Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Old Ones Awakened from Eternity (2)
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A being of pure white took form.
A projection, its form was hazy, like a heat shimmer.
The light entered the Dragon Spirit Hall on the 99th floor of the Papal Office, the golden palace that reached the heavens above the heavens.
Seated in their respective positions, five golden True Dragons spoke with benevolent dignity.
“In the south, the fog of the Abyss is swallowing heaven and earth. All the land is turning to wasteland, and the mountains are becoming volcanoes.”
“They are surely awakening the Lizard Monarch there. The King is waking. But we have no way to stop it.”
“Have you devised a plan, White Dragon, bearer of wisdom’s name? The Light Dragon no longer has the luxury of thought, so we have decided to follow your judgment.”
The True Dragons, who had watched over the world for nearly two millennia, discussed the collapsing world in precarious tones.
Mirngadia trembled at the dependent questions of the True Dragons, who had grown old and powerless in the eternal flow of time.
*When the King awakens, the light of the world will completely fade…*
*In this chaotic world, they ask me to find a way once more…*
Even at this very moment, Mirngadia was traveling the skies in a floating castle, overseeing all three fronts.
“The time granted to the five elder pillars, and to myself, is running short. We must see an end to this war in this era.”
“Tell us your plan.”
“We need time for the three races to form a unified front. The elves’ east, the Ain’s west, and humanity’s center. Until they are united, I will buy us that time, no matter the cost.”
Cardinal Yoshuhar asked.
“What will you do about the awakening King?”
Mirngadia felt a tremor in his politely clasped fingers.
He felt the violently flickering fate of the world overlapping with his own.
After a brief pause, he lifted his head. In the eyes hidden beneath long, white lashes, shone the resolve of one laying down their life.
“I have already conceived a way to deal with him.”
“Speak.”
“Before the King awakens, we must go and greet him and his minions ourselves. There was no other future.”
The clouds of war billowed.
The Old Ones Awakened from Eternity (2)
“Well, look who it is. Are you really Roveris? The little brat everyone teased as Roro has become quite the heroine.”
The big shot from the Ain military was Halbaron son Eveso. That was my first encounter with the hero.
Halbaron, the Master of a Myriad Arms.
The marshal and emperor who had overthrown the Ain Republic and established the First Empire, a royal of the old Eveso dynasty, and the hero of the Ain during the last ‘Black Summer.’
The Ain could not wield magic or miracles, but their technology was the most advanced of the three races.
For instance, both firearms and steam engines were Ain inventions, and it was Halbaron who had adapted them for the battlefield.
“Why didn’t you say that to Isla! Isla is a heroine too! She’s super strong now!”
He was called the Master of a Myriad Arms for his ability to freely create and improve any weapon.
He was also a descendant of Prisvia, the inventor of the steam engine.
My meeting with such a tremendous figure felt somewhat ridiculous due to the presence of Isla, who was currently gnawing on his head.
“You little rascal, you’re still so short! Talk some sense!”
“Isla is as tall as Halbaron now!”
“Isla, stand down. We can’t have a conversation like this.”
At Roveris’s command, Isla backed off, but she remained glued to Halbaron’s side.
I later learned that Isla was a lifeform created by Prisvia by combining the genes of dragons, humans, and Ain.
Halbaron, being of Prisvia’s lineage, was something of a godfather to Isla.
“Your voice even has an air of authority when you command your subordinate. You’ve really grown up. To think you were that little kid.”
Halbaron said, dusting off his saliva-drenched military cap.
From his face to his arms, he was covered in countless scars, yet he looked for all the world like a handsome young boy. In reality, he was well over forty, a veteran of more than a hundred battles.
It was deeply incongruous to see a boy’s face with the wisdom of old age, speaking with the tone and gaze of a man in his prime. But that was just how the Ain were.
“You haven’t changed. You still look as young as a child.”
“Isn’t that the advantage of being an Ain?”
“There are also those who look old with their bushy beards. They’re mostly called dwarves, though.”
“Hmph, not me. Look at this skin. Still like a baby’s. Jealous?”
“No.”
“You’ll be dying of envy by the time your face starts to wrinkle.”
“I won’t live long enough to get wrinkles anyway.”
“Gods damn it, you FakeWarriors have a real knack for ruining the mood. So, is this the one? The one who supposedly subjugated Mauna Loa, just like Raminea?”
Raminea.
Hearing my mother’s name so unexpectedly felt like being struck on the head with a hammer.
“But this is strange. Have we met somewhere before? You look awfully familiar. It’s my first time seeing a male FakeWarrior, so this is odd.”
As Halbaron tilted his head, looking Kaisen up and down, Roveris stepped in.
“Perhaps your eyes are getting old.”
“Hey, you brat! It’s too soon to treat me like some old man in a dusty room.”
Roveris and Halbaron exchanged quiet smiles.
It was the kind of smile shared only by those who have crossed the line between life and death together many times.
Isla, as if jealous, bit Halbaron’s finger. After his scream subsided, Roveris asked.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Right. Lord Mirngadia said he needed my new weapon.”
“New weapon?!”
“It’s called an armored train. My masterpiece, a fully armed locomotive. A mobile battery, you could say.”
“A fully armed train? I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”
“Hmph, it’s only natural for common folk like you. You’ll be stunned when you see it. I told Raminea time and again. I said I’d show it to her first as soon as it was finished.”
Whether by chance or by design, Halbaron glanced at Kaisen as he spoke.
“But she’s dead and gone now. I wanted to at least show it to that prickly disciple of hers, but I hear she died too, right?”
“…”
“Don’t make that face. I don’t know why all you FakeWarriors look like you’re carrying the world’s sorrows on your shoulders. You’d do well to be a bit more like Raminea.”
He hadn’t been given permission to speak by Roveris, but he opened his mouth before he knew it.
“Did you know Lady Raminea?”
At the question, Halbaron’s eyes widened. A moment later, he burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
“Ha, haha! Roveris, do you hear this kid? Asking me if I knew *her*?”
“I don’t know why you’re asking me when you know the answer best yourself.”
“Agh, this little… Raminea, that woman was my comrade-in-arms. The only hero I ever acknowledged among humans, and my one and only friend.”
“I see.”
As he said, *I see*, Kaisen had to hide a quiet joy.
To meet someone who spoke of their friendship with his mother with such happiness and pride…
What a strange feeling this was.
“I’d like to show you lot with your perpetually sour faces my new masterpiece.”
“Masterpiece! Is it tasty?”
“It’s magnificent. It’s a colossal god-construct, and I bet it could even play rock-paper-scissors with the Old Kings. I’m making it so it can even trade blows with them—”
Roveris trampled on Halbaron’s enthusiasm with a sigh and a shake of her head.
“—I think you should just get to the point. I’d rather not be up all night again.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Still as charmless as ever. Right, so an Old Noble almost appeared this time?”
“The Pale Viscount attempted to, but we stopped him.”
“We’re dealing with the Naga. Those sea serpents that serve the Old Lord of the Sea. We’ve smashed a few of the lower nobles, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the continental front.”
In this war.
The Ain were fighting the main forces of the Naga, while the elves fought against the main forces of the Necrons and the Bloodkin.
Humanity, responsible for the continental front, had to fight against the main forces of all six major demon clans…
“That’s good news, at least.”
“Not entirely. It means we’re out of time. If we don’t clean up the oceanic and continental fronts soon, things will get out of hand.”
“What can we do? It’s a struggle just to defend the mountain range.”
Halbaron shrugged.
“Lord Mirngadia seems to think differently.”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t heard? Lord Mirngadia believes the second coming of the Lizard Monarch is imminent. I do too. The circumstances of Mauna Loa and the Old Nobles awakening make it obvious.”
“That is…”
“It’ll be too late after the Monarch awakens and fully regains its power. You know how the Yonghyeon and the Apostle of the Void defeated the Spider Monarch and the Monarch of Time, don’t you?”
Before finishing his question, Halbaron glanced at Isla.
Isla’s lips trembled and her eyes began to spin, then she suddenly shouted.
“Isla doesn’t know things like that! Only lowly mortals rely on such knowledge! A dragon has no need for it!”
“So she says. Unlike the great Isla, I assume you, a lowly human FakeWarrior, know the answer?”
“Yes. The Yonghyeon broke the seal of the Spider Monarch when it was at its limit, and the Apostle of the Void fought the Monarch of Time as soon as its seal was broken. That is what I was taught.”
At Kaisen’s answer, Halbaron nodded, shot Isla a pointed glare, and was promptly bitten again.
“See? Even those monstrous figures knew they had to aim for an early confrontation. They judged that there was no hope once their enemies were at full strength. It’s the same for us. If we just hunker down in the mountains, it’ll be too late.”
Then Isla stood on her tiptoes, slyly tugged on Kaisen’s earlobe, and whispered.
“Isla has even met the Yonghyeon in person. Are you jealous?”
“?”
“What’s with that look… Are you saying you don’t believe a dragon’s words! Are you, a mere human, looking down on a dragon!”
No…
How could she have met someone from 300 years ago?
“The truth is, Isla is over 300 years old. Technically.”
“Huh…”
“This is a secret I’m only telling you, Kaisen.”
“Hmm…”
“What kind of reaction is that? You should be showing respect.”
As he sighed and shook his head, Isla leaped up and bit down hard on his head.
“Then the armed train you mentioned earlier—”
“—Armored train.”
“Was that armored train built for an offensive?”
“I built it to be versatile, for both offense and defense, but it seems Lord Mirngadia intends to use it for that purpose.”
With Isla’s fangs embedded in the top of his head and blood trickling down, Kaisen asked.
“But how?”
“Lord Mirngadia’s judgment is leagues beyond the thoughts of mortals. That’s been a common saying since the days when your grandfather’s grandfather was just a lad. Lord Mirngadia never makes a judgment rashly or without meaning. Remember that.”
Roveris stroked her chin, her gaze fixed on the empty air.
“So it’s certain we’ll be shifting to an offensive.”
“Why else would my men be working their asses off, bleeding day and night, to conquer the oceanic front?”
“The sooner you can come, the better for us as well. To combine two fronts and begin a Southern Expedition, is it…”
Southern Expedition.
The meaning of those words seeped deep into his heart. Deep into a place called hatred.
“He doesn’t seem to have told the humans yet, so keep it among yourselves. Isla, I’m talking to you! You! You with the mouth looser than a bell.”
“Isla is a dragon! My lips are sealed tighter than any other race’s!”
“Yeah, right.”
“He already issued a heatwave warning a month ago. He’ll probably disclose important information like this soon enough.”
Roveris and Halbaron continued to talk for a while longer, but nothing of great importance was said.
One of Halbaron’s subordinates came to tell him it was time to leave, and the same went for Roveris.
The reunion at the pavilion on the mountainside had come to an end.
“Is Halbaron leaving now?”
“Yeah, I have to get back. The lot I command can’t even take a proper shit without me.”
“Isla wants to go with Halbaron too!”
“Are you threatening me? If you came along, every warship we have would sink from internal explosions.”
“Graaaah!”
Halbaron, expertly fending off the charging Isla, said.
“I’m kidding. Lord Mirngadia is pressing me too, so I need to settle things quickly. You do your best here. We’ll meet again soon.”
At that, Isla’s eyes shone brightly.
It was a smile that let all the light inside her pour out through her eyes. He never knew a living being could smile like that.
“Really! Isla will do her best! Until we meet again!”
“Yeah, work hard. Roveris, I’ll see you next time. And your name was Kaisen?”
“Yes.”
“Your master was a truly wonderful person. Be proud for the rest of your life that you were her student.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I already am.”
“Is that so? She would be happy to hear that. She was always worried that she was so pathetic, she’d never earn her student’s respect if she ever took one on.”
Roveris let out a small laugh.
“Senior Camilla said that?”
“She did! She even complained to me about it.”
Beyond the distant sea of memory…
Halbaron, speaking of a time Kaisen could never reach, looked somewhat sad.
And the memory of that time, the look of sorrow, seeped into the void in his soul, filling it with a poignant warmth.
“…Thank you.”
He was embarrassed, not wanting to show the emotion welling up inside him.
And yet, beyond that embarrassment, he wanted to express his sincere feelings.
He bowed his head deeply, paying his respects to the comrade of his mother and his master.
“For what?”
“For telling me that story about her just now.”
Echoes not recorded in any book, memories known only to those who lived through that era.
He wanted to know more about his master who had died smiling, but now he never could…
So hearing these memories from someone else was the only way to satisfy his curiosity and respect for her.
“Ha.”
Halbaron let out a short, dry laugh.
“That Camilla… she took on a disciple who’s just like her. The same aura. Clear and strong.”
* * *
“There have been a total of twenty-seven clashes in the Red Mountains, and you have repelled a total of twenty-seven incursions.”
Roveris had been right.
Less than two days later, Mirngadia of the Blue Star assembled the entire army on Divine Fire Peak, the main peak of the Red Mountains.
It was the first time the entire army had been assembled since the day the mountain defense line was formed, so everyone was tense.
“However, the demon forces have not been scattered. From the south of the continent, they remain a clear and present threat to humanity.”
The white hair of the uniformly arrayed FakeWarriors fluttered in the mountain wind, and each of their holy swords glittered brilliantly in the sunlight.
“Compromise with the demons is impossible. They would not have abandoned their northern campaign simply because of the mountain defense line. The only means for humanity’s survival is to eradicate the demons from this land.”
“…!”
“After a month of preparations for an expedition, humanity will launch a counterattack, with the First Army at the vanguard.”
“…?!”
“The defensive war is over. Now, the war of reclamation begins.”
The Field Marshals and FakeWarriors of the First and Third Armies saluted in unison.
Following their lead, the sound of the officers arrayed behind them striking their chests with their fists echoed across the mountaintop.
“The objective of this expedition is to first break through the central front and link up with the Ain’s western front.”
It was a deeply confusing decision.
But the word *reclamation*—the resonance it carried was powerful enough to overwhelm all confusion.
The roar of soaring morale was so fierce it seemed to blanket the entire mountain range.
“A preemptive strike after a month of preparation… Why would we abandon this natural fortress?”
But the officers thought differently.
“And after every army group has taken considerable losses,” Twal said inside the elevator heading to the garrison after the review.
“The mountain fortress has taken a big hit too. He must have decided it’s more advantageous to move out than to repair and defend it.”
“Hmm, no doubt it’s a sudden decision.”
No sooner had Alidona tried to light her pipe than she was condemned by all her comrades.
“You bitch! I told you if you smoke in an enclosed space, I’ll sew your mouth and that pipe together!”
“This is sacred smoke. If you inhale this scent, the blessing of the legendary priestess Friede will be upon you all.”
“Don’t try to justify your smoking with that bullshit, you old chain-smoker.”
“What? Old?”
Etiquette must be observed in an enclosed space.
If Camilla had been the captain in this situation, she probably would have beaten Alidona to a pulp.
Kaisen respectfully turned his gaze to the silent Roveris.
“Shifting to an offensive while at a military disadvantage… what are your thoughts on this?”
“What did you learn in `<Wiyonggeomjeon>`? It’s not a FakeWarrior’s role to form strategy. We just need to devise the right tactics for the ever-changing battlefield as it happens.”
“That is certainly what I learned, but in `<Kerkunude>`, Ria…”
“You mean Senior Sharon’s disciple. The base defense system, was it? I read the report. We’ll make an exception for her. No, even she wouldn’t have been an exception if she’d been under Lord Mirngadia’s direct command.”
Just then, the elevator doors opened.
The sudden gust of wind and the clamor of the garrison were deafeningly loud.
As she walked from the elevator into the midst of it all, Roveris left him with a meaningful remark.
“I can only give you one piece of advice. Trust in Lord Mirngadia, unconditionally. As His Majesty Halbaron said, he is one who can perceive a future even you and I cannot foresee and weave it into victory.”
*Did you know, back then?*
*That for that final battle to be woven into victory, you had to die.*
*Did you know? Or were you merely prepared for it?*
*I don’t know…*
*I never knew anything…*