Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: This World Must Perish, Human Loss (4)
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6.
“You want to learn an ultimate spell?”
Valerin asked me.
I had already learned three 6th-circle spells by then.
All of them were the strongest spells, impossible to even acquire in the game.
But this genius grand mage, Shin Tae-yeop, wasn’t satisfied with that.
“Yeah! Even just one.”
“Hmm…….”
I had expected her to refuse.
But Valerian fell silent for a moment, fiddling with the jade pendant around her neck, and spoke cryptic words.
“Yes…… It seems this will be the last time anyway…….”
The last time……?
Oh, because we were about to arrive at the first stopover, <Reltaron>? Yeah, things would get busy.
“There’s no such thing as an ultimate spell.”
“……What?!”
“But…… there is a secret art that turns all spells into ultimate spells.”
Turning all spells into ultimates……?
One spell flashed through my mind in that instant.
“No way…… 《Conjoining》……?!”
《Conjoining》.
A mythic-grade spell, more powerful than even the highest 7th-circle spells.
“I know of it…….”
《Conjoining》 was a blessing-type spell that boosted the power of any spell cast after it by seven times.
“Have you ever used it?”
There was a major problem here.
“No. I have no idea how to use it.”
As far as I knew.
The only player who had ever used 《Conjoining》 was the legendary player Lloyd Sutton.
“GodSpring, do you even know what magic is?”
Valerin tossed a log into the campfire and beckoned me to sit beside her.
“A mystical power? The power of demons?”
“I’m asking about the origin of magic.”
I couldn’t answer.
Valerin always had her face wrapped in bandages, so I couldn’t see her expression. Was she disappointed?
“It’s only natural that you don’t know.”
“……!”
“It’s a tale from before the Mythic Age, from that distant past. It’s said the humans of this world were originally beasts.”
“Beasts……?”
No one knew if that was literal or metaphorical.
“Miracles are recreating the feats of the gods by remembering their great deeds and earnestly yearning for their grace.”
Valerin pointed at the moons hanging in the night sky.
“To cast miracles, one needed a heart as holy as the Exalted Ones. You know the power of miracles depends on faith.”
“I know that.”
“That’s why humans couldn’t use miracles. Their hearts lacked both reason and holiness.”
“Uh……? Really? But Charlotte uses miracles.”
“Things changed in modern times, but originally, miracles were the exclusive domain of us fairies, the chosen people, until the Mythic Age.”
Why bring up the history of miracles out of nowhere?
I couldn’t figure out what Valerian was getting at.
“Magic is the power that Black Sun Karenden created out of pity for such humans.”
Black Sun Karenden?
I swallowed dryly for a moment. Sure enough, Karenden was described as the originator of magic in the game lore.
“By establishing miracles as an objective theoretical system, she enabled humans—who didn’t know what reason or holiness was—to use them.”
“She…… codified reason?”
“Yes. The beginning of granting humanity to humans was the law called magic.”
I had been listening quietly, but I couldn’t help raising an objection here.
“But…… theoretically, 《Conjoining》 is different, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t it about solving two partial differential equations in your head at the same speed simultaneously and combining the results?”
Oh my god.
Valerin shook her head with a sigh.
“Forget the theory. 《Conjoining》 holds immense meaning in the act of clapping your palms together.”
Clap…… I tried putting my palms together like in prayer.
“Karenden had no faith in the Genesis Gods, unlike the Exalted Ones.”
“……?!”
“It would be more accurate to call her a scientist. According to scripture, she had never even prayed.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
In truth, this world had no sun or moon. There were only the sun and moons made by the Exalted Ones as satellites.
So, the scientist who made those must have been Karenden.
“And yet…… that Karenden prayed earnestly to the Genesis Gods for the first and last time.”
Her voice as she said that.
The voice gazing up at the night sky with palms clasped……
“Please let humans see the light. Let them touch the light.”
……was so reverent that, for some reason, my heart grew solemn.
“That’s how magic was born.”
“……!”
Amber, who had been resting her head on Valerin's shoulder, spoke up.
“Were you taught that miracles are the product of faith and magic the product of reason?”
“Yeah…….”
“In truth, magic was born under the miracle of the Genesis Gods. When Karenden merely established the theory, it held no power at all.”
Such…… such a thing?
I suddenly regretted that Jeong Cheol wasn’t here…… He would have loved this.
“That’s why we, too, pray.”
Valerin continued the explanation.
“By praying, we join in the earnest wish Karenden held that day.”
And with her finger, she tapped my forehead.
“With reason, we reach the singular truth.”
Then my heart.
“And with love, we practice it to reach the ultimate truth. That is the entirety of 《Conjoining》.”
Clap. Valerian performed 《Conjoining》 first, then cast a 1st-circle spell.
[#@&%@, ??? casts the 1st-circle spell 《Baby Fire》!]
- 《Conjoining》: The spell’s power is enhanced by 700%.
In that instant.
The campfire flames surged fiercely, as if piercing the night sky.
Oh…… oh shit…….
That was almost the power of a 5th-circle spell.
I stared blankly at that miraculous magic and shouted.
“Me too, let me try it!”
A 1st-circle spell was easy.
I formed two calculation formulas for 《Baby Fire》 in my head and solved them simultaneously to get the result.
Clap. I smacked my palms together.
But…… clap, clap, clap, clap, clapclapclapclapclap…… 《Conjoining》 remained elusive.
“GodSpring. You’re a promising mage. You have more than enough aptitude.”
At the sudden praise, I blushed awkwardly.
“I can’t use it at all.”
“The day you harbor a wish more desperate than life itself, like Karenden…… you’ll be able to use it.”
A desperate wish?
I have one of those.
I need to get stronger. Just then, it seemed Valerian gave a wry smile.
“As for me, I hope that day never comes.”
“……?”
“A world where magic and miracles aren’t used like everyday things…… that’s a truly peaceful world.”
I had been clapping my palms like mad, but I stopped at her words.
A world without magic or miracles.
Perhaps because I could feel just how peaceful the world I’d lived in until now had been.
For some reason.
At that moment, Valerian reminded me of the old Jeong Cheol.
Watching a world doomed to destruction.
With wordless sorrow…….
“GodSpring.”
“Y-Yeah……?!”
“From <Reltaron> onward, I won’t be able to help you all.”
Why…… why is that?
Instead of answering, Valerian brushed off her rear and stood up.
“When the time comes…… take care of Park Hyun-su…… and this world.”
I blinked.
What’s with that strange statement?
“That’s why I’ve been teaching you magic so zealously.”
It sounded like a farewell from someone departing, or a dying person’s last words.
I would learn the meaning of those words the very next day.
That day.
The day we arrived at <Reltaron>. Jeong Cheol had stormed into <Reltaron> too.
Jeong Cheol had come chasing us himself.
Valerin had somehow known this future.
7.
“<Reltaron>……!”
The next evening.
We were finally able to enter the port city of <Reltaron>.
The great trading city of <Reltaron>.
Located in the heart of the Fairy Kingdom in the central west of Idea, this city was the hub of all commerce.
“The key point…… ugh…… is that it’s a port city…….”
Exactly.
Through here, we could enter the bay of the mystical capital in the mountains, <Tarkirten>.
“But…… we’ll have to wait a while, right?”
“The problem is…… ugh…… whether they’ll let us humans in……?”
Michelle muttered anxiously, pulling her cloak hood down tight.
“For real. We might have to wait a whole night.”
The city was swarming with refugees from the gate onward. All fairies fleeing the war.
“No need for that…… We don’t even have the time.”
Valerin and Amber suddenly spurred their horses toward the gate.
Wh…… what……?
We exchanged stunned glances, then hurriedly followed Valerin's lead.
“Halt!”
No sooner had the city guards raised their spear tips than the guard captain bellowed.
“Stand down! Show respect. It’s the Royal Presence of Shalletum.”
Sha…… Shalletum……?
What the hell does that mean?
“We’ve been awaiting your word, Shalletum.”
It was astonishing to see the guard captain bowing so reverently to Valerian.
“How many defensive forces does the city currently have?”
“The city guard numbers 10,000, with 400 from House Sylvester. Plus, the total from the other lords: 2,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry.”
Valerin let out a barely audible sigh as she spoke.
“These numbers will mean nothing…….”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. The ships?”
“We’ve prepared them. Big sails. With the wind, you’ll reach <Tarkirten> in less than three days.”
The guard captain gestured, summoning five subordinates.
“We’ll escort you to the harbor right now.”
“No. Just relay orders to prepare for departure. I’m heading to the Hyunwol Temple now.”
“To the Hyunwol Temple……?”
“No time, so send a falcon ahead. That’s an order as Shalletum.”
The guard captain nodded immediately at Valerin's firm tone.
“What should I write?”
“Tell my master, Lloyd Sutton, to prepare to meet me. Keep it brief.”
My mind was blank.
A flood of information crashing like a storm…… Hyunwol Temple? Lloyd Sutton?
“Valerin…… everyone’s exhausted. Can’t we rest a bit?”
When Park Hyun-su asked cautiously, Valerian replied bitterly.
“If you want to rest forever, sure.”
“……?”
“No time to explain. No confidence I could convince you…… Just know the situation is extremely urgent.”
With that, Valerian dug in her spurs and galloped off at full speed.
“Valerin?!”
“Follow me, hurry! Even if we board a ship now, we might get caught.”
“……?!”
“To you…… the power for self-defense…… And to lure him out.
I chased her receding figure, muttering dazedly.
“I don’t understand.”
<Reltaron> was a city of prosperity.
Its walls were sturdy, and its defensive forces outnumbered all of humanity’s combined……?
“But…… ugh…… I’ve never seen Valerian rushing like this……?”
Exactly.
That was the point.
That’s why…… an inexplicable unease writhed up my spine.
What was Valerian seeing?
I knew nothing, could guess nothing about it.
Not even that Jeong Cheol’s massive army was marching on <Reltaron>.
And.
That Valerian would sacrifice herself to buy us time.
“Tch…… My ass is getting sores already.”
At that moment.
My head was filled only with irritable complaints.
“Can’t we eat some real food and rest?”
“I agree with you. I’d like to wash up properly too.”
Charlotte replied in a voice exhausted from the long journey.
“Me too…….”
On top of that, Michelle’s already hollow eyes were pitch black.
We had no idea.
How horrific a future…… was approaching us moment by moment.
“Everyone, stop. Valerian has valid reasons for everything she does. You all know that from experience, right?”
Park Hyun-su forced a smile to soothe us. He was right.
“Ugh…… Whenever a major crisis hits…… Valerian always predicts it…….”
Huh? I tilted my head at that.
“So what, you’re saying a major crisis is coming now?”
“…….”
“Sis. Look at <Reltaron>’s walls—thickness and height. And they’re double! With a moat too.”
“Th…… that’s true, but…….”
“Even if Cheol hyung comes here, we’ll hear the bells right away. We can bolt then.”
As I said that.
I turned my gaze to the prosperous streets paved neatly with stone slabs and swallowed hard.
The smell of baking bread.
The smell of grilling fish.
The smells of tenacious life…….
Ah, I’m starving…….
It didn’t take long to realize how complacent my thinking was.
But.
Valerin was not complacent.
Thanks to that.
That day.
We survived and escaped…… under Valerin's sacrifice.