—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Yuma’s group, including the White Night clan and the Mullen tribe, all returned to the island aboard Silviria.
‘Damn tired.’
After exchanging farewells with his companions, Yuma immediately fell asleep.
After falling into a deep sleep, he opened his eyes again.
As it had been until now, the morning after killing a powerful being was filled with status windows.
Level increased by 20, and stats increased by 20 across the board.
Even so, it still seemed like only entry-level Sword Master power.
‘Must break free from being ordinary.’
Only then could he properly utilize these stats that were raised through this achievement.
‘Must prepare for things that might happen unexpectedly.’
Didn’t know when the moment would come when he couldn’t use Parrying.
The enemies he was facing now were gods, after all.
He needed to break free from being ordinary, master swordsmanship, and build up Qi.
It seemed level 100 was the maximum achievable through achievement rewards.
This meant that to achieve physical growth, he needed to break free from being ordinary.
The notifications continued.
Seemed there were skills acquired as well.
Originally, Noble Presence also had mental barrier-like power.
Even with just Noble Presence, he could have withstood mental magic.
‘Is it because of the gods’ appearance?’
The status window seemed to be saying that.
That he didn’t need to worry about being possessed by gods.
Usually, the notifications should end here.
However, a few more sentences appeared before Yuma’s eyes.
…This bastard’s suddenly getting sentimental.
The elimination of the Eight Evil Gods.
This one had very clear objectives for him while showing no intention of easily revealing its identity.
‘Breaking free from being ordinary.’
He was going to accomplish it anyway.
He had to do everything possible to prepare for any situation.
After organizing his thoughts, Yuma slowly got up.
The primary objective of making the merfolk into an alliance was achieved.
So, there wasn’t particularly any business left in Mullen’s sea.
‘Still, should leave in about 4 days.’
Stabilization.
He wanted to watch a bit as Mullen’s land stabilized.
And this place was an environment where Cloney and Bell could grow – an opportunity not easily given.
Step─
When Yuma opened the tent of his quarters, everyone’s attention turned to him.
Yuma felt their gazes were quite unusual.
Gazes of awe.
Well, from their perspective, he was someone who had instantly killed a being that had been oppressing them for months.
And someone who had split the sea.
Yuma walked toward the sea.
Unlike yesterday, he could see many Mullen tribe members advancing into the sea.
Yuma glanced at the sea.
He could see a small merfolk boy and girl staring intently at him from behind a huge tree.
“What is it.”
At Yuma’s quiet words, the boy opened his mouth.
“What should we do!”
“What do you mean, ‘what’?’ Just give it to him!”
When the girl hit his shoulder, the boy walked up hurriedly.
“God of War, thank you!”
The boy held out something with both hands clasped together.
It was a bracelet carefully woven with small shells that appeared to blend pink and purple colors.
“Thanks.”
When Yuma immediately put on the bracelet he received on his left wrist, the boy disappeared with a bright smile that seemed proud.
Yuma approached closer to the sea.
Swoosh
Yuma looked at the man who stood beside him.
It was Yercur, king of the Mullen tribe.
Looking at the sea, Yercur opened his mouth.
“Grand Duke Yuma. Thanks to you, our Mullen can once again fully rule the great sea.”
Rebuilding the sea.
The Mullen tribe was slowly reclaiming the sea that Leviathan and its subordinates had been heavily infesting.
“That Atlantis you mentioned at first. We shall try to revive that legendary scenery with this opportunity.”
Yercur, who must have been at least 260 years old, had a very enthusiastic expression.
“That’s good.”
Yuma looked at Cloney and Tisha who were training hard in the sea to the left.
Although Tisha had been helping with the formation of the mana circuit until Cloney completely formed the Mullen tribe’s mana circuit.
Cloney was now handling sea magic quite flexibly, so Tisha also stood facing her, training her own magic.
Yercur looked at Tisha, who was training face to face with Cloney, with an approving expression.
“At first, I heard it was your subordinate who received motivation from my daughter and started training. Now it seems to be the opposite.”
Yercur looked at Yuma and continued speaking.
“What are your plans now? Are you thinking of returning to the Astes Empire?”
“Have to. After watching the situation settle. Planning to leave in 4 days.”
Yuma’s gaze also fixed directly on Cloney and Tisha.
“Such an opportunity was not to be missed.”
Yercur slowly nodded his head.
“True words. Meeting such an evenly matched rival isn’t a frequent stroke of luck.”
For some reason, Yercur stared intently at Yuma and continued speaking.
“No one in this sea would be satisfactory for you.”
Yuma could only think internally about why this old man was acting this way.
From Yercur’s perspective, it was natural that Yuma appeared as a God of War who far transcended the power of a demigod.
Yercur turned his head to look back at where Cloney and Tisha were and continued speaking.
“Tisha. If you find her useful, you can take her with you. The same goes for anyone else.”
Yuma’s eyes showed a strange light.
A 5th circle magician like Cloney.
She was a valuable asset in battle.
Unlike humans who were on a similar level as the cat folk and lion folk – the worst races for magical growth – merfolk could grow more smoothly.
‘A companion who can grow alongside.’
If she could become such a companion for Cloney, she was worth taking along.
Night deepened.
Yuma noticed that the number of merfolk on the island had noticeably decreased.
Probably, since the underwater was now safe, most merfolk went into the deep sea to sleep.
“Why are you still at it?”
Cloney was still practicing magic while waving her hands in the sea.
Tisha seemed to have gone underwater.
“Ah, Lord Yuma.”
Cloney turned her head to look at Yuma.
Cloney smiled brightly.
“The sea seems like a really good place, more than I thought.”
Blue water streams undulated behind Cloney’s back.
“It’s grateful how it forms magical shapes just as I say.”
…Isn’t that just because you’re an outstanding genius?
Usually the sea wouldn’t follow the call of magical power so well.
Yuma couldn’t bring himself to point out that fact to Cloney’s brightly smiling face.
Cloney’s words continued.
“This race is really peaceful. Even when they were being oppressed by that monster. Their bonds of trust in each other are amazing. I also met Tisha’s mother. She was very cheerful.”
Cloney’s golden eyes captured the night sea.
Yuma felt a faint yearning in Cloney’s words.
“Let’s walk for a bit.”
Cloney smiled brightly.
“Shall we?”
Crunch… crunch…
Yuma and Cloney walked barefoot on the beach shore.
Their footprints were imprinted side by side in the sand.
“There’s still a lot I don’t know about you.”
Cloney thought Yuma’s words were quite unexpected.
Because she thought Yuma didn’t need to know about her.
‘But I want to know more about Lord Yuma.’
Crunch…
The sand was soft. Yuma continued speaking.
“Tell me your story. About your mother, for instance.”
Witch.
Yuma only knew that Cloney’s mother was a witch.
Asking about it in detail could have been more painful, so he hadn’t.
But now she was a companion he had spent quite a long time with.
And a companion he would need to spend much more time with going forward.
Cloney looked at the sky. The serene scenery of night.
“She wasn’t an innocent victim of witch hunting. She was definitely a witch. My mother.”
She wasn’t a victim of falsely raised witch hunts.
A 7th circle magician.
A magic user worthy of the name great mage.
“My father was also a magician. 4th circle. He was closer to being a scholar. Father studied all kinds of magic. Elemental magic, magical engineering… and even black magic. If it could satisfy his interest in magic, he would dip his toes a bit into anything, even if it strayed from the right path. Of course, the people around didn’t know about that part.”
Cloney and Yuma continued walking on the beach.
“But, it seems father found out something he shouldn’t have known. That the arch mage of the Blue Tower in the magic city of Wollen where father worked at the time was moving under a lich’s orders. Father noticed it, but that lich also noticed that he noticed.”
Lich.
That means at least an 8th circle magician.
“So father was killed by that lich. 11 years ago.”
4 years old.
Cloney recalled that was when she was 4 years old.
Father had recorded everything, she said.
Her mother Vinesse was the only one who read that record made of mana.
“My mother, who was a free magician of Wollen like father, fled with me. And fearing they might track me through black magic using father’s blood as a medium, she didn’t teach me magic. We lived in hiding like that.”
They lived normally like that for 6 years, she said.
“In the year I turned 10, 5 years ago from now. That lich named Remos didn’t give up for 6 years. Finally found my location using father’s blood as a medium. And tried to kill us. Me and my mother.”
The only people who knew his identity.
From the perspective of a lich who had power through sacrificing personality, there was naturally no reason to let them live.
“He even brought imperial knights. Close to a thousand… Probably used traces of father learning black magic as evidence to falsely claim my mother was a witch.”
Vinesse had to face numerous opponents alone.
“To face Remos, mother ended up turning to black magic. The one father had researched. Black magic that gains power far greater than one’s original power by sacrificing life force and talent.”
Black Flame.
That title was completed at that moment.
Vinesse, who originally had outstanding skill in fire among elemental magic, burned those who came to kill her with that power.
“She should have stopped. She lost consciousness.”
Black magic steals people’s rationality.
No matter how strong their mental barriers, it’s not easy to block that infiltration for those who haven’t built up their vessel with black magic from the beginning.
“She burned everything she saw.”
A magician with overwhelming talent.
Became a witch stronger than anyone.
“Except only me. Everything around.”
After burning the lich.
After burning even the life vessel held by the Blue Tower arch mage.
Even burned beings who were originally Imperial Seats 9 and 10.
“At that time, Imperial Seat 8 Keingal who died by your hands, Lord Yuma. Said he met his end at the hands of the Imperial Ten Seats.”
Walking, Cloney slowly shook her head.
“They couldn’t kill mother. After completely turning two cities to ashes, she perished in her own flames.”
There was no lie that Cloney’s mother was a witch.
Just that there was a hidden truth others didn’t know.
Stop
Cloney stopped walking, turned around and looked at Yuma.
“Are you disappointed? That I’m the daughter of a witch.”
Yuma stroked the black hair of the girl with those shining golden eyes.
“I’m not disappointed in you.”
The night wind blew strongly.
Even so, Yuma’s voice echoed completely in Cloney’s ears.
“There’s no reason to be. The only one who has the right to be disappointed in your mother is you.”
Tears welled up in Cloney’s eyes.
“Yes… I should be disappointed…”
She had seen thousands of records that most people evacuated.
But there must have been innocent people who got caught up in it among those who didn’t try to kill mother.
Cloney slowly leaned her body on the beach.
Countless stars entered Yuma and Cloney’s eyes. Stars that seemed like they would pour down at any moment.
“I couldn’t be disappointed. In mother.”
Just missed her, that’s all.
Was just very lonely, that’s all.
The empty space of a mother who blindly believed in her was just too big, that’s all.
Yuma waited for Cloney to look at the stars for a long while.
“So… I won’t let go of Lord Yuma.”
“Right.”
Yuma and Cloney walked the night beach again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
