The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 128

128.

“Start after counting to three.”

Climbing onto Barujen’s back, Cassena nodded, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

“Three.”

The time Barujen could buy would be only a few seconds at most. Within that time, she had to succeed at something she herself didn’t even know the exact method for.

“Two.”

She might die at the end of this road. But she also felt that wouldn’t be so bad.

If she abandoned Alakish here and ran away to survive, she would live a life full of regret.

And seeing the pure white lightning striking the ground far ahead, she was filled with courage.

“One.”

Rain is fighting too.

Facing an enemy more powerful than her, without giving up even a little…

So, I won’t give up either. I’ll just focus everything on this method now. I’ll make sure you meet Alakish again with a smile, Rain.

“Go!”

As Barujen kicked off the ground with all four paws, a fierce sense of speed hit her head, even causing dizziness.

“Peach!”

At the same time, the sun parakeet Peach, enveloped in flames, soared into the sky and fiercely charged towards Alakish.

The undead feared and shunned light and fire, and Alakish, now in that state, hesitated and stepped back while opening its maw.

From there, with a disgusting cracking sound, abyssal corrosive fluid, like phlegm, bubbled up and scattered in the air like a barrage.

“……!”

Only after seeing Peach narrowly avoid those countless droplets of death, a weight lifted from her heart, could she finally exhale.

Now it’s our turn.

During the few seconds Peach bought, Barujen quickly closed the distance with Alakish and let out a sharp, keenly trembling wolf howl.

That was the signal.

Cassena immediately hugged the dragon egg basket, protected by a telekinetic barrier, and jumped off Barujen’s back.

Due to the intense centrifugal force and inertia, her body rolled endlessly on the snowfield, and a pain that felt like her lungs were being crushed and her breath was stopping ran through her entire body.

When the rotation finally stopped, the dragon’s roar and the wolf’s howl were intersecting right in front of her. It was Barujen.

“Hmm, what is that thing doing now?”

Frisvia, who had stepped back to observe the situation, narrowed her eyes as if she couldn’t understand.

There was no way she could know, and no way she could understand even if she heard it.

But as if there was a telepathy among the same race, the beastmen warriors, under Griffion’s command, followed Barujen.

The combat abilities of the beastmen chieftains were superior to the renowned knights Cassena had seen in the mansion. They were dodging Alakish’s foreleg attacks and finally launching a major offensive.

The problem was that the combat instinct residing in Alakish’s body was even more excellent.

Just when Alakish seemed about to slam Barujen with its huge raised foot, it suddenly turned its body and struck Barujen’s torso with its massive tail.

“Barujen──!”

Barujen, knocked away by the blow, caused several huge explosions in the snowfield and finally crashed into a distant rock, causing it to crack.

“──Go!”

For a moment, she almost lost her composure, but Cassena, regaining her senses at that shout, swallowed her breath and ran towards Alakish.

The dragon egg in the basket began to throb more and more vigorously, as if it was uncontrollably happy to meet its mother again.

Hope seemed to continue, dawn seemed to break… until the moment Alakish stared blankly at the dragon egg.

“……?!”

However, Alakish didn’t recognize the dragon egg, and the next moment, it opened its maw wide and spewed out a tsunami of the abyss.

She might have been swept away by that tsunami and melted away with the dragon egg.

If, at that very moment, Alakish hadn’t collapsed powerlessly like a puppet with its strings cut. Her eyes shot up into the air in a daze due to the transcendent weight.

‘Is it a miracle…?’

There was no time to think. Cassena, who had approached close to Alakish’s head, was panting when.

“I don’t know what kind of luck you’ve pulled off, but it’s quite impressive? Hehehe.”

Frisvia landed on the crown of Alakish’s head and brought a device from which steam was fiercely뿜어져 나오는 [spewing out] to the crown.

“Wh-What are you trying to do?!”

“What am I doing? I’m trying to give it rest. It’s a wedge made of Fire Plume Stone. If it pierces the brain, it’ll have the same effect as being burned alive instantly.”

“Don’t do it! Alakish is still alive!”

“This is alive?”

Frisvia was about to pull the trigger with a contemptuous laugh, but sharp claws grabbed her wrist.

“Let that child do what she intends to do.”

It was Griffion, the chieftain of the beastmen.

That was also the moment when Frisvia’s adventure party and the beastmen warriors, who had been cooperating until now, instantly became hostile and pointed their spears and swords at each other.

“I’m Cassena… Alakish, don’t you recognize me?”

「…….」

“Please, come to your senses. Rain is fighting alone. Help him, Alakish.”

Of course, there was no answer. Not even a breath was coming out, not even a puff of air.

Why did she do that when she was just blankly calling that name repeatedly? Cassena was unknowingly bringing the dragon egg to Alakish’s huge forehead.

Was it because she remembered Alakish’s smile as she hugged the dragon egg every night and pressed her forehead against it?

“What are you doing here… You promised to make delicious food for your daughter… You said you wanted to make warm memories…”

There was no answer. There was no way there could be. Alakish had already had her soul devoured by the abyss….

A sad silence overwhelmed the snowfield.

Frisvia clicked her tongue as if she had expected it, and Griffion placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder as if to comfort her and shook his head.

“Our comrades are still fighting the undead and the old ones back there. We can’t stay here any longer. Let’s give her rest…”

“Rest…?”

“Only light and fire can give rest to a soul devoured by the abyss.”

The moment Frisvia aimed the Fire Plume Stone wedge at Alakish’s skull again, the moment Cassena shook her head wildly….

Did the whisper of those tears, flowing endlessly down the girl’s cheeks, reach her soul?

Or did the divine light emitted by the Black Lamb Scale hanging around the girl’s neck melt the chains of the abyss that were holding onto her soul?

If not, did the harsh and sad vibrations of severance from the dragon egg touching her forehead touch the mother’s soul?

At that moment, a ray of distant memories shone into Alakish’s soul, which had been sinking vaguely into the depths of the abyss.

…………

…

……

………

……………

「So, who do you think is suitable?」

Karelden, leaning on his staff, approached with his thin white robe fluttering.

Even the mere sound of his voice caused the atmosphere to tremble quietly, unintentionally. Because divinity was embedded in everything he said and did.

The fire dragon Bel’daki-dun, who had been silently watching the sight of five baby dragons playing joyfully, prostrated himself with precision.

「Great Light, I am deeply sorry to say… this Bel’daki-dun dares not choose anyone.」

Four years ago, Karelden had ordered him to prepare a red true dragon for a solitary mission, but Bel’daki-dun had not been able to carry out that order.

It wasn’t because he couldn’t gauge the children’s aptitude. As a father, he simply couldn’t allow any of his children to bear such a cross.

So, Karelden, reading the writhing sadness in Bel’daki-dun’s voice, who hadn’t even given the children names yet, smiled bitterly.

「Hmm… I certainly seem to have given you too cruel a mission, Bel.」

「This Bel’daki-dun has been inadequate.」

「No, it’s okay. I would have been the same. If it has come to this, there’s no choice but to let those children choose.」

As Karelden approached, the eldest of the baby dragons, who had hatched first and had been leading the other children, lined up her siblings and had them bow politely.

“Gu bar ki a den. We greet Karelden-nim.”

“““Gu bar ki a den!”””

Two girls and three boys.

Two of the boys were as innocent and mischievous as ten-year-old human children, while one liked to quietly contemplate.

The youngest girl chattered as energetically as the boys, but the eldest, the eldest daughter, was so precocious and intelligent that she didn’t even know how to whine from infancy.

“I will do it, Karelden-nim.”

Before he had even said anything, the eldest daughter said that, and even the great Karelden blinked his eyes.

「Do you know what I’m trying to do now?」

“The Father of Fire said that he is looking for someone to entrust with a difficult mission. I believe you have come for that purpose.”

「No, you don’t know what kind of work I’m trying to entrust you with. There’s no need to choose so rashly, and you shouldn’t. I also intend to give you several years to think about it.」

“But I know that it is something that someone must do.”

「It’s a job where you have to face the most terrifying solitude in the world. Is it just solitude? Once you set foot on that journey of life, you can’t stop. You have to go on alone until you die. It’s a path of nothing but pain and solitude.」

“The Great Fire said. That serving the will of the gods is the work of the true dragon, and that caring for the pain of siblings is the work of the eldest. Therefore, I want to walk that path instead of my siblings.”

The physical and mental growth of the dragon race created by Karelden is fast. On average, more than three times faster than humans.

So, this child, who is now four years old, is no different from a twelve-year-old child at best… It was a situation that was hard to believe even as the creator.

A sad smile formed on Karelden’s lips as he glimpsed the resolute will shining in the eyes of the young creation.

「Come here.」

Tears welled up in one of Karelden’s eyes as he held the young true dragon who had come forward high in his arms.

「The future of the world has been greatly changed by your beautiful soul, who wants to bear sorrow for the joy of your siblings.」

“……?”

「From today, your name is Alakish. It means ‘mission’ and also means ‘compost’. Every step of the life you have to live will someday brightly illuminate the dawn on this land.」

Your life is not in vain. The mission that you will have to live arduously in the future, and that you will have to protect with difficulty, is not in vain at all.

Now you will live a life that no one knows about in a place where no one knows you, but I will remember you.

I will remember you and use you when I start the greatest and most magnificent work. So until then….”

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………

……………

In the depths of the deep soul, at the moment when the eyes of the true dragon, whose limbs were tightly bound by dark blue spiderwebs, opened and a tear ran down her cheek.

“……?!”

“……?!”

“……?!”

Everyone surrounding the dragon 침식된 [corroded] by the abyss swallowed their breath and stepped back one step at a time.

Because a crack had formed on the forehead touching the dragon egg, and flames were leaking out from that gap.

One, one, and another.

The cracks gradually spread throughout the entire head, and in the flames that burned the spiderwebs covering the entire body like armor, a figure appeared.

“Alakish……?”

From within the dragon’s skull, which was crumbling into charcoal, the woman with hair as red as flames, who was touching her forehead with the dragon egg, appeared.

Her body was still a mess, just as it had been when she was attacked by Shar’kas. Ribs sticking out eerily from outside her body, frozen internal organs….

Hugging Alakish’s terrible body, Cassena focused her mind on the pulse of life, suppressing even her breath.

Dugun, dugun, dugun, dugun…….

She could feel it.

The sensation of a warm chest, the pulse of a heart slowly moving inside, and the scent of firewood emanating from the red dragon’s body….

And she could hear it.

The voice that flowed out of that weakly opened mouth, fierce and beautiful like a flame.

「Du ge ru as…… Cassena……?」

Tears poured from Cassena’s eyes with a pain that felt like her heart was breaking. It was the same tears as before, but the emotions she felt were different.

It wasn’t sadness, but joy.

So, what she should be shedding at this time is not tears but laughter… but it was okay. Because she was alive, because she was alive.

“Although it’s hard to believe… welcome back to the world of the living, Alakish-nim.”

As Griffion said that, a wave of tearful applause arose from here and there among the warriors.

But the moment of hope was only temporary, and Peach, circling in the air, cried out harshly.

Even though her vision was blurred with tears, Cassena could see it too. The tragedy that occurred in one corner of her vision, where the blizzard was raging….

“Ah……?”

Her mind was dyed pure white. She saw Rain collapsing in the snowfield, spitting blood. She also saw Shar’kas shaking his hand, and the lump of blood that had been his heart rolling around in the snowfield.

She stood up blankly, letting out a scream that was not a scream, and was about to run towards him when a weakly convulsing hand grabbed her wrist.

It was Alakish.

「Not yet, not yet… he’s not dead yet….」

“……?!”

「Bring him… this way, quickly… time is, time is running out….」

She had already exceeded her limit long ago, no, she had already been dead for a long time… Alakish herself didn’t know how she was still alive.

She couldn’t know that, but there were two things she could clearly know even with her consciousness gradually darkening.

That she would soon die… and that she could save Rain Ludwig.

‘Now I understand for sure….’

Karelden-nim did not send these children to Harbadonia. He sent them to me, to this Alakish.

Because he has a purpose.

And he chose this Alakish as the tool to fulfill that purpose… Alakish hugged the egg that was throbbing powerfully in her arms.

“Is it enough to just bring him here?”

At that time, when all the warriors were hesitating to approach Shar’kas, Griffion stepped forward and asked that.

“Of course, that’s what Alakish-nim said….”

Then Barujen, staggering with his battered body, stood next to him, and before anyone could stop him, saying where he was going in that state, Frisvia came forward.

“Fighting an old god once in a while would be a good experience, heh. That’s also a condition of the contract.”

* * *

「At first, I couldn’t believe why Her Majesty the Queen was looking for a human like you…」

Shar’kas, the White Spirit, who was standing on the boy’s corpse with his wooden clogs, raised his blood-soaked hand once again.

「I certainly knew that Karelden, that bastard, was plotting something with you as a medium. Let’s take a look at what that is.」

And at the moment he 박아 넣은 [drove] the squelching demonic energy dancing fingertips into the boy’s head──

「──No?!」

──At the moment he was about to 박아 넣은 [drive], a black light that flew in from somewhere blocked Shar’kas’s hand, and suddenly exploded dazzlingly, 튕겨냈다 [bounced] his body.

The explosion formed a circle with a diameter of 3 meters as it was, and 휘감았다 [enveloped] the boy’s body like a barrier. The abyss 침식 [erosion] in the boy’s body, enveloped in absolute light, slowly began to purify.

The light flew from the southwest and reached the Black Lamb Scale hanging around the boy’s neck, resonating, and suddenly the White Spirit’s eyes widened.

「This power is… Karelden, is that you?」

If you still have this kind of power, why don’t you come forward and fight directly?

According to the dragon’s memory, he suffered an almost irreparable wound in the King’s Abyss and 잠적했을 [disappeared]… for as long as eleven hundred years.

He did, but he reappeared? How useful are you going to use this human?

「Hmph, whatever. No matter what you’re plotting, it won’t be a problem if I tear this human’s body to pieces!」

To be precise, Karelden did not reveal himself. He had already consumed most of his power during the Black Spot incident.

The power that 튕겨내고 [bounced] Shar’kas’s hand and protected Rain Ludwig’s body was only what was fired from the frozen main cannon of the 병선기지 [warship base].

The Black Lamb Scale, sensing the owner’s crisis, issued an escort order to the ship through the 측위 [positioning] communication function, but was this according to Karelden’s calculations?

‘As expected, it has become so weak that it can’t even be compared to before….’

As Shar’kas’s spiderwebs 휘감자 [enveloped] the barrier of black light firmly, cracks soon formed on the surface of the barrier, and a strand of spiderweb 기어들어 갔다 [crawled] through the gap.

「You seem to have been hiding your appearance for thousands of years, preparing something for the moment when the kings wake up, but it’s a pity.」

This defense mechanism of the Black Lamb Scale was not used to defeat Shar’kas. Just for a very short time, to buy time.

“Don’t touch my friend with that dirty hand…!”

Suddenly, the smell of a beast and a hot breath were felt in the blizzard, and a long snout popped out and bit Shar’kas’s neck.

It was the 전사장 [former chief] Barujen.

Of course, those fangs were shattered before they could touch the old god’s jade body, just by Shar’kas flicking his finger.

「Know your place, you 잡종 [mongrel].」

It was truly a divine skill, one of the spiderwebs that was 옥죄던 [constricting] the barrier cut off Barujen’s snout and grabbed his neck at the same time.

Even though most of his front teeth were cut off as his snout was brutally 도륙되면서 [butchered], the wolf beastman only wore a 히쭉 [smirking] satisfied smile.

The reason for that smile could only be confirmed by Shar’kas himself after a while.

“Griffion, now is the time…!”

Something that 급강하해온 [swooped down] like an arrow from somewhere in the sky 집어넣어 [inserted] its claws into a gap in a spiderweb and 끌어냈다 [pulled out] the boy who was inside the barrier.

It was the eagle beastman, Griffion.

It was not difficult for the White Spirit to grab Griffion, who was trying to fly again by changing the momentum of the descent into lift.

“I was wondering what the body of an old god would look like.”

If the heroine of the mechanical armor, 매섭게 뿜어내는 [fiercely spewing] steam, had not appeared and 걷어차지 [kicked] Shar’kas’s wrist, which was about to stretch out a spiderweb.

Originally, the strength of a mortal would not even be a match for an ancient royal family, but it was a different story for Frisvia, who amplified her 각력 [leg strength] with countless interlocking gears.

Eventually, the mechanical armor, 밀린 [pushed back] in the power struggle, began to creak painfully, and the gears began to 뒤틀리기 [twist]. However, she bought a full 2 seconds.

Even the spiderweb that was chasing after Griffion was 그슬려졌 [singed] by Pipi’s flames, so it would be exactly 3 seconds.

“Heh, amazing. I didn’t think this would hold out.”

Frisvia’s legs, revealed as the leggings part was 박살 [smashed] by Shar’kas’s spiderwebs… were 경악스럽게도 [shockingly] a chaotic form of dozens of intertwined furs and leathers.

“Apparently, there’s a limit to a normal body, heh, so I did some 생체 이식 [bio-grafting]. I wanted to look younger, hehehe.”

Not only the fur of beastmen and the leather of beasts, but even the epidermis of primitive spiders was mixed into the skin in various places.

「Haa…….」

Shar’kas 신경질적인 [irritatedly] let out a small breath as if he was 같잖다는 [displeased]. Lightly, as if a human was 짜증을 [annoyed] when a few flies disturbed his meal.

「I always have to show you lowly things the difference in class. So that you can only succumb in awe.」