[32]
Hwa-aak!
In front of Luna, the apparition of Resina appeared.
Luna sat expressionless and asked in a cold voice:
“…How is the progress?”
“It’s very… successful.”
The unification of spirit and body.
Through him, the dynamization of the soul.
It wasn’t an attempt that could be dared with ordinary talent and willpower.
However, Johanna’s talent and her near-fanatical desire freed the bonds of the soul.
Of course, it was still at the crawling stage. They had only passed the first gate so far; even a moment of carelessness might lead to everything collapsing.
Currently, just preventing a loss of control was consuming most of Johanna’s mental strength. From now on, they would need to carefully proceed step by step toward the complete unification of spirit and body.
Luna paused briefly in silence before asking again:
“…When will that technique be ready for practical use?”
“If there are no problems along the way, two years should be enough.”
Johanna wasn’t losing what she had and starting anew. She didn’t need to recreate a core or develop new skills suited to alien power.
Johanna was simply beginning to add a new layer on top of all she had built up until now.
That’s why it wouldn’t take much time for her to make the Soul Weapon usable in battle.
By then, Johanna would be able to counter the dark radiance used by Speira, albeit imperfectly. At least, she wouldn’t collapse helplessly.
The price for achieving such a miracle in such a short time had already been paid by Johanna.
The perpetual history had come to an end, and all possibilities hidden within its infinite cycle had been sacrificed.
This moment was Johanna’s, the last life of her soul.
All the possibilities possessed by Johanna, the mortal, were now merging into this final existence.
“…”
Luna hadn’t yet informed Johanna about Delun’s return.
Because Johanna was spending her mental energy controlling alien power, stirring emotional turmoil wouldn’t have been beneficial.
Once Johanna gained full control over her new powers, Luna planned to inform her.
Luna gazed toward the direction where the Obelisk existed and moved her lips slightly.
“…Go and focus on assisting Johanna.”
“I understand. I’ll do that.”
Resina readily responded to Luna’s command and disappeared into the air as particles of light.
Luna remained in place for a while in silence, then slowly rose from her seat.
Although Luna’s face remained expressionless as usual, it seemed faintly sorrowful somewhere.
“…”
A price always comes with miracles.
To achieve a miracle, both Johanna and Luna had to sacrifice a great deal.
For the sake of one person, Johanna sacrificed the perpetual cycle despite knowing she wouldn’t receive proper recompense.
The sacrifice Luna had to bear was by no means trivial compared to Johanna’s.
In the gloomy atmosphere, Luna smiled faintly.
“I hope you will cry for us again someday.”
Someday, when we awaken from this long dream.
Cry for us again.
With this small wish on her lips, Luna moved forward.
*
Eighteen months.
It had been eighteen months since Johanna began seclusion inside the Obelisk.
During that time, battles large and small continued on the front lines between the continent and the Demonic Realm.
Though the situation on the front lines hadn’t changed significantly, the spirits of everyone living on the continent were gradually wearing thin.
However, no matter how many desolate moments followed, many still fought desperately across the battlefield.
“Hmm…”
Delun, sitting in his chair, sighed for no particular reason.
Delun had returned temporarily to the Imperial Capital after completing a months-long expedition to recover his worn-out body.
Despite the cries of protest from his body, which had endured relentless strain for years, Delun didn’t plan to stay in the capital for long.
The situation wasn’t peaceful enough to afford such leisure.
“…”
Delun blinked his dry eyelids.
Though his eyelids were drier than ever after several months, the gleam in Delun’s eyes behind them carried more vitality than in the past.
While calming his mind and body, Delun briefly recalled his encounter with Anthonyus from the past.
[What else can I do?]
On that day, during their meeting,
when Delun strained his voice,
Anthonyus’ response was extremely calm.
[Don’t obsess over the limits imposed by innate talent.]
[…]
[Instead of fixating on reaching the limit of your capabilities, consider ways to use your current abilities more efficiently.]
It was nothing but sound advice.
Since the gap in talent that could be overcome through effort had clear boundaries, clinging excessively to something you lacked wasn’t a wise choice.
The idea of surpassing innate talent through determination, effort, or serendipity belonged to fairy tales.
After hearing Anthonyus’ rational argument, Delun didn’t fall into despair.
He merely mulled over a truth he had already realized, once again, in grim contemplation.
As Delun faced this, Anthonyus dropped a book onto the ground from the shadows.
[Take it.]
[Uh… What is this…?]
[It’s one of the forbidden books sealed away in the Vatican.]
Delun was confused when Anthonyus suddenly handed over a forbidden text.
Anthonyus gave Delun a brief explanation:
[There was a far more chaotic era in the distant past.]
The transcendental entities currently oppressing the continent were divided into three categories: the World Tree, El-Lam, and the Evil Gods.
While the World Tree and El-Lam were distinct, all other transcendental entities were lumped together under the category of “Evil Gods.” Of course, this classification wasn’t entirely off base.
The Evil Gods deserved their name, and they commonly shared hostility toward the World Tree and El-Lam.
However, records remain of some transcendental entities from ancient times that interfered with the continent, possessing relatively neutral or incomprehensible natures.
Records of transcendental entities that once wielded influence on the continent but have since lost it.
To clerics within the Holy Order, these were akin to the heretical histories of forgotten beings.
Thus, the Holy Order either destroyed or classified as forbidden texts any remaining records of these “forgotten ones” and sealed them away.
[If there are any remaining forbidden texts, retrieve them as quickly as possible. They may be necessary.]
That was the extent of Anthonyus’ conversation.
Anthonyus disappeared from his seat without stopping for Delun’s gestures.
At the time, Delun failed to fully grasp Anthonyus’ intentions.
“…”
Was Anthonyus suggesting that they bring back to the continent one of the transcendental entities who had lost their influence? Was he implying they seek cooperation?
That was Delun’s initial guess.
However, after consulting with Luna, Delun roughly understood Anthonyus’ purpose.
“…Bait.”
Attempting contact and cooperation with transcendental entities who lost their influence long ago was a low-probability gamble.
Such attempts risked further destabilizing the already chaotic situation on the continent.
But… neither El-Lam nor the Evil Gods would likely welcome the reappearance of another transcendental entity who had once lost influence on the continent.
It meant introducing another variable or competitor into the situation.
If used properly, perhaps the forbidden texts could lure Speira, who derived her powers from El-Lam and the Evil Gods, to a specific location.
“…”
That was the extent of what Delun currently knew.
Of course, Delun was aware that what he knew wasn’t entirely accurate.
However, Luna hadn’t provided further detailed information, and Delun didn’t particularly want to hear things beyond his comprehension.
Regardless, if they could secure the forbidden texts ahead of time, they could potentially utilize them in some form later.
The Empire, with the cooperation of the elves, forcefully executed a mission to secure the forbidden texts, fortunately with some success.
How the information obtained from the secured forbidden texts would be utilized was now up to Luna’s decision.
“…”
As Delun continued his thoughts, he closed his eyes momentarily.
Matters related to transcendental entities were too vast for Delun to fully comprehend and manage.
Acknowledging this fact, Delun nonetheless shifted his throat as if quenching thirst.
At that moment, Jusephin came to see Delun.
“Lord Defensio is returning, they say.”
“…My sister?”
*
For eighteen months, Johanna confined herself within the Obelisk.
During that period, she poured all her mental energy into receiving the overflowing power from her unfettered soul into her physical body.
Even after stabilizing the control of that power, Johanna stayed within the Obelisk for nearly half a year.
Only after reaching the level she aimed for, albeit insufficiently, did Johanna leave the Obelisk to return to the Imperial Capital.
“Seems like there haven’t been any major issues.”
Johanna muttered to herself as she headed toward the capital.
If there had been serious problems during the one-and-a-half years, Luna would have summoned Johanna.
Conversely, the fact that Luna waited for her without calling her back indicated that the continent was holding up well so far.
When Johanna returned to the capital after a year and a half, many people welcomed her.
Among them, the person who greeted her most enthusiastically was none other than Eli, the daughter of Ray and Alesya.
“Aunt Johanna!!!”
Eli immediately shouted upon seeing Johanna, jumped around, and showed her open palms.
“Ta-da!!”
Whoosh!
A flame about the size of a candle briefly appeared above Eli’s palm before vanishing.
Eli was a natural-born individual with an innate magic circle.
Thanks to systematic education, Eli successfully activated her magic circle relatively early.
Although she could only produce a flame the size of a candle for now, Eli looked at Johanna with a proud expression, seeking praise.
Seeing Eli’s eager demeanor, Johanna smirked.
“You’re better than your mother.”
“?”
Alisha, who was nearby boasting about her child, narrowed her eyes sharply at Johanna’s sudden insult.
However, whether Alisha narrowed her eyes or not, Eli, having received Johanna’s compliment, grinned broadly and puffed out her chest confidently.
“Of course! Eli is smarter than Mom!”
“…”
Alisha tilted her head disapprovingly at her own daughter.
Watching this, Johanna smirked again. The tendency to invite a slap seemed to be genetic.
After exchanging greetings with a few more people, Johanna finally met Delun.
Delun’s safe return had been reported to her quite a while ago.
However, seeing Delun alive and well with her own eyes evoked different emotions than expected.
Johanna swung her arm forcefully toward Delun, whom she thought she’d never see again.
Puk!!
“Oof…!!”
Delun groaned in pain as Johanna’s grip struck his shoulder hard.
Facing the groaning Delun, Johanna greeted him brightly for the first time in a long while.
“I’m glad.”
“Yes, Sister…”
Delun nodded calmly.
After briefly catching up with Delun about their recent conditions, Johanna soon asked another question.
“So… Is everything ready?”
“For what?”
“The plan to kill Speira.”
