Chapter 214
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Season End
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Even with Endo's appearance, there was no particular response.
That made sense, since his side had been treating Jun and his companions with utter disregard from the start.
'A guy who's absorbed even the Evil Spirit Orb shouldn't fail to recognize me.'
Jun had watched him openly, half-expecting at least a glance their way, but nothing.
He was acting as if they didn't exist at all.
'Is he wary of me?'
That seemed the most likely explanation.
Endo had deep ties to the Imperial Family, and moreover, quite a few of his cult followers had died at Jun's hands.
Especially after the failed assassination attempt on the imperial bloodline, he had to be greatly on edge.
'Whatever. We've got the evidence on our side.'
Of course, that didn't mean he could escape Jun's watchful eyes.
He'd already received the signal from Monghwan that a corrupted spirit had been planted in the man.
Any thrashing about from Endo was no more than an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
"...So you just kept watching the whole time, then."
"Yes."
After the banquet ended, Jun relayed this information to Ranes as well.
"It was wise not to make any special gestures right there."
"I figured if I acted rashly and they tucked tail first, it'd just give us a headache."
"I agree."
That said, Ranes couldn't move to deal with Endo either.
Not only was his position too precarious, but even if it were possible, it wouldn't have been the smart choice.
'Better to use this chance to gather intel centered on Endo.'
A seventh-circle archmage turning traitor.
The Imperial Family couldn't ignore that, and Ranes was the perfect figure to keep him in check.
And that wasn't all.
'It might even give us a shot at capturing someone who's ingested the Evil Spirit Orb alive.'
The imperial bloodline already knew just how dangerous the Evil Spirit Orb was from experience.
To counter it, they'd have no choice but to capture and study a host.
Thus, both Jun and Ranes decided for now to simply keep an eye on Endo.
With the initial meeting wrapped up, Ranes turned her gaze out the window.
Mages were trickling out of the canyon now that the conference had ended.
With about a fortnight left until season's end, this was quite a late departure.
"I never imagined this otherwise ordinary season would drag us into something this major."
"...I'm sorry."
"Heh, no need to apologize. It was bound to blow up eventually. Better we learned of it early."
As she spoke, Ranes gazed out at the carriage surroundings, lost in memories for a moment.
"Time flows like running water. Even the toughest ordeals end if you just let it carry you."
"..."
"But the real agony hits when you can't see that future. I've watched the mage society steadily declining all this time, feeling just that. Wondering if no matter what I did, this place would never change."
Even an eighth-circle archmage couldn't bend human prejudices at will, no matter how steadfast she remained against open disdain.
"One thing I'd like to ask."
"Go ahead."
"Why hide that you're eighth-circle?"
"That's..."
Belles shifted his gaze to Ranes as well.
He too had no idea why she concealed reaching the eighth circle.
Likely no one in the Mage Tower knew.
"I'll tell you that story later. It's too soon now."
"...Understood."
It seemed tied to her past somehow, as Ranes held back.
Jun didn't press her on it.
What could he do if she said she'd share when the time was right?
"In any case, this conference yielded plenty."
It was an obvious change of subject, but neither Jun nor Belles objected, both nodding.
"We persuaded that stubborn Hegar, drew interest from young mages, and even uncovered proof that Endo's a traitor."
An elder of the Conventional faction, revealed as a follower of a cult plotting to assassinate the imperial bloodline.
This wasn't something that could end with just one death.
If Ranes took the lead and resolved this incident, her voice in mage society would grow that much louder.
Naturally, she'd play a major role in the wars to come.
"Now I'm actually looking forward to the future."
It wasn't just mage society's upheavals ahead.
This young mage named Jun—how much would he reshape the world?
Ranes figured it wouldn't take long to find out.
"You worked hard this season. Looking forward to seeing you again down the line."
"It was an honor sharing this season with you, Lady Ranes."
"What an enormous crowd."
A few days later.
Unlike the last season, they'd exited with plenty of time to spare, and the imperial capital Emperorshield teemed with people.
Some, like Jun, had just emerged from the Abyss Gate.
Elsewhere, joyful family reunions unfolded.
Others haggled fiercely with merchants over piles of loot.
Scenes absent last season, but apparently the norm around the Abyss Gate.
And soon enough, familiar faces appeared.
"Sunbae!"
The golden-haired, blue-eyed warrior, Aiden.
"You made it."
The silent-footed Maya.
"Man, Captain. You haven't changed a bit since we last met."
The eyepatch-wearing priestess, Eleanor.
All three had crossed the Abyss Gate ahead of Jun and waited.
Nothing unusual about that.
Jun was the late one, really.
"Good to see you all."
Whatever the case, reuniting with comrades felt like coming home.
Second season's end.
And Barvern's commendation that followed.
The whole city buzzed with festival energy, but Jun and his comrades spent the time quietly in a spacious inn on the outskirts.
"As you all know, there won't be an imperial invitation this year."
None felt particularly disappointed.
Barvern's commendations rarely came with back-to-back invitations anyway.
Once you received one, it was at least three years before another.
"Actually works in our favor. Tangling too much with the Imperial Family isn't good. But how'd we get clearance for their reports?"
At Eleanor's sharp question, Jun silently pulled a letter from his pocket and spread it before them.
It was from Dexter, who'd returned to the surface first.
"Ah... Things are moving fast on the imperial side, so no immediate invite?"
"Right. Emperor approved access, but using it right away's tricky. Entering reports draws eyes."
"Hmm. Kinda disappointing."
"Can't be helped. Anyway, time for some serious talk. Ties into the Imperial Family too."
At that, all three focused on Jun.
"About the Imperial Family's moves ahead—and how we'll respond."
It was the Dead Forest.
A forest where everything had died—not a single insect crawled the ground.
Fog blanketed the Dead Forest, and a river flowed through it. The oddity: the water ran black.
"Hm."
A man stood before it, sharp red eyes piercing the fog-shrouded river.
"Not yet."
His body was clad head to toe in dark crimson uniform; only those glowing red eyes showed.
He glanced aside.
There knelt a massive man in tattered rags, utterly still.
"The seal's active properly."
Thick iron chains bound the giant, a translucent sword impaled in his gut.
"Why's the power fading?"
The uniformed man had come because the soul power within this giant seemed to be rapidly weakening.
A sacrifice that should have been perfect in its mere existence had developed a problem.
Clank... Clank...
Then.
Something approached from the direction he'd been watching.
A ferryman on a decrepit boat.
The clanking grew nearer.
The lantern light swaying on the boat grew clearer.
"Finally here."
The uniformed man spoke; the ferryman stopped rowing and silently regarded him.
Black robe hooded his face, hiding all within.
"Brought the sacrifice."
[Sacrifice... Weaker... than before...]
"That's why I brought this too."
The uniformed man tossed a sack from his hand.
The ferryman waved an arm; wind stripped it bare.
And inside.
"The corpse of one who died bearing ten thousand grudges."
For some reason.
The Slaughter Monk, which should have crumbled to dust, lay pierced by chains and translucent sword.
[Ten thousand grudges... I sense them...]
"Still short on materials?"
[Some... lacking...]
"Greedy."
[Offering two souls at once... Imbalance...]
"No helping it. Take this too."
Again, the uniformed man tossed a sack.
Out came a snake-headed crone.
Why was the Demon Hag, melted away by Jun's [Flare], emerging from there?
[Sufficient... now...]
"Then earthly manifestation's possible?"
[Yes... but.]
The ferryman pointed a bony finger at the giant.
[Living one... Side effects... inevitable...]
"We'll manage. Without him, surface manifestation's impossible anyway."
[Understood... Load them aboard...]
Only after the two corpses and giant were aboard did the ferryman row back into the fog.
"Hm."
Watching the ferryman's back, the uniformed man scratched his head.
"It went to plan, but... should I have prepared more? No... impossible anyway. The sacrifice's power was plummeting."
He recalled the giant loaded last.
A long-awaited sacrifice.
Capturing him alive had taken endless effort...
"Jokyung Tribe. Hard to find grudges as vicious."
Lately, the sacrifice's power had weakened too much.
He'd scoured everywhere for why, to no avail.
Inevitable.
Those who might know about the Jokyung were all dead by his hand.
'No, one slipped away.'
A young girl.
Not Jokyung—just a human child the chieftain had picked up in the woods and raised.
She'd fled while he captured the chieftain; he hadn't cared much.
She wasn't Jokyung, after all.
"Anyway... time to accelerate the plan."
No point dragging it out.
Shaking off reluctance, the crimson-uniformed man vanished into the Dead Forest fog, just like the ferryman.