Chapter 18

‘I know the Sky Crystal Helm is here, but I have no way of knowing the trial’s content.’

It was a matter of course.

No matter how much of a regressor he was, he couldn’t remember something he hadn’t experienced.

The Sky Crystal Helm was discovered at the old temple site; that was the extent of his memory.

‘But it’s obvious. Wouldn’t they just have set up some cliché traps and a moderately strong monster?’

Just then, the floor gave way.

Noticing the sign, I stepped back and spears shot out from the wall.

I didn’t bother to block them.

The Valziart on my skin moved like a living thing, deflecting the spearheads.

It continued like this.

Boulders rolled, floors collapsed, or spears, arrows, and flames poured down.

Originality, 0 points. Unpredictability, 0 points.

Danger, 20 points at best!

It was a series of traps that deserved a failing grade overall.

“Then again, the sense of mages is all like that. Sen Sorti was the same way.”

It was a remark that would have made Sen Sorti or Dean Hermai grab him by the hair without hesitation.

But unfortunately, they were not here.

I chuckled and continued on my way.

The passage was widening.

At first, it hadn’t been spacious even for an eleven-year-old child, but now it seemed it wouldn’t be too cramped even for Secundus.

The frequency of traps had decreased, and a faint light was leaking from ahead.

“No traps, and light ahead. Now if only an unnaturally large cavern appears… just as I thought!”

An unnaturally large cavern greeted me.

I marveled at Dean Hermai’s lack of originality.

“Really, you never deviate from expectations. If I just catch a moderately strong monster here… oh.”

My feet, which were about to step into the cavern, stopped.

A giant form was crouched on the cavern’s ceiling, emitting an indescribable light.

The light brought a sense of déjà vu, and I quickly ducked.

“…I’ve seen that before……”

I cautiously observed the form crouched on the ceiling.

Holding my breath so that it wouldn’t notice me.

At first glance, it looked like an egg with a white shell, but it wasn’t.

That wasn’t a shell, but six wings.

Each one looked to be three times my size, and they continuously emitted a divine light.

“…Os-Kerub. An angel-form magi-soldier.”

How could I forget those brilliant wings?

That soldier, modeled after the celestial army, was a war machine developed in a generation even before Sen Sorti.

It was so dangerous that its use was banned from all battlefields on the continent long ago.

“The Succession War, a contest where princes and princesses compete and you bring an Os-Kerub?”

I spat out a curse.

“Hermai Merhes, that crazy old man!”

“…This is troublesome.”

I had fought an Os-Kerub before.

Was it on the Pereijeu Plains?

Or the Bolsyen River Basin?

All that was clear was that a cornered enemy had awakened three Os-Kerubs and a force of over three thousand had quickly melted into a pool of blood.

The screams from that time were so vivid that I clicked my tongue.

“It’ll be easy and fast, alright. The path to the underworld, that is.”

The Os-Kerub roamed the empty space leisurely with its eyes closed.

Even though it hadn’t been activated yet, its presence weighed down on him.

It wasn’t a forbidden war machine for nothing.

“At least… it’s still in a dormant state.”

Look at the face with its eyes gently closed between the six wings.

It meant the Os-Kerub was still in a deep sleep.

What did it matter if it possessed fearsome killing power, as long as it hadn’t opened its eyes?

Black mud covered my body.

“If I can get out before it activates……”

[Cheruuuu-]

“…I thought I could!”

A low, divine moan echoed.

Even if it was a false divinity, it had dignity.

The activation sound flowing with a sacred rhythm was the symbol of the Os-Kerub.

At the center of the six wings that enveloped the rhythm, the angel’s face slowly opened its eyes.

“Ah, really.”

The angel-form soldier looked at me.

It wore a peaceful smile, like a baby.

It was a face so serene it seemed inorganic, but I knew.

The Os-Kerub had already recognized me as an enemy.

“Dammit all.”

Six wings cut through the air.

A flash of light, and feathers fell.

They fluttered down slowly, with the leisure of fallen leaves or petals in their season.

The feathers landed on the ground and then a white light scattered violently.

Before the feathers touched the ground, I had already covered my body with Valziart.

Thanks to that, I was able to protect myself from the scattering white light.

Ripples formed on the black surface of the mana armor.

If it hadn’t been for Valziart, the white light would have torn my whole body to shreds.

[CHER, HERH. CRUM.]

The six-winged false angel spouted words of unknown meaning and continued to shed its feathers.

Dozens, hundreds of feathers, each of which had left a ripple on Valziart’s surface.

Clad in black armor, I let out a small sigh.

“No one to help, and of course, no one watching.”

Faint hands floated about.

Their number was seventeen.

Four more than when I faced Valziart.

“Thankfully.”

Fantasy Finger.

The first Ars of the Septem Arcana.

White feathers poured down, but their trajectory bent in mid-air, unable to reach.

It was because invisible hands were preventing them from reaching their master.

The presence of the Os-Kerub, which had been blankly watching its feathers become useless, changed.

[CERUM-]

The false angel slowly opened its mouth.

From it shot out a white spear, sharply bladed on both sides.

The spear tip was aimed at me.

I was about to dodge it but stopped and raised my head.

Hadn’t I obtained the mana armor and never properly used it?

“I could dodge, but that would be a shame.”

The black mud swelled even more.

Thicker and thicker, it eventually formed a surface like black scales.

A white feather fell upon it.

The same kind of ripple as before did not form.

Seeing it completely undamaged, I said softly.

“What’s the point of having new clothes if you can’t show them off once?”

Clad in Valziart, I took the form of a beast.

I did not dodge.

Soon, the white spear was spat out and fell.

The seventeen ‘Fantasy Fingers’ and the black armor confronted the white light, which was like a meteor shower.

—!!!

A flash of light without sound.

A brilliant white, then it subsided.

The white spear disappeared into a halo of light, and I looked down at my hand.

The surface of my skin was slightly peeled.

That was all.

The black armor quickly covered it again.

‘Valziart! More than satisfactory!’

The Os-Kerub’s double-bladed spear boasted the power to turn even several layers of steel to ash in an instant.

Moreover, its power was a natural enemy to Valziart.

And yet, it ended with just a little peeling skin.

I smiled in satisfaction.

I could see the Os-Kerub about to spit out another spear.

“Still.”

I kicked off the air.

At least, that’s what it looked like.

It was because I had stepped on a ‘Fantasy Finger’.

“I’ve played enough.”

My form swirled through the air.

The Os-Kerub’s eyes busily followed me, but eventually lost me.

The false angel rolled its eyes, searching for me.

Its face was awkwardly stiff like a centuries-old sacred painting, but its eyes were frantically busy.

I walked leisurely on the cavern ceiling, behind the angel.

The Os-Kerub didn’t realize it until I was right behind it.

“Go back to sleep.”

[-CERU!!!]

I was faster than the false angel’s cry of alarm.

A long shadow blade had extended from my arm.

The blade pierced the Os-Kerub’s eye, and the core beyond it.

[…ch …eruu…….]

A sound like air being let out.

The false angel’s eyes lost their light, and its wings turned into a cocoon again.

It would remain in that chrysalis-like state until it recovered from the fatal damage.

Decades, perhaps centuries.

Sheathing the shadow blade, I muttered.

“Easy and fast, I guess?”

“Was I a novice the last time I met an Os-Kerub?”

It was so terrifying back then.

I was lost in thought for a moment.

It must have been about 12 or 13 years ago.

Before I even had the surname Pollinglight, around the time I was doing common mercenary work.

The memory of crawling on the floor to avoid the Os-Kerub’s feathers was vivid.

“Indeed, it’s just a thing of the past.”

I moved on.

Past the Os-Kerub, to the end of the path.

There were a few more traps.

They were still obvious.

The floor would drop, or a rain of fire would pour down.

There was no reason not to pass through them easily and quickly.

I soon reached the end.

There was nowhere further to go, and a splendid altar greeted me.

On it was a helmet decorated with jewels.

Anyone could see it was one of the ten Treasures of the Succession War.

“So both paths were the right answer after all.”

Looking back, I saw another path.

From that path, I could hear a thud, thud, sound.

It was still far, but getting closer.

It must be the sound of Secundus Debius passing his trial.

Secundus would probably burst out soon.

“How mean! Writing it as if only one path was the answer.”

I grumbled as I examined the Treasure.

The helmet glittered with a transparent blue light, as if the sky had been condensed into it.

The scent of mana was also thick.

It was clear that Hermai Merhes had put in a great deal of effort.

“H-mm. The Sky Crystal Helm! It can’t hold a candle to Valziart, but it’s still a pretty good item.”

I didn’t touch it.

Possession would probably be decided from that moment.

I twisted the corner of my mouth up.

“-Well, brother Secundus isn’t here yet and I have no obligation to wait.”

It had only been a few days since we had become allies.

There was no brotherly affection either.

In the first place, wasn’t the Succession War a fight among siblings?

Neither Kateka nor Secundus held any special meaning to me.

“If I take this and go back alone, my, that’s two Treasures already!”

I could take the sole lead among the eight princes and princesses.

It would be a great leap towards victory in the Succession War.

It was worth enduring the checks from the other siblings, no matter how scary.

A deep smile lingered on my lips.

“What should I do?”

***

“…Hmm.”

Secundus let out a groan.

It was because his half-brother was greeting him brightly.

“You’re here now, brother?”

“You’re fast, Zionis.”

“It was the easy and fast path, after all.”

The muscular prince was a little perplexed.

He had naturally assumed he would arrive faster than me.

Even if he had taken the difficult and slow path.

After all, he was Secundus Debius.

“……”

The eight princes and princesses who inherited the blood of the Great Emperor Continua.

Among them, Secundus boasted the strongest physique.

He had run here, breaking walls and tearing monsters apart, but to think he had fallen behind this Zionis!

“Well then, brother.”

I gestured.

A nonchalant smile on my lips.

“Go ahead and take the Treasure.”

“……”

My hand seemed to be urging him forward.

Towards the splendid helmet at the end of the path, the Treasure of the Succession War.

Secundus looked back and forth between me and the helmet.

His eyes sank heavily.

“…It’s hard to understand, Zionis.”

“What is hard to understand, brother?”

“You should have had plenty of time.”

“Hmm? Plenty for what? Your question is a bit vague.”

Secundus threw a question, but I playfully deflected it.

I just smiled as if I were a child.

So Secundus had no choice but to ask again.

“I’m saying it would have been enough time to take the Treasure and then run away from me.”

Secundus’s senses were sharper and more sensitive than a wild animal’s.

That’s why he had noticed that I had arrived a long time ago.

And that’s why he was perplexed.

“Why didn’t you do that?”

The question was heavy.

Laden with many meanings, it pierced sharply.

But I deflected it again with a smile.

“Is suspicion the reward for loyalty? I’m disappointed, brother. Isn’t brotherly affection a good enough answer?”

“Brotherly affection between us? It would be nice if it were worth a single coin.”

“How blunt.”

The smile I wore was that of a liar.

It had a shamelessness that didn’t even try to hide the intent to deceive.

Secundus clenched his fist.

It was a monstrous strength that could pierce steel.

It could easily crush the skull of the eleven-year-old me.

“Answer me, Zionis. What are you plotting? Why are you yielding the Treasure to me?”

Secundus was a man of monstrous strength.

He was genuinely prepared to bloody his hands with my blood.

I had only unlocked one Septem Arcana and I wasn’t used to Valziart yet.

The current me was no match for him.

But the life I had lived was too rough to tremble in fear.

“That fist is my answer. It’s a fist too heavy for me to handle.”

“…You were afraid of my retaliation if you had taken the Treasure and run away?”

“How could I not be?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

I was the returned hero.

I had crossed 19 years of time.

But there was no way Secundus would know that.

In the eyes of others, I was just the eleven-year-old Zionis.

“Isn’t it natural for someone like me, with no faction or anything, to fear you, brother?”

“Ridiculous……!”

Secundus, who was about to shout, suppressed his emotions.

“…Hmm, no, that’s not it……”

I was lying.

It was absolutely clear.

How could that attitude be that of someone who was afraid?

But there was no evidence to expose the lie.

And no reason to.

“…You’re playing a very sweet trick.”

I could not know my scheme.

But there was nothing bad in it for Secundus.

“Why do you think something sweet must be a trick?”

“Because it’s too sweet.”

“Isn’t that a matter of taste? I like things that are overly sweet.”

A deep, deep smile.

That of a liar.

It was ominous and unsettling, but it made refusal impossible.

“Now, brother. Go ahead and take the Treasure.”

Shion Pollinglight’s eyes are blue.

I had thought they were just clear, but now they had a sinister, eerie glint.

I urged Secundus on.

“This isn’t the time for my petty schemes to matter, is it? You also have to think of brother Kateka, who is holding off sister Leniar alone outside.”

“Ha, you, Zionis……”

Secundus moved.

He had no choice.

No matter how suspicious I was, the situation demanded that he take the Treasure.

“…Yes. You too are of the Great Emperor’s bloodline.”

Many questions swirled in his mind.

Why did he create this situation, why was he being so obedient, what was his goal, what secrets was he hiding!

But he swallowed them down.

He was the master of a faction, one who dreamed of the throne.

A man who knew how to judge the times.

“I will not ask any further.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“Even if it’s untrustworthy, a victory is a victory.”

He grasped the helmet, the Treasure.

A brilliant light poured out.

News that the Second Prince Secundus had obtained another Treasure would be delivered to the Imperial Palace.

“I’ll put the debt of the yielded Treasure on a tab.”

“As you wish, brother.”

I did not erase my smile.

A disquieting smile that hid who knows how many secrets.

Secundus felt as if he were a puppet.

“Let’s go. We have gotten closer to the Imperial Throne.”

Secundus, having obtained the Treasure, turned and walked away.

His steps had somehow regained their confidence.

I watched my half-brother’s back and smiled.

‘It is better for you to obtain this Treasure, brother Secundus.’

I had already obtained Mana Armor Valziart.

I wasn’t without the confidence to handle another Treasure, but I didn’t want to take unnecessary risks.

By now, a few would have noticed.

That the Fifth Prince Zionis was hiding a secret.

But how would they know what kind of secret it was.

They would not even dare to guess the name of Shion Pollinglight, his desire for the Imperial Throne, the depth of his secret.

So the lies must continue.

‘Because I still need to be an eleven-year-old Zionis.’

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