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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Kurika was charging towards us, that fact alone was enough to send a wave of overwhelming pressure crashing down on me.
I gritted my teeth, a feeling of dread rising in my chest.
Why was he in Nirva?
Ancient magical beasts usually went to great lengths to conceal their existence.
They had learned over the centuries that revealing themselves brought nothing but trouble, and it was an unspoken rule among them.
Of course, there were exceptions, but those who broke the rule were buried deep within the Demon Realm Forest, becoming food for other beasts and insects.
But Kurika and Sharcal, two of the highest-ranking ancient magical beasts, were in the middle of a human city.
‘Something is terribly wrong.’
I shouted, my voice filled with urgency,
“Run towards the mage! We need to get out of Nirva!”
It was too dangerous to stay here.
Even alone, I couldn’t guarantee my survival, let alone protecting Rin and Ares.
As if waiting for my command, Rin and Ares sprinted towards the exit.
I felt a strange sense of déjà vu as I glanced at the giant boulder that had split the mansion in two, but I followed close behind them.
Sharcal wouldn’t be killed by something like that.
Sure enough, the boulder, which had been standing still, began to tremble and crack.
Then, with a surge of magical energy, it rose to its feet.
“How dare you wreak havoc in my domain, Kurika!”
Sharcal roared, his voice filled with rage.
I could feel a tremendous surge of magical energy gathering behind me.
I caught up to Diana, who was running towards us.
She looked exhausted, probably from fighting the servants.
“Da-Daniel? What’s going on in there?”
Diana, transformed into a dragon, possessed senses far keener than any human.
She could clearly feel the overwhelming pressure and murderous intent radiating from Kurika and Sharcal, and her face was pale with fear.
“It’s okay, calm down, sis. We need to get out of here. Nirva is too dangerous right now.”
I gripped her shoulder, guiding her towards the exit.
The Len family mansion, caught between the clash of two powerful beasts, was crumbling around us.
We emerged from the mansion to find Hayun, Sen, and the mage staring blankly at the battle unfolding before them.
“Is that even possible?”
“Monsters…”
Hayun and Sen watched the fight with fear in their eyes, but the mage was different.
“Amazing.”
He stared at the clash of the magical beasts with wide, awestruck eyes, as if witnessing a new world.
“Why have you trespassed into my domain, King of Beasts?”
“Step aside, Sharcal, if you don’t want to be caught in the crossfire of the gods’ game. I know the Earliest Apocalypse is here!”
The Earliest Apocalypse?
Rin and I exchanged glances.
Kurika was searching for Rin, but there was one thing that didn’t make sense.
‘How does he know Rin is here?’
There was no way he could know.
How could the Emperor, who never left the Demon Realm Forest, possibly know that a girl he had never met was the Earliest Apocalypse?
It was too dangerous to stay here, I was unarmed and no match for Kurika.
“Mage! Take us back to Aios, now!”
I gathered everyone, but the mage was still mesmerized by the battle.
“Hey! Snap out of it!”
I grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.
He finally blinked, as if awakening from a trance.
Sen glared at him suspiciously, but the mage quickly started casting his warp spell.
“You’re not going anywhere!”
Kurika, who hadn’t taken his eyes off us even during the fight, roared, but the pressure was only a momentary tingling sensation on our skin.
In the blink of an eye, we were standing in the hallway of Aios Academy.
“Haa…”
I let out a sigh of relief.
The others, similarly shaken, collapsed onto the floor or leaned against the wall for support.
It was a natural reaction after encountering two of the most powerful ancient magical beasts.
It was a miracle that we had all survived.
I understood their fear, but I couldn’t stay here.
I took a deep breath and spoke calmly.
“We need to go back to Nirva.”
“What?”
“Are you crazy? What are you talking about?”
Rin and Diana immediately protested.
It was an understandable reaction, but my resolve was firm.
“I have to go back. Something is seriously wrong in Nirva.”
The others hesitated at first, but then, their expressions hardened with determination, they said they would come with me.
But I refused.
Nirva was too dangerous, even for me.
Bringing them along would only put them at risk.
Especially Rin, who was Kurika’s target.
I didn’t know how he had managed to sneak into Nirva without revealing his true form, but for now, the safest place for Rin was my hometown.
And so, our group split up.
The mage, claiming that his warp coordinates for Nirva’s central square were no longer valid, took his payment and left.
Sen, Diana, and Rin headed towards my hometown.
Ares, who had a promise to keep with Arni, went to visit her family first, but he promised to return to our hometown soon.
And lastly, Hayun…
“……”
“This is non-negotiable, you’re staying outside the city. No exceptions.”
“I get it, I get it. You’ve said it a thousand times.”
…was coming with me to Nirva.
She was adamant about participating in this incident involving her family.
This time, instead of warping directly into the city, we would travel by horse, slowly approaching Nirva while observing the situation from a safe distance.
I planned to leave Hayun far away from the city and enter alone.
We left the empty academy, rented horses from the stable, and set off towards Nirva.
As we rode, we couldn’t help but speculate about what had happened.
The gray dust that had turned Nirva into a desolate ghost town, the specters of Hayun’s parents welcoming us… I suspected it was Sharcal’s doing.
Only he had the power to exert such influence over an entire city.
But why had he left the Demon Realm Forest and come to Nirva? And how did Kurika know where Rin was and find his way to Nirva?
“Ugh, I can’t make sense of any of this.”
“…Daniel?”
Hayun asked hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Why was my uncle like that?”
“Heaven Len?”
Hayun had a point.
From what I had seen, it seemed Sharcal had killed everyone in Nirva.
It wasn’t in his nature to spare those weaker than him, and he would have slaughtered everyone indiscriminately, whether they were soldiers or civilians.
‘But why was Heaven Len left alive?’
As I pondered the question, a strange sense of déjà vu crept up on me.
‘Wait a minute, why was Sharcal using the corpses of the people he killed for his magic?’
He despised the weak, and yet he was using them as ghostly servants to hinder us?
No, that didn’t make sense.
For a mage like Sharcal, it was far more efficient to simply swing his staff than waste mana on using corpses for magic.
But the city was definitely under the influence of Sharcal’s magic.
I was certain of it.
The question was why?
I had no answers to these questions.
Why was Sharcal in Nirva?
Why had he attacked and taken over the city?
And how did Kurika find his way to Nirva?
If Nirva had been near the Demon Realm Forest, I could have understood their presence, but…
Nirva was located in the opposite direction, making the situation even more baffling.
Unable to come up with any answers, Hayun and I urged our horses to go faster.
After several days of travel, we finally arrived at Nirva.
“…What is this?”
“Da-Daniel? Am I seeing things?”
Nirva, which had been a desolate ghost town shrouded in gray dust, was now…
“Oh my! Is this your first time in Nirva? Students? A couple?”
“Isn’t that girl from the Len family?”
“Huh? Did the Len family have children?”
We heard voices all around us.
The city was bustling with activity, a symphony of sound and energy.
Nirva, the ghost city, had returned to its former, peaceful state.
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Time. It’s what that rotten priestess do.
ảo ma