Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Victory Banquet
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*
Sweat-soaked and gasping for breath beside Abel, Fernandez had thrust the key sword in reverse grip and was drawing a magic circle. Mana from the ground mana stone powder seeped out, reacting with the bronze throne and conjuring spells in the air.
“How long will it take?”
“About five days.”
“That should be plenty. I was already feeling bad about dragging you into this when I’d suggested a nice cruise instead.”
Leia smiled at Fernandez as she spoke. Fernandez, meticulously adjusting the magic circle, glanced at her and smiled back.
“Is it certain this time?”
“Certain as can be. So, anywhere else you’d like to see? Golden Harbor, Triangle Port, Shardpearl Bay? Every famous sight is right under our noses. The North Sea and West Sea are both my domain now.”
“Jealous.”
Fernandez chuckled dryly and withdrew his hand from the magic circle. Green mana flowed along the key sword’s blade, etching strange ritual characters into the air.
It was a variation of the magic used by the two elf kings, Gaimern and Maleyrn. Extracting a god’s power and repurposing it in another way. Using the divine power contained within the key sword...
“The goddess...”
“She’s dead. All that remained were remnants and a corrupted, rotting corpse.”
“But didn’t you revive her from Melishildur’s heart?”
“This is different. Gaimern meant to plant her soul into a dragon’s corpse, so he focused on preserving it. Maleyrn twisted her remains to use as a mana heart.”
Maleyrn’s throne room, that massive heart hanging from the ceiling. The putrid, warped organ that had endlessly pumped mana into the entire ship—that was the remnant of the goddess Maleyrn had captured.
No spell to revive a goddess like Infermer’s could work on a heart corrupted and twisted by Maleyrn. It was artificial divinity sustained for a millennium by feeding on his own people as fertilizer.
When Maleyrn lost control of it, and the key sword—stuck in the heart’s center—purified its poison, what remained were mere fragments of shattered divinity.
Fernandez drew a magic circle to extract the goddess’s divinity from the key sword and filter it so it could be safely implanted into a mortal body. It was a treatment to sustain Abel’s crumbling soul.
“Thank you, Queen Leia.”
“Enough. What good is holding onto a god’s remnants any longer?”
Leia gazed at the key sword with complicated eyes, then shook her head. The three goddesses of the elf pantheon. Their byproducts and remains were all elven property.
Handing them to an outsider with no ties to the elves was blasphemy. Yet Leia couldn’t ignore Fernandez’s request.
“We gained something greater. Thanks to you, my people have a safe place to live on the seas once more. This flagship—it’s our cradle, plain and simple.”
“The Maleyrn clan...”
“There is no Maleyrn clan anymore. Even those poor souls exploited beneath them are now my children, under Queen Gaimern.”
Leia smiled proudly. Fernandez nodded as he watched her smile. She had none of her predecessor’s flaws—a upright sovereign who had grown straight and true.
“You must be exhausted. Go rest. You haven’t slept in days.”
“I only need sleep once every three days.”
“That’s not human.”
“...Not yet.”
“Ha!”
Leia burst into laughter and slapped Fernandez on the back.
“Don’t worry about Lord Abel—head in and rest. No enemies left, and my strongest knights will guard this place. You said five days, right? We’ll have banquets every night, so relax and enjoy!”
“I gratefully accept your kindness.”
Fernandez glanced at Abel, who lay with eyes closed and sweat beading on his brow, then turned and left the room. Leia watched his back for a moment before turning to Abel.
She slowly knelt and bowed her head. The fresh smile vanished from her face, replaced by deep sorrow.
“Goddess, forgive us. We failed to save your sister. If only we had acted sooner...”
—It’s not your fault.
Leia’s bowed head trembled slightly. She raised her tear-streaked eyes. Above the firmly embedded key sword, a light shimmered before her.
—Blame your inept goddess for failing to aid you.
“How... Where... have you been...”
—Your goddess has always been by your side. I’m sorry I lacked the strength to reach out directly. Do you resent this powerless goddess?
“How could we? Goddess, we are your children.”
—My sister, Daughter of Twilight. Do you know this child’s name?
Leia hesitated at the goddess’s words. A warm voice flowed from the rippling light before her eyes.
—Twilight Goddess Thaliana. The sunset that illuminated the world tree’s flower buds. The most beautiful of my two sisters, now reduced to mere traces. Once-great we, and your nations, now linger only as echoes.
“Goddess, this is our failing. We will set it right.”
—Save my remaining sister. This is no command—merely a plea from your goddess.
“Command us. We shall serve you.”
Leia bowed her head as she spoke. Fingers slipped between her locks, gently ruffling her hair for a moment. Ah—she gasped. The goddess’s presence vanished like mist.
Leia closed her eyes briefly, then opened them. Fierce resolve burned in her gaze. She would never give up. Not until her last breath. The gods had returned, and her people still had a path to salvation.
*
Maleyrn’s flagship was a massive city. Intricate streets sprawled like spiderwebs around the king’s throne room and inner keep, with high-rise furnishings lining cabins within or towering on the decks.
Fernandez walked a corridor below the inner keep, looking out the window at the streets below where people cheered, shouted, drank, and ran about.
The Maleyrn clan rejoiced in their newfound freedom and safety; the Gaimern clan in their new home. All laughed, sang, and reveled in the festival.
The sun was setting. Evening light cast long shadows between buildings and crowds. Joyous festival music overflowed through every street.
“This is the sight your benevolence wrought.”
“It’s the sight they all created.”
Fernandez turned from the window to regard Kirhas Hearttaker approaching. She smiled softly and stood beside him.
“Without you, half would still live as slaves, the other half drowned at sea to become vampires or fodder.”
“Without me, these two peoples wouldn’t have clashed at sea.”
“Without you, I wouldn’t exist. Nor they. Nor this world.”
Kirhas slowly reached out and caressed Fernandez’s cheek. He did not pull away. Her blue eyes rippled warmly.
“I don’t know what the world was like before your return. But it doesn’t matter now. Your atonement is pointless emotional waste. Your deeds aren’t penance for the past or groundwork for the future—they were salvation in themselves. For them. For me.”
“You praise me too highly, Kirhas. I need no comfort.”
“Then what does the hero need?”
“Hero...”
Fernandez smirked at Kirhas’s playful eyes. To hear such words from the true hero, shield of the great wilderness, great chieftain of the western beastfolk alliance.
It was excessive kindness for a mere devil worshiper and black mage worthy of being torn apart. Fernandez knew her favor was deliberate. It was an emotion he had crafted.
Captured by black mages, she would have escaped on her own power eventually. The western beastfolk alliance would have bowed to her strength. Kirhas was a hero’s seed.
He had reaped it, shaped it to his design, bonsai’d it to his taste. So her affection was not one she owed him. Even if she hated, resented, despised him. Fernandez had no excuses.
Nor any desire for them. He gently removed her fingers from his cheek. He stroked her hair once, then turned away.
“Enjoy the festival among them, Kirhas.”
“A command?”
“And if not?”
“Like this.”
Fernandez’s body lost balance the instant he turned. Astonishing, given his sense of equilibrium. Kirhas had deftly unraveled his tension with precise, cunning touch, pulling him backward.
Regaining balance was near instinct. As he whipped his head around in surprise, black hair cascaded like a curtain.
Hot breath and tearful eyes filled his vision. Kirhas halted just before their lips met, gazing into his eyes.
“I mean it.”
“Kirhas Hearttaker.”
“I mean it, benefactor. More than you think. I know why you avoid me. But don’t project the ‘Kirhas’ of your past life onto me. I’m not her. My life is mine. Not that catfolk woman from your memories.”
Fernandez looked into Kirhas’s sniffling eyes. They awaited comfort, an embrace, any warm words from him.
The old mage, who had lived at least four times longer than the fragile twenty-something catfolk girl, read her heart all too easily.
She resented him. The cold lord who never showed proper kindness, who gave her freedom, power, strength—everything—yet asked no price.
Sometimes giving brings more joy than receiving. But she’d had no time or chance to give him anything. That saddened her.
-Swish.
Fernandez felt her hot breath tease his nose, then stepped closer. A moist, salty taste lingered on his lips. Kirhas stared at him, momentarily stunned.
-Oh, naughty boy.
‘Shut up.’
-Haha, fool. Adding regrets to life.
‘...Shut up.’
Feizashi Wildcast whispered with a grin. Fernandez clicked his tongue and turned away. Kirhas touched her lips dazedly, watching his back.