Chapter 315
Chapter 315
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Oblivion (2)
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"M-Me...? Everyone... can't recognize me!?"
Can't recognize me?
It was a desperate voice endlessly repeating the same words.
The hero of reversal, who had overcome countless adversities.
The man was someone who could skillfully handle any crisis.
"Please, it's me! Why can't you recognize me? Anyone else is fine, but you all at least—"
However, the man now could only desperately repeat the same words, unable to take any other action.
The terror and anxiety he was experiencing could not be overcome by any past experience.
"Suspicious bastard. You've been spouting nonsense nonstop—claiming to be my comrade. What the hell are you babbling about? Captain, do you know this guy!?"
"If my memory serves me right... this is our first meeting. That's why I'm confused. According to him, he and I have overcome numerous adversities together over many years, seizing everything we have now—comrades closer than any other..."
"Ah! It's creepy, so stop! Don't insert weird stuff into our party's history!"
"...I sense deep emotion in your eyes. I want to believe you're not approaching us with impure intentions. But as my comrade said, we can't accept you as someone who's been with us from the beginning."
"No..."
"That would be too... hollow. Connections... and emotions... aren't formed merely by understanding. We all know that."
"Please..."
"So, sorry. Please leave this place. We don't know you. You and us have no relation."
"It's me, me!!!"
The man shouted his name.
The hero's name known across the continent, of course.
His true name, containing his feats and identity.
"Sorry. Never heard of it."
"Ah... Ah...! Aaaah—"
Name.
True name.
It naturally encompasses everything about its bearer.
The life they've lived, and even their connections.
Thus, the loss of one's true name meant the loss of one's existence.
The anxiety of one's existence being forgotten.
The terror of oblivion.
Even the hero of reversal could not endure it.
And so, oblivion brought the hero to his knees.
"Tell me what you want..."
"Gray Magic Tower's honorary mage, Rishir."
The High Priest of Oblivion, Vud, spoke in a voice hazy like mist.
"Right now, you are within the embrace of oblivion. In the embrace of oblivion, all are equal. This is undoubtedly a blessing, but—"
And he captured the subject in eyes hazy like a fog-shrouded pond, deep and murky.
"—to fools, it is a curse."
A faint silhouette wandered within the crystal.
It was the true name of the subject as remembered by the world, imprisoned.
The true name, separated from its master, was so hazy.
The plight of its master, who had lost the true name, was the same.
"You who are nothing."
Thus, the High Priest of Oblivion named the being deprived of its true name anew.
"If you seek oblivion, oblivion shall seek you in turn."
The High Priest of Oblivion extended his hand.
As if righteously demanding a stolen item.
"If you wish to escape oblivion and reclaim your name, you must follow my instructions. You want to be remembered by your comrades again, don't you?"
"…"
Rishir listened intently to the High Priest's words with a grave expression, tension around his eyes.
"Rishir? What's wrong with you since earlier? Staring blankly into space—"
"Remier. For the master of the Gray Magic Tower, you know so little about him."
"As the Frozen Breath said. Wandering Star. How about showing a bit more consideration so Rishir can concentrate?"
"Good grief. Unbelievable. What are you all? Fine, did Rishir give you some hint or something?"
"Haha, hint? Nah. When Rishir acts like this, we just calmly wait for him. We've known him for more than a day or two, right?"
"Acting all high and mighty! Don't try to teach me—he's from our Magic Tower! At least I know him better than you lot!"
"Oh? A challenge? I'll accept—"
It wasn't anything else.
The surroundings were too noisy, so the High Priest's hazy voice wasn't transmitting well.
"Everyone, just a moment—…"
Ah!
Shh!
Shh!
They pressed fingers to their lips and exchanged glances.
"Sorry. I didn't hear well, could you say that again?"
"…"
Vud, the High Priest of Oblivion.
His mouth opened briefly, then closed.
Silence flowed for a while—
"You're putting on a pointless farce."
"Farce?"
"You tried to sway them to cloud my judgment and seize control. Good attempt. Persuading such figures even after losing your true name and becoming nothing. It shows why oblivion has set its gaze upon you."
Having judged, the High Priest of Oblivion Vud regained his flowing leisure in his expression.
"Am I wrong?"
"Yes."
"?"
"Seems like a misunderstanding—your methods can't threaten me."
"No way, is that what you're saying? Losing my true name doesn't matter. My existence remains, so I can reverse it anytime if I want—"
Huhuhu.
Vud shook his head with a meaningful smile.
"I've seen many like you before. All strong heroes like you. But you don't remember them. That proves you're wrong."
You who are nothing.
The High Priest of Oblivion Vud pronounced the name clearly once more.
As if to imprint it on the other.
"Advice: don't overestimate yourself. You're not as strong as you think. Without the foundation of your true name, you'll crumble soon enough."
"I have another true name."
"?"
Vud had to doubt his ears and the other's mental state.
Undoubtedly, it was the most absurd sentence he'd ever heard.
"You're following flawed thinking. A true name is the path of fate one follows, the record of one's existence in the world. Even deceivers with hundreds, thousands of aliases—ultimately have but one true name. Yet you claim to have another?"
"So I've heard."
"…"
Vud's composure was shaking.
"What context brings up such talk? Another true name—what—"
"I'm curious too."
"Oh ho. You all don't know?"
"What, Lunadien? You seem to know something. By the way, since when are you so sly? No elves around."
"The Mother of the World Tree is here instead."
"Ah."
The bizarre talk from around him.
The nothing's bizarre remarks.
The two mixed, trying to create inexplicable persuasiveness.
"…"
Vud discovered his own agitation then.
"Hoo..."
He let out a deep sigh of displeasure.
Unable to hold certainty despite backing of oblivion's power.
A terrible blunder and humiliation.
Polite treatment ends here.
Vud threatened the nothing trying to mock him and oblivion.
"I'll yield and yield again, assume your nonsense is true. But does that change anything?"
Vud spread his arms wide.
As if the being he backed was the entire world, exuding vast confidence.
"If you have another true name, oblivion will take that too."
"What if there's one more?"
"Nothing changes."
"And another?"
"Damn it, what are you playing at!"
"I have many true names."
"You mad bastard!"
At the target's calm declaration without a change in expression, Vud finally lost his reason.
"What the hell are you trying to say!"
"Your methods don't work on me, so give up. Oh, and return my true name."
"Ha, haha!!! Hahahaha!!!"
At Vud's loud laughter, Rishir first scanned the surroundings.
Even amid this, his comrades hadn't noticed the presence.
'Mental interference magic.'
High-level mental magic disrupting even transcendent powerhouses like the Tower Master.
Rishir momentarily recalled a past formidable foe.
Kroyen.
The Night of Deception.
'No—'
But he soon shook his head.
The man was clearly different from the Night of Deception that deceived the elves.
If Kroyen's mental magic forcibly blinded with overwhelming power—
This man's was like a trick inducing misconception, a kind of loophole.
That power.
That aura.
Beyond hard to perceive, it was empty.
Like a shell.
The secret of the deception probably lay there.
'Don't let your guard down.'
Rishir didn't dismiss the difference as mere power disparity, maintaining vigilance.
'That gaze. Staring at Lady Remier's vault since earlier—…'
Observing his actions.
He seemed connected to the Great Demon fragment.
Not someone ordinary who identified the fragment's material and came to seize it.
Separately.
Rishir thought.
Seems full of openings.
"Fine! If that's what you want, I'll show you! The power of oblivi—Guhk!"
So Rishir couldn't hold back.
Vud's body, smirking and summoning madness, bent at a right angle.
Rishir had closed the distance stealthily and swiftly using assassination dagger principles, driving a fist into his solar plexus.
He rolled on the ground for a while, then shouted.
"If you harm me, you'll never reclaim your true name eternally!"
"!!!"
At Vud's desperate cry, Rishir's eyes widened.
'Even now, threatening with the true name— that's the source of his confidence!'
He realized the biggest card he held was his own true name.
Truly justified confidence.
The loss of a true name meant loss of existence.
Normally, Vud's threat would hold absolute power.
For one with only one true name.
"...No! The opposite! If you don't return my true name, you'll keep suffering!"
"What the—Guhk!!!"
Rishir kindly explained (physically) who held control of the situation.
"You mad bastard...!!! Y-You don't care about losing your true name!?"
"Get a grip! Your life is one, my true names are many! Who ends up crying if we both lose out? So don't do anything stupid! That's a true name I really cherish; if it's damaged, even I might lose control!?"
"Wh-What kind of—"
"Rishir!? What's going on! Who's there!?"
At this point, his comrades couldn't stay still.
They alternated glances between Rishir and where his gaze pointed.
"Presumably, someone after the Great Demon fragment! Tried to demand it in exchange for my stolen true name!"
"The gall!? Rishir, shall we help subdue him!?"
"No need! Already subdued!"
"Really!? What now!?"
"Not sure, but let's interrogate first!"
-Squeeeze!!! Then that Dangalleon!!!
"Oh, right! Dangalleon! You were there! So reliable?"
The High Priest rolling on the floor's expression filled with terror.
Not fear of violence.
Madness!
The reaction of one facing true, unpredictable chaos.
"Hey, hero of reversal!!!"
Vud cried out desperately.
"A so-called hero—is this okay!? Ambush and interrogation—committing such卑鄙 and cruelty without hesitation—"
"But—until you return my true name, I'm just nothing, right!?"
"What!? Earlier you said multiple true na—Kuaak!!!"
The interrogation led by the spirit(?) began.
"Everyone. This guy's probably the High Priest of the White Shadow Cult."
"That means!?"
The inevitably paused meeting circled back to the main topic.
"If we coax him well—we might learn the heretics' base."
White Shadow Cult.
They'd found a way to locate and sever the head of the tentacles spreading across the continent.
"Kuk, kukuk—"
Vud, the bound High Priest of Oblivion listening, let out a grinding laugh.
"Fools. Think I'll give you the answers you want..."
"…"
Rishir's expression was uneasy.
Knowing the High Priest's words weren't mere bluff.
Separate from easily subduing him due to circumstances, he was undoubtedly a figure befitting his status as a heretic High Priest.
The only info from interrogation: as High Priest of Oblivion, he served the Archbishop of Oblivion.
Even that wasn't yielded under torture—he openly revealed his identity.
Rishir's group realized anew.
White Shadow Cult.
How tricky dealing with those twisted heretics.
Soon after.
Rishir's group tried resuming countermeasures meeting, leaving the High Priest.
But how long after restarting?
"Lady Karoer! Rishir!"
"Ratsil?"
"Sorry! Urgent message to relay—"
Monitor Ratsil burst in.
She delivered the urgent report from Ilratdein.
"Regarding the Night of Deception, Kroyen!"
"Night of Deception!? He's surely imprisoned—don't tell me!?"
"The Night of Deception escaped!"
As all fell into shock.
One smiled alone.
High Priest of Oblivion Vud.
He already knew the message to follow.
For the White Shadow Cult planned Kroyen's escape.
"And!?"
"And soon, the World Tree will burn in flames."
Vud, regaining leisure, spat a curse.
"And, he's back!!! On his own two feet to prison! Requests face-to-face with Rishir in exchange for info on the White Shadow Cult!"
"…"
The High Priest's composure, unbroken even in interrogation, crumbled.
'Escaped but returned to prison? Why???'
Soon, the High Priest reached a conclusion.
Night of Deception.
That cunning woman was surely plotting.
Look.
They're flustered by her return?
Returning to prison was mere surface act.
In truth, she'd lord over them, thoroughly mocking.
"Teaching her secret magic is their offered condition!"
Look.
The Night of Deception demands their secrets—
'Huh?'
Vud felt dissonance.