“Um…?”
Shiver…
The cold was slowly dissipating.
It was as if winter was leaving and spring was coming.
The chill that threatened to freeze all of Elvenguard was gradually withdrawing.
“Yay! It’s over! The calamity is over!”
Cheers erupted from all over.
Stunned, the elves, who had been fleeing, stood frozen, revealing their feelings of joy as they watched the ice melting away.
They were alive.
All the disasters that had swept through in the last few days had passed by.
The elves embraced each other in celebration of this fact.
“But… no…”
However, there were those who couldn’t be happy.
The Frost Duchess, Yerina, stared blankly at the collapsed dungeon entrance, gently caressing the rubble.
The stones she touched were growing warmer.
Her grudge against Yoo Jin had disappeared, along with the curse.
In other words, it meant that Yoo Jin was gone.
“Yoo Jin! Yoo Jin! Aaaahhh…!”
Yerina’s body moved on its own.
Without distinguishing between fire and water, Yerina began to frantically dig through the rubble.
No matter how many stones were piled in front of her, it didn’t matter.
She didn’t care if her nails were torn or her fingers sliced open.
The only thought dominating Yerina’s mind was that she had to reach where Yoo Jin was.
“Frost Duchess! Calm down! Frost Duchess—”
“Enough! No one can stop her right now. We just have to wait until she collapses.”
“…”
Jill and Yulia, who had caught up late, were blocked by Transylvania’s restraint and stood watching Yerina.
On all fours, breaking and removing the stones, Yerina was like a beast in despair.
Like a rabid dog that had completely lost its sanity.
“With the one who was suppressing her frenzy gone… there’s nothing we can do…”
Crunch.
Jill ground her teeth, making a distinct sound.
She wanted to jump in right away.
But Jill was still too sane for that.
She didn’t have the strength to clear those heavy stones like Yerina.
“I’ll… get heavy equipment… right away…”
“Yes. I’ll help too.”
What they could do immediately was gather all the heavy machinery nearby to excavate the dungeon.
Yulia and Jill, with tears in their eyes, turned around and immediately began the search.
In their hearts, they wanted to go mad.
Like the Frost Duchess, they wished to lose all rational thought and feel pain physically instead.
But they couldn’t do that.
Someone had to remain rational.
Someone had to keep their wits about them.
With bodies that felt like they could collapse at any moment, Yulia and Jill desperately moved forward.
To rescue Yoo Jin, who might still be alive down there…
*
Elvenguard had perished.
That day, the chill that had engulfed Elvenguard disappeared completely.
However, the land that had been swept away by the cold was beyond recovery, with all life extinguished.
And it was the same for the World Tree.
Over half of the trunk had been eroded by the cold, and the World Tree suffered for about a month before it ultimately died.
The elven nation centered around the World Tree.
It was the moment Elvenguard met its demise.
But that wasn’t the ‘end’ of Elvenguard.
The death of the World Tree was mournful, but the elves’ reaction was not overly desperate, as if they had already accepted it.
One hundred thousand elven residents began marching along a long road.
They reached the uncharted lands of Gallia that they had purchased in advance.
The land was barren, the climate harsh, and the terrain bumpy, but the elves immediately began to cultivate it without any complaints.
There was no time to dwell in sorrow.
For the next generation.
For the elves.
And for the sake of Elvenguard.
All the elves poured their energy into reconstruction.
Thanks to their significantly higher physical abilities compared to humans, the new Elvenguard began to take shape quickly.
Although they may have longed for past glory.
Elvenguard was now trying to rise from a secluded village to an international city.
“What are you doing just standing there? Get the equipment running quickly!”
“Frost Duchess, shouldn’t the equipment rest a bit? If we keep working it while it’s overheated, it might break down.”
“I’ll compensate for any damage, so work quickly! I’ll pay double wages!”
“Sigh… Alright…”
Meanwhile, at the old Elvenguard.
Behind the dead World Tree, they were in the midst of excavation.
For over a month, the excavation site had been in operation 24 hours a day, with dozens of heavy machinery lined up.
Workers hired by the Frost Duchess, the Witch, and the Priestess were rotating shifts to relentlessly excavate the collapsed dungeon.
Their work speed was more than five times the normal rate.
Yet, even so, their progress did not satisfy them at all.
“How’s your body?”
“I think all the broken bones are almost mended.”
“Rest a bit… If you’re mentally and physically exhausted, it would be too hard…”
Yerina had been pulled out after sustaining severe injuries from digging through the dungeon alone all day.
After fainting from exhaustion and waking up, Yerina regained her sanity.
Only after seeing the gathered heavy machinery did she decide to stop digging with her hands.
“It’s better to put my body through pain… If I lose my mind while exhausting my body, it’ll alleviate the torment of my heart at least. So I’d rather go mad… I want to rampage without thoughts…”
“Y-Yoo Jin wouldn’t want that either…”
“It’s already rained three times…! What if there’s water down there? I’m sure Yoo Jin is alive! He must be cold… Waaaaah…”
Holding the weeping, bandaged, and casted Yerina, Yulia let out a deep, worried sigh.
Once, they had fought and kept each other in check.
But now, they were sharing the same pain and concern, having become three of a kind in the world.
Who was first didn’t matter anymore.
It was okay to share.
It was okay not to be alone.
Now, they only desperately wished for Yoo Jin to return alive.
“We’re almost at the lowest level…”
The excavation continued day and night.
After endlessly digging into the dungeon like an ant hill, the basement was about to be revealed.
Even at that moment, no sound or sign of life could be felt from inside, yet none of the three women had given up hope.
If it were Yoo Jin, he would surely be alive.
They firmly believed that, without any doubt.
The only worry left was about how hungry he must be by now.
“Ah? It seems there’s another dungeon beneath the floor.”
“Let’s go a little further in.”
Now, it was time to meet Yoo Jin.
If it were Yoo Jin, he would surely have made provisions for such a situation.
He must be waiting nonchalantly inside, surrounded by sturdy defenses, munching on snacks and saying, “Oh, you’re here?”
Just imagining it made them want to laugh.
Filled with anticipation about meeting Yoo Jin.
The hidden dungeon beneath the dungeon, the double dungeon was revealed.
Finally, the altar buried under the rubble was coming into view.
“Um…?”
And on it…
There was nothing.
Nothing at all.
The expressions of the three women froze.
“What is this?”
Yerina tore off her cast and rushed over, starting to clear away the remaining stones and search the surroundings.
Even knowing that Yoo Jin was unlikely to be beneath the stones, she couldn’t stop herself from meticulously digging up every small rock.
“Why, why… Yoo, Yoo Jin… where did you go…?”
Thud.
With her legs losing strength, Yulia collapsed onto the filthy floor.
They had completely dug through the dungeon.
Yoo Jin had entered this place, and yet he had not come out.
It should have been normal for him to still be here.
There were no traces of Yoo Jin anywhere.
Not even the remains of Yoo Jin could be found.
Instead, the only sight discovered was a withered, grotesque corpse.
It did not belong to Yoo Jin, neither in appearance nor height, nor hair color.
“A, ahhh…”
Jill, having checked around, lay face down on the altar with her eyes wide open.
There were no holes in the external wall of the dungeon.
It meant there were no ways for Yoo Jin to escape to the outside.
Then how had he disappeared like this?
Jill found the answer at this altar.
“Did he… did he think he would die from the start?”
Yoo Jin must not have intended to survive.
The price to summon the spirit Luna was none other than Yoo Jin’s own life.
Yoo Jin had used this altar to summon Luna, sacrificing himself to ‘someone’.
There was no other way to explain the situation.
“Hahaha. You’re joking, right, Priestess? There’s no way Yoo Jin would do that. That coward wouldn’t make such a decision.”
“If it were Yoo Jin… it wouldn’t be strange for him to sneak up and surprise us right now…”
Turning around with a hollow laugh, there was nothing there.
Only the endlessly high dungeon hallway remained.
“Ah…”
The pupils of the three women trembled.
The temporary daze from the shock ended swiftly.
Now it was time to accept reality.
The fact that Yoo Jin was dead.
No, the fact that Yoo Jin had ‘vanished’ settled heavily in their hearts.
An unbearable weight crushed down, causing their hearts to collapse.
“Aaaaaahhhhh…”
The screams they had held back burst forth.
Wails and cries spilled out.
The three women, whose tears had even dried up, clutched their chests and cried and cried for a long time.
*
The former capital of the Holy Kingdom, Cologne.
Two letters arrived simultaneously at the Briam mansion.
One was from the Priestess Mia of Elvenguard, and the other was from Priestess Jill Diner.
“Eh…?”
It was a letter from two people who seemed to have no connection at all.
But the content was the same.
As Cornelia Briam read through the message, her eyes began to tremble.
Hurriedly packing her things, she departed and after two days, arrived at the dead land where the World Tree had died, the site of the old Elvenguard.
And there, Cornelia came face to face with completely unexpected people.
“I’m sorry. It was too sudden.”
“What… What is going on…?”
Women dressed in black.
The Frost Duchess, the Witch, the Priestess, and the Divine Priestess.
In addition, there were Rabbit Demihumans, Fox Demihumans, a young girl in a kimono, a Dwarf girl, a silver-haired elder, a Holy Knight and his younger brother, and elves.
It was a rare sight with people of various races gathered together.
While Cornelia was still puzzled, unable to grasp the situation, she discovered an excavated area large enough for a coffin and a beautiful black coffin.
Focusing her eyes on the gravestone already stuck in the ground, as she began to read the words, Cornelia’s lips trembled.
“Yoo, Yoo Jin…?”
She desperately hoped it was a mistake.
This couldn’t be.
This shouldn’t be.
Stumbling slowly toward the coffin’s front, no one could stop her.
Everyone here had been through at least once.
They just bit their lips, struggling to suppress their own desire to collapse and cry.
“He said he would come back… He promised to share a future with me… This is a lie, right? It has to be!”
“…”
“Look! There’s no body in the coffin! If he’s dead, where’s the body?!”
“…”
“If there’s no body, then he’s not dead yet! What are you all doing?! Why are you holding a funeral for someone who hasn’t died?! How unlucky! Why make my heart drop like this?!”
“…”
Cornelia’s anger, lost, scattered everywhere.
This too was a process everyone had to endure.
In this state, no matter how much they explained, it would not be accepted.
Even if they understood it in their minds, their hearts were already overflowing with emotion, so there was no way to hold anything more.
The only thing that could resolve this was time.
“Yoo Jin… Yoo Jin courageously faced his end. He fought to save Elvenguard and a hundred thousand lives while defeating the immortal adversary… and with honor…”
“What good is honor after you die?!”
“Hey! Enough whining! You think no one is angry and just sitting still?!”
“…”
“I’m angry too, and I feel wronged! Everyone feels the same way! But we’re holding it in!… Don’t blame the people here! No one here deserves to hear that!”
“Then… if that’s the case… whose fault is it…? Who should I blame…?”
Cornelia collapsed over the coffin and wailed.
Emotions spread slowly, eventually turning into a sea of tears.
It was a flow that could not be controlled at all.
There were those who had received grace from Yoo Jin.
There were those who had exchanged emotions with him.
There were many who had been saved by him.
Everyone gathered here knew Yoo Jin’s name.
And very few knew of the foes he had faced.
The fact that Yoo Jin had saved the world by sacrificing his life would not be made known to the world.
Yoo Jin’s journey came to an end.
His name and story would only remain in the hearts of those gathered here.
Yoo Jin would fade away without being etched into history.
But that did not mean that what Yoo Jin had done was meaningless.
“Yoo Jin’s will must continue.”
After a long time embracing each other and healing each other’s wounds.
They came together to pledge.
The fight was not over yet.
Though they had defeated the immediate threat that was endangering the current world.
The great demon that had escaped remained, along with the remnants of the undead legion that had fled from the collapsed dungeon.
And there was even a far more formidable enemy known as ‘that person.’
Yoo Jin was indeed strong.
But his strength itself was not particularly extraordinary.
Yoo Jin’s true ability was his power to gather people.
Though Yoo Jin had disappeared,
The people he had gathered still remained here.
And his will was also being passed on and continued with them.
“We plan to establish an organization to counter the underworld. I don’t know the exact deadline, but according to Yoo Jin, the enemy will surely invade to destroy the current world. We will destroy the underworld first. Though it seems impossible and far off, it is not really so. Yoo Jin left many legacies…”
The hope Yoo Jin had left behind.
Though precarious, it continued onward.
Like a strong spark that would never be extinguished, even if scattered by the wind.
“So let’s put our strength together.”
The Priestess resolved, swallowing her tears.
Even if Yoo Jin would be forgotten.
His will would be made to last forever.
*
After a week-long funeral,
Only a gravestone remained in the abandoned land of Elvenguard.
The gravestone stuck in the ground before the coffin, without a body, stood tall in the vast meadow, asserting its presence.
Time passed.
As the sun set and rose repeatedly, the gravestone alternated between light and dark.
The wind and rain battered it, causing it to soak and dry repeatedly.
The snow buried it completely at times.
Time passed.
Storms passed by and migratory birds came and left repeatedly.
Moss grew on the gravestone, and it was cleaned countless times by someone.
Countless tempests passed, but the gravestone had not budged from its place.
It may have worn down a bit, and its surface may have cracked, but it stood firm.
“…”
How much time had passed?
In front of the gravestone, which stood alone in a desolate land that was once densely forested, stood a man and a girl wrapped in ragged cloth.
“Heh…”
Silently, a man chuckled weakly as he approached the gravestone.
Then, gripping it, he uprooted it from the ground.
After a moment of stroking the gravestone, he brought his hand down sharply on it with a smash.
The gravestone, which had not budged for years, cracked in half at that blow.
Thud!
The split gravestone opened.
From the cut surface emerged a long black sword.
It was a sword without a handle, only a hilt.
As if it were familiar, the man picked it up and sheathed it immediately into a wooden scabbard.
It was a scabbard perfectly fitting for the sword’s size.
“Why did it take so long? Hehe. There’s a lot to tell…”
“…”
“Ah, but I heard there are undead legions causing trouble. Should I go deal with them first?”
“…”
“Ugh. That seems like a hassle. There’s so much to do as soon as I return.”
“…”
Caressing the hilt, the man muttered to the air.
Leaving the cracked gravestone behind.
The man leisurely walked away from the grave with the girl.
