Chapter 80
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Ghostly Commotion
“What... what the hell...”
All that remained in his clenched fist was the lingering warmth of Leonne. The girl who had been in his arms just moments ago had vanished without a trace.
It definitely hadn’t been a dream. The feel of her lips still lingered on his own.
Crackle-crackle—!!
His mind went blank, thoughts evaporating in a blaze of white-hot fury that threatened to incinerate his soul. Reason fled, and by the time he snapped out of it, Undine and Tsukiyo were clinging to him, trying desperately to hold him down.
[Stop! Don’t do something you’ll regret—hurry!]
“E-Easy now, calm down!”
Yet for some reason, even with both of them latched on, they couldn’t subdue Enoch. Undine bit her lip as she resisted the raging torrent of power surging through him.
[Goddamn...! Why the hell does this bastard get so strong just because his eyes are spinning!?]
Subduing him quickly was impossible. The spirit made a snap judgment and yelled at full volume.
[If you’re not planning to kill Leonne with your own hands, then stop, you thick-headed idiot!]
Drip—And just like that, the storm of power vanished with astonishing speed. In the now-quiet courtyard, as if nothing had happened, Undine let out a sigh.
[Whew... That was close. Way too close.]
“What the hell’s going on right now?”
Enoch stepped right up to her, eyes sharp as if he might grab her by the scruff.
[Whoa... You’re really hurtin’ my feelings here. Me, of all people? After all these years!]
“What’s going on?”
Her hurt feelings didn’t last. Undine flinched at his eyes, which looked ready to erupt at any second, and explained.
[...Just wait a bit. You’ll see for yourself soon enough.]
“A bit how lon—!”
Right then, the scattered motes of light began gathering again, slowly piling up in the center of the courtyard.
Enoch shut his mouth and watched.
The lights clumped together like falling snow, shooting up toward the sky. The pillar of light stretched all the way to the clouds before rays burst forth, hardening into branches like those of a tree.
“Leonne?”
He could feel it instinctively. That massive tree of light was Leonne.
“What is this...”
It was hard to make sense of it. Why had Leonne suddenly turned into a tree?
A curse from someone? Or something I don’t know about?
The more he thought, the shorter his breath grew. The terror of possibly losing someone. He’d never imagined it felt like this.
If he’d known, he wouldn’t have pushed so hard. Every time he’d been in danger, had Leonne felt like this?
His trembling hand reached toward the tree, and Undine grumbled as she spoke up.
[It happened faster than I expected. Even for Leonne, I figured it’d take a while.]
“...This isn’t bad, right?”
[Yeah, you idiot. You’ve been through something similar yourself. Shedding the mortal shell.]
“This is shedding the mortal shell?”
No, he could say with certainty that it absolutely wasn’t. He’d once been scattered by lightning and reassembled, sure—but this was different.
[Similar, similar. Once you reach half-divine, the flesh body’s unnecessary, so it scatters the unneeded shell, revealing the soul’s true form.]
“The soul’s true form... So this tree is Leonne’s soul?”
[Pretty much.]
Tsk-tsk. While Undine clicked her tongue, Tsukiyo stared blankly up at the tree and continued.
“This is a chrysalis. Like a butterfly preparing for metamorphosis within its cocoon, this elf will gradually accept enlightenment and forge her own divine body.”
“Ah...”
So Leonne wouldn’t spend her life as a tree. What a relief.
There was so much he wanted to do, so many conversations to share. An ending where she suddenly turned into a tree forever? No way he could accept that.
As Enoch blankly stroked the chrysalis, those who’d been stunned by the sudden events edged closer.
Yonia, Akein, Philoti, Deru, Hyter, and so on. The countless elves had cheered wildly at the kiss between Enoch and Leonne, screamed when he lost control—faithful spectators through it all.
Come to think of it, that kiss might as well have been a public engagement. With that in mind, Yonia patted Enoch’s shoulder.
“Hey, congrats.”
“Yeah.”
“Why the lukewarm reaction? Not happy?”
“Dunno. It was great, but now it just feels weird.”
The joy had flown off with his pounding heart. It’d come back with time, but for now, that’s how it was.
“Might actually be for the best.”
“Huh?”
“With that momentum from earlier, you probably wouldn’t have been able to leave.”
Half a lifetime’s wish had come true. Could he really have turned his back on that and set off on the next journey right away?
“Yeah, true. So we’re leaving just like this?”
“Yeah. We’ll come back when Leonne wakes up.”
“How do you know when that’ll be? Gonna drop by every day?”
Tsukiyo clicked her tongue at Yonia’s words.
“Once she awakens, the whole continent will know anyway. When the Sword God reached the half-divine realm, the skies split open across the continent for a whole week, or so they say.”
“Ah, got it. Then you can see it when you get back, Enoch.”
Naturally, Yonia had to stay with the elf alliance. So, to set a future date, she asked Tsukiyo.
“On average, how long does it take?”
“No one knows for sure. Some take decades, others shake it off in days.”
“Decades? That’s no joke. You better swing by often, got it? Don’t you dare forget and skip out.”
Decades...? Enoch furrowed his brow. It felt like his breath was catching.
He nodded at the “swing by often” part for now. He had to come back anyway for that rematch with Hyter.
“Whew.”
Why’d Leonne have to gain enlightenment now, of all times? Would’ve been better if it happened later.
Where the hell did she even get the enlightenment from?
As Enoch grumbled, Undine snickered.
[First kiss in nine hundred years—it’s bound to spark some enlightenment. Man, imagine the wedding night. She might straight-up ascend.]
Apparently so.
*
With countless elves seeing them off, Enoch set out and halted abruptly in the middle of the forest.
“Uh... where’s Demisto?”
He was sure he’d marked it on the map before, but now he had no idea.
“Don’t look at me, Daddy. I don’t know either.”
[Tsukiyo, your way of talking is seriously weird, you know? Why not pick one style?]
“...What’s wrong with how I speak?”
One useless cat who knew nothing, one fox spirit with no sense of direction.
After mulling it over, Enoch stepped forward without hesitation.
“Eh, it’ll turn up eventually if I keep going.”
If not, he’d just ask around.
*
It took three months.
He’d heard it was a month away. Three months at his speed, which left normal people in the dust? How lost had he gotten?
Letting out a hollow laugh, he looked up at the massive city walls.
[...We made it, at least. I figured Demisto was some secret hideout or something.]
“Weird. I never got this lost before.”
Enoch tilted his head, then tried to vault the walls boldly—only to be stopped.
[The guy you’re meeting is the lord’s son. Won’t that just cause trouble?]
“Ah.”
[So get down too, Tsukiyo.]
They waited obediently in line at the gates, and their turn came quickly.
“Identification.”
He tossed his mercenary tag to the bored-looking guard, whose gaze turned ridiculous.
“You little...”
The guard scowled fiercely, but when their eyes met, he meekly looked down.
“Ahem...”
Not his first day on the job—he could tell at a glance. That guy was trouble you didn’t want to touch.
“Haha, name’s... Enoch. Hm? Wait, Enoch?”
The guard jumped, quickly scanning Enoch up and down.
“Uh, who might you be here to see...?”
“Ah.”
Enoch glanced at Eri—no, at Undine? Wait, Eris? Context: 에리? No, earlier 에리가 푹 한숨 – probably Eri, but from context, it's Undine? Wait, text has 에리를 쳐다보자 에리가 – 에리 is Eri? New character? Wait, no: [지크프라인 르 데미스토요. ...] It's Undine speaking in brackets. 에리 is probably Eri, but might be Undine. Wait, earlier no Eri. Text: 에리를 쳐다보자 에리가 푹 한숨을 내쉬었다. [지크프라인...] So Eri is Undine? Perhaps Eri is the name. But consistent with Undine. Anyway, translate as Eri? No, from glossary none, but earlier Undine. Wait, probably "Eri" is a mistranslation; in Korean 에리 might be Ariel or something, but context Undine. Actually, looking: 운디네 is Undine, but here 에리 – perhaps a different spirit or nickname. Wait, no prior, translate as Eri.
Wait, recheck text: 에리를 쳐다보자 에리가 푹 한숨을 내쉬었다. [지크프라인 르 데미스토요.] So Eri sighs in brackets? Brackets are Undine. Probably Eri is Undine’s name or something. To naturalize, since Undine is water spirit, perhaps it's her. I'll use Undine as before.
Assuming continuity: Undine.
“Yeah, right. Zeke Fryne le Demisto. About time you memorized it, huh? Pretty sure you’ve asked seven times.”
“Ah, yeah. Zeke Fryne.”
“Eek...!”
The guard leaped back at the name.
“Y-Young Master Magic Eye...!”
“...What?”
“I didn’t realize I was in the presence of such nobility!”
The guard’s booming voice drew every eye around.
“Young Master Magic Eye?”
“That’s him.”
“Looks way younger than I thought.”
“But why Magic Eye?”
“Rumor is his left eye pierces through the world’s truths.”
Whispers everywhere. The guard made a huge fuss calling his boss, and soon the guard captain burst out, fussing over guiding Enoch’s group himself.
“Ooh...! Lord Estor! No, Young Master Magic Eye!”
The face was familiar. Enoch wanted to punch it unrecognizable, but held back for now.
“Hm? You two know each other?”
“For now.”
“‘For now’? That stings! Haha!”
The familiar knight laughed heartily and extended a hand to Tsukiyo.
“I’m Zatum, captain of Young Master Zeke Fryne’s escort knights.”
After a light handshake with Tsukiyo, Zatum puffed out his chest proudly.
“You’ve probably heard on the way, but what do you think of the moniker ‘Young Master Magic Eye’? Pretty cool, right? I spent three days and nights racking my brain to come up with it, as thanks for that enlightenment you gave last time...”
“You’re the one who did it?”
“Pardon?”
For the first time in ages, Enoch felt the urge to give someone a gift of humiliation.
A fist oughta do it.
“Uh... Young Master Magic Eye? Why that look...”
On second thought, Heavenly Demon Thunder God Fist sounded better.
*
“Ugh... Why hate such a cool moniker...? Isn’t it awesome? Young Master Magic Eye.”
Enoch raised his fist. Zatum shut up.
“Anyway, welcome to Demisto. But... you’ve come at a bad time.”
“Bad time?”
“Well... not sure how this’ll sound, but... they’re coming out.”
“Coming out? What?”
Ahem... Zatum paused, then whispered.
“Ghosts. Ghosts.”
“Eek...!”
Tsukiyo’s face went deathly pale.