Sarah was left alone not knowing what was happening outside.
“The exit?”
Mayatrey made a sphere of light so she wouldn’t wander in the dark, but she still couldn’t understand the structure of this place.
It felt like a maze.
Even if she tried to find a place where the wind flowed, she would still get lost since the wind blew in all directions.
“If only I could hear the sound of the waves…”
Just like how the sound of the waves could be heard in the Rotomo Strait, she was expecting to hear them here.
She walked to the side of the wall and moved, hoping to reach the outside or the place where she was brought from.
Sarah moved forward.
She might get lost, but the blue dragon would find her. So she continued to walk without worry, and a couple of minutes passed.
“How big is this place?”
There was no end. She quickened her pace when she reached the middle, but the path became more complicated.
Escaping on her own seemed impossible.
Sarah frowned as she slumped down, thinking about the situation outside.
“There was nothing I could do.”
Beyond the term ‘nothing,’ she was just a burden to them.
If Mayatrey hadn’t appeared, Sarah would have been dead. She thought she had already come to terms with how helpless she was.
But it didn’t seem like it. The thought of almost dying made her tremble.
At this rate, when could she reach the place where her brother was?
[The agony of this child is understandable.]
Then she heard the voice of an old man in her head.
“W-Who is it?”
[So, should we just say that it is an old man who just opened his eyes?]
“Where are you? I do not feel a thing…”
[The outside is wonderful. Fighting like in the past. For what?]
“Grandpa? Ah, can I call you grandpa?”
[Why shouldn’t you? Rather, come over here.]
With the old man’s words, Sarah felt the space change.
It felt quite different from when Mayatrey used space magic.
This one felt warmer.
Sarah looked around.
There was a large round circle that was as bright as daylight even though there was no light.
“This is…”
“Nice to meet you.”
At that time, she heard a voice that sounded like screeching metal from the front. Sarah moved her gaze there, and her eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth in shock.
She saw a horrifying scene.
“W-What is that…”
“Huhu. I must be looking pretty ugly.”
The old man chuckled.
He had a long, full, but messy beard and hair that looked like he hadn’t washed for a long time. His fingernails were very long and curled.
In addition, his skin looked so dead. Not to mention how bony his body was, his eyes drooped as if they were melting.
However, it wasn’t just his appearance that shocked her. It was true that she was shocked by it, but that didn’t matter to her.
“G-Grandpa… your body… wall….”
“The price of losing to that nasty thing.”
The old man’s body had been pushed into the rock as if he was fixed into it, and only his head and limbs were sticking out.
Sarah was speechless at the cruel sight, to which the old man laughed.
“It was painful at first, but now it just feels like a part of my body, so I don’t feel any pain. Also, until recently, I was in deep sleep.”
“What happened for…”
“As I said, I lost.”
What kind of defeat was it that he was horribly treated like this?
She knew there were a lot of sealing spells in the world, but it was so unpleasant to look at. She could tell that he had been here for such a long time from his hair, his beard, his nails, and his body.
The old man asked Sarah,
“Your name child.”
“My name…”
It was a pity that the old man was like this, but she was meeting him for the first time today.
She didn’t know who he was.
And it was inappropriate for her to reveal her identity to someone she had just met. When she hesitated, the old man nodded.
“I won’t ask if it is tough to answer.”
“… since when was Grandpa imprisoned here?”
“Well. It’s been so long now.”
He didn’t even remember, but he pondered.
“When did I get trapped in… I don’t know. I don’t even know how many years have passed since I was put here.”
What was certain was that this being had spent such a huge amount of time in this place that even his hatred seemed to have faded.
It was enough time for him to let go of his anger and revenge.
He laughed and asked Sarah,
“Why are you wandering here? Blaming yourself.”
“Yes? Ah. that…”
Come to think of it, the old man spoke to Sarah, saying she was in great agony and why should she be depressed about her weakness.
Sarah sighed, sitting down.
“I have many things to do and many things I need to protect, but I feel like I am too incompetent. Even by coming here, I am more of a burden.”
“Why is a child like you thinking such things? At that age, you should go out and play.”
“Well, I guess it’s because of the world we are in.”
“The outside is still a mess. The same goes for the children who have fought until now. Can’t there be a world where there is no fighting?”
The old man looked sad.
And he said to Sarah,
“Even if the world is harsh, do not give up. Even though you may be criticizing yourself and the journey may be difficult, you should make the decision to keep going because eventually, you will be able to reach your desired destination.”
“What if I don’t reach my destination?”
“If you live with such thoughts, what is the point in trying? To hope for it, to do it, and to achieve it, right?”
The old man was right.
If she gave up, her chances were zero, but if she didn’t give up and chose to run, the chances were slim, but she might reach her destination.
Therefore, she couldn’t stop now.
The more desperate she was, the more she had to run.
“Grandpa’s words gave me confidence. Thank you.”
“Hehe. Success is not the only thing in this world. You might fail several times along the way. When you keep failing, your self-confidence will go down, and there will be times when you want to give up everything in deep frustration. And that is the most important time for you to push harder.”
“The courage to not give up, even if I want to. Are you talking about that?”
“You understand well, child.”
The old man nodded his head with a satisfied expression. And he said,
“Even though I’m in this situation, I don’t remember my purpose. What did I fight for, and what did I lose? I’ve almost forgotten all about them, and my feelings of that day have mostly faded, but one thing is certain.”
“What is that?”
“The fact that I didn’t give up. And it is coming.”
Sarah didn’t understand those words.
And then, the entire cave shone, and numerous people appeared.
They were all familiar faces.
“Uh? How are you all here?”
Sarah’s face was shocked when she saw the Ran warriors suddenly appear.
But it was strange.
Their expressions looked bad, and some were even weeping in anger.
Among them, Isis stood alone.
“Teacher!”
Sarah called for her and ran, but she just stood there, not responding.
Someone grabbed Sarah and stopped her.
“Mayatrey?”
The blue dragon looked at her and shook her head.
“Leave her alone for now.”
“What happened?”
Just looking at the warriors’ expressions, she could tell the situation was bad outside.
Sarah looked around. In particular, she could see some warriors who were injured, and among them, some stood out.
The two warriors who were lying in the corner and were being treated.
Sarah ran to them.
“… Mr. Gen. Mero.”
“Sarah Welton.”
Gen, who was now in relatively good condition, could look at Sarah. And then he glanced at Mero, and said,
“As you can see, Mero is unable to speak right now.”
“W-Why did this…”
Sarah couldn’t finish her sentence. All the mighty warriors looked crestfallen. She could guess what had happened outside.
Sarah looked around at the warriors again.
And noticed something.
“His Majesty? Where is His Majesty?”
“…”
Gen didn’t answer. He just closed his eyes and was visibly angry.
At first, she didn’t understand what it meant.
She heard the three races had true dominating power, especially Hasyath, who was called the Sword Disaster, so Sarah knew how powerful he was.
That’s why she never thought he could be defeated.
But their reactions made her more aware of it.
“No…”
“No… please don’t say it.”
Gen said, looking like he was about to cry. Only then did she realize.
The King of the Rans was dead.
Sarah’s gaze turned to Isis. Her teacher just stood still with the same face as before.
At first, she didn’t know why Isis made such a face, but when she found out what happened, she realized she was holding back her grief.
And then, for some reason, a part of her heart ached.
“Teacher…”
“Was it the child who disappeared?”
The old man mumbled.
At that voice, Isis, who had been standing still, looked up at the old man.
“Was it you? The one who talked to me.”
Her voice didn’t tremble.
She was sad, but she wasn’t going to show it. She began to approach the old man.
“Was it you?”
The old man nodded and said,
“It was me.”
All the warriors looked in his direction. All of them were nervous and on alert. And even normal humans would die from the pressure.
But the old man had the calmest face.
And said,
“You are holding on to your sorrow. Your emotions are swirling like wildfire. Why are you holding them back?”
“… because I have to.”
Hasyath gave her the position.
She was officially the King. And even though Karlovan has taken over the position of captain for this party right now, she couldn’t show any weakness in the position where she had to lead them.
It was because if the leader was weak, then it would affect the subordinates.
After catching her breath, Isis asked the man,
“You…”
Isis clenched her fist and willed herself to keep her composure, as she was on the verge of crying.
And the questions continued.
“The God of War, Shiva?”
The old man looked at her for a while and with a low sigh he muttered,
“You are the one to inherit.”
It was something she didn’t understand, but before Isis could ask, he continued,
“Yes, I am him. Although I am like this now, I am the existence that is the starting point of your race.”
Shiva, the God of War.
