Chapter 185
Chapter 185
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: He Who Inherits the Dawn, Tarhye Rondel (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
10.
“We don’t have time to bask in victory. We’ve got a serious problem on our hands.”
Paul was right. The problem was dire.
While we were claiming victory in the north, Jeong Cheol had been steamrolling humanity in the central region.
Jeong Cheol.
The greatest among the Elites.
He had subjugated three of the [Forgotten Kings] as his subordinates and used their power to conquer the holy city of Castlebeia.
“And in the process, former Elite Hunter Chris Myers was killed.”
What……?!
What about Robar? Sharon?
Even Park Hyun-su was at a loss for words.
“Hold on. What about the guardian of the holy city? What of Alfred?”
Paul shrugged as if he had no idea…… but the answer was simple enough.
Alfred must be dead too.
I had vowed not to be shocked by Jeong Cheol’s actions anymore, but that resolve crumbled once again.
“Do you know that the sun and moon of this world are satellites created by the [Exalted Ones]?”
“Karen-den, you mean?”
“Probably. And do you know that the power source for them lies within the sacred tree of the holy city, Castlebeia?”
“Power source?”
“The Holy Grail.”
The Holy Grail.
Its name evoked ancient grandeur.
But in truth, it was nothing more than an invention of the [Exalted Ones] that supplied power to those sun and moon…… those satellites.
“No way.”
At that moment, I could only refute it with a stunned expression.
“The Holy Grail is supposed to be on the continent. Across the sea, not here.”
“That’s the fake one. The real one is inside the sacred tree.”
No way……?
That’s how it was in the game.
That’s why the mid-game main quest, the Holy Grail War, took place on the continent.
“Now the key point. An Elite Sorcerer…… destroyed that Holy Grail.”
This lunatic.
Michelle and I, with our own round experience even if not at Elite level, were left utterly shocked.
“Is it that bad?”
Only Park Hyun-su, a first-round player, tilted his head.
“It’s bad. The [Age of Doom] starts in seven days.”
[Age of Doom].
The era after the gods fully departed.
The game’s late-stage backdrop, infamous for its hellish difficulty.
The era when you face the final boss, the ice dragon Scesari.
“We can’t fight in the darkness…… Ugh…… The shades of the abyss grow even stronger…….”
No seeing ahead without a torch.
Most miracles can’t even be cast, and magic’s power is halved.
“How…… Ugh…… What do we even do……?”
“Kill Jeong Cheol and reassemble the shattered fragments of the Holy Grail.”
Park Hyun-su’s face twisted in horror at Paul’s immediate answer. I quickly asked.
“But we’re in the north…… It’s ten days to Castlebeia.”
“Exactly. Even if we time it perfectly with good luck, it’s too grueling a march. No way we could fight after that.”
“But we only have seven days left!”
The situation was spiraling into the worst possible scenario. Was annihilation at hand?
What the hell do we do……?
Paul Read let out a quiet sigh……
“But there is one way.”
……He glanced at Park Hyun-su, then looked at Charlotte.
“The one and only way. The way to revive the sun.”
That method was utterly heartbreaking.
Paul glanced at Park Hyun-su again, but in the end, he couldn’t continue.
“What is it? Tell us.”
After a long silence.
Finally, it was Charlotte Candragun who answered the question.
“There is a truth passed down only to we El Dia people, descendants of the [Exalted Ones] in the Candragun clan.”
“……?!”
“The truth that our bodies were created to serve as vessels for the Holy Grail.”
Vessels for the Holy Grail?
“I will become the Holy Grail.”
We couldn’t speak at that moment. Only after a long pause did Park Hyun-su stammer.
“Charlotte?”
“…….”
“You becoming the Holy Grail…… You don’t mean you’ll die, right? Right?”
Charlotte gave a wistful smile (so much like Tersia’s icon)…… and shook her head.
“It’s not dying. Though I will leave this body.”
“No.”
“Park Hyun-su.”
“I said no! I absolutely, absolutely won’t let you do that!”
Park Hyun-su yelled through sobs, then stormed out of the meeting room.
We stared blankly at his retreating figure.
“No matter what solution you suggest, not something like this──!”
As I shouted at Paul, Charlotte spoke.
“──I’ll convince him, so the rest of you, get some rest.”
“Your Highness……?”
“Rest. Unlike me, you all still have far to go.”
Charlotte brushed back her silver bob haircut and gracefully followed after Park Hyun-su.
“Sis.”
Michelle and I exchanged glances…… and set out to find Park Hyun-su, preparing for any contingency.
“Ugh. L-Let’s go.”
Michelle and I knew.
That Park Hyun-su had been with Charlotte from the very start of this battle royale.
Together, they had changed the fate of the holy city.
They had altered the world’s course…… and he must have believed they’d change even the fate of destruction together.
“There. Over there.”
A night where moonlight fell limply.
The wind was still, only the chirping of crickets loud.
“The mood…… Sis, stay low.”
In the dead of night, we spotted Park Hyun-su and Charlotte strolling by the lake.
The Charlotte I remembered was a petite woman, girl-like in build.
But she was a true heroine, her features regal like royalty, her speech and actions imbued with noble grace.
Yet a faint shadow always lingered on her face, no doubt because she was the forsaken princess.
Unlike her sisters, she hadn’t inherited the empire and had fled to the Ideia Peninsula like a refugee.
Charlotte was exactly that…… a woman of tragic fate.
But that night’s Charlotte was different.
Not as royalty, but frolicking joyfully by the lake, she felt like a moon spirit.
Suddenly, Charlotte splashed into the lakeside and playfully sprayed water at Park Hyun-su.
Finally losing patience, Park Hyun-su scooped up a handful of water in his large hand and doused her. Soaked through, Charlotte scolded him loudly.
“Is this how you treat an imperial princess?”
“Was what you did proper etiquette for the heir of Berkenxia?”
When Park Hyun-su shot back, Charlotte burst into loud laughter. Park Hyun-su gave a hollow laugh in return.
His laughter held only resignation. No strength in it.
“I want to see your world someday. And your little sister.”
“She’s too spirited; she’d overwhelm you.”
“Does she take after you?”
“Fortunately, no. She’s pretty.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Don’t make that face.”
Charlotte gently stroked Park Hyun-su’s face with her finger.
“I will leave this body…… but I’m not leaving you forever.”
“…….”
“I’ll become the sun and moon in that sky, watching only you, illuminating your mornings and lighting your nights.”
“………….”
“Forever…… truly forever…… we’ll be together.”
As Park Hyun-su began to sob quietly, Charlotte, who had been soothing him, finally broke into sobs herself.
“My life as a forsaken princess…… was truly miserable.”
Their bond was anything but ordinary, from meeting to parting.
“But in that life, I met a light named you.”
A love that transcended worlds, perhaps.
“And now, I die to become light.”
“…….”
“I lived happier than any princess and will meet a death happier than any princess.”
“……Charlotte.”
“So don’t cry. That’s an order. My first and last order as your princess.”
That was their farewell.
At dawn that day, in the grand cathedral of <Antioch>, Charlotte became the Holy Grail.
“GodSpring. And Michelle.”
“………?”
“Our journey together was tough and grueling…… but so much fun. This is my honest truth.”
“It was for us too! For us too!”
“If only I could avoid this cup…… I wanted to go on a normal adventure with you all…….”
“An adventure……?”
“Not as a princess…… nor for some grand cause for the world…… just an adventure…… Haha…….”
An adventure together……
As Charlotte smiled purely for the first time, without hiding.
“Priiinceeeesssss──”
Her body was consumed by light and crumbled, slowly transforming into the form of the Holy Grail.
“──sssss………….”
That single moment’s scene appeared hazy and distant to me.
I’ll remember it forever.
It’ll stay in my mind forever.
Park Hyun-su clutching that Holy Grail, trembling and weeping.
The princess who sacrificed her own body for this world’s dawn.
Her final smile.
“Mister…… Mister…….”
Michelle and I hugged Park Hyun-su and sobbed together.
“Charlotte…… What do we do, Charlotte’s now…….”
This wasn’t just Park Hyun-su’s tragedy. It was the tragedy of the entire <Tarkiruiten> expedition.
A forsaken princess.
But the smile she hid with both hands was more beautiful than any princess. Princess Charlotte, whose end was greater than any princess.
Her sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
The fading sun and moon rapidly regained their brilliant glow.
“First wave, Fairy Cavalry, advance!”
“Second wave, Heavy Infantry, advance!”
“Third wave, Giant Mech Corps, advance!”
The southward march to Castlebeia was prepared at lightning speed…… and executed in nearly a day.
“Shin Tae-yeop…… Ugh…… Let’s go too…….”
“Yeah, Sis.”
Now, there was no avoiding Jeong Cheol.
Only two Elite players remained: Jeong Cheol and Paul. Eliminate Jeong Cheol here, and the world’s destruction would be averted.
Conversely.
If Jeong Cheol eliminated us—the thorns in his side—he could destroy the world and claim his wish.
Now, all that remained between us.
Was an all-out war for this world’s fate.
Jeong Cheol had nothing.
Nothing left. He had sacrificed all his comrades, including Sakurai Yuya, as materials for his own awakening.
“Let’s go finish that mad bastard.”
That was probably the darkest time in my battle royale.
I had never hated anyone so much in my life, and that target was, of course, Jeong Cheol.
Why wouldn’t I?
The reason for my hatred was simple and clear. But…… apparently not for everyone.
“……Think it over one more time. Is that really the answer……?”
Park Hyun-su, of all people.
I vaguely learned the story behind it.
“……Of course I hope it works out, but if it doesn’t…… this is our only option…….”
During the southward march.
Park Hyun-su frequently pulled Paul aside for secretive, grave talks.
“……I’ll definitely come back. You’re the only one I can entrust this to…….”
I had only vaguely overheard their conversation through sound-control magic.
“……Definitely…… you say…….”
The day Paul said something like that, I couldn’t eavesdrop anymore.
“……Then I understand. I’ll wait. But promise me……?”
“……?”
“……When that time comes, come find me…… Have him strike me down with Berkenxia…….”
Strike him down?
Asking to be killed?
The next day, I called Park Hyun-su, politely apologized for eavesdropping, and asked.
“What was that about? Why is Paul asking you to kill him?”
Park Hyun-su didn’t get angry, nor did he smile magnanimously. He just said.
“Want to know?”
“That’s why I asked.”
But by then, I had a hunch about the truth.
After finishing Jeong Cheol, Paul wanted to be killed.
At that time.
I had no doubt in Park Hyun-su’s victory. He was utterly majestic back then.
<Feitezla>.
The so-called Berkenxia Armor.
- I got it from Tersia when I inherited Berkenxia.
Thanks to that resplendent plate armor, straight out of an SF movie, said to be made by Karen-den himself.
- It’s like nanoparticles from imagination. It deploys and equips when I want, and dissolves into light particles when I want it off.
With a red cape billowing over that armor gleaming solemnly in dawn’s light, his dignity was truly like a hero from prophecy.
Above all, Park Hyun-su was no longer the green rookie.
After inheriting Berkenxia.
He had gained a hero’s power I couldn’t even touch.
“Tae-yeop.”
“Yeah?”
“Someday…… I’ll definitely tell you one day.”
Park Hyun-su suddenly wore an unbearably sad expression, patted my shoulder, and added.
“I pray that day never comes…… But if it does, I’ll tell you for sure.”
“Then…… yeah, got it.”
“Thanks for understanding. And Tae-yeop?”
“Yeah?”
“…….”
“What? Why’d you call?”
“No…… It’s nothing.”
It seemed Park Hyun-su’s prayers didn’t reach the gods.
The [that time] he so feared arrived.
And I.
Had to pay an absurdly high price…… to learn the truth of that day’s conversation…….