The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 117

117.

.

There isn’t a soul alive who hasn’t heard of this place. Though two walls now stand, in Lynn’s time, this was the only one.

The world’s edge, the boundary of civilized lands…

When the blue-white cliffs pierced the southern horizon, slicing through the rosy dawn, Rain cheered even before Kasena.

“That’s the Great Wall…”

He wondered if ‘wall’ truly captured its essence.

Would humanity ever possess the technology to erect such a structure? The possessed an elegance, magnificence, and beauty that dwarfed any structure Rain had ever laid eyes on.

It wasn’t just its height; an indescribable sense of weight overwhelmed anyone who dared to gaze upon it.

“How much further?”

「A full day’s journey. We should arrive around noon tomorrow.」

“Let’s hurry! Peach, what’s it like to look down on the world from up there?!”

Kasena, her lilac eyes sparkling with excitement, giggled and dashed ahead towards the Great Wall, Pipi bouncing alongside her.

Alakish, ever the vanguard, stood gazing up at the Great Wall, a profound emotion etched upon her face.

*Could she wear such an expression because she had witnessed the Great Wall’s genesis, blessed by the gods?* A strange curiosity stirred within Rain.

“Do you remember the day the Great Wall was built?”

「Of course, I remember. Dragons do not forget, especially memories from their youth.」

“You remember? Something that happened 1,400 years ago?”

Alakish’s eyes, as she resumed her stride, shone quietly towards the sky beyond the Great Wall.

Somewhere beyond that wall, she was recalling a day in the distant past.

The memories of her playing joyfully in the Divine Dragon’s embrace with her four siblings were both distant and vividly clear.

*Pyras, Grydaone, Shalesarum, Jakan… are you still with the Great Fire?*

The joy and sorrow of her childhood had morphed into a poignant sadness, directed towards the dragon egg wriggling energetically on her back.

*I have such memories, but this child will have none.*

*In this frozen land, in this empire of death that grows colder with each passing day, will this child be able to fulfill its mission…?*

「The gods alone know the reason, perhaps it is because that memory must be cherished like nourishment throughout an immortal life.」

It was a story Rain found hard to fathom.

He barely retained memories from 300 years prior, unless they were exceptionally significant.

“Then Alakish, you must have actually met the Black Sun Karenden or Emitsa Page?”

「Indeed. Karenden himself held this Alakish, a mere hatchling, in his arms on the day I emerged from my egg.」

As Alakish recounted this, she seemed less like her usual solemn self and more like a shy girl sharing a childhood anecdote.

「Ah… now that I think about it, Emitsa Page was there as well. They were inseparable before Karenden departed from this land.」

Hearing about her ancestors, Kasena, having somehow caught wind of the tale, scurried over and listened intently.

Alakish simply recounted what she had seen and heard without embellishment, yet it was captivating enough to make one lose all sense of time.

Where else could one encounter such a vivid account of the Age of Gods, when all that remained were fragmented tales gleaned from books?

“Was our ancestor strong?! Super strong?! Because she was the originator of magic!”

「She was certainly more powerful than you are now. But Emitsa was not originally skilled in combat.」

“Oh, then you must have seen how Karenden and Emitsa used magic?”

What type were they?

One was the founder of truth, and the other was the first sage to attain truth, so they must have been the Yorgen type [referring to a specific school or style of magic], right?

However, Alakish completely disregarded such expectations, suddenly clasping her hands together.

「They both used it like this.」

“Huh?”

「I mean they used their power by clasping their hands together like this.」

It was a peculiar story. What on earth could that mean? It resembled a praying posture more than a magical incantation, didn’t it?

Magic, a discipline rooted in rationality, and prayer, a religious conclusion, were diametrically opposed.

And if that was the posture, where was the magic circle? Kasena seemed to share the same bewilderment, suddenly beginning to trace runes in the air.

“Then what about this? I heard it was a bloodline limit passed down from our ancestor, was that all a lie?”

「No, they certainly used that method as well. When instructing their disciples.」

Tch, neither story was helpful.

Clap, clap, clap clap… So, she kept clasping her hands together and even held hands with Kasena, but it was all in vain.

Clasped-hands magic – the principle of its activation remained elusive. What did magic look like when one reached the truth?

“What is this! I don’t understand!”

Perhaps wanting to catch up with her ancestor in an instant, Kasena, who had been incessantly slapping her palms together, eventually collapsed onto the snowfield in frustration.

*No, is this her bedroom floor? How can she lie down so naturally?*

Perhaps sensing that they were more confused than amused, Alakish, who had been stroking her chin thoughtfully, offered a sudden suggestion.

「Then how about you two have a magic duel later?」

“Huh?”

「I can teach you the principle of how Karenden used his power, and I’ve witnessed a few times how he used that power in battle.」

It was a groundbreaking proposal that made their eyes light up.

Anyone with a passion for magic would dream of it, but it was a teaching unattainable anywhere else in the world in this era.

As they exchanged wide-eyed glances, Alakish nodded, seemingly pleased with their reaction.

「I will observe your battle and then teach you by comparison.」

* * *

Madelia Page, awakening in her mansion’s bed, reached for the bedside table as she had habitually done since the Black Spot incident [likely referring to a traumatic event].

There was always a glass filled with the finest wine… as she had instructed the servants.

But for some reason, she groped around for a long time without finding the glass. She couldn’t function without alcohol; she couldn’t even sleep without it.

“You wretch, how much of this bitter liquor have you been imbibing to make the room reek of alcohol so intensely that it’s suffocating?”

With a brief reprimand, the curtains at the window, which had plunged the room into perpetual darkness, were flung open.

*When did the sun rise…?* Madelia squeezed her eyes shut against the rays of dawn flooding the room and employed telekinetic magic.

The curtains slammed shut again, as if to engulf the room in darkness once more, but with the sound of fabric tearing, the light burst through again.

“If I had known you would become such a wreck, I would never have imparted my magical knowledge to you.”

The stooped woman silhouetted against the sunlight was Chief Professor Marchena.

Marchena, a friend of her late father (though actually a year younger), was Madelia’s benefactor, having taught her magic in her youth. Thus, Madelia used honorifics despite their difference in status.

Madelia turned weakly away from the sunlight and shouted nervously at the servants.

“Wine, bring me wine. Now!”

“Stop it, you wretch. Are you trying to drink yourself to death?”

“I wish I could. So please, leave me alone.”

“Madelia.”

“Leave me alone! Kasena, Kasena… died because of me… what do you expect me to do?”

“You wretch, why is that your fault? Did you summon the abyss? Goodness, then the Special Task Force or the Holy See should be coming for you! Instead of targeting innocent children.”

Marchena retorted, seemingly dumbfounded, but the hand she placed on Madelia’s shoulder was touchingly tender.

After a long silence, Madelia buried her face in Marchena’s hand and began to sob quietly.

Just as she had secretly wept beside Marchena at Anben Page’s funeral when she was young, without even a flicker of emotion on her face.

“I shouldn’t have sent her to the Holy See… both when she hurt her leg last time and this time… I shouldn’t have given in to their demands…”

When parents die, they are buried in a grave and mourned on their anniversaries, but when children die, they are buried in the heart and mourned every day…

She tried to bury Kasena, but no matter how much she dug and dug and dug, tearing her heart apart, she couldn’t make a grave big enough to bury that child.

Her lovely smile is still so vivid, her footsteps are so missed… how can she bury her?

“Having lived for over sixty years, I’ve seen a lot. The brighter the light, the faster it burns out, and the more special I felt someone was, the sooner they left the world. Like your father.”

“…”

“I was so glad you didn’t become like that. What happened to your daughter is truly… regrettable.”

If Ludwig and his wife had heard these words, would they have found even a sliver of comfort? Because she was such an exceptional child that she deserved to hear such praise.

But in Madelia’s case, she could not be comforted in the slightest. Because.

“Marchena, Kasena never shone brightly, not even once…”

* * *

As they walked diligently south until sunset, the Great Wall loomed ever closer, growing larger with each step.

After Alakish deemed it a suitable time to camp, Kasena and Rain stood facing each other on the snowfield.

Kasena, slapping her palm with her fist, was unexpectedly elated. Did she have something up her sleeve?

“Don’t hold back, Rain. Or you’ll be in trouble!”

“Hmm, we’ll see.”

*I’m sorry, but Kasena and I have years of difference in magical combat experience. Leaving aside talent, the level of skill alone is incomparable.*

“Iyat!”

Kasena, lowering her stance and watching Rain intently, moved swiftly to the side and scattered letters of light in the air with her fingertips.

*A mobile attack that makes the most of her specialty, nice!*

Rain, whistling in praise, felt his heart ache the next moment as the shadow of the past overlapped with Kasena’s face.

*– Yes, that’s it. Not bad!*

He remembered feeling the same emotion and uttering the same words when Turaina made a similar attempt.

“Where are you looking!”

Then, the runes that had spread into a cluster of light in the air transformed into power. A fierce fireball split into three and hurtled towards him.

*Hmm, I thought it was a rune I’d never seen before, so it was the dragon language Alakish taught me. Still, I can’t afford to underestimate it.*

The next moment, a gust of wind scattered snow and sharply ascended, subtly altering the trajectory of the fireball upwards.

“First lesson: magic is not always better when cast quickly.”

The moment he flicked his finger and acted leisurely, he felt a surge of ominousness from the sly smile on Kasena’s face.

Since opening Bel Curios [likely referring to a magical artifact or ability], he could often perceive the flow of magic power even without using his eyes, and this was precisely the case.

A chilling current of magic power was being concentrated in Kasena’s palm. And that was…?

*Runes in her palm… when did she…?*

*Is she applying the Page family’s bloodline limit like the Remidierre type [referring to a specific magical technique]? Nice?*

As Kasena clenched her hand, the letters of power awakened and manipulated the world’s supernatural forces.

*Is it a multiple telekinetic series?* A considerable gravity was pulling him to the ground while changing the trajectory of the fireball back towards him.

“I knew Rain would defend with wind magic! This is my victory!”

*Is this really that Kasena who used to whine that she couldn’t even use 1-star magic? Remarkable rapid growth, a heart-pounding moment.*

But well…

Should he say she had a bad opponent, or that she had the wrong(?) teacher?

“And the second lesson: a magic battle isn’t over until it’s over.”

The smile on Kasena’s face, which had been confidently beaming, froze for a moment.

Rain’s magic was ridiculously fast, so much so that he would only realize later, after reviewing what was first and what was last.

The water that suddenly gushed from the ground collided with the fireball, and a loud explosion shook the pine forest, and the vision was blocked by the thick steam that rose.

In that moment when the senses were paralyzed, the water droplets that had scattered in all directions due to the explosion froze like daggers and poured down like rain.

「That’s enough.」

He heard Alakish’s voice, who had instructed him to fight with all his might without worrying, as she would intervene if it seemed dangerous.

At the same time, a current of fire enveloped Kasena, instantly melting the daggers that were about to tear her small body apart.

Perhaps she only realized the situation after a long time, and Kasena’s face contorted with a frustrated expression, but no way, her eyes shone innocently.

“Rain is amazing as expected! I thought I could win!”

“No, that’s not true.”

He gave her a lot of leeway, but did she look down on him a little?

“I’ll catch up soon! Just you wait! I’ll learn more from Alakish!”

*No, such cowardly tactics…!*

That’s too much; he almost shed tears for a moment. He wanted to learn from Alakish too, but he couldn’t.

Alakish, who had been carefully reviewing the match, finally nodded.

「Indeed, Rain is several times more skilled than this Alakish thought. The match itself was not even close.」

At that moment, his heart throbbed.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d been praised by someone and his heart had raced like this.

The compliments he received at school were just embarrassing. After all, the professors were one level below him from the start.

「And he uses the techniques that Karenden used quite similarly. Switching the attributes of power or combining them to amplify them during battle was one of his specialties.」

*But who is Alakish?*

A True Dragon, a True Dragon.

The five servants of the Divine Dragon, divine beings endowed with infinite magic power and ultimate power. And an immortal who remembers the appearances of Karenden and Emitsa.

「But in terms of the overall framework of how to use power, Kasena may be closer to him than you are.」

He was calming his swollen heart, thinking that more praise would continue, but at that moment, his head tilted.

“Huh?”

“What?”