Chapter 244 – Enlightenment (1)

The underworld.

Located at the southern tip of the Allied Kingdoms, beneath the wasteland.

A place where not even a single ray of light entered.

In that place where only hungry ghosts existed, they ordinarily should have been rampaging to devour one another.

No, in fact, they were already rampaging.

It was because reason had returned to the hungry ghosts after their newly created leader was killed by someone within just a few days.

Because of that, the hungry ghosts repeated the same fight once more.

‘That thing’ also joined the hungry ghosts’ law of the jungle and devoured its own kind.

That was until she appeared.

The hungry ghosts, who had been devouring one another, immediately realized the presence of the intruders who had descended into the underworld and stopped fighting to look in one direction.

A beastfolk stood there.

A beastfolk with golden eyes that emitted a vivid light even within the abyss.

The moment they discovered that existence, the hungry ghosts rushed toward the beastfolk without exception.

Intruders were not very welcome.

Because they were merely useless obstacles when deciding a leader in their own struggle.

■■■■■■■■■■-!!

■■■■■-!!!

The hungry ghosts surged while letting out hideous shrieks that were unpleasant to hear.

Whether the enemy before them was strong or weak was not that important.

In the first place, hungry ghosts revived incessantly as long as their soul cores existed.

Therefore, they…

Even ‘that thing’, which had devoured far more of its kin than the others, they rushed toward without fear.

However, all the hungry ghosts that approached the beastfolk were killed before long.

The reason was…

Pajijijijik…!!!

Because of the golden lightning that erupted from the beastfolk’s body.

That golden light swallowed the hungry ghosts.

It returned all the things that had swarmed around her to nothingness.

Even so, the remaining hungry ghosts did not stop.

Even though hundreds disappeared at once, they surged in a continuous chain.

No, rather, they flew toward Seollang while letting out eerie cackles.

Because as long as the sealing stone was not broken, a hungry ghost would not perish.

An endless contest of endurance.

The hungry ghosts charged incessantly.

And the erupting lightning erased them.

Then.

“…I heard. That I only need to destroy the sealing stone.”

Seollang spoke, her brilliant golden eyes flashing…

“But, I do not want to kill you all so easily.”

Quietly,

“…You things that killed my teacher…”

As if making a vow.

“Must die as painfully as possible.”

She murmured.

Soon.

Pajik-!

The golden lightning was dyed black.

Pajijijijik…!!!

The moment the air filling the underworld roiled and thick black lightning was fired in all directions.

The hungry ghosts that had been surging toward Seollang like crazy stopped all at once.

It was because of instinct.

Yes, they would not die as long as the sealing stone was not broken.

But the thousands and tens of thousands of hungry ghosts here…

They, who were ruled solely by appetite and opened their maws even at the leader to the point where even minimal intelligence was meaningless.

Instinctively realized.

If they touched that black lightning emitted by that beastfolk…

If they touched that thing that only the ‘black ones’ who created the hungry ghosts could emit…

They would be utterly annihilated just like that.

And.

“As painfully…”

From amidst the black lightning, deeply sunken golden eyes glared at the hungry ghosts.

“As possible.”

Her cold and merciless gaze flashed sharply.

####

“Tch… as expected, it is not working.”

A few hours after Alon returned.

Breaking the silence that had settled for a while, a small murmur reached Alon’s ears.

“Of course it would not work. It was impossible from the beginning for someone who is not even a magus to use an object that only magi can use.”

“Indeed.”

“At this rate, won’t she be too embarrassed to even come down? I heard she confidently asked to see Agathon.”

“Rather than that, she is probably too scared to come down. She spoke so boldly about being able to operate Agathon, but if she cannot do it, the anger of the higher-ups who were expecting it will be full.”

The whispers of the soldiers.

Alon looked around.

The expressions of the kings had certainly changed.

Faces that initially held expectation.

They were trying to hide it as much as possible, but now their disappointment was clear to anyone.

The same was true for the blacksmiths who had restored Agathon to a usable state.

“Is it really impossible after all…”

“I thought maybe since she was someone brought by the god from another world…”

“What are we supposed to do now without Agathon…”

As Alon was listening to the low whispers and was about to approach Rine, who was still standing motionless.

“Ah…”

A small exclamation broke out from Rine’s mouth.

Opening her eyes as if she had realized something.

At the same time.

Uuuuung…!!

The cube that had shown no movement until a moment ago trembled with a strange resonant sound.

Kagagagagak-!

It began to change.

The object, which had been small enough to fit in Alon’s palm, became massive in an instant.

Soon, as if a precisely manipulated machine was coming to life.

It began to warp and twist in an instant, creating another enormous shape.

“Th-that is impossible…”

“Agathon? Even though she is not a magus?”

“What on earth…”

The skeptical soldiers and blacksmiths widened their eyes all at once at that sight.

“!”

Expectation simultaneously appeared on the faces of the kings who were also looking at Rine.

The Agathon, which had been a small cube until just a moment ago.

Eventually changed into the shape of a massive cannon.

“Oh… ohhh!”

The atmosphere that had been dominated by suspicion and sighs was reversed in an instant.

The Agathon revealed amidst everyone’s admiration was alien even to Alon.

A grotesque appearance that somehow suited a future generation rather than the current world.

However, everyone looked at it without any aversion.

Because of the strange magic patterns engraved all over the Agathon.

“Wow… insane… what is that magic circle!?”

Penia, standing beside him, let out an exclamation in a slightly different sense.

After deploying Agathon, Rine pondered for a moment and began to question the blacksmiths.

In the meantime.

“Lord Alon.”

The kings, whose faces were full of delight, approached Alon.

“We are truly grateful. We seem to do nothing but receive your help in many ways.”

When Surang bowed his head, Alon pointed to the side.

“I think it would be better if you thanked Rine instead of me.”

“I understand. But…”

“?”

“Is Lady Rine perhaps a magus?”

A cautious question.

Alon recalled the words he had heard from Dowon and shook his head.

“She is not.”

“I see. Then how did she manage to operate Agathon…”

Surang was very intrigued.

He asked once more cautiously.

“May I ask one more thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“What is your relationship with Lady Rine…?”

Alon wondered why he was curious about that now, but first pondered how to answer.

Of course, Alon and Rine were very close.

However, he was deliberating because it was ambiguous how to explain this to others when…

“I am his daughter.”

Rine, who had finished her conversation with the blacksmiths, approached and answered instead.

“Right?”

“…Well, that is true.”

When Rine sought agreement, Alon nodded for the time being.

At this, Surang spoke as if it were fascinating.

“You are a god from another world, yet you have a daughter… you must have had a daughter at a very young age.”

Surang nodded as if he understood.

…It seemed he had formed a ridiculous misunderstanding.

But Alon did not bother to deny it.

Because it seemed the explanation would be long if he were to correct every detail.

“In any case, now that Agathon is operational, from this point on…”

“We should be able to make proper preparations. Let us move to another location to continue our discussion first.”

####

“Then we will begin preparations tomorrow.”

“Let us do that.”

“We should be able to move to the location of the World Tree within a week.”

“The plans are all set, so let us finish here for today.”

By the time the gray sky grew dark.

Alon, who had established all future plans and come out, heard interesting information from Rine.

“…Agathon was not made by a magus?”

“Yes, Godfather. I think the reason they said only magi could use it was because a few magi managed to interpret and operate it. This is a weapon from the Alranef Empire.”

“The one that created Pluton?”

“Yes, Pluton. I thought you might already know, Godfather, but I decided to tell you anyway.”

“…?”

Alon was momentarily puzzled.

‘How would I know that…?’

He briefly tilted his head, wondering if he had ever told Rine that he knew about Alranef.

‘Regardless, it was quite fascinating. How did an empire from the past manage to create such things?’

Lost in thought, Alon, who had walked to the front of his room…

“…Magrina?”

Found Magrina waiting for him.

“Could we perhaps speak for a moment?”

Magrina, with gloom etched into a corner of her face.

####

“…God, do you perhaps know why I was not afflicted by the curse?”

“Unfortunately, that is impossible to know.”

Alon led Magrina out into the garden.

When Alon shook his head at her trembling question.

Magrina hesitated for a moment.

“I thought as much…”

She soon murmured with a bitter smile.

“No matter which god I asked, none could guess the reason I was not cursed…”

“You went to other gods as well?”

“…Yes. But neither Lord Yongrin nor Lady Dowon could explain why I was not cursed.”

“….”

A long silence settled over the garden where it was difficult to find even a single flower because it was not properly managed.

In the midst of that, Magrina, who had been hanging her head low, suddenly blurted out such words.

“Why was I born this way?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Why was I born with a body that is not afflicted by the curse? If only… I had also been cursed like the other elves…”

If only she could have, it would have been truly good.

A faint voice that was barely audible.

Tears were not welling up in Magrina’s eyes.

Instead, emptiness settled there.

Eyes that had given up on everything and were resigned.

A situation he had experienced before.

Alon fell into the same agony as with Liang’a.

He could offer comfort.

But he was concerned that the clumsy comfort of someone who had not even experienced it might give her an even greater wound.

However, saying nothing was also not a good option.

Alon, who was deliberating, organized his thoughts in his own way and spoke.

“To be honest, I cannot comfort you in your pain. Because empty words of comfort have no meaning.”

“… .”

“However, it is possible for me to listen to you.”

“…Listen to me, you say?”

“Yes. It may not be a fundamental solution, but I believe having someone to talk to comfortably will make your heart a little lighter.”

After finishing his words, Alon asked himself.
“Is this the right answer?”

Because although he had used his head to give an answer that would not hurt her, he lacked confidence.

At the moment his worry deepened again.

“Thank you very much… Then, may I speak with you for a while?”

The empty gaze remained, but Alon quietly nodded to Magrina, who looked up at him as if clinging to a straw.

A worn-out bench that was not properly managed.

The two sat with a reasonable distance between them.

“…So…”

Magrina found it difficult to continue her words once the setting was established.

For her, who looked uncomfortable, Alon suggested first.

“Call me comfortably.”

“Pardon…?”

“You seem uncomfortable.”

“But…”

“It is fine. I do not care. Not titles like ‘God’, call me comfortably.”

At that, Magrina looked up at Alon.

“Uh, then…”

She slowly uttered the word.

“Mister…??”

“…Mi, ster?”

“I-I am sorry…”

“No, it is fine. It is just… I was a bit flustered since it was my first time being called that.”

“…I-I heard that you have a daughter…”

“Ah…”

Alon briefly recalled his conversation with Surang at Magrina’s cautious explanation.

“Then… should I call you Brother?”

At the new suggestion that followed.

“…That looks much better.”

Alon immediately nodded.

“…At the very beginning…”

Magrina’s story began in earnest.

A very long story.

And when all the stories were over.

Alon let out a small sigh of relief.

Because on Magrina’s face, where clearly nothing but emptiness was felt.

“Thank you very much, Brother.”

Before he knew it, a small smile was formed.