“Marianne.”
Marianne looked up, startled by the voice calling her. A cold breeze brushed her cheeks, but it wasn’t the Holy Land’s winter wind.
“You know I have tried many times; you must’ve seen how I never succeeded.”
Marianne was in a room with Elroy before her. Familiar words. Marianne saw another familiar box. Inside was the crown of thorns, intact. Elroy’s hand trembled slightly as he held it. His eyes wavered between desperation and uncertainty. It was then that Elroy turned to Marianne.
“If I don’t endure the ordeal, I will fall unconscious. I want you to wake me and take me to Rhys immediately.”
Before Marianne could say anything, Elroy placed the crown over his head. Flinching as if electrocuted, Elroy fell to his knees and flopped onto the bed. Eventually, his body straightened as if chained to a post.
Why am I looking at this?
Marianne stared at him in disbelief, memories flooding back to her. Elroy had taken on the Trial of the Crown, intent on defeating the Giant and rescuing Archduke Quenor. Marianne had stood beside him, her mind racing.
“Hero.”
Marianne murmured and stepped closer. It was a painful memory. Marianne tried not to think about it. Elroy hadn’t moved since entering the ordeal. Marianne leaned closer and looked at his face. His eyes were closed as if in a deep sleep, long lashes stretched beyond them. At first, she wondered if he would wake up.
“No.”
Elroy’s complexion began to change. A cold sweat began to break out on his forehead, and his limp hands shook. Without thinking, Marianne reached over and held them. His hands were ice cold. How many people had he protected with these hands? When Marianne took his hand, Elroy’s face seemed to relax.
“…Please.”
Marianne hesitantly caressed Elroy’s hand. She remembered what happened. When Elroy passed the trial and opened his eyes, he would raise his Holy Sword and fight again. Out of Marianne’s sight, risking his life.
The thought of sending him off and having to watch was unnerving. Part of Marianne didn’t want to let him go. I can’t let him fight alone. But, but, but… Marianne’s thoughts tangled in rebuttal after rebuttal.
“…Ah.”
And then, the crown atop Elroy’s head began to twitch. Slowly, cracks appeared across the old, dried-up branches before falling apart. The crown shattered. Marianne stared at the glowing ring overhead that had replaced the crown. Any moment now, Elroy would wake up.
“I’ve done it.”
Elroy muttered as he opened his eyes. Marianne’s heart pounded. Anxiety. Her mind told her it was anxiety.
“Thank you for your help, Marianne.”
Hold on. Marianne’s instincts told her to.
“I’ll be back.”
Marianne watched Elroy walk away. He was going with Evernode’s men to rescue the Archduke while she would protect the city from the rushing monsters.
A clock ticked in the silent room. A few minutes later, busy footsteps were heard beyond the door. Marianne opened the door to face the incoming knights.
“We need to prepare for battle. It isn’t a large wave, but get ready to fight.”
Marianne nodded and rose to her feet, her hand clutching her Holy Spear.
“Prepare for contact.”
Marianne sighed. She could see the eyes of the knights staring back at her. Marianne fiddled with the spear, then put it down. The question on the knights’ faces was overwhelming. Very slowly, Marianne tried to remember why she was there. Her head felt foggy.
“There is no time, Marianne. Georg and Daphne are hurrying to the ramparts now.”
Marianne followed the knights up the ramparts, half-dragging herself. A scene flashed through her memory. Soldiers cursed and pushed monsters off the ramparts while knights swung their swords. Marianne swung her spear in an almost habitual motion, killing a flying creature.
“Marianne!”
She heard Georg’s voice welcoming her. Daphne glanced up and smiled at her. It felt strange. Marianne looked over the ramparts. There was a patch of blue sky invading the winter clouds. In there, Elroy must be fighting.
“The walls over there are weak. If they make a mistake, they won’t be able to hold the monsters, and the defenses will collapse. You should go and reinforce them.
Georg took command when Elroy wasn’t there.
Marianne nodded involuntarily. Georg then slashed at the creature with his shield.
“Understood.”
He killed it. Marianne frowned as she stared at the spear pouring blood.
The noise around her faded away. The fog that enveloped Marianne’s memories was slowly dispersing. Marianne struck the white wolf in the throat as it lunged at her. At the same time, a round object fell from her arms to the floor with a thud.
A compass.
Marianne stared at the compass, which had fallen. The needle was still pointing somewhere, twitching slightly in place. Marianne picked it up. Where the compass was pointing. Marianne looked at it and took small steps.
“Marianne! Where are you going!”
A scream came from behind her. Marianne lifted her Holy Spear. A screaming Daphne fell from the wall, bitten by a white wolf. Behind her, Georg was crushed by an ashen bear, unable to withstand its attacks.
A look of resentment. Another looking for help.
No. They would never do that. They would never risk their safety, knowing it would worry Elroy. Marianne looked back at the frozen world as if time had suddenly stopped. She touched Daphne’s finger, but it dispersed into mist and disappeared.
That was not the hand she needed to hold. Marianne remembered Elroy’s face. The person she was supposed to save.
This was not where she was supposed to be. She didn’t need to fight the illusions. Her heart pounded, mana running through her body. Marianne sprang to her feet and ran, feeling the power of the Holy Magic wrap around her legs.
The walls crumbled. The winter chill dissipated, and the monsters turned to dust. Marianne was no longer running on the solid ground of Evernode but on the floor inside a building. The Mist could not stop her now.
Hero.
Marianne glanced down at her compass.
It moved.
Marianne ran, staring at the compass.
‘What in the world was Elroy fighting?’
***
“Hero….”
Clutching Marianne’s limp body, I exhaled weakly. How much time had passed outside, it didn’t matter now. In this never-ending cycle of insanity, I was just trying to stay sane. To never second-guess my choices,
“Marianne.”
I called out to Marianne, but there was no answer. Marianne had died, her eyes still open. I gently closed them and rose from the ground. A shattered seaway, a sunken ship. If I close my eyes here and open them, I’ll be standing in that damned tent again.
“Do you realize now?”
I turned my head at the sudden voice. The vision of the Mist was smiling at me, a faint mocking smile. Arjen’s face. I couldn’t even be angry as I stared at it.
“You realize how vain your thoughts are, you know. You’ve been lucky thus far, but you won’t have those choices in the future.”
I sighed. My thoughts are shaking me, not the Mist’s words.
“So if I abandon the people of Bactins, what will your next vision show me, Mist? A tortured Bactins? The people who have turned into doomsday cultists berating me?”
I let out a hollow laugh and shook my head.
“I’m not broken, you’ve picked the wrong target, and I’m willing to fight you until you’ve used up all the mana you have, so go ahead.”
I said casually. I could fight the Mist until it ran dry.
“Mana?”
Arjen… no, the Mist asked, his eyes narrowing, and then he burst out laughing. He puts his hand to his stomach and bends at the waist as if he can’t stand the ridiculousness.
“You’ve really lost your mind, Hero. You were the harvest I never thought I’d reap, but this is beyond my expectations.”
“…What the hell are you talking about….”
At that moment, Arjen’s face changed to something else. I stared at the reflection in the glass, biting my lip hard.
It was me.
I was there, dirty with clothes tattered. It was the face of someone who hadn’t slept in days.
“You never thought about your condition. I didn’t realize you thought of my world as the real world.”
I raised my hand. I couldn’t even lift it above my head.
“The landscape I’m showing you, do you think it’s magic?”
My heart was pounding, but I couldn’t feel my mana flowing through my heart. More than half of it was gone.
“You’ve already lost, Hero, and know that what I’m about to show you will not be a happy memory.”
I let out a shallow breath. Mist watched my expression and let out another satisfied chuckle.
“Once I’ve digested you, all that’s left is to devour the world.”
Arjen was inching closer to me.
“This is what you get for interfering with ‘our’ destiny.”
I drew my Holy Sword and slashed at his face, which shattered to reveal the familiar tent.
“Elroy, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You have come, Hero.”
I renewed my strength in the hand that held the hilt of my sword.
***
Marianne ran.
She ran, not knowing where the end was. Sometimes it felt like she was running in circles. She was sure she was nearing Elroy. Marianne tightened her grip on the compass.
There was only one thought, a desperate one. A desire to save the Hero. If only she could find him right away. Marianne gripped the Holy Spear desperately. It was a weapon that had never given her an answer. She had to get through this damn fog and get to where the Her is.
Marianne froze in place and stabbed the spear into the ground. She didn’t know how to awaken this relic. All she could do was charge, as Elroy had done.
“…Please.”
Marianne spoke as if the spear were a person. Suddenly, a golden glow surrounded her fingertips. It began to devour the Holy Spear hungrily.
“Ugh…!”
Marianne’s knees buckled, dizzy with the power escaping her instantly. But instead of stopping it, she gripped the spear tighter, increasing the power she poured into it. She would use every ounce of the measly mana she possessed. If it weren’t enough, she would burn her own life away.
Marianne lifted her head, half-drained, as some of her mana returned to her body.
(I don’t like listening to whining, but your mana is too sweet.)*
At the end of the unidentifiable voice, the chancel began to glow. Marianne gritted her teeth, trying to handle the surge of power.
A crack.
It sounded like an egg cracking. Marianne faced a space that slowly cracked open, revealing the landscape beyond it.
She could smell the ocean.
A fetid, fishy odor that almost drowned it out.
“…What the hell.”
At the end of her vision stood a man. The person Marianne had come to save. He was covered in blood and facing a giant monster. Without realizing it, Marianne reached for the compass.
She had found Elroy.
Translator’s Corner
*- Honestly I don’t know who this is. I’ll change it when I figure it out, but my guess right now is the Holy Spear.
Also there should be another chapter in a few hours.
