Chapter 1001
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Chapter 1001
Whooooosh!
The Blue Dragon, his wings torn and tattered, struggled through the sea.
“I’m sorry, Uncle…”
Evelyn, bleeding from every pore, stroked Lokta’s scales with her one remaining hand.
[Don’t speak!]
Lokta desperately pushed Mana into Evelyn’s body with trembling hands, but it only flowed out instead of in.
“It’s too late.”
Evelyn shook her head, as if it were already over.
“I almost made it, but at the very end…”
She let out a bitter chuckle, remembering how she had stopped when she saw Sella at the end.
“But you know what?”
Evelyn smiled as she looked at the hand that had embraced Sella.
“Even though I knew there was no trace of Mom’s soul in her, I was so happy. I never got to hug Mom before.”
Sella had hugged her many times. Even before she died, she had held her close and told her she loved her.
But Evelyn had never hugged Sella first. She was happy that she had been able to hold her mother’s hand and embrace her, even if it was the last time.
[…….]
Lokta only groaned, as if swallowed by sorrow.
“I’m sorry for being so stubborn all this time.”
[Don’t talk, save your strength!]
Lokta felt Evelyn’s warmth fading and shouted, abandoning formalities for the first time.
“Thank you so much, Uncle.”
Evelyn touched Lokta with her weakening hand, a faint smile on her face, as if her life were slipping away.
[W, wait!]
“As the last of the Sirken Kingdom’s royalty, I hereby order the release of Knight Lokta Deport from this moment forward.”
[Evelyn!]
Lokta stopped flying and stared at Evelyn.
“Uncle, I hope you’ll be happy for me and Mom. I’m so sorry…”
With those last words, Evelyn closed her eyes, and her hand fell limp. Vitality and warmth melted away from her body.
[Ah….]
Lokta hunched his shoulders as he looked at Evelyn’s limp hand.
[Aaaaaaaagh!]
As if sensing the sorrow of the lone Dragonian, a wave higher and deeper than ever before rose from the sea.
Swish.
Lokta stroked the ice pillar with the back of his hand and shook his head.
“You want me to be happy alone? I can’t do that.”
He lowered his gaze to Evelyn, trapped inside the ice pillar.
Evelyn had released him and told him to live happily, but he couldn’t do that.
His own life was already short due to his injuries, and he didn’t want to send that lonely child off alone.
Lokta stared blankly at Evelyn’s body and let out a sigh.
Rustle.
He heard someone enter the cave where he was staying.
“…….”
Lokta didn’t make a sound and gripped the sword leaning against the wall. Just as he considered cutting down whoever had come, a small flame like a lantern appeared before his eyes.
“You were here.”
A wizard with a gray beard stepped out from behind the flame.
“Birn?”
It was Birn, the high-ranking wizard who had commanded the wizards during the last war.
“How did you get here….”
“I followed your trail. You went quite far.”
Birn sighed, saying it had been difficult to come all the way here.
“Evelyn is dead after all.”
He clasped his hands as if praying and looked at Evelyn trapped in the ice.
“If she had lived, the magical history of the continent would have changed.”
Birn shook his head, saying Evelyn’s talent had been more special than anyone else’s.
“I’m sorry. About what happened that day…”
Lokta sighed and lowered his head.
“It couldn’t be helped.”
Birn nodded, saying he understood.
“But we achieved our goal. The Roser Kingdom is gone after all.”
He chuckled, as if satisfied.
“Well, you only thought about revenge against Roser, not wealth or status after that.”
Lokta said that was probably true and set down his sword.
“Yes. That’s why I came. I have to untie the last knot.”
Birn shifted his gaze from Lokta to Evelyn.
“What do you mean?”
Lokta frowned.
“If we leave her like this, that child will become an evil spirit.”
“A, an evil spirit?”
“She didn’t achieve her desired goal, and she still has regrets in this world, doesn’t she?”
Birn clicked his tongue as he stroked the ice imprisoning Evelyn.
“And even more so because she’s trapped in ice like this.”
“T, then what should I do!”
Lokta grabbed Birn’s hand, begging him to tell him.
“We have to cremate her or bury her in the ground. Of course, we have to perform a ritual before that.”
Birn nodded, saying he could do it himself.
“Please. I don’t want to give that child any more pain!”
Lokta trembled, as if his mind were breaking apart.
“Of course.”
Birn patted Lokta on the shoulder, saying a comrade’s work was his own.
“However, there are some things I need for the ritual, so go and get them. I need to prepare.”
He handed Lokta a list of necessary items and money.
“Get some fresh air and clear your head.”
“A, alright!”
Lokta nodded and ran out of the cave.
“So, we meet again like this.”
Birn suddenly spoke politely and placed his hand on the corpse imprisoning Merlin.
His reflection in the ice pillar was no longer that of a gray-bearded wizard, but an extraordinarily handsome man with golden eyes.
It was the Sage.
Whooooosh!
A black hole opened in the Sage’s grasp, and something from Evelyn’s chest was sucked into it.
“Hmm, I could use it more here.”
The Sage smiled slyly as he looked at Merlin, her eyes closed.
Thwoom!
At that moment, time stopped, and everything turned gray.
Raon chuckled as he looked at the Sage’s face reflected in the ice pillar.
“So, that’s what happened.”
The Sage had disguised himself as Birn and come here to take something from Merlin’s corpse.
‘He even manipulated her memories, too.’
There was no way someone like Merlin wouldn’t recognize The Fallen One.
The Fallen One must have manipulated Merlin’s soul to drain her power—and then twisted her memories.
“I knew Merlin’s situation wasn’t good, but this…”
– “One person’s life. No, the life of an entire race was being played with in that bastard’s hands.”
Wrath didn’t explode with rage like before, but instead exuded a chilling murderous intent.
– “Even if it means facing the consequences of causality, I want to kill him myself.”
His eyes turned red as he glared at The Fallen One, as if truly enraged.
“I’m sorry, but…”
Raon shook his head calmly.
“That guy is Merlin’s prey.”
Killing the Sage—no, killing The Fallen One—was something Merlin had to do herself when she woke up.
“Hoo.”
As Raon stared at Merlin trapped in the pillar with bitter eyes, the gray butterflies that had painted this final scene spread their wings and flew away, revealing a new place.
“This is…”
When he looked again, it wasn’t a new place. It was Fara’s village—the one he had first seen in Merlin’s memory.
– “It’s where the Madwoman lived. However….”
Wrath narrowed his eyes.
– “This place is different from that memory. It’s the Madwoman’s true Mental World.”
‘It seems so.’
Just as his Mental World was filled with swords and swordsmanship, Merlin’s Mental World seemed to be filled with this village.
‘Of course, there’s a problem….’
Raon lowered his brows as he looked at the Mana rings, their voids split open.
‘It’s completely broken.’
Those rings—like the Ring of Fire in his mind—were Circles of magic that swirled around Merlin’s heart.
Since all the Mana Circles the real Merlin possessed were broken, their collapsed state was reflected here as well.
“Haa….”
Raon sighed deeply and entered the village.
‘Let’s meet Merlin first.’
Saving Merlin came first, so he headed toward the village.
“Huh…?”
Raon’s eyes widened the moment he stepped inside.
“What is this….”
He had thought they were pretty houses built of various bricks, but when he looked closer, he saw the walls were covered with paintings of him.
“Ugh….”
Raon stopped and turned to the right.
That wall, too, was filled with paintings of his face, covering it from end to end.
– “I feel sorry for the Madwoman, but….”
Wrath shook his head.
– “She’s definitely a crazy bitch.”
‘…….’
He couldn’t argue.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
Raon let out a breath—strength draining from his body—and kept moving.
– “But that face of yours embedded in the wall.”
Wrath narrowed his eyes as he looked at the paintings.
– “It’s not just a drawing of you.”
‘Then what?’
– “It’s a drawing of you when you were with the Madwoman.”
He shook his head, saying it wasn’t merely his face—it was him from the time he had been with her.
‘Come to think of it….’
Raon stopped and studied the painting more closely.
‘It’s all places I remember.’
From his first meeting with Merlin, to the many scenes where she popped out as an animal to startle him, and even the time they’d spent together in Zieghart—every scene had him with Merlin.
‘It seems Merlin….’
Raon closed his eyes and sighed.
‘It seems she kept thinking about the time she lived in this village with me.’
Especially the time she’d spent in the annex wearing a maid’s uniform; there were so many paintings of that period.
The wizard he’d thought was only crazy was far more fragile, affectionate, and fond of people than he’d believed.
Thump.
Raon took a deep breath and started walking again.
‘Is it that place?’
He could see the house of Merlin and Sella that he had seen before. A Blue Dragon was coiled around it like a snake, as if guarding it.
It was Lokta.
Kugugugugu.
Lokta met his gaze for a moment, then lifted his tail and opened the way to the house.
“Thank you.”
Raon bowed to Lokta and entered Merlin’s home.
The house was colder and more chilling than Zieghart in winter. His whole body trembled, and his hair stood on end.
Merlin sat in the center of the living room, staring at a canvas on an easel. Countless discarded drawings were scattered at her feet.
“No…”
Merlin shook her head, voice trembling with tears.
“I can’t remember…”
She crumpled the drawing she’d been working on and threw it to the floor, muttering that she didn’t know.
Swish.
Raon stepped behind her and unfolded the paper that had just fallen.
A woman with blonde hair and red eyes was drawn there, but her face was somehow broken.
‘Could it be….’
Raon narrowed his eyes and unfolded the other drawings.
As expected, the same blonde hair and red eyes appeared again and again, but the features were empty.
‘I see now.’
Raon bit his lip.
‘Merlin was trying to draw Sella.’
She missed Sella and wanted to draw her, but because of The Fallen One’s manipulation, she seemed to have forgotten who she was drawing—and how to draw her.
‘If it’s now….’
Raon took a short breath and stepped behind Merlin as she laid out a fresh sheet of paper.
He wrapped his hand around her trembling hand and guided it.
“Ah….”
Merlin’s eyes widened as she looked up at him.
“Raon? Why are you here! You shouldn’t be here….”
“The mother I saw…”
Raon smiled faintly and led her hand.
“Had neatly tied, sun-bright blonde hair, and her eyes had a warm red glow, like a bonfire. Her nose was as high as the back of a sword. She was a beautiful woman with a cool, refreshing aura.”
Recalling Sella as he had seen her, Raon guided Merlin’s hand as she drew her mother.
“Your mother loved you until the end, and you loved her until the very end. What I saw was….”
He told Merlin everything he had seen and felt, continuing to draw as he spoke.
A long time passed, but despite the lonely, sorrowful story, a gentle smile bloomed on the face taking shape on the paper—as if welcoming her daughter.
“This is….”
Merlin let the brush slip from her fingers, lips parting.
“Is this… my mom?”
“Yes.”
Raon nodded as he looked at Sella in the drawing—the Sella that remained in his memory.
“Ah….”
At Merlin’s soft exhale, faint sunlight seeped into the house that had been filled with nothing but cold air, and a small flame flickered to life in the fireplace.
Warm, gentle air spread through the room.
The atmosphere of the affectionate home where Sella and Merlin had lived together returned.
Whooooosh!
As clear light rose from Merlin’s house, Merlin’s Mana flow—broken and collapsed—began to connect again.
But the flow was different from before.
It was her essence.
It was the fundamental Mana wave that Fara should possess.
Whooooosh!
Eight, nine, and ten.
The tenth Circle soared high into the sky, and a faint purple glow rose from Merlin’s entire body.
“I….”
Merlin nodded as she felt the ten rings swirling in her heart.
“I remember everything now.”
She said she remembered everything, and transparent tears fell from her clear purple eyes.
“Then let’s go out.”
Raon extended his hand to Merlin, who held the drawing tightly to her chest.
“Evelyn.”
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