Hio had clearly told Airaits to wait in the room with Regalda and Freya.
Because there was no telling when or where divine power might manifest, and if exposed to it, there was concern that the undead nature would be discovered despite the necromancy of Kreuzvalt.
Of course, our Airaits did not even pay such things any mind.
“I'm bored.”
Undead or holy kingdom, divine power or whatever—Airaits was freely roaming the capital as she pleased.
“I wonder where Hio is and what he's doing?”
In truth, she had even considered secretly following Hio, but knowing better than anyone that it wouldn't work, she quickly gave up and changed direction.
Because her appearance was so striking, she pulled up her hood and wandered the streets.
The area near the royal castle of Hiberunia, where she wandered like that, was endlessly chaotic.
It hadn't even been a week since the dragon's attack.
Collapsed buildings.
The efforts to restore them.
Even though there were no casualties, the destroyed portions within the city were considerable.
Wasn't this a city where such a battle had taken place?
The cost and time required for recovery alone were quite the headache.
“A dragon... I was confident I knew Ventaial well, but to think there were dragons.”
Dragon fragments and whatnot.
In the days when it was a game, she hadn't even heard of anything similar.
And yet dragons had truly existed, and she had seen one tainted by the Abyss running rampant.
Not only that, but Hio Pavlenko had annihilated its soul.
And a fragment called Freya was taking the place of the dragon whose soul had vanished.
A fragment born for that very purpose from the start.
It was truly hard to believe even after seeing and hearing it, but...
“Well, I suppose that's possible.”
The speed at which Airaits accepted situations was meaningless to compare with others.
Moreover, if it was something related to Hio, even more so.
“Because it's Hio.”
It was possible because she was Airaits.
Hadn't she followed and observed the Supreme Heavenly Demon during his extreme immersion into Hio Pavlenko in the world of Ventaial?
Because she had witnessed countless impossible feats, actions she couldn't understand why he would go so far for.
She had confirmed several times how the results of such things came to fruition.
If it was to that extent even in the game, how much more so in reality?
It was only natural that he would have performed numerous miracles that an ordinary person wouldn't dare attempt.
And those results were appearing one by one.
A saintess who shouldn't have existed was born.
A new empress who had earned the complete loyalty of the high nobility had ascended the throne in the Empire.
Even the Heuka, the largest variable, had collapsed.
Much had changed.
What else would Hio Pavlenko change, and what path would he show next?
Because she could now be by his side.
Because she could continue watching him, just imagining it caused a happy smile to bloom naturally across Airaits's face.
“Do you think Hio has returned by now?”
There was still so much she didn't know about Hio Pavlenko.
Why he sought the secret underground space.
What was there.
Whether he was looking for another special space like the basement of the Imenia training building that only Hio could enter.
Well, she would surely find out gradually.
Since they would be together every day from now on.
“Hmhmm.”
Humming a tune that naturally came out at the thought, Airaits headed back to her lodgings.
The surroundings were still bustling.
They were repairing the sunken roads and clearing the wreckage of collapsed buildings.
As she took in such sights while passing by, an extremely unpleasant sensation suddenly caught Airaits's senses.
“...”
She turned her head and saw a completely collapsed building.
That was it.
The source of the unpleasant feeling.
An energy so faint and minimal that she wouldn't have known had she not passed right beside it.
Had it been before her revival, she wouldn't have even paid it mind, but now that energy was clearly something her instincts warned her about.
“...Divine.”
Sacred power. It was divine power.
The dark mana connecting her soul and body.
The power capable of striking directly at that tightly woven thread.
What reason was there for such divine power to be felt amidst the wreckage of a collapsed building?
Feeling curious, Airaits climbed atop the building's ruins.
She could soon see it.
A space faintly visible between the wreckage.
A different space that had collapsed again inside the collapsed building.
The faint divine power was seeping out from there.
“This is...”
Within the hood looking down at it, Airaits's crimson eyes sparkled.
* * *
『Uwaaah... it's too hard!』
Freya grabbed her head and thrashed about on the bed, but Regalda didn't even twitch an eyebrow.
“If you struggle that much, you'll only increase the chances of your transformation coming undone.”
『But... I've already maintained the transformation for three days. My head hurts and my body aches everywhere...』
“You must also change the habit of thinking of time by human standards. Though it is the same time, you need to view it from a different perspective.”
『Yeees...』
Regalda had spoken so to Freya, but she was also quite flustered, which was rare for her.
Because it was her first time teaching.
She was speaking based on the stories she had heard from Eriel.
She was speaking based on the countless experiences they had shared together, but even she didn't know the moment Eriel had first transformed.
Magic that changed one's appearance into the form of a completely different being.
To others it might be called magic, but to dragons it was as natural and instinctive as breathing.
Because she knew this, the first thing she had taught Freya, who had become a dragon, was transformation.
Thanks to the strong remaining image of her original self within the [ORIGINAL TEXT USES A PRONOUN/REFERENCE - wait, the original says "본래 모습의 이미지가 강하게 남아 있는 덕분에" = Thanks to the strong remaining image of her original form].
Thanks to the strong remaining image of her original form, Freya had succeeded in transforming quickly. But a headache from maintaining the transformation for three days? Body aches?
Such phenomena were not something even Regalda could understand.
Because the Eriel that Regalda knew was already a fully completed dragon.
『Uwaaah...』
Thus she was inwardly restless watching Freya struggle.
Though on the outside she appeared infinitely cold, of course.
“...We shall return to Arilleia the moment the mage returns.”
『Then can I undo the transformation?』
“Indeed.”
『Waaah!』
Could it really be that good?
She quietly looked down at Freya jumping up and down with both arms raised high.
An innocent smile like a child.
No, she truly was a child only recently born.
She had split off from Eriel's soul, yet she was a completely different child from her.
Immature and young, there would be mountains of things to teach.
“Waa! If we hurry back, I can see Isidore too... hup!”
Freya covered her own mouth mid-sentence.
“Until you can perfectly handle the dragon tongue, be careful about speaking it aloud as language.”
『Yeeees...』
There truly would be much to teach.
Even that mage probably wouldn't be able to teach the dragon tongue.
Therefore, she would now live for this small dragon.
Regalda's gaze passed over Freya and turned toward the door.
The presence of a boisterous figure heard from quite far away.
The presence of one who was splendid, bold, and always carried trouble with him.
“It seems the mage has returned.”
『Ooh! Has Hio uncle come already?』
That meant it was time to return to Arilleia.
For Freya's growth, who was still sorely lacking to be called a dragon, they had to return quickly.
Since Freya herself showed strong will, it wouldn't require that much time.
After all, the dragon's body was already complete.
In time, they would be able to see a green-scaled dragon spreading its wings wide in the skies above Arilleia.
That would mean the end of Arilleia's thousand-year mission.
It would mean the seal on the mysterious island would be broken and they would emerge into the outside world.
The wind dragon protecting them would always exist above their heads.
“Freya.”
Things would be different when that time came.
She would never repeat the same mistakes as before.
The root of all things.
That cursed energy. Those who spread it.
She would not hesitate to step forward and destroy them all.
In Regalda's eyes gazing beyond the door at a future not far off, a golden rage flickered.
“Prepare to return.”
It was a rage endured for a thousand years.
* * *
With the sight of Ripyue lazily falling asleep as the last thing he saw, the world went dark.
The darkness rushing in from outside surged in like a tidal wave and engulfed the painted world.
“...”
Thus Hio was once again in the sanctuary.
Without the feeling of his mind growing hazy as when using a portal, or the sudden feeling of his vision brightening.
A feeling as if he had simply been here from the very beginning.
A feeling as if he had suddenly awoken after a brief dream.
What woke Hio's mind as if to prove it wasn't a dream was a familiar notification sound and the contents of unfamiliar messages.
「Item - 'Catalog of Patience' will be destroyed.」
「The effect of Item - 'Catalog of Patience' is permanently bound.」
「You have acquired the Ancient Grimoire - 'Book of Dragon Summoning'.」
「You have acquired the Authority - '???'.」
All the conversations he had with Ripyue came to mind vividly.
That the system was fully established and he would receive what was to be given upon return.
The words and actions as if they would never meet again.
The encounter had been all too brief.
There were countless things he wanted to ask, and he would have liked to talk for days on end, but it was impossible.
Because the space itself had vanished.
Perhaps she had exhausted all her strength and fallen into a long, deep sleep.
“Anyway... what is all this?”
He had wanted to think deeply about the conversations with Ripyue and the meaning of the new messages, but the revealed situation interrupted Hio's thoughts.
Because ten high priests including Herald were sprawled on the floor.
Come to think of it, it had been the same when he first arrived at the Order.
Hadn't Irina been the only one awake below the battlefield where the dragon and Regalda were fighting, while the rest were collapsed like this?
“What is this, they're not even sunfish, passing out at the drop of a hat.”
Were they physically weak or did they have weak hearts?
Their breathing and pulse were all normal.
Meaning they had simply fainted from shock.
Or perhaps the immense divinity of Ripyue that had suddenly descended had placed too great a burden on their bodies.
Whatever the case, he needed a place to quietly mull things over alone right now, not a room with collapsed priests.
Moreover, most of their faces even had tear stains remaining.
Ugh. He shouldn't have looked.
“But if I just left them like this and went out, there's no telling what misunderstandings might arise...”
If a Cardinal and ten high priests were collapsed while he walked out perfectly fine, what misunderstandings would there be?
So he just sat down on the floor of the empty sanctuary.
Perhaps... as he expected, this was now truly nothing more than a space existing underground, no longer a sanctuary.
A world where even the last remaining Goddess of Hope had fallen asleep.
An era where even the God of Hope must seek hope.
In such a world, what was he to do now?
- What do you mean what to do. Just do as you always have.
“...Right.”
- Don't say such weak things, unlike yourself. You have much to do. You must find a holy mage's guidance again, and it will take quite some time to reach the 5th Circle.
“Yes. That's a wake-up call. Thank you.”
Pureunel was right.
Wasn't this not the time to be saying weak things unbecoming of himself?
He had complained enough; now was the time to pull himself together and move forward.
As he said, there was much to do.
“First, it said the effect of the Catalog of Patience is permanently bound.”
The message had clearly meant that.
An item that increased the growth rate of endurance greatly even in the same situation—the Catalog of Patience.
The Catalog of Patience had certainly been an important item to Hio, but truthfully he hadn't used it that often.
Because unless he was deliberately grinding endurance, it wasn't possible to always carry it in hand.
But the ability of such an item being permanently bound meant, in other words:
“The difficulty of filling endurance must have dropped significantly.”
Meaning it had become much easier to trigger the hidden trait's conditions.
“The system is... still intact.”
- The system was ultimately something the gods created for the likes of you possessors.
He had thought that might be the case.
After all, they were far too different from the Awakened of the outside world in terms of the system.
Even the speed at which they grew stronger was beyond comparison.
Perhaps the gods of this world had expended their immense power to construct such a system.
Even after the last god had fallen asleep, the system was still operating.
He recalled Rifyue’s languid words, saying that the system had been completely established.
“To think I said I was blinding the eyes of a god... How arrogant that was.”
The past, when he had been pleased to think he had blinded the eyes of a god, returned as a mortifying memory.
It had not been the eyes of a god he had blinded, but merely the eyes of the system, and the goddess must have been watching every bit of it in plain sight...
“...Anyway, next is this.”
An old book held in Hio’s hand.
With ancient script written succinctly across it, this was none other than an ancient grimoire.
[Book of Dragon Summoning]
He put off interpreting it for the moment and quickly flipped through it, only examining the patterns, but there were quite a few unfamiliar ones.
It seemed that, as someone at the Fourth Circle, he would not be able to learn it right away.
- Leave it for later for now, and hurry up and take a look at this Authority thing. Good heavens, an Authority.
The effect of the Catalog of Patience and an ancient grimoire were still gifts within the realm of understanding.
But an Authority?
Wasn’t Authority, by its very nature, a word that referred to the power of a god?
When he opened his status window, he saw that a new window labeled Authority had appeared beneath the skill window.
With doubt and anticipation in equal measure, he opened it.
[Authority - ???]
[The essence of a god dwells within, but its identity has not been established.]
[The Authority will change according to the user’s path of growth.]
An unexpectedly simple explanation.
To summarize—
- ...So this, too, means you cannot use it right away.
It meant that the Authority that awakened would differ depending on the direction in which he grew.
Whether “growth” referred to skills or stats,
or whether it referred to the type of magic,
or else whether it meant inner, mental growth, he did not know.
“I’m already careful enough as it is, but I’ll have to be even more careful.”
He had gained yet another reason to be more cautious when deciding on magic or skills.
And for that, he had to reach the Fifth Circle as soon as possible.
It meant he had to find the House of the Holy Mage again.
If he could not find it, he would have no choice but to travel a fair distance and use another Mage’s House.
“If possible, it’d be best to find the Mage’s House here.”
- That would certainly be convenient. Even if it is not necessarily the House of the Holy Mage, you should be able to activate the portal.
“The problem is that finding it isn’t as easy as you’d think.”
One might expect a Mage’s House to be located beneath an important building, but surprisingly, that was not the case.
If it were, it would be far too easy to find.
It had been the same in Imenia, and the same with the Mage’s House where he had stayed with Berga.
It was truly just built, quite casually, beneath an ordinary place.
- For now, why not pore over that ancient grimoire? You need to interpret what it says and what effect it has, do you not?
“...Shall I?”
First, he had to wait for the priests to wake up, so he opened the Book of Dragon Summoning and slowly examined its contents.
- This... really does seem to be an ancient grimoire. Well, they did say it was a grimoire not even found in Tetradia, so that says enough.
It was so old that even the ancient language differed slightly from what Purnel knew.
It seemed interpreting it would take a little more time than expected.
Several minutes passed as he sat there examining the grimoire.
Around Hio, who was absorbed in concentration, presences began to stir one by one.
“Mm...”
“Where is this...?”
The high priests who had fainted were waking up.
They looked dazed for a moment, but soon grasped the situation and spotted Hio sitting before them, examining an ancient book.
Their guileless eyes widened like saucers as they recalled everything that had happened just before they lost consciousness.
“Apostle, O Apostle!”
The moment they got up, they immediately prostrated themselves on the floor again and bowed toward Hio.
“The goddess’s apostle has appeared upon this land once more!”
“This is the moment of a saint’s birth! What a glorious day!”
“Ahh! Rifyue! Thank you!”
At that, Hio closed the ancient grimoire he had been reading and let out a small sigh.
“Phew... Here we go again.”
It seemed the sunfish priests had all gone mad together.