Chapter 455
Chapter 455
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 455
Chapter Title: Cardi's Release
"I'll begin the treatment."
"Yeah."
"Are you ready?"
"Ready? After getting sliced open, torn apart, and fighting with a hole punched through my gut, I can handle a little pain..."
Crunch.
"Kyaaaaaaaack!"
In the heart of Alkaya, where the dark clouds had parted and sunlight now poured down. Even after the disaster had fallen and the shadows fled, a human scream still echoed through the air. A shrill wail of agony from someone writhing in torment.
"Bones! Bones! Bones! H-heuaaaack!"
"Hold still. Let me just move this over here..."
"Natida, w-wait. Just let go for a second. Let me breathe..."
"Hold still, Resti? Could you grab here? Chloe, you hold her legs too."
"Like this?"
"Yes. Hold tight."
"No, wait. This hurts way more than I thought..."
Crunch, grrrrind.
"KyaAAAAAAAACK!"
Resti seized Lania's arms as she thrashed and screamed. Chloe gripped her legs. With shaking vision, Lania looked at Resti, who held her arms.
"Resti, if you let go..."
"Just endure it a little longer."
Resti gave a bitter smile and reached out.
She clapped her palm over Lania's mouth. At once, Natida's holy power enveloped Lania's body. The real healing had begun.
"I'd love to be gentler, but as you know, my holy spells have some nasty backlash. And time is of the essence, so... bear with it just a bit."
Natida flicked her fingers with a wry smile.
White light particles flickered. The holy power seeping into Lania's body accelerated and amplified the hero's regenerative abilities, rapidly mending her wounds—but...
"H-heuk, cough, heuk..."
The pain from such near-miraculous recovery was anything but mild. Lania's eyes rolled back. Her body spasmed briefly before going limp. With a final twitch, consciousness finally slipped away.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Haaack!"
I bolted upright.
It felt like a horrific nightmare. Like my life had flashed before my eyes. Cold sweat clung my clothes to my back, leaving me sticky and uncomfortable.
"Ah, you're awake?"
I flinched at the voice, shoulders jumping.
"I've patched up the worst of the wounds. How's your body feeling?"
Natida smiled with utmost benevolence.
I shuddered as I looked at her.
"Natida."
"Yes?"
"You holding a grudge against me or something?"
"No, not at all?"
As I eyed her suspiciously, she gave a wry smile and opened her mouth. What followed was an explanation of my condition.
"The immediate crisis is over, but I couldn't restore your eyes or the lost fingers. Something's blocking it, like a barrier."
"Yeah, that's normal. It'll take a long time to heal anyway."
I let out a long breath.
"Thanks, Natida. I owe you one."
"It's my job. I'll check on the others now—rest up."
As Natida walked away, I checked my own state. Mana flow was a tangled mess, damage everywhere. Worst were the fingers and eyes—tribute exacted as a price, so no quick fix.
'That aside...'
I glanced around.
Chloe resting against Belnoa's shoulder. Rak sprawled flat on the ground. Resti leaning on rubble from a stone pillar. Farther off, Remia sorting arrows.
Looking up, the hole in the sky was slowly closing. Bathed in pouring sunlight, I murmured.
"It's over."
It was. Both the Alkaya extermination and the heretic purge were done. I pulled an artifact from my pocket—a survival signal detector for the purge team.
Kalt, Kariot, Kelrhalm, Destel—all safe, even if out of sight.
Only one dot didn't blink.
The Sword Ghost, Draka. No signal. Expected, though. Before the purge began, he'd already seen this as his final stage.
...In his last moments, did he achieve his goal? What did he feel? Such thoughts crossed my mind before I sighed deeply.
'Lots of variables, heavier losses than planned, but...'
The purge was over.
Not far from the plan. Still, I couldn't relax. I slowly turned to the warped space at the temple's center.
...Cardi hadn't returned yet.
I stood slowly.
Ignoring Natida's advice to rest, I spoke. More business left.
"Head out and link up with Kalt first. I'll stay here a bit longer."
Everyone looked at me worriedly.
Probably uneasy leaving me. So I repeated.
"When that old elf comes back from that space, if you're here, he'll just put on airs again. So give us some space."
So I could be with 'Cardi,' not the ancient hero and senior, Great Sage Armiel.
Only then did the purge team move. Watching them leave the temple center, I glanced aside.
"You not going?"
"...Nothing to say to me?"
The elf ears... no, Remia glared at me. What now?
"Three times. I saved you three times."
Remia puffed up proudly, shrugging.
"Once when the black pillar fell. Again when you charged the heretic. Last, shoving that heretic you missed. Three times. Remember."
Her smug face soured my mood, but undeniable.
"Yeah... thanks. Owe you my life."
"Good. Just remember."
Remia smiled.
"Pay off the rest slowly. Wait for it."
She turned and walked away, following the team. Watching her back, I smiled wryly.
"She's changed a lot."
Through trials, losses—Remia had changed. Not just her. My disciples, Kyle, even me.
No human stays the same.
How long to realize that? I smiled wryly, turning to the rippling space. Everyone changed. Even that elf who'd endured a millennium might.
...Honestly, I was worried.
The gray goddess from the future said: after the heretic's fall, Cardi stayed silent three days, then took his own life. She advised against that end. I couldn't ignore it.
It happened in her timeline. And I had duty to forge a different path.
So I tried. Found answers.
Her timeline diverged from mine already. I was sure Cardi wouldn't meet the same end, but unease lingered.
"......"
I waited silently for Cardi.
How much time passed? The unchanged space cracked with a crunch. It shattered, revealing a hole.
Crackle.
Footsteps from beyond the crumbling dust. Light taps. Then Cardi emerged. Scanning, he saw only me and smiled wryly.
"Waiting, Raniel?"
"Yeah."
With a sigh, Cardi walked slowly. Unlike usual—relaxed, at ease. He sat on a pile of rubble.
"Not a bad view."
He murmured, gazing at the closing sky. I sat beside, sharing the sight.
"Opening Heaven. The truth mages seek."
"Yeah. I chased something like that once."
Not anymore.
Cardi laughed.
"Worried I'd die?"
"Honestly, yeah. My future self said after the heretic, you suicided."
"Lost meaning to live."
Cardi sighed long.
"I clung a millennium for her. When she died, purpose gone. Life worthless."
"And now?"
"Now..."
Silence.
Then a chuckle from Cardi.
Liberated laugh.
"Now I find it. At the very end, she freed me from chains."
"Chains?"
"Finally called me Cardi."
Not Armiel.
"Armiel's baptism was my curse. Chains making me Great Sage. Because of her, wanted or not."
But, Cardi said.
"Now I can discard it. No regrets."
"Good for you."
"Yeah. Feels freeing, empty. A millennium's dream fulfilled."
"Inconceivable span."
"Even for elves, a thousand years weighs heavy."
Cardi bowed his head.
I didn't look. Just the crumbling sky. Time flowed. Finally, Cardi spoke.
"Raniel."
"Yeah."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Wind blew.
Black cross remnants, shadow debris turned to dust, scattering. Amid them, warm sunlight shone.
Ends ended.
Beginnings began.
A mage's time, stalled a millennium, flowed again. Humanity's history, tormented by the heretic, stepped forward.
"Let's go, Raniel."
Cardi stood.
"Plenty left for us."
Not a dying man, nor one despairing worthless life.
"Not suicidal, then."
"She told me to live. Gotta try. Though she'd grab my collar if I dated."
A man resolved to live again.
I smiled wryly at his joke.
"Joking, right?"
"Would I? She might rise from grave."
"Possible. Deep down, dangerous temper? Chloe's got it too lately."
"...Sadly, can't deny."
Laughing, we walked.
Leaving the collapsing temple behind. Forward. Onward. To the next.