EP: 114
“How did Sharan Kasal know where Kaiton was? He’s a fake.”
“It must be Katrina Nox’s doing. If Kaiton and Sharan Kasal fight and either of them dies, Katrina benefits.”
Debbie’s words were probably right. She should have firmly tied up that end, but leaving Katrina like an insurance policy had backfired.
“So what do we do now? Are we running away again? With demons running rampant, Sharan won’t move without preparation. Can’t we get Kaiton out of there while they’re distracted with the demons?”
Everyone’s gaze turned towards Muriel at Sadie’s words.
“No… it won’t be enough to just get Kaiton out. If the demons remain… Sharan will call it all Kaiton’s doing… Then Kaiton will have no choice but to hide for the rest of his life and live on the run.”
“Huh? But if not that, then what…”
“…You want to get rid of all the demons before Sharan’s army arrives. You want to make it seem like there was never a demon outbreak at all.”
August said, looking surprised.
“What?! But Ondal mentioned that there is a waterfall of demons there! He said they were causing chaos, and the land seemed entirely covered in white. How will you kill them all? We only have one of God’s gifts with us.”
“If I persuade Kaiton… If it’s Kaiton…”
“Kaiton Ur might be a monster of his own right, but even he can’t kill all those demons alone! Besides, he’s adamant about not using your pacio. In the end, we’ll just end up back at square one.”
“…”
“Well, that wouldn’t matter as long as the escape is successful, but as the captain said, we’d then have to live the rest of our lives on the run. That’s not possible. It just isn’t. I’ll help. If there’s even one more person joining, we’ll be able to manage somehow.”
“Of course. How could I let you go alone anyway? I’m coming too.”
“…What’s this talk about? Both of you must remain here. I will go alone-”
“What on earth are you saying?! I just swore allegiance to you. Even if those two don’t come, I’ll follow you. I just offered you my life!”
“What the… what would you do without a divine gift with you!”
Even though Muriel was flustered and shouting, Jaron, Sadie and Cece paid it no heed. Instead, they glared at her as if resentful, asking how she could even think of leaving them behind.
“Living in hiding for a lifetime. Just when we barely escaped that fate… We can’t do that.”
“That’s why, Sadie, it’s not you but Kaiton who will-”
“But if Kaiton goes into hiding, won’t you be by his side? And I’ll be by the captain’s side. Then, won’t we all end up hiding together?”
“Ah, yes, that’s right. We will.”
“Don’t we just need more divine gifts? August might know. In the myths, the Guardians received the godsent gifts from somewhere.”
“Debbie, even you…”
She wasn’t the only one. Upon hearing the news of August’s summons, the residents of the Ghost Estate flocked to Muriel’s tent, all insisting on going with her. It was overwhelming but also deeply moving. And she realized belatedly — she wasn’t alone. So many friends stood by her side despite her path leading to danger. Muriel, who had always reached her hand out to them first, never expected to have it returned in this way.
She knew well how miraculous it was that they loved and cherished her as much as she did them. She was well aware of how precious such bonds were.
After Katrina’s magic vanished, Muriel, overwhelmed by the return of dreadful memories and recurring nightmares, had hit rock bottom mentally. Plagued by calamities she couldn’t resolve alone, she was consumed by a sense of defeat and helplessness.
But there were affectionate and confident faces looking at Muriel. Seeing friends who declared they’d stand by her, courage she had forgotten surged within her.
“The Guardian Tree has concealed its trace. It can only be found through an entrusted oracle by a saint… Ah…”
August, who shook his head and answered Debbie’s question, let out a sigh as if he had realized something while looking at Muriel. All eyes turned towards her. Muriel clenched her fists. Her body trembled. Whether the shiver was from joy, fear, or both, she couldn’t tell.
“I can’t receive the divine gift. To receive it, you must sacrifice what you love the most.”
“So what? Even if you can’t, I can.”
The divine gift was granted only to those who sought to protect the kingdom by sacrificing what they loved the most. Muriel wanted to explain this clearly because it could seem like she was demanding sacrifices from them without offering her own. But Jaron, indifferent to such concerns, urged her on.
“…To receive the divine gift, you must answer the questions of the Guardian Tree. The most loved-”
“-I know, I know. What you love most. The strongest. The noblest. You have to offer all three. The answers are subjective, but if you get them wrong, the price is death. If you don’t understand your own heart and offer something foolish, you die. I’m not an idiot who doesn’t understand my own heart, so just tell me. You… Do you really know where the Guardian Tree is?”
Jaron, impatient, cut off Muriel and rapidly spilled out his words. When Muriel hesitated, keeping her mouth shut, Jaron, looking desperate, started hopping around in frustration.
“You! You knew all this time and didn’t say anything? You made me borrow Dachini’s sword and Eklum’s brooch?! Even thought I could have a divine gift named after me?!”
“I didn’t know then. I only recently got to know it as my memories returned. …Are you really sure about this? People often don’t know their own hearts well. If you’re wrong… there will be no second chance.”
“I know. That’s why I ran to you. So tell me. I need to create a heirloom for the House of Calypso to pass down through the generations. Man… I knew coming to you would lead to something exciting.”
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Jaron, August, Sadie, and Cece set out to find the Guardian Tree.
Those who stayed behind had their own reasons. Rockford had already lost his most beloved wife, and Tucker didn’t know what the most noble thing was. For Ondal, the most loved, the strongest, and the most noble were all one and the same. Since he couldn’t sacrifice Muriel, Ondal could not go to the Guardian Tree either.
“Simple people sure have it easy. How can they be so certain?”
For Debbie, there were too many that were strong in the world.
It was surprising that August set out again to receive the divine gift, but he said that if his father supported Sharan Kasal, then he wanted to become the protector of the real Sharan, Ondal.
Muriel prayed for them.
May they all stay safe. And let it not be too late.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
When they arrived at the place covered in demons guided by Ondal, everyone froze. Even without a divine gift, Debbie had followed to confront Sharan’s Knights, Ondal had taken the lead in guiding everyone to Kaiton, and Rockford and Tucker had prepared their swords, saying they were unwilling to miss out on wielding them. But overwhelmed by the immense amount of demons they’d never seen before, they couldn’t move a muscle.
“Muriel! Wait a moment!”
When even those who’d safely received divine gifts from the Guardian Tree already were unable to approach them easily and were hesitating, Muriel jumped off from her pony’s back and entered into the demon horde.
Even for Muriel, who faced dreadful calamities daily, leaping into the midst of the dense gathering of demons was no easy task. Yet within it lay Kaiton. That fact drove Muriel forward frantically.
Navigating through the demons felt like she was walking through a fog. It was a chilling mist that froze even the soul. Thanks to the fragments of Ur, she was not attacked by the demons, but she still felt the influence of the unfortunate spirits. Intense fear and anxiety gripped her, her skin crawling. If she didn’t keep her wits about her, she would’ve been able to move, paralyzed and on the verge of crumbling.
It’s okay. There was nothing to be afraid of. Kaiton’s death, as she saw in the prophecy, was to occur when the Star of Calamity rose. There were still over five years to go until the Star rose again. Kaiton would be fine. That’s how she reassured herself.
Then she saw the direction the demons were flowing. They must be pursuing pacio, so Kaiton must be on the end of their direction. Muriel ran with all her might.
“KAITON!”
At Muriel’s scream-like cry, Kaiton’s eyes widened in surprise, turning towards her. He looked both shocked and frightened as to why she was here. Clinging to his hand, trembling and begging for his life, was a man whose face was pale, as if from having much of his pacio drained by the sculpture of Ur. Around them, demons waited like hyenas ready to pounce on discarded rotten meat. At the center of it, Kaiton looked every bit the Demon King. The wicked Demon King Ur who callously snatched pacio, the blessing of God, and commanded demons and monsters with impunity.
“What the hell are you doing!”
Muriel’s anger erupted at the foolishness. She knew how kind and thoughtful Kaiton was. She understood that his black eyes could not keep them off the lonely and suffering. In reality, although he tended to be spiteful and full of resentment, he had a strong sense of responsibility towards those around him. She feared that he would suffer forever through this ordeal. She couldn’t bear the thought of him not forgiving himself, giving up in self-hatred and contempt..
“Come here, quickly… Kaiton!!”
However, despite the turmoil in his eyes, Kaiton stubbornly refused to let go of the fragment. When Muriel appeared, the man who had been limp started to scream and struggle. He desperately reached out to Muriel, begging her to save him, to get this monster off him.
The more desperate and earnest his pleas were, the more goosebumps Muriel felt. It made her realize even more how absurd and unforgivable Kaiton’s actions were. How could he ever be forgiven for this sin? It seemed hopeless. And yet, unable to abandon Kaiton, she tried to steady her heart and tremulously extended her hand to him.
“Please… stop this, okay? Come to me, now.”
“This is the real me.”
As Kaiton let him go, the man ran off in confusion, only to be captured by the hungry demons after a few steps, turning into a pale specter.
“Now that I’m in this hell, I understand it. How funny it was that I coveted you. I am not suited for you.”
“You don’t have to bear this alone… The people of the estate have all come together. We’ve even brought Divine gifts. Together, we can solve this. Let’s clean this place up and start over. The two of us… let’s live a normal life.”
Kaiton embraced Muriel. She thought she had succeeded in convincing him as he held her tightly in his cherished, as if not wanting to let go for a single moment.
“I’m sorry my love was so inadequate. You are all that is left for me, and so all I have is this wretched, powerless love… therefore, I can’t give you what you want. I can’t bear to see you suffer because of me. I wanted to be a hero who helps you… but in the end, I’m just a villain.”
“No…!”
But it was an illusion. As a searing pain tore through her chest, a giant magic circle enveloped around Muriel and Kaiton. The blinding golden light that emanated from it was the seal of the contract binding Kaiton and Muriel’s pacio.
The unbreakable lock that seemed impossible to get rid off without Muriel’s consent was shattering. A powerful black shadow consumed the golden magic circle at will, gradually eroding it, and the power of the fading contract eventually lost its strength and vanished.
Kaiton slowly retrieved Uru’s fragment. In his hand, the black Pasio was tightly coiled, emanating the shape of a perfectly restored single bead that was Uru’s fragment.
“Don’t forget me. From the moment we met, you were my world and everything in it… If you forget, I cease to exist. So please, don’t forget me, Mure.”
Kaiton’s sad eyes looking down. Lips that briefly touched hers for a moment but parted without lingering regret. Looking at all this, Muriel glanced at striking blue earrings that caught her attention, feeling a sense of foreboding.
Looking down at Kaiton’s sad eyes, lips that briefly touched but parted without regret, Muriel glanced at the striking blue earring, feeling a foreboding sense. While she belatedly attempted to embrace him, she was swept away to the other side by the tide of the powerful force emitted by Ur’s fragment.
The pitch-black Ur’s fragment shattered. As the shockwave spread, the darkness imprisoned within the fragment dispersed far and wide. The pale specters could not withstand the force of the time that God’s blessing had disappeared into. Like vampires seeing sunlight turned into cold ashes, demons confined in the darkness started to turn into smoke and erode away.
Sharan’s soldiers, who’d arrived at the gruesome scene belatedly, were too bewildered to comprehend what had happened. It seemed as if darkness had turned the world upside down, and a black star seemed to rise, obscuring the sun.
“I-It’s… the Star of Calamity, Sharan…!”
“What are you talking about?! How can the Star of Calamity be rising already!”
“B-But, Lord Eklum. That is undoubtedly the Star of Calamity… We must flee, Sharan. The time of the demons is approaching!”
The guardians following Sharans could not believe their eyes. They were the ones who had tried to protect the kingdom with light. They believed only the divine gifts and their radiant pacio could defeat the demons. However, the sight before them betrayed their faith. This day, the Star of Calamity, one that stole pacio, had saved the kingdom from being devoured by demons. No, that couldn’t be. The guardians quickly fled the darkness, shaking off the ominousness.
Thud.
Stirred from her momentary daze by the impact, Muriel awoke to find herself being nudged by a semi-transparent white Fenrir.
“K-Kaiton…?”
At first, she thought it was Kaiton. No, she hoped it was Kaiton. However, the semi-transparent white creature that appeared was Fenrir, Kaiton’s familiar. Fenrir, who seemed to be unable to respond, dug in with his head and gently lifted Muriel onto its back. Limping a little, Fenrir carried her to where her companions had been looking for her.
She almost sobbed.
You sent Fenrir to save me like this. Even with your life at stake, you thought of me.
Fenrir was a creature that fed on Kaiton’s pacio and grew. The fact that Fenrir’s presence seemed to fade as if it could disappear at any moment indicated that Kaiton’s condition was also critical.
“Kaiton… I need to go to Kaiton. He’s alone. He’ll be waiting for me.”
“What do you mean? Where’s Kaiton, Captain? He killed all the demons, didn’t he?”
“There’s no time for this, Sadie. We’ve got to get going. The demons will swarm in. That’s a real Star of Calamity. Look, we can’t even use magic. We need to get out of here quickly.”
“No, I can’t. I can’t. I can’t…”
Eventually, the nightmare became a reality. Kaiton would be lying alone on the cold floor waiting for her. She thought there was still plenty of time… but the terrible future had arrived without warning. As Muriel rushed towards where the demons were pouring out, Ondal followed and grabbed her, refusing to let go.
“No, Muriel. I can’t lose you too…!”
“Kaiton… he’s still alive. Look. Fen is by our side too…”
As if trampling on Muriel’s hopes, Fenrir’s body became more and more transparent, vanishing like snow meeting the sun.
“No… don’t go, please…”
Experiencing disaster through a nightmare was undoubtedly horrifying and harrowing, but it was nothing like now. Her heart felt so numb that there was no doubt on whether this was a dream or reality. It felt like a sharp, heavy needle was piercing her chest, blocking her breath.
If only it felt like a dream… if the distinction between dream and reality had blurred… However, Muriel, who always returned to reality when it concerned Kaiton, found herself vividly aware of the horrible reality.
Kaiton was gone.
I picked this series up once because it was funny
I made a playlist for this series btw! Since I’ Y6QJGRF1B5Em so normal about it AAAAGH. You can access it here. Let me know if you think it fits! ^^
