“Did you not hear anything from your brother?”
“Of course not, since you slit his throat before I could even listen…!”
“This is also my fate. Fine. I will reveal the truth of that day.”
Rex, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, collapses in front of Transylvania, his voice filled with resentment.
Transylvania begins her tale with a somewhat sorrowful expression.
For Transylvania, all past events are merely fleeting memories.
All humans are just blood bags.
When she utters Dakia’s name, her eyes brim with tears.
As if recalling a memory.
It was an appearance unbefitting the terrifying blood ghoul known as a murderer.
“The sword of Dakia was beautiful. The sight of that mortal, facing death without a hint of fear and continuing to stride forward, was so radiant. In that moment, I even thought that I wanted to experience the rest of death through the realization of martial arts. But it was your brother who ruined it all.”
“…!”
“Seems the place where that murderer frequents gained quite the reputation. Instead of searching for me, your brother’s extermination squad began targeting the places I visited. Countless villages were turned into rubble, and Dakia was killed in that massacre. Even though he was on the verge of realizing martial arts, he was just an old man and couldn’t handle the vigorous elven warriors. I may have annihilated the extermination squad, but your brother managed to flee back to Elvenguard. How brazen. So I chased him down and killed him. That’s the whole story. I don’t regret my actions in the slightest. I killed a deserving man, and had he returned, I would kill him again. If you still desire revenge, there’s nothing more I can do.”
“…”
With a hollow expression, Rex shakes his head.
He denies it.
He already knew that it wasn’t a lie.
His mind understood, yet his heart could not accept it.
“You villainous blood ghoul! Do you think I’ll be fooled by such lies? What do you intend to gain by spewing nonsense that can be seen through immediately? Priestess, please tell me. This creature is lying, isn’t it? Right?”
“…”
In response to Rex’s outcry, Mia remained silent, her silence speaking volumes.
The events of that day and the truth of the incident were classified.
She couldn’t answer recklessly.
“Is it possible that everything that creature said is the truth?”
“…”
She couldn’t answer.
As a priestess, she couldn’t explain that day.
But she could subtly shake her head or nod to indicate right or wrong.
“Ah…!”
Mia slowly nodded.
Not a single word Transylvania said was wrong.
With that, Rex let out a strangled sound.
He slowly crumpled to the ground.
“My brother… my brother committed such heinous acts…? His death was a deserved outcome for vengeance? Then what was I fighting for…?”
His blade of rage had nowhere to direct itself.
Rex had trained tirelessly to realize justice on behalf of the weak.
But learning that the one he represented was an utterly cruel villain.
Rex lost the direction of his fury.
Merely continuing revenge because of brotherly ties seemed too great a sin for what his brother had done.
Rex was far too conscientious to be consumed by anger.
“Is it the former priestess who prevented personal revenge from escalating into a grand battle? Not a traitor to her race?”
The target of his grudges wasn’t just Transylvania.
He believed firmly that the former priestess, the witch of Petenburg, was also a traitor who collaborated with a murderer.
Upon learning the truth, everything looked different.
She had stepped forward to stop a murderer brandishing the severed head of an elf.
She was a hero who had saved a young Rex from recklessly confronting a murderer with nothing but a twig.
Realizing this, Rex trembled.
“Aaaah!!!”
He was foolish.
His past self seemed so foolish that he couldn’t bear it.
He almost killed an innocent person over a petty misunderstanding.
Filled with regret and sorrow, Rex wept deeply for a long time.
Eventually, he raised his head to look at the human’s face.
He had a duty to fulfill.
“I swear. I will acknowledge my wrongs and admit that the witch is innocent. I vow in front of the World Tree that I will bear no grudge and will never harm the witch.”
“Confirmation received.”
Rex bowed his head, sobbing as he swore.
Before the World Tree, he made an oath that would remain unbroken until the day the forest guardian dies.
Of course, it was a pledge he should have made regardless of any promise.
“Sniffle, sniffle…”
The weeping wouldn’t stop.
He lived trapped in meaningless rage for fifty years.
He had burned through a staggering 800 years of lifespan.
Now only around 100 years remained.
What good is living in this fleeting moment?
Rex felt like he wanted to die right away.
“Priestess… please allow me to die, to take my own life. I have tarnished the honor of Elvenguard. I have stained the name of a high warrior. Please dismiss me and order my self-execution.”
“Lift your head.”
“Yes…”
Rex slowly raised his head.
In excruciating pain all over his body, he looked up at the priestess of the World Tree.
She gazed at Rex with pity, then spoke.
“I command you, high warrior Rex. Recover from your injuries and stand up to take the position of training instructor as soon as possible.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“Though I am not skilled in swordsmanship, I know that you, high warrior Rex, have stepped into the realm of the superhuman in a fleeting moment. Currently, there is no one in Elvenguard who has realized Merida-style martial arts, and the lineage has been severed. If you’ve even caught a glimpse of the martial arts secrets, you should be able to grasp it faster than anyone else. I wish for you to realize the martial arts first and teach it to other warriors to enhance our strength, so focus on recovering your body for now.”
“W-What do you mean? I only have about 100 years left to live.”
“A short-lived species achieves more within a shorter lifespan. And the crucial final battle is likely to occur within the next five years. We need you. It is unacceptable to dismiss one who is intimately close to martial arts for such a trivial sin.”
The spider monster that appeared at the roots of the World Tree.
And the gigantic perfect barrier that appeared in Basel.
Moreover, the ominous prophecies that continued to appear…
All these pointed to one thing.
The world was on the brink of chaos.
Yoo Jin must surely be struggling to prevent that future.
To help him, Elvenguard must not be a burden trampled by the enemy’s forces.
To do that, the Elvenguard army, which had been lazy until now, had to be reinforced.
Both in quantity and quality.
“I will carry out your command, priestess. My thoughts were shortsighted. I will fight with all my might for Elvenguard during the remaining of my lifespan.”
Bowing his head, Rex swore.
In front of the World Tree, he made an unbreakable vow to serve until the day the forest guardian dies.
Mia smiled secretly at Yoo Jin in front of Rex.
In response, Yoo Jin let out a weary laugh.
‘It’s not really five years, but rather within two years… I was quite close.’
It was becoming clear.
That the enemy’s invasion would begin.
That he was tirelessly working to prevent that invasion.
And that the final battle to stop it was approaching in the near future.
Mia knew all this and was moving.
On a small scale, to help Yoo Jin.
On a larger scale, for the victory of humanity.
This was a first for her.
The existence of the other world had only recently been revealed.
The final boss had yet to show its shadow.
Mia was trying to foresee the future battle and lend her strength to Yoo Jin.
As the representative priestess of Elvenguard.
It was equivalent to declaring she would help with all her might.
“Can we talk for a moment, just the two of us, priestess?”
“Come here, Michael Jackson.”
Leaving their entourage for a moment.
Mia and Yoo Jin walked up the stairs towards a small room.
A space where no one could enter or eavesdrop.
The Eye of the World Tree.
The only human allowed entry, Yoo Jin carefully stepped forward and felt the warm embrace of the World Tree.
“I was surprised. I knew you could wield a sword well, but to see that level with my own eyes was a rare treat.”
“I almost fell short. I just awakened a moment ago.”
“Oh, that explains it… Watching it made me tremble. I was worried you’d suffer a severe injury if you lost…”
Sitting Yoo Jin down.
Mia gently touched the scars on his body, alternating between applying herbs and potions, expressing her concern.
Just a moment ago, she was the judge of the duel.
But internally, she revealed her support for one side.
“Were the rumors that Yulia is a wicked woman who conspired with the murderer widely spread in Elvenguard?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“…”
At Mia’s response, Yoo Jin felt his breath hitch.
He had known for a long time that Yulia was not welcomed in Elvenguard.
She had significantly increased the authority of the priestess who was once a puppet to the World Tree and had called for the reform of old doctrines.
Unsurprisingly, she had become a thorn in the side of the elder council that monopolized power.
He suspected there had been countless fabrications and smear campaigns to expel Yulia.
However, it was the first time he learned the concrete details that she was treated as a wicked woman who conspired with a murderer to kill elves.
No matter how close he grew to Yulia, she never fully confided this to him.
‘What a pity.’
Ironically, after many elders were retired and replaced with relatively young high elves.
The reforms Yulia advocated were carried out.
The reforms corrected the irrational beliefs of the elves that bordered on madness.
If it hadn’t been for the reforms, during the Great Fire of Elvenguard, the elves would have been unable to escape, clinging to old doctrines and choosing to perish alongside the World Tree.
“Do you sympathize with her?”
“It seems so.”
Yoo Jin couldn’t deny Mia’s words.
Having lived for a much longer time than normal, Yulia was a life form that experienced 12 cycles of regression, and he thought he had understood everything about her, only to discover a new side from just 50 years back.
The reason she had become a recluse.
And the reason she couldn’t face people.
What he had taken as mere character traits, he thought about deeply for the first time today.
“So… do you plan to reconcile?”
“Reconcile? No, that won’t happen.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief.”
There won’t be a reconciliation.
Yoo Jin could confidently state that.
The only way to reconcile with Yulia was one.
Both retained the emotions from their previous cycles.
To reconcile, ultimately, they would need to align those emotions once more.
However, for Yoo Jin, it would mean the end.
The moment he allowed affection towards Yulia, his completion rate with the main heroine would hit 100%, and he would become trapped in this game.
If he resigned himself to it and stopped, that wouldn’t be so bad.
However, Yoo Jin couldn’t give up.
He didn’t want to have all his years of hardship and effort dismissed.
Somehow, he had to return home.
He couldn’t stop.
‘Is it right to keep running like this?’
A sudden doubt arose.
Isn’t this also running away from his relationship with Yulia?
Although the system crashing was not Yoo Jin’s fault,
he bore the responsibility for creating this twisted relationship.
Some sort of conclusion was necessary.
To just flee without meeting at the end and suddenly vanish would be to abandon his duty.
‘I must take responsibility.’
He had to settle the many irresponsible actions he had committed, relying solely on his regression ability.
That was the way of being human.
It was the logic of ordinary people who cannot regress.
He had realized this only after living for a long time, forgetting it, and losing his ability.
“You seem relieved.”
“I organized my thoughts a bit. The heaviness has lifted. Thank you.”
“What have I done… You should leave soon. Yulia, upon hearing the news of the duel, will be coming for you.”
“You know quite well.”
“Of course I do.”
Exiting the Eye of the World Tree with a refreshed face, Yoo Jin.
Mia stayed close, gazing up at him endlessly.
Previously, he seemed like a merciless person, akin to a monk cutting ties with the past and embarking on a long journey.
Now, he appeared to be a boy struggling to rebuild those severed ties.
This was more human and lifelike.
Yet paradoxically, the current Yoo Jin emanated a sense of alienation that seemed different from the long-lived beings.
The feeling of something fundamentally different.
If that negative trait turns negative, the alienation becomes fear.
In Mia’s heart, the alienation transformed into admiration born from nobility.
