Chapter 86

The headless deer ran.

With a thorny bush for a neck and a light orb for a head, it ran through Arete.

I followed it, with Amethus close behind.

“……”

My chest ached with every step I took.

Unresolved questions, doubts that grew against my will, and a suffocating feeling that I could only sum up as agony pierced my heart.

As the agony dug in, I could hear a popping sound, like bubbles bursting in my chest.

I had stirred his heart.

I had roughly grabbed the weakest and softest part of it and torn it into several pieces.

The fragments of his heart.

The heart that had become like foam.

The things he believed to be true and thought were without a doubt.

He wanted to gather the budding bubbles even now, but with every step he took, they popped.

'…What if…….'

The more he tried to ignore it, the clearer it became.

The more he didn’t want to think about it, the more it came to mind.

'…What if His Highness Zionis, was right…….'

His intuition whispered.

'…What if those words were true…….'

His jade eyes glanced at me.

My lips always lied.

My tongue was like a snake and yet, it dug in, impossible to push away.

It had planted the seeds of doubt in his heart.

They had already grown beyond his control, casting a deep shadow over his heart.

'His Highness Ferbias… no, Pel…….'

Ferbias Caseptus, the man he served as his master.

The closest of friends.

He thought that a lifetime of devotion was not enough and he really intended to do so.

'…He lied to me…….'

The mere thought of it made his heart ache.

If he had known what humiliation Amethus suffered because of the name Aretion, what his family's long-cherished wish meant and what kind of life he had lived with what kind of heart, and still lied to him.

If he had lied like that and still called him a friend.

'…If that's the case…….'

If it were really true, his stomach would churn.

So much so that his entrails would be torn to pieces and rise to his throat.

Even though it was just a thought, just a 'what if', an unspeakable rage surged within him.

'…I…….'

His face was sallow.

Not like a person, but a dull light, like a well-used rubber eraser.

It was dead with the color of mud that had been pressed down by the sole of a shoe.

It was because the exhaustion had all been drawn out, lingering in his chest.

Rage lingered.

His hands trembled.

Even the sword he had protected until now trembled like a quaking aspen.

It hadn't even trembled once when he fought with Marina Debius.

'…My sword…….'

He had trained and trained.

He had reached a place that others couldn't, at a younger age than them.

His sword was so sharp that it would not shrink even in front of those who had lived for decades staking a nation's name.

But because it was sharp, it trembled even more.

'…Where should I aim, now?'

He knew there was no one to tell him.

That made him feel even more sorrowful.

I glanced at Amethus and spoke.

“Over there, Amethus. The deer’s footsteps have stopped.”

The deer that had run ahead was no longer visible.

But the light orb it carried told me where it was.

Beyond the lush trees that were untouched by human hands, I could see a collapsed stone wall.

His ancestors', the Aretions', citadel.

Amethus felt a sense of regret.

He felt he wasn’t ready to face it.

Nothing had been sorted out; everything had become even more complicated.

He didn't know whether he should be angry or fall into grief, so he could only tremble.

“The Breath of Light is waking up.”

I snapped at him and kept running.

I had seen the Breath of Light wake up before the regression.

If it was the same as then, it would be soon.

“Look carefully, and see what the truth is.”

***

A cocoon.

It was round and long, wrapped in millions of layers of thin threads, like that of an insect.

But it was enormous.

It was as high as the city walls and wasn't covered by the trees.

The deer approached meekly.

Unlike how it had been running until now, it was full of respect.

It was careful not to make a sound with its hooves as it stood in front of the cocoon and slowly bent its four legs.

It resembled a person kneeling.

The deer, which was sitting with its four legs bent, extended its neck.

No, it pushed the light orb, which was mounted on the thorny bush that had grown in place of its neck, toward the cocoon.

The light orb.

The warmth that made Arete bright and warm day and night, even in the middle of a storm, all came from there.

The light orb, offered in front of the cocoon, shimmered even more, gradually changing its warmth into heat.

Flames erupted.

The light orb, which had been round and shiny and only warm, became so hot that flames rose and flickered around it.

With every flicker, the threads wrapping the cocoon melted away.

They disappeared one by one with a pop, pop, and when the flames flickered for the seventh time, the entire cocoon melted and disappeared.

What appeared was a golden throne.

A giant figure was sitting, bound to it.

“How, blasphemous……”

Amethus let out a low groan.

A golden throne, it was only permitted to the owner of Cordis.

No one, not even a person who was once an emperor, could sit on a golden chair.

The golden throne was for the emperors of humans only.

That was the original law.

It had been so for a thousand years.

So Amethus was somewhat dumbfounded.

It was a natural reaction as a citizen of the empire, regardless of his loyalty.

“It’s a god, so why don’t you cut it some slack? It’s an existence older than the empire.”

I chuckled.

The fact that this was a natural reaction to him was really funny to me.

“…Is that the Breath of Light?”

“Yes. The Ancient God, the Breath of Light.”

Before Cordis, there was Hotus.

The era before Hotus was called Ancient Times, a time when non-humans roamed.

Among them, those who were particularly powerful and mysterious were called gods by humans.

The Eight Gods of Hotus took the place of gods from them and gave them a new name, Ancient Gods.

As if to say, you are now old.

It was a strange thing that even the Eight Gods of Hotus were now forgotten names.

It was such a long time ago.

This was also why the Breath of Light was called by various names.

The interpretation differed because its name was from a time with very different grammar.

The Breath of Light, the Breathing Light, Altemaios…….

“The fact that it’s headless and bound makes it seem more like a slave than a god.”

Are they both the same thing anyway?

Especially in Cordis.

I smiled wryly.

The Breath of Light was a peculiar sight.

Like its retainers, it had no head.

The severed surface of its neck was red like a human's.

It was so enormous that the diameter of its neck was longer than me.

Also, there were chains binding the arms and legs of the Breath of Light.

They were holding him so he couldn't rise from the golden throne.

The one that had once been called a god was bound and beheaded, bowing its head deeply.

It looked as if it had fallen forward.

“It’s rising.”

The light orb shimmered.

Holding the flickering flames, it rose as if to brighten the morning.

The heat was even more intense.

The light orb slowly went up and was placed on the severed neck.

The flames flickered cheerfully, as if they had found their place.

Fw-thump, was the sound.

The flocks of crows and swans were performing a group dance in the sky.

Were they joyful, or were they struggling?

Either way, it was intense.

“…It’s hot.”

“Terribly so.”

The air was filled with heat.

The nearby trees and grass shriveled, and so did our mouths.

A brilliant light followed.

It was so bright it was hard to look at it directly.

The air was full of light.

It held the heat and radiated it out.

We didn't close our eyes even in the midst of it.

[---]

A face seemed to emerge in the light orb.

It resembled a human's, but it was inorganic.

It was as if a mask, like one used in a play, had been placed on the light orb.

But it was better than being headless.

[------]

The Breath of Light lifted its head.

Just as I was about to look at the face that had appeared in the light orb, an insane heat erupted.

Soon, my vision was blurry.

Everything was a heat haze.

The air had become sticky.

“…Eugh!”

“Hmm.”

Amethus and I couldn't endure it anymore and covered our eyes.

If we looked any longer, we could lose our sight completely.

[------!!!]

The brilliance's roar.

It was strange that I could feel it even though there was no sound.

Along with the dazzling light, an immense heat swept over us.

Amethus's skin instantly cracked and bled. If I didn't have the Mana Armor Valziart, I would have been in the same state.

[-, -----!!! -,----!!!]

The roar continued.

The light rippled and radiated heat.

I leaped backward.

Amethus followed.

It was as hard to endure as standing close to the sun.

I hid in the shadow of a collapsed stone pillar and spoke.

I could faintly make out a form in the middle of the brilliance.

“Worthy of being called a god.”

“It’s incredible……”

“To be like that even when it’s bound by chains.”

I couldn’t tell where the awakened Breath of Light was looking.

It had the form of a face, but no eyes, nose, or mouth.

Light flowed from the light orb.

In the middle of the flowing light, the enormous body of the Breath of Light was as artistic as a sculpture.

Its beautiful, muscular body, with not a single bit of extra flesh, twisted and turned.

“What is it trying to do?”

“I don’t know? A stretch would be unusual after sleeping for half a century, wouldn't it?”

I chuckled.

“Besides, Amethus, you’re talking a lot, unlike you.”

“……”

“Are you scared now that you’ve come all this way and are about to open the lid?”

His jade eyes glared at me.

Because my tongue had once again hit the mark.

I didn’t flinch at all and gestured with my hand.

“You have to do your job, Aretion.”

“…Huu.”

Amethus let out a deep sigh.

He looked at the sky.

It was a strange blue because of the brilliance.

The heat kept his mouth dry.

There was no saliva to swallow, no more excuses to give.

“…Alright. Show me that so-called truth. Where is it?”

“Here, there it is, the truth is over there.”

My finger pointed at the Breath of Light.

The heat was the same, but the brilliance had subsided a little.

It was now possible to distinguish the mask-like face of the Breath of Light and the shape of the iron chains binding its limbs.

“Look at the chest of the Ancient God who just woke up after sleeping for half a century. What do you think that is?”

He thought it was a stain.

He wasn't completely opposed to leaving it at that.

But the damn brilliance subsided even more, and Amethus couldn't help but look closer.

His jade eyes saw exactly what was on the chest of the Breath of Light.

“…It looks like a brand.”

He opened his mouth with difficulty.

He couldn't bring himself to look any longer.

I smiled wryly.

“It looks like a brand put on a slave, doesn’t it? So, who put that brand on?”

I pushed Amethus’s back.

It was as annoying as it was unhesitating.

“It wasn't me.”

“……”

Amethus squeezed his eyes shut.

He had already noticed it before the brand.

The chains binding the arms and legs of the Breath of Light—they were the work of the Imperial Academy of Magic.

If so, it was obvious.

Who put the brand on him?

Who was the one who tried to turn the Breath of Light into a weapon?

He had to see it.

He couldn’t run away.

Because he was an Aretion.

On the chest of the Breath of Light, the brand that was etched.

What did the mark of human barbarity look like?

A lion, an eagle, and a dragon stood side by side.

Above them was a magnificent human imperial crown.

That emblem was that of the millennium empire.

“…Cordis.”

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