EP: 113
Tuduk. Tuduk.
Kaiton, who had been frozen stiff and hardened, only came to his senses upon hearing the sound of Muriel’s tears falling on the bedsheet. Muriel was crying. Her face was cold and serene as if completely empty, but her eyes relentlessly kept shedding thick tears. It seemed as if she herself didn’t know she was crying. It was as if her body was purging itself of poison, shedding the painful memories through tears.
Kaiton cautiously wiped away Muriel’s tears. He’d touched her cheek countless times before, but this time he was tense before touching her. It felt strange and frightening. Fortunately, Muriel did not push his hand away; she simply looked at him quietly. Her eyes seemed to be looking at ten… no, thirty or forty years in the future.
It was the gaze of someone who had endured countless pain and suffering. Like a desolate desert in which one wondered the possibility of a spring, or the universe that cradled the forlorn tombs of countless stars.
“The curse… has been lifted.”
“It doesn’t hurt.” Muriel opened her mouth with a hoarse voice instead of hesitating about what to say for the first time. It was a chilling tone, as if probing him.
They’ve really come back.
Muriel sounded angry, but Kaiton’s heart had become helpless. The old friend he had longed for had returned. He knew it was no time to rejoice and he tried to resist, but the thrill of joy spread through his heart like a firecracker. At this moment, Muriel was his world. Regaining her could not be anything but joyful.
“I told you not to touch the power of Ur.”
But Muriel’s shallow sigh extinguished the resolute beating of his heart.
“I like you, Kaiton. Let me continue to like you.”
“Are you saying that.. One day, you might not like me anymore?”
“….”
“Are you saying you might abandon me someday…”
Mure… Kaiton called out to her in fear, but Muriel did not respond, a bitter smile around her mouth.
“Tell me you love me.”
An anxious Kaiton embraced Muriel roughly. Muriel did not resist, but her answer, like an exhausted bird surviving in the ashes of her burnt nest, tore his heart apart.
“I love you. But… I wish you didn’t love me.”
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Katrina Nox was a dismal prophet, but she was a pretty competent sorceress. She cut through the massive stone pillars with hands filled with meticulously written spells. Despite the powerful backlash, she eventually broke the barrier. The barrier that was created by Kaiton to trap demons.
“Kukuku.”
Amidst the barrier’s backlash, Katrina laughed, her hand transformed into a dark and wriggling mess like ink. The pain was excruciating, and she might never fully recover her hand, but the satisfaction that she’d destroyed the magic of Ur, which was the most powerful and threatening in the kingdom, filled her with superiority and contentment.
But this was just the beginning. Now, she would bring down Sharan, and make the entire kingdom witness her and her child Muriel’s power. For that to happen, Kaiton had to disappear, and her child had to return to her.
Katrina left, watching the white ghosts which would bring chaos and despair that would make everyone anxious of a saviour pour out endlessly. The demons spread like a dark mist – and then came the terrified screams of people.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Thud thud thud. Thud thud thud. Boom. Boom boom. Thud thud thud. Thud thud thud.
The resounding call to action echoed loudly, pulsating through Jaron’s heart. He ran fast. He had to move faster than the knights commanded by Sharan.
“Open the portal.”
Without any accompanying knights, Jaron stood alone in front of the portal, bewildering the wizard who guarded it.
“Where to?”
“Hopsgol.”
“What? Hopsgol… you mean the place that borders the Ghost Estate? What about the other knights…? Today, under Sharan’s orders, the knights are to move through the portal located in Hopsgol to suppress the traitors in the Ghost Estate, so…”
“Open it.”
“Ugh…! Lord Calypso…! What’s wrong with you? Did you get Sharan’s permission?”
The wizard trembled but refused to back down when Jaron threatened him with his sword at his neck. He would be killed one way or another if he got caught opening the portal without Sharan’s position. Jaron pulled down the tunic he was wearing under his armor and revealed the scars etched on his neck.
“I know very well how to inflict wounds that even magic cannot heal. Before I give you a scar that will make you think it would’ve been better off dying at Sharan’s hands, hurry up and open the portal to Hopsgol.”
“You… won’t be forgiven… Why are you doing this…!”
Unable to withstand the threat, the sorcerer opened the portal to Hopsgol. Meanwhile, Jeron discarded his perfectly prepared armor for the expedition, which hindered rather than aided him in actual combat. Without hesitation, he leaped through the portal leading to Hopsgol.
Why was he doing this…?
“A group that dares to use Tapahite, the property of the kingdom, has appeared at will. Isn’t this treason that threatens the kingdom’s order?”
He had thought it was just another routine expedition when he knelt before Sharan. Sharan was busy obsessively trying to catch Muriel, who’d escaped, so he didn’t think he’d be personally summoned and commanded by him. But it seemed like he was being used as an example.
“The leader of those rebels is said to be named Kai Crawford. What an interesting coincidence. A man with the same name as the court magician who worked for us is the head of the rebels.”
Kai Crawford. As soon as Jeron heard the alias Kaiton Ur had used to disguise his identity, he looked up at Sharan in surprise. Sharan, too, did not seem to think it was just an interesting coincidence. With a meaningful and somewhat sinister expression, he seemed to be implying that there was something significant behind, and was making a cruel mockery.
“Jaron, my faithful servant, go punish and eliminate all the rebels. However, if there is a familiar face, be sure to save it and bring them to me alive.”
As soon as Jaron passed through the portal to Hopsgol, he destroyed it. It wouldn’t take too long to rebuild. Half a day at the earliest, one day at the longest. They could also use another portal to head to the Ghost estate.
In the meantime, they had to evacuate. Muriel Storm must be next to Kaiton Ur. Muriel Storm. She was the reason Jaron threw off his armor and pressed the horse reins like he was possessed. This would be a battle where he’d have to risk his life. The question was: who would he give his life for? As soon as that thought passed, Jaron didn’t hesitate to start running.
That was the reason why she threw off Jaron’s oppressive armor and spoke as if possessed. This expedition would undoubtedly be a battle where lives were at stake. Whose life would he sacrifice for…? As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Jaron began to run without hesitation.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Muriel’s condition worsened every day. The abilities that had been suppressed so far were now constantly raging without respite. Like someone suffering from narcolepsy, Muriel would fall asleep at odd times, only to be dragged into terrible nightmares of disaster, or lose herself as if in a daydream even when she was fine.
Her recently regained sense of taste had no chance to be utilized. Muriel had no breathing space to casually enjoy her meals while she lived each day amidst dreadful calamities and despairing disasters. She was like a tree withering away day by day.
But she was a tree that did not budge even if it knew the only way it could survive was if it avoided the scorching sun that burned it. People felt sorry seeing the fading tree, but there was nothing they could do. Muriel was the towering tree that shaded them. Even if they wanted to embrace it with their whole body to protect it, it was impossible to hold a tree larger than oneself.
“Ondal. Kaiton is gone.”
So when Muriel asked Ondal about Kaiton’s whereabouts, he could not easily answer.
“You know something, don’t you? Kaiton is using a fragment of Ur. Tell me. Where is he?”
“It’s to save Muriel.”
Kaiton had come to Ondal before he left and said so.
“If it continues like this, Muriel won’t be able to hang on. In 3 years… no, in 1 year… she’ll run out of her pacio before that. We must seal her pacio so that no prophecies can be made.”
We have to at least stop the nightmares from going on like they are now, Kaiton murmured anxiously.
“What about Katrina Nox? She can seal her pacio, right? You don’t need to do it yourself… do you, Kaiton?”
Ondal was just forcing it. He couldn’t allow Katrina Nox to cast a spell on Muriel. They didn’t know what that dreadful woman who wanted to possess Muriel would do to her mind. Ondal would often be surprised at himself whenever he found a rush of murderous energy surge in himself against Katrina Knox. He wondered if Kaiton felt the same way, but Kaiton smiled. It was obvious he was thinking of Muriel. His smile was lonesome and bittersweet, yet filled with determination.
“I think I… want Muriel to remember me. All of me.”
Kaiton’s mind seemed to be filled entirely with Muriel. There was no room for even a speck of dust like Katrina. He loved Muriel fiercely enough to not feel hostility or murderousness. She filled him completely. Even though his gaze was directed at Ondal, it was evident that what he was looking at was Muriel.
“I told you I’d give you my pacio.”
“…It won’t be enough.”
“For Muriel… I don’t mind becoming a demon.”
Kaiton’s eyes were not threatening as he replied. He simply, calmly told the truth.
“Even if I turn you into a demon, turn everyone in this territory into demons… it’ll still be far from enough.”
How chilling.
Just how many people’s pacio was needed? Maybe it was because of his instincts as a Sharan, or because of the primal fear that humans felt, a cold shiver ran down Ondal’s spine.
“That can’t be… it’s just binding pacio – you don’t need that much.”
“There’s something else that I need to deal with. If there’s still a threat to the kingdom, Muriel will continue to suffer. I’ve caged them… but I’m going to deal with the festering demons before they break out. Then Muriel might find some peace, too. Until then, don’t say anything to Muriel.”
“If you do that… you, Kaiton Ur, will become the greatest threat to the kingdom.”
“…”
“By becoming like the Demon King Callahan Ur. By taking away so much pacio.”
“…”
Ondal could not tell what Kaiton had in mind behind the darkness of his eyes in that moment.
Was it a readiness for death? Or was he ready to become the Devil? Before Ondal could ask, Kaiton left.
Before long, he could see Kaiton through Sharan’s eyes. He was stealing people’s pacio among the surge of demons. It was undoubtedly an unforgivable deed, but Ondal couldn’t bring himself to curse Kaiton as wicked. Instead of the firm idea that this should never be done, Ondal was bothered by the sense of relief that Kaiton was targeting only those who would eventually become demons even if it wasn’t for him.
Kaiton’s desperate actions that he was unable to take his eyes off from unsettled Ondal’s mind.
🙁
