Chapter 167

Partner

Being exposed to demonic energy was something I, Aiden, had experienced quite often myself.

In the commotion that broke out in the Imperial Capital, hadn’t I even come into direct contact with a Fragment of the Demon God?

“……Hm.”

From that perspective,

what I was experiencing right now was something that would have been quite bewildering even for me.

It was dark.

It didn’t simply end at being dark; it felt as though I had entered a perfect void where not even physical light existed at all.

The moment I reached the summit of Mount Demon Sealing, hadn’t everything around me changed like this?

It was a familiar scene. If I entered the Mental World with Meyer every night and didn’t ‘set’ anything at all, I would end up in a space shaped like this.

Before long, the scene suddenly flipped again.

In a completely different atmosphere from before, the surroundings were filled with people.

This too was a scene I remembered.

It was what I had seen when Rania took me to undergo some kind of spiritual trial before—something about organizing and showing everyone who had formed a bond with me.

“……?”

And just like before,

there was something pitch-black descending from the sky at a terrifying speed toward me.

That black energy, as if malice, killing intent, and every negative thing had been gathered and roughly stitched together into the worst possible form, plunged vertically toward me even faster than it had previously.

“……?!”

Unlike last time, there was no Rania here to pull me out of this.

Even to me, who had overcome countless crises, it wasn’t merely dangerous—my body stiffened all over.

It was the first time I had ever thought that resisting might be utterly futile. That was how overwhelming the momentum of the ‘thing’ I faced was.

My life flashed before my eyes.

Since I had vowed to save the world and return to my family after finishing everything, this was the first time I felt certain I would be crushed without being able to do anything at all.

And before I could even fully process that thought in my right mind,

the situation changed abruptly.

Something else cut in before my eyes.

Unlike before, it was pure white.

Because it intruded into a background that was fundamentally pitch-black, its strangeness stood out all the more. It scattered a brilliance in all directions so intense that merely looking at it made my optic nerves ache from failing to adjust.

It forcefully intercepted the pitch-black thing descending toward me.

The fierce shockwave that burst out as the two collided was distinctly felt even within this bizarre space.

“……!”

Even in this incomprehensible place where nothing made sense, there was at least one thing I could clearly understand.

What was descending from the sky was aiming for me, Aiden—and that white force that had intervened was protecting me.

Though it was difficult even to keep my eyes open, I barely lifted my head and looked up at the white energy above me.

Perhaps because of that effort, I was able to discern a little more clearly what lay ‘inside’ that white energy.

The being dragging along that white energy, which looked like a massive meteor, had an appearance that stirred up ‘something’ from deep within my memories just by looking at it.

It was as if the image surfaced the instant I saw it. The atmosphere was similar. Similar to the atmosphere I had buried in the farthest corner of my mind long ago in order to forget.

And it brought back, all at once, the memories connected to that—

“…….”

The words in my head tangled.

No, not just words. It felt as though the entire will that made up my very personality had been switched off and then turned back on again.

That was how violently the scene I had driven into the depths of my mind surged back up all at once.

A memory.

Memories close to trauma, which I had buried far away, burst up sporadically.

My breathing grew ragged.

With my head spinning, I barely managed to piece together the image of the figure within my sight and let the words slip past my lips.

“……Mother?”

The moment I uttered that—

my consciousness was dragged outward at a terrifying speed.

It was something I had experienced once before.

Sure enough, beyond the consciousness that had been pulled away, I saw a familiar face.

The priestess was staring intently at my face, my head resting on her lap.

“…….”

“…….”

As I lost my words at the improper position I was in, Rania extended her fingers before my eyes.

“……How many do you see?”

“……Three.”

“And this?”

“Two.”

“Your own name?”

“……I’m fine, Priestess.”

“Are you sure?”

“…….”

Seeing the priestess speak so urgently, unlike her usual self, I tilted my head.

Well. It certainly felt like I had almost been swept up in something tremendous just now before being pulled out. But it wasn’t something that warranted this level of overreaction—

“Look at your own face before you say that.”

“…….”

Huh.

Was something wrong?

As I tilted my head again in confusion, Rania operated her mana arts and raised something before my eyes.

It resembled a mirror. Something that allowed me to look directly at my own face.

And when I saw it—

I immediately understood why she had said that.

“You were crying just now.”

“…….”

“You were unconscious, mumbling something incomprehensible in your sleep, and you kept crying.”

“……That’s incredibly embarrassing.”

As I averted my gaze awkwardly, Rania cupped both of my cheeks firmly in her hands.

Her eyes were more serious than ever. As if she intended to hold me in place, unwilling to let me escape from this topic.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“…….”

“You were in danger. You almost completely collapsed just now.”

“…….”

“It wasn’t that you were influenced by something evil. If it had been, I could have at least driven it out.”

“……No, it’s just…….”

……I merely met something that had taken the form of my family.

The sentence I was about to say slid back down into my chest.

Even bringing it out past my lips made the inside of my body ache strangely, and I forced myself to calm that sensation. I barely managed to hang a smile on my face.

“……It’s nothing.”

Saying that, I immediately rose to my feet.

“More importantly, how did you come all the way here? Isn’t this place rather dangerous?”

“…….”

Rania looked at me with worried eyes as I smiled and spoke.

It wasn’t as though I didn’t understand the meaning contained within her gaze.

……No.

At least not now.

I still wasn’t ready to face my past properly.

“…….”

As if she realized that, Rania closed her eyes tightly for a moment, then let out a sigh and stood up as well.

“Let’s head down first.”

From the way she said it, it was clear that she intended to let it go—at least for now.

“I need to hear about what you saw, too.”

▣

After a long silence, the first thing Rania said was this.

“They say that at the very top of Mount Demon Sealing, a part of the Demon God’s body lies dormant.”

More precisely, she explained as we descended the mountain that it had once been the site of a shrine that served him.

The Demon God referred to the God of Devouring, Wornil. Since he was the god of demonkind, that was what they called him as well.

“……You really do cause one massive incident after another, don’t you? If I had known the Great Chieftain set such conditions, I would have stopped you somehow. At the very least, since I was the one who brought you here, you should have consulted me before doing something like that.”

“I didn’t even have time for that.”

“What do you mean you didn’t have time? You couldn’t even make brief contact?”

“How long did it take me to reach the summit of Mount Demon Sealing?”

“…….”

……Roughly 30 minutes.

Considering the Tribal Alliance’s ideology of revering strength, and the matter of inheriting the Great Chieftain’s authority—

It seemed Rania had nothing to refute in that regard. Instead of arguing, she simply shook her head and changed the subject.

“More importantly, tell me what you saw.”

“Pardon?”

“If I hadn’t pulled you out and yet you didn’t have your mind devoured by demonic energy, then something must have intervened and saved you midway. What was it?”

“…….”

“……You don’t have to describe its exact form. It had a color, didn’t it?”

“……White.”

At those words, Rania’s steps faltered.

“……Really?”

“Yes. Does that color mean something?”

“…….”

Instead of answering, Rania silently quickened her pace as she descended the mountain.

“……I’ll have to investigate as well. There aren’t many gods who use white as their symbol, but it’s not as if there’s only one.”

“I see.”

“One thing’s certain. It’s not a god that means you harm. Separate from the god targeting you, it’s one that’s protecting you.”

“…….”

“The one who granted you power is likely that side.”

After continuing that far, Rania spoke again.

“I’ll need to look into its identity a bit, but at least one thing is certain.”

“Yes?”

“It will be taking the form of what you cherished most.”

“…….”

“……More precisely, the form of what you believed was that—and then ‘lost’—”

“Yes. I think I understand.”

She didn’t need to say more.

No one knew better than I did.

Rania’s gaze lowered slightly as she looked at me cutting her off like that.

It seemed she knew she was digging into someone’s deepest wound; pity and guilt were mixed in her expression.

“……More importantly, once you inherit the Great Chieftain’s authority, you’re going to be busy.”

“Yes. It’s certain there are people within the Alliance who don’t think kindly of me.”

Considering they had sent an assassin out of nowhere, that was only natural.

At the very least, I would have to find them and make an example of them.

As I ran those thoughts through my head, Rania tilted her head.

“……What. You don’t know? Why are you worried about that first?”

“…….”

Her words seemed to imply, You’re not in a position to be worrying about that right now—

A chill ran down my spine.

“……Is there something else I should be worried about?”

“Inheriting the Great Chieftain’s authority is only natural, but it’s not something trivial. It’s carried out formally through quite a grand ceremony.”

“Yes.”

“In that ceremony, the person’s ‘fiancée’ is usually designated as their partner.”

“…….”

I already had a feeling why she brought that up.

“……I’m not married right now.”

“That makes it worse.”

“…….”

“If you were already married, that would be one thing. But right now, aren’t you only engaged to Lionhearted?”

“……Yes.”

“Then don’t you think there are quite a few who would claim they’re qualified to be your partner too? Since they’re all under the same conditions?”

“…….”

“Then how do you think Lionhearted will react to that—” 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“……Please stop there.”

It was undoubtedly a terrifying topic—enough to completely blow away the serious atmosphere from just moments ago.