Chapter 433
Chapter 433
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 433
>Chapter Title: A Small Debt. Don't Forget.
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"......Hmm."
"Huh."
Exclamations of awe erupted simultaneously.
The observers watching Pahren's challenge were all struck with shock, without exception.
To be honest, at first, it had seemed utterly ridiculous.
Overlapping waves of mana. Powerful.
But that was it.
'It's still crude at best.'
'An amateurish trick.'
It had gotten a bit trickier, but in terms of level, it wasn't much different.
Mana held no malice. It simply reflected and overlapped. And even that overlap had its limits. The aura from a grand mage who had reached the pinnacle was far more vicious.
But.
Even so, the reason they were shocked was something else.
Down there....
Blue flames.
Chillingly blue flames that spanned the space, incinerating the endlessly overlapping mana.
It wasn't ordinary magic.
It was something more abstract than magic.
Like a master artist expressing an abstract concept beyond words in a painting, Pahren had manifested something in magic that words could not describe.
So, what had Pahren manifested?
The seven gazes saw different things.
Some saw a wall.
Some saw a goal.
Some....
Envy, jealousy, or fear. Or perhaps awe.
......Like that.
One step.
Pahren's foot touched the ground. The flames roared, devouring the mana. Not a single ripple occurred. Near-perfect annihilation.
The annihilation repeated.
Step by step.
Pahren advanced, annihilating the mana. In truth, it wasn't annihilation. It was voracious consumption. Simply devouring it.
The mana.
And Kahazar watched the scene with complex eyes.
'......Pahren.'
What to call it.
'Arrogant......'
To Kahazar, Pahren seemed to be declaring it outright.
This is the realm I have ascended to.
If you can touch it, then come and try.
Because he knew nothing could shake him, no matter what was done. Because he knew he could overwhelm everything.
That was why he could reveal it all like this.
'How did you ascend to it.'
He couldn't understand.
The talent of Pahren that Kahazar knew was respectable, but far from exceptional.
Too mediocre to call genius, yet a cut above average.
So, what kind of time had he spent?
When he heard the news that Pahren had reached transcendence, he knew the effort hadn't been ordinary. But witnessing it with his own eyes like this made it even harder to believe.
Indeed, was that......
The young man who had protected himself with arrogance really him?
Unbelievable.
'What in the world......'
What kind of time had he endured.
No, in truth, he knew.
How could he not.
Pahren's life could be gleaned just from the fact that he was the 'Patriarch of Decullan.'
The Patriarch's four sons.
The third among them.
The one with the weakest magical talent, the previous Patriarch's unwanted finger.
For such a man to ascend to the Patriarch's seat meant he had endured that much desperation.
Was that why.
For a moment, just a moment.
Kahazar recalled the old Pahren from his memories and fell into sentiment.
'......Impressive.'
A boy of the Empire's nobility, blood of a famed house, yet sent alone to a foreign academy with no power.
The young mage who had to stand on his own to bear the weight of his lofty family name looked quite precarious.
In truth, Kahazar's approach to that mage had been born not of cheap pity, but of something crueler.
A sense of superiority.
But.
......The time spent with the young mage hadn't been bad at all.
Too shallow for friendship, too heavy for mere networking...... a clumsy bond had formed like that.
......Why was that.
He didn't know.
It wasn't empathy.
What common ground could there be between himself, already touted as a prime candidate for Patriarch, and a bloodline member practically discarded by his family.
Even now, he didn't know the reason.
But whatever the reason......
- It might be the last time. If you have any lingering attachments to life, come find me. I could take you in as a guest.
- Arrogant words.
A closeness where they could toss words at each other without reservation.
They had that.
......Of course, time had long since faded it to a blur.
Anyway.
Was it because old memories resurfaced.
Suddenly, Kahazar recalled the debt he owed Pahren from long ago.
......Foolishly, back when he had been betrayed by his younger brother and was on the run.
Not as the Young Patriarch of the Kutlan Family, but as a loser in the succession struggle, wandering the continent—that was when Kahazar encountered Pahren.
- Haha, too harsh to call it coincidence.
- As if I went looking for you.
- Really a coincidence?
- If anything, you came looking for me.
- Hardly. Our bond wasn't that deep, was it.
That day, Pahren returned the words Kahazar had said when they parted.
- So, any lingering attachments to life? If you want, I'll take you in as a guest. Just like you offered me.
- Decullan? Taking me as a guest? You're lucky if they don't sell you off.
- Decullan might.
- ......?
That day, Pahren made a proposal.
- You didn't drift to the Empire without a plan. Here, take this. Should be enough to scheme something.
- This is......
What Pahren handed over was a considerable sum at the time.
Enough to contact his scattered supporters, just enough to catch his breath.
And he said.
- This should more than repay the debt I owed you, with some left over.
- Debt?
- Yes, a debt. I owed you one, so subtracting that, it's still a proper debt, if not huge.
- What debt do you......
He asked in confusion, but Pahren didn't answer. Or rather, there was no time to listen. Pursuers were closing in by the second.
- Go.
- Thank y......
- A small debt. Don't forget.
That was the last with Pahren.
After that, he rallied his supporters and ousted his brother. He reclaimed the Young Patriarch's seat, and after more time, ascended to Patriarch. The day he learned his father had incited his brother, it was a seat he had earned himself.
News of Pahren came only sporadically as rumors.
They never met.
Decullan was best avoided from the start.
But then, one day after time passed.
A letter from Decullan's envoy.
A small debt.
A short message and an invitation to observe at the Sanctuary.
......Suddenly, lost in the past, a question arose in Kahazar.
'A small debt.'
Was the repayment Pahren sought truly just attending the Sanctuary? Or was there more?
Words change weight depending on who speaks them.
The 'small debt' from the Pahren who couldn't even become Young Patriarch back then, and the 'small debt' from the Pahren now challenging an Archmage—couldn't help but feel different in weight.
Having witnessed Pahren's realm with his own eyes, Kahazar could only ponder.
'What is it you want.'
......While Kahazar was lost in old memories and contemplation.
"You have passed the Sea Path. Then......"
Pahren passed the Sea Path and moved straight to the Land Path. He cleared that without much difficulty as well.
Finally, the Sky Path.
"......"
Aster silently watched Pahren.
The blazing flames.
And......
The new realm Pahren had so brazenly displayed.
It rang in his ears.
- Well, what will you do.
That arrogant voice.
* * *
The Fourth Elder, racing through the Sanctuary corridors in the puppet Hermit, suddenly stopped and looked up.
'Ha, haha...... this madman.'
Was this even human.
An enormous wave of mana pulsed even to this distant place. Distance aside...... to feel it so vividly even in the puppet's body.
'A monster, indeed.'
But that was that.
"Hmm."
The Fourth Elder narrowed his eyes and scanned the surroundings. One of the two puppets was stationed near the Sanctuary observers. Nothing unusual there......
'......This side's the problem.'
It was certain that a fragment of Reverse Heaven was in the Sanctuary.
But.
'Why isn't it visible?'
He had first checked the Sanctuary library. Perfect place to hide a Reverse Heaven fragment.
But deploying detection magic to discern grimoires, the library was not it.
And the place the Fourth Elder had just visited was the Sanctuary treasury.
But.
'Not here either.'
The Fourth Elder frowned. Both prime candidates had turned up empty.
The Sanctuary layout he had memorized over the past few days ended there.
'I could extract the puppet's memories for more detail, but......'
Not that simple, and suddenly using such methods would release black mana that couldn't be hidden. Though at this point, hiding it seemed pointless anyway.
'Not yet.'
Best to proceed with utmost caution.
The Fourth Elder cautiously stepped into the shadows.
With most Hermits gathered at the arena of trials, no one obstructed his path.
* * *
Meanwhile, as the Fourth Elder wandered the Sanctuary using the puppet.
A group was gathering in the Seshtairon Mountains.
No, 'group' was just words. They were individuals, not banding together.
Statuses varied wildly.
Elderly merchants, middle-aged farmers, dark-skinned fishermen, soldiers bearing noble crests on their chests, down to rural village elders.
Some wore robes like mages, others carried spears and swords like mercenaries.
Ages and occupations.
All different.
But one thing in common.
......Their destination: the Seshtairon Mountains.
"......"
"......"
As they neared the mountains, they inevitably crossed paths, pausing to eye each other before silently moving on.
No greetings, just quiet.
A bizarre sight.
Dozens, hundreds heading to one place, yet not a single group among them.
But the moment an old man appeared, the situation changed.
"......All gathered."
A low voice.
"......!"
"......!"
Those facing the old man widened their eyes. Then they promptly knelt, bowing their heads to the ground.
"Fourth Elder......"
"Fifth Elder!"
The old man's identity: one of Salvatium's elders.
A position granted recognition by the 'Three Fingers of Salvatium.'
One who pursued immortality, living nearly a millennium, the longest-serving among all elders excluding the Three Fingers.
And he stood here.
Breaking centuries of seclusion.
......Why?
The reason was clear.
'......Reverse Heaven.'
To seize that transcendent artifact that could fulfill the conclave's vow.
Even a mere fragment was enough to move him.
"The Fourth Elder seems to be struggling. We should lend a hand."
The Fifth Elder said with a faint smile.
That prideful, suspicious Fourth Elder had asked for help. Part of him wanted to crush that pride thoroughly, but......
'For the vow.'
The Fifth Elder gladly took the Fourth Elder's hand.