Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: A Sad Dream
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I had a sad dream. It was of a girl with sky-blue hair, buried in the tomb of memories, waving at me innocently.
“Master, Master!”
My footsteps halted unconsciously as I headed toward her. A different voice called from the opposite side of the intersection.
“Pa-pa!”
My lifelong benefactor, Alakish, was holding Akirea and gazing at me, her face etched with sorrowful grief.
Aki.
Yes, Aki.
I called her name desperately, but no sound escaped my lips... and instead, the consciousness submerged at the bottom of the dream surged rapidly to the surface.
“Hmm, it really does recover quickly with the True Dragon’s soul infused.”
I struggled to lift my eyelids, and that voice reached me.
“No, in this case, it’s more accurate to say you survived when you should’ve definitely died.”
“I...”
“You won’t be able to move even if you want to. Your whole body is pierced with needles right now. Think of it as treatment for the Cheongmyeong Sipeon’s effects.”
Blinding light seared my eyes. I tried to scan my surroundings with half-open eyes, but nothing moved except my eyeballs.
What I could roughly make out was that I lay on an operating table, my body covered in densely packed needles about a handspan long. Strangely, there was no pain.
And there sat a woman on a backless chair, a pipe clenched in her mouth. For a split second, I nearly gasped and shouted Tureina’s name, but on closer inspection, she was different.
“The power of the Cheongmyeong Sipeon binds its target conceptually—everything. Even the simple forces to move muscles or circulate mana, and even basic metabolic functions like heartbeats for blood flow.”
The pure white ritual garb she wore was a color permitted only to shrine maidens, matching Fride’s pure black one.
“So just stay still while I restore it.”
The shrine maiden in her all-white conical hat and robe had a pipe carved from white wood, and her face bore countless wrinkles from long years of experience.
“Normally, once a human body is bound by that, death is certain, and even a miraculous survival leaves you a brain-dead vegetable... but waking up in half a day? Impressive doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
Crucially, she wore a sacred scroll—the hallmark of a shrine maiden—tucked at her waist, and on the opposite side, three edict scrolls signifying the Three Arch-Witches.
“The power granted by the True Dragon’s soul is remarkable. Is this what super-regeneration looks like?”
“Where am I... and who are you...?”
“This is a place safe from Tureina’s prying eyes thanks to my barrier. I’m Yuliana. The nickname given by the human I once called master was ‘Witch of the Star Cluster.’”
Yuliana...
Tureina’s last disciple...
Even my vocal cords were paralyzed; exhaling, rolling my tongue to form words required relentless effort.
“You saved me...?”
“No, I didn’t save you. Strictly speaking, she’s my junior colleague—or a traitor in this case? She said you two know each other well, so you can greet her yourself later.”
“Traitor...?”
“Tell her thanks when you meet. If she’d intervened just a bit later, your comrades and the sun parrot would’ve died. Hmm, but more importantly, the current situation and your circumstances matter most.”
Yuliana inhaled deeply from her pipe and gently exhaled the smoke toward my face.
Suddenly, it felt like wet wool stuffed my head, and the world vanished, turning purely white.
And I... could move my body normally. The needles were gone, and my voice worked fine.
“This is inside an illusion world. I had to bring you here to make explanations easier.”
That’s when I felt an emptiness. Like a part of my soul had been hollowed out...
Aki.
Realizing what it was sent me into near-panic, my breathing ragged.
“Aki, where’s Aki—?”
“—She’s safe, for now. To answer the anxiety on your face, you need to understand the situation first.”
Yuliana lightly twirled her pipe halfway, and the white space rippled, shifting into a hazy image.
No, my vision blurred momentarily from tears.
The image showed the past I’d longed for so desperately. Was it Yuliana’s memory? There was Tureina teaching spells to a young girl.
“This is the Tureina you know. Straight out of the books: kind, gentle, caring for the hungry and sick without charge—a shrine maiden among shrine maidens. She was my master too.”
“...”
“But that’s just Tureina’s public face. Beneath that goodwill lurks a wicked obsession. This is her true self.”
With those words, the image flipped to something I couldn’t bear to witness.
A brutal massacre, and in the midst of the blood-soaked path stood that figure. Amid forbidden research arrays drawn in blood stood that figure. The one who’d smiled so purely...
I stared blankly, unable even to close my eyes, as Yuliana spoke.
“This is the real Tureina. I don’t know the exact details, but one thing’s certain: at some point, she began pursuing a single goal.”
“A single goal?”
“The resurrection of Archmage Lin.”
I didn’t show it, but the stabbing pain in my heart was so intense it choked me.
I tried to scoff.
Don’t make me laugh.
But denying that premise as truth would leave countless riddles unsolved—I couldn’t ignore it.
— The vessel made to receive Lin’s soul was me!
Libeni, who’d taken my cross-dressed form from when Fride forced me into it, and Ribadin, using my face and my Jeso Chain Lian Yan.
“...”
But it can’t be. Think about it. Tureina couldn’t have become such a villain. And if she did, Yoshuhar would’ve told me...
— I cannot answer that. Your soul isn’t mature enough to face the truth yet.
In the whirlwind of horrific logic crashing through my mind with each heartbeat, I could only shut my mouth blankly.
“Whether it started after Fride’s death or during her life... the timing doesn’t matter. What’s clear is Tureina joined hands with the Abyss.”
“How can you assert that? It could be a fake Tureina. Yes, reverse sorcery. Or reverse spellcraft? Mimicking her face with—”
“—Before the Abyss consumed Tureina, the Light Dragon rejected the solution she proposed for Juyeo Soge Daeban.”
Yes, it’s a lie. Tureina couldn’t have touched the Abyss.
It’s Zernix. That impostor posing as Zernix is now pretending to be Yuliana, deceiving me.
Ignoring my expression, Yuliana continued in a low, steady voice.
“Tureina believed that since Juyeo Soge Daeban was an incomplete ritual, adding her newly developed one would thaw Lin’s ice.”
“...!”
“But the Light Dragon denied the proposal—more like a plea. The reason? The soul had already fled that flesh.”
My soul.
My heart raced wildly.
“Dragonkin don’t lie. Tureina, who knew that better than anyone, couldn’t accept it. Or maybe she didn’t want to.”
A sneering voice echoed madly in my ears.
— When I offered to teach her how to wake that frozen brat, she flipped out and learned black magic...
I couldn’t even swallow, let alone breathe.
“Tureina decided that if the Light Dragon wouldn’t help, she’d borrow the Abyss’s power to revive Lin. Fate can be so absurd. Fighting the Abyss to death for her master, only to ally with it to save her?”
“...”
“The Lord of Time controls time. His kin do too. Tureina awakened the Lord of Time sealed in the Papal Court to rewind Lin’s body to before it froze. That’s the truth behind the Black Spot Incident that toppled the Yellow Dragon Legion.”
I refuse to believe it. I can’t.
It’s impossible.
What did I teach her? What life did Fride, Rista, and Kies show her?
“The Abyss feeds on the yin in human hearts—grief and longing born from love. It cunningly tempts and corrupts.”
“Stop...”
“Tureina knows that well. So she thinks she’s the one using the Abyss. But what’s the result?”
This time, the image was the Crimson Mountains.
Mountain villages lay deserted and razed, crows wheeling overhead. Forests that once beautifully dyed the range withered and twisted; lakes rotted into swamps.
Death everywhere. Calamity everywhere.
“Tureina is unleashing disasters on the world. Ruining it for her desires.”
“No, no...”
“I couldn’t believe it until I saw it myself. Using healing spells to alchemize human bodies, then ordering them to massacre for her goals.”
Shut your mouth.
I nearly screamed it.
“Witnessing that double life, I realized the plain truth.”
She’s your master.
How can you condemn her so ruthlessly? Without suspecting a fake? Without considering possession?
“Tureina’s life goal? World destruction? At least that’d be hateable outright.”
“Stop it...”
“It’s a pathetically tragic love. Every path Tureina’s walked stems from the desire to meet Lin again.”
Unpleasant sweat beaded down my spine; hyperventilation blanked my thoughts.
All I saw and heard was the blood-soaked battlefield projected in the illusion—Yuliana’s doing. At its center strode the veiled shrine maiden, Tureina.
My consciousness faded, and when I came to, I was screaming madly.
“How can I believe that crap! Impossible—Tureina, of all people! She lived a life revered by everyone, a great figure! I read it—in the books—”
“—Truth is always hard to accept.”
“Shut up! This brainwashing bullshit! I feel like I’m falling for it! Bell, Bell Qui... Bell Quirius!”
“Calm down. The real point starts now—”
“—Stay away! Get lost! I won’t buy that nonsense! You think I will? Zernix, you damn bastard! This cowardly trick—me, I...!”
Even in the illusion world, as breathing failed, I collapsed to the ground, gasping desperately until I blacked out.
In my delirium, I smelled old books.
During the <Shuriganakus> rotation, after saving the red city, in the grand cathedral library where southern moonlight coldly shone—I’d dozed off reading a rare tome I’d wanted.
Suddenly, the veiled hat over my face lifted, revealing a shy smile from a blue-haired kid.
— Master, sleeping in bed?
A sad, distant summer memory, tucked between grueling journeys.
That voice... that smile... lulled my consciousness like sinking into warm bedding.
My raging heart calmed; my mind cleared. Fierce pain softened to quiet sorrow, soaking my soul.
When I opened my eyes again, the needles were gone. Instead, Celesia draped over me like a blanket.
Turning my head took no effort. Yuliana sat by the bed, pipe in mouth, clearly visible.
“How much time passed?”
Surprised by my calm voice, she blinked, then exhaled hazy smoke.
“She brought you here at dawn. Now it’s dusk. About half a day.”
Our clash in <Aurelinople> was midnight... so spatial magic?
“What you said earlier... it’s all true, isn’t it.”
“I should apologize first. I don’t usually speak so bluntly about Tureina. Not until the time is right to accept the truth.”
“Why?”
“It’s dangerous. People reject it. To mages and witches, Tureina’s practically an idol. But I had to. Time’s short—for me and you.”
My shock wasn’t disillusionment, but something deeper, sadder... no need to voice it.
Groaning from the aches wracking my body, I sat up. I tumbled to the floor but crawled forward on my elbows.
“You can’t beat Tureina in that state. You won’t save the True Dragon’s relic either. This is a sanctuary at the Crimson Mountains’ foothills. Close to the ritual site.”
Two things to retrieve: Tureina and Aki. The child entrusted to me by my life’s benefactor.
“The ritual starts at new moon. As a mountain offering, the True Dragon’s relic’s safe until then. But to stop a wide-area ritual, you need allies. Alone, you’re useless.”
“I have to go, right now...”
“I thought mages were rational. You gonna throw away any chance just to get swept by emotion?”
Hearing such words from my disciple’s disciple was pathetic, but I couldn’t stay put.
I couldn’t stay put.
Aki starts crying fifteen seconds after I leave her. How much is she crying now? Is she safe? Hurt? Sleeping okay? Eating? Not starving?
“I’ll get to my main point. I was an orphan, dying in a crumbling village. That’s when Tureina found me. She said, ‘Come here, hungry, aren’t you?’ Gave me food, healed my wounds.”
Those words sparked wariness and a throbbing deja vu, freezing me in place.
Come here, hungry?
It was eerily similar to what I’d said when I first met Tureina.
“Then she offered to teach me spells. Said learning them would give me value, let me live proudly anywhere.”
“...”
“Tureina taught spells more easily than anyone, with such kindness. And she had the power to right this land’s injustices. She helped and healed so many.”
Good, I thought.
The books weren’t lies. Her life wasn’t all deception.
Yuliana helped me up and laid me back. Countless silver needles lay on the bedside table’s silver tray.
“Tureina gave me spells and true freedom. Not rice cakes, but the skill to buy them.”
“You said you realized the truth and were disillusioned...”
“‘Golden Children’ or the Magic Alliance’s special task force want that narrative. But who indebted to Tureina for their or their family’s life would say it?”
Tureina committed countless evils, true. But she performed more good deeds than anyone in this world, also true.
“After realizing the truth, I tried to kill Tureina. She’d pass out drunk once or twice a year. I wanted to grant her peace before she destroyed the world.”
“...Why’d you fail?”
“Women are emotional creatures, unlike men. Maybe that’s why only women become witches.”
Yuliana pulled a cherished paper scroll from her bosom and handed it over. I took and unrolled it absentmindedly, then froze.
My hands, my eyes trembled.
A chisel gouged my soul like scraping my heart—unbearable pain. I rerolled it blankly and looked up.
“Tureina was asleep at her desk, writing that letter. Seeing it, I couldn’t do anything. She sensed me and woke; I fled. I grabbed it by accident.”
Tureina’s letter...
To Master, in elegant script—the moment I saw it, my body froze too.
“I’m not asking you to forgive her evils. Just a bit of leniency.”
“...?”
“If the Papal Court or task force catches her, she’ll face horrific torture then burning.”
Tureina’s existence now is near-legendary echo.
They pursue her but consider fakes possible.
The Yellow Dragon Legion hasn’t spilled the truth... but once caught, everything surfaces.
“I don’t want that. Punishment yes, but considering her good deeds, a fitting death.”
“...You’re a shrine maiden in the Republic. Why ask me?”
“The Water Dragon gave a divine oracle in my dream. Leave judgment to you. So I did my part.”
“Yeriserika?”
“Yes. Rest until you’re stable. See you at tomorrow morning’s strategy meeting. One day till new moon.”
Yuliana placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezed, and left.
Save for ominous crow cries mixing with cool night air, moon and stars shone beautifully overhead.
Before unfolding the heavy reality clutched in my hand—one I must accept—I took deep, heaving breaths countless times.
‘Tureina, you fool... what the hell have you been doing...?’
Feeling a cold blade pierce my chest, only when the eastern moon reached midheaven could I finally open the letter.