Chapter 526
Chapter Title: The Weight of the World
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526.
The place Leo stepped into was a page from history itself.
An event from the past, unfolded by the Akashic Record.
The frigid northern continent.
It was, in every sense of the word, a desolate land.
Leo stood in its midst, silently watching the elves cultivating the land.
“This is…”
Leo’s hands clenched as he took in the scene before him.
These ruins were the very symbol of despair.
But things were different now.
Amidst the ruins, hope was sprouting.
The northern continent Leo knew, the home of the elves, was a harsh, cold land, yet it had achieved dazzling progress.
5000 years.
Over that time, the elves had magnificently cultivated their new home.
And its beginning was the scene unfolding before his eyes now.
Despair was fading, and in its place, hope was beginning to sprout.
How much had been sacrificed for this sight?
How many people had risked their lives?
What unfolded before his eyes was the world after Erebos’s demise.
‘An era for moving toward the future.’
“Hold on, that’s not right!”
Whoosh-!
Someone brushed past Leo.
A familiar voice, a familiar figure from behind.
She looked just as he last remembered.
‘No, has she matured even more?’
The immature girl Leo remembered was gone.
The cocky, dependent side of her, shown only to her masters, had vanished.
“You have to do it like this!”
She was now dependable, inspiring trust.
Berchia used her strength to straighten the pillar of a building.
Her confident demeanor was somehow reminiscent of Luna.
“Ah! Thank you, Lady Berchia.”
“Not at all. It’s my duty, isn’t it?”
She smiled gently and waved at the person who thanked her.
‘Did she always have that side to her?’
This was a completely different Berchia from the one Leo knew.
Many elves relied on and followed Berchia.
In that, a shadow of Lisinas could be seen.
“Lady Berchia~”
“Come play with us!”
Just then, a group of elven children swarmed around Berchia.
“I’m a little busy. What should I do?”
As Berchia gave a troubled smile, the children’s ears drooped.
“Still, maybe we can play for just a little while?”
“Yes!”
“Did she always like children?”
This part of her resembled Ar-on.
After playing with all the children, Berchia returned to her work.
She worked silently, instilling faith in others.
Drawing strength from her iron will, the struggling elves found new energy.
In that, she somehow resembled Dweno.
“……”
“This place has improved a lot, hasn’t it?”
“Bihar?”
Berchia’s face brightened at the voice from behind her.
“Welcome! How are things in the east?”
“We’re not doing too bad, either.”
Bihar offered a faint smile.
“It seems you’re still not showing yourself to people.”
As Berchia asked with a regretful voice, Bihar closed his eyes.
“There are still plenty of traitors. A man like me, soaked in blood every day, doesn’t belong in this new era.”
During the Age of Calamity.
Kyle and Bihar had slain countless traitors.
An enemy within is more frightening than an enemy without.
Those who fed on hope sprouted like a plague, again and again.
And after the world was saved.
They began to enjoy comfortable lives, as if nothing had ever happened.
They lived shamelessly, hiding their sins.
“…We won. The world is at peace now. Bihar, don’t you think it’s a waste to spend your life chasing down people like that to the very end?”
“No. I cannot forgive them.”
Bihar smiled.
“On whose sacrifices do they live? How dare they shamelessly enjoy this peace?”
But what dwelled in his eyes was unmistakable hatred and murderous intent.
“They must pay the price.”
“Bihar…”
“They need to know that I am always watching from the shadows.”
Like the moon in the night sky.
“They need to feel the fear of not knowing when their turn will come.”
Bihar had no intention of stopping.
Watching him, Berchia’s lips parted.
“I…”
In truth, Berchia felt the same as Bihar.
She, too, wanted to punish those who had corrupted this world, no—who would one day corrupt it again.
“You need to stay as you are, Berchia.”
“……”
“You are different from me.”
Bihar smiled brightly.
She had to illuminate the world like the sun.
That was the kind of person Berchia was.
“You don’t need to set foot in the world’s darkness. You don’t need to know its filth. You just have to stay as you are now.”
“Bihar, you need to know. The world isn’t entirely filthy.”
Bihar smiled bitterly.
“That’s not so easy for me.”
“……”
Bihar rose from his seat.
“Let’s not give up, from our respective places. Just as our master did.”
“…Okay.”
“Shall we visit the grave next week?”
“Should we?”
They smiled brightly and returned to their daily lives.
Watching them, Leo murmured.
“They’ve grown so much.”
These were sides of his disciples Leo had never known.
His disciples, who had grown up so suddenly, walking their own paths.
Whether that path led to a brighter world or a deep abyss.
They moved forward on the path they had chosen.
Each in their own way, they cultivated the world passed down by their predecessors.
They were dedicating their all to raising a world that had crumbled.
‘Just as we did.’
In his past life, he simply assumed they would all live their own lives well.
He had never thought about how they would grow up.
They were dependable kids, so they would live well.
That was all he had thought.
But seeing it for himself like this felt strange.
This side of his disciples he didn’t know.
Is this what a parent feels like?
“You’ve really… grown so much.”
***
Time flowed on.
Leo stayed by Berchia’s side, watching over her life.
She rebuilt the elves’ home.
She never hesitated to willingly sacrifice herself for the world.
She strove to make the world, which had reclaimed its light, shine even more brilliantly.
And…
Goooooooo-!
The legions of Tartaros spread out before her.
Tartaros, which had maintained its power since Erebos’s defeat, had invaded again to destroy the world.
For those who were barely managing to rebuild the world, it was, in a word, a catastrophe.
Traitors, who had been lying low across the world, destroyed their homes.
The hope they had barely managed to cultivate was trampled and burned.
After the subjugation of Erebos.
The legions of Tartaros, having spent years recovering from the damage inflicted by the Great Heroes and building their strength, were formidable.
Many heroes had already fallen during the Age of Calamity.
The Great Heroes were also gone now.
All that remained were the new buds with the potential to be heroes.
They lacked power and experience.
However.
“This world is our home!”
The Great Heroes had surely foreseen such a situation and left behind hope.
“But! We merely received it!”
Berchia, at the forefront, shouted.
“Now, we must protect the world our predecessors passed down to us!”
The despairing new heroes looked to Berchia at the lead.
Those born in the light and forced to live in darkness yearn for the light.
But perhaps those who yearn for it even more are those who were born in darkness and came to see the light.
“We must protect it and pass it on! Just as they did!”
In the face of despair, Berchia never gave up.
Just as her master had.
“Everyone!”
Berchia shouted with determination.
“Let us fight!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The miraculous victory that would make Tartaros's offensives impossible for the next 2000 years.
Berchia achieved it, right here and now.
***
“She’s beautiful. So beautiful!”
Berchia smiled brightly, looking at her child in the crib.
Watching Berchia, Maide said.
“Whose son is he?”
“My son!”
Ahem! As Berchia puffed out her chest, a glimpse of her younger self, the one Leo knew, could be seen.
It was a side she only showed to her beloved partner, Maide.
“He’s my son too, isn’t he?”
“Yes. But he took after me more.”
Leo sat to one side, resting his chin on his hand as he watched them.
‘She looks happy.’
Here, Leo was an observer, unable to intervene in the story.
But even so, he could clearly feel Berchia’s emotions.
However…
Leo’s expression wasn’t entirely bright.
“Ah, is it that time already?”
Berchia hurriedly rose from her seat.
Watching her, Maide spoke urgently.
“Berchia.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t you think you could retire now?”
“……”
Berchia froze in place and looked at Maide.
“The world has found peace now. We may not know it, but… it must have regained some semblance of what it was before the Age of Calamity. I believe world peace has already been re-established. You’ve already done so much, haven’t you? Isn’t it time you enjoyed your life?”
“……”
Berchia closed her eyes and smiled brightly.
“Yes, you’re right. The world has certainly reclaimed its light.”
The world had already been revitalized.
It was bright and beautiful enough.
The scars left by the Age of Calamity had almost vanished.
“But I’m sure there’s more I can do for the world.”
In this era, Berchia had risen to a position equal to that of the Great Heroes of the past.
She had led the charge in rebuilding the world.
She had saved a world that was on the verge of collapse.
It wasn't something Berchia had achieved alone.
But…
‘It was only possible because Berchia was there.’
Leo stared intently at his disciple.
“I want to create an even brighter world.”
Berchia placed both hands on her stomach and smiled radiantly.
“Just as the Great Heroes… as my masters did. I want to pass on a brighter light to our first child… and to our second, who is yet to be born… to all those who will live in the future. I can still push harder. Don’t worry, Maide. Because I’m Berchia.”
Winking one eye like her master, Berchia spoke confidently and left the room.
“……”
Leo silently rose from his seat and followed her.
“Berchia…”
And just as he was about to pass Maide, who was calling Berchia’s name with concern.
Leo paused for a moment and said.
“Thank you.”
For being by my disciple’s side.
It was a gratitude that would never reach him.
But he had to say it.
Because if it weren’t for Maide, Berchia would have broken long ago.
Leo left the room.
And he watched Berchia’s back as she walked down the corridor.
Those slender shoulders were carrying the world.
Of course, Lisinas and the other Great Heroes had done the same.
But…
‘It’s different from our time.’
The weight of a world on the brink of destruction is different from the weight of a world that has found peace and grown larger.
And that world was crushing Berchia.
***
Bang-!
“How can you only think of the dwarves’ interests!”
“That’s not something a greed-soaked human should say!”
“What did you say!”
A grand conference.
A gathering of leaders to discuss the future of the world.
In the beginning, it hadn’t been a place for raising voices at one another.
For the rebuilding of the world.
And for its prosperity, they had all fulfilled their duties.
But as the leaders became powerful figures, it transformed into a place of squabbling over their own interests.
Even those who were once noble changed after tasting power.
Or, by now, many attendees were those who had accomplished nothing and simply inherited their positions.
“……”
From the head of the table, Berchia let out a deep sigh.
‘It’s changed.’
Berchia simply couldn’t understand those who would cast aside harmony to pursue their own greed.
The world now was one where the concept of power had vanished and then taken root once more.
Those who had never seen power, nor truly understood it, had become far too intoxicated by it.
Yes, she couldn’t understand.
Because she was still noble.
“That’s enough.”
Berchia said softly.
Perhaps misfortune was a foregone conclusion.
“I will mediate.”
The power she, in her nobility, possessed was immense, and she remained impartial.
She was also too pure.
To those blinded by greed, Berchia had now become an obstacle blocking their ambitions.
It was perhaps inevitable that their vile malice would turn toward Berchia.
‘We can no longer stand by and watch the Fairy Knight dictate the fate of the world!’
***
War broke out.
Berchia was horrified.
How could a war break out between the races?
They had fought together against ruin just a few decades ago, and now war!
For Berchia, who had never experienced war, nothing could have been more shocking.
Berchia rushed out to stop the war.
She ended the war single-handedly.
She prevented the worst possible outcome.
But countless casualties still occurred.
Thud- Thud-
Walking under the bright starlight, Berchia looked up at the sky with a bitter smile.
“…This is hard, Master Luna.”
Standing stock-still and gazing at the night sky, Berchia slapped both her cheeks.
“Master Kyle would have kicked my ass for whining. Right! I need to pull myself together. I’ll think of a way to stop the war.”
Berchia clenched her fists, renewed her resolve, and opened a warp gate back to her mansion.
Fwoosh-
The sight of her burning mansion greeted her.
And standing there was…
“Hello? It’s been a while.”
It was the Demon Queen, Silatuna, smiling chillingly as she waved.