Chapter. 14. One Empire, Three Legends (22)
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Aldrich liked his mother.
I loved the moment of being held in those soft arms.
I loved the soft voice that sang lullabies at my bedside and the
sparkling golden eyes. It was nice to see the love in those light green eyes.
There was still love in my mother’s eyes. It’s just that there was something different in the countless eyes that he had never seen before.
The countless gazes lurking behind that mother’s eyes. Those eyeballs, teeming with ant eggs, contained emotions that were too much to call love.
“Black magic begins with the soul being broken beyond repair. Did you like the dream your mom showed you? When did you take your first steps? Of course, when Meina died, burning alive? “When your father beat your younger brother and thrust a knife into your chest?”
“….”
“oh. Could it be…is it now?”
Aldrich didn’t want to see that. Because his mother’s face was filled with supreme joy as she realized that his greatest despair was her own and her distorted mother.
His mother hugged Aldrich deeply to her heart with all her twisted affection.
In an affectionate embrace, the sword stuck in his chest pierced through his back.
“Kwahahahaha….”
“Aldrich. my dear son “It may be very difficult and difficult to understand, but… can you understand Mom?”
you’re welcome. Aldrich wanted to ask his mother again, who was smiling lovingly. why. Why did you appear in front of me like that? Why do I see these things? How can Neria look so happy in this puddle of blood, and why doesn’t she say anything or move?
His mother met his eyes, smiled warmly as if she understood everything, and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.
“I tried to do really well this time. Your father David was a really nice guy. Although strong, he is also kind. He was also a romantic enough to choose a woman who was the daughter of a family embroiled in treason and had a flaw that could even embroil the Teldemire family. Oh, of course it was just my taste. I liked it so much that the suspicions surrounding my previous family were cleared and all my inheritance was brought back to the Teldemire family? Do you remember when roads were paved to every corner of the estate and large merchant houses were built? “I said I really liked you.”
A sharp pain overtook my fading consciousness. The pain drove him to the edge of consciousness, and Aldrich, barely able to come to his senses, was able to question the only person who could explain it all.
“Why why, Mom? Why on earth…”
“….That’s right. Why? Since I killed so many people before I came here, I thought I’d be able to survive for 20 years. I don’t know why I’m so greedy. After going through that hardship 70 years ago, I said I would live a really quiet life now. “I promised myself that I would live as carefully as possible.”
“many….?”
“okay. a lot. The owner of this body was the daughter of a very large family. It was much larger than our territory and had twice as many people. No one survived, so the exact circumstances are unknown. Oh, they were so beautiful.”
Mare brushed Aldrich’s wet hair with rapt eyes, as if recalling that day.
“Aldrich. When people are hungry, they have to eat. If you’re thirsty, drink water, and if you’re out of breath, take a deep breath. People are made that way. Mom… is just made a little differently than others. Mom loves you, your father loves you, and this territory too. I love all the residents of the territory too. Are you sincere? It’s just… there’s a thirst that can’t be satisfied with that. “I have a thirst that cannot be satisfied even if I drink all the lakes, rivers, and oceans of the world.”
“So I don’t want to hold back anymore. “Thanks to you and Neria, I now have the reason and ability to do so, right?”
Caressing the cheek of an unconscious Neria with a happy expression. Aldrich had no choice but to ask because that image overlapped with his mother who was stroking his face at his bedside.
“Who are you… are you…”
Who are you? Where has my kind, beautiful, warm mother gone? Where is she going and is it you who I don’t know is claiming to be my mother?
Just right.
His mother’s fingers gently flicked Aldrich’s forehead.
“oh. Then it won’t work. Escape. The refuge I barely thought of was ‘a good mother was killed by someone and replaced by someone else.’ rani. Mom is sad, Aldrich. “If you’re a wizard, you shouldn’t ignore the truth right in front of you, right?”
Blood flowed endlessly from the punctured chest and flowed towards the altar. Crossing the stone room filled with flesh and corpses, the mother drew a solid red line from Neria’s forehead to her navel with her sharp fingernails.
“Mare Teldemire, who embraced you for nine months and gave you light to the world. Mare Abeladis, a healthy girl who was running around the hills of Abeladis Territory. Maeira is a woman revered as a saint from the small town of Panatol. Menas. Myla… There were dozens more women with similar names. They were all beautiful, delicate women who survived a tragic accident alone. And… 70 years ago. A witch who was murdered by the angry Sons of Light. Mea-Maria and even that useless name that was once revered as the Saint of Light. It’s all me. It’s not that I’m not your mom. It’s just that your mother, Mare, belongs to ‘me’.”
Mea-Maria. The moment the thing in the shape of the mother revealed its name, the mouths in the pile of flesh surrounding the stone chamber began to gather at its feet, moaning in reverence.
After eating each other and fighting over each other, it suddenly turned into a red, thin stick and was held in my mother’s hand. It was approaching Neria’s forehead.
“Don’t… please…”
“Our daughter and our son. Thank you so much for taking after my mom. The neck of the man I love. The blood of a relative born with a stomach ache. The soul of a warlock. And Neria, who was born with spirituality. Now you are ready. “I would like to talk more, but if I do that, the church members might notice.”
His mother’s hand wiped away Aldrich’s tears and stretched them down his eyes. My skin was torn by sharp nails and bloody tears flowed.
“I loved you. Aldrich. “My son.”
farewell. It was a farewell signifying the end of Aldrich’s usefulness and the end of preparations for something sinister targeting Neria.
Tsk tsk.
The altar split and letters made of blood emerged. They clung to Neria’s body, and something small and pure white was pulled out of Neria’s mouth.
It was Neria. Neria Teldemeyer. The unspoiled, pure and fragile soul of a girl.
‘no.’
A staff with a thousand eyes was staring greedily at the soul. Aldrich could see. What will happen to Neria in the future? That my younger brother will suffer for an eternity and become a part of them.
『——-!』
The soul’s silent scream filled the stone chamber. As if the persistent gaze was peeling away the soul, it disintegrated from the outside, and a gloomy black light began to mix inside. It’s colored. They become corrupted and eventually become a part of them.
Aldrich saw the struggling soul reaching out desperately for him.
“help me. Save me, brother. please. help me. help me. help me. Save me.』
‘Don’t do that.’
I gathered all the strength I had from breastfeeding, but all I could do was scratch the floor with my fingernails. Still, I stretched out my arms. At least as big as a fingernail or as big as a grain of sand. from now on. from now on.
Slurp.
And in the blurred border between life and death. The soul of a gifted boy escaped his heavy body and stretched out his hand in accordance with his desperate will.
“….oh?”
The witch saw that her finger had unknowingly touched her most precious reward. A little soul that I didn’t notice because I was so focused on my consciousness.
If the warlock’s soul is a broken vessel, then the evil spirit is a fragment of the soul that has broken into pieces. Therefore, the warlock completes the gap by making a contract with a powerful evil spirit or vengeful spirit.
A spell that all warlocks cast from the beginning.
A contract that interweaves the tails of two souls and blends them into one.
Two siblings born with witch blood and naturally strong spiritual powers.
Aldrich’s soul has just been broken. And Neria’s vengeful spirit was dragged out by the witch’s spell.
By the time she noticed, Neria’s soul had already blended into Aldrich without any objection.
“…I wasn’t raised to be such a spoiled child.”
The witch was displeased. Everything they needed was already prepared, and they didn’t necessarily need the soul of a child with particularly outstanding spirituality.
“I wanted to keep them separate.”
As she said to Aldrich, her motherly love for them was also sincere.
Kaaaaak!
The witch’s wand was swung and a black figure emerging from Aldrich’s fallen body blocked it.
“…It might have been better to watch him for a few more years and raise him to become a proper warlock.”
The witch’s curse and Neria’s evil spirit collided, creating a huge impact that shook the stone chamber. Neria’s soul, now an evil spirit, tried to tear and tear at the wall of flesh that was breaking in, but it was not enough. It was nearly impossible to resist a witch who had been corrupted directly by the hand of the one once called the Lord of the Dead and had lived for close to 100 years.
But neither Aldrich nor Neria. There was something that even the witch who was once a saint of light couldn’t think of.
Crash!
“Why… I’ve already noticed! “The barrier would have been perfect!”
The moment the witch, who was leisurely admiring the pile of flesh surrounding the two, suddenly distorted her face like a demon and raised her wand.
“I pray and train, and my spirit is indomitable!”
Quaaaang!
With an explosion, the huge greatsword shattered the ceiling and became embedded in a shield made of bone.
“The Cult of Courage… How on earth are the murderous priests?! “With such extraordinary talent, here!”
“The knights of the Empire are ceremonially baptized into the Order of Courage upon their ordination. Just one! If that death was caused by something unclean, use that life to sound the alarm! Knight Cedric’s spirit! “I rang the church’s bell!”
Coo! thud! thud! Kwazizig!
As if those words were a signal, huge iron stakes broke through the ceiling one after another and were driven into various parts of the stone chamber.
– A strong spirit is indomitable!! –
– Beating down the body and refining the spirit!! –
Just like that.
“That is my prayer.”
Although it did not have a bright light like other novae, the power contained in the shaft created a violent wave at the tip of the sword.
– Ratura!!!! –
“Latura.”
“Heoshin’s toys who dare to package madness as religion-!!!!”
“Raturaaaa!!! De kaaaaa!!!!”
The great sword containing enormous power and the witch’s curse collided.
Aldrich lost consciousness after confirming that Neria’s soul was sleeping in his arms.
****
.
.
.
.
The sound of Aldrich quietly sipping his drink lifted the silence inside the carriage.
“This is the end. Neither I nor Nell could see how it ended after that. But I could hear the rumors. “I was captured by the church because I was a witch’s blood relative.”
The paladins had already penetrated into the city where the plague had spread. Lacking the power to heal, they sent out requests for support in all directions and tried to somehow alleviate the illness mixed with the curse.
The old curse that had been waiting for more than ten years to burrow into the city’s wells, soil, and bread and livestock they ate was not something that could be easily broken.
A sluggish week and a disease that spreads at an insane speed. In the end, the Courage Church had no choice but to purify the city before the disaster spread outside the city.
“My hometown. Teldemire Territory is still vacant. I heard a rumor that a lot of vagabonds and criminals gathered there because it was an empty land without an owner. At the same time, when I was bored, I also heard rumors that heretics for crimes such as human sacrifice and worship of low priests were caught there. A fallen saint. “The power of Mea Maria is that it does not disappear even after decades have passed.”
“If it’s a fallen saint…”
“It might have something to do with you. 70 years ago, the Gwangmyeong Church lost a saint. Although it is said that they thoroughly killed and purified the fallen saint with their own hands. Was there a problem with the seal or was there someone who was swayed by passion? The fallen saint, now a witch, lived proudly and continued her evil deeds. “Seeing them change their status and perform large-scale sacrifices, it appears that they are recovering the power they lost when they almost died at the hands of Gwangmyeong 70 years ago.”
Slowly!
The bowl of alcohol fell from Aldrich’s hand. I thought he was drunk, but his hands were shaking so much that he couldn’t hold on to anything. Lucilla’s small hand was carefully placed on his old hand.
“Aldrich….”
“….I didn’t mind being treated like a witch’s child. Because I saw the powerful power of the Paladins of Courage. I thought that if I stayed in the temple under their watch for the rest of my life, I would never have to fear my mother again. “If it weren’t for the news the young priest brought me with a big smile.”
Maybe he shouldn’t have lived as a warlock. Like a sinner locked in a monastery. He could have been there forever, praying and practicing asceticism as his daily routine and not wandering around in the shadows for a long time.
If it weren’t for that news.
=========
‘Good news has arrived!’
‘Oh yes. thank you But is there any good news for me?’
‘yes! I heard that my sister, Miss Neria Teldemire, has come to her senses!’
‘….no.’
‘yes? Oh, you don’t have to worry about anything else! Priests from various denominations checked, and other than being a little shocked, there were no signs of black magic or curses left….’
‘No, no!!! Get me out of here. please! ‘She’ll come for us!’
‘Ah Aldrich! calm down! You are a person who possesses deep dark magic, and your violent behavior is a sign of madness…’ ‘It
must be returned. No, you have to run away! Give it back! Get out! That woman, that woman again….! ‘Aaaah!’
‘Brother Tongue! The warlock has shown his true colors! Brother!!!!’
=========
“Neria… If your sister came to her senses…”
“What’s inside is your mother, the witch. Because Neria is with me. It looks like they’ve been using that method all along. Absorbing the entire group to which he belongs through sacrifice. Throw away your old body, which inevitably gets stepped on, and find a new, suitable body to take its place. “When we escaped the temple with the help of Nel while the surveillance was neglected, the last news we heard was that Neria had been adopted by a nobleman on the outskirts along with her family inheritance.”
The professor could see Aldrich’s fear in his trembling hands and in his shaking eyes. Even after so many decades, Aldrich still trembles with fear just talking about it.
“As a warlock and a spiritualist, I watch over this world and the afterlife, and that is why I believe in fate and inevitability. That’s why I’m bringing up this story for the first time that I’ve never told anyone.
A surviving fallen saint of light. Mea Maria.
A saint of light who rescued a saint of mercy who almost suffered the same thing as her.
And you and the warlock brother and sister, who are related by that blood, are now riding on the same carriage. Do you really think this is a coincidence? huh?”
I couldn’t say no. Because it was so clever and fit so well.
‘A fallen saint from 70 years ago. She survived and is regaining her strength.’
‘After making such a huge sacrifice, he was adopted into a noble family by hiding the curse and dark magic that had accumulated for nearly a hundred years so that no one would notice. I’m thinking of doing the same thing. Maybe he has already done something and been reborn as a different person.’
‘…I feel sorry for Borka. The scale of the incident itself is different.’
World 2 A fallen saint who led the nightmarish advance of curses and corruption.
The fact that she survived, gained strength, and now appears in front of the player along with her individual history makes for a fairly reasonable guess.
———
– Speed Wagon: ….You have to be careful. Maybe it’s more important than the issue of elf reinforcements.
– takealook: I agree. During World 2, they excluded Rabbit and said it was an internal issue within the church, and they dealt with it among themselves, and this is what happened. This is why the player must always intervene in major incidents.
– takealook: Think carefully. If you’re planning on finishing the game in World 3, you should also think about World 4. Is that a debt that was carried over because Rabbit wasn’t able to handle it in World 2? I probably got over it because of the ridiculous amount of compound interest called ‘karma’… If you just pass it by and look at the ending, you’ll be blown away.
– Jokass: I cleared it very happily and went to the next world with a pounding heart, but [3 years later] it means that everything could be in ruins. When all of our national power is wasted and we are struggling with a mute defense battle that is equivalent to a natural disaster, we may end up fighting another battle of destruction. It could be even more hellish than Cheonryuje 4 World.
– takealook: In Cheonryuje April World, the queen was killed before she could even say anything about sacrifice, and almost all the civilians died in the rampaging mute wave.
– Namba Three: A desert without a single blade of grass is better than a grassland full of undead heads. Yes.
———
It is not only the lineage of heroes that is passed down from world to world. Just as the saved heroes form a family and their teachings are passed on to the next world, the surviving villains grow in will and power and emerge in a more powerful form.
Even me. If she is a fallen saint who has inherited the characteristics of a saint who goes through several lives with the same soul, and has accumulated tremendous power through repeated sacrifices by extorting the bodies of others.
Even after that guy has developed enough power, he doesn’t show up again, accumulating infinite stacks, and it’s perfect for the gap between worlds when the player disappears! When it shows up….
‘The next destruction begins. Destruction could begin in the name of the fallen saint Mea-Maria!’
As I was rolling my eyes at this seemingly impossible guess, Aldrich looked at me and nodded.
“…Judging by the expression on his face, it looks like he noticed. Yes, she is still alive and well in the Empire. Thanks to going around with you, professor, and gaining some courage, I gained the courage to check things out. “I sent you a letter from Wuthering Heights.”
I could understand what followed next without having to listen. Aldrich’s bad expression showed that the letter went well.
“There is a witch alive and breathing somewhere in this empire. A gigantic evil that was condensed into its power by sacrificing the lives of several cities. This is the guy who single-handedly swallowed up the count family 52 years ago. A monster that just wants to kill people out of instinct. They will covet more people for greater power. Guess what. Now that I’ve devoured the count and gained strength, I guess I’ll have to find bigger prey next. However, I could not find any story about the Marquis dukedom mysteriously disappearing. So it must be one of the two, right? Either the witch finally gave up or…”
“…she is preparing to devour a huge meal that will satisfy her hunger for 52 years.”
“Yes, it’s the capital. capital of the empire. The city with the most people in the empire. “There is a witch wherever we go.”
widely.
Aldrich’s locket closed, and with it the portrait of his younger sister, Neria, he was left speechless.
It’s late at night. Some people can’t sleep because of fear and others are worried.
The carriage, which had no way of knowing what it was riding, just steadily moved towards the capital.
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