novelraw Chapter 78 : Chapter 78
Chapter 78 : Chapter 78
Chapter 78: Psina (1)
Cassion regretted it.
‘That bastard. He didn't tell him.’
Elaine's reaction was far from ordinary.
Even if I know, I'll pretend I don't, so just tell me.
Those were not words that should come from the mouth of the Grand Heir.
It meant Elaine considered Harad that important.
The Grand Heir originally hated wasting time.
‘Is it because of me?’
Elaine and Harad were closer than the time they had spent together would suggest.
At least, that's how it looked to Cassion.
His own contribution to that was significant.
Harad and Elaine's interactions had become more frequent after resolving the Cassion spy incident.
But looking back, Elaine had been looking out for Harad even before that.
To the point where Cassion had been jealous.
‘The few interactions they had before were trivial.’
Cassion had once monitored Elaine's every move.
To be precise, only when he met Harad.
The first time they met, he had picked a fight with him; the second time, he apologized and gave him money for drinks.
Next, he got Harad out of prison, and after that, he personally delivered the heads Cassion had sent to the Inner Fortress.
At that time, Elaine had clearly been furious with Harad. The reason was that he had injured several members of the 1st Knights.
But one day, Elaine suddenly gifted Harad with daily necessities and money.
That change of attitude alone was difficult to understand, but Elaine even took Harad along on a hunting day.
Together in the Boundary.
It meant he trusted Harad enough to share his life with him.
At the time, Cassion couldn't stand it.
But now that he had come to his senses, Cassion had a question.
‘How did they get so close?’
There was no reason or justification for them to become close.
They didn't even meet often.
‘I know that bastard Harad is close with Lady Ellen, but…’
The person Harad mainly met was Ellen.
Not Elaine.
But Harad was close with Elaine too.
More so than I could have ever imagined.
‘The Grand Heir saved me in the Sanctuary of Fire.’
But at that time, Elaine had asked Harad for his opinion.
Although he said he would do as his cock pleased, in reality, he was seeking his agreement.
Not an order or a notification.
It meant that even then, they were as close as could be.
Elaine was treating Harad not as a subordinate, but as an equal.
‘No, maybe even more than that…’
I heard it was the same when he saved the Tunnel-Digger, Rick.
Even then, Elaine had tried to persuade Harad.
“Sir Cassion.”
At those words, Cassion came to his senses.
Elaine was glaring at him. Her gaze was considerably cold.
“I told you to speak.”
The Grand Heir commanded.
Yes, it was a command.
One he did not use with Harad.
“The Sun belongs to a woman. That was the Moon's Prophecy.”
Our King belongs to a woman.
That was the prophecy Harad originally knew.
Afterward, through Cassion, I realized that the king's identity was the Sun.
“That is correct.”
“So what?”
Elaine, true to a Serzila, had an immense sense of pressure.
“I do not know if you are aware, but...”
“There is no need for a long story. Get to the point.”
“There are no identical Origins in the world.”
“I know. Even if they are the same concept, their forms or properties are different.”
Elaine seemed to have a certain grasp of the concept of Origin.
Harad must have told her.
“That is correct. There are many similar Origins, but when you look closely, they are ultimately different.”
There are Origins that are not so.
Origins that are not confusing, but unequivocally clear.
“There are Origins that cannot possibly be misunderstood. The Sun and the Moon are such.”
No fire can resemble the Sun.
No paleness can be mistaken for the Moon.
“The Sun mentioned in the Moon's Prophecy is undoubtedly Harad's Origin.”
The Sun was not a simple fire.
No fire could imitate the Sun.
“I suppose so.”
So what.
Elaine nodded with such an expression.
“My Origin is a dot. A very small dot. It erases the presence of things that exist.”
Among the many, many dots.
Cassion's dot was the only one capable of such magic.
“But there is a way for another mage to obtain a dot identical to mine.”
Elaine's eyes widened slightly.
It seemed Harad really hadn't told her.
“It is for me to die. Then my Origin will be born, residing in another person.”
Elaine's eyes grew wider and wider.
“The Moon's Prophecy said the Sun belongs to a woman.”
No fire can be mistaken for the Sun.
The Moon's Prophecy pointed exactly to the Sun.
Harad's Origin was that Sun.
“...Are you saying Harad will die?”
“Yes. The next mage to possess the Sun will likely be a woman.”
The Moon's Prophecy does not point to Harad.
It points to a certain woman who will be born with the Sun after Harad dies.
“The Moon's Prophecy has never been wrong.”
It would not be strange for Harad to die at any moment.
No, he will definitely die.
The Moon's Prophecy says so.
At some point, Elaine's eyes had flown wide open.
“...Did you tell Harad too?”
“That bastard already knew.”
“Of course he would, he's a smart bastard.”
Crack. A breaking sound was heard from somewhere.
It was from inside Elaine's mouth.
“And yet he didn't say a word.”
Her voice was extremely murderous.
Her wide-open eyes had, at some point, sunk low. The coldness in them gave Cassion goosebumps.
“Are you busy?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked if you are busy.”
“I am not busy.”
The busy Cassion answered.
“Follow me.”
Elaine moved.
Her direction was north.
Where the Boundary was.
* * *
It was a drab and damp land.
The dampness was unsettling. It was clearly magic power.
Moreover, it was altered, the magic power of the Boundary.
‘It wasn't caused by magic.’
The search party being scattered was not that woman's doing.
Alteration. The magic power of this area had made the search party enter different paths.
“So the space is twisted.”
The search party would be in the same, yet different, spaces.
In a space like this, Cassion had found Compaso.
‘So he manifested his Origin.’
Cassion's dot gnaws away at the presence of what it touches, making it as if it never existed.
He must have done that to the altered environment of this area.
In other words, there was no way to break through this space without manifesting his Origin.
‘Ignorant bastard.’
Not telling me this important fact.
Harad furrowed his brow.
Cassion couldn't have done it on purpose. He must have forgotten or didn't know. That made me even angrier. A so-called mage.
In any case, I had a clue.
‘The space can definitely be broken through.’
Compaso, whom Cassion had captured, was proof of that.
If I break the composition of this area's altered magic power, the space will return to normal.
“For your information, I didn't kill Compaso.”
“...”
The woman didn't answer.
“Ah. I did kill Jesult.”
“...”
It was the same this time.
‘She said, ‘our Ios.’’
It seemed that the only one important to the woman was Ios.
‘Ios's Origin was painting.’
Recently, the 1st Knights encountered three mages during a search. Two were ink, and one was a mirror.
‘Two inks. That crude hut also resembles ink.’
Usually, mages hang out with their own kind.
Either they have similar Origins, or they are helpful to each other.
“Are you our Ios's bereaved family? Or his teacher?”
“How dare you speak his name.”
“If not me, who would? I am the one who saw our Ios's final moments.”
The woman's body trembled.
Harad focused on his surroundings.
There was still no change in the space.
It meant Derrick and Pisaro had not yet broken through this area's alteration.
They must need time.
Or this side would have to break through.
‘This will be difficult.’
I couldn't move rashly.
Harad was still assuming the woman was 5th Rank.
No, she must be.
‘She called the 4th Rank Ios ‘our Ios.’’
It must mean she's his superior.
‘There is one more option.’
It was impossible for Harad to break through.
However, I could use the woman's power.
“Our Ios had some last words.”
“...”
“Aren't you curious?”
The woman's trembling intensified.
Harad noticed her ears twitching slightly.
“Let's introduce ourselves first. I have.”
“...5th Rank of the Ivory Tower, Psina.”
The woman readily revealed her Rank.
It was a characteristic of the Otherworld.
They do not hide themselves.
Among themselves, they even reveal their Origins. Origin is talent, and Rank is pride.
‘Unfamiliar.’
Psina.
Her name and face were unfamiliar.
She must be a mage I didn't get to know in my past life.
There was a high probability she wasn't Ios's bereaved family either.
Ios had a rather handsome appearance.
Especially his nose was high. Not flat and broad like hers.
‘It seems to be taking a long time.’
The space was still the same.
At this point, I had to hope it would take a long time.
Otherwise, it meant they couldn't break it.
“These were his last words.”
Harad spoke as if whispering.
Psina's face leaned forward slightly.
“Waaah. I don't want to die.”
“...”
“Not to your liking?”
Psina's body trembled violently.
“Then how about this? Save me, Teacher Psina.”
At that, Psina's hand swept through the air.
A line of ink-black was drawn across the world.
“...I will kill you without leaving a trace.”
* * *
Psina.
She was a mage I had never seen before. Never even heard of.
A mage who shouldn't have been here.
‘So it was my fault after all.’
The future had changed.
Naturally, the culprit was the regressor.
Because Harad killed Ios, Ios's teacher, Psina, had come south.
‘Compaso saw my face, and Jesult reported it to the Ivory Tower.’
Compaso had seen Ios's death and Harad's fire.
Gullen, who was there, must have been seen too.
The three mages the 1st Knights had encountered were bait.
Bait to provoke the 1st Knights, and Harad, who was associated with them.
‘Why did she wait at the place where Compaso died instead of crossing the Wall?’
The one who had come to this area was Cassion.
If her disciple was Compaso, it would make sense for her to be here, but Psina was Ios's teacher.
If Psina truly wanted revenge, she should have crossed the Wall.
‘There's no need to think about this, since we met in the end.’
In a way, Psina was lucky too.
The 1st Knights had sent a request for cooperation to Harad, not Cassion.
Whether it was intentional or not, it was the optimal environment for Psina.
This area had split the search party.
‘When...’
The fire that had flared up like a shield was pierced. Harad bent his back far backward. The line drawn earlier grazed the spot where his heart had been.
“That fire!”
Psina scratched her neck.
Her fingertips, held in the air, also trembled violently. But her eyes were clearly calm. Angry, but her reason did not waver.
‘Just like a 5th Rank.’
Although I provoked her, it didn't seem like she would recklessly use her magic.
I had to buy time.
Of course, time was not on Harad's side either.
Psina's fingertips embroidered the air with ink.
The line drawn in the air resembled a sword. As it was drawn, it shot out like a slash. There were more than ten such lines.
‘Ink?’
Yes, it was like ink.
Similar to Ios's. But its power was entirely different. Though for Psina, it was just a casual gesture.
Harad swung Patern.
No, rather than swinging, he brought it to meet them. Thus, he twisted the path of the lines. Ten lines grazed past Harad.
It was a feat of skill, if you could call it that, but it was a result that relied on Patern's performance. This famous sword never broke.
‘I can't do that twice.’
My whole body screamed.
If I did it again, Harad's body felt like it would break.
“Tricks.”
Psina snorted. Her hand crossed the air again. Another line. Just a lightly drawn line.
The magic power contained in that line was far superior to the previous one.
This time, there were dozens of such lines. It seemed impossible to dodge or deflect with Patern.
Harad's left pupil was dyed pitch black. Flames flickered there. Crimson Flames spread to the dozens of lines that were shot.
‘This isn't a good trade.’
Although it covered my body, projection was still projection.
It meant that only by projecting could I break through Psina's magic.
The matchup was in my favor.
Psina was nullifying that with her overwhelming magic power.
But even that was just exploration for Psina.
...And at the same time, preparation.
The world was shaking.
It was Psina's magic power, and the stirring of her Origin.
“She's relentless.”
While Harad was breaking through her exploratory magic, Psina had finished her preparations.
Her Origin had completely escaped through the great window that was Psina.
“Ah. O, my Lord.”
It was a brush.
Psina held the brush as if she were its master... but to Harad, only the brush was visible.
Its presence stole away his sense of perspective.
The world felt like the brush, and the brush felt like the world.
“You are the great stroke.”
Psina revered the brush like a god.
This is why there are no gods in the Otherworld. They worship their Origins.
My sense of perspective returned somewhat. The brush still felt huge, but not as vast as the world.
It was because a pitch-black sun had risen in the sky at some point.
“A king undeserving of you.”
Psina recognized it at a glance as the shadow of the sun.
That it was not a manifestation, but a mere projection.
“Therefore, the Moon's Prophecy proclaims.”
She looked down at Harad so.
“You will die today.”
Psina's Origin.
The brush painted over the world.