Chapter 323: Long, Long Ago (1)

Kiiiiiiik!

Igor slammed on the brakes.

Rose hurriedly grabbed the back of the front seat to keep from pitching forward. Yoow, sitting in the passenger seat, buried his head straight into the glove box.

They sensed it at the same time.

The woman slowly straightened her upper body and muttered,

“It spiked again, didn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Igor floored the accelerator.

Vroooooom!

Yoow’s slender upper body was thrown backward this time.

Thud!

He slammed his head loudly into the passenger headrest, but no one paid it any mind.

Igor tore at the steering wheel.

“Fucking sons of bitches.”

“Not yet.”

Yoow muttered darkly.

“Not enough time has passed for complete removal. If it’s absorbed, it can recover. Hilde is a child of the World Tree, after all.”

“I know.”

Rose replied without emotion.

The veins standing out on Igor’s forearms were vivid—he was doing well not to crush the steering wheel outright.

Staring ahead through the windshield without expression, Rose murmured,

“Did you explain it to Saint Deltei?”

“No.”

“She must be trembling with anxiety.”

The three were driving through a dense forest devoid of any sign of human presence. After passing several stretches deemed part of the enemy’s activity range, traces of people dwindled rapidly. Only the clear cries of birds and the sound of beasts tearing through undergrowth filled the space.

They continued to race toward the blinking point on the GPS.

They were relieved the signal hadn’t cut out.

A tiny glimmer, showing them a light of hope.

“We just have to bring him back alive.”

Igor muttered ominously.

“It’s not the first time we’ve waited.”

Yoow and Rose expressed their understanding through grim silence.

On the final day of the First War, Hildebert disappeared.

It was the day Rei died. The day Kyle’s presence faded—faintly, impossibly faintly. What exactly happened that day, Hilde would never know. Who lost consciousness, who fell—he could only ever guess at fragments.

Those who went looking for the returned Hilde never spoke of that day.

Only Yoow ground his teeth over it.

The others kept silent. They knew all too well that if Hilde learned the truth, he would be tormented by guilt.

Many collapsed, believing Hilde was dead.

Yvon, one of the knights under Hilde’s command, was among them. Yvon, who had been in a coma throughout the war, briefly regained consciousness after it ended.

And then realized that Hilde’s presence could not be felt.

Kyle’s presence could still be sensed, faintly, far off in the distance—but Hilde’s could not.

“Did we lose?”

“We won the war.”

“But the Commander....”

That was the exchange between the awakened Yvon and Deltei.

Igor, who had listened in silence at their side, remembered the unfathomable despair frosting over the senior knight’s eyes.

“The Commander is gone, isn’t he.”

“We don’t know yet. We searched thoroughly, but no body was found.”

“He must have turned to ash and scattered.”

Yvon was a knight who followed Hilde with astonishing devotion.

No one knew how that loyalty had come to be. Neither Hilde nor Yvon were the type to speak of it.

But Yvon had always been more realistic than Noel.

He likely couldn’t cling to hope that seemed futile.

“At least we’ll get to see him soon.”

“No.”

Deltei had begged, crying.

“Stay on Earth with us and wait for his return.”

Yvon didn’t remain conscious for long.

Should they take comfort in the fact that he was smiling when he closed his eyes, saying he would go to meet Hilde?

Igor and Deltei never intended to tell Hilde about Yvon’s end.

Even with a blade at their throats, they would not speak of it.

Nor of the many others who had collapsed.

Nor of how, for the half century in which he did not return, those who believed in his survival were treated as if something was wrong with their minds.

Those who gradually forgot Hilde’s name....

Among them, only a few continued to hold onto hope.

As time passed, they clutched that fading possibility like madmen.

Hilde’s presence had been severed differently from Rei’s. When Rei’s presence vanished, everyone knew the Empire’s youngest Swordmaster had met his end.

But Hilde’s presence hadn’t been cut off.

It had disappeared.

So for a time, they speculated that Hilde had been abducted by Kyle’s side, kept alive with his presence erased by magic.

They soon learned that wasn’t the case.

Fifty years of waiting.

“The Saint can believe and wait through this much.”

Igor muttered ominously.

“I’ll kill every last one of those fucking bastards.”

The old car they’d picked up off the street screamed in agony as it raced on.

***

The black-haired knight-commander’s blade was black and destructive.

Every creature whose control Kairos had seized was shredded by claw-like sword strikes, meeting its end. Sand, flesh, and blood burst into the air.

Watching the remnants of death scatter like fireworks, Kairos let out a hollow laugh.

There was a reason he had been called the Empire’s Sharpened Claw.

His sword strikes were like the talons of a colossal dragon.

They spread outward, carving deep scars into the land. Everything in their path was sliced apart with ruthless sharpness.

Kairos’s left eye was no exception.

He’d dodged well three or four times, at least.

Pshhk!

With a sharp pain, blood sprayed.

A mistake.

Kairos closed his left eye and smiled bitterly.

His attention had slipped for an instant.

The moment he sharply sensed Hilde’s presence, he had reflexively turned his head—that had been the fatal error. Kyle was an opponent who demanded unbroken focus every second; letting his guard down for even a moment made this outcome inevitable.

Kyle laughed sharply.

“So that disgustingly sensitive sixth sense of yours became your undoing.”

The knight flicked his blade, shaking the blood from it.

Kairos soothed Milk’s whimpering presence in the distance and the angel flapping its wings behind him through his sixth sense, then looked at Kyle.

Golden eyes flickering with rage.

The man who had been an object of terror to those outside the Empire adjusted his stance.

“Don’t worry. Your presence will be cut off soon as well.”

“Yeah. In this state, I definitely can’t win.”

Kairos muttered, making no move to wipe the blood pouring from his eye.

He hadn’t expected to. Facing the Black Knight-Commander with half-baked creatures like these was arrogance. Kyle was someone you couldn’t see a path to victory against even if you fought alongside a Fire Dragon.

“I’ll have to run.”

Dragging the Remnant Wraith with me.

“Go on, try.”

Kyle curled his lips as if he’d heard something amusing.

“Watching you run should be quite the sight.”

The thief snowflake was, in truth, a very dangerous creature.

Terrified as it was, once every ten years it could fire a cannon rivaling the Remnant Wraith’s.

Before the negotiations, when Hilde had heard Kairos’s strategy, he had reluctantly judged, “With that, you might be able to escape from Kyle or the Remnant Wraith.” Hilde was not someone who spoke empty hopes. His assessments were usually accurate.

And he knew better than anyone how to deal with Kyle, his lifelong rival.

“Captain!”

Someone shouted sharply.

“Watch out for the thief snowflake!”

“Ami.”

Kairos whispered into the communicator hooked over his ear.

[Yeah.]

“Milk—”

He didn’t get to finish.

Boom-boom-boom-BOOOOM!

A destructive roar.

One of the Empire’s great calamities went on a rampage.

As Kairos and Kyle snapped their heads around, the Remnant Wraith’s beam flooded the surroundings.

***

It’s not as painful as I thought.

I blinked.

It felt strange, but—

It wasn’t as despairing as I’d been told.

Maybe because the constant chorus of resentment had gone silent.

Whatever the reason, it was bearable, which was a relief. Still, this vast absence of sensation was unfamiliar, and I thrashed my slackened body. Maybe changing position would make something different.

Nothing changed.

Clyde continued the procedure calmly.

Pain that felt distant.

As I lay buried in it without moving, the mages spoke at some point.

“Hurry it up, executioner. We need to extract memories from that traitor’s brain.”

“Against a Swordmaster and a child of the World Tree, no less. You’re aware of how dangerous that is—we explained it beforehand. If you don’t drain him by removing the vein network, Hildebert will definitely break the magic and escape mid-process. Your heads will be rolling across the cave floor.”

The tone of explanation was flat.

“But if you complete the vein-removal procedure by the book, you’ll be able to extract the memories without worry.”

A sharp pain ran along the back of my neck.

“A body stripped of its core organs requires a long time to recover.”

I heard Clyde place his surgical tools back onto the tray.

This is really something—keeps poking at memories I shoved into a corner.

I frowned, struggling not to be swallowed by the past that kept flickering up. I had to keep my head straight and escape from here with Jin. I also needed to catch any scraps of information the mages might let slip.

If only this sense of déjà vu would stop, it’d be much easier.

The silence didn’t help me focus, either.

But you can’t have a seizure here, Hildebert.

And definitely not a rampage.

You never know when the seniors will arrive....

***

Kiiiiiiik!

With a loud screech, two vehicles came to a halt.

Old cars stopping just short of a collision.

If either had braked a second later, it would have been a massive crash—but no one was startled or angry.

People spilled out of the cars that left behind long skid marks.

“This is it.”

“What the hell is this.”

Yoow muttered darkly, and Ruta Ayer frowned as he looked ahead.

They all stared at the same thing with grim expressions.

A beautiful landscape spread out before them. The feel of the wind changed, dazzling sunlight shattered across the scene. From the open field, the scent of grass and plants rose up.

The greenery was more vivid than before.

Those who poured out of the cars stared ahead with burning eyes.

“A crude maze created by mages.”

The strategist assessed.

“Which means Hilde is beyond this.”

“Some kind of hallucination?”

Yun asked in a dry voice.

Yoow let out a deep sigh.

“Something like that. The form is crude, but it’s an effective defensive barrier. It has something in common with the creature Voice of Dreams. Humans call it the ‘Ashen Mantle.’”

“Mental-attack type?”

Asil Fiscer muttered, frowning.

“Is there a separate core we have to kill?”

When the silver-haired Badger asked, the black-haired strategist gave a concise explanation.

There were two ways to break the magic.

The first: find the mage and kill them.

The second: kill whatever obstacle this magic presents before you.

If they passed through the plain daisies blooming in the grass, each person would face their own enemy. The obstacle that appeared would differ for each individual. It might be the person they most dreaded facing, the thing they feared most—or the one they had loved most.

“If someone has a phobia, it’s easier to predict what will appear.”

Yoow said blandly.

“Those with severe phobias usually can’t get ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ past that barrier.”

“What happens if they can’t?”

“They either pass out or get sent back here.”

“What if you hurt yourself or try to distract your mind—does the hallucination disappear?”

“We’ve tried everything. Almost nothing works. Killing the obstacle that appears before you is the fastest and easiest method.”

Having finished speaking, Yoow strode straight toward the daisies.

Igor and Rose followed close behind the strategist.

Of the three walking into the magical barrier, only Igor turned his head to look at the humans.

“Follow if you want. There’s nothing we can do for you here.”

As the tall man stepped beside the daisies, the front of his foot vanished from view.

The Titan who had left the Core to save Hilde, likely the most compassionate of them all.

Yun nodded and followed after them.

What choice did they have? They had to pass through here no matter what, and this was the only known method.

Whatever happened afterward was something the Badgers who followed would have to deal with on their own.

Yun spoke calmly.

“Follow.”

There were no objections or questions.

The Badgers ran toward the flowers that didn’t sway even in the cool breeze.