Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: The Demon and the Archmage (5)
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The pitch-black clouds were parting, brilliant rays of light piercing through the widening gaps.
The sky over the Demon Realm was gradually regaining its clear blue. The source of the foul demonic energy that had blanketed everything—the Great Demon—had perished. If the Elga Church's purification efforts went as planned, this place might one day become a fertile land teeming with life.
Yet the faces of those who had slain the Great Demon and saved this land were far from bright.
"Gale! Gale!"
"Brother Gale! Where are you, Brother Gale?!"
"Lord Gale...? Why... why did Lord Gale disappear after Lord Kadim...?"
One companion had vanished through the rift, and now another had gone missing without a trace.
Gale hadn't even left a farewell letter, let alone footprints. Had he set off in search of the vanished Kadim? Had he fallen to some lingering high demon? Or had he achieved his goal and returned alone ahead of them? There was no way to know.
Their desperate cries echoed emptily into the void. The fruitless search dragged on endlessly. Neither the grand sorcery of finding a needle in the desert nor the great communion with the earth yielded even the slightest clue.
How long had they wandered this land where demon corpses piled into mountains and demon blood formed rivers?
Exhausted, the priests, mages, and shrine maidens finally collapsed in defeat.
"......"
"......"
"......"
The three who remained stared blankly at the twilight sky in silence.
...Kadim and Gale weren't just 'one of the companions.'
Kadim was the ironclad shield who had gathered us all and protected us from evil.
Gale was the radiant beacon who encouraged us never to give up and lit the path ahead.
The two of them had played the greatest roles... They were the spiritual pillars of our group.
Having lost both our 'light' and 'steel,' we could never be the same. We wandered the Demon Realm aimlessly, lost as to what to do or where to go, clinging only to the faint hope of finding them and returning together.
But hope went unfulfilled, and another unexpected farewell arrived...
Gordon pried apart his cracked lips with effort.
"I'm sorry, sisters. I think... I need to return to the Holy City now."
The priest's face was even gloomier and darker than his bloodstained robes. His weary shoulders slumped, making his massive frame seem far smaller than before.
"I must keep my promise to report the results of our journey to the Church. If I'm too late, they'll assume the expedition failed and dispatch a massive force. That would pull away the Holy Knights focused on defense and the priests handling relief efforts, causing chaos in the Holy City for sure..."
"......"
"......"
Cyril looked pained at yet another parting but had no choice but to accept it. Melissa, however, couldn't comprehend Gordon's words.
"Is that report really that important? After all the life-and-death struggles we've been through together to get here... Kadim and Gale are gone!"
"...I'm truly sorry I can't stay and help more. But I swear by Elga, I'm not abandoning the search for the two of you. The fact that we haven't found even a trace suggests some inscrutable will beyond our understanding may be at play. I'll check the Church's ancient archives for clues..."
"Ha, don't make me laugh. What clues could be buried in those moldy stacks of scriptures? Oh, or are you planning to look for a way to that place from before, where we promised to 'meet in the field where the sun never sets'?"
"......"
"If that's it, I already know! No need to search. It's where you go when you die, right? I'll summon hellfire right here, and we can all burn together..."
"Melissa... enough."
A frail voice reined in the raging mage. Cyril grabbed Melissa's collar and shook her head.
"You know how much the priest has labored for us. No one has the right to demand more devotion from him. And do you think he's at ease suggesting this...?"
"......"
Melissa bit her lip, her fists trembling, but she couldn't bring herself to scold her too. The blind shrine maiden turned her head and offered a calm farewell.
"Thank you so much for everything, priest. As you say, I hope the Church uncovers some clue about the two. I pray this parting isn't forever, and that Atala's indomitable spirit accompanies you..."
"...Sister Cyril, Sister Melissa. Once more, I sincerely apologize for leaving first without staying longer. May the solemn light guide your paths as well..."
"I don't need blessings from that peeping-tom god, so just get lost already!"
"......"
Gordon bowed his head solemnly. Turning his body stiffly like a wooden doll, he finally tore his feet from the ground. Toward the east, where the sun squinted warily, he staggered step by step.
The shrine maiden, whose heart weighed like a boulder, and the mage, whose temper burned like wildfire...
Neither tore their gaze from the priest's back until he faded into a faint smudge beyond the horizon.
...Three had departed, leaving only Sister Cyril and me.
Before recording what followed, let me state clearly: I don't hate her.
On the contrary. I can say with certainty—she's one of the few people I've truly opened my heart to in a lifetime of solitude, someone more precious than my own life.
But at that moment, there was no helping it.
We were both utterly exhausted, heartbroken, in agony. We harbored inseparable grief with no one left to cushion between us. For the first time, I realized that someone grieving more than me could spark bone-deep jealousy and hatred.
Looking back, it was utterly childish. If I could return to that time... I'd handle it a bit better, perhaps.
It's all uncertain. The inexorable flow of time permits no reversal. The boiling emotions have long evaporated, and I have no assurance I've become a better person since. At best, with this sliver of objective insight now, I can only judge it thus:
On soil soaked with unceasing tears, no flames of memorial could rise for the departed.
The friction and parting between her and me... were inevitable.
In the barren fringes of the Demon Realm, a sleepless night offered no respite. Relentless, heartrending sobs chilled the air.
"Hic... Lord Kadim... Lord Kadim... Where... where did you go... Hic..."
"......"
"Hic, sob... I'm... I'm sorry... I... I should've... found a solution sooner somehow..."
Cyril didn't know.
That Melissa, who should have been asleep long after her watch, lay awake. That she'd spent the night staring into the dark. That she'd listened to every hour of sobs and sighs without missing a beat.
Melissa thought.
How long would Sister Cyril keep crying like that? Did she truly believe Kadim's departure was her fault? Or was she forcing self-blame to heighten her own emotions...?
She hadn't started with such thoughts. At first, she'd empathized with the grief, even wiping away her own tears in secret. But hundreds upon hundreds of repetitions twisted her mind into this.
At its root was this:
Why does only she grieve so long, so openly, so devastatingly?
I'm the one who's truly sadder.
"...Enough, Sister. How long do you plan to cry?"
The words burst out impulsively. Cyril wiped her tears and looked up startled.
"Melissa...? Oh, you weren't asleep?"
"...How could I sleep with someone sobbing like that beside me?"
"S-Sorry... I was too loud... Sorry, so sorry. I'll be quiet now..."
"Don't apologize. Why do you always apologize like some saint? Making me the villain just for speaking up."
"......"
Dawn's chill descended with heavy silence.
After a brief hesitation, Cyril asked if something unpleasant had happened during the day, offering to apologize for that too.
Hearing that, Melissa snapped.
"You think you're the kindest, most pitiful, saddest person in the world, don't you...?"
"...Huh?"
"Be honest. You do. That no one else in the world is as kind, pitiful, or sad as you."
"N-No... What are you saying, Melissa...? I've never thought that..."
"No, it's fine. I think so too, anyway. That's why you cry like that. You're the great Shrine Maiden of the Wilderness. The perfect match for Atala's Great Warrior. You thought you'd live happily ever after once the journey ended, but your precious half went mad and vanished senselessly. The tragic heroine who lived virtuously her whole life, achieved great feats, yet met cruel fate!"
"......"
Her tone sharpened with emotion. She kept lashing out at Cyril's dazed gaze.
"You have no idea how I feel, what my position is. Maybe you look down on me for only being here a few months. But even so, I've been with Kadim the longest—me!"
"......"
"Even I'm holding it together like this, so why only you—why only you get to cry freely, express your love openly, be acknowledged by everyone as the perfect pair... You came later than me... Why only you—why only you...!"
"...Melissa."
Her pent-up words spilled out incoherently. Even Melissa didn't know what she was trying to say. Yet the Shrine Maiden of the Wilderness listened silently, without rebuke or mockery.
That attitude made it harder to endure. As the long confession ended, crushing self-loathing and shame surged in. Melissa wiped the tears staining her cheeks and shot to her feet.
"...Sorry. For dragging out this weird talk in the middle of the night. But... I don't think I can stay by your side anymore. Being near you makes me feel so insignificant, my grief so trivial."
"......"
"I've gotten used to using 'True Sight' in place of eyes now, right? The Wilderness isn't far from here, so no need to escort me. Thanks for everything. And someday... I hope we can meet again with emotionless smiles, Sister."
"W-Wait, Melissa...! Let's talk more instead of..."
Cyril scrambled up, but Melissa didn't turn back. She cast a pre-prepared spell and vanished from her side in an instant.
The midnight darkness slowly lifted. Faint auroras gathered in the sky. A new dawn broke over the land where the Great Demon had fallen. But to Melissa, with a gaping hole in her heart, it felt like the crude finale of some cheap tragedy.
It had been four full years since leaving home, lured by a savage's temptation.
The Archmage Melissa was alone once more.
...After that, I wandered the continent alone, chasing traces of my vanished comrades.
I visited the frigid north plagued by blizzards, the volcanic south, the chaotic east rife with faction wars, the rising Lucaonia Kingdom on the cusp of empire, the great forest where elves were said to dwell, and even returned to the Demon Realm and Wilderness.
Nowhere yielded even a hint. The solitary search, longer than the quest to slay the Great Demon, ended as pointless wasted time.
Or not entirely pointless... I'd picked up a demon on the brink of starvation in the Demon Realm.
My future comrades would freak out if they knew. But it wasn't atonement for the demons I'd slain. I wanted to prove what Gordon had once said: 'Demons weren't always such wicked beings.'
(Detailed experiment logs on that demon, 'Akula,' are attached to Research Topic 334 → 'Can a Demon Truly Become Human?')
After concluding the search, I established the 'Magic Tower' near my hometown as planned. Not out of pure intent to teach magic like before. After endless wandering, I'd reached one conclusion, and pursuing it required collective aid.
That conclusion was this:
Kadim is no longer on this continent—this world.
The rift that appeared when the Great Demon died leads to another world.
To find Kadim, I must artificially create that rift to another world.
I've numbered research topics by order of inspiration. But this is an exception. It's now my most vital mission, demanding my remaining life and every resource.
With that resolve, the number:
Research Topic 0.
Research on Rift Creation Magic to Other Worlds.
Detailed execution records and results... ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■...
Dozens, hundreds, thousands of pages blacked out...
Pararararak—
The content that followed was entirely obscured by thick ink, illegible.
Around then, Kadim released the divine energy enveloping his body.
Kuduk, kuduk...
The side effects had become unbearable. The tattoo's power had waned, tempering the frenzy somewhat, but the accumulated damage to his flesh remained. Muscles melted, skin split, his arm sagging—he held it in place with his other hand by force.
That was the end of Melissa's account. But her final message wasn't over. As Kadim moved to close the cover absentmindedly, he flinched, eyes widening.
Tiny embers sparked from between the pages.
Tik, tidik, fwoooosh—!
The speck of flame swelled into an inferno in the blink of an eye. It devoured the tome containing ultimate mysteries, then scattered in dazzling sparks. The wild dance of fire in the air coalesced into meaningful script.
Kadim read every word without missing a one.
[To the Great Forest.]
No sooner had he finished translating than the flames faded like an illusion.
Fwoooosh...
Having fulfilled its purpose, the ashes rose in faint smoke. Kadim clenched his fist until it crumbled.
The next destination of their journey was set.