43. The Land Where the God Resurrects, Infermur (1)
*
-Screech…
As the sanctuary began to collapse, the sound of creaking hinges echoed loudly. Fernandez struggled to push the door open.
-Oh…
‘…Oh.’
It was a rare day when Fernandez and Faijashi’s opinions overlapped multiple times. Fernandez looked at the corridor, now in a state resembling something ground up in a shredder. The beautiful corridor, once adorned with carvings of heroes and gods, was no more.
“Whew…”
Beside Fernandez, the wounded Meliada was panting with her eyes slightly open. Across from her, Kirhas, also wounded, was in a similar state. Kirhas widened her eyes as she looked at Fernandez.
“Ah, Your Excellency! Your Excellency! Quickly, come over here!!”
Kirhas shouted urgently. Fernandez had already been thinking of leaving. He had no intention of sinking peacefully with Guimerin’s corpse.
Just as Fernandez was about to step forward, Meliada’s voice stopped him.
“I heard the sounds of battle. Seeing you here, has His Majesty passed?”
“Yes.”
“…How was His Majesty’s end?”
“Disgraceful.”
Fernandez declared without hesitation. At his words, Kirhas flusteredly opened and closed her mouth.
‘Your Excellency! Are you crazy?’
Reading Kirhas’s expression, Fernandez chuckled. Then, Meliada slowly sat down. The blood seeping from her body slowly soaked her uniform.
“Sigh…”
“Won’t you strike me down?”
“Why should I?”
Meliada looked up at Fernandez with eyes filled with fatigue and sorrow. Her one remaining eye was dry.
“Ainard, that child might have been the last spark of our clan. In the end, I couldn’t stop it. You did it, human Inquisition Officer.”
“Did you know?”
“My name is Meliada Pin Guimerin. Originally, it was my fate, but I passed it on to my sister.”
Meliada spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Leave. If the price for our clan’s sins is death, then so be it.”
With those final words, Meliada closed her eyes. The sound of the ship’s keel twisting could be heard. The collapse was imminent. Without a word, Fernandez left the corridor with Kirhas.
‘Thank you.’
From behind Fernandez, a faint voice seemed to be carried by the wind.
*
Leia was on the verge of madness. Her entire body was soaked in vampire blood. Even as she watched Guimerin’s flagship collapse before her eyes, she couldn’t approach it.
“Move aside!”
-Screech!!
Another monster fell apart under Leia’s blade. The battle seemed to be showing the worst possible scenario. The vampires attacking from beneath the sea had prevented any meaningful frontline from forming.
Every ship was surrounded, fighting against monsters and vampires. Thus, all routes to the Guimerin King’s flagship had long been cut off.
Leia was also stuck where she was.
-Slice.
Every time Leia’s blade flashed in the moonlight, another monster fell dead into the dark sea.
-Splash!
-Screech!!
And with each monster sinking into the sea, at least three more monsters and vampires rose from the depths.
Slowly, the sky darkened. The bat clouds spread by the vampires devoured the starlight of the night sky.
-Boom!!
In the distance, an Elven warship began to sink after an explosion. A ship captured by vampires had chosen to self-destruct. Such scenes had been occurring throughout the harbor for quite some time.
-Rumble…
‘This is the end.’
The Elven reign was now over. The Guimerin King’s flagship slowly sank, creating a massive wave.
In the distance, an enraged dragon could be seen rampaging on the deck. The Wild Princes, who should have been on the frontline, fought against the dragon and fell into the sea.
It was a spectacular fall. The Elven soldiers who fell never rose again.
Leia desperately hoped they had drowned. They were too precious to be eaten by the corpses beneath the sea.
-Clang!
Leia’s blade was deflected by a black greatsword. Caught off guard by the unexpected counter, Leia quickly adjusted her stance and faced forward.
A giant clad in black armor looked down at her. Beneath the helmet, red eyes glowed brightly. Leia quickly scanned her surroundings.
The frontline had collapsed. She was the only frontline on this ship, and as soon as her efforts ceased, the Elven navy, engulfed in chaos, easily allowed the vampires to board.
-Clang! Clang!
-Stop! Sto…aaah!!!
-Screech!
Screams and the clash of metal echoed throughout the ship. Leia bit her lip and looked at the giant. Though his expression was hidden beneath the helmet, he seemed to be mocking her.
“Impressive swordsmanship, Elven warrior. What is your name?”
“…Leia Pin Guimerin.”
“A royal, I see. Fitting. I am Zigismund von Franzrit, the legitimate son of the Duke of Franzrit and the Grand General of Franzrit.”
-Whoosh!
The giant, speaking cheerfully, lifted his greatsword over his shoulder. With his abdomen fully exposed, he arrogantly wiggled his fingers.
“I shall show you the discipline of Franzrit’s army.”
“…How absurd.”
Leia steadied her breathing. The Wild Princes. The King’s knights. Among them, Meliada was undoubtedly the strongest swordsman. But in a life-or-death battle, who would truly win?
Leia had always wondered. Was her level truly below Meliada’s? She was the King’s eye and will towards the continent. The sword the King trusted most.
A half-elf. With her long experience as an elf who could tread the mainland, she dared to guess. She was definitely not below Meliada.
-Clink.
Leia sheathed her blade.
She landed. Crouching on the floor, her hands touched the sword belt. With a light press of her fingertips on the hilt, her eyes half-closed.
The three swords tied to her waist trembled and hummed.
*
Abelesas’s massive frame was violence incarnate. Even in her lifetime, during the era of King Knight Dain, there was no one who could stop her rampage except for the eight knights of the Kingdom’s Grand Council.
Therefore, Abelesas felt a bit of guilt. She kept glancing at the passage leading down to the ship’s hull.
‘Is this really okay?’
Abelesas pondered as she pushed yet another elf navy off the deck. The elves’ losses were already beyond control. Meanwhile, the vampires were still full of vigor.
The elven navy, known as the strongest on the seas, was putting up a decent fight despite the chaos. However, with their flagship destroyed and most of the Wild Princes stepping in to stop her, the elves’ chances of victory were slim.
‘Which side winning would help that child?’
Abelesas, almost completely ignorant of the current state of the material world or its political structure, couldn’t tell if this situation was favorable or dangerous.
-Thud!
Another elf was sent flying. She felt the strength in her scaled muscles gradually fading. She knew the magic that composed her was slowly dissipating.
From the beginning, she wasn’t given much time. The vampires only wanted her to destroy Guimerin’s flagship and disable it, and Guimerin only needed her to reach his flagship.
Soon, within half a day at most, her body would disintegrate. Even if Fernandez hadn’t taken the magic from her.
Fernandez.
Abelesas smiled faintly at the name. It was a short but not unpleasant memory. The sky and sea, even after two thousand years, were still beautiful.
This much reminiscence was enough. She would eternally mourn those who had left before her in the cold world of tombstones. Among those names would be Fernandez’s.
What to say? Abelesas bowed her head and pondered. Fernandez’s tombstone would suit the night sea.
It was a surprising and new event, one that made her cold, still heart beat again after so long. Like the ever-changing night sea. Like the always beautiful scenery of this sea.
“Enough!”
At the entrance to the royal castle of the flagship, Fernandez and Kirhas staggered into view. Fernandez shouted as he looked at Abelesas.
Abelesas smiled. She believed they would succeed, but seeing it firsthand was still astonishing. To face King Guimerin alone and return alive.
[Have you come?]
“This much is enough, Abelesas.”
[Are you satisfied with the outcome?]
Fernandez looked around. Below, he saw the scattered elven warships and vampire forces on the night sea. Fernandez nodded.
“It’s not the end yet. But I am satisfied.”
[That’s enough.]
The elves of the Guimerin Dynasty had now lost their dominance over the seas. Franzrit is a vampire, so at least during the day, they can’t invade the human world. So, half of this port has effectively returned to human hands. Abelesas could be somewhat satisfied with this outcome.
Abelesas’s crimson scales were slowly dispersing. Though not collapsing rapidly, the vitality she had when she first materialized was no longer felt. Fernandez, more accurately than anyone, calculated the time she had left.
Looking into Fernandez’s gaze, Abelesas nodded. That child is an exceptional mage, so of course, he would know.
“Are you satisfied?”
[Of course, Fernandez.]
Abelesas took a deep breath.
[Do you know how desperately I longed to taste this air? And to see this world again… Moreover, if it helped you and the young humans. I will close my eyes with a smile.]
Just like the moment I died. I always close my eyes with a smile. Abelesas’s blue eyes sparkled beautifully.
“Don’t be satisfied yet. Have you heard of the desert?”
[That place covered in sand beyond the horizon? I’ve heard of it. They say such a place exists.]
“The stars seen from there shine red, blue, and yellow. Or have you heard of the jungle?”
[That warm place full of trees and forests. It must be quite enjoyable.]
“Aren’t you regretful?”
At Fernandez’s words, Abelesas smiled sadly.
[Cruel, Fernandez.]
“I am regretful. You have sacrificed enough.”
Fernandez limped towards Abelesas. Her sacrifice was sufficient. At this moment, he wished only that the end of someone who had tried their best and sacrificed enough wouldn’t be sad. As if that could also mean he could be saved.
-This is just self-comfort.
‘I know. I got too emotionally involved.’
Abelesas and his positions were clearly different. Fernandez was merely a villain swallowed by his accumulated misdeeds, filled with regret. In contrast, Abelesas was a noble being with lofty ideals and compassion.
Perhaps he admired her deeds. Probably not. Even if he were reborn a thousand times, he couldn’t live like her. He couldn’t live as nobly, as uprightly as she did.
‘Then think of it this way, if this mighty dragon becomes my limb, what we could achieve.’
-…
This too would be just a form of self-justification. To Feijashi, Fernandez seemed overly emotional, soaked in fatigue and pain. This is an inevitable phenomenon for beings with physical forms.
Feijashi said nothing more. Fernandez looked at Abelesas.
“I wish you could see those landscapes.”
[Could such a magical thing happen?]
Fernandez smiled at Abelesas’s sullen words.
“There’s no such thing as ‘magical-like’ events.”
Looking into Abelesas’s wounded eyes, Fernandez teased.
“Here, there are only mages.”
Abelesas tilted her head, looking at the sparkling object in Fernandez’s arms. Soon, her eyes widened.
[That, could it be what I’m thinking of?]
“Correct. That’s why King Guimerin needed you.”
A dragon’s body can contain divinity, and a dragon’s soul bears divinity. Though now composed of hellish magic and slowly disintegrating, her essence was that of a dragon.
Fernandez laughed, holding the last trace left by the elven god.
-Thump.
Deep below the waterline, in the distant abyss, the ‘spell to resurrect a god’ pulsed.
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