< 130. Butterfly’s Dream (8) >
*
Kirhas’s slender wrists and lanky frame made the greatsword seem overwhelmingly large. Her eyes burned like a beast’s, and the sword she gripped felt like a predator’s fang.
She held the massive sword in one hand, its tip steady and unwavering as she pointed it at Fernandez.
“Stake your neck.”
“Of all the things I possess, it’s one of the least valuable.”
Fernandez chuckled, lightly pushing the blade aside with his fingertip. Kirhas’s eyebrow twitched.
“Are you mocking me?”
“Would I dare jest with the Empress of the Great Wilderness? Clear the area.”
“Why should I?”
“Others hearing this won’t end well.”
At Fernandez’s words, the attendants and elders lined up beside her growled, baring their teeth.
“Do not heed his words. The priests of the east are cunning and seek to bewitch the Chieftain.”
“Do you think I’d fall for such petty tricks?”
“However… They are Vaitas’s hounds. The blessings their god has bestowed upon them are not to be taken lightly.”
“Neither are mine. Everyone, step aside.”
“Yes, Chieftain.”
At Kirhas’s command, the elders reluctantly stepped back, their eyes glaring. Fernandez marveled at the respect and reverence Kirhas commanded during this era.
‘Those prideful elders suppressed their defiance and stepped back at a single word from Kirhas…’
It was a glimpse of her dominance. Controlling the elders meant controlling the core figures of each tribe, and by extension, the entire Federation of Nobles.
Left alone in the massive tent, Fernandez slowly handed a wine cup to Kirhas, who glared at him as if ready to tear out his throat.
“Do you know what this means?”
“A proposal to be friends, or allies, perhaps?”
Kirhas took the cup and drove her greatsword into the ground. Resting a hand on the hilt, she spoke.
“I’ll reserve judgment until you finish. Go on.”
“The hidden sanctuary of the Kalani Clan. [The Fall of Kazak Kadán].”
“…Hah.”
Kirhas flinched at Fernandez’s words. He spoke slowly, as if handling an enraged beast.
“You must have seen it too. Beyond the scales, the underground… The hall where Kadán’s corpse lies.”
“How do you know about that?”
“I saw it myself.”
“Don’t lie. I was the first to set foot there after the Kalani Clan’s fall.”
Kirhas growled, glaring at Fernandez.
“After Kadán was stripped of his divinity by Mumto and reduced to a mortal, he begged Vaitas for power. Power and revenge. So, in a broad sense, aren’t we brothers?”
Fernandez raised his cup to Kirhas.
“You must hear Kadán’s voice. You.”
“Who are you?”
“Who do you wish me to be?”
Looking into Kirhas’s eyes, he spoke leisurely.
“What Kadán did for you, and what Vaitas did for us, are of the same nature. Bestowing blessings, urging revenge and justice. We are but puppets.”
“Kadán and I were equals.”
“Vaitas and I are also equals. So, we too can have such a relationship.”
“What do I gain?”
“Revenge.”
Kirhas’s brow furrowed at his words.
“Don’t twist your words. If you value your life. I’ve already settled all past grievances.”
“Revenge for Kadán against Mumto, who stole his power. And revenge for you against the demons and demon worshippers who brought down the Kalani Clan. How about it?”
“Your words are smooth. But it’s not a tempting offer. I’m no mere warrior. I have people to lead. Did you think I’d accept your proposal?”
“Then, let’s be practical.”
Fernandez walked slowly toward a map of the Great Wilderness hanging on the tent wall. He gazed at it and spoke.
“The wasteland… is just that, a wasteland. Sure, there are ancient relics and shiny trinkets buried in the sands… but that’s no reason for a 70-year war. Why do you think the Emperor and Sultan have been obsessed with this region for generations?”
“Human greed, I suppose.”
“Only half right. It’s because of the demons.”
Fernandez pointed to the vast, empty plains at the center of the Great Wilderness.
“It’s because of the Great Demon buried beneath. It uses its minions to incite war, provoke and corrupt key figures, and tempt them. Human heretics can be dealt with… but unless the root is destroyed, the two great powers will continue to war until they destroy each other.”
“So, we capture the Great Demon? Idealistic. From our perspective, it’s better if those two human nations fight.”
“Short-sighted. Their war will ultimately burn the wasteland.”
“Is there anything left to burn?”
“If not, won’t the flames spread to other kindling?”
“How dare you? How dare you threaten my territory? They wouldn’t dare, unless they’ve gone mad.”
Kirhas laughed shortly, her tone dripping with haughty pride. Fernandez turned to face her.
“Can the Federation of Beastmen Nobles truly boast greater strength than the Empire’s military? If the Sultan’s Immortal Legion were to invade this region in full force, could you withstand it? Be realistic. The Federation is powerful not because it is inherently strong, but because the two great powers don’t want to stretch their fronts by provoking it.”
“You’re an amusing one.”
Kirhas slowly sat on her throne, crossing her legs.
“No one dares speak to me like that. Did you not know? Or did you think my subordinates were all fools? The reason we’ve expanded our influence this far is because other factions deliberately avoid us.”
Kirhas rested her chin on the armrest, fiddling with her wine glass. Should she drink? No, it wasn’t enough yet.
“Anyone can grasp the situation on the battlefield. Boldness is intriguing, but if it’s just courage, it’s not particularly appealing to me. Killing the Great Demon and ending the war—why should I help with that?”
“Because the treasuries of both nations are already drained by this war. Even if the war ends, the Federation of Nobles won’t immediately turn their swords on you.”
“An idealistic assumption. What’s next?”
“The civilized cities in the Great Wilderness have been destroyed to the point of being unrecognizable due to the prolonged war. They’re merely serving as forward bases, so most will withdraw once the war ends. That will leave the Great Wilderness in a vacuum. With a bit more work, we can create a perfect void.”
“And then?”
Fernandez approached Kirhas. She stared back at him without any reaction.
“I’ll help you. If you help me first… I’ll give you the entire wasteland.”
“Interesting. You possess unknown information and have a sharp eye for understanding it. How did you figure out the origin of that sword? I’m curious about your identity. You don’t exude divinity, yet… I like it.”
Kirhas chuckled and raised her glass. Fernandez clinked his glass against hers. The clear sound echoed. Both downed their drinks in unison.
In the tradition of the Beastman Nobility, drinking symbolizes camaraderie. Kirhas threw her glass to the ground and drew the greatsword embedded in the floor. She held the sword upside down and handed the hilt to him.
“I’ll lend it to you.”
“Do I have to return it?”
“Haha!”
If it hadn’t been such an audacious request, Kirhas would never have met him. She had been intrigued by Fernandez ever since receiving his letter.
A few days ago, the Vaitas Church had arrogantly sent her a letter demanding the return of their sacred relic. She had been waiting for this day, calming her enraged subordinates.
Civilized society had always looked down on the Federation of Beastman Nobles. Even after her power grew and solidified, their disdain turned into outright disregard.
For the Church of the Temple of the Gods from such a society to send her a secret letter and dispatch an envoy… It was intriguing. It meant they now saw her as a potential trading partner.
Kirhas’ ambitions weren’t limited to unifying the Federation of Nobles. Fernandez watched her burning gaze and realized her true goal: to claim the Great Wilderness entirely and gain legitimacy from civilized society.
This was a mutually beneficial deal. The Church of the Temple of the Gods offering to help unify the Great Wilderness… Kirhas wasn’t foolish enough to miss the implications.
The northern invasion couldn’t be stopped. Neither could Karadskar’s northern advance. But both could at least choose the lesser evil.
With the Great Demon unleashed into the Material World and the final war of humanity looming in 30 years, preparing for the two events that would trigger the collapse of human civilization…
‘We can avoid destruction.’
His goal wasn’t eternal peace. Nor was it the construction of a perfect utopia. He dreamed of something simpler and far more realistic: his own life, the lives he was responsible for, and the lives he needed to atone for.
Even if the peaceful world was just a small patch of farmland, and the rest of the world burned to ashes… As long as his home remained safe within it, everything else was expendable.
‘Me too.’
*
The tent prepared by the Beastmen was surprisingly cozy. Fernandez sat on a camel leather bed, staring at the Keyblade.
He hadn’t paid much attention during his meeting with Kirhas, but it was strange that he felt nothing when he received and held the Keyblade.
‘No divinity?’
The Keyblade was one of the most powerful relics bestowed upon the Material World by Vaitas. A symbol forged by the gods themselves, it was a crucial offering to summon an Archangel into the Material World.
It made no sense for a Dark Mage, flowing with Hellish Magic, to hold such a relic without any resistance.
‘Come to think of it, there’s been no response from the Temple of the Gods either.’
The Temple wasn’t sealed during this period. While they couldn’t actively intervene in mortal lives, they could still convey oracles and miracles through their agents in the Material World.
Yet, Fernandez hadn’t received any response from the Temple in years. The events unfolding in the world should have delighted the gods, but they remained eerily silent.
‘There must have been intervention from a Transcendent that day.’
When he awoke under the dawn and first visited the church, he sensed the presence of a Transcendent. Whether it was manipulating the statue’s inscriptions or whispering in his mind, it was clear that a divine Transcendent had intervened.
But now, at this critical moment, there’s no intervention? And no divinity from the Keyblade?
‘Yet… Kirhas definitely had ‘something.”
Kirhas Hearttaker, the anointed earthly agent of Kadán. She exuded a presence that transcended mortality, a pressure unique to beings whose spiritual rank surpassed humanity. One of the reasons he sought her out was to confirm that.
The divine essence of Kadán within Kirhas. To confirm the lingering divinity of minor deities in the Material World, unaffiliated with the Temple of the Gods. Divine essence couldn’t be conjured as an illusion.
If it existed, he could dismiss the hypothesis that this world was an illusion, and he was merely indulging in self-satisfying delusions in a dream.
Once again, the persistent anxiety that had haunted him for years crept in. What if this was a dream? What if it was an illusion crafted by Mumto?
He had done everything to prove otherwise. But an illusion so meticulously crafted that it could deceive even the soul was indistinguishable from reality.
Fernandez bit his lip, resisting the sticky sensation tightening around his heart.
‘I saw Kadán’s divine essence with my own eyes. He exists in this world. This can’t just be my illusion. Damn it. Why won’t you answer, Vaitas? Isn’t this what you wanted?’
He had devoted himself so much to the peace of this world, so why was there no response? Fernandez glared at the Keyblade, devoid of any divinity, and frowned.
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