Chapter 59 (1/2)

The mountain remained drenched in darkness and sung upon by a desolate wind. Only the bonfire’s embers served as a source of light within it, its flames rising like hazes.

I looked at Rohakan, who didn’t avoid my gaze. Deculein used to be his student, but it wasn’t as special as it sounded.

Deculein’s past was like a spider web. Hence, although this encounter was sudden, it was also inevitable. Among the Named characters throughout the empire, those unrelated to him were rare.

“Rohakan?” Epherene turned him and asked, her voice trembling. “Y-You said Rohakan? Then those fragments of the World Tree….”

Archmage Demakan’s treasure was a staff made from the World Tree. Stories about it and him were so famous that they appeared in fairytales.

He made his weapon of choice out of such rare tree branches and gave the remaining fragments to his family. Hence, Epherene and Sylvia thought Rohakan’s staff was from the World Tree.

“I worked so hard on that barrier. How did you get through it?” Rohakan scratched the back of his neck.

Barrier magic often differed in the series it used depending on its character. For example, barriers that widened the space within it used support series, and barriers that deceived perception used the illusion series.

Rohakan’s barrier used the illusion series, which I was immune to.

“Those cheap techniques don’t work anymore.”

“… Oh? Cheap techniques?” Rohakan’s eyes widened.

I turned my gaze to Epherene and Sylvia, standing near him, but Sylvia wasn’t there any longer.

“I’m here.”

… At some point, she had come behind my back.

“Epherene,” I called, but Rohakan expressed his surprise before she could move.

“Epherene? Are you Epherene Luna? The daughter of the Luna family?”

“Yes? D-Do you know me?”

“Of course, I do. Was it 15 years ago? Your father’s brain was a refreshing shock to me too. What is he doing these days?”

Epherene’s expression hardened. She looked at Sylvia and me. Then her gaze fell to the ground.

“… He passed away.”

“…”

Rohakan’s jaw dropped.

He looked both apologetic and embarrassed. Rubbing his temples, he said, “That’s a pity. His personality was a bit strange, but he was the kind of genius that rarely comes out even in a century.”

“Ah…”

“Debutante Epherene,” I called out to her again.

She looked unable to decide at first but soon approached me.

She asked him another question afterward.

“… Are you really Rohakan, not Murkan?”

Rohakan smiled bitterly and nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry. When I tell people my name, they immediately run away. Murkan’s my best friend. I borrowed this staff from him.”

“Empress Assassin Rohakan…”

“I can’t say that’s wrong, but back then, I had to do it.”

Rohakan was a friend of the former emperor Crebaim. However, he murdered multiple court wizards and the late empress. That incident turned him into one of the empire’s enemies.

“T-Then…”

Epherene groped her stomach, the inside of which was where the Spiell of Light settled.

Rohakan laughed quietly.

“My spirit isn’t harmful, so don’t worry. That way, you too will keep your promise—”

“Epherene, Sylvia.” I cut off Rohakan’s words. “Go back.”

They hesitated, but there should be no witnesses to the next development.

“If you get caught up in this, you might die.” I urged in the coldest and most domineering voice I could muster.

Rohakan groaned. Though they initially stood frozen, they soon nodded.

“Go. Just follow my steel.”

To ensure they wouldn’t get lost in the barrier, I entrusted my wood steel with guiding them.

Sylvia, from behind me, whispered, “Don’t lose.”

“… Go.”

There was no way I could lose.

But I couldn’t win either.

We wouldn’t fight, after all.

“If you don’t move within three seconds, you’ll be sanctioned to disciplinary measures.”

Epherene and Sylvia left, following my steel.

Rustle— Rustle—

The sound of their footsteps grew farther and farther away, and, at some point, they disappeared.

Whoooosh…

A cold, dry wind blew, causing the hem of my clothes and hair to flutter wildly. Rohakan looked at me with seriousness in his eyes.

“… It sure looks like you worked hard. Your mana’s gentle compared to before. Was the quality of mana something that could be improved with effort?”

“You still seem to be getting younger.”

Rohakan’s expression hardened for a moment. I uttered something that penetrated his secret, after all.

His eyebrows furrowed. “Are you trying to pick a fight? I don’t want to kill a student of mine.”

“It wouldn’t be good to provoke each other.”

“… What?”

I couldn’t beat Rohakan. It wasn’t because of a lack of growth or the need for a little more time.

I probably wouldn’t be able to beat him until the day I died.

“Did it sound like a provocation? It was just a warning.”

“That’s temerity.”

“Huh, temerity?”

However, my body didn’t back down. Even if it broke, it would never bend. I couldn’t abandon my pride when facing someone so powerful they transcended the world.

It was obviously Deculein’s personality, but that was what I liked about it.

The world always easily swayed Kim Woojin due to his lack of personal beliefs.

“Temerity~”

“…”

I closed my eyes and grasped the current situation. Fifteen out of my twenty wood steel were still wandering around the mountain.

“… 157 people are caged within your barrier, and 93 people wander out of it. 23 people want to break it, and 37 have made their way down the mountain. A siege network has already been established to our northeast and southeast, and the Imperial Knights are slowly surrounding the area.”

I opened my eyes, finding Rohakan’s gaze fixed on me.

“Are you buying time? I have no intention of letting you do that.”

He conjured mana.

With apathy, I replied, “Go northwest. The defense there is still a bit weak.”

“…?”

The magic he had been preparing was instantly disturbed. His eyes widened so much they looked like they were about to pop out.

“What?”

“But be warned. This is the last time I let you go,” I continued in hopes of making sure he’d be more careful next time. He needed to avoid being killed or caught by the empire for his atrocities out of his blindness for his children.

“Um…” Rohakan scratched the back of his neck and replied. “Is this for old times sake?”

“I have no affection for the person who killed the Empress Dowager.”

“… Okay. Of course, you wouldn’t, but aren’t you curious why I’m here?”

“I am.”

“Well, would you believe me? As your teacher, I abandoned you.”

“Have you come to destroy the ‘temple’?” I asked assertively.

Rohakan gasped.

“You… You’ve changed.”

“I don’t have time to chat. Leave.”

“… Okay.”

He turned around, but he stopped after a few steps and looked over his shoulder.

“Deculein.”

“Yes.”

“… Do you believe in God?”

In a way, that was random. However, it was something that penetrated the core of the main quest.

I answered.

“I believe only in myself.”

I didn’t believe in God.

As Deculein and as Kim Woojin.

That belief had not changed.

“… Haha.”

Then Rohakan smiled softly.

“That’s a good attitude. Take this.”

He handed me a book.

“It is a story about certain fanatics in this world. Read it anytime.”

───[Exploration of the Land of Extinction]───

◆ Description

– This Exploration Book was written by Rohakan.

– It records the behavior of the fanatics who crossed the Land of Extinction.

◆ Category: Special ⊃ Publication

◆ Effect: ???

─────────

I put it in my pocket.

“Goodbye.”

He absorbed the element of wind into his body and activated certain great destruction magic.

Rumble—!

Upon its release, it hit the ground several times, ravaging the entire site until the whole area was distorted, as if struck by lightning.

After that, he went northwest.

“…I guess it’ll start from now on.”

Little by little, ‘real Named’ were appearing. Empress Slayer Rohakan, Recruit Rodran, Great Elder Dzekdan….

Even Epherene and Sylvia would take at least two years to join their tier.

The world was wide, and the quest was still only beginning.

[Complete: The Story of Rohakan]

◆ Acquired one item catalog

◆ Store Currency +1

The item catalog was a special reward. I thought it was only given to players, but the result stated otherwise.

I planned to use this later.

“That old man is as meticulous as a serpent.”

As Rohakan left, he destroyed almost the entire area. It wasn’t a useless bluff to show off his greatness.

I knew what he intended.

It was an alibi for the two of us.

I also called the wood steels to spread all over the place to play along with his plan, beginning my part of the work.