Beolgrin Grykencos remembers. The impression of that day, 723 years ago, when he first read the celestial signs in his childhood.
When he stepped out, beyond the strange skies of Kalion, made of omens, for the first time outside the influence of Milestone.
“Ha.”
He laughed. At a truth no one in this world had taught him.
The Astronomy Faction taught that the flow of celestial signs was merely the whims of the sky. From the moment you left the waters of Kalion, the fates of all mortals hinged upon those whims.
However, Beolgrin possessed an insight that the professors of the ‘traditional Astronomy Faction’ lacked. He was among those with the best ‘vision’ in the history of the Astronomy Faction.
Thus, when he first read the will of the sky.
“It is not mere whim, but malice.”
He realized that this world was filled with malice.
“The tumults of the myriad heroes, the rise and fall of great nations, and the fortunes of families are all nothing but playful tricks laced with malice.”
A colossal will was casting threads in the shape of hands throughout the world. Some would succeed while others would fall, some would perish while others would rise — all of those flows were read clearly.
It was a sight that would have driven an ordinary human to madness. A view where the very world, regardless of human will, was toying with all existence at will.
However, Beolgrin, instead of kneeling before madness, fear, and awe, raised his head and grasped his mana.
For about 600 years thereafter, he secluded himself in the heart of the faction and began his research. No one knew what he was studying or what he was preparing.
When the ‘madman’ Beolgrin finally stepped out of the faction’s doors again, the elven nobility paid tribute to the birth of their race’s greatest mage.
“Three things are needed. A vessel, a hammer, and determination.”
“Brother, you always make your words unnecessarily complicated.”
“Determination is for you and me to shoulder. I have already solidified my resolve, but what about you? Can you betray your god?”
“A certain priest once told me this.”
“If the omniscient lord of all beings exists, none of our actions can be evil.”
“Even our wicked acts are under the great plan ordained by him, so how could betrayal be possible? It is merely my use.”
The priest who relayed this to her was subjected to the official excommunication sanctions of the Papal Enclave. It was among the few grand excommunication ceremonies in church history.
“Is it obedient, or insidious?”
“It’s faith, brother.”
Even when speaking of betrayal, the daughter most cherished by the human god did not lose her divine power. Through this, Beolgrin was able to discern the principles of the divine.
God does not judge humans. They are merely seen as toys, or as trading partners.
He shares divine powers with all who harbor faith, showing no concern for whether such actions deviate from doctrines or contravene ethics.
A vessel can be prepared. In this era, there existed no vessel superior to Milestone.
Now, what remains is the hammer, one intended to break the vessel holding the god. This is the most challenging part.
Beolgrin considered the warrior named Ku Geor when he joined the United Kingdom. Though the journey to slay the Demon King was not something novel—
One man was different.
Beolgrin has a daughter. Elpheira Grykencos. She was the most outstanding mage among all the elves he met.
Hence, he taught her no astronomy.
Instead, he taught her the interpretation of magic. He laid the foundations of mana. Unlike him, who had begun from scratch, Elpheira was able to complete the fundamental groundwork before even reaching twenty years of age.
Elder elves tend to develop certain tendencies. One could call them habits. One might say it’s a stiffened mindset, hardened like a gnarled old tree.
Yet, Elpheira lacked such traits. It was thanks to her youth and overwhelming talent that she could take up a post as a full professor in interpretation and structure long before reaching twenty.
Even amidst the distorted mana of Milestone, when all elves lost their magic and fell into confusion, she could steadfastly reach out and optimize the mana circuits.
This was his resolution. He decided to use even his own flesh and blood as the first step in his prepared plan.
At the moment she disappeared in the Demon Realm, Beolgrin was surprisingly flustered.
A week after her disappearance, until she reappeared on the back of a man.
“Thank you for saving my daughter.”
“It was what needed to be done.”
“No, I mean it.”
Beolgrin quietly bowed his head towards the man, who had collapsed in the infirmary. The man had tried to rise with a startled face but screamed and fell back down.
He was barely recovering, soaked in the horrific healing potions of humans. Beolgrin smiled softly and said.
“If it’s something you needed to do, wasn’t it to serve your lord? Strictly speaking, this was outside your jurisdiction.”
“The Great King has sufficiently praised me for this matter, so you need not worry.”
“Haha, no. If I were to say that I’m looking forward to your assistance in the future, I must do so by coming here in person.”
In the midst of the Demon Realm, where it was uncertain when the Seven Dragon Lords might appear.
Alone, he went to a region where all humans had given up and abandoned hope to rescue his daughter.
A mere guard of the human king. Not out of a longing for elves, but simply saying it was what needed to be done.
Thus, he desired. That steadfastness. Survival instinct. Talent. Despite his young age, the fact that he had directly learned from Edel Cohenulf.
“You shall act with our party from today onwards.”
“…What?”
“Speak comfortably. There’s no need for comrades to address me with honorifics. Regardless of age, we will work together for the same goal.”
“No, wait. Hold on. Lord Grykencos…? Where on earth are you saying I’m going?”
“To embark on a grand journey to slay the Demon King! Additionally, to honorably strive for the freedom and peace of this world.”
“The Great King, what about the Great King…?”
To the shocked man, Beolgrin reached out and laughed.
“Could one raise a lion in a zoo? That’s what he said. A magnificent person indeed. So, I look forward to your assistance from now on.”
With a firm grip on the hesitant man’s hand and shaking it, he gently spoke.
“Ku Geor. Let us go to kill the winter of this world.”
“Petrovich is dead? Is that true?”
“Yes… uh, yes. Brother… huff… cough.”
“Hah.”
This was unexpected. He passed away in merely four years? And only due to the civil war in the human kingdom?
Beolgrin returned to the faction, comforting the weeping saintess. He had prepared all elements, yet the hammer shattered. Before he could even swing it.
But instead of despair, he took up his pen once more. If the plan had fallen through, he could merely prepare another.
He had managed to recruit a member of the human royal family who had been making waves with his absurd ambitions. Watching them intervene suitably in the world, he attempted to prepare another hammer.
Maximilian won’t do. It’s already broken. One of Jill Ber or Einar might meet the minimum conditions.
Thus, he decided to assist in the royal family’s scheme.
“…It would have been nice if you had at least sent word saying you were alive. Was our friendship not enough for that?”
When he met him again in the skies above Frechenkaya, Beolgrin could sincerely smile for the first time in a long while.
“Come now. It’s been a while since we last tested our skills.”
The hammer he thought he had lost had returned even more robust. He couldn’t help but smile.
The hammer, the vessel, and the determination had now all gathered in one place.
It had been over 700 years since he first prepared this plan. For most elves, that is roughly the time to start dying. For them, it’s a long time that spans a lifetime.
Half of the nations that came into being when he first drafted this plan have disappeared. The most recent king he remembers is now referred to as the founder of the human kingdom.
Such is the passage of time. A nation appears, and then disappears. In that long, drawn-out time, a dagger had been sharpened solely for a singular moment.
-Crack.
The ice began to form cracks like spider webs.
Through the twisted mana that surrounded the entire sea, a familiar mana made contact with him. Even in this deep abyss where all magic is sealed, even through the seals encasing him.
Trapped in the ice, Beolgrin looked at the submerged city and smiled.
“Do you know the legend that Kalion is made up of 42 islands, Ivan?”
-Crackle.
Cracks spread across the ice. His hands broke free.
“No. It’s mere rumor. Kalion was a continent made up of 13 sacred mountains. Long ago, the artifact imbedded in those sacred 13 mountains became Milestone. Therefore, it’s not that the islands sank—”
Only the 13 highest peaks remain, giving the appearance of islands.
If the reason that those once-great distant ethnic groups had their entire infrastructure submerged deep underwater merely due to ‘whims,’
Then what is left for the mage who realizes that fact to do? He thought.
It is not revenge. It’s not that base of a feeling. Only self-cultivation. Learning and honing skills, ascending the ladder towards the sky, reaching out to those distant celestial hands—
To grasp them.
To ensure that never again would the whims of great beings dictate the resurgence and downfall of numerous lives in this world.
To achieve that, he vowed to ‘produce’ and ‘nurture’ his daughter for that purpose.
To forsake the deaths of countless kin and the chaos throughout the mortal realm.
Even if it means unreservedly stabbing all his close companions and friends, he would only concern himself with the outcome.
And even knowing that he himself would eventually be extinguished at the end of it all, he resolved only to reach out and grasp the sky.
When young Beolgrin looked up at the sky, he did not feel fear, awe, or despair.
He simply did not kneel. For the world was one that required madness merely to look up at the sky.
Now no one, no longer will despair while gazing up at the sky.
The observatory answered the sky (天答).
Ascending towards the heavens with a mortal’s body (天踏).
Beolgrin’s outstretched hand stirred the heavens (天遝).
Ep 29. Heaven’s Answer (天遝)
Outside the Eternal Palace, Elpheira sat on the ground and gazed up at the shimmering sky.
There was no time. Even at this moment, she could not know what kind of plight Ivan was enduring.
What could she possibly do against such an overwhelming existence?
Yet in such a situation, Elpheira’s eyes did not leave the sky.
The ominous omens filled the heavens, and the clouds parted.
A red aurora rippled through the celestial realm, cracking the sky.
Countless cracks spread like spider webs, and the ice shattered like glass.
“Father…?”
In between, a good omen shone.
The bad omens and good omens mixed, scattered, collided, and rejoined.
From within, a morning star shone.
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