The Resurrected Immortal Chapter 16: The Secret of the Divine Tree (1)
"This is…."
What in the world was it?
Oliver Baotman, principal of Aiter Royal School, muttered blankly as he gazed at the completely altered world around them.
The place where they stood was no longer Aiter's garden—it was a dank prison shrouded in oppressive darkness, not even a single ray of light penetrating its depths.
Magical lamps embedded in the walls cast a faint glow over the prison's interior.
Everyone except Eunhyeon was tense, their faces etched with alarm at this phenomenon.
This held true even for Elvin, as well as Eunhyeon's companions, Iliana and Riod.
Suddenly, Iliana grabbed Eunhyeon by the collar and hissed at him in a voice so low only he could hear.
"Hey! What the hell is this magic?!"
"Oh, this? I whipped it up recently 'cause I thought it might come in handy."
"Ha…."
Iliana was so flabbergasted she couldn't even muster a proper retort.
Soon, the shock in her eyes shifted to a strange glimmer of anticipation, and she asked Eunhyeon again.
"Can I learn it, by any chance?"
"Yeah. No dice."
"Right…."
A magic that completely reconstructed a designated space into something else entirely—it was unheard of.
As a mage, her curiosity ignited at this entirely new type of spell, fundamentally different from high-tier teleportation magic like teleport. But if Eunhyeon said it couldn't be taught, then it couldn't.
Iliana knew that all too well, so despite her regret, she gave up neatly.
"What is this magic, exactly?"
Oliver, the middle-aged man here with the second strongest thirst for magical knowledge after Iliana, looked at Eunhyeon and asked.
"It's a type of illusion magic I've reconstructed based on past events."
"Illusion magic…."
Murmuring the words, Elenoa reached out toward a solitary cell in the prison.
She watched in fascination as her hand passed right through the cell door without touching it.
"Just like with Lady Elenoa's arm, we can't interfere with this illusion. It only replays what actually happened in the past."
"Replays the past…."
"Is this the magic you're here at our school to teach, perhaps…."
"Sorry, no can do. Not planning to teach it, and besides, it's not the kind of magic that can be taught."
He'd brushed Iliana off the same way, but it was true—no one else could learn this.
To be precise, it wasn't magic at all. It was one of the apostolic powers Eunhyeon possessed.
The "replication power" granted by Urd, which brought past deeds into the present.
It couldn't summon things that shattered this world's common sense or civilization, but if the conditions were met, it could bring forth anything.
Even if that "anything" was a "past event."
Eunhyeon pulled past events directly into the present and replayed them.
Like playing a pre-recorded video file for an audience. But this power couldn't be taught to others.
"Replaying past events means what you're showing us is my story."
"That's right. What I'm about to show you is the truth behind the Hersha baronet incident."
"The truth?"
"Eh, that's all the explanation for now. Please enjoy this 'play' based on 'real events' everyone."
Clack, clack.
As Eunhyeon spoke, the sound of footsteps echoed.
The actors took their positions, signaling the start of the play.
Beyond the iron bars, in a solitary cell, a middle-aged man sat on a stone bed. Wooden shackles bound both his wrists.
He looked uncomfortable being locked up, his face twisted in a scowl.
But it wasn't the expression of someone anxious in prison.
- Are you okay?
A young man approached the bars and asked the prisoner with a worried look.
- I'm fine.
- What happened?
- It's a false accusation. I'll be out soon.
A strange conviction laced the middle-aged man's voice.
The certainty that he wouldn't stay imprisoned like this.
- Father… I found it. The pouch of gold coins hidden in your room.
- ….
- It's true… isn't it?
- No.
- Marquis Bernard Boris came by too.
At that name, Lenion twitched his brow for the first time.
He looked at Elvin, his face showing agitation for the first time.
- Whatever that guy said when he came?
- He asked for help recovering the gold coins you embezzled. In return, he'd reduce our sentences and spare us the death penalty…. For a marquis to come in person and say that….
- Damn it! Those filthy ingrates! After all the gold I've slipped them! They really mean to abandon me?!
Lenion, who had kept his cool until now, slammed his wooden shackles against the stone bed and spat curses.
- No choice now. Elvin, get me out of this prison. Then….
- Get you out?
- What else? I raised you as a mage for times like this.
- …Haa.
Elvin let out a sigh, unable to hide his disbelief bordering on disappointment.
Finally steeling his resolve, Elvin faced his father squarely.
- Father.
- What.
Lenion frowned slightly at Elvin's serious tone but answered.
Having realized there was no hope rotting in prison, he was eager to break out, grab the embezzled gold, and flee.
He didn't like that Elvin, who needed to use magic to aid his escape, was dragging his feet.
But for now, he needed his son's help desperately, so he endured and responded.
- Did you really marry Mother because you loved her?
- ….
Lenion faltered at Elvin's sudden question, not answering right away.
- Is that important right now?
- When I was very young….
Elvin clenched his fists, pausing, as if holding back rage.
It was the look of someone loath to even recall it, yet unable to forget a childhood trauma, struggling for the words.
- I still can't forget it. Mother collapsed on the floor, bleeding from her head, and you exploding in rage at her.
Elvin no longer called Lenion "Father."
He squeezed his eyes shut, suppressing the fury about to erupt. In his fading consciousness, pupils dilating, memories flooded:
His mother gesturing for young Elvin and Erin to run.
Her faint voice saying it was okay, a gentle smile as she slipped away—the first taste of despair.
His mother wasting away from beatings and mental torment until death.
After her passing, seeing echoes of her in the growing, maturing Erin.
His little sister enduring the beastly lust in his gaze, abused.
Elvin couldn't bear the blood of the man who did that to his mother flowing in his own veins.
Until he, young and powerless, could forge a way to fight back.
He swallowed his rising fury, enduring, waiting for the day to unleash it all.
- What nonsense is this?
Lenion, still oblivious to Elvin's change, scowled and asked.
- I already know. You've prepared a route to sneak into another country in case your embezzlement got exposed. And neither I nor Erin are part of it.
Lenion's shoulders jerked at Elvin's cold revelation of his secret plans.
Having mastered shadow puppetry, a black magic art, Elvin had planted his intent in Lenion's shadow, monitoring his every move.
Thus, he uncovered all of Lenion's corruption and crimes he hadn't known before.
The more he learned, the deeper his disappointment, contempt, and hatred grew daily.
Elvin had estimated it would take about ten years for the shadows gnawing at him to fully erode his reason.
But he realized the faster corrosion stemmed from his negative emotions toward his father.
The shadows feeding on those feelings had grown fiercer through their synergy.
- H-how did you…!
- You fucking piece of trash!
The dam of Elvin's pent-up emotions finally burst.
Lenion's eyes widened in horror.
Elvin's furious roar echoed through the prison, making one glance around for guards.
Yet an eerie chill silence prevailed, and Lenion finally sensed something off.
Now that he thought about it, Elvin had come alone, without guards, and no signs of life from other cells.
This vast prison, meant for hundreds, held only him and Elvin—igniting chilling suspicions.
- Th-that's a misunderstanding.
- Misunderstanding?
- Yeah. A misunderstanding.
- Ha….
Elvin let out a disbelieving scoff.
- You mean to abandon your father?! Hurry up and get me out—what are you waiting for….
- Father?
At the word, Elvin acted on his long-hardened resolve.
His body vanished in an instant, reappearing from the shadow behind Lenion.
Before Lenion could react or dodge, his head hit the floor, rolling across the cell.
Blood sprayed from the severed neck, splattering the room.
Elvin had sliced it clean with a shadow weapon, unwilling to hear excuses, final words, or screams.
- Don't call me that with your filthy mouth.
Gazing at the headless corpse spurting blood, Elvin muttered words no one would hear, then vanished into the shadows.
As the actors exited or died, lowering the curtain on the play, the audience remained silent.
Some frowned at the brutal staging.
Others pondered if this hallucination Eunhyeon showed was truly real.
The lead, Elvin, stood utterly indifferent.
In the quiet, awkward hush, Eunhyeon broke the silence with a declaration.
"The culprit who murdered Lenion Hersha was the black mage, Elvin."
Even after Eunhyeon's pronouncement, no one spoke. Only the icy wind whistled through the illusory prison, filling the heavy quiet.
Few knew Lenion had been killed just three hours after imprisonment.
His death was announced as an "execution," not murder, to cover it up.
Elvin had spoken of the incident, but Eunhyeon, never having seen Lenion's face, had perfectly depicted it—his rage, the killing—in the illusion.
It felt too real, almost as if Eunhyeon had witnessed it firsthand, stirring unease, but no one denied the content.
They all realized this illusion accurately replayed real events.
Especially since Elvin, at the center, said nothing and remained composed.
"Even if that play depicts real events, there's one thing I can't accept."
With the prison backdrop still lingering post-play, Alex stepped forward to question Elvin.
"Why did you try to kill my sister? What did you mean our family made a deal with you?"
Depending on the answer, Alex was ready to draw his sword and attack, his hand fidgeting at his waist.
But the response came not from Elvin, but elsewhere.
"That's because Elvin made a deal with Duke Armitas: hand over all the embezzled gold from Lenion, create a situation to kill him, and the siblings Elvin and Erin would face no charges."
"What…?"
"……?"
Alex and Elenoa widened their eyes in genuine shock at their father's name surfacing, blurting questions.
Eunhyeon smiled at their reaction and continued.
"Weird, right? By the deal, the duke's family gets a massive haul of gold, and Elvin and Erin escape their father's abuse to live happily. So why did things end up like this?"
His tone mocked the Armitas siblings.
They scowled deeply.
As if saying, "All this is your family's fault?"—when they'd heard nothing.
"What do you mean my father betrayed? Spit it out straight."
Alex glared at Eunhyeon, who mocked him with that smug attitude, and demanded.