Chapter 132 : His Legacy
Chapter 132: His Legacy
He opened his eyes.
His vision was obscured by hazy steam.
Was he alive?
He was alive.
“Ghh....”
The horrific pain surging from his right shoulder proved it. Pain was, after all, proof of being alive.
“...Haha.”
Daphne let out a hollow laugh.
Ahead of him, he could see his bow. A bow specially commissioned from an artisan of the Berfht Kingdom. It had been heavily damaged by the intense heat, but it had not been completely destroyed.
However, the hand that was supposed to hold it and fire was no longer there.
It had literally evaporated.
From the fingers to the shoulder. His right fingers, hand, wrist, arm, and shoulder had all been incinerated completely.
The pain turned his mind stark white. Still, he endured it.
For now, he had survived, but he had no idea how the situation had progressed, nor how much time had passed since he had lost consciousness.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the steam created when snow and fire collided had turned into fog, concealing him.
‘He has to find them.’
Driven by an extreme will to survive, Daphne’s mind began to work rapidly.
The reason the Four Heavenly Kings were so desperate to kill him was that he had seen the tower. If he died, they could interrogate him again about the tower’s location.
In that case.
What if he made the situation even bigger?
What if he spread the information to everyone in the search party? Then there would no answer other than to wipe them all out.
‘There’s no way they could do something like that!’
They were different from him, who was a hero even if alone. The group included an imperial prince and a royal prince. In particular, Martin, the Empire’s Third Prince—although he lagged behind other members of the imperial family—was still closely tied to the line of succession.
‘For some reason, the Third Prince was with the search party.’
He had noticed it even while fleeing. He did not know the reason. But for him, it was good news.
Daphne began moving through the fog.
Fortunately, it did not take long for him to discover a group.
“Your Highness!”
He was lucky. The prince of Korzen was not far away, and his personal guard was with him.
“Lord Daphne! Your arm...!”
“That is not what matters right now. Your Highness, I found the tower!”
“...The tower?”
“Is that truly so?”
“Yes!”
Daphne handed over the record orb.
“It is in a basin about five kilometers north of the highest peak. Surrounded by peaks, it is difficult to see, making it an optimal location to hide the tower!”
It was only natural that those who had come thinking solely of the mountain summit had failed to find it.
“You must keep that safe.”
In any case, the moment he recorded it, he had already made copies in preparation for contingencies, but one could never be certain. He resolved to hand one out to everyone he encountered.
“Of course. I will never lose it. So please, first, your wound—”
“It is fine. I will look for Prince Martin. In the meantime, Your Highness should inform the other search party members of this fact as well.”
“What do you mean by—”
...that?
Belof’s words never reached the end. Daphne had already disappeared.
In an instant, Daphne threw himself into the fog, slipping out of the prince’s sight, desperately sharpening his senses.
‘Quickly, the prince....’
He only needed to find the Third Prince. If he could just inform him, he could disperse their attention.
But his body did not respond as his thoughts demanded.
‘What is this...?’
His body suddenly felt heavy.
‘Am I too exhausted....’
No, perhaps it was because he had lost too much blood—was still losing it.
‘...I’m dizzy.’
Was it because he was too exhausted and had lost too much blood? His head spun. He struggled to steady his posture.
That was when it happened.
- You look quite exhausted.
A voice reached him. He checked his surroundings, but there was no one there. Even when he spread his senses, he felt nothing.
‘A hallucination?’
No, it was far too clear for that.
“...Who are you?”
- Who do you think?
The voice sounded familiar.
“...Spirit Sorceress of Darkness.”
- I’m glad. You remember my name.
The damned Four Heavenly Kings.
Daphne clenched his teeth and sprinted. He had to find someone. But no matter how much he ran, and ran, and ran again, strangely, he could not sense any presence.
His arm and leg grew heavy. His breath caught in his throat, and his head throbbed painfully. When that reached its limit, Daphne was already rolling across the ground. Dirt and snow shoved their way into his mouth.
“What is this....”
Only then did Daphne check his single remaining arm and leg, and he was horrified. Steam was clinging to them. Like shackles, it was dragging him down with crushing weight.
“Since when...?”
“Well, since when could it be?”
The voice no longer echoed. It came from right nearby.
From within the fog, the masked Spirit Sorceress of Darkness poked her head out.
“From the moment you began wandering.”
She whispered.
“Very slowly, it seeped into you. Perhaps because of your injuries, you didn’t notice.”
“You bitch...!”
“Don’t get worked up. If you do, you’ll bleed more. And that hurts more, doesn’t it?”
“Shut up!”
“I think it’s unfortunate that we have to meet like this.”
To Ernan Hilderan, Daphne was not someone particularly close. What connected them had always been her father, after all.
Still, they had met face to face several times, and it was also true that she had treated him kindly whenever he revealed his inner thoughts.
But in all things, in human relationships, there was a matter of priority. What mattered less, and what mattered more.
Berje came before Daphne. That was all.
“Lord Daphne.”
She slowly approached.
Daphne stepped backward. He tried to strike. The arm and leg bound by fog did not even allow that.
The distance closed.
Daphne’s heart pounded as if it would burst.
What should he do?
How.
How could he survive?
He had no strength left to resist. Even so, he wanted to live. He desperately searched for a way to live.
At that moment.
“Lord Daphne.”
The voice whispered once more.
Their eyes met.
The world slowed.
‘....’
Eyes shining with an incomparably brilliant amethyst hue.
Platinum-blond hair swaying within the fog.
An innocent tone of speech.
For some reason.
It felt familiar.
It couldn’t be. There was absolutely no way it could be, yet his mind screamed no, and still, somehow—
The worst possible assumption flashed through his mind.
His pupils trembled. The Spirit Sorceress of Darkness noticed the change in him.
“...Me.”
She formed a regretful smile.
“You recognized me?”
“...Really.”
“Yes.”
“...Why?”
“Even if I explained it, you wouldn’t understand.”
“No one, absolutely no one, would understand.”
After hearing her confirmation, he became calmer instead. No, was it really calmness? It was just that he could not find a way to respond to something so far beyond his comprehension.
Thud—
At that moment, something caught against his back. Someone’s foot.
“Lord Daphne?”
From within the fog, Hero Hillan Cargill approached. Daphne’s face lit up.
“Sir Hillan!”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, that Four Heavenly King—”
“The Four Heavenly Kings?”
“The Four Heavenly Kings....”
He could not bring himself to say it. Even after seeing it with his own eyes, even after confirming it, he could not believe it. It was far too far removed from everything he knew as common sense.
But Hillan completed that silence.
“Is the Four Heavenly King the Crown Princess of Hilderan, by any chance?”
“That’s corre—”
Wait.
“How did you know that?”
“Well, how do you think I would know?”
“...What does that mean?”
“Are you certain your vision is blocked?”
Hillan’s gaze was not directed at Daphne. It passed beyond him, reaching the Four Heavenly King, the Spirit Sorceress of Darkness, and Ernan Hilderan.
“There are a few people who might be able to see through it, but at least right now, none of them are nearby.”
“...Don’t tell me?”
An assumption even worse than the worst he had imagined surfaced.
No way.
“...You.”
“Why are you calling me?”
The calm smile made a chill run even deeper down his spine.
No way.
Surely not.
The faint killing intent turned assumption into certainty.
“...Humanity.”
“That’s right.”
His heart dropped.
“...Aren’t you the hero who killed two Demon Kings? You, whose path was promised—why would you side with the Demon King?”
“I didn’t know I would end up like this either.”
But since it had come to this, what could be done?
“Still, please don’t feel too wronged.”
Everyone had their own circumstances.
“Just as you ran all the way here to survive, I, too, am struggling desperately in order to live.”
“Please send him off without pain.”
Ernan murmured. That was her final courtesy to Daphne Phillian.
“Should I be grateful for that?”
Daphne let out a short laugh at her consideration.
It was neither because it was amusing nor because he was pleased. It was resignation. Self-abandonment born from knowing there was no longer any path to survival.
The kidnapped princess and the one worthy of becoming the greatest hero had betrayed humanity and sided with the Demon King.
“Hillan Cargill. You will one day pay the price for this. Do you think you can cover the sky with your finger?”
“Since it’s not a finger, I think it’s possible.”
A Demon King was not a being that could ever be condemned with something as small as a finger.
“I’ll be watching to see how far that confidence takes you.”
“Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see it.”
Daphne closed his eyes.
Slash—
A single line was drawn.
After a long escape, severe injuries, and massive blood loss overlapping, Daphne could not resist at all. He did not even try.
He merely forced his eyes open, glaring at the traitor of humanity, and let out a hollow laugh.
The kindly impression twisted. The scene spun and shifted. A mask came into view. Pale white skin, platinum-blond hair, the mask, and innocent eyes.
The world spun.
He inhaled cold air. He captured in his sight the spirit smiling behind the woman.
The scattering crimson droplets were beautiful. The white world drew closer.
Splat—
At first, he felt heat. Then came cold. A metallic stench, and the chill that pushed it aside, seeped around his lips.
His eyelids grew heavy. Shadows fell between his flickering vision.
Something collapsed. A hot, red flow covered his face.
Ah.
Only then did he realize it was his own body.
So his neck had been cut.
That was the end.
Before he could even fully close his eyes, his soul left his body.
One star that had illuminated the darkness fell.
* * *
Pajijijik—
The artificially created fog dissipated.
“It’s gone!”
“The mages have removed the fog!”
Between the snow that had completely melted into water, barren land and a massive crater were revealed.
What filled its interior was red liquid and the flesh of living beings. Blood, and corpses.
“...My god.”
The survivors stared in shock at the devastation.
It wasn’t because of the flames spewed by the demon race. Nor was it because of the crater created by the aftermath.
A half-burnt corpse.
A corpse bearing the marks of its neck being torn away.
It was because it was a great Star.
Daphne Phillian.
One of the ten Stars who represented the heroes had fallen.
The imperial prince, the royal prince, knights, mages, and rangers alike. As if by unspoken agreement, the surviving members closed their mouths.
Silently, they gathered the bodies and treated the wounded.
The imperial prince and the prince watched the scene and spat out breath.
“...What should we do?”
“....”
Martin bit his lip.
That demon who had spewed flames was the Demon King. The Demon King had personally killed Daphne Phillian.
Why?
Why would the Demon King act personally?
‘Was it a warning directed at me?’
It felt like pressure to keep the promise. As if it were roaring that it could emerge from the tower at any time and act differently from the Standard.
And the same was true of the Star who had slipped out from the search party and been killed—Daphne Phillian—and of that terrifying blaze that had burned everything to ash.
‘He killed Daphne Phillian. Does that mean he could kill someone like me just as easily?’
Perhaps it was a warning to stop searching for the tower and turn back now.
“I think it would be best for us to withdraw at this point.”
As he hesitated, Belof spoke up first with his opinion.
“The damage is severe. And above all, morale has plummeted after Daphne Phillian’s death.”
The shock brought by Daphne Phillian’s death itself.
And the fear of the high-ranking demon who had killed him.
Those two things were enveloping the entire search party.
If Daphne Phillian died, then what about us?
If a high-ranking demon was that powerful, how were they supposed to face a Demon King?
“His sacrifice is regrettable, but that is precisely why we must retreat. We need to reorganize and inform others of their power and level. It’s infuriating and unjust, but this search has failed.”
“But.”
“If Your Highness, the Imperial Prince does not intend to leave, then I will withdraw on my own. Forcing our way forward in our current state will only increase meaningless casualties.”
“...Understood.”
Martin nodded as if he had no other choice.
He, too, had been considering withdrawal, so there was no reason to refuse when someone else voiced it first.
“And actually.”
Belof lowered his voice.
“...?”
“...We have completed the mission.”
“What do you mean?”
Belof took out the record orb.
“This contains the location of the tower. We found it.”
“...How did you obtain this?”
Martin’s voice naturally dropped.
“Before he died, Lord Daphne handed it to me.”
“...My god.”
“I can give this to Your Highness. But not for free.”
“....”
Belof pondered, if only briefly.
How to use this tremendous information—the location of the tower—and whether it could be used at all.
Monopolising it was not the right approach. It would demonstrate the Empire’s incompetence and their own competence, but that would be the worst possible way to put themselves at odds with the Empire.
“Who discovered this will be quite important to Your Highness. Given the current situation of the Empire.”
“Do you want a deal?”
“Yes.”
That was why he changed course. In any case, there was someone right beside him with whom the credit would have to be shared. If so, it was better to earn a bit of goodwill and forge a connection.
Although the Third Prince’s influence was weaker compared to the First Prince, Second Prince, and First Princess, he was still an imperial prince and ranked among the top four.
“I will become a source of strength for Your Highness.”
So.
“Please become a source of strength for me as well.”
For the sake of mutual benefit.