Chapter 173 : Chapter 173
Chapter 173
“Hmm…? That friend must be a noble. I thought he was your grandson.”
The sight of the lushly white-haired old man Nerjin using extremely polite language to the Star Child, who looked like a young man in his prime, had caused a misunderstanding.
“Yes, that is correct.”
Rather than let the story get complicated, I decided to just let the misunderstanding be.
“Tsk, it's the end of the world. I just came to see the Founding Festival with my granddaughter, you know.”
“…”
My heartstrings twitched. It would be a lie to say I didn't react to the word ‘granddaughter’. The old man was alone now. Where could his granddaughter be…?
‘…Probably….’
If she wasn't with him in this chaos, there was a high chance she was dead.
When my reasoning reached that point, I saw this difficult old man in a different light.
‘In that situation, he called out to us who were walking into the jaws of death and provided a shelter?’
“Ah, and I brought something to drink, so tell him to drink it slowly so he doesn't choke.”
“I am grateful for your kindness.”
I thought I could solve my questions by taking advantage of the kindness before me.
“But there is something I am curious about.”
“Hmm? Curious?”
“Do the laughing people not come here? It’s strange how relaxed people are.”
“The master of this merchant guild told me. He told me not to worry, that there's a perception-disrupting magic cast on the merchant building. The guild master is a very good person. He must have been reluctant to let other people in during a situation like this. I heard he even built a building within the Land with the sponsorship of one of the Four Great Ducal Families, the, Deminiyan? The Deminiyan Ducal Family! They must have supported him because he has such a good character.”
‘Deminiyan….’
One of the Four Great Ducal Families. A reliable pillar of the Empire…, but I didn't know why I felt so uneasy.
“Haha, anyway, that's right. As long as you don't open the building door and scream your head off, nothing will happen, so don't worry.”
Open the door and scream….
Wasn't that the method the old man in front of me used to call us? My gratitude grew even larger. However, I couldn't help but have doubts about the old man's explanation.
“See those stone lumps over there? He said as long as we don't touch those, we'll be fine.”
I could see the mana stones embedded in every corner of the building. They were emitting a faint light of mana, seeming to be operating normally.
And because of that, Nerjin's suspicion deepened even further.
‘Perception-disrupting magic, he says….’
Normally, an ordinary person cannot detect magic without special equipment, and it is a difficult task even for a warrior who has trained in mana. Unless the magic manifests as a ‘phenomenon’. Such as a fireball appearing triggered by a command word, or the reality of a protective shield being revealed during defense.
‘That's why President Martin is so amazing. Anyway, that's a special case.’
However, a mage can detect magic by paying attention. Nerjin, too, had learned magic as a basic skill. Since his specialty was particularly in ‘enchantment’ and ‘barriers’, he prided himself on being more sensitive than most when it came to the flow of mana.
‘But no matter how much I concentrate, I can't feel any mana from this building.’
Not only in this entire building, but also from the mana stones everywhere, they seemed to emit the light of mana, but I couldn't actually feel any mana. As if they were toys.
“Hoho! Anyway, they said there will be food distribution soon, so come up to the first floor with the kids you brought! I'll be there first!”
“Yes….”
Watching the old man's back as he ambled up the stairs, Nerjin pulled the string of tension taut. This was no ordinary serious matter.
‘Is it a lie?’
Was the hand of rescue actually the tongue of a snake luring its prey…?
‘No. The old man was definitely an ordinary person. A man in his twilight years, standing at the end of his life with not even a speck of mana's energy left.’
If that's the case. The one who told the old man about the perception-disrupting magic and the existence of the mana stones must have spoken a lie.
‘That person, the guild master?’
To think I had to doubt the goodwill of someone who risked danger to rescue people in this situation.
“Grandfather!”
“We’re back.”
Bianca and Savo, who had gone to get food, returned with good news.
“They're distributing food on the first floor! Let's go up quickly!”
“…”
Following that, a person who seemed to be a merchant guild associate came down to the first floor and shouted loudly.
“There will be food distribution on the first floor from now on, so it would be great if everyone came and received some! At times like these, even if you have no appetite, you must eat and store up your strength! The Imperial Security Knights will be here soon! Everyone, be strong!”
Then he went up. Following him, the people in the basement began to go up in small groups….
“We should also….”
“Bianca, Savo. Listen to me carefully.”
With trembling eyes, Nerjin grabbed both their shoulders and looked them in the eye from up close.
“G-Grandfather…?”
Bianca looked surprised, but now was the time for vigilance.
“Receive what they give you naturally, but you must never eat it. Not even a sip of water.”
“But, why, why…?”
As if she had an ominous premonition, my lovely granddaughter's voice trembled, but sadly, I had to make her face reality.
“Perhaps, we may have walked into a tiger's den…!”
***
“Brother!”
“You're here.”
That child was my light.
“You were here again? The cliffs of the Heavenly Pillar Mountains are so dangerous.”
“But it is the best place to recite prose, so my steps keep leading me here. The Heavenly Pillar Mountains. Isn't the name itself elegant?”
And also, my only remaining other half.
“Look over there. You can see the countless kingdoms that share the grace of the Cosmos Empire.”
“…I can’t see them, they’re covered by clouds.”
“…Just pretend you can see them.”
More precious than anything else, my family.
When I looked back, I could see my younger sister, also with white hair and the beauty of someone in her late 20s. Who would look at that beautiful child and think she was in her triple digits?
“By the way, what is that you're hiding behind your back?”
“Your coffin, brother.”
I thought she was talking about the casket I would die and be put in and gulped in fright.
“I tried making it by weaving flowers.”
A flower crown. A beautiful diadem made by weaving pure white roses.
“What were you imagining, brother?”
“…Nothing.”
My sister, who I wouldn't mind putting in my eye for how precious she was, came closer and placed the white rose crown on my head.
I can feel the Stellar Force of Lord Cosmos. A pleasant feeling came over me, and I looked down at the world beyond the Heavenly Pillar Mountains.
“…Let us strive a little more.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yes. That way, we can live together for a long, long time, won't we?”
“Yes, brother.”
The memory of my sister's clear, smiling face is so vivid. So clear in my memory. To think that this conversation would be the last one before my sister's death.
The Pope had found out… about the operation to help the last ember left by the Peacemaker member, the head of the Wisdrammus family, escape the Empire. I had realized too late that all of the Holy Assassins had been urgently dispatched.
“Please! Please! Please!”
I kicked off the ground. The earth split and burst open. The launched Star Child’s body accelerated and accelerated, even using Flash to arrive at the scene, but.
“St-Star Child….”
“You!”
I thought it was a scarecrow hanging on a tree! His clothes and body were in tatters.
“What happened!”
“Holy, Assassins, Heavenly Pillar, Mountains….”
The member who spat out his last words seemed to have fulfilled his duty and breathed his last.
“…”
The Star Child ran forward without even being able to collect the body. The members he found this time were two. After a quick glance, he passed by them. Vowing to find their headless bodies later.
“Please….”
The members he found next were three. Their posture was quite impressive. As if trying to grab the end of someone's cloak and their ankle until the very end. They had collapsed while reaching their hands in the direction the enemies had gone.
“Please!”
And at the place he arrived, he could see them. The Holy Assassins, draped in pure white cloaks. The Pope's direct assassination unit.
And among them, tragically sprawled… a woman in red. My younger sister, who was originally pure white.
“No—!”
I drew my dual pistols. The righteous armaments I was commanded to aim at the enemies of Cosmos, the demons who stood on the opposite side of good.
“It's the Star Child!”
“The order is to kill anyone involved!”
“Form up!”
The Holy Assassins formed a formation and prepared, but the moment the dual pistols spat fire, half of the more than thirty of them fell. Interception, ricochet, arcing shots. It was the result of dozens of bullets fired stirring up the space.
“What, is this!”
“Kgh!”
The surviving Holy Assassins were also struck down by the Star Child who rushed in and bludgeoned them with his guns. He also grabbed their heads and twisted them.
The time it took to deal with the 30 Holy Assassins, said to be the Pope's strongest direct unit, was 5 minutes. The Star Child kicked, stomped, and crushed the dead.
And then, he went before his sister and knelt. His sister, with a gaping hole in her chest where her heart had been, was cold. He cried out to the sky, embracing her cold, dead body.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”
A roar. The whole world trembles and shivers in fear. The Heavenly Pillar Mountains rumble and cry. A single person stood upon it.
‘Nerjin. That little brat, is he alive? My sister, is dead!’
It would be a lie to say I wasn't angry. But… this was his sister's choice.
The Cosmos Empire fell the very next day.
The unbelievable catastrophe called the Time Chaos Dungeon, which suddenly descended from the Dimension Research Institute, swallowed the empire in an instant.
In the midst of that chaos, the members of the Peacemaker also fled to save themselves, but most couldn't escape their positions and were swallowed.
“…”
The Star Child, left alone, went around cleaning up the disasters brought about by the Cosmos Empire that had spread throughout the world.
“…”
The Star Child, left alone, wandered for 100 years searching for any Peacemaker members who might have survived.
“…”
The Star Child, left alone, through a revelation, came to see the doomsdays that would later fall upon the world.
“…”
The Star Child, left alone, became cheerful and relaxed. To hold onto his crumbling mind.
“…”
The Star Child, left alone, prayed.
‘I have truly become alone.’
He had no choice but to endure despair in solitude and prepare for the end. During that vast time… alone.
“…!”
At that moment, his body was pulled upwards. It was an irresistible force. The moment he broke through the cloud layer of the sky!
***
“Heok!”
When I opened my eyes, it was an unfamiliar ceiling. I gasped for air, then slowly began to take deep breaths.
‘Where is this….’
I remember. After a complete defeat in the battle against Joverka, I barely managed to find Nerjin….
‘Kgh, what in the world is this?’
A nauseating smell stimulated the tip of my nose. I turned to the side and saw Nerjin's back. With his back to me, he was doing something with an alchemy kit…. On either side of him stood a girl and a smaller boy… Savo.
“As I thought. There was an unidentified substance in the food. It would have been a disaster if we had eaten it. Prepare yourselves. We must escape at once.”
“Yes, I underst— Huh?! Grandfather! You’re awake!”
“Ah, Star Child!”
Nerjin hastily turned around and approached.
“Star Child, have you come to your senses? That’s good. We must escape at once.”
“Nerjin…, what in the world is this smell….”
“Pardon?”
Smell? The flustered Nerjin looked at the alchemy kit behind him.
“It seems a foul odor was generated during the alchemy process. If it was unpleasant…, no, before that, we must escape….”
“That’s not it…!”
The smell that enraged the Star Child as soon as he woke up. So utterly disgusting…!
“The power of a demon is spreading throughout this entire space…!”