99 – 99. Entwined Prophecies
[“Kahahahaha, indeed, you are the worst-!!!”]
The distorted heretic finished his provocation to Jegang with a triumphant laugh.
In the eerie and endless battlefield, crafted from the screams of beings hardened by thick blood, his voice echoed.
As the buildings in the form of screaming figures cracked in response to the man’s voice that overturned everything, the betrayed heretic sniffed indifferently.
[“They simply showed us a different future from what the elders dreamed of.”]
A man with clear gray eyes like a rebel leader shrugged his shoulders, holding a vial resembling an eyeball filled with something burning white.
True to his rise through betraying the most precious, he eyed the distorted heretic who provocatively informed Jegang of the current situation.
[“There’s a limit to plundering!!! To easily seize the essence of the elders who fell for false promises and rise unscathed! Kahahahaha!”]
[“…What we needed was their essence. I wanted to see where the children would go before becoming the pieces required for the prophecy.”]
To fulfill the prophecy, the heretic needed the essence of the elders who led the Changchunma, the founder of the Changgeum Guild, one of the chosen ones directly inheriting the power of the demon.
He had promised the elders eternal flesh in exchange for their essence and then betrayed them.
And as soon as the deal was sealed, he deceived the elders with the distorted heretic, seizing their essence.
Left as mere husks, the elders might have faced extinction, pushing their children forward one last time.
With only their sanctity remaining, they met death as if ascending.
[“Kuhuhu, truly the worst of betrayers. Leaving their sanctity behind, is that the last shred of conscience?”]
[“It’s insurance. The Changgeum Guild needs to be preserved until the prophecy is fulfilled.”]
[“hahahahaha!!! Truly despicable and incomparable!!! Planning to reveal the truth of the elders only after everything has collapsed!!”]
[“There’s hardly anything as satisfying as being betrayed by the last lifeline in despair.”]
As the heretic finished speaking, he tossed the glass vial shaped like an eyeball, containing the essence of the elders, to the heretic, instructing him to deliver it to the Pope.
And as the devout worshipers of Ma Shin gradually moved to execute the prophecy from behind.
“Cough, cough, why… why am I… I’m a mage, why…”
Erin was struggling while making dying sounds at the training grounds of the Changgeum Guild.
But there was someone who did not allow this.
“Once more, rookie.”
Rockser was conducting maintenance and training before venturing into the underworld.
“Why do we need to capture the Thief Guild and establish the Villain Guild’s achievements?”
“Back in the day, I probably aimed for an early graduation, but I guess I’m a slowpoke after all, short in stature, small-headed, and maybe even small-brained.”
With a very strict, solemn, and serious expression, Roxer looked down at Erin.
“Hey!! Don’t call me a slowpoke!!!”
“Is that so? Then…”
As Erin asserted herself, Roxer hesitated on how to address her.
“Get up, wench, this isn’t your boudoir.”
“…Just call me a slowpoke, you crazy man.”
With those words, Erin was pushed to her limits.
Finally rising from her seat, Erin asked amidst the many others, “Why am I the one among all these people?”
“Look over there.”
“Sielle? Yeah…? What’s she doing?”
Sielle was astonished watching Rica and Jane’s attacks being absorbed bare-handed during training.
“Well, whether she has some inherent cognitive ability or not, her tanking skills are no joke.”
Sielle had become considerably tougher from enduring the aftermath of attacks from Jane and Rica rampaging after Misseltaine was absorbed by Roxer, sharing the recoil, and alleviating Roxer’s pain.
Getting hit on the buttocks, back, and occasionally the chest or abdomen by an awakened Roxer had made her quite sturdy.
Thanks to her strengthening, Sielle had the pretext to come every night and engage in mischief.
Seeing Roxer getting carried away at times and almost crossing the line, it was clear it wasn’t just a casual act.
“…Pervert, trash, scumbag.”
“Suddenly?”
The issue was whether Erin and Rica were already aware of that fact.
Rica, only crossing the line with Roxer while he was asleep, was keeping her desires in check, which was somewhat acceptable.
Erin, feeling extremely jealous and irritated with herself for being envious, felt annoyed for no reason.
“Anyway, you should also be on the chopping block… Well, aside from combat, your utility is overwhelmingly impressive.”
“Hey, you guys are too strong.”
Erin, holding Roxer’s hand, got up while grumbling.
She, too, was well aware of her shortcomings.
Of course, she was exceptional compared to others, but compared to those nobles who constantly defied common sense, she was nothing special.
‘…Should I try the forbidden method Grandma told me about?’
Whether it was because Erin was tired or lost in thought, she blushed and glanced at Roxer with a fluttering heart.
In a moment, Roxer flinched at the predatory look in her eyes.
‘No, if I make a mistake, who knows what that guy will say.’
Exhaling a sigh of resignation, Erin lowered her head.
In that moment, Roxer seemed to realize that Erin also needed to grow and pondered on a solution.
Recalling the method used to train close combat mages in the original work, he thought, ‘Hmm… maybe it’s faster to go to the other world and head to that dungeon…? Especially since I received a message from the looters.’
Nodding his head, Roxer chuckled.
Erin felt somewhat uneasy at the inexplicable laughter, wondering if she had said something wrong.
But it seemed too late, as Roxer’s peculiar gaze was fixed on her.
“Why, why what? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Sweating profusely, Erin, feeling uneasy about her sports bra showing through, shivered.
“True sorcerers are said to be forged through excruciating pain in the head, right?”
“T-that’s correct?”
“Yeah, training’s over. It’s real now.”
Erin realized she misspoke from his expression, but it was too late.
Rockser, claiming it was just a short time, prepared to leave with Erin clinging to him in a daze.
Just as they were about to leave with the promise of support from the leader of the Rebel Army, getting ready with their bags alongside the women.
“…? Oh, isn’t that Sir Jane’s father?”
“……”
For some reason, as Rockser came out of the bathroom, he ran into him.
Surprised that Rockser knew even this without foreseeing the future, he followed his lead.
But something was off about the place.
“Isn’t this the Elder Council? Why is…?”
As Rockser questioned, Jegang opened a large gate made of numerous swords on each side.
Silently gesturing to follow, they continued up the stairs to a place where white candles burned on altars, making Rockser startle.
Near the candles, he felt something unpleasant, even at the top of the Elder Council, something he had never seen or felt before.
“On the day Jane was appointed as the leader, the elders suddenly ascended.”
“!”
“Isn’t it strange? That’s why you’re jumpy.”
Jegang spoke with certainty that something was amiss.
“Though you are a married man…”
“Ah, father?”
Bowing his head to Rockser, he began to speak, entrusting his daughter to him to find his son and wife who were taken to the Forest of the Dead by Jegang.
Rockser, playing the main game, recalled countless encounters with the followers of the Dark God.
Even skipping through the story, it was hard to believe they cooperated with such a shady group.
A thought flickered through Rockser’s mind.
“…When exactly did your wife and son get taken to the Forest of the Dead?”
Upon hearing it was 15 years, 5 months, and 13 days ago, Rockser stiffened.
The trials he faced in the realm of the mind to test the mask of a hero were real events.
Investigating further, Rockser confirmed that the exact date was 15 years, 5 months ago.
And the faint distorted power lingering in the space.
“Ah, so that’s what happened.”
Only then did Rockser realize that everything from the day of his parents’ death and facing the dreadful monster alone as a child was orchestrated by the Dark God’s followers.
He now understood that the recent ascension of the elders was also their doing.
“What exactly is that prophecy? It’s the prophecy of the founder.”
Rockser asked about the prophecy of the Changgeum family with a stern face.
“The prophecy was that three keys, lost along with the relic, would appear with the essence that had been preserved through eternal ages.”