If they had fought as they were, they would have never won against the enormous number of Lemifs surrounding Tanya and her party. Some were riding Venons, and they were armed to the teeth with spears, bows, and swords, looking no less formidable than a human knight order. Though numerous, they were well-controlled and quiet, with only the occasional sound of a Venon shaking its head and exhaling.
The speech of Fergusnai was difficult to understand compared to other Lemifs; his pronunciation was mumbled, and his tongue seemed to slip on even the simplest words. Tanya had just gotten used to Lemifian, but understanding Fergusnai required Lofin’s interpretation in the end.
“Gider led us here, and we found you, Pankentin. You came so silently, we thought you were one of the Fvoes.”
“The bodies we found earlier were your doing then.”
“We’ve swept away five ambush squads since yesterday morning. The Mozes led by the Kagua were somewhat formidable, but even the Kagua couldn’t do much. The commander the Kagua fled, and we annihilated the Mozes.”
Fergusnai said this with pride, showing none of the Lemifs’ usual aversion to killing.
“You’ve gathered quite a force.”
That this force was of an extraordinary scale was clear from Pankentin’s reaction. Fergusnai, watching Lofin’s expression, continued.
“It was actually very dangerous. It was dark, and since there were Ugeh with you, we were about to attack unconditionally. But the presence of a wolf stopped us in our tracks. Our divination foretold that at the end of Gider’s path, there would be a white wolf. We thought it was symbolic.”
Fergusnai pointed at Tanya, who had transformed back into a human.
Pankentin asked,
“Our prophecy also mentioned ‘the white wolf’. How did you interpret the white wolf from your divination?”
“It would be good to discuss this in more detail. We were attacked by the Kagua two months ago. They allied with the Fvoes and inflicted tremendous damage before disappearing to the west. After a brief meeting about this incident, we decided to summon ‘Quaini’.”
After interpreting, Lofin taught that Quaini meant the dragon known as Le-Quaini-Mandir.
“Quaini has not yet recovered enough strength to fight against Ka-Guanil, but he has promised to protect the village at least. And he gave us a prophecy to aid the country to our west. What else could our west be but Larden? Quaini’s words were accurate. the Kagua leading the Mozes and the Fvoes targeting you were all here. We even encountered Guanil.”
“Ka-Guanil? What happened?”
“We responded swiftly. Guanil did not seem to want to fight us much and withdrew. But why are the Fvoes infiltrating so deeply into Nontil’s territory?”
“It’s more than an infiltration… Nontil has been killed.”
Fergusnai could not even express regret and groaned. He then resumed.
“Anyway, the prophecy concluded that we should follow the meaning of the white wolf. Phew, the wolf, my heart still hasn’t calmed from the shock.”
Fergusnai laughed awkwardly. However, Pankentin, without a smile, turned to look at Tanya and Kassel.
“If we follow Quaini’s prophecy, maybe the western city we should help is not Larden.”
“What do you mean? The only country to our west is Larden.”
“Did it say to follow the white wolf’s meaning? You are mistaken. The white wolf is not female Ugeh but male Ugeh.”
Pankentin pointed at Kassel as he spoke.
“And the country to the west mentioned in Quaini’s prophecy is not Larden but Lutia.”
When Fergusnai looked disbelieving, Sinabia stepped forward and said,
“Let’s leave the details to our divination back in Larden. But likely, Hudintin’s divination will reveal the same meaning.”
Sinabia showed a warm smile to Lofin, Kassel, and Tanya one at a time, showing no sign of pain in her ankle while speaking.
“Your adventure stories have been a gift to me during this long jorney. I wish to continue being a part of that adventure, but I have my own tasks to perform. Before I go, I want to add one more clue to your pursuit of Ka-Guanil’s traces. The main reason we must form an alliance is not because Ka-Guanil is the enemy. There’s a greater enemy.”
Lofin immediately realized what Sinabia was getting at and slapped his knee. Sinabia nodded and continued,
“The Lord of the Undying. In Opai’s memory, this person utilized Lontamon’s Hopet to start a war, conquered Carnelock, and operated under the guise of the Kagua, manipulating knights from behind to kill dragons.”
Sinabia turned to Kassel and Tanya in turn as she spoke,
“In Kassel’s memory, this person was still using religion to exert a malicious influence on the continent. In Tanya’s memory, this person had crossed Aranthia’s Gold Gate. And now, let me share my memory. The legitimate entrance to the Sky Mountains from the continent is only one place: Aranthia. It is the only entrance to the Sky Mountains granted by the goddess Nadiuren. The Lord of the Undying’s target is that entrance.”
The Red Gate, which couldn’t be destroyed in a war a thousand years ago, was demolished by the Excelon Knights ten years ago, and the Gold Gate was destroyed by the resurrected Welch, and now it’s the turn of the White Gate, said the sorcerer in the grey robe. And Nadium is also known as ‘Sky Gate’.
It has narrowed down to one. The enemy in the Sky Mountains and in Acrand, their target is Nadium. The Lord of the Undying allied with Ka-Guanil for this reason.
Lofin muttered.
Sinabia said in a calm voice,
“Lofin and I will return to Larden with Fergusnai. And if the shield called Aranthia falls, we’ll show Hudintin that Larden too will be doomed to destruction, exposed to an evil force we cannot possibly stop with our power alone. He will never be able to reject my opinion.”
Sinabia’s voice resonated louder through the forest.
“Kassel, you made a promise yourself. There’s only one thing you need to do according to that promise. Please inform the dragons’ High Lord along with Rai. We might be able to save Lutia with our power, but Quaini’s power alone will never be enough to stop Guanil. Nor can it prevent an alliance with the Fvoes and the Ugeh knights. We need a greater power. That’s the dragons’ High Lord.”
Lofin immediately raised his hand.
“Of course, I’ll go too. Now that Nontil has been murdered, I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Sinabia, with her eyes closed, nodded and then turned her face to Rai, speaking in Lemifian,
“Rai. Can you go with Opai?”
“There’s no need to ask if it’s on the way to meet him. It’s a place I’ve always wanted to return to, at some point.”
Then she spoke to Kassel,
“White Wolf, you will also go with Opai to find the dragon, won’t you?”
“I will go.”
Kassel said without hesitation.
Sinabia finally turned to Tanya, speaking in Lemifian for some reason.
“Now, what will you do? Will you return to Larden with us? Larden and Mandir will build a united front and depart as reinforcements to Lutia. If you stand at the forefront of this coalition force, it will be easier to persuade Hudintin.”
Tanya, albeit awkwardly, replied in Lemifian,
“If it’s according to the prophecy, must I not go by obligation?”
“It has become impossible to know who issued the prophecy. Nontil was already dead by the time we received the prophecy. And as you see, I, the ‘Priestess awakening the dragon’, have been left out. It’s already impossible to move according to the prophecy, so there’s no need for you to follow the Lemifs’ rituals against your will.”
Tanya glanced at Kassel. He was staring intently at the conversation he couldn’t understand. Sinabia asked one last time,
“You must act according to your own will, Tanya. You have already strayed from the Lemif’s Gider and the prophecy. Instead, your choice will determine the Gider of the Sky Mountains. Which way will you go?”
☆ ☆ ☆
A small country not even named on the map now. Tanya was the daughter of the count from that place. Her father could not handle the debts that had ballooned over generations, and the royal family, facing a more serious fiscal crisis, could not help. After the last of the servants who had been helping until the end were sent away because they couldn’t be paid, only Tanya, her father Count Crimlos, her sick mother, her sister four years her senior, her younger brother, and Tanya remained in the small mansion. Yet, Tanya was somewhat happy.
“So, you want to try being a good father now?”
One day, Tanya hid beside the door and eavesdropped on the adults’ conversation when a grim-looking man shouted as he visited the mansion. Her father shouted back at the man. It was the first time Tanya had seen her father so angry.
“If I can’t pay, I’ll give up this land. So stop with your nonsensical talk.”
“You value the land of Count Crimlos quite highly. Who said anything about eating your daughter? I said I’d let her live in a better place than here.”
Though only twelve, Tanya understood the conversation between the two men after just a few exchanges. She secretly memorized the face of the man threatening her father. His name was Daniel Archibald, a tremendously wealthy man notorious even in Lontamon.
“Get out! Before I kill you.”
Her father drew his sword.
Archibald stepped back with his hands raised.
“I’ve come in person because the final deadline for the debt has passed. And I’ve kindly offered a very simple condition. This mansion, and one of your two daughters. That’s all. Now, I’ll give you until tomorrow morning to choose, Count.”
As Archibald left through the door, his eyes met Tanya’s. He said with a chilling smile,
“Kid, I’ll make sure you live in a better place starting tomorrow. Not in this beggar-like house.”
Tanya was so scared she collapsed. Her father came out and calmed his daughter.
“Don’t worry, Tanya. Nothing will happen.”
However, on the morning Archibald mentioned, everything disappeared.
In a rush to pay off the debt, her father used Archibald’s money, which ballooned into an amount even larger than the debt accumulated over the last 50 years. Unlike other creditors who trusted the Crimlos family’s reputation and her father’s efforts to repay somehow, Archibald did not wait. He had been targeting Tanya’s sister, rumored to be the most beautiful girl in the lord’s lands and villages, from the beginning.
Tanya always grew up watching her sister. People said Tanya looked just like her sister when she was young and would grow up to be like her, which Tanya took as the highest compliment. Her sister was dignified yet kind, beautiful yet pleasant, showing wisdom beyond her years by listening to adults’ worries even at a young age.
The next day, men armed with swords stormed the mansion. Without even a guard or servant to stop them, they rampaged through the house. Her father died resisting, and her mother was stabbed trying to protect him.
Her younger brother tried to protect his sister by wielding a sword too heavy for his small hands, but was captured and tied to a wall. Her sister hid Tanya in a secret space behind a wardrobe and warned her for the last time.
“Tanya, don’t look outside. Don’t see anything.”
Her sister resisted the men alone but was eventually bound and raped by Archibald in front of everyone.
From behind the wardrobe, Tanya watched the last moments of her sister, crushed by the man’s lust, dying.
Tanya pressed her hand over her mouth to stifle the screams bursting forth, weeping silently. She feared even the slightest noise might alert Archibald. Tanya failed to heed her sister’s last words, imprinting the tragedy of her sister in her eyes. It felt as if dozens of razor blades were slicing through her body.
Tanya clutched her stomach and collapsed.
‘Tanya, don’t look. You shouldn’t see.’
Even in that moment, her sister’s voice, worried about her brother, echoed in her head.
For a long time, the two shared thoughts. They had promised to keep it a secret from their parents because it would surprise them. When her sister cut her finger and bled, Tanya bled just the same. If one caught a cold, both ended up in bed.
The sisters were experiencing a pain they had never known before, together.
‘Sister, is it this painful? Is it this tormenting? No, don’t do this. Don’t torture my sister.’
At some point, it was Tanya underneath Archibald. He caressed the face of Tanya, who was barely conscious and struggling to breathe.
“You’re pretty. Cry more. Women taste better when they cry. More! More!”
The other men scoured the mansion looking for Tanya. Her sister lied that she had already helped her sister escape the previous day. Archibald kicked her in the stomach, demanding to know where her sister was, and she repeated the lie.
“Tanya was sent away before you guys arrived. It’s enough if you have me. I’ll do everything you want. Leave Tanya alone.”
Archibald’s words at that moment were unforgettable.
“Stupid girl. It wasn’t you I was after, but your younger sister. She’s young now, but if raised well, she’ll become a beauty unmatched in this world. I’ll be the lucky man who can have such a beauty whenever I want. Do you think I lent money to this house because of its wealth? I knew your father couldn’t pay back! It was all to take your sister!”
Tanya’s hands against the wardrobe door trembled.
‘It was all because of me!’
Archibald yelled again.
“Bring out Tanya!”
But her sister shook her head.
“Filthy bastard!”
Angered, Archibald stabbed her in the stomach and set the mansion on fire.
Tanya ran down the secret staircase behind the wardrobe. She fell several times, had to stop to weep, and stumbled through the basement to the outside. The mansion was already half collapsed in flames.
Tanya lay flat, discovering Archibald and his men riding away from the mansion.
“Weren’t you going to use this mansion?”
One of his men halted and asked, seemingly regretful.
“We’ll build something bigger. The Count Crimlos didn’t realize how valuable this land was, but offering it to the Emperor of Lontamon effectively makes this entire country Lontamon’s territory. A mansion is nothing but a gift then.”
“So, you rushed the job.”
“Didn’t want to be late, hoping they’d leave willingly.”
“Well, thanks to that…”
Hot blood flowed down Tanya’s thigh. Despite her youth, the smart girl knew what it was. Four years ago, when her sister was Tanya’s age, their mother celebrated the small miracle happening to her sister’s body with many stories. Tanya had listened in. But now, Tanya only felt her sister’s pain.
To Tanya now, this blood was not a miracle of conceiving life. It was proof of sharing her sister’s pain, just as she bled when her sister cut her finger.
‘Mother…’
After Archibald’s party left, Tanya entered the burnt-out mansion alone and fell asleep next to her deceased mother. In her dreams, Tanya was flying in the sky. When she awoke, it felt as if she could really do it. She went to the meadow near the cliff where she always played with her family.
She thought of nothing. Coming to her senses, she was standing at the edge of the cliff, and then meeting a sorcerer. He was Tailed, the Grandmaster of Lutia.
Tailed did not heal Tanya’s pain. He merely wandered around the continent with her for months.
Tanya didn’t try to forget her past. Every time she looked at herself in the mirror, she was engulfed in hatred. Even now, she wanted to inflict more scars, more gruesomely, more terribly! Seeing her disfigured face reminded her of her sister’s pain, engulfing her in rage. It felt as if the blade was slicing through her belly.
It was the day they arrived at Irophis, touted as the most beautiful harbor town. Tanya left the inn alone and climbed the coastal cliff, standing on the edge as she had done that day. Then, Tailed, whom she thought was asleep, stood beside her.
Tanya expected a sermon from him, but he said nothing, just stood by her side. When Tanya sat down after standing too long, Tailed made a fire and sat by her, occasionally disappearing to bring hot soup and covering her with a blanket. They spent the night like this, and dawn came.
Tailed, who had been silent all night, finally spoke.
“Let’s go.”
‘Where to?’ she wanted to ask. But instead of a question, Tanya extended her hand. Tailed helped her up with his cold hand.
“Your hands are cold.”
“I hate the cold. Can’t stand it even a little.”
“Me too.”
“Let’s go somewhere warm.”
Perhaps Tailed meant simply returning to a warm inn. However, Tanya wanted to believe they were heading to a place that would warm her heart. And so they did.
Tanya went to Lutia.
The scars on her face, a side effect of Tailed’s sealed magic, transformed in a different way, becoming grotesque. Tailed was sorry, but Tanya was satisfied.
In Kainswick, Tanya completed over ten years’ worth of lessons in just four years, skipping several levels afterward. Luder and Dethain admitted they couldn’t match Tanya in physical magic. Everyone was surprised, but Tanya didn’t care about their opinions. She was only curious about what Tailed thought.
‘He’ll praise me. Say I did well. That I’m amazing.’
However, before she could hear his praise, Tailed left for Aranthia to prevent a continental war. She thought they would meet again soon after the war, but he immediately departed for Lontamon and then went missing.
Tanya went to Lontamon immediately after passing through Lutiano to look for Tailed. His traces were nowhere to be found. Like her family’s death, Tailed’s disappearance brought her immense loss. Whether by coincidence or subconscious drive, Tanya found herself in front of Count Archibald’s mansion at some point.
‘Why am I here? I should flee before those terrible memories resurface.’
Despite her feelings, Tanya visited the mansion.
“It’s an honor to have Lutia’s Master visit me.”
The aged Archibald had barely changed except for a few more wrinkles. His younger wife came out in a long dress hiding the bruises on her neck and arms, greeting her reluctantly, and they had a formal dinner together.
Towards the end of the meal, Tanya asked Archibald’s wife,
“Lady Archibald, I have a question for you. Your well-being will be protected in the name of Lutia. Are you happy?”
Archibald forcefully put down his fork with a clank.
The wife was startled by Tanya’s question and then again by the fork’s sound. She just looked terrifiedly back and forth between Tanya and her husband. The answer was clear without words.
“If I have asked too harsh a question, consider it a threat. Leave this mansion, or I will kill you. Once you leave, find your own way to live. Return to your family, or earn your own money.”
“My family was destroyed by my husband a long time ago.”
The wife said with a trembling voice.
“Then you might also meet someone at the cliff. Your way to live is not my concern. Leave.”
Tanya couldn’t wait for the hesitant woman’s actions and yelled,
“Leave now!”
The wife ran out of the hall.
“What insolence is this? Is this how a Master of Lutia behaves?”
Archibald cautiously spoke up.
Tanya remained silent. She couldn’t quell her rising anger.
‘I shouldn’t be doing this now. Revenge must be more severe. It shouldn’t end this easily!’
Yet, Tanya spoke out.
“Are you still covering the costs of maintaining this house by seizing others’ lands?”
Archibald smirked, crossed his arms as if he finally understood, and signaled his butler, soon surrounding the dining room with about twenty guards. He picked up his fork again, displaying a leisurely demeanor.
“A sorceroress from Lutia comes, and what, you’re a spy hired by the royal family? Or, let’s see. Interested in my business? You look like a hideous witch.”
“A hideous witch… Daniel Archibald. You killed my father over my beauty, and now you call me hideous?”
Tanya extended her hand. The fork floating in mid-air aimed at Archibald’s forehead. Archibald froze with his mouth open.
As the guards raised their spears, Tanya shouted,
“Drop your weapons!”
Her magically enhanced voice resonated loudly within the dining room.
The soldiers, startled, threw down their spears and covered their ears. Her voice echoed and amplified, shattering all the glass windows around the dining room.
“Such threats won’t work.”
Despite being scared, Archibald yelled with false bravado.
“I’m a Count of Lontamon and a supporter of the Lontamon royal family. Do you think you can mess with me and get away with it?”
“Then I, too, will stake my name. I’ll risk war with Lontamon if necessary. Not as Lutia, but in my own personal name, alone! So, any soldier brave enough to start that war, feel free to step into my territory. I’ll show you your heart while you’re still breathing.”
Tanya flicked her finger sideways. The floating fork flew and embedded itself in the stone wall. Tanya stood up, grabbing the table for twenty and threw it aside. The feast on the table crashed to the floor, and the table smashed against the wall, shattering.
“I stand here not as Lutia’s Master Tanya but as Tanya Crimlos, the daughter of Count Crimlos. Archibald, do you remember my name?”
At first, he truly did not remember. But after a moment, Archibald pointed his finger forward in shock. That only angered her more.
The bead around Tanya’s neck floated and shone brightly. An ice block the size of a fork materialized in front of Archibald. It rapidly expanded from the size of a fork to the size of an arm, and then to the size of a person. The sharp end of the ice pointed at his forehead. Archibald tried to escape, but Tanya had already frozen and tied his ankles.
Tanya spoke coldly.
“As you did with my father, I’ll give you ’till tomorrow morning’ to decide, Count.”
The ice spike redirected its course, piercing through Archibald’s abdomen, breaking his spine, and embedding itself in the dining room floor. Archibald screamed.
The soldiers screamed and tried to flee the dining room. Tanya waved her hand, and the doors shut automatically. The temperature inside the room plummeted, frosting the soldiers’ eyebrows and hair white.
Tanya looked at them and said,
“I see some familiar faces. Are you playing captain now?”
The younger soldiers were too scared to know what to do, but the older ones were terrified. Tanya, breathing out a white breath, said,
“I remember everything. Every deed you did in the mansion. Every gesture, every glance.”
Long ice spears materialized in front of some soldiers. And as one uttered a brief exclamation of “Huh?” a spear pierced through his mouth and out the back of his head, embedding in the wall, decorating it next to an elegant watercolor painting.
“I remember it all.”
Ice spears similarly pierced through the faces of another four soldiers and stuck in the wall.
“Without exception.”
The soldiers, thinking it was their turn next, clung to the wall, shivering uncontrollably, unable to tell if it was from fear or cold. Tanya approached Archibald, who was still barely alive.
He was trembling, holding the ice block embedded in his abdomen, too weak to scream.
“Please, please…”
Tanya thought he would beg for his life, but it was the opposite.
“Kill me, please.”
He wept and pleaded.
“Please.”
Tanya looked down at him expressionlessly and said,
“Cry more. That’s the real taste, isn’t it?”
Archibald’s eyes widened. Tanya continued,
“Cry more. I want to know if you’re in more pain than my sister was.”
Archibald shook his head in despair.
“Please, please…”
Without looking, Tanya waved her hand backward. All the doors of the dining room opened. She shouted,
“Get out!”
The surviving soldiers slipped several times on the frozen floor as they fled. Tanya, pushing her witch-like face close to Archibald’s, her eyes ablaze with real blue flames, said,
“You burnt it, right? I’ll freeze it! You will not meet death easily!”
Tanya did not kill Archibald until the mansion crumbled entirely from being frozen. She left him to lose sensation and watch his limbs shatter.
Strangely, she felt nothing. Tailed had once said that ending revenge might surprisingly feel unremarkable.
‘If you still want to pursue revenge, then do so, Tanya. You can be selfish. You are capable of bearing the consequences of your selfish decisions. That’s exactly what the Master of Lutia is supposed to do.’
‘Even if it means killing?’
Tanya’s question was met with only a smile from Tailed. Was it a smile loaded with great meaning? No. He too, probably couldn’t answer that question.
Tanya thought as she began her journey to find Tailed again.
‘What should I do now?’
Tanya no longer wished for Tailed’s praise. She no longer expected any answers.
☆ ☆ ☆
“I am a Master of Lutia.”
Tanya told Sinabia.
Master Tailed was always selfish. His actions to protect Lutia’s fate and the continent’s peace weren’t out of a sense of duty but the result of doing what he wanted.
“Saving Lutia is my top priority, above anything else. So, I will act in the best way possible to save it.”
Kassel nodded nonchalantly, though he felt somewhat disappointed inside.
At the end of Tailed’s letter, there was a phrase Tanya couldn’t understand emotionally.
‘If I had to choose between Lutia and Irine, I would choose Irine.’
Tanya had written back, ‘How could you pen such cheesy words?’ But now she seemed to understand.
“I will move with Kassel. This crisis is not just about Lutia but related to the entire crisis of Aranthia and, broadly, the entire continent. Naturally, summoning dragons is a priority to overcome this power.”
Kassel was surprised, having been slightly disappointed earlier.
“I expected you to say that.”
Sinabia spoke as if she knew the basis of Tanya’s decision, which was related to her past.
“If your Gider leads there, then Larden’s Gider will head towards Lutia.”
Sinabia, along with Pankentin, led Fergusnai’s army back to Larden. Now only three humans and one Lemif remained.
Kassel just stared dumbly at Tanya. After Lofin coughed, Kassel, belatedly startled, asked,
“So, Rai. Where is this dragon you know of?”
“East.”
Rai answered.
Lofin led the way grumblingly.
“Such a helpful direction. Might as well say somewhere in the Sky Mountains.”
Rai followed Lofin, with Tanya and Kassel trailing behind in line.
Kassel murmured quietly,
“Thank you, Tanya.”
Going with Kassel was a selfish choice. Tanya didn’t yet want to leave the adventure with Kassel. Whether that was just an excuse to save Lutia, she might not have known.
‘Master, this is the way you taught me. Is it okay?’
She didn’t care if the answer was no.
This was her choice.
–TL Notes–
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