Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 429

429

Finally, the incantation ended. A massive stream of water shot skyward, and the backlash created a tidal wave that crashed down, threatening to engulf me. Even as the water completely swallowed me, I couldn’t close my eyes. Or rather, I was unable to. The jet of water was gradually forming a shape.

But once completely submerged, I had no choice but to close my eyes. The relentless water choked me. The more I struggled, the tighter its grip became, and my consciousness quickly faded. Just when I thought I was going to suffocate and die, the suffocating sensation suddenly disappeared, and I could breathe again.

“Cough, cough!”

I lay on the floor for a while, coughing uncontrollably. I expected to cough up a mouthful of water, but only dry air came out. I felt the soft texture of the clothes I was wearing as I touched my body. I had clearly been swallowed by water, yet there was no wetness anywhere.

“This is unexpected.”

I gasped at the voice I heard. I wondered if it was a hallucination. The familiar voice sounded so surreal. Even yesterday, or this morning, I never imagined I would hear this voice here.

“I never thought a human would summon me.”

I blankly raised my head. The raging river was calm, as if nothing had happened. The golden magic circle I had summoned still scattered a faint golden light on the tranquil surface of the water. It was a beautiful sight.

But something else caught my eye. With each blink, the being there became clearer. Someone was floating in the middle of the magic circle. It was a man who was more familiar than anyone else, yet felt so terribly foreign.

“Ha…”

I had imagined it once. The color I knew of him was always a brilliant gold. I wondered what it would look like when the water, that clear color that was once him, formed him.

That figure was right in front of me.

It was Ellyuen, with his blue, water-like hair flowing down.

* * *

A terrible stench permeated the dark alleyway. It was a path that people rarely frequented, even in broad daylight, because it was dirty and secluded. A strange sound echoed in that narrow, remote place. It sounded like someone groaning or sobbing.

The strange, metallic scraping sound was coming from a man crawling on the ground. The man, flailing around with tears and snot streaming down his face, reached out a trembling arm. Thick blood dripped from his stained fingers, which had no unscathed parts.

“S, save me.”

As if responding to his desperate voice, the person standing with his back to him slowly turned around.

“Save you?”

The gaze, full of interest, leisurely scanned the crawling man. Although his face was hidden by a deeply pulled-down hood, the man guessed he was a boy based on his build and voice.

For the man, boys of that age were usually very easy to deal with. They were innocent and easy to manipulate, and they had some resilience without being too strong, making them easy to handle roughly. He often felt a sense of superiority, like hunting rabbits, when he saw them cowering in fear of him.

“Why would I?”

But the boy in front of him now was different from the ordinary boys he knew. He was not a rabbit, but a beast. No, he was a more cruel beast.

“J, just save me, and I’ll do anything. Please!”

“Anything? You can do anything I want?”

“Yes, I can do anything!”

“Well, there’s only one thing I want from you right now: to clean up that filthy mess.”

At the voice filled with contempt, the man hurriedly looked down at himself. His body, covered in pus, musty mud, and unknown filth, was very dirty even to his own eyes. It was indeed worthy of contempt. But it was none other than the boy in front of him who had made him this way. The man felt wronged, but he tried to swallow his complaints. In his eyes, the boy was not normal. He was trying to kill him for no reason, which was enough to show that. There was no point in talking to a madman. He just had to lie low for now.

“I, I’ll clean myself right away!”

“Really?”

The boy smiled brightly. It seemed he had given a satisfactory answer. Relieved, the man tried to smile along, but the smile was not completed.

“Cough, cough!”

His breath quickly left him along with a thick, sharp pain. The man vomited a mouthful of fresh blood. His wide eyes were filled with questions.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m doing what you asked for.”

“What…”

“Do you know when trash becomes the cleanest? When it dies and returns to the soil.”

“…!”

“That’s the only time you guys please me.”

The whispered voice did not reach the man’s ears. Watching the man, who had already slumped over, the boy lightly clicked his tongue. He knew this would happen, but this one was too weak to be worth the effort. It wasn’t worth tormenting, he thought, muttering words that would have shocked the already dead man. Suddenly, the boy paused and slowly raised his head.

“…Hmm?”

The narrowly opened eyes gazed at the sky for a moment. The boy pushed back the hood he was wearing. Black hair, escaping from the fabric, gently swayed on his tanned skin. Brilliant golden eyes held a sharp light.

“Two miracles in one generation…”

The corners of the boy’s lips turned up. It was a languid smile, like a sated lion.

“Things are getting a little more interesting.”

* * *

「I finally met you, El.」

It’s not difficult to recall the moment the distortion began. Perhaps no one would easily forget such an experience. It was that intense and impressive.

「It’s El, all right. There’s no way I could mistake this unique scent. Besides, the face is the same, and the voice is the same.」

「El had blonde hair and green eyes.」

「El did that too. When he was angry, he sometimes used incomprehensible names or metaphors.」

「Really? You like that?」

「Those are all the things you liked.」

「El.」

Numerous voices crashed over me like a tidal wave. The emotions contained within were all different, but they were all the voices of one person: Sibelius from past memories, who was angry, frustrated, sad, and yet couldn’t let go of hope.

I hated him remembering the past while looking at me. Every time old stories came out of his mouth, I felt like my place was being erased and pushed back. So I rejected and ignored it. Instead of facing it head-on, I chose to bury it as it was. The memories I had forcibly erased were now stirring my heart in a different way.

Looking back, there were many strange things from the beginning. A person who existed only in one person’s memory, a person who may have deeply influenced the subconscious of my precious ones. But a person whose very existence was unclear, and who happened to look like my twin, was also absurd, and even his personality and behavior were similar. He even knew the Korean terms that I knew.

Even if the former was true, the latter was definitely too much of a coincidence. It was too detailed to be a delusion, but if it was real, there was no way to explain why it had disappeared from everyone’s memory. Perhaps I should have suspected it from the moment I felt that many parts were strange.

Perhaps the El that Sibelius remembers from 4,000 years ago is really related to me. It’s not that he and I are separate people…

‘Could it be that I went to the past?’

Of course, if I had said that, I wouldn’t have gotten a good reaction. I would have been told that such nonsense was impossible. It is impossible for a Spirit King to time travel, and it is even more impossible for a human to summon the previous Spirit King. It was a preposterous fantasy that wouldn’t even be treated as a joke.

But even if everyone laughed at me, I should have thought about it at least once, because that absurd thing really happened.

“Father…”

The figure in front of me was the best evidence to prove all these facts. I swallowed hard. Goosebumps rose at the clear presence that dominated my entire vision. My racing heart felt like it would jump out. Even though I was seeing it with my own eyes, it didn’t feel real. Ellyuen with the color of water, in a form close to a translucent spirit. There was no doubt that he was the Spirit of Water. He really was Elquines.

“I’ve never had a son like you.”

If it hadn’t been for the cold voice that followed, I would have been넋놓고 [넋놓고 (neoknohgo) is a Korean expression that means to be absentminded or to stare blankly] staring blankly. Ah, that’s right. The current him was not the Ellyuen I knew. He was the Spirit King of Water before he became a god, who didn’t even know me. Quickly regaining my senses, I saw him narrowing his eyes and looking down at me. He looked somehow uncomfortable.

“Umm, well… so… Lord Elquines?”

“Good. If you know that, you know what you have to do now.”

“…?”

“Are you planning to stay in that state?”

Only then did I realize that I was sitting down in a rather unsightly manner. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t even greeted the Spirit King properly, let alone stood up straight. To him, who possessed divinity, my actions must have seemed like a tremendous act of insubordination. Before his expression could darken further, I quickly tried to get up. But unlike what I thought, my legs wouldn’t listen.

“Huh?”

As soon as I raised my upper body, my butt touched the floor again. I couldn’t feel any strength in my legs. It felt like all the senses in my body had disappeared. Then, Ellyuen, who had been watching me flail helplessly, lightly clicked his tongue.

“Is that all it took to summon me? I’ve heard about it, but your mana is so pathetic it makes me sigh.”

Ah, so that’s why my mana is depleted. Come to think of it, Isana was in a similar state when she summoned me. Still, I didn’t faint, so the situation was better. Well, Isana summoning me back then was closer to luck, so anyone would be better than that.

No, but even so, did he have to call me pathetic? It’s a great thing in itself for a human to summon a Spirit King. The success rate is originally low, and because I lack innate mana, I have to risk my life. In other words, it’s something you can’t even attempt without being prepared to die. I know better now that I’ve experienced it firsthand. It was so hard that I still felt nauseous. I’m enduring this painful process, but he’s calling me pathetic. I’m squeezing out what I don’t have, so he should be admiring me instead of looking down on me!

Well, what would a Spirit King who has only met races with overflowing mana, like dragons, know? People who have lived comfortably in the world are no good. Oh well. I’m the first human to be summoned, so I have no choice but to be patient as a senior.

Muttering words I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud, I smiled awkwardly. Then, my body felt lighter, and I felt strength in my muscles. It seemed Ellyuen had infused me with mana because he didn’t want to leave me weak.

“Ah, thank…”

“Will you make a contract?”

“Huh? Yes? What?”

No, wait a minute. Didn’t you just call me pathetic? Something doesn’t add up. I was dumbfounded by the sudden proposal. Ellyuen was still staring at me with an indifferent gaze as I looked at him in bewilderment.

“I’m not very merciful. I especially hate losing out. Originally, I wouldn’t even consider such a worthless contract. But since it’s the first time a human has summoned me, I’ll give you a special opportunity.”

“Wow, that’s an honor… but wait, Father. No, Lord Elquines? Just wait a minute.”

Come to think of it, you could make a contract with the summoned spirit. No, that’s why you summon them in the first place. I was so focused on confirming the evidence that I honestly hadn’t thought that far, so I was a little flustered by this situation. Of course, I knew that the ‘El’ of the past was Elquines’ contractor. But I still couldn’t believe this moment in a corner of my mind. Now that the word ‘contract’ came out of his mouth, I finally realized it. This was really Arkadon 4,000 years ago, and I was the El of the past.

Blonde hair, green eyes, a water spirit mage who was human but treated the spirits like family. He called Ellyuen ‘Father’ before I did. Every word he recalled about him hurt like a dagger, but now it all made sense. That El was me. I had already called him ‘Father’ twice.

‘In the end, I was jealous of myself.’

Wow, what is going on in the world? I don’t know how I’m going to face everyone when I get back. Especially in front of Sibelius, I won’t be able to lift my head. Does he have any idea about this situation? Judging by the fact that he was trying to say something to me at the end, he might have noticed something. Ellyuen, who was stopping him, also seemed to know something. I couldn’t stand my burning face, so I kept washing it with my hands. But the real problem was just beginning.

“What is that?”

“Huh?”

At the sudden voice, I raised my head and saw Ellyuen frowning. He was staring at my hand. I had just left it alone after rolling up my sleeve, so the pattern engraved on the back of my hand was visible. I quickly hid my hand behind my back. Of course, I knew in my head that it was a very late response. Sure enough, the expression quickly disappeared from Ellyuen’s face.