EP.186

Veolgrin Grykencos remembers. The impression of that day, 723 years ago, when he first read the heavenly signs in his childhood.

When he stepped beyond the bizarre skies of Kalion, always made up of auspicious signs, outside the influence of Milestone.

“Ha.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. At the truth that no one in this world had taught him.

The Astronomy Society taught that the flow of the heavenly signs was the capriciousness of the sky. From the moment one steps out of the Kalion Sea Area, the fate of all mortals is said to depend on that capriciousness.

However, Veolgrin possessed an eye that the professors of the “conventional Astronomy Society” lacked. He was among those with the best vision throughout the history of the Astronomy Faction.

Therefore, when he first read the will of the sky.

“It is not capriciousness, but malice.”

He realized that this world was filled with malice.

“The rise and fall of many heroes, the prosperity and decline of great nations, and the fate of tribes are all merely a cruel joke mixed with malice.”

A vast will was casting threads across the world in the shape of a hand. Some succeed, some fall, some are destroyed, and some rise again; all flows are read one by one.

It would have been a scene that would have driven an ordinary human to madness. For the world itself was frivolously toying with everything, independent of human will.

However, instead of kneeling before madness, fear, or awe, Veolgrin raised his head and grasped the mana.

For about 600 years afterward, he secluded himself in the inner sanctum of the society, beginning his research. No one knew what kind of research he was doing or what he was preparing.

When the “madman” Veolgrin finally stepped out of the society’s doors again, the elven nobility paid respects to the birth of the greatest wizard of their race.

*

“Three things are needed. A vessel, a hammer, and determination.”

“Brother, you always complicate things unnecessarily.”

“The determination is ours to bear. I have already solidified my determination; how about you? Can you betray your god?”

“A priest once told me this.”

If the omnipotent Lord of all exists, our every action cannot be evil.

“Our misdeeds are part of the great plan orchestrated by Him, so how could there be apostasy? It is merely my purpose.”

The priest who conveyed these words to her faced formal excommunication from the Papacy, along with one of the rare grand excommunication ceremonies in church history.

“Is it obedience or cunning?”

“It is faith, Brother.”

Even when she spoke of heresy, the daughter most cherished by the human god did not lose her divine power. Veolgrin realized the principles of the god through this.

The god does not judge humans. It merely sees them as toys or trading objects.

To all those who harbor faith, it shares divine power, showing no interest in whether such acts contradict doctrine or ethics.

The vessel can be prepared. In this era, there has been no vessel superior to the Milestone.

What is now needed is a hammer. It will be used to break the vessel that contains the god. This is the most challenging part.

Veolgrin was secretly considering the human known as the hero at that moment, joining the United Kingdom. The journey to slaughter the Demon King was not something new, but—

One man was different.

*

Veolgrin has a daughter. Elpheira Grykencos. She was the most outstanding wizard among all the elves he had met.

Thus, he did not teach her astronomy.

Instead, he taught her magic interpretation. He laid the foundations of magical power. Unlike him, who started from the bottom, Elpheira was able to complete the basic groundwork well before she turned twenty.

Old elves tend to develop certain tendencies. One could call it a habit. An inflexible rigidity of thought, like a twisted old tree.

Elpheira did not possess such characteristics. Thanks to her young age and overwhelming talent, she had the qualifications to be appointed a full professor in semantics and structure long before she turned twenty.

Even when the Milestone’s magic was distorted and all elves lost their magic, becoming engulfed in chaos, she could still boldly extend her hand to optimize the magic circuit.

This was his determination. His resolve to use even his own flesh and blood as the first button of the plan he had prepared.

The moment she disappeared from the Demon Army’s territory, Veolgrin found himself uncharacteristically flustered.

Until a week after her disappearance, when she reappeared on the back of a man.

*

“Thank you for rescuing my daughter.”

“It was my duty.”

“No, I truly mean it.”

Veolgrin quietly bowed his head to the man who had collapsed in the ward. The man, with a bewildered expression, tried to rise but screamed in pain and collapsed again.

He was in a state barely recovered, deeply soaked in the terrible healing potions of humans. Veolgrin smiled quietly and spoke.

“If it was something you needed to do, wouldn’t it have been to support your wages? To be precise, this was beyond your scope of duty.”

“The Great King has already sufficiently congratulated me for this, so you needn’t do so.”

“Ha ha, no. Rather, if you want to say you’ll take good care of me from now on, you have to come here in person.”

In the middle of the demon’s territory, a place where the Seven Dragon Lords could possibly appear at any moment.

He had ventured alone into an area that all humans deemed dangerous and had given up on to rescue his daughter.

A mere royal guard of the human king. He claimed it wasn’t out of admiration for elves, but simply something that had to be done.

Just thinking that if a foreign noble went missing in the military outpost his lord managed, it might cause trouble for him, he had entered the danger zone, risking his life.

So, he was envious. That unwavering spirit. The will to survive. His talent at such a young age, having studied directly under Edelplat.

“You will act together with our party from today.”

“…What?”

“Feel free to speak casually. There’s no need for comrades to use honorifics with me. Regardless of age, we are all working towards the same goal together.”

“No, wait. Wait a minute. Lord Grykencos…? Are you saying where I’m going is…?”

“It’s a grand journey to decapitate the Demon King! Additionally, it’s an honorable step towards freedom and peace in this world.”

“What about the Great King?”

Upon seeing the shocked man, Veolgrin reached out and laughed.

“He said, ‘Can you raise a lion in a zoo?’ He was quite a thrilling person, truly. Now, I look forward to working with you.”

He firmly shook the hand of the man who was hesitating and spoke softly.

“Ku Geor. Let’s go kill the winter of this world.”

*

“Did Petrovich die? Is that true?”

“Yes… uh, yes. Brother… sniff… uh.”

“Huh.”

He hadn’t anticipated this. He died after just four years? And by the mere civil war of the human kingdom?

Veolgrin consoled the weeping saint as he returned to the academy. He had prepared everything, but the hammer had broken. Even before he could swing it.

But instead of despair, he picked up the pen again. If one plan failed, he could just prepare another.

He had successfully recruited one of the ambitious human royals who was somewhat recklessly meddling in the world, watching them intervene appropriately and attempting to prepare another hammer.

Maximilian was no good. It was already shattered. If it were either Jill Ber or Einar, one of them could at least meet the minimum conditions.

Thinking that way, he decided to assist that royal’s plans.

“…Couldn’t you have at least let me know you were alive? Isn’t our connection strong enough for that?”

When he met him again in the skies over Prichenkaya, Veolgrin was able to genuinely smile for the first time in a long while.

“Come, it’s been a while since I’ve shown my skills.”

The hammer I thought I’d lost has returned even stronger. There’s nothing to do but smile.

*

The hammer, the vessel, and the determination have finally gathered in one place.

It has been over 700 years since I first prepared this plan. For an ordinary elf, it is about time to consider death. It’s a long time that would span an elf’s entire life.

Half of the nations that existed when he first drafted the plan have disappeared. The last king he remembers is now referred to as the founder of the human kingdom.

That’s how much time has passed. A nation appearing and disappearing. For that long time, it is a dagger crafted for a single moment.

-Creak.

Cracks began to form in the ice like spider webs.

Through the twisted mana enveloping the entire sea area, a familiar mana contacts him. Even in this deep abyss where all magic is blocked, even through the seals wrapping around his body, it is clear.

Trapped in the ice, Veolgrin looked at the sunken city and smiled.

“Did you know that Kalion is said to be made up of 42 islands, Ivan?”

-Cracking—

Cracks are appearing in the ice. A hand is released from the restraint and raised.

“No. That’s nonsense. Kalion was a continent made up of 13 mountains. In ancient times, the artifact embedded in the sacred 13 mountains is the Milestone. So, it’s not the islands that have sunk—”

Only the highest 13 peaks remain, resembling islands.

If the reason the once-great distant tribes, whose entire infrastructure has sunk deep underwater, became imprisoned was merely ‘whims.’

Isn’t there only one thing a wizard who realizes that must do? They must realize.

It is not revenge. Such a base sentiment does not apply. Only self-cultivation. Polishing his skills on the ladder ascending to the heavens, reaching out toward those distant celestial grips—

To seize them.

To ensure that the whims of great beings would no longer determine the resurgence and demise of countless lives in this world.

For that purpose, to produce and nurture his own daughter for use.

To abandon the deaths of countless kinsfolk and the chaos of the mortal world.

Even if he were to stab his loyal companions and friends without reservation, he would only look at the results.

And even knowing that in the end he would perish himself, he is determined to reach out and seize the heavens.

When young Veolgrin looked up at the sky, it is not that he felt fear, awe, or despair.

However, he simply did not kneel. It was a world where even looking up at the sky required madness.

Now, no one will despair while looking at the sky any longer.

The Astronomy Board answered the heavens (Heaven’s Response).

Ascending to the heavens with a mortal body (Heaven’s Step).

Veolgrin’s outstretched hand stirred the sky (Heaven’s Turmoil).

Outside the Eternal Palace, Elpheira sat on the ground and looked up at the auroras dancing in the sky.

There was no time. At this very moment, it was uncertain what might befall Ivan.

What could one possibly do against such an overwhelming presence?

Yet even in such circumstances, Elpheira’s gaze did not leave the sky.

A sky filled with ominous omens, the clouds parted.

Red auroras swirled in the heavens as cracks were drawn across the celestial realm.

Numerous fractures spread like spider webs, shattering like ice.

“Father…?”

In between, the auspicious sign shines.

Ominous and auspicious signs mixed, scattered, collided, and reattached.

Within that, the Morning Star shone brightly.