Chapter: 503
ROAR!
As the dragon’s wrath shot out, the black dragon that was rampaging in the sky retreated far back.
OUCH!
The damage was undeniably real.
No matter how tough a dragon’s scales might be, this was the dragon’s breath that erases everything in front of the world. How could the black dragon remain unscathed in the face of other dragon kinds’ offenses?
WOOOSH!
However, the evident damage on the dragon soon vanished.
The Power of Void. The power of the Evil God located within the barrier healed the wounds. Seeing this, Karia couldn’t help but frown.
“Frustrating. This scroll is expensive and hard to obtain.”
“Did you really think a trivial trick could make the messenger sent by the God fall!?”
Despite the Apostle of the Void laughing at Karia’s annoyance, she calmly replied.
“Of course not. If this was going to solve anything, I wouldn’t even need to be here!”
“Acting calm like that is pointless! In the end, everything will bow to the Void!”
“Shut up, you idiot. I know what you’re thinking without you shouting, so could you please just be quiet?”
Karia retorted lightly against the maniacal voice and pulled out another scroll.
If physically killing them is impossible, I might as well buy some time. Given the opponent, I won’t last long anyway, but it’ll be enough to confuse those bastards.
RIP!
The moment Karia tore the scroll, countless chains sprang from the void, binding the dragon’s limbs.
Chains made from the mixture of the dragon’s blood and bones ensnared its limbs like a curse.
CLANG!
The scroll seems a bit old; its effectiveness is pretty questionable. It won’t hold for long.
Well, that doesn’t matter. I still have plenty of scrolls left.
“Stop her!”
As Karia pulled out another scroll, the Followers of the Void changed into different forms and charged at her, but Yuden blocked their path.
SWISH!
The Sword Saint’s sword sliced through the followers’ legs, forcing them to halt.
“Do you really think that could stop us!?”
Seeing her own attack become meaningless, Yuden raised an eyebrow.
HMMM…
It’s gotten slower.
It’s definitely slower than before.
The power that fellow possesses has weakened.
Well, after all, that guy is just a proxy of the Evil God.
Without the Evil God’s support, he can’t do anything.
But the owner of that trash is currently busy doing countless things inside.
She has to support the fighters near the crack in the barrier.
Invest power into controlling the dragon.
She’s probably sending energy to all the commotion happening all over the academy.
Moreover, the energy heading down underground is immense.
CRACK!
There’s a fracture forming.
The vast power that was erupting from the magic circle is beginning to fracture.
What’s now needed is just a tiny variable.
If just a little more instability occurs, everything will collapse!
THUD!
“What are you doing, sitting there?”
Arthur glanced at his mother, who smiled while raising her teacup, and he tightened his eyes slightly.
The child who claimed to be a shard of the progenitor referred to this place as a trial.
Then what is before me meant to test?
As Arthur harbored doubts, something caught his eye below.
The face of a woman, dead in pain.
Overcome with everything inside her, she had died in such a horrific manner that he couldn’t even say it kindly.
It was his mother when she died. She was there.
“Arthur?”
At the sound of his mother calling his name again, Arthur lifted his head and saw another mother standing behind the one holding the teacup.
It was his mother, shot through the neck with an arrow and reduced to a trophy.
His mother never died like that. No, she had never been anywhere near dangerous weapons like a bow.
Where she had roamed was only a very limited area.
Then what is this?
After a moment of thought, Arthur soon realized what that corpse was.
That was his nightmare.
To be precise, one of his nightmares.
Not long after his mother’s death, when Arthur was blaming himself and couldn’t sleep properly for a single hour, it was the image of his mother dying in every possible way in his dreams.
As soon as Arthur became aware of it, something landed on his shoulder.
GASP!
Turning cautiously, he saw the hand of a desiccated woman, causing him to step back in horror.
In consequence, Mira, who had lost her support, collapsed onto the floor. Unable to withstand the shock, blood began to seep from the broken Mira toward his nostrils.
Following the smell, Arthur turned his head and discovered a corpse impaled in a tree, bleeding profusely.
“Can you not hear me?”
Amid the succession of death, Arthur understood why the child claiming to be a shard of the progenitor told him to endure.
Every time he saw a corpse, the feelings he felt in his nightmares as a young child seeped back in.
FEAR.
GUILT.
GRIEF.
VOID.
RESIGNATION.
RESENTMENT.
LONGING.
Again and again.
Again and again.
Again and again.
They dug into his mind.
As the strength in his legs gave out, Arthur fell down as the corpses lined up on the floor reached for his arms.
WHISPERING…
A voice echoed.
A voice full of resentment.
A hatred towards him, that his very existence was a sin, prevented Arthur from voicing a rebuttal.
The proud Arthur that stood before his friends was gone. He, who could still speak his mind despite being ridiculed in every manner, was not here.
This Arthur, placed in this place, was merely his younger self—timid and fragile.
A little child who desired to die rather than find a reason to live after losing his mother.
“Can you not hear me?”
He raised his hands to cover his ears, just like when he used to hide under the blanket to ignore the sounds around him.
“Arthur. Our son. Are you okay?”
Yet despite the voice drilling into his ears, Arthur was exasperated, and suddenly noticed something strange and lifted his head.
Among the countless corpses, his mother stood there, completely unharmed.
The one who first spoke to him, watching him with genuine concern even in this nightmare, looked perfectly fine in a world filled with death.
She was the only one with an intact appearance in this world aimed at breaking a person’s spirit.
MUFFLED…
“What’s there to be so afraid of?”
Hearing a voice meant to comfort a child, Arthur gazed at the living face of his mother.
Logically speaking, the existence of this mother is odd.
How is there a support that exists within a trial meant to shatter one’s mind?
No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.
TRAP!
That’s definitely a trap.
“So, why don’t you tell this mother?”
But what does that matter?
Just because it’s a trap, doesn’t mean my mother’s warmth would disappear.
If I hold this person’s hand, maybe all the swirling emotions in my head will dissipate.
Maybe I can escape from all the pain I’ve endured.
How could—
“Are you scared? It’s okay. Arthur, don’t worry. You don’t resent me.”
Arthur, who was about to reach out towards his mother’s gentle voice, suddenly froze.
Stiff as a statue, his mother tilted her head in confusion, but Arthur only pulled back his hand with a wry smile.
“Thank you. This brought back some memories.”
“Arthur? Why are you suddenly saying that?”
“You were just a lucky nobody, like what others said, who became queen by chance.”
A nameless noblewoman who became queen by the king’s whim.
A fool who couldn’t even receive proper education.
That was Arthur’s mother.
Even after entering the royal palace, she was forced to learn various manners late, but that didn’t mean the innocence she had built over decades vanished.
Until her last moment, Arthur’s mother was a simple woman, both in a good and bad way.
“To say that my mother died because of me is merely my thought and assumption.”
Arthur didn’t think his assumption was wrong.
It was clear that someone who had seen him perished must have died for him. Otherwise, there would be no reason for his mother to die.
“It’s not because of your assumptions. As a child, I would feel remiss if I didn’t say something like this, but you had no power to make that assumption.”
But whether his mother could make that assumption was a separate issue.
Arthur believed his mother probably knew nothing at all.
She, who couldn’t comprehend the court’s intrigue, just smiled innocently even after enduring all sorts of hardships.
She must not have even considered someone would try to kill her, let alone that it was related to her child.
“You were also a nightmare I created.”
His mother, the kindest who seemed to cause him the most pain, nodded and took a step back.
Arthur sighed deeply and stood up.
CRASH!
The sounds around him were still horrifying.
The smell was disgusting enough to make him nauseous.
The many emotions swirling inside him remained unchanged.
But now, it had become bearable.
Thanks to recalling a very old memory, he realized everything was fake.
He recognized that all the guilt couldn’t become penance.
I’m sorry? Why? Arthur. Is it because of you that I became this way? What does that even mean?
Is that so? I don’t really know? Even if what you say is true, there’s no need to apologize. I, too, have plenty to apologize to you for! Like eating a few more cookies. Drooling on your book. Spilling ink on it.
You knew all along!? But didn’t care!? Just like you, Arthur! My son! You’re too kind!
Hmm… If you really feel sorry, let’s do this. You’ll be immensely happy! Then I’ll be immensely happy too!
Why should it be that way? A child’s happiness is a parent’s happiness! How could you not know this obvious thing? My little Arthur is still just a child!
Got it? You’ll be happy?! It’s a promise?!
After checking if there was anyone around to nag, Karia crouched down to meet Arthur’s gaze, flashing an adorably naive smile.
And Arthur linked his pinky with his mother’s, promising to be happy.
However, that promise had never been fulfilled even for a single day.
Because the very day he made that promise, his mother had lost her life.
“Lucy Allen had every right to treat me like a fool. To have forgotten such an important promise.”
As Arthur forced a smile, the scenery around him began to collapse, revealing a brightly shining magic circle before him.
A magic circle crafted by the Great Wizard Erginius.
The magic that had been passed down through Soladin’s blood.
Seeing the magic circle, Arthur understood what it was, how to wield it, and why Lucy Allen had brought him here.
As Arthur reached out to the magic circle, it responded in kind.
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