Chapter 81
Chapter 81
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Ready to Hear the Story
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After Gaon left the lava cave and Agagtur's new deputy was chosen, Gil asked the dragon,
"Why did you choose me?"
Gil knew his own limits. If he had fought Gaon to the death before receiving Agagtur's power, he would have been consumed by rage and died.
He was inadequate.
More than Gaon himself. No, perhaps even more than Bison, the pure beastkin knight trembling behind him now.
『 It wasn't I who chose you-it was you. You agonized over it again and again until you resolved to seek vengeance.』
As Agagtur said, among those who had awakened his seal, Gil was the only one desperate enough to carry out his command for revenge, even at the cost of his own life.
『 And as proof, my power has already taken root within you, hasn't it?』
Agagtur spoke again through his voice, and Gil felt his transformed body and the dignity of a Hero, marveling anew at the concept of evolution. His senses sharpened, power surged through him. Just like when he had first comprehended the sword's resonance, he was gradually learning to wield this new body.
『 Now, before I reveal the truth of a thousand years, your mortal ears could not endure my voice for so long a tale. Thus, I shall borrow a voice, O former king.』
Agagtur summoned one to serve as his eyes and ears. It was the true lord of Godel, who had dragged his boiling body here on the verge of death and cast himself into the seal to slumber.
"So it has come to this, benevolent dragon."
He was Gaon's father and the rightful king of Godel. He greeted Agagtur in a tongue Gil and Bison could not understand. Though his body had perished upon merging with the seal, Agagtur's power had enlightened his spirit, allowing him to rise briefly in a form like cooled lava. Recalling his wretched fate, he asked Agagtur,
"What must I do now?"
Without inquiring about the land's affairs or his son's tale, Agagtur gazed contentedly upon his most loyal servant and replied,
『 My most devoted child. Knowing your love for me, now know my love for you. The lord of sin is dead, his kin have departed, and your son returns here.』
If he spoke through that body, the evolved soul would vanish, consciousness lost forever. Yet Agagtur, in his benevolence, intended to sustain the king's awareness until Gaon's return.
"It is enough to simply see through your eyes."
But this good king had accepted even his brother's betrayal without a moment's regret. With no regrets or lingering attachments, he saw no need to behold his grown son.
『 Very well. Then turn and behold my new deputy.』
At Agagtur's words, the former king turned, dripping lava, and lifted his glowing eyes to Gil and Bison. The two, of course, could not comprehend the situation at all.
"Who are you?"
Why did the former king possess consciousness? Why had Agagtur summoned him? Why did he refuse to see Gaon? None of that mattered. They only wondered what this talking lump of stone before them was and why it wore such a wretched, sorrowful expression.
『 If you have words to share, speak them, my beloved child. Impart your wisdom.』
Trusting the former king's wisdom before Gaon's return and the tale's beginning, Agagtur granted him time to speak. A good and wise soul like him could surely prepare them to hear the dragon's story. And once it ended, his labors would cease.
"My thanks."
At Agagtur's command, the former king stood before Gil and Bison. From his expression and eyes, Gil recalled Godel's Hero from the Lord's Tower. The man with terrifyingly blind faith, who had forsaken everything to uphold it-and resolved to forsake more.
"Deputy of Mir, and knight of the Empire's beastkin. I was once Godel's lord. With my life, Godel's tale ends. Thus, as my final act, I wish to tell you."
He who had left no name through the reverse revolution now spoke in the Empire's tongue.
"Long ago, this land sealed the benevolent Agagtur's wrath, for he lost his patience after creating a great sin upon the world. Yet his wrath was just. In this world where the great sin was born and the sun vanished, there was originally a millennium pact from a thousand years past. Each race pledged one duty to uphold-but in truth, it was for the beastkin."
At the word "beastkin," Bison glanced between Agagtur and Godel's former king. But this tale would come from Agagtur himself, so the former king continued only Godel's story.
"When the millennium pact broke, though the benevolent Agagtur sealed himself, he erupted the power of evolution here to extend the beastkin's lifespans. Thus, beastkin gathered in this place, and our ancestors vowed to guard the seal and care for them. But too much time passed. In this vast underground, I alone remembered all those convictions."
He gazed at the lava cave's ceiling once more with sorrowful eyes, groaning as he spoke.
"My young brother made a pact with the devil. To evolve the beastkin and shatter boundaries between races, he exploited Agagtur and the kin of sin. But that defied Agagtur's will from the start. It defied our conviction to protect the weak and guard the seal. I tried to stop him but failed. Sensing the end, I entrusted my soul to this seal. Thus, to the last, I watched the kin of sin corrupt Agagtur."
He lowered his head toward the seal again.
From those words, Gil realized he was Gaon's father, the former king. The queen, his loyal servants, even his most beloved brother-all had fallen to the devil's temptation, intent on using the kin of sin to infiltrate Agagtur's seal. Yet he had insisted on guarding it to the end.
But like Agagtur's benevolence, he could not bring himself to stop them. In the end, he died. And now stood before them.
"As my soul seeped into the seal, I comprehended Agagtur's will. I felt an irresistible fury. Thus, Godel's tale ends, and through you, Mir's vengeance begins."
This tragic tale of sorrowful Godel would later be passed through the beastkin to bards, sung thus:
«Me'od atik (Very Ancient)
Very ancient
Atik epos (Ancient Epic)
A hoary tale
Kalah
Comes to an end
Hu ai otseb (That is Some Sorrow)
What sorrow it brings
Av ve bar (Father and Son)
Father and son
Yachas chavar mechir (Blood-Linked Price)
A price linked by blood
Aven cohen, er'el (King and Queen)
King and queen
Ve chemah Mir bach ar (And Wrathful Mir)
And the wrathful Mir
Shavah nepesh makar Godel (Godel Sold Soul to Devil)
Godel who sold his soul to the devil
Tuv cohen (Good King)
Good king
Yerussah malakh (Inherit the Throne)
Inherit the throne
Chemah lahat (Wrath Explodes)
Wrath shall erupt
Agagtur pe echad tus (Agagtur's Mouth Devours)
Agagtur's maw shall devour one
Tzalach (Evolve)
Evolve
Avadon (Destroy)
And destroy
Elyon shaddai mikdash el-mul (Highest Holy Land Untouched by Flames)
To the highest lands flames cannot reach
Er'el pa'am (Deputy's Foe)
Foe of the deputy
Elyon chet sharai (Highest Sin's Seed)
Seed of the highest sin
Ode zarah lifnei (Before It Spreads Further)
Before it spreads further»
"Father?"
At that moment, Gaon landed beside Gil in an instant. The former king and the fugitive prince had lost all their previous forms, yet recognized each other immediately. Sorrow swirled, and the father murmured softly,
"Through you, not me..."
With that, the former king declared his tale's end right there and turned to Agagtur. The time had come. They were ready for Agagtur's story.
"Benevolent dragon, now that the remaining tales are told, speak through me."
At his words, Agagtur opened his eyes and "gazed" at the former king. As his will flowed into the vessel, the lava-like form shed droplets, its stone skin cracked, taking on the likeness of a flame incarnate. Engulfed in fire, it was no longer the former king-it was Agagtur.
"Now, all preparations to hear the tale are complete."
Agagtur raised his right hand, enveloping the three knights in flames.
From the intensity, searing pain seemed imminent, but his fire-warm like the will to live-allowed them visions and memories, letting them see, hear, and feel. Gil wrapped around Bison and cried out,
"What is happening?! Where do you lead us, benevolent Mir?! I, your knight Gil, am not yet ready..."
To Gil's question, the flame incarnate unleashed a massive fiery storm, answering with even greater fury.
"My child, now my servant and deputy! The preparations are done-linger no more! The tale prepared since ancient times now begins. You need only hear my story and press on!"
Agagtur began his tale.
"In the beginning, there was the great El."
In that instant, the mythic age unfolded before Gil-the era when ancient Mir and El lived.
***
But for now, I set aside writing the mythic tale about to unfold and opened another page of my book.
The tale wasn't yet ready to advance. Not of the Demon King, Hero, and Princess-but of those who would bear the kin of sin and march to war.
On that other side.
"Here..."
Atop a mountain peak where soft snow fell, a woman opened her eyes.
"I... surely died."
Her skin white as the falling snow exuded an aura so ethereal it belied any sense of living-or feeling cold. She tried to recall her name, her role in this story. But nothing came.
"Are you coming to?"
Beside her-utterly unready for any tale-Iveldra appeared and asked.
"Who... are you?"
The woman, shaking off her daze, countered Iveldra's question. Iveldra smiled gently and nudged the story onward.
"I am Iveldra, the dark Mir symbolizing death. And your name in life was..."
The woman stepped unsteadily from the cave onto untouched snowdrifts and approached Iveldra. The witch drew her into her dark, warm embrace and whispered,
"Elis Hope."