Chapter 343

343

“Try summoning the Fairy King again?”

“Yes.”

Lea’s eyes widened.

Summoning the Fairy King.

It was the long-held aspiration of the elves that had continued for thousands of years.

Throughout history, there was only one Vow Keeper of the last Fairy King: Luna.

Originally, the Fairy King was a legendary Familiar who formed a pact with each Elf King.

But when the Era of Catastrophe began, the Elf King disappeared.

The last great Fairy King, Gravyn, lost his power in battle against Tartarus, leaving Silrod as the de facto Fairy King.

And Silrod’s first and only Vow Keeper was Luna.

Just as the partner of Lissinas was the Phoenix King, Emperor of Fire, Katariu, Luna had Silrod, the Heir to the Fairy King.

Katariu perished in battle.

By contrast, Silrod survived the final fight.

The deep despair and guilt Silrod felt upon Luna’s d*ath were the last memories Leo retained of him.

Leo’s gaze darkened as he recalled the past.

He looked down at the back of his hand.

During the entrance exam, he had received the Vow of the Fairy King as a reward for conquering a dungeon.

Through this vow, he formed a pact with Kiran, who had been exiled from Fairy Land and sealed away by Silrod.

Although he had formed a pact with Kiran, the original subject of the vow remained Silrod.

Until last year, due to insufficient power, Leo was unable to summon Silrod.

Even after his capabilities grew and he achieved enough power to summon the Fairy King, Leo still wasn’t able to call upon Silrod.

‘It must be because the vow was obtained through the Hero Record.’

Although Leo had obtained the Fairy King’s vow as a dungeon reward, he didn’t possess the right elemental affinity as a summoner to align with a fairy familiar.

‘My current body has Zerdinger’s bl**d, which made it compatible with Phoenix. And my original mana nature, purity, matches well with Pegasus… but not with fairies. Either in my past life or this one.’

Leo had been able to form a pact with Kiran purely because of the dungeon reward given by Alby.

Thus, even though he possessed the Fairy King’s vow, Leo was still unable to summon Silrod.

Even though it was a vow, it was one Silrod was unaware of.

‘But the story might change if someone else creates the channel.’

If Silrod himself becomes aware of the existence of the vow, it would become possible to summon him from that moment onward.

Leo’s words caused Lea to hesitate.

“Senior Flob. It’s true that I heard Lord Silrod’s voice, but that was only possible with the power of Cometes. It’s impossible for me to summon the Fairy King with my current skills. Hearing the Fairy King’s voice might have just been a coincidence.”

“Coincidence?”

“Yes.”

Lea cautiously explained the events.

“When the first-year advanced class had a lesson at the Comet Hall, I was granted the privilege to hold Cometes.”

Lea gave an awkward smile.

“We weren’t actually trying to summon the Fairy King back then. The teacher in charge during that lesson simply encouraged us to try summoning a fairy. The summoning circle was even drawn for us by the teacher. And then, unexpectedly, I heard Silrod’s voice.”

Lea scratched her head, a little embarrassed as Leo tilted his head.

“Isn’t there a rumor among the junior students that you even drew the summoning circle?”

“That’s not true.”

As Lea waved her hands in denial, Leo asked,

“Who was the instructor leading the class?”

“Acting Principal LeHagen.”

Leo stroked his chin.

‘Certainly, this little one does indeed have a definite talent for summoning.’

Still a novice first-year,

But even so, her skills and talent were promising enough to suggest a bright future.

There was something slightly strange about her, but she was an excellent Hero Candidate with a promising future.

Even so, she was completely insufficient to summon the Fairy King as a summoner.

Both her capacity and knowledge fell short.

“Cometes only works when it is wielded by someone from the Tingel family, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Cometes, brought as a reward from the Hero’s World dungeon by Seirun, was a powerful magical staff imbued with the mana of both Luna and Seirun. Only members of the Tingel family could fully harness its power.

‘She summoned the Fairy King almost like it was staged. Does she know something?’

Leo felt a sense of doubt and said,

“Regardless, hearing the voice of the Fairy King itself is evidence of your talent.”

Leo summoned his mana.

“I’ll take over Cometes’s role for you.”

“Alright.”

At Leo’s words, Lea removed her socks.

She took a deep breath and stepped onto the magic circle drawn by Leo.

Long ago, elves conducted summoning rituals by lakes for fairies.

Although that tradition has now disappeared, allowing summoning ceremonies anywhere,

The habit of baring one’s legs before entering the lake has persisted till today.

“I’ll give it a try.”

Lea, with a trembling voice and an awkward smile, cautiously extended her hand to Leo.

Leo grasped her hand and summoned his mana.

Wooom.

The summoning circle lit up.

A bright golden light filled Leo’s dorm room.

Lea swayed momentarily.

Summoning the Fairy King without the power of Cometes would demand an immense amount of mana.

It couldn’t be helped.

The Fairy King is officially the strongest familiar of the current era.

With the bloodlines of the King of Phoenix, Emperor of Fire, and the King of Lightning, Chief of Pegasus disrupted, the most powerful familiar can only be the Fairy King.

Even with Leo’s assistance, it would be impossible for Lea, merely a first-year, to handle the Fairy King.

Starting the summoning circle alone would be an impossible feat for her.

But…

‘There are always workaround methods.’

Leo looked at his hand, glowing with golden light.

What Leo needed, having already the vow of the Fairy King, was merely a channel to reach Silrod.

And all Lea had to do was act as that channel.

Hwaak!

The gate of the summoning circle opened.

At the sight of it, Lea fainted from mana exhaustion.

Plof!

After catching Lea, Leo turned his gaze to the door.

“Is it you again, descendant of Seirun?”

A familiar voice reached his ears.

With the familiar sound, Leo felt his heart stir.

“Descendant of Seirun, you are still unworthy.”

Silrod seemed to think the one who summoned him was Lea and gently advised her.

“You need to grow more before…”

“Silrod.”

“…Who are you? How are you able to intervene in this conversation?”

Hearing a voice was akin to being in a semi-contract state.

In other words, only the subject of the contract could hear Silrod’s voice and converse with him.

The appearance of a third voice in that situation startled even Silrod.

“It’s me, Kyle.”

“What?!”

After a pause, the closed doors of the contract opened, and a fairy appeared.

The fairy, enveloped in golden mana, looked up at Leo with a disbelieving expression.

As Silrod’s eyes met Leo’s, they trembled.

A completely different appearance.

However, the look in Leo’s red eyes was identical to the one Silrod remembered from Kyle.

“Are you really Kyle?”

Silrod’s voice trembled.

Unbelievingly asking Silrod, Leo extended his hand.

Pure white light burst from Leo’s hand.

Seeing that, Silrod’s hands trembled.

This pure white light.

He knows it well.

5000 years ago.

The light left behind by his first and last Vow Keeper.

The sole miracle that defeated the calamity.

“Innocent…”

Seeing the pure white light that proved the boy before him was Kyle, Silrod flew towards Leo.

Hanging onto Leo’s white hair, Silrod choked out tears.

“You promised! You promised that after defeating Erebus, only Lissinas and Kyle would come back! Why now… Why after 5000 years!?”

As Silrod cried out loud, Leo smiled wryly.

“…And here we are, the Fairy King, someone over 5000 years old, crying so disgracefully?”

Despite Leo’s words, Silrod continued sobbing.

After 5000 years, the fairy who’d endured endless waiting cried tearfully, much like the young fairy from those days.

*

“Hmph! So that’s it. I thought something was strange. The renowned Leo Flove, indeed was you, Kyle.”

Silrod seated in front of Leo dried his nose with a tissue and nodded.

Appearing somewhat calmer, yet still sniffling, he gathered his composure.

Looking at Silrod, Leo rested his chin on his hand.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“There are people who know who I am, but you’re the only one in this era who shares the events of 5000 years ago with me. It’s fascinating.”

“Shouldn’t I be more fascinating? You, who were already dead 5000 years ago, came back to life.”

Silrod let out a chuckle.

The same tone from 5000 years ago.

Watching Silrod, Leo burst into laughter.

“Have you heard my story entirely?”

“Yes, stories about Leo Flove have reached Fairy Land as well. At first, I thought there were many exaggerations, but it all makes sense if it’s you.”

Silrod grinned.

“Even Luna appearing from the Hero Record was because of you?”

“Yes.”

“…Whenever I think of Luna, I miss her even more now that I see you.”

Recalling his old Vow Keeper who left the world long ago, Silrod wore a bittersweet expression.

“I have a question. Haven’t you had a single Vow Keeper for the last 5000 years?”

“Officially, no.”

“Unofficially, there was one person, right?”

At Leo’s words, Silrod glanced at Lea.

“Yes. As you expected, Kyle, the Comet Wizard, Seirun, was my second Vow Keeper.”

Hearing that, Leo tilted his head.

“Why did you hide that fact?”

“After a discussion with Seirun, we decided that way. We also destroyed all the media used in the summoning rite. Except for Cometes.”

“Why?”

“If it becomes known officially that I have a Vow Keeper, numerous summoners would try to form contracts with me.”

In the current era, the Fairy King is revered as the ultimate fantasy, nearly impossible to form a contract with.

With no existing materials in this world to summon the Fairy King,

According to Silrod, he intentionally avoided forming any new pacts.

“Why haven’t you formed any contracts? Even during the 3000 years ago when the Hero of the Cataclysm desperately needed your power, why didn’t you assist?”

As someone who experienced the Era of Catastrophe.

Silrod fears and hates Erebus more than anyone.

Thus, if he had formed a pact with Seirun, he certainly would have lent his strength to the Hero of the Cataclysm.

However, even during the rebirth of calamity 3000 years ago, Silrod remained in Fairy Land.

To Leo’s question, Silrod answered in a heavy tone.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to help, but I couldn’t.”

Upon hearing the answer, Leo’s expression turned stiff.

“…Could it be, the reason you moved Fairy Land?”

After the Era of Catastrophe ended.

The northern lands where Fairy Land originally resided turned into a land of bitter cold.

Fairies dislike the cold.

But such cold couldn’t be a reason to leave their homeland that they’d lived in for eons.

Even more, fairies are powerful magical creatures.

Fairy Land could have easily been transformed into a forever warm and verdant forest.

Yet, Silrod abandoned it without hesitation.

At Leo’s words, Silrod’s expression stiffened.

“It’s as Kyle expected. The reason I don’t form new pacts is because I can’t leave Fairy Land for long periods of time.”

“Could it be…?”

“Yes. As you anticipated.”

Leo covered his face with his hands.

5000 years ago.

Kyle split the Primal Evil into six pieces and sealed them in the final battle.

The first piece revived during the rebirth of calamity 3000 years ago and was stopped by the Hero of the Cataclysm.

And the second piece is none other than…

“Fairy Land holds it.”