Chapter: 533
The hero party set foot in the Fairy Forest just as the war with the Evil God was intensifying.
In a situation where human strength alone couldn’t maintain the front lines, they sought assistance from other races, and one of the places they visited was the Fairy Forest.
“The Age of Myth was a harsher world than you might think. When people say it was a time when gods and humans coexisted, it means the touch of humanity barely reached the earth, making the world more vibrant than it is now. Yet, even in such a world, the hidden beauty of the fairies was enough to take my breath away,” Erginius recounted.
Even he, who had seen the world become desolate due to war, was mesmerized by the wonder of the fairy homeland, where nature blossomed and green flourished.
“Fairies are born as children and fade away as children. Wary of humans, the fairies rarely visited, yet they greeted us with playful antics.”
Though they called it play, the fairies’ pranks could have easily killed an ordinary human, given their lack of experience with mortals.
Fortunately, since the hero party was there, no one got hurt. But at that time, they didn’t perceive it as kindness.
Instead, they felt rejected by the fairies and believed they had to convince them, enduring all the mischief as they ventured deeper into the forest.
“During that time, as every odd occurrence happening around us suddenly vanished, a woman appeared from the sky.”
She introduced herself as the Fairy Queen and apologized for the fairies’ hijinks while healing the numerous small wounds they had sustained.
The Fairy Queen, who was rightly called the source of all fairies, was an entity so divine that even the great mage Erginius found her abilities awe-inspiring, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off her smile, almost as if he were bewitched.
“Are you saying you fell for that woman who probably smells like a chicken coop? Your taste is something else,” ribbed Lucy.
“Chicken coop smell?! She bore a purer smile than anyone in the world and possessed a heart so compassionate it could be compared to a god’s!” Erginius shouted back.
Although he managed to overlook Lucy’s provocations, he couldn’t tolerate the insult to his first and last love. He fumed for a while, then cleared his throat before continuing.
“That was the problem. Blinded by burning love, I could see nothing but her in the Fairy Forest.”
Erginius was not the kind of person who would lose sight of the distinction between public duty and personal feelings.
He understood his feelings but still managed not to slack off in the fight against the Evil God.
Knowing how heavy the weight of his mission was, he suppressed his personal desires deep within himself.
However, when he was near the Fairy Queen, when he listened to her clear, cheerful voice…
When he saw her smile at his dull stories, Erginius forgot his mission.
“When I finally noticed the Evil God’s presence with my dulled senses, it was already too late. The forest, once the most beautiful place, was now tainted with the Evil God’s energy, and the fairies, having lost their purity, sought to stain others black.”
Of course, Erginius did not wallow in self-pity without taking action. He was a man far removed from resignation.
He aimed to utilize every tool available to avert the worst-case scenario.
Yet…
“The situation was so dire it made my desperation seem like childish whining.”
The divine being Armadi and the Evil God Agra were clashing across the front, while hordes of followers of the Evil God and the Holy God were hunting each other on the disaster-stricken land.
The hero party was scattered, leading the frontlines in various regions.
Erginius had to rely solely on his own abilities to overcome the calamity.
“You likely already know, but I failed. I wasn’t strong enough to repel the darkness that devoured the essence of the earth.”
Even if a genius who could outshine the ages popped up after hundreds of years, he was still human. Winning against an Evil God who had made the forest his territory was impossible.
“When I realized things were irreversible, I also discerned the lesser evil amidst the worst. If this continued, the fairies who had once been our allies would side with the Evil God, and I knew I had to incinerate everything before that happened.”
If the polluted forest could not be restored, it had to be burned. Leaving behind the seeds of strife could lead to unpredicted conclusions, so erasure seemed like the wisest solution.
Erginius understood this. He grasped it more than anyone else.
However…
Despite that…
He chose the worst over the lesser evil.
Instead of excluding the fairies, he decided to seal the Fairy Forest.
“I was neither certain of success nor was there any guarantee that the seal would not be broken by the Evil God, even if it succeeded. Unarguably, it was madness.”
Fortunately, Erginius succeeded in the sealing. Without slaying the fairies, he plunged the forest into eternal slumber, making it impossible for both enemy and ally to enter.
“Underneath the first fairy who fall asleep, I vowed that I would one day restore this forest to its original state. That I would once again awaken her eyes.”
At that moment, Erginius did not think this slumber would last for hundreds of years.
He believed that after the war between the Evil God and the Holy God concluded and everything returned to normal, if the glorious Armadi bestowed miracles upon them, the Evil God would flee as his treachery could not withstand the light.
“…Wait? But didn’t you and your party win the war against the Evil God?” Joy suddenly questioned, immersed in the tale.
Erginius shook his head.
“If our war concluded with victory, dungeons would not exist in this world.”
“Oh, so…”
“We merely passed our burdens onto the next generation, hoping that someone would accomplish what we failed to do.”
As Erginius glanced over at Lucy, she simply scoffed in silence.
Apparently, she’d known all along. It wouldn’t be like Ruel to hide his faults from someone he cared about.
He was a picky bastard towards both others and himself.
“After concluding with a nuanced result, neither victory nor defeat, what I could do back then was merely fortify the seal. Hoping that someday, someone would bestow solace upon them.”
Thus hundreds of years passed, and a child with the miracles of the Holy God appeared before Erginius.
“My request to you is this: Help a sinner of the past, who should be forgotten, to pass on while making amends. If you do so, I will give you all I have accumulated until now and then depart.”
Erginius’s offer was enticing enough that any magician would stake everything on it.
Possessing assets from the highest-rated genius in history whose value only rose over hundreds of years!
If the king of the Mage Empire heard this, he would likely sell his kingdom’s worth to clutch it.
“Is that all you’ve got? You think a loser skeleton who’s been cooped up underground for centuries could tempt anyone? Ha ha ha! What a delusional flowerbeater.”
However, Lucy sneered at Erginius’s proposal.
“I’d roughly gauged the modern magicians’ level while teaching your buddy last time. The knowledge I have would be enough to shine even in today’s era. Just showing a glimpse of it would have them drooling.”
“Are you saying socially awkward losers like you would latch on? Ugh! That idea is disgusting. Just imagining those smelly virgins thinking they’re special makes me sick.”
Erginius, who hadn’t anticipated such a response, blinked in shock. Behind her, his friends were equally horrified.
What could it mean? Why would she claim his magic was worthless?
“Hey, Mr. Virgin Skeleton Mage. Ultimately, what your desire entails is that you can’t do it without me, huh?”
“That’s…”
“Doesn’t matter how much you think you’re something, at the end of the day, you’re a hopeless loser who can’t do a damn thing without a tiny girl like me. That’s you.”
As she looked down on Erginius with scornful eyes, Lucy stood in front of him, arms crossed and chin lifted defiantly.
“It’s been so long since you’ve had a conversation with someone that you’ve forgotten how to ask for a favor. Let me remind you what you should do.”
“…What I should do?”
“Of course! Crawl under my feet and beg for me to grant your wish, you useless loser who couldn’t protect love, purity, or anything else.”
Lucy’s grumbling made it clear that she couldn’t understand why a self-proclaimed genius who had never succeeded craved her presence.
Erginius’s eyes widened in surprise.
Then he frowned a bit.
Finally, he let out a dejected smile before bowing his head deeply.
“I sincerely ask for your help. Please assist me in disappearing without regrets.”
“Finally got the hint, huh? This is why being thick-headed is such a hassle.”
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