Chapter 58: The Forgotten Legend
Around the campfire sat the Mountain Rabbits, Adrian, and Raven Saitz, who had finally regained his composure. The firelight was dim, but the center was warm. At that mont, the wind gently approached through the forest leaves, caressing the humans' shoulders and moistening their cheeks.
Only Calix was the exception.
The mana carried by the wind dared not reach him. This was because the 'Core' newly ford within his body fiercely resisted external energy. The mage, Yelayen, noticed this phenonon and smiled slowly.
"How peculiar. Even though it hasn't matured yet, it's going against the flow. Yes, very good. Perhaps we can weave the threads together."
The person in question was puzzled, but those around him wore expressions that suggested this was to be expected. The mage before their eyes had such eccentric tendencies that he occasionally muttered incomprehensible things.
And in the midst of this, Calix gazed at the light emanating from the other person. When he first saw it, he thought it was pure white. But that was a mistake. The intensity of the light was so strong that he simply couldn't distinguish the color properly.
In reality, the color of the light Yelayen emitted from his entire body was... cyan-gold. Like mixing the blue of the sky and twinkling starlight half and half, it flashed subtly yet brilliantly.
Even the color of his eyes was the sa.
His cyan-gold eyes contrasted with his silver hair, giving off an alien feeling. However, the power contained within was real. The sensation of seemingly seeing through Calix's own mind. Before his 'sixth sense' could even issue a warning, a strange certainty flashed through his heart.
Lies would not work. He, too, would not tell lies. The power the mage possessed, fate and insight, whispered gently.
At this, Calix quietly asked while turning his gaze to the ground.
"Is this place... Safe?"
Yelayen nodded neither slowly nor quickly.
"The shadows won't return. At least not tonight."
"Who were they? I an, the assassins."
"Those who craved power. Shadows that crawled up from the lowest place in the world. The more one lives their entire life holding their breath, the more they co to dream of advancing toward the sun. The problem is... They chose the wrong thod. They offered their own flesh to an evil lord and received bodies close to immortality."
The Mountain Rabbits fell silent. Having already fought for their lives against those beings, they felt goosebumps rise involuntarily.
'So they really were beings similar to Draug.'
"They're slightly different from Draug."
Calix flinched again in surprise. As if peering into his mind, Yelayen had accurately read his thoughts and answered.
"Draug gnaw at human souls, but those things remain in reality. They take the lives of living beings by raising their swords. But there's no need to fear them excessively. Darkness clothes the weak who crave power in the guise of the strong. But their essence is... Still just shadows. However, the one who leads them needs to be watched."
"The one who leads the assassins, you an..."
"His na is Ardorem. He is a being who has beco shadow itself. He may have once been human. But now he's beco a crystallization of malevolence. He retreated this ti, but he'll appear again soday."
Low sighs flowed from the campsite. Even Gregor's eyes hardened, and even Adrian couldn't dare throw out a joke.
Though it sounded like an unrealistic story, it was a grave fact.
"Am I bringing up too heavy a topic? But it'll be fine. We ford the investigation team to block those things."
The mage reassured the group, and just then, Volga raised his right hand high. The Dwarf Basim glared sharply at him not to do unnecessary things, but it was quite effective in easing the atmosphere.
"Yes, do you have sothing you want to ask ?"
"Yes! You're a mage, aren't you?"
"I'm called that."
"Uh... I heard there are only exactly seven mages. Is that true?"
"It could be, or it might not be."
"...?"
At the nonsensical question, Yelayen showed a aningful smile. In that instant, he glanced at Calix. Because his cyan-gold eyes imdiately returned to their place, no one noticed, but the person in question clearly felt the other's gaze.
Certainly, it was the look of soone seeing into sothing. Perhaps it was connected to Calix's own bloodline.
But before he could open his mouth to say anything, questions poured out from the mid-level rcenaries.
"I heard that mages bring down lightning and set the ground ablaze just by walking around!"
"Did I do that?"
"Uh... No."
"Aha! Wrong rumor then."
"I, I'm also curious about sothing. They say mages have two lives. Is that also fake?"
"The rumor I heard is similar. They say mages have been alive for thousands of years... Then does that an there are other mages in that investigation team?"
Most were rely rumors circulating among the public, but upon hearing the last remark, Royce's brow suddenly furrowed. A small sigh flowed from his mouth.
The question had gone too deep.
'Considering the rcenary company's capabilities and current situation... Getting more entangled with the investigation team would be troubleso.'
However, he tried to restrain the mid-level rcenaries, but after much deliberation, lowered his hand. They had already stepped into the dense forest of truth. The mage also knew this, so he told them all the facts without reservation.
"The investigation team... To talk about the investigation team, I'll have to bring up a very old story. Have you ever heard of the 'Twelve Heroes'?"
Volga excitedly raised his hand again.
"How could we not! Kalahim, Latia, Gardia, Biale, and even... Nueti Astria! My master said everyone knows them even if they don't know their nas!"
"...Damn bastard."
Though the Dwarf Basim muttered with clenched teeth, Yelayen continued with a pleased expression.
"Correct. They were the first investigation team."
The surroundings beca quiet in an instant. The mage, a person involved, was bringing up a story that had been considered rely a legend.
"In those days, the source of evil was awakening on the continent. The corrupted lord, De Generitum. He was a crystallization of hatred that devoured everything. Heroes gathered from all across the continent to stand against him, and we advanced toward one place with them."
"By any chance, are you talking about... The 'Nine-Day Battle of the Gorge'?"
Vice-captain Marik, uncharacteristically, broke his silence and asked. Even the person who had been silently focusing on his duties couldn't overco his curiosity this ti.
"You got it right. The heroes were those selected from twelve regions of the continent. A fierce general who divided battlefields, a traitor who refused a chieftain's orders, even a Kriya believer prepared for death. And we mages gave the most precious thing to bind them together."
Then, Calix tossed in a word. For heroes, there's only one most important thing.
"...Neural Accelerators."
"Oh, did you know?"
"A little."
"I see. In any case, Neural Accelerators shouldn't be defined as rely the frawork of weapons. They were a turning point that helped humans transcend their own bodies to stand against the being called De Generitum. The first beneficiaries were the Twelve Heroes."
The mage's voice continued to retrace the distant past. As if dreaming, it was hazy, yet on the other hand, longing and sadness were embedded together.
"Among them, three people shone particularly brightly. Caracal, Ranita, and... Ashapel Raimund."
Then, as if in response, Calix's heart began to pound. Not only because a na he wanted to ask about ca up, but the Core was actually reacting.
It was a feeling of aching deep in his chest.
"Carakal was a born ruler. He implanted a Neural Accelerator in his eyes, possessing the ability to read others' emotions and see through lies. He led negotiations and knew how to diate the heroes' conflicts."
"What about Ranita?"
"A strategist. She moved with her heart. With the ability to sense life and mana, she saw through battlefields. She led countless soldiers and swept across battlefields."
"...Then, what about Ashapel?"
The mage paused for a mont. The campfire light reflected gently in his eyes. Surprisingly, it was an expression of emotional agitation.
However, the complex emotions beca entangled and quickly subsided.
"He was struggle itself. A being who surpassed the Accelerator's limits. A man like living fla who transcended human limits."
At that mont, an afterimage of unknown identity rose in Calix's mind. Swinging a sword, tearing apart monsters' flesh. It was a familiar sensation.
Just, it was a realm far higher than his own.
"They fought in the gorge for as many as nine days. When one side rested, the other stepped forward, weapons rusted and broke, and their entire bodies beca covered in bone fragnts and blood. They lost friends and family, and persevered even while losing themselves. And finally... They brought down De Generitum."
Just then, a piece of wood crackled and spat out sparks. As the wind had already cald and only silence filled the air, the mage stirred the soup in the pot with a ladle and took a beat to rest.
"But the real tragedy began after the war ended."
At this, Captain Royce stepped forward as a representative and continued the conversation.
"The heroes' epilogue... I heard many records have disappeared."
"That makes sense. They each returned to the places where they lived and founded kingdoms, but ultimately couldn't overco ti."
In an instant, gazes turned toward Adrian and Raven. The forr was a prince of the 'Republic', and the latter was in the completely opposite position.
Raven Saitz' face hardened.
'Fine. I received the Neural Accelerator of Astria's founding monarch. So what? The royal family can't fulfill its role. This is mine!'
In tandem, Adrian Deconti also brought out a sohow sharp tone.
"However, Sir Yelayen. You don't ntion the Niboria Empire. In terms of deleting records... The Caracal Imperial Family would be the most outstanding. Didn't the founding emperor betray Ashapel and Ranita?"
A heavy silence flowed through the air montarily.
Yelayen doesn't answer. He rely looked at the other person. The cyan-gold gaze that faced him directly contained a weight that even the highest-level knights would find hard to bear.
There was no emotion like anger or fury in it, but it contained a ssage far clearer than a hundred words.
A warning not to ask further, and pressure not to dig deeper.
Adrian read this precisely. Cold sweat ford on his forehead, and a chill flowed down his spine, seemingly freezing. Under the oppressive force of mana, he closed his mouth.
The mage, at this mont, had no mind to give any truth.
No, to be precise, it wasn't ti to speak.
The Mountain Rabbits weren't mbers of the investigation team, and Calix wasn't prepared yet. Therefore, Yelayen chose neither truth nor lies and remained silent.
And into that gap, Calix's voice penetrated.
"Betrayal?"
The Mountain Rabbits' gazes gathered in one place. Yelayen didn't answer for a long ti, but the other person also didn't give up and waited. Finally, the mage's gaze descended to the ground.
If he wanted to hear it, he had to tell him.
He was qualified.
"As I said, Caracal was a ruler. A great lord and a brilliant diator, but... Before power, he was a colder person than anyone."
The old man's voice was clearly audible yet sank low as if witnessing a bygone era.
"Ashapel and Ranita were in a cooperative relationship with him, but at so point, they beca a threat. Because the two fell in love. For Caracal, it must have been sothing he couldn't tolerate. This ant the balance of power would collapse. That's probably why. He purged the group that followed them."
"...Purged."
"Yes. The Ashapel family was demoted to a Marquis family and continued its lineage, but within it, there was no person called Ashapel Raimund. Even that was better than Ranita. Her family disappeared overnight. The epilogue, their traces... Were erased like that."
Sighs flowed among the listening rcenaries. It was because the ending was too cruel for a story of great heroes who earned the respect of all people.
At that mont, Gregor caught the end of his words.
"Comrade, you an they were completely erased? Irreversibly?"
"That's right. At least after that, the abilities of the two heroes never appeared in the world again. Neither as a lineage of Neural Accelerators nor as the bloodline of heroes."
Having heard the answer, Calix placed his hand on his chest.
Thump, thump, thump.
He felt the Core's quiet resistance. It protested that his words weren't fact, that their bloodline had continued.
The mage raised his head and t his eyes as if in response, and simultaneously, Adrian Deconti also felt the sensation of his deductions fitting together like a puzzle.
Why he had been drawn to Calix from their first eting, how he could show abilities beyond imagination—he understood at least in part.
"Hmm, the story went sideways. To return to the main point, the investigation team has continued to be summoned since then..."
Then, the mage Yelayen stepped forward to change the atmosphere. He threw firewood into the dying flas and pushed away the forest's silence with a cheerful voice. He patted the rcenaries' shoulders or willingly provided answers to various questions.
But the Prince of Latia knew.
Among these people, only one was preparing to advance toward dawn.
He was a young man lost in deep thought, a being 'pointed to' by Yelayen, and—he was half certain—a descendant of the vanished heroes.
Calix.
Within him resided flas incomparable to the campfire illuminating his own face.
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