After receiving the new command, I quickly moved away from the area as it was engulfed in flames and flowing lava. I had no intention of staying and risking getting burned.
My stats, skills, and traits were all raised to their maximum thanks to Man Who Overcomes Adversity. Odin’s Thunderstorm in Zeus’s Lightning Spear vibrated in my hand with a power that could cut through the sky. It was ready to unleash its full potential out to the world.
However, going straight to Elsland was reckless. The man who was a descendant of an Ancient Dragon was powerful enough for me to struggle, so the strength of an Ancient Dragon itself would be unbelievable.
If the Queen of Elsland was an Ancient Dragon as described in the mission… If she was one of the devices that Old One had made with all his heart and soul, then I needed to be prepared accordingly. Of course, I had to check if the Ancient Dragon actually existed or not.
Search .com for the original.
I focused my Senses on the signs from the four directions with the intention of calling Joshua’s surviving attackers to come back. I smelled blood and heard the sound of war, but I realized something had been following me all the way. I couldn’t afford to care earlier as the battle against Dragorin Red had been extremely fierce.
I couldn’t tell when it started, but it was clear that it had been following me since the beginning of the battle. Now it was tracking me. It was an entity without a physical form, yet it felt real when I encountered it with my heightened Sense rather than relying on my naked eyes.
Is it magic?
“You’ve lost your nerve.”
I turned and stabbed my spear into the air. As a matter of fact, the spear had been vibrating due to an uncontrolled force.
***
“Gub dae ga ri reunr― sang sil hae ggoon. (You’ve lost your nerve)”
Right at that sound…
“Argh!”
…Ruthra’s head snapped back violently. The force of the blow caused the back of her head to touch the back of her neck and her chin to lift toward the ceiling. The movement was swift and sudden. Moments later, Ruthra’s body was thrown back with equal force suddenly. It also happened so fast that Ruthra’s children couldn’t protect her.
The Court of Light, Elsland, was fortified by the dignified magic of the ancients, so Ruthra was only thrown to the ground after being smashed into the wall. As she looked up, her children came into her blurred vision.
The children running out of the room were likely going to call the court’s healing shamans. Ruthra wanted to tell them it was no use, but all that came out when she opened her mouth was a handful of blood from her lungs.
The problem wasn’t the physical injury she got when she hit the wall. The healing shamans could easily cure that, so the real problem was her mind, which had been impacted the most. It wasn’t a matter that could be resolved by the queen’s blessing, so she knew it was time for her to make a decision. There were several things she needed to explain and pass along to her kids before her mind was completely destroyed.
Ruthra’s children carried her to her bed, and when the healing shaman arrived, he examined her inner wounds and left a message that all they could do now was pray for her peaceful rest. Kanonas, her son, said to Ruthra as they looked at the shaman walking further away from them, “Don’t worry, Mother. You may not know, but he is quite competent.”
She responded, “If you say so, that must be true.”
“Yes.”
She added, “But you should always be on the lookout for court battles.”
“Mother…”
She continued quickly, “I don’t have much time. You have to deliver the story I’m about to tell you to the queen. Not through the queen’s or your faction, but you need to do it yourself, Kanonas.”
Ruthra perched on the bed’s edge and looked at her son who knelt before her. With one hand, she swept her hair behind her ear, causing the pointed tip of her ear to protrude.
“Two Holy Knights died in Greenwood Continent.”
That wasn’t what Kanonas was curious about.
Is this about another fight between the Holy Knights?
The Greenwood Continent was a war-ridden zone due to the presence of various orc clans. As a result, the natives of Greenwood were often regarded as short-sighted as the orcs. They tended to resort to violence, using knives and seeking bloodshed even in situations where social and legal solutions were possible.
Even in the past three hundred years of his life, many kingdoms on the Greenwood Continent had risen and fallen in a perpetual cycle of strife and conflict.
Anyway, Kanonas quickly realized that his mother had been struck hard while observing the situation in Greenwood. He knew immediately that none of the natives there had the ability to cause such damage to her mind. Kanonas suppressed himself from asking questions as his mother would tell him about everything.
“Have you ever heard of Caldoran, the Guardian of the Land of Whirlpool?” she asked.
He frowned. “Is he one of the dead Holy Knights?”
“Yes.”
“Then, yes, I have.”
The natives on Greenwood had short life spans compared to other species, but they showed more vigorous growth than any others while they were alive. The problem was that they spent their lives in fratricidal wars.
Caldoran and his family had a noble fate in the sense that they had never lost their territory or caused wars out of greed, even during the intense battles between the Holy Knights on the Greenwood Continent. Caldoran was the current head of the family, and he was not only the strongest in Greenwood, but also among all the Holy Knights.
“You must have not expected this.”
“Yes…” Kanonas replied.
“It is the same for me. It’s as shocking as the news that King Onyx, another Holy Knight, was killed.”
“King Onyx…”
Among the Holy Knights, there were absolute powerhouses. King Onyx of the Onyx Kingdom and Caldoran, the guardian of the Land of Whirlpool, were two of such individuals. Such powerful figures were present on the Greenwood Continent, so hostile dwarves and inferior orcs couldn’t even try to invade them.
“Caldoran and King Onyx died on the Land of Whirlpool, but their deaths weren’t that of a big deal compared to the story that I’m about to tell you. My sword, Kanonas. Come closer.”
Kanonas slowly raised himself up as if Ruthra was dragging him in with an elegant hand gesture. The two of them sitting side by side on the bed looked more like a couple than a mother-and-son. Ruthra continued the story, stroking his blonde hair, “You might already know that one of the Demon King’s corps attacked the small country in Greenwood.”
“Yes, but I thought there was a Holy Knight family with the Grand Wizard there.”
“His name is Ronsius. I was worried about him at first because the darkness that would overwhelm him was too dark. When I got there, it was too late.”
Unlike Ruthra’s calm expression, Kanonas’s was filled with sorrow and despair. Regardless of whether Caldoran and Onyx were dead or if Ronsius was in trouble, the undeniable fact was that this was an internal problem of the Greenwood Continent, and his mother was deeply involved in the clan’s affairs and had been irreparably hurt. The moment was too early for his mother to take the risk herself.
Kanonas wanted to resent that, but he couldn’t bear to do so in front of his mother who was on the verge of death.
“The foreboding of greater darkness looms ahead, and it is also the will of our Lord. The queen is aware of this much.”
“Okay.”
Ruthra stated, “Until then, we didn’t know what Caldoran and his old family were guarding. My assumption was that their intention was to safeguard either the physical remnants of the War of the New Devil or an object possessing the divine power of our Lord Lacryma.”
“Ah…”
“But now I know that they were guarding a passage.”
Kanonas asked, “A passage?”
She nodded. “Yes, it was such an important passage that King Onyx had to come and help protect it. I’m sure the queen is in despair because she had no choice but to ignore their request. However, it’s not her fault. It’s our, the nobles’, fault.”
Only then did Kanonas realize the truth of the recent aristocratic conference.
“What kind of passage was it?” he asked.
She replied, “It was connected to one of the six Demon Kings.”
The sound of a hiss came out through Kanonas’s teeth as he widened his eyes. The emotion that made his entire body tremble was similar to a shiver. It was a horrified shudder. Through his mother’s words, the unknown entity, which had only been mentioned in Saint Cassian’s records and ancient legends, began to take form in Kanonas’s mind.
The agenda that was handled at the last aristocratic meeting wasn’t detailed. It was just that the Greenwood Continent needed help from the Grand Temple, and Kanonas himself was opposed to the idea of sending troops to them. If he had known that it was an issue related to the Demon King, then would he have agreed with the idea?
Kanonas stared at his mother’s face, thinking nothing would have changed. Then, he began to blame himself not because he joined the opposition forces, but because the conclusion of that meeting had impacted his mother…
In the end, Kanonas noticed what had hurt his mother’s mind. It was the devil. The Demon King who came out of the passage!
“It’s not your fault either, Kanonas. The blame falls on those who failed to protect the passage even though they were aware of the consequences. With ample forces nearby to guard the passage, there was no reason for them to rely on far-off Elsland. However, due to their ongoing internal conflicts, they failed to support each other.”
He responded bitterly, “The natives of Greenwood have always been like that, Mother.”
So why did you try to intervene for them?
An empty cry began to echo in Kanonas’s mind.
“Caldoran was killed by the priest of a Demon King. That was how the passage opened.”
“Okay.”
“And King Onyx struggled with the Demon and was killed in battle.”
Kanonas felt something weird. He was aware that King Onyx was absolutely powerful, but apparently, he wasn’t a match for a Demon King.
Is the Demon King that weak such that King Onyx could put up a fight against it?
If so, there was no reason to be afraid of the arrival of the Demon King, but this was a violation of the contents on Saint Cassian’s record. Ruthra smiled at the confusion on Kanonas’s face.
“There are many records the court has that you haven’t accessed.”
“Yes, I know that.”
“There are pages about the existence of ‘Dragorin’ among them. If you tell the queen today’s story, then you will be able to take a step closer to the truth.”
When Kanonas mentioned the name Dragorin again, Ruthra’s previously calm face momentarily contorted. She suddenly turned into a fierce look and stared at Kanonas, as if she had suddenly changed into a completely different elf.
The gaze was gone after Ruthra shook her head.
“Just tell the queen that King Onyx was Dragorin. No matter how the queen uses that truth, you…”
He sighed. “Mother, court politics has a lot of complexities. You already know about that.”
“No matter how the queen uses the fact, all you have to do is promise to remain silent on the issue. I’m telling you to be faithful just as a messenger, Kanonas.”
Kanonas couldn’t help but know that his mother’s end was just around the corner.
“...I promise.”
He nodded slowly. He couldn’t touch his mother’s face at first, but Ruthra gently pulled Kanonas’s neck toward her with the same hand that stroked his hair. Their kiss wasn’t very long as Kanonas pushed her away at the point when Ruthra’s lips and tongue moved aggressively.
The only thing connecting them was the saliva that had passed from mouth to mouth. Kanonas looked at Ruthra, who had a pained expression on her face as if she was on the verge of crying, laughing, or getting angry. Kanonas wanted to hear the truth from her, despite the societal pressures of law, morality, and noble honor of the elves. Individuals tended to show their weaknesses and negative traits during the state of mental destruction.
“Mother, do you really want the future of our family to be bet on the queen?” he asked.
Ruthra was trembling, but she opened her mouth to speak as her eyes glinted with aggressiveness.
“The queen… Seems to want to sleep with you…. That bitch. That must be the chance. In the queen’s bedroom… there is… what you want…” Ruthra whispered.
“Thank you, Mother.”
However, she didn’t respond to him. Kanonas lifted Ruthra as she fell toward the floor. It wasn’t comforting that she wouldn’t suffer from pain as she was out of her mind. The court had just lost one of their prophets, but for Kanonas himself, it was a moment when he lost his mother and his old lover.
“Rest in peace under the blessing of our God Lacryma.”
He couldn’t hold back his tears any longer and began sobbing uncontrollably.