Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Remnants of Light, the Survivors (3)
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6.
“Staring at the daughter of the house with eyes like that goes against etiquette.”
It was a voice laced with coughing.
I snapped to attention for a moment and bowed my head. Even I could tell my attitude was sloppy.
“My apologies. That was...”
What excuse could I make?
Xerinia, watching the scene, burst into clear laughter.
“Ah... You really do resemble him.”
“...?”
“Do all inheritors share the same personality...? Pure like fools... yet nobler than anyone...”
Another painful cough.
Gayneib hurried over, but Xerinia waved him off. I asked.
“Do you know this sword’s owner...?”
“Not well. We traveled together for far too short a time.”
The same answer as Roheirits.
Xerinia continued, her eyes filled with longing.
“But even in that brief period, I knew. Ah... this person is a being of light.”
“...How?”
“Because of the fragrance of light. Just like with you.”
My mouth fell open for a moment.
I had no idea what to say.
“Finally... after forty years since the fall... you’ve come to grant this world peace.”
“...What do you mean?”
“This world has been swallowed by the Abyss. The Abyss is the source of Lost Soul Disease... Look at me... Even though my life is over, I can’t die...”
Only then did I understand.
“So that’s why the others cover themselves head to toe in clothes... Don’t tell me.”
“Yes. It’s the same for me. Our souls have nowhere left to return.”
As Xerinia started coughing again, Gayneib provided further explanation.
“Lost Soul Disease. It’s a condition where the soul becomes completely trapped in the flesh. The soul gets gnawed away by the Abyss until only a husk remains.”
“Don’t tell me the Heteromorphs here are...?”
“Heteromorphs...? You mean the undead? Then yes, that’s right. They’re the ones who’ve lost their souls... their humanity, turned into beasts...”
My knees nearly gave out.
Perfect proof of human heteromorphization, right here too. I barely managed to open my mouth.
“Granting peace to this world... you mean destroying it?”
“This world is already destroyed. The remnants of light are all that’s keeping it from realizing that.”
“Remnants of light?”
Do Ye-jin asked abruptly.
Xerinia gave Do Ye-jin a gentle smile before speaking.
“At the heart of this holy city lies the garden of the Spirit Tree.”
Spirit Tree.
The light that loved this world.
The symbol of sacrifice, who gave even their life because they truly loved this world.
“I think seeing it would be better than just hearing about it... Is it all right if I cast an illusion on you and the child?”
“Miss! If you use the stigmata, you’ll—”
Gayneib urgently tried to stop her, but Xerinia wore a serene expression.
“It’s fine. I believe this is the end of my mission. The final mark from my great ancestor, Sharillion Reed... Over here... closer...”
I exchanged glances with Do Ye-jin.
The moment we approached Xerinia, a dragon-shaped pattern on her forehead emitted a clear blue glow.
Eyes... a flash so bright it could blind.
When I finally opened my eyes, the world had completely changed.
Icebergs sparkling in dawn light.
Cold, crisp air flooded my lungs, and my vision was filled with ice fields reflecting the dawn.
“Wow...”
Do Ye-jin gazed at the sun on the horizon and held back tears.
“...Dawn. Uncle. It’s dawn.”
“It’s light I haven’t seen in forty years either.”
That was when it happened.
Turning around... a woman with beautiful and elegant features smiled at us.
“I told you. Staring at the daughter of the house with eyes like that goes against etiquette.”
Clear yet noble.
Noble yet kind aura... Was this woman Xerinia?
“And the Apostle isn’t my type.”
“Th-that’s not...”
“I’m joking. Your reaction is truly amusing.”
Xerinia let her smile fade and let out a short sigh.
“We don’t have much time together. Just enough to show you the birth of the Spirit Tree... and to make my plea.”
Xerinia snapped her fingers, and the world changed once more.
A world where indigo Abyss boiled on all sides.
In the center of that land.
A man and a woman embraced each other.
Sunlight radiance poured from the man’s entire body, while moonlight radiance flowed from the woman.
Perhaps thanks to having met the [Broken Dawn Lord] and Tersia.
I recognized them immediately.
They too were Subordinates of Light.
“Helenia.”
The man’s voice trembled. Was he crying?
“Yes.”
“Now I will embed the Abyss into my body.”
Helenia lowered her eyes and sobbed.
“Don’t cry. Spring won’t come to the world until we exterminate the [Forgotten Kings].”
“...I know.”
“I have no regrets. Meeting you despite my brothers’ opposition. My love.”
“I loved you too, even while being chased away by my sisters. I’ve never once regretted it.”
As the man clenched his fist... something wondrous happened.
The world quivered with that power.
The next moment, the Abyss was drawn toward his fist.
When the man opened his fist.
The Abyss had been refined into an elongated form, floating lightly in the air.
In the shape of strange spears.
There were two of them.
“One in the heart, one in the head.”
“...Yes.”
“I’m sorry to ask this of you.”
Helenia thrust the spear into her lover’s heart while weeping. The man vomited blood in agony. The radiance he’d been emitting faded away.
Helenia picked up the second spear. The man nodded resolutely. Then something bewildering happened.
“I love you.”
Helenia gave a heartrending smile and spun the spear to pierce her own heart.
“No, don’t!”
The shocked man caught the collapsing Helenia in his arms.
His expression was far more wretched than when the spear had pierced his own heart. In the end, he began to sob like a boy.
Moonlight and sunlight radiance faded from their bodies, and the world slowly grew dark.
I wiped away my flowing tears.
For some reason, my parents came to mind at that moment. That was when Do Ye-jin murmured.
“So this is how the Spirit Tree was born...”
She knew about the Spirit Tree?
When the world brightened again, a massive tree was growing there. A pure white tree.
Could that be the [Broken Dawn Lord]?
“The symbol of sacrifice that turned sorrow into joy, madness into grace and truth. That is the Spirit Tree.”
“...!”
“It was the beacon of light that sustained our world.”
The past tense in her explanation bothered me. I asked.
“Not anymore?”
“As I said before... the remnants of light are merely keeping our world from dying.”
I clamped my mouth shut for a moment.
“Then what you said about me granting peace... don’t tell me.”
“Yes.”
Xerinia gave a sad smile. The blowing wind made her long hair sway forlornly.
“Please cut down that Spirit Tree at last.”
The one to object to that simple—and cruel in its simplicity—solution was Do Ye-jin.
“There has to be... some other way.”
“There isn’t, child.”
“But... but... killing the Spirit Tree standing there like that... it’s just too sad... Uncle Kim Baek-jun is a fixer. He can solve anything. So there has to be another way...”
That was when moisture glistened in the eyes of the smiling Xerinia.
“What a truly kind child. You carry the fragrance of light too. Will you come closer?”
“Closer?”
Do Ye-jin hesitated and glanced at me. Xerinia said.
“There’s nothing to fear.”
“...I’m not scared.”
“I was the spouse of the True Dragon King. With the stigmata he gifted me, I can peer into others’ inner selves. Aren’t you curious about yourself?”
I nodded to Do Ye-jin, and she stepped forward toward Xerinia.
“Let me see.”
Xerinia gently pressed her forehead to the girl’s.
“How strange...”
It was a long while before she spoke.
“Truly bizarre... An echo of light resounding in the Abyss. The Abyss birthed light... How is such a thing possible?”
“She was originally human.”
“That’s not what I mean... I’m peering into the girl’s origin.”
Origin... What did that mean?
I had to tilt my head.
Xerinia pulled her forehead away from Do Ye-jin’s and put on a serious expression.
“There’s deep despair piled up in your heart.”
“...It’s not that deep.”
“It is deep. And you fear peering into that despair.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“You are afraid. Look, your body’s trembling just from thinking about it.”
It had hit the mark.
Do Ye-jin let out a small “hee” laugh and lowered her head.
“Yeah. I’m scared. Scared to remember Mom and Dad dying... scared to remember the people I knew dying.”
I fiddled with the wristwatch on my wrist.
Father...
It was a moment when I felt deep empathy and pity for Do Ye-jin.
“What’s your name, child of the Abyss and light?”
“Do Ye-jin.”
“How strange and difficult.”
“Easier than Xerinia.”
Xerinia laughed, and I smirked too.
“I’ll tell you the precept my great ancestor Sharillion Reed—who toppled the Abyss—left for our house.”
「Only those who know despair
can spread true hope to the world. Remember that.」
“It’s hard... My head’s not good.”
“It means those who don’t know despair can’t grasp the value of hope.”
“...!”
“Only those who’ve experienced despair know how precious hope is, and can truly comfort others lost in despair.”
Xerinia softly kissed Do Ye-jin’s forehead.
“Despair doesn’t only give birth to more despair. The process of you overcoming your despair will be passed on as hope to others trapped in the same despair. Turn your despair into hope.”
“...Can I really do that?”
“Of course. True strength isn’t the power to wound others—it’s the gentleness that can soothe their wounds.”
Xerinia stroked Do Ye-jin’s hair and added.
“Always remember. Despair and hope are like two sides of the same coin.”
“...!”
“Whether you pass on the same despair to others... or hope instead... that’s entirely up to your choice.”
Only then did she raise her head and look at me.
“We have little time left. Is there anything you’d like to ask?”
Questions?
I had more than enough, but none came to mind right away.
“I want to know about this sword’s previous owner’s end.”
I finally managed to say.
“Earlier... was the Spirit Tree’s owner that person?”
Xerinia looked slightly surprised.
“No. Didn’t he tell you?”
“He didn’t.”
“Did he give a reason?”
“He judged that me knowing would be dangerous.”
Xerinia wore a pensive expression for a moment, then shook her head.
“Then I shouldn’t undermine that judgment. Could you tell me about your world’s cosmology? I might be able to offer some advice.”
I opened my mouth right away.
There wasn’t much to explain. I wasn’t good with words anyway, and above all, I knew so little.
“I think I can offer one useful piece of advice.”
“I’m listening.”
“You are the Apostle of Light. With Light’s Apostle present, the Apostles of the five Absolute Gods must have descended as well.”
“Five Absolute Gods...!”
Kings of the stars, the strongest of stars.
It meant they had chosen Hunters too.
“There will be ones as strong as you... perhaps even stronger. They choose people purely based on ability.”
A chill of tension ran through me.
Choi Uk, Im Yong-gon, Seo Hwa-yoon... what if that trio of ability users were enemies? That was the result of imagining it.
“No matter what Light has planned, the path’s end will be defeating them all.”
“Terrifying.”
“Ever since Yotiatos’s betrayal, the path of following the Light has always been narrow and arduous.”
Xerinia gave a bitter smile.
“Remember this. What a fallen world looks like to the Apostles of the Absolute Gods... the tragedy of this world where the Abyss runs rampant and souls can’t return to the light. The one who can put an end to this endless tragedy is now only you.”
My body trembled for a moment.
The fate given to me was fearfully weighty...
“Are you afraid?”
“It’d be a lie to say I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I plan to back down.”
“Why?”
I touched the area over my heart with my left hand. And reaffirmed my resolve.
“Because it’s the path chosen by the child I was, and the man I am now. This is the path I chose to walk.”
No one forced it on me.
No transcendent gods ordained it.
This endless battle is my path. The path I wanted to walk.
“I will put the final period on this destruction’s end. To repay the kindness you’ve shown. For your world, sacrificed to this meaningless prank.”