Chapter 498 – News of Return
The flow of magic power, felt vividly.
Within a confined range, he abruptly heightened the output of magic power in an instant.
Hoo-wook.
The air surrounding him stirred along with the dust, rising and falling. A fierce presence swept through the chamber, pressing down a silence.
Stabilized magic power.
The overload vanished.
'It's still impossible to unleash Superlative Magic or activate [Interis]...'
Still, the opening of Mado
The functions of pitch-black [Ainber] and the subspace of [Raindia] had also been fully restored.
'Now, it's time to return.'
Verden extended his arm.
The staff leaning against the wall flew into his grasp. Having stored [Interis] into subspace, he stepped out of the building.
Outside, Adrian and Isabella awaited, and Alpha, in
"How is your condition, my lord?"
"About seventy percent of my strength has returned. If not for the potion made from Lysandro's fruit, I wouldn't even have recovered half that much by now."
"Ehem."
Isabella puffed up proudly, having accomplished the feat of restoring a Transcendent with alchemy.
She, too, had taken the potion periodically alongside Verden, and thus the right arm lost to Dahit's flames had regenerated.
Verden turned his gaze to the side.
"I've been in your debt."
"In your debt? Not at all, I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to your help, the damage was dramatically reduced."
The candidate of the Ark, Terat.
He had survived the trial.
Though it had deviated from the original course, he had managed to track down the abnormal species, the Pale Blind, and, without any aid from others, battled it for half a day.
In the end, with his specialty of wide-range earth magic, he collapsed a small snowy mountain and succeeded in the subjugation of the Pale Blind.
The price, however, was frostbite deep within his body, nearly costing him his life...
Yet, one of the Ark's members nearby confirmed the trial's completion and administered every necessary emergency measure. Afterward, Terat was carried to the Church of Chillstead and saved.
Not even a finger or toe lost to the damage of the frost.
Thus, the Ark ensured that candidates who overcame the trial would not die simply from their wounds.
Unless it was a place like the Demon King's tomb───ancient trials where the environment itself forbade outside intervention.
At any rate.
He had saved the refugees unable to enter Chillstead, and overcome the trial.
For Terat, it was the best possible outcome.
For a time, the smile of relief would not leave his face.
"Even if it's something small, should you ever need help in the North, please call upon me anytime. I may look like this, but my connections are quite broad. I'm sure it will be of help."
"If the need arises, I shall reach out."
Verden opened subspace.
He retrieved a bracelet once stored in the secret vault of Grond, the former ruler of Roafra.
A magical item that raised elemental resistance to a certain degree. Not something immensely rare, but neither was it cheap.
"Take it."
"Eh? I, that is..."
"If you dislike it, forget it."
"N-no! I will gratefully use it!"
Terat hurriedly accepted the bracelet and fastened it onto his wrist.
To suddenly receive an accessory seemingly worth at least hundreds of millions, he was left dumbfounded.
"No need to see us off."
Stopping Terat from taking the lead, Verden strode down Chillstead's road. From behind, voices of farewell rang out.
Isabella, walking closely at his side, asked lightly,
"Master, why give him a magic item out of nowhere?"
"Mages like him are rare."
Verden had long since grown sick of the true faces of mages belonging to the magic towers. Their selfish doctrines and curiosity were filthier than a sewer.
He knew well how precious a selfless mage like Terat was.
"Of course, I don't intend to scatter resources in every direction just to nurture such a kind-hearted mage. That is not my pursuit. This bracelet is merely the result of a passing connection."
One bracelet granting elemental resistance wouldn't make that great a difference.
Still, it could allow him to endure just a little longer at the crossroads of life and death.
"So, just a whim, then?"
"Well, yes."
The generosity of one who walks ahead on the path of magic.
In truth, if only by years lived as a mage, Terat was the senior by far... but what did that matter?
Verden was a Transcendent.
Before an existence who looked down even upon tower elders of nearly a century, years meant nothing.
Soon, they arrived at Chillstead's city gates.
On both sides, a considerable crowd had gathered.
Not for Verden, but because word had spread that the great warrior of the North, Adrian, was departing, citizens and refugees had gathered.
"The great warrior of the North!"
"Please look over here! My son dreams of becoming a warrior like you!"
"Thanks to you, I survived the subjugation without dying. Thank you!"
Cheering voices rang from every direction.
Among the throng was not only Chillstead's mayor, but also Viscount Casper, who had once been beaten nearly to death by Adrian.
Tremble tremble tremble.
He hadn't wanted to come, but fearing the warrior might take offense if he didn't, he was forced to show up.
Unable to properly raise his head, he sweated coldly.
He had run his mouth recklessly, only to have his carriage smashed to pieces before many witnesses──an entirely natural reaction.
Of course, Adrian cared not the slightest.
Eventually, Verden's group exited the gates and reached a secluded spot.
[No people in the surrounding area.]
"..."
Breath steamed in the cold.
Verden turned his gaze back, taking the white North into his eyes.
"Alpha, once we return, we'll fix your arm first."
[Confirmed. Priority one, restoration of mini-golem. Priority two, research into natural golems for Beta. Priorities have been reset, Your Majesty Verden.]
Alpha's single eye gleamed.
Verden, too, recalled what tasks awaited him, and drew his eyes from the scenery.
Space opened.
Coordinates, designated without distortion, to the Ownerless Land.
He stepped forward.
Whoong.
Unintentionally crash-landing in the North, Verden's party once more entered the continent.
***
"...He has returned."
Eres sensed, from a very far distance, the surging ripple of spatial teleportation.
The master of Nevis.
Watcher of the North──that name meant not only one who watched over the seal of Frostium, but also one renowned for extraordinary perception within the North.
Though it was limited to catching loud disturbances like spatial teleportation.
It did not extend to counting heads or discerning faces far away.
If close, perhaps, but not at a distance.
"Outwardly he seemed fine, but his internal injuries looked quite severe, and yet, to think he would leave the North this quickly. Even as a Transcendent of magic, his physical recovery ability rivals that of a Transcendent of qi. Remarkable."
As expected, once a mage who had once fought Legrit in close combat awakened, he became utterly different from ordinary Transcendents of magic.
As Eres marveled in earnest, Lienje, standing nearby, opened her mouth.
"Your Majesty, there is something I wish to ask."
"What is it?"
"Does that Transcendent truly have the qualifications to become the captain of the Ark?"
It had only been two years since Asher became a candidate of the Ark. No, if one were to count from the exchange battle of the Ark, not even a single year had passed.
Moreover, the trials he had overcome were but two.
Of course, one of them had been classified as an ancient trial, the Demon King's tomb... but still, in many ways, the data was woefully insufficient to claim verification.
And yet, Eres had willingly revealed the duty borne by the Watcher of the North.
It was a unilateral decision.
Lienje was curious as to what the Watcher of the North had seen in Asher's nature.
The answer was unexpected.
"Well, I do not know if he is qualified. To discern the intent of a Transcendent is truly not an easy task."
"Eh? Then why..."
"From the start, I approached it not through his inner being, but from an existential perspective."
Eres brushed his hand along the corner of his lips.
"First of all, Asher was completely beyond the observation of the Ark's captain, the 'Watcher of the World'. Even before he became a Transcendent. Not only that, even the master of the Library, who awakened the Ring of Origin of the ancient bloodline, could not completely pierce through his power."
And then.
"After the exchange battle, the path Asher has walked, and in addition, after speaking with him directly... I came to hold a belief that is close to conviction."
The Watcher of the North declared.
"The variable of the trials. That will likely be Asher."
"A variable... you mean? But the trials directly tied to him are very few. Do you have clear grounds for this?"
"Rather, it was precisely because I found no grounds at all that my suspicions grew stronger."
A gray-haired mage had suddenly appeared in the Principality of Riviant, and, at an astounding pace, elevated his realm, before one knew it, stepping into the domain of Transcendence.
Had such an existence ever been in history? At least, none that Eres knew of.
"Above all, Asher is the successor of the First Demon King, though not by blood. That is not conjecture, but certainty. In that sense, to be frank, I... even feel an intuition that perhaps Asher's very existence itself may be influencing the world."
"...!"
"Well, this too is without grounds."
Eres rested his arm upon the railing.
From the deck of the airship, Pewyngla, he gazed out upon the lofty skies of the North.
"Of course, that does not mean I will immediately push for Asher to become captain. Gaining the agreement of all the captains must come first. And the Coordinator and the Watcher will demand proof."
"Proof, from a Transcendent... no ordinary trial will suffice."
"Still, in the future, an appropriate trial is scheduled to appear. In the last Ark meeting, the Seeker said this. That he had discovered the traces of the 'First Magic Tower', and would personally retrieve it, then bestow it as a trial upon Asher."
The beginning of all magic towers.
The one magic tower that established the system of hierarchical magic, only to vanish into the flow of time.
"Nothing is known about the First Magic Tower apart from its achievements. That alone makes it a worthy trial, one not easily overcome even by a Transcendent. For the unknown is always peril."
Eres began to move.
"Let us head to Akro first, and report that among the candidates, a Transcendent has been born. Asher has departed, and nothing pressing seems to be occurring in the North, so I may leave my post for a while."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Pewyngla turned its course toward the Ark's headquarters.
***
The city of Arein, in the Ownerless Land.
Even in Verden's absence, the power he had cultivated was growing smoothly.
The Brave Runaways had shed the framework of a massive mercenary band and were playing their role as a security force in earnest.
Lord Liam Arein, with aid from the vampire Dumal and Adrian's friend, Keirel, was managing not only the North but also the eastern territories once ruled by the Grand Lord.
The Ruler of the West, perhaps because of the warning sent through the Mercenary King by Verden, had made no notable moves since the war.
Meanwhile, the Southern Alliance, though outwardly unconcerned, were inwardly gnashing their teeth over losing the mines in the disputed regions.
They continued to maintain contact with the broker, Serlo Broden, seeking ways to recover their losses, not realizing it was an act of tightening the noose around their own necks.
On the other hand.
"Ughhh...!"
The Society was extremely anxious.
Though a considerable amount of time had passed, Verden's party, who had infiltrated the Grand Hall of the Black Hour, had yet to return.
Yet they could not simply gather their elites to go searching. For they had no sense of where he even was.
Of course, to shake off the pursuit of Dahit Wethroel of the Dark Moon was by no means a simple task.
Thus, it was inevitable that news would be delayed... but given the opponent, anxiety bordering on dread was only natural.
It was then.
"You're a bit late."
Verden had returned.
All alive, unharmed.
"Welcome back, Excellency...!!"
Heras exhaled a deep sigh of relief, his knees nearly giving way.
Before being a member of the Society, he was a mage who revered Verden. That reverence stemmed from awe.
And even more than Heras... there were those who welcomed Verden with greater fervor.
"It's the Transcendent senior!!!!!!!"
Already, the truth of what kind of being Verden was had spread widely within the Society.
Naturally, the twins too had heard.
Cain, sending a gaze of respect, and beside him, Unia, who pointed at Verden, cried out shrilly, her blue eyes shining.
Not long after, word of Verden's return reached the Sages of the Society.
Along with the news, that Verden had clashed with Dahit in the Grand Hall.
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