novelraw Chapter 174 : Chapter 174
Chapter 174 : Chapter 174
174. Embers (2)
It was the expected reaction.
If it was fire, it was a predetermined sequence.
Only fire becomes one.
That old maxim of the Tower of the Sun praises their King.
Simultaneously, it mocks.
Because fire bewitches fire.
Fire falls into a greater fire, and that vessel becomes a moth flying into the flame.
Of course, one can endure.
Because desire varies depending on the concept and size of the Origin, and the vessel's capability.
But in front of that fire enshrined in the Shrine, everything was meaningless.
Because that is the King’s Fire.
At least, the Witch has never experienced a fire that can endure the King’s Fire.
Becoming a moth into the flame, or failing while absorbing.
That is the only ending for fire in front of the King’s Fire.
Fire is that kind of race.
Either way is an act of greed.
‘He has been bewitched.’
Harad, standing in front of her eyes, was also being greedy.
His entire focus was fixed on the fire in the Shrine.
That peculiar Mage was eventually fire too.
‘The latter.’
Harad intends to absorb it.
Red, bloodshot eyes, drooling saliva, Harad was suppressing his desire.
It is a futile act.
It cannot even be compared to something like heart predation.
An impulse more intense than ever must be inciting Harad.
‘Divine Beast…….’
I don't know why the Sun's Divine Beast is with him, but…… there must be no exceptions.
The village lives only if the King’s Fire exists.
“Enemy!”
The Witch shouted. That was the signal.
Those who were waiting in the village rushed out all at once.
Reaching the front of the Shrine happened in an instant.
Most of them were outstanding Mages or Knights who had survived the Boundary on their own.
Among them were even a 5th Rank Mage and a Sword Master.
If there was a problem…….
“What are you doing?”
It was Serzila.
Ellen. Dreams do not work on that woman.
“Ellen…… Harad?”
Also, she was an acquaintance of the only Sword Master, Balbebron.
“Balbebron, lower your sword. We didn’t come to fight.”
“I, I understand.”
When Ellen spoke, Balbebron sheathed his sword.
He didn't care about the glares from those around him.
Their relationship seemed closer than expected.
That newly joined Sword Master turned his gaze to the Witch, not Ellen.
‘Exclude.’
The Witch judged quickly.
She cannot force them. The village had to operate voluntarily.
‘Exclude fire and the Divine Beast too.’
Harad is already bewitched.
The Sun's Divine Beast held in his arms is the same.
In front of the King’s Fire, smaller fires cannot escape.
What about Ellen?
‘A different person.’
It’s just that dreams don’t work on her.
Harad had said that Ellen and Elaine, who broke the dream, were different.
It was when the Witch was comparing the village’s combat power with Ellen.
Ellen spoke.
“We haven’t done anything yet.”
The Witch noticed it was a warning.
She is enduring because of Balbebron, but she is saying that she will rightfully draw her sword if this continues.
It is as Harad said.
She is a kind and cute woman.
“Take Harad and return right now. Then I will not pursue to kill.”
So the Witch pointed at Harad.
He is still bewitched. It also meant he was holding back.
It was commendable patience, and if she knocks him out now and retreats, bloodshed will not occur.
“That is a problem for Harad to decide.”
“The owner is you.”
Harad of Serzila.
Earlier, Harad introduced himself like that. And Ellen was Serzila.
“We aren’t that kind of relationship.”
For some reason, Ellen looked offended.
“I’ll say it again, Harad hasn’t done anything yet.”
“No. He will do it soon.”
The Witch was certain.
“If it is fire, it has no choice but to be greedy.”
“It’s not fire, it’s Harad.”
“Knock him out immediately. I do not want to fight.”
“I said it’s a problem for Harad to decide.”
Ellen seemed to have no intention of backing down.
She turned her back on Harad and stood in front of the Witch and the villagers. Her momentum was quite imposing. She looked ready to draw her sword with just one step.
The Witch felt quite frustrated with such Ellen.
Indeed, like a Serzila, Ellen was ignorant.
“It is not a problem the vessel can decide.”
It is a problem the Origin decides.
There is no fire that can endure in front of that fire.
However.
“Wha pwobwum?”
A voice was heard.
It was Harad. His pronunciation was crushed and unintelligible, but he spoke.
The Witch was astonished by that fact alone.
“Mm.”
Harad, swallowing his saliva, frowned as if he didn't like his pronunciation.
His gaze directed toward his chest.
THUD! Harad struck his own chest with his fist.
“Ah. Now it’s a bit better.”
Then his pronunciation became clear.
“It’s less than predation. Bearable.”
……That can’t be.
The Witch tried to accept reality while denying it. Because she was a Mage.
A fire that is fine even facing the King’s Fire.
There is only one such fire.
“……Harad, you. Were you a woman?”
“Oh. You know the prophecy.”
Harad exclaimed lightly.
Then he pointed at the villagers with his eyes.
“So. Did I fail?”
Harad’s eyes, having scanned the villagers, returned to the fire in the Shrine. Shortly after, he grinned at the Witch.
“In my opinion, you guys are the ones who failed.”
“…….”
“Let's talk for a moment.”
“……Yes.”
The Witch had no choice but to answer that way.
Because the Embers in the Shrine were a legacy left by the Sun, the first and predecessor, for his successor.
* * *
The villagers withdrew at a single word from the Witch.
They neither hesitated nor worried.
The village seemed to absolutely accept the Witch's words.
However, there was no fear in that process.
‘A good ruler.’
It was a point that showed how much the Witch loved the village.
“H, Harad.”
However, Balbebron was not.
He did not leave. It was obvious he was a newcomer to the village.
It seemed like he would stop Harad if Harad attacked the Witch, and stop the Witch if the Witch attacked Harad.
“It’s been a while. You managed to find the village.”
“T, Thanks to you…… But what is going on?”
“It’s nothing. Go inside. I will come find you soon, so tell Alena.”
“I understand.”
When Harad said so, Balbebron returned to the village.
The Witch stared intently at his retreating figure.
“Don’t scold him too much, he is our life savior too.”
“I do not scold.”
It seemed there was no territorial behavior.
It seemed like a truly good village.
“With what intention did you create the village? Is it good will? Or a great cause?”
“……It is unrelated to the will of the Otherworld.”
“Aren’t you from the Otherworld?”
The Witch knew the prophecy.
“Just because the origin is the same doesn't mean everything is the same.”
The Witch furrowed her brows.
She seemed to dislike being lumped together with the Otherworld.
“Then what is this fire?”
Harad pointed to the fire in the Shrine.
“That is my, no, the Sun's fire. Correct?”
“…….”
The Witch remained silent.
It was an affirmation. As Harad intuitively sensed, that was the Sun's fire.
‘There was only one King of the Red Tower.’
The fire before his eyes must be the fire left by that King.
It means it has existed for hundreds of years.
‘It’s not just existing.’
The fire was controlling a zone of the Boundary.
Thanks to that, the village was born, and people could live. Is that all? Dream. It was the driving force maintaining the Witch’s Manifestation.
‘A mere ember.’
That fact made Harad astonished.
That was why he had no choice but to be bewitched.
And why he had no choice but to escape.
It would be impossible for other fires, but Harad’s Origin was the Sun.
Perhaps not right now, but someday he would be able to manifest a fire like that, or even stronger.
That possibility overcame the desire.
Because certainty existed for the regressed Harad.
“You are choosing your answer. Ah, for your reference, I am a man.”
“Then that Embers is not yours.”
“You believe the prophecy, even though you said you are unrelated to the Otherworld.”
“…….”
The Witch bit her lip.
“I understand. You want to protect the village. Since the village will disappear if this fire disappears.”
That is why the Witch and the village failed.
This Embers must belong to the Sun's successor, or the Red Tower.
The Witch is occupying it without permission.
Good will was the purpose.
Through that fire, the Witch gathered the exiles rejected by the Otherworld.
“I’m not particularly greedy for it.”
Harad spoke with eyes dripping with greed.
“Of course, it would be a lie to say I’m not tempted at all.”
The Witch flinched.
“If I absorb that, my Origin will grow. Since it seems to have been left for such a purpose.”
Harad stared at the Embers.
If he predates on that fire, his Sun will grow.
Perhaps he might even reach the 5th Rank.
‘That wouldn’t be it.’
If it were the first time, maybe, but the regressed Harad knows.
Even if he takes that, 5th Rank is still far off.
“But I don't know if it's that much of a benefit.”
Even if he became 5th Rank, it was the same.
‘Is it necessary?’
Given enough time and environment, the regressed Harad is confident he will reach the 6th Rank someday.
But people are not.
That isn't something one can have just by wanting it.
‘The existence of the Witch alone is already excellent.’
It is a village of those who discovered this place while enduring the environment of the Boundary.
Even excluding Balbebron, most would be quite capable.
The village is hostile to the Otherworld, and they become a significant combat power.
Furthermore, it could be utilized as a resting place or forward base when advancing through the Boundary.
“Is it worth gaining while killing the village? I am still skeptical.”
The value of the village is overflowing.
On the other hand, there are ways to reach the 5th Rank other than that Embers.
“But if your answer is that slow, I have no choice but to consider it positively.”
“That Embers is a legacy left by the Sun for the next Sun.”
The Witch answered promptly.
It must mean the village is that precious.
As he felt at first, she was a soft woman.
“Why did you create the village?”
“There is no reason for wanting to live.”
It must mean the village formed as she accepted them one by one.
They were those who sought asylum because they wanted to live.
“How did you come here?”
Harad was curious about the beginning.
Legacy left by the Sun. The Witch said so.
“Why are you here? Not the Red Tower.”
Watchtower of Fire.
In that Sanctuary, there was the Red Tower Mage, Herbis.
He was a kind of lighthouse keeper waiting for the King or the Star who would burn the Watchtower.
If that Embers is the King's legacy, the Red Tower should have sent people here too.
“The location of the Embers was lost long ago.”
“Why?”
“Becoming one with the Embers, or dying while being greedy. In front of that Embers, fire is one of the two.”
The Mages dispatched from the Red Tower all died, so it was lost.
Harad laughed in absurdity.
‘That…… actually makes sense.’
Harad recalled Herbis.
That Mage died smiling. Saying he came to belong to a greater fire.
‘The Red Tower lacks Mages.’
They must have stopped dispatching because those precious Mages kept dying.
“You must have expected I would die while absorbing it.”
“That is correct.”
“Then what happens to the Embers?”
“Nothing happens. Because any fire is insignificant compared to the origin of the Embers.”
Even if one throws their body into that fire and dies, or fails while absorbing and dies, there is no abnormality in the Embers.
“Then why did you try to stop me?”
Knock Harad out and take him away.
Earlier, the Witch said that to Ellen.
“It is a meaningless death.”
Like this, the Witch was soft.
“You pass.”
That was the reason Ellen’s anger subsided.
“Pardon?”
The Witch tilted her head.
Harad turned his gaze.
Ellen was looking up at him.
“Will you absorb it?”
“What do you think?”
“I wish you wouldn't, but if Harad wants to, you can.”
“Then I won't.”
Ellen smiled.
In Harad's opinion, this was the most valuable thing.
* * *
“I am from the Moon Tower.”
The Witch said.
“Indeed. The Red Tower lost the location of the Embers, but the Moon Tower knows it.”
The Red Tower and the Moon Tower were in a close relationship.
“Pardon? No.”
But the Witch shook her head.
“The Moon Tower does not know the location of this place. Neither does the Otherworld. The Tower of the Sun was the only one that knew the location of the Embers.”
“And you?”
“I was lucky. It was a coincidence.”
“That can’t be.”
Harad denied it.
Coincidence.
It wasn't because the Witch brought up the word least expected in the Boundary.
“The Moon Tower knows the location of this place.”
“They do not know.”
The Witch was certain.
It was a certainty she could have because she was from the Moon Tower.
But Harad had evidence beyond certainty.
Picking up the Moon’s Crystal Ball that fell on the ground, Harad said.
“You heard it earlier.”
“Pardon?”
The Witch tilted her head.
She acted like someone who didn't hear the voice from the Crystal Ball.
“What is that?”
No, like someone who doesn't even know the Crystal Ball.
Come to think of it, there was an old woman among the villagers earlier.
She wouldn't have sought asylum at that age.
“How old are you?”
“…….”
“This is a tool made in the Otherworld. You can share voices even from far away.”
“Such an object…….”
The Witch marveled with shining eyes.
It seemed the Witch escaped the Otherworld in an era before the Crystal Ball existed.
“This belongs to the Moon Tower. The partner of this Crystal Ball is with someone in the Moon Tower.”
“Is that so.”
“That someone said earlier, that Embers is mine, so take it.”
It was something they couldn't say without knowing the existence of this Embers and Harad's location.
“I did not hear it, though.”
“…….”
The Witch acted like she didn't hear it this time either.
Harad turned his head.
“I didn’t hear it either……?”
Ellen answered, blinking her eyes.
“I said it spoke?”
“Isn’t it that you haven’t fully woken from the dream?”
Ellen asked worriedly.
The Witch looked at Harad as if he were a strange person.
“Fireball, you.”
-BEEP?
The Fireball shook its head.
Harad was the only one who heard the voice.
“……This is driving me crazy.”
I felt bewitched.