself, but yes.
To be honest, I always wanted to see you in person.
But to think I've been chatting directly with you like this—it's unbelievable.
Hmm.
No need to get so emotional about it.
A being etched into history was right here—that's what's surprising.
No way... the dead Hero isn't alive in this chat too, right?
...The dead Hero hasn't come back to life, but there is a next-generation Hero.
I wouldn't know about the Hero.
However, '0' should know the Hero's whereabouts.
True, the Hero and Demon King wouldn't belong to the same place.
But this place...
...is even scarier than I thought.
Hm?
Is there some reason they couldn't belong to the same place as the Hero?
They're sworn enemies.
I don't see it that way.
That battle back then... it was just something we were pushed into.
Is there a hidden story behind it?
I'm dying to know.
Can't you tell us?
It's not hard.
But doesn't the conversation feel like it's veered off track?
I see.
I got too excited on my own.
I could feel Naked Truth's attitude toward Tower of Intellect shifting subtly.
She wasn't the only one who saw them differently now.
I felt the same.
From the moment Tower of Intellect revealed their identity, every word they said carried weight. There was a world of difference between knowing them only as someone versed in inaction and knowing they were the Demon King.
Blazing Glory.
I've been watching.
You said earlier that you needed time to sort your thoughts.
Does "thinking" mean you just think and nothing more?
Did you feel nothing from our conversation?
Think for yourself and tell us.
Why you're doing what you're doing.
Why...?