“…so the rewards were totally lame! Ugh… I suddenly died while dealing with a fake opponent!”
“Well, it was running wild after all.”
“Um… Plus, we were busy handling the situation… and all our main forces had pulled out at the worst possible time.”
Sobs.
After the raid against the Disaster of Gongam, the Alliance turned into a festive mood.
And why not? This disaster was one of the new world bosses that emerged after the major update, the Great Cataclysm, and it took nearly five months to take down all three of them.
There was some delay due to issues with the Empire, but still, it was quite a long raid in the history of Deoen.
The system message came with the hunt rewards, along with a brief formal statement and title, and soon a ‘special reward’ was said to be on its way.
I have no idea when it’ll come, but it’ll probably be given to all the users.
“The Empire is halfway collapsed, too.”
“I can’t see Duke Huangyeol anywhere.”
And here I am, meeting Leo and Arne at the heart of the Empire.
Leo, along with the Spirit Lord and the Eight Swords, had all died because of Duke Huangyeol’s schemes.
Leo is a user, so that’s understandable, but the Spirit Lord and the Eight Swords all faced death as well; yet, for some reason, they were all resurrected.
Since I had defeated the Demon of Preservation, I thought the absorbed lives had returned due to some system mechanics, but it turned out that wasn’t the case.
Surprisingly enough, it was Duke Huangyeol who brought them back.
‘I have no idea why he tried to kill them and then revived them instead.’
Anyway, I guess it’s fortunate they’re back.
However, the land’s water spirit king and Naphras, among others, had been heavily exposed to magic and were resting at Arne’s dwelling.
The reason why they faced the Demon of Preservation was due to a summoning by Duke Huangyeol.
You might wonder why they listened to him since they had already gained independence from the Empire, but that group was the one holding back the ‘Demon Race.’
Since they were deeply involved with that group, no matter how suspicious it seemed, they had no choice but to follow in order to stop the demons.
As they headed somewhere, suddenly a crack in space opened, and they were transported to the Space of the Mirror…
“Ugh…! We were totally winning!”
“It’s quite unpleasant, isn’t it? Facing the Spirit of Darkness.”
Of course, Leo and the Spirit Lord were strong.
Some of the Eight Swords took a hit, but these two were strong enough not to lose to fakes.
Especially, Leo and Arne nearly toyed with the fake.
It rushed back again.
Thud.
The Audience Room of the Empire, filled with gold.
Arne, occupying the place left vacant by the master, set down her teacup and sighed.
“If it weren’t for the Demon intervening in the middle, I would have tried to neutralize Naphras and the fake… Robelian. I never expected he could play such tricks.”
“Have you heard any news from there?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Duke Huangyeol had vanished.
According to Lasty’s words, he surely wasn’t dead, but for some reason, he had disappeared without a trace, not showing up either underground or above ground.
Thanks to that, the users, who were already having a rough time cohabiting with the Empire due to the raid issue, took the opportunity to run wild, but the Spirit Lord’s intervention left it all in disarray.
The Spirit Lord was once a Grand Duke known as a core figure beyond the Empire.
The users, brimming with confidence after hunting down even the demons, foolishly rushed at the Spirit Lord.
“Still far from the users’ level.”
Seeing a group flying outside the Empire with just a wave of his hand, they shut their mouths.
Even though he looked gentle and fragile, he was once called one of the Three Lords along with Duke Huangyeol and Magic Lord.
Considering that Duke Huangyeol was of the Celestial Race and Magic Lord contained lower-level magic, the Spirit Lord stood equal to them without holiness or magic.
Even considering the contract with the Spirit King, she was quite strong.
“Robelian… his true intentions are so hard to grasp. It’s always been that way.”
“Do you have any idea where he went?”
“No. He’s always been like this. Keeping all his plans in his head while directing the swords. Those plans always seemed to crumble initially, but in the end, they worked out bizarrely every time.”
Not that it seems to be the case lately.
Arne laughed with a strange expression.
It was a laugh that didn’t show joy or mockery, but rather genuine confusion.
A subtle emotion seemed to captivate her.
“…To be honest, I suspected Robelian from the beginning of Karia’s incident. Even when I learned Karia was experimenting on spirits, and when I realized that spirit was mine. I had that much trust.”
“…”
“Of course, it wasn’t because I trusted him as a human… but because of his ability as a ‘leader.’ And I believed in how he mediated between Karia and me without personal bias.”
Duke Huangyeol was the actual leader of the Empire.
As long as the Emperor was suffering, Robelian was the master of the Empire, and he needed to coordinate the two powerful Grand Dukes.
There are eight Archdukes in the Empire, each explosive like a bomb, and especially the Three Lords have reached the peak of their power.
“But regarding Karia’s situation… and how they forced in the Swords this time. Honestly… I don’t know. What benefit does this bring to our relationship with the Empire?”
“You said you’re close to the Magic Lord?”
“Ah, yes. Before the Empire was the Empire, we both attended the same Royal Academy.”
At the end of the Siege War, I visited Arne’s castle to talk, and at that time, I could hear a bit about the relationship with the Magic Lord.
However, at that time, Duke Huangyeol was still alive, and Arne was too busy dealing with the aftermath, only able to bitterly mumble, “It’s like being with a villain…”
What I learned there was that besides Karia, Duke Huangyeol and ‘Robelian’ were also in a friendship-like relationship.
They studied at the same ‘Academy’ 300 years ago.
“Actually, it might be Arne who’s able to gather more information.”
Duke Huangyeol is a guy with a dark heart, like a snake.
It would be better to ask Arne, who has watched him for centuries.
She seems a bit hesitant, then lets out a long sigh as if resigned.
“Karia was the child of a powerful noble family. In contrast, I’m the daughter of a family that studies Spirit Arts… I can’t say my status is too low, but compared to Karia, it’s obvious that it’s not at the same level.”
After all, the name itself is ‘Royal’ Academy.
An awkward noble wouldn’t even get accepted from the admission paperwork.
Of course, Arne was close to that standard herself, but due to the uniqueness of ‘Spirit Arts’, she was accepted.
So on their first day of enrollment, they felt a strange atmosphere as soon as they saw each other.
“What atmosphere?”
“…Somehow, that girl feels like a genius? I sensed that. It’s strange to say it myself, but even searching the whole continent would not yield a Spirit Master as good as her.”
A Spirit Master who made a contract with the ‘Spirit King.’
Although she couldn’t make the contract at that time, she was known as a ‘genius Spirit Master’ because of her exceptional spirit affinity.
However, Karia had magical skills that could easily make such a genius look laughable.
Though their statuses and families were different, the two genius girls felt like they were of the same kind.
“Oh wow… the Master’s past…”
Leo, who had developed quite an interesting expression, started munching on popcorn.
‘He sure eats a lot.’
“That girl was always the top student in the whole school. I was the second. Although the fields we ventured into were strangely different, we always fiercely competed in our grades.”
“They fiercely competed.”
“A genius recognizes another genius.”
“They began to get to know each other, and as time went on, their friendship deepened.”
“During that time, high-born young people picked fights with Arne, who dared to achieve second place despite his low status, but Karia chased them all away.”
“Thus, they became inseparable friends.”
“One day, they skipped class to climb that high mountain or trick the professor with illusion magic. They secretly explored the underground dungeon beneath the school…”
“As Arne reminisced, a smile was soon full on his face.”
“Unlike the present where they fought like they wanted to kill each other, it seemed they truly enjoyed those times.”
“And hearing all this, I couldn’t help but wonder.”
“…Even though they were so close, they ‘betrayed’ each other.”
“The reason behind the split between Arne and Karia is quite complex, something I don’t fully know, but the biggest factor is the ‘Spirit Experiment.'”
“It was when Arne found out that Karia was experimenting with spirits using magic.”
“To make things even worse, that spirit she experimented on was one of the ‘contracted spirits’ Arne had.”
“…And yet, look how things turned out. Why did it end up like this?”
“……”
“…Ahem. Anyway, after spending time together, the next school year came, and new students arrived. Especially in the second year, there were many transfer students.”
“One of them was Robelian?”
“That’s right.”
“In the far future, the one who would become Duke Huangyeol, Robelian, entered the Academy with the appearance of a neat noble boy.”
“And that boy…”
“He was a genius. Superior to both of us.”
“Geniuses are lonely.”
“Criminals cannot understand them, and only another genius can.”
“That’s why Arne and Karia became friends, crossing the gap of their social status.”
“Then, what happens when they meet a genius, one even more outstanding than themselves?”
“…Perhaps it was something that was destined to happen.”
“As the first semester began, the two genius girls faced him.”
“They felt a certain energy, just like at their enrollment, as they faced each other and understood.”
“And so, the three of them became friends.”
“Very naturally.”
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