The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 273

Extracurricular 2.

Forgotten War, the Spider Lord Subjugation (2)

The Water Dragon Yerisellica was seen sitting on the branch of the World Tree, gazing down at the lake.

For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating.

Because nothing about the scenery had changed.

However, seeing the numerous reflections on the water’s surface, I was certain that this was inside the ‘Pure White Dream.’

Beyond a doubt.

Her hair was blue, so pure it was almost sacred.

Dragon horns sprouted, etched with holy patterns resembling wood grain, and she wore a silk robe of pure sound, made of otherworldly materials.

The Divine Dragon, who had been watching some life deep below the lake, spoke in a benevolent voice.

「Now you truly begin to carry the same scent as that person. I believed we would meet again like this.」

“Yerisellica-nim.”

「You have not come to see the beastmen, nor to see Mirngardia. I know that the content of the dreams you have been having every day is troubling you, and that is why you have come to find me.」

Yerisellica.

Eyes that penetrate all.

What could I hide before them? But I couldn’t help but have one doubt.

“You said that you could glimpse the future in the Pure White Dream back then.”

「Faintly, as if looking in a mirror.」

“I encountered an enemy who used the same power. He was a servant of the Lord of Time. Is it a power like the Abyss?”

「The Abyss peers into many world lines and foretells the future, but this Yerisellica sees the future from the possibilities held by humans.」

“Are the two very different?”

「There is no certain future. Even the future in which you arrive here like this was not certain.」

“Perhaps……”

「Are you asking if humans can also glimpse the future through dreams?」

“Yes.”

When Yerisellica spread her hand wide, the images reflected on the lake surface flickered and disappeared one by one.

And it began to be dyed ominously black and purely white.

Goosebumps rose on my arms, and my hair stood on end. Were these not the scenes I had seen in my dreams?

Volcanic ash and snowstorms intersecting and scattering…….

「A nightmare is approaching that cannot be opposed with human possibilities. What you saw must have been one fragment of the future. As you came to see the truth, you were able to see the depths of the world.」

“No, no! That can’t be! Does that mean this is a confirmed future?”

「As I said before, there is no certain future. But we must consider that there is a very high possibility that things will turn out this way.」

“Mathematicians don’t recklessly say 100%.”

Yerisellica smiled kindly, and when she clasped her hands together, most of the images disappeared.

The pure white images, the snowstorms, disappeared, and only scenes filled with volcanic ash and lava remained.

Of all the images that had filled the lake, only five remained after removing the snowstorms.

Only one image pointed to hope.

Only one image showed the volcanic ash and lava all subsiding, and everything submerged in a faint light.

“What must I do?”

「Child of the spring breeze, you have not come to ask me that. You already know. If you fail, this is how the world will become.」

It wasn’t just hope.

Another despair was only pure white, as if it had been destroyed by a snowstorm before the volcanic ash arrived.

“You know what I’m trying to do.”

「Everything appears in this lake. Your possibilities, your heart, and the faith that your possibilities and heart will create. You didn’t come here to ask for a method. You came to know the possibilities, didn’t you?」

Indeed, she sees through everything……. I smiled and clenched my fist.

A thousand four hundred years had passed since the Spider Lord escaped from the gods’ seal.

If I could defeat that guy once again and weaken him…….

Then the snowstorm will not come in the final era when the volcanic ash explodes. In other words, the Spider Lord will not be able to use his power.

「However, I can tell you a shortcut. Find Jaunnyeo (子澐女) [a woman’s name] in Harvadonia. She is the Spider Lord’s confidante, the 4th in the Obonwi hierarchy.」

“So the old noble has already awakened. What must I do after finding her?”

「Jaunnyeo has the key to the Spider Lord’s Cheonsuseong (天水聖) [Heavenly Water Fortress]. You had better hurry. Before Husingyeong (侯吲卿) [a noble’s name] completely takes over Harvadonia.」

With those words, Yerisellica wore a somewhat sad smile.

「But consider this matter carefully several times. The time of the gods has not yet come, so if you fail, the world may collapse before it even reaches the final era.」

“……”

「Whatever path you choose, this Yerisellica will also help with all my heart.」

It was then.

Suddenly, the entire world blurred like a dawn mist, and soon lost its cohesion and scattered.

What is it……?

Did Yerisellica forcibly eject me from the dream……?

Swallowing my trembling breath, I hurriedly looked around.

The surroundings were only darkness.

Neither the lake, the World Tree, nor Mir could be seen. The dream was not over. But then where is this?

Only primal fear was whispering a clear truth directly into my heart.

It’s coming…….

A being with eternal blood…….

「A clone of Karenden.」

The dimension screamed a nightmare at the voice echoing from the bottom of the Abyss.

Squirm.

Squeak, squeak, gurgle.

An evil change settled in the space that was originally a lake, turning it into a swamp and beginning to pull my lower body in.

「Know that it is an honor that I personally reveal my form to you.」

The mystery of impiety, a being awakened from a thousand years of darkness.

The confusion of the mind, a wave of the dead entangled in spiderwebs that are not spiderwebs, emitting nauseating groans.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, a pathologically suppressed drumbeat is heard.

And there was a spiderweb that started from the end of the horizon where the beginning could not be known, and stretched beyond the realms of light and darkness.

The vengeful spirits, unable to die, hung on that spiderweb for an eternity, emitting chilling groans.

My heart is pounding like crazy.

My head is spinning, spinning.

The obedience deeply engraved in the genes within my body was shouting for me to kneel down immediately.

And from behind the obedience, my soul is immersed in a fascinating ecstasy.

It’s comfortable, I automatically think so…….

– Must be careful. The world of dreams is fundamentally the world of the origin. If you stay in the body of a living human for a long time, you may become a target of the Abyss.

Could it be.

The old king into my inner world…….

This is the worst situation. So this guy was waking up.

「I cannot see the framework. Has a part of divinity been overlaid, or has it been copied? I don’t have to worry about it much.」

“Ah……”

「You were certainly killed by my confidant. Humans born with mortal blood are humans, so they must die in the face of death. But you have blasphemously come back to life.」

Approaching from beyond the darkness.

A being made of darkness is coming.

Terrible spider legs protruding from both sides of the human body outline.

「After that, you dared to lay your hands on the seeds that I personally chose and raised.」

Move.

I have to move.

「You are an unacceptable being, but I will give you a second chance by bestowing upon you the virtue of great and deep edification.」

“A, Asu……”

「There is a cycle of life for creation. A cycle of bearing sorrow and pain.」

A body in which it is difficult to move even a fingertip is gradually sinking deeper into the swamp. Past my chest, now around my collarbone.

「I am the one who swallows the world! My touch is the liberation from the mortal cycle. Accept the blessing of the Abyss.」

The next moment, darkness pierced my body, my soul.

The moment the absolute mystery of coldness spread throughout my body, and the languages of unprecedentedly sweet, seductive, and lovely desires swirled in my mind.

“A……Su……raaaaaaaa……!”

Shouting a scream-like shout.

Barely moving my paralyzed body, I clasped my hands together.

Through that series of signals, truth descended, clearing away the darkness of the nightmare.

Whirrrrr!

Clear radiance swept through the swamp, burning the indescribably ominous nightmare spiderweb.

The light takes on a magnificent shape.

Three-headed dragon Asura. The light extinguished the spiderweb, grabbed the shape of darkness, and crushed it.

「……You are trembling. But now it is just the beginning, heuheuhahahahahahahahaha…….」

As the mad laughter and darkness scattered, the curtain of the nightmare, which felt like eternity, was lifted.

Immediately, the five senses return.

Starting with the scent of clear verdure piercing the tip of my nose…….

“Huff……”

As soon as I raised my body with a low scream, I bumped heads with Mir, who was looking at me worriedly.

Mir didn’t even let out a scream, but was touching his forehead, which was turning red.

“Are you okay? You were unconscious for ten days.”

Ten days, I just stared blankly at Mir for a moment.

Over Mir’s tilting face, the image of Mir collapsing and dying in the volcanic ash and snowstorm overlapped.

With hands wet with cold sweat, I patted Mir’s head.

“It’s okay. Yeah, I’m okay. There won’t be any problems.”

That’s what I said, but…… the trembling all over my body didn’t stop.

Even though I had decided a long time ago, the wave of fear that rushed in the moment I faced that absolute nightmare was not something that could be easily forgotten.

The enemy was a king.

That absolute mystery, that absolute fear, that majesty could not be compared to any noble.

Can I win?

No, is it even possible to fight?

Was it my greed that caused me to miss the golden time to repair the sealing formation?

I was arrogant.

I was conceited.

I was overconfident.

Who are the Obonwi? They are the old gods who once ruled the world. They are the old rulers that humanity barely defeated.

And I’m going to face them?

I’m going to put them to sleep again?

I should have known my place. Karenden-nim is right. I’m just meant to deliver the light…….

Then Mir wriggled out of my arms, hesitated for a moment, and then hugged my face tightly with both arms.

“Hugging, effective in relieving tension. 27 medical books mention its potential, and 4 psychiatric books are observing the topic with interest.”

What kind of expression was I making at that time? Probably the strangest expression in the world.

To that physical warmth.

And to that psychological warmth.

Everything that had been freezing coldly and frustratingly due to fear came to a halt.

Now is not the time to say weak things.

It’s not too late.

Now is the golden time.

I will definitely open it.

The door to the future for you. I will deny the predetermined future for you. That is the destination of my life’s journey.

It wasn’t appointed by anyone.

I decided. Like that day 300 years ago, when I followed Rista.

This is my destiny.

* * *

“The great and unparalleled Yonghyun says that he needs the help of insignificant people like us.”

Valensidice, who led two griffins and landed in , said with his unique cynicism.

He was holding a letter in his hand, and after immediately reading the letter, Miria had a serious conversation with him for a while.

Then Miria left a letter for Akirea and left with Pipi and Valensidice.

“……”

All of this was done secretly from Akirea, who was training in the Sands of Eternity.

That’s what they must have thought.

However, Akirea, whose perception had surpassed the mortal realm through training, was now able to observe what was happening in the place where there was fire, , from afar.

As if to prove such growth externally, horns sprouted on Akirea.

A wyvern has one horn.

The True Dragon, a more sublime being, has two horns.

‘Dad needs help?’

The insight training, exploring one’s own origins, was the final stage.

To finally complete the training, I had to remain motionless in this spot for a year.

I want to know what’s going on. If it’s serious, I want to go to my father’s side too.

But I can’t move.

Because I haven’t been allowed to.

It wasn’t just that problem. Whenever I think of Dad…… the source of life that Grydaone and Elder Jakan talked about keeps bothering me.

The name of that source was Alakish.

「Your butt must be itching to death, right? It’s also itchy because of the sand.」

Friede came when my already non-existent patience was reaching its limit.

Friede was a good friend.

She would tell me a lot of stories about my father that Akirea didn’t know, comforting my longing. Wasn’t it Friede who taught me how to fly?

Perhaps because she was originally human, she understood Akirea’s immaturity better than anyone else and was a teacher who taught me what I needed.

She was more like an older sister than a friend.

「It’s a really peaceful place. It’s so quiet that you can hear the sound of sand sweeping across the world, right? Actually, I still can’t believe this peace.」

“……?”

「I hate noise. Especially the noise of battle…… I’ve heard it enough to be sick of it. I lived listening to that sound for several years. If I hadn’t had the colleagues who supported me at that time, I would have collapsed a long time ago.」

Friede began to draw a picture on the sand with her fingers covered in dragon scales. It was a dragon head.

「Most people don’t think much about power. They naturally think that it is something they are born with, a gift from God, and wield it as they please.」

“……”

「I might have become one of those people too. If I hadn’t received teachings from the Fire Dragon Bel’dakidun.」

Friede was originally a fire dragon’s maiden.

She was the only human who had received direct teachings from the Fire Dragon.

「The Fire Dragon said that power is fire. It can illuminate people’s paths, give them wisdom, and give them courage, but it can also burn everything down.」

Why is she telling me this?

「To put it nicely, he worked proactively in everything, but to put it badly, he worked obsessively. Do you know why? Because of regret.」

Regret?

「The Black Sun Karenden did not bring all three Divine Dragons with him during the final battle. Rather, he tried to leave them behind. He was worried that they would get hurt.」

But the Black Sun was defeated in the battle with the Lord of the Abyss because of that carelessness, or perhaps greed.

As a price, he fell into eternal pain. Both physically and mentally.

To the point where he had to always hide his appearance because he didn’t even have the energy to engage in external activities.

「The Fire Dragon, you see, regretted not going to help the Black Sun-nim at that time. It remained a lifelong regret.」

It seemed like she was telling a distant story while looking at the distant horizon…….

But her eyes seemed to be looking into the near past, and her voice trembled as if she were talking about something close.

Below the drawing of the Fire Dragon’s face, the faces of the old warrior party members were drawn.

「Life is a series of regrets, but some of them are regrets with endless pain. Aki, I hope you don’t experience such regrets.」

No more words were needed to convey the heart contained in this story.

Akirea came out of her 7-month immobility. She lowered her head and chuckled.

As soon as she did, sand dust poured from her head. Friede brushed off the dust and smiled brightly.

「Really, I don’t know who you take after to be so lovely.」

* * *

“The Abyss forces are gathering one by one in front of , but they seem to be bypassing the main fortresses. They are primarily targeting the dilapidated fortresses. These points are important.”

Backbone (白本) [likely a codename or designation].

Commander Kiran Wolf Blado pointed to the map with his finger.

“According to Backbone’s confirmation, the one leading the enemy is Husingyeong (侯吲卿) [a noble’s name], the 2nd in the Obonwi hierarchy. His appearance has been captured several times.”

“Having come directly to the barrier that I’ve only heard about, I can’t even imagine the Abyss being able to cross it.”

At Logan’s statement, who leads the Imperial Army’s Special Task Force, Kiran shook his head.

“You must not think that it will be the same as the attacks so far, but face reality.”

“There is no one who does not face reality. I will allow you to mobilize the Imperial Army to the places you deem necessary, according to your judgment.”

“Thank you.”

“Is there any news from Yonghyun?”

The Sword Saint Brinden Belchester, who received the Emperor’s gaze, shook his head.

“There was none at all.”

“I’m here.”

The appearance of Yonghyun after 40 days was enough to put a look of relief on the faces of all the executives.

Even his appearance was full of dignity. To appear riding a White Dragon, it was a luxury that even the Emperor, the protector of the legion, could not dare to enjoy.

Of course, as soon as he uttered the next words, he would receive several times more shock than that relief.

“What did you say just now?”

“I will cross the barrier. I will make a decision within half a month.”

“Young Master…… no, Yonghyun-gakha [a title of respect]. To cross the barrier, do you not know that the Abyss is swarming right now?”

“I know. I have to find Jaunnyeo.”

“Jaunnyeo…… are you talking about the Obonwi’s Jaunnyeo?”

In official settings, Lilian Karain also respected Yonghyun as a magic master. Said Seigan Wolf Blado, the Minister of War who currently oversees the Imperial Army.

“Has that monster even awakened? And to find her, in that vast snowfield? It seems like it would take several years to find her.”

“I have a guide. And I also know the approximate location.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

The Emperor frowned.

“Be careful with your words, Minister of War.”

“Please forgive my rudeness. But isn’t it true that Yonghyun’s recent actions are incomprehensible? If it had been 40 days ago, we could have gone to the sealing formation before the old nobles awakened! We missed the golden time and came to a full-scale war! How many casualties will there be as a result? It wouldn’t be a big deal for the North to be annihilated!”

Seigan’s words pierced the truth, so there was no way to refute them.

The Blado family was a magical family rooted in the North, so they must have been taking this situation more seriously than anyone else.

The Emperor held out a hand of mediation.

“How can ordinary people like us understand Yonghyun’s thoughts? We just need to cooperate.”

“In that case, to organize an Imperial Army to go with Yonghyun─”

“─A large force is not necessary. Rather, my location would be exposed. The number of people will be kept to a minimum.”

“How many is that?”

“Two people will be enough. Actually, I was going to leave right away because I didn’t have time, but I came for a moment because of this.”

As soon as he finished speaking, two people came and stood beside him.

It had been a long time since that journey, but my heart was at ease when I was with these guys.

A giant with a huge spear, the Dragon Bone Spear, on his shoulder opened his mouth. He looked truly like a black bear with several layers of bear skin added to his black iron armor.

“Spear Saint Bart will go with the Magic Master.”

“Bow Saint Rem, the rest is omitted.”

“Do you know what the situation is? Time is running out.”

Rem, who was blowing into his hands, tilted his head and shrugged playfully.

“I don’t know?”

“?”

“I hate thinking complicatedly! I’ll drink some alcohol, pull the bowstring a few times, and then get out of my hangover, and it’ll all be over. You know that even the old nobles can’t move when they get hit by a few of Bow Saint Rem-nim’s arrows, right?”

No, I don’t know.

I was about to say that, but I stopped. Because it wasn’t the time to joke around.

“Okay, then let’s go right away. The guide is waiting.”