Chapter 441
Chapter 441
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 441
>Chapter Title: Forget?
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“……Forget?”
At Shine’s question, the old mage nodded.
[Yes. In any case, the ‘Three Fingers’’ vow won’t be fulfilled in this era. Even if it is fulfilled in this era, it’ll be after an unimaginably long time. So, no matter what disaster he brings…….]
……It’s a distant future.
In other words.
[The disaster isn’t yours.]
It might sound cowardly at first listen, but Shine didn’t think the old mage was cowardly.
Why?
The reason was simple.
‘……For a being who lives such an immensely long span of years…….’
At that point, it was more right to see it not as an ‘entity’ with a will, but as part of a natural phenomenon.
If such a colossal existence had pursued a vow with intent over endless ages, and if it ultimately came to pass…… wouldn’t that be fate itself?
Even if it was called a disaster.
[There are truths it’s fine to turn away from at times. This is from experience, so I hope you engrave it on your heart.]
“……Experience?”
At Shine’s question, the old mage nodded.
[I too stood in opposition to block Salvatium’s vow. I dedicated my life to stopping the end that would someday come.]
It began with a small coincidence.
An exploration of ‘forbidden magic.’
Back then, restrictions on forbidden magic weren’t so severe, and black mages were fairly common.
At the time, the old man was the head of a renowned orthodox magic school, spotting new possibilities in forbidden magic and pursuing its truths.
However, restrictions weren’t entirely absent, so delving into black magic in the open had its limits.
And so, he sought out the black mages’ secret gatherings.
There, the old man could feast on knowledge to his heart’s content.
Unlike orthodox mages reluctant to reveal their visions, black mages freely shared theirs and pursued advancement. It was this openness that allowed unorganized black mages to develop and endure……
How much time had passed since attending the gatherings?
Around the time he’d grown familiar with the black mages, the old man learned one fact.
- Have you heard of the conclave?
- Conclave……?
- A secret conclave only black mages who’ve achieved transcendence can enter. A great conclave spanning hundreds…… perhaps thousands of years, all for one vow.
- Wait, transcendence?
- You don’t know?
It was a subject impossible not to take interest in.
What was transcendence?
‘……A secret conclave?’
He felt no danger. His head was simply filled with the desire…… for new knowledge.
From that day, the old man set out to find the conclave.
Beyond his usual haunts, he showed his face at other gatherings.
Thus, he burrowed deeper into the shadows.
Only then did he understand.
……Why forbidden magic was ‘forbidden.’
The forbidden magic the old man had seen was merely a cross-section…… no, the tip of the iceberg.
Dangerous yet alluring, magic brimming with vast possibilities worth braving the risks to explore.
That was the forbidden magic he’d known until then, but the forbidden magic he confronted in the depths……
‘……The devil’s incantations.’
Yes, there was no other way to put it.
Of course, even orthodox mages in the light weren’t all pure.
Some committed unspeakable acts under the banner of magical progress. And as master of a famed school, the old man knew that side well.
But the black mages’ world……
‘……Are these truly the same humans?’
It was a beasts’ domain.
Beasts without hearts, warped beasts, beasts born heartless from the start.
Transcendence and conclaves no longer piqued his curiosity.
He simply wanted to steady his spirit, tainted by glimpsing this festering realm.
……But was it fate’s jest?
On the day he resolved to cut ties with the black magic world, his final gathering.
There, the old man encountered the very existence he’d sought.
- That’s the one.
- ……?
- A transcended black mage, member of the conclave.
The black mage at the gathering was extraordinarily young.
Black magic was then a fad among upstart forces outside the establishment, so young black mages weren’t rare—but this youth was young even by those standards.
Barely past twenty, perhaps.
……Frankly, it was unbelievable.
That such a young man was a transcended black mage and conclave member?
[That was my first meeting with the Fifth Elder. He was still raw back then. Naturally not an elder yet. ……But that genius was the real deal.]
The old man gave a bitter smile, lost in reminiscence.
In hindsight, he shouldn’t have gone to that place that day. No, shouldn’t have spoken to that young black mage.
But curiosity doesn’t just kill cats.
- Hello.
- And you are?
- I am…… master of the…… school, but I’ve come seeking answers.
- ……An orthodox mage. Fine then, what does a noble soul like you crawl into this sewer to ask?
The young Fifth Elder was a touch abrasive, but he accepted the talk readily enough.
Just as the old man thirsted for forbidden knowledge, the young Fifth Elder thirsted for orthodox magic.
No, if anything, the Fifth Elder’s thirst burned fiercer than the old man’s.
Unlike black magic one could dabble in at will, orthodox magic was then the strict domain of the elite.
And from that day on.
Far from pulling away, the old man plunged into forbidden lore. The Fifth Elder was no different……
[We shared many tales. He urged me to join the conclave. Orthodox or not, master black magic afterward and transcendence would come swiftly, he said.]
The old man hesitated.
But not for long.
He was already enthralled by forbidden knowledge.
- Care to join this assembly? Not just elders this time—one of the ‘Three Fingers’ is coming, they say.
- Three Fingers?
- Indeed. Weren’t you curious? If even forbidden magic has its transcendent ones. If true transcendence beyond transcendence exists.
- ……I was.
- The elders alone can answer what you seek. But…… not curious for more?
Transcendence—and beyond?
- The mighty ‘Three Fingers’ hold those answers.
Curiosity welled up.
‘Three Fingers’?
Beings who’d attained beyond transcendence?
Thus he attended Salvatium’s assembly.
……It was rather enjoyable.
Black mages then weren’t so insular, nor even those dubbed pinnacle gold horse mages.
The old man learned much of their black magic.
How far into the revelry?
The elders arrived.
Then some more time……
- Ah, one of the ‘Three Fingers’ is here!
And then.
……To be honest, he remembered nothing after. Or rather, memories existed, but vague ones.
The instant he beheld the ‘Three Fingers’—
- Uwaaaaaagh……!
Why?
It felt like gazing on the forbidden. Human form, unmistakably—yet those eyes cradled something.
The ‘Three Fingers’ was no human, plain as day.
Afterward, memories blurred, as mentioned.
Vomiting, mind in tangles, ineffable knowledges flooding in. He must’ve spoken with the ‘Three Fingers,’ yet that part was blank.
When the turmoil cleared and sense returned, days had passed.
Memories: a handful.
[The conclave’s vow and…….]
……Terror.
From that day, the old man settled affairs and fled the city. The Fifth Elder called several times before departure, but he showed no face.
One thought consumed him.
[……Must stop it.]
“…….”
[I knew I fell short. Thought one man couldn’t do it. No, even a few gathered—impossible, I thought. But, but, but…….]
Fear.
Too terrified to sit idle as the disaster crept near.
How near?
When?
Ignorance, pure dread in the waiting.
Inaction terrified more than confrontation.
So the old man moved.
[I exposed black mages’ perils to the world. Salvatium’s existence too. But…….]
“No one believed.”
[……They were everywhere.]
The era’s climate aided them.
Booming new powers shunned stodgy traditional mages, backing shadow black mages instead. Not a few even studied it themselves.
The societal mood differed from today……
In any case.
[Thus I battled my lifetime. To avert the end. Well?]
The old man smiled bitterly, gazing at his form. Translucent shell. Fading even now, lips twisting ever more sour.
[Has the end arrived? Then what of this earth, that sky?]
“…….”
[A life shackled by fear. Death brought suffering as toll. Yet honestly, I wonder.]
Precisely……
[……What was I fleeing?]
The old mage’s message, in essence:
[Colossi are too vast; mere being devours lifetimes of the minuscule. Unseen, no issue—but seen, shake it free. Never let fear burn your days.]
Thus.
[Forget.]
With that, the old mage clamped his mouth shut.
And……
Shhh.
His shape hazed.
Shine watched silently, imprinting the sight. Then, at the fading old mage, murmured low.
“Rest easy.”
[……Grateful.]
There the talk ended.
Once the old mage vanished fully.
Shine echoed his words.
“……Forget?”
Forgetting was simple.
The ‘Three Fingers’’ presence overwhelmed, its trans-spatial core beyond even Shine’s grasp.
Yet not enough to seize a lifetime whole.
That marked old mage and Shine apart.
Still, why?
‘……Won’t be so easy.’
Should the ‘Three Fingers’ lurk shadows as through ages past, forgettable.
Dismiss as someday-volcano, not erupting yet.
But.
- Till next time.
Those words.
Somehow weighty……
“Eh, whatever.”
With that, Shine wiped the ‘Three Fingers’’ presence from mind.
As said, ‘Three Fingers’—disaster of unknown hour. Decades? Centuries? Unknown.
Thus, not the priority now.
Rather……
Shine turned, gazing heavenward.
Cloud-piercing titan peak. Majesty awed, yet eyes held faint unease.
“You wicked bastard.”
Yes, him—the issue.
If Decullan Patriarch truly rivaled ‘Arch Mage’ rank, outcomes ahead? Shine dared not predict.
……Skyward gaze lingering, Shine strode to sanctuary’s warp gate.
But Shine knew not.
Before warp gate’s reach, intruders already breached the sanctuary.