Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Name of Sharrilion
-----------------------------------------------------------------
「I stood against Yotos, who descended with Tersia and Tervel. At the end of that bloody battle, I was certain I could finish him…」
Why was he telling me this?
Karenden placed a hand on the guardian, Enuel, his expression on the verge of tears.
「But I failed. I was the one who failed. Do you know why? Back then, afflicted by Yotos’s Abyss, I could only accomplish one thing.」
“...?”
「Either save Asura, who was dying, consumed by the Abyss, or finish Yotos.」
Black mist gathered from all around, coalescing into forms.
They were the juvenile shapes of the Fire Dragon Vel'dakitun, the Water Dragon Yeriserica, and the Light Dragon Haraderiman—dragons Karenden had raised like his own children.
Karenden, who had been murmuring quietly with his head down, finally looked up at me.
「You are well aware of the result of my choice. It was because of me. The reason you, all of you, and the world still suffer so much. I failed to finish Yotos as he fled this world. If only I had ended it then…」
I could see it.
An Abyss, incomparable to a king's, was eating away at his soul like an insect.
I couldn't imagine how he was even moving, but he had said he was like Mirngadia of the Blue Star, having abandoned his physical body to move only as a spirit.
Karenden's confession was shocking.
What was truly shocking was that his self-deprecating confession wasn't shocking at all.
It felt all too natural that I felt no desire to blame or resent him.
There was only one reason.
Because of the single ray of light that had seeped into my heart. The name of that life's light was Tarsiyo.
“Your Holiness, you already know what I’m going to say. You are Tarsiyo’s father, after all.”
「……?」
“Honestly, I don’t have the mind to say anything to Your Holiness. Nor do I have the right. But I don’t resent you. And I don’t think you failed.”
It was strange how this confession of the heart came without any hesitation.
Was I always this good at speaking without faltering?
I could almost hear her laughter, chuckling beside my own embarrassed heart.
*Stop laughing.*
*I'm really trying here.*
“Because Your Holiness sent Tarsiyo to me.”
「Is that all?」
“It is all, but it is not. It’s because Your Holiness never gave up until the very end, because you didn’t give up in the agony of the Abyss gnawing at your soul, that Tarsiyo and I were able to meet, isn’t it?”
Tarsiyo. Just being with her made everything in the world seem beautiful.
The trees, the stones, the wind…
It felt as though all the things I had passed by without a thought in my daily life were given names and painted with color.
Just by giggling over the silliest things, I could forget all my past suffering and find myself laughing as brightly as a child.
Perhaps that was why I was now bowing deeply.
“I thank you with all my heart, Your Holiness Karenden. This is my answer.”
Karenden stared at me with wide eyes, then turned his glistening gaze to a distant point.
The scent of Tarsiyo lingered in his eyes.
The resemblance between father and daughter, even in the simple act of turning his head, was both welcome and sad.
「Living only in despair, I thought I had forgotten even how to dream.」
“Pardon?”
「Just now, I imagined a different world. One where we didn't meet like this, but in a world of peace. Tarsiyo would bring you to me, to introduce you… I would have looked upon you with disapproval, feeling like you were stealing my daughter away, but Maxencia would have liked you from the start, and you two would have talked about this and that…」
“No, absolutely not. We could only have met because the world is like this. We’re not in the same league.”
「I will return to you the same words Maxencia once told me. Do not blaspheme the destiny of the ties ordained by the Creator Gods from the beginning of time. Whatever the world was like, you two would have met, you would have grown to like each other, and having met and liked each other, you were destined to eventually fall in love.」
His words pierced my heart like a sharp pain, a joy akin to agony, and left me speechless.
「Kaisen, we were not able to live such a life, but let us help others live one. That is why we were loved within the order of creation, and it is how we can return that love to the world.」
“Yes, Master.”
「Do not call me that.」
*Oops*, I thought.
I immediately bowed my head.
“Please forgive my rudeness. I apologize. I spent so much time in the Mythical Era that I’ve grown accustomed to the same title Sir Enuel uses…”
「That is not what I meant.」
“Pardon?”
「I suppose I can entrust Tarsiyo to you. When we meet again in the kingdom above, please take good care of her. Therefore, you may call me Father.」
The Karenden from the Mythical Era was not someone who would say such things…
Karenden smiled awkwardly.
Soon, fleeting laughter echoed through this illusory world. It was a laugh that trembled with great sadness.
Enuel, who had been silently standing by Karenden’s side, his core light flickering, finally spoke.
[While your succession ceremony was underway, Master Karenden successfully combined all seven verses of the Genesis Cantos and fused them with your soul.]
“I see.”
[Do you understand what this means? It means you have now become an Eldia. Identification number Omek (06), Eldia Omek. Now, with the pride of a kindling in your heart, go forth to your place of duty.]
“I will not go to my place of duty.”
I shook my head. I struck my heart with my fist, then straightened that fist to salute, pointing at them.
This was the salute of an AuthenticWarrior.
Only now did I truly understand that this salute meant, *I will carry on your will*.
“I will go to ‘our’ place of duty, Senior.”
Being a mechanical body, Enuel's expression was unreadable, but I knew the meaning of the silences he revealed during conversations like this.
I knew all too well.
But I would neither say nor show it. I turned back to Karenden.
“Well then, Your Holiness, I shall be on my way.”
「No, wait. There is one very important thing left to discuss.」
“If you’re referring to the title of ‘Father,’ that’s a bit…”
It was a rude remark.
Karenden was by no means a playful person.
「Not that. It is about the one who engraved Yurvelmung upon your soul. Stay and listen.」
The Mythical Era,
Tarhye RondelㆍEldiaㆍRebirth (15)
Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance knew the boy would die soon.
The lives of FakeWarriors were like lanterns. They burned their own lives as oil to illuminate the world, only to be extinguished in vain…
But she had thought that perhaps this miracle child, raised with Raminea’s love, might be different.
No.
She had prayed desperately.
A chilling pain scraped across her mind as Kaisen’s consciousness, connected to the Thunderous Fragrance Heart Resonance Formation, was severed.
The formation did not sever in this way when someone lost consciousness.
This pain, this cold ache like a flower being snapped from its stem, occurred only when the subject had died.
「Ah, ahh…」
Setsunen staggered, her hands fumbling at the empty air, before collapsing to the ground with nothing to support her.
“Your Excellency!”
“Your Excellency Setsunen!”
The cold of Halbadonia remained sharp even after the otherworldly frost storm had ceased.
Endless tears streamed from Setsunen’s eyes, freezing into frost on her cheeks. New tears would melt the frost, only to freeze again.
Through her blurry, shattering vision, she saw the massive, collapsed remains of Alma Rondel.
The debris of Alma Rondel could not be cleared by spatial transfer, nor could it be pulverized by great power.
It could be destroyed if they concentrated all their forces, but that would endanger the lives of Kaisen and Tarsiyo, who might still be below.
So, the allied soldiers had been working together to clear the rubble. And yet…
*What am I to do, what am I to do…*
How did he die?
Ryukael… how did he defeat that ancient warrior?
What kind of pain did he endure in the process? How much did it hurt? How weary must he have been?
Ah, how hard he must have tried…
While burning away the last, tearfully small handful of his remaining lifespan.
- Aunt Nen! Aunt Nen! Look at this.
Tears could only find refuge in memories of a distant day.
When she had met Raminea again, who was living in hiding at the edge of the world, having built a family happier than any other…
Aidin had come out holding their daughter to greet her, and Raminea, smiling as brightly as a child, had proudly shown off their son.
- This is my son. Isn’t he beautiful?
- Yes, he is lovely. He looks just like you, truly beautiful.
- We named him Kaisen.
- Kaisen? As in, ‘connection’?
- Yes. Uncle Mir gave me the name ‘flower fragrance.’ I wanted to impart a similar wish.
Back then, Raminea…
As if her son, Kaisen, whom she had borne, was the most precious treasure in all the world…
She held him tightly in her arms, carefully and deliberately, a smile overflowing with love on her face.
- I hope that one day, this child will grow up to be an adult who protects the connections between people, just like you, Aunt Nen.
- He will, I’m sure of it.
- Though I won’t be there to see it.
- Raminea…
- So, Auntie, could you watch over him for me? If you watch over and look after him… so that this child can grow into a wonderful adult.
Setsunen began to sob aloud, casting aside even her dignity as one of the Three Shadow Dragons.
*Raminea, your son…*
The son you bore, raised, and cared for with such love…
Even though I couldn’t look after him…
He lived a life that matched the wish you put into his name that day—no, a life that surpassed your wish and became even greater…
*After living such a life, he has now departed forever, just like you…*
She was ashamed of her own inadequacy, grieving more for Kaisen’s death than for that of Tarsiyo, the symbol of hope and descendant of The Ones Who Came.
- Your Excellency, please, send me underground. Kaisen can’t, ugh, face that being alone…
Johan Wolf Frost, who had lost three of his four limbs, had pleaded until the very end to be allowed to help Kaisen.
She had reassured him, telling him not to worry and that they would surely return together, before transferring him to the rear…
How was she supposed to tell that boy?
To that boy who had lost all his companions, even the Camilla he had loved, and had been living in sorrowful solitude…
It was at that moment.
A flash of sacred light soared to the heavens.
A holy light erupted from the ground, piercing, blasting away, and shattering the debris.
No, that sword light was…?
Setsunen held her breath. Was she hallucinating? This couldn't be. Those two were surely… but, yet, perhaps.
The light was blindingly white.
White, sharp, and elegant.
The light of Sharrilion, known as the noblest of the five True Holy Swords. The sword would not release its power on its own.
Tarsiyo was alive.
And just maybe, there was a chance Kaisen was alive too. She knew. She knew it was next to impossible. Still, still…
“Your Excellency, I think Lady Tarsiyo is returning!”
Soon, the master of Sharrilion ascended from below ground through the path cleared through the debris.
Amidst a tumultuous silence, soldiers swarmed around, forgetting all rank and station.
But as Setsunen staggered forward, they parted to either side, awed by her sacred dignity.
「……?」
Setsunen couldn't believe her eyes.
She could not believe the reality before her.
It was said that the AuthenticWarriors, the Eldia warriors created by Karenden from fragments of light, all had ash-gray hair.
As if to symbolize the ephemerality of their fate, to burn as kindling and scatter as ash.
It was similar in nature to a FakeWarrior’s hair turning white as a side effect of channeling a dragon’s power and fighting, but the color was different.
And yet…
The being that appeared before her now had the ash-gray hair of the old AuthenticWarriors.
He was familiar, yet unfamiliar.
The True Holy Sword Sharrilion, held in his hand, was crying out with a ferocity incomparable to when it was in its previous master's hands.
And…
In his arms, he held a woman.
Someone whose skin had rotted to a blackish-blue, evidence that her body had been completely consumed by the Abyss…
A few of the soldiers who recognized the corpse let out groans of despair.
It was Tarsiyo.
Caduel floated beside the body as if in attendance, emitting an orange light as it carried the fragments of Alkaios and Ryukael.
Something was wrong.
So Setsunen rubbed her eyes.
But, but, nothing changed. The one holding Sharrilion was that boy, Kaisen.
「Kaisen…?」
She still couldn't believe it, but her voice managed to come out, trembling.
In that moment, she sensed another anomaly.
The Thunderous Fragrance Heart Resonance Formation could not connect to his mind. The formation was a power that only reached beings of equal or lower standing than Setsunen.
In other words, it could not reach True Dragons like Akirea, Mirngadia, or the Five Lords.
*Other than Father…*
For 300 years, there had been only one person in a human body whom her formation could not reach…
*The only one this was possible for was Yonghyeon…*
Did this mean this boy now possessed a status comparable to, or perhaps even surpassing, his?
From Kaisen’s body, all the power he had absorbed until now—fragments of the Light Dragon Haraderiman, the Five Lords' Yoshuhar, and Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance—was being emitted with overwhelming pressure.
And just as powerful, perhaps even more so, were the energies of unfamiliar fragments.
Yet, his body seemed to bear no burden.
The form of the Draconic Armor, which only manifested when he was in a state of Spirit Dragon Liberation, was clearer than reality itself.
And that wasn't all.
Black-gold metals of a material unknown and unknowable were reinforcing the Draconic Armor here and there, adding to its majesty.
How could equipment bound to the soul be reinforced? Setsunen herself could not believe it.
She had no way of knowing that this was the legacy of the Primor Armor, received upon uniting with the soul of Eldia Kata (05), Enuel.
「What happened… What about Lady Tarsiyo?」
Setsunen would regret those words she had absentmindedly uttered that day for the rest of her life.
Kaisen’s gaze, which for a moment wandered through the air in agony as if his heart had been pierced by a blade…
Kaisen approached Setsunen and handed Tarsiyo’s body to her. The body of one of The Ones Who Came was lighter than a dry leaf.
“Please take care of Tarsiyo.”
「The thing in your hand…?」
“It’s Alkaios’s core chip. Ryukael kept it on her person. She must have intended to revive him. Sir Caduel will hold onto this.”
What on earth was he talking about…?
As Nen blinked blankly, Kaisen walked away, and Caduel, following him, emitted a light.
[Take Yoniyoollan, Eldia Omek (06). According to the database, Omek (06) was designed to be able to wield the armaments of all other Eldia.]
Without looking back at Caduel, Kaisen extended his hand and ‘commanded.’
“Come, Yoniyoollan.”
At that moment, from somewhere deep within the earth, a cruel violet light erupted, tearing through the collapsed wreckage.
Another True Holy Sword, Yoniyoollan.
Compared to Sharrilion, Yoniyoollan’s sword light felt fierce and agitated. Like a hunting dog on a leash.
Spinning with a violet afterimage, Yoniyoollan flew into Kaisen’s hand and let out a rough bark. Sharrilion resonated with a clear cry.
[I also recommend you retrieve my armament, Hysgivide, from Vete (02) Rondel. I will also track the location coordinates of Eldia Alma (01)’s Gladiel and Rivelden.]
The light of those great… legendary sword glimmers was carved into the hearts of all who witnessed it as a tremor.
Overcome with a surging, sobbing thrill, the soldiers began to kneel one by one in reverence.
They themselves did not know exactly what, what tremor of the heart, had made them fall to their knees.
Only the historians of a later age could capture that emotion in a single sentence.
That day, a hero returned to this world.
From that day forward, the hero did not call himself Kaisen, nor did historians record him as such.
Kaisen Yere Sharrilion.
Or Kaisen Yere Radoniyen (True Holy Sword).
The former means ‘Master of Sharrilion,’ and the latter, ‘Master of all True Holy Swords.’
Of course, those who knew him still called him Kaisen, but in accordance with his own final wish, he would be recorded in the annals of history only by the name Sharrilion.
“The name Kaisen died here today.”
Kaisen said, crossing Sharrilion and Yoniyoollan on his back. The electromagnetic force of the Primor back-plate secured the two blades firmly.
*Tarsiyo.*
*You saved me when I should have died, and you died in my place. So it's only right that the rest of my life should be for you.*
*That’s why I am Sharrilion.*
*Only by using this name can I be with you.*
*Then you, who were once called Sharrilion by the world, will never be forgotten.*
*So I will do everything in the name of Sharrilion. So that one day, when you meet Lady Maxencia, you will have much to be proud of…*
*I'm sorry.*
*That I received so much from you, but this is all I can do in return.*
「You are not yet well, where are you going? My dear child, ah, Kaisen…!」
Setsunen’s urgent cry reached him.
He could rest easy in that warm, motherly shade… but he couldn't.
He shouldn't. Tarsiyo Yere Sharrilion would not have done so.
He merely turned his head.
He decided to leave only a short, firm answer to the question, ‘Where are you going?’
As he spoke, particles of light coalesced around his head, forming the helmet of the Draconic Armor, modeled after the majesty of a dragon.
“To end this war.”