276th Chapter
April 28th.
Gulemashia fought desperately, and after Vargan seized all authority of the Academia.
Everyone on the battlefield realized.
Gulemashia was dead.
Gamigin was dead.
After that, the battlefield changed rapidly.
The Church’s Soldiers advanced fiercely, mourning the great magician.
The Altifes, having lost their focal point known as the Cardinal, were in a state of utter chaos, experiencing something they had never encountered before.
In the process, the core of Archbishop Sabnak, who had split and killed the hero Kello, belonging to Gamigin, shattered.
Most of the bishops were torn apart.
Meanwhile, Archbishops Glashalabolas and Salecius, who were acting as reinforcements, attempted to escape.
Only Archbishop Glashalabolas succeeded in fleeing.
Archbishop Salecius was captured during a confrontation with Helion’s team.
It was the first time in human history that an archbishop had been successfully captured.
As a result, before the war, the forces of Cardinal Gamigin, including.
Archbishop Sabnak, 736 bishops, 34,000 special entities, and 820,000 ordinary priests were drastically altered.
Archbishop Sabnak’s transformation into a Judgment Weapon.
412 bishops dead, 30 bishops captured.
Approximately 25,000 special entities dead.
About 520,000 ordinary priests dead.
This led to such grim statistics.
The soldiers of Yggdrasil, victorious in the war.
However, amidst the sweet taste of victory, their losses were not insignificant.
The death of Gulemashia, once hailed as a hero, and the death of Swordsman Kello, ranked 8th among heroes.
Of the 40,000 soldiers, 6,000 were lost, leaving roughly 34,000 survivors.
Among the survivors, 1,000 were injured to the extent that they would never fight again.
Brave soldiers were forcibly pulled away from the battlefield.
Zzzzt—.
Bzzzt—!
Recalling that fact, Liam exhibited a rough dance of his sword.
With each swing, blue currents burst forth as his aura sliced through the air. His calloused, blistered feet constantly brushed against the ground.
Swish—!
The blade shot out sharply, as if to behead a virtual enemy.
Liam held his arm extended for a moment before settling his mana and taking a short break.
“…Huff.”
Liam sat on a suitably sized wooden box.
The small outdoor training ground of the church, located closest to the forest where the war was fought, in the city of Quela.
“……”
Wiping the sweat off with a pre-prepared towel, Liam sank into his thoughts.
Wiping away sweat, he fell into deep thought.
His furrowed brow revealed that he was deep in contemplation.
…Once again, let’s go back to the time just after the war had ended.
In the nest of Gamigin, which was busy swallowing airships.
The colossal mountain ceased its movements, halted by the attacks from Ferangis outside and Tauro who had entered from within.
Ferangis commanded the Spirit King and barely caught the falling Academia.
The complete destruction of the floating city was averted.
Most of the infrastructure was destroyed, except for a few particularly sturdy buildings like the Grand Clock Tower, leaving only the form behind.
However, there were phenomena that couldn’t simply be attributed to Gulemashia’s death.
For one, the rapid descent of Academia was notable, but what stood out even more was.
The defense system of Academia, known for its extreme protection, had been utterly destroyed.
The barrier, whose structure had never been understood, was damaged to the point of being unusable.
Other defense systems were also in such disarray that there was no saving them.
As if someone had manipulated them ‘artificially.’
‘Because of that, Academia is no longer a safe learning place from Altife as it used to be.’
People’s opinions were divided.
While some argued that they couldn’t restore it to its former glory without knowing the structure of the barrier, they insisted on building a new defense system to restore Academia.
Others believed that instead of investing in such risks and resources, they should merge the current Academia personnel into Rikeion.
For now, the restoration faction, which valued tradition and principle, held the upper hand.
But it remained unclear how this would change.
As the aftermath of the war continued and opinions narrowed, the students, including Liam, felt this like a cold breeze.
—During the sorting out of the situation, the current students of Academia would be made to live in Rikeion.
Ultimately, Liam and the students would temporarily reside in Rikeion.
However, the reason Liam was frowning wasn’t because of that.
‘…Vargan. Wake up soon.’
Liam had so many questions he wanted to ask him.
And it wasn’t just Liam. The Central Church and the Heroes. Everyone wanted him to provide answers.
‘Hurry up and get up, so you can make some excuse with that pretty mouth of yours.’
The collapse of Academia.
The prime suspect, Vargan.
As a promising student who held a crucial position during the hunt for Gamigin, he was now instantaneously marked by this incident.
Due to various circumstances.
Even if he was proven innocent after a trial, it would be hard to receive the same expectations and cheers as before.
Yet, there must have been some misunderstanding… or some reasoning behind it.
Having closely observed Vargan’s different approach until now, Liam thought so.
“Phew….”
A long sigh escaped Liam.
It was a deep breath mixed with his worries about Vargan and the despair at not being able to understand the relationship between them.
“…Liam.”
Approaching him was his childhood friend, Emily, who had a heavy shadow on her face. She sat down next to Liam.
The two of them hadn’t exchanged a word for a while.
The two couldn’t even exchange angry words.
The peace they had expected to find after the war only brought deeper suffering.
“How is Alicia…?”
Liam finally opened his mouth.
He brought up Alicia, the one who showed the most instability, as Vargan, still unconscious, was being arrested as a prime suspect in a heinous crime.
“…Not good. She’s already attempted to escape several times even in solitary confinement…. She’s strongly asserting Vargan’s innocence, but the public opinion….”
“……”
Alicia, who was Vargan’s servant, was trapped in solitary confinement, forcibly interrogated while deprived of Naias.
Though still not a prison per se, having everything necessary didn’t change the suffocating atmosphere.
Having been closely associated with Vargan, her actions were unpredictable, which was why the church executed such measures to uncover the truth.
While being confined, Alicia was more concerned about Vargan’s condition, asking if he had regained consciousness.
On top of everything, her sister Salecius was captured as an Altife and had to be suffering mentally.
Then news broke that Vargan, too, had fallen into this predicament…
“Were there other charges coming out against Vargan?” Liam asked, and Emily nodded lifelessly in reply.
“Yeah… Under the leadership of Senior Clemens, Vargan’s suspicious activities are being re-investigated. After the festival, Vargan led a task to root out the Goddess Church within the Academia. So then, this and that….”
“…I see.”
“Bad rumors have been endlessly circulating among the other students…. A guy named Borg seems to be stirring up the atmosphere in particular. I don’t know. Whether he’s trying to expose something Vargan was up to or if he has some personal grudge…”
“What do you think?”
“Me? Honestly, I don’t really know.”
Emily lowered her head, trembling her lips.
About a year and a half.
A short period, indeed, but many things had happened since they became a team.
Some were frustrating, others were good.
Emily confessed her true feelings to Liam.
“Vargan? Yeah, he’s definitely a jerkwad. No manners, no consideration.”
“……”
“Full of self-importance and overly individualistic. It’s hard to find a single good point about him.”
“……”
“But… I still thought he wasn’t a bad person. When you get to know him, he shows a pretty emotional side and seems to uphold basic human decency.”
“The fact that you thought that implies you feel differently now?”
“I don’t know. I’m frustrated because I don’t know.”
Covering her face with both hands, Emily bowed her head.
The two might have shared the same feelings.
With the truth being elusive, it felt stifling, as if something was blocking their prayers.
At the same time, a sense of gloom weighed down on the doubts about Vargan, with whom they’d built a pretty solid trust.
“Hey, Liam. Is there… anything we can do?”
“……”
“Isn’t there anything? I can’t just sit here and wait like this.”
“Well, we’re also under investigation, so rushing into action might not be wise… But we don’t exactly have enough information to take risks either…”
“Then… Do we really just have to keep waiting like this?”
“……”
Liam couldn’t come up with much of a reply.
Instead, he wrapped his arm around Emily’s shoulders, who was hiding her face and looking sad.
“Let’s just wait a little longer. We don’t know how things will turn out yet.”
“…Until Vargan wakes up?”
“…Yeah. Once Vargan wakes up, things will progress in one way or another. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I think it won’t be too late to make a choice then.”
Liam said.
Before Vargan wakes up and before the trial begins.
He suggested they should try to meet him if possible.
After all, it’s not wise to make hasty judgments without hearing things directly.
“Okay… Liam.”
Emily slowly nodded her head.
And so, both of them tried to steadily sort out their uneasy feelings, wishing for this moment to pass quickly.
*
A cold solitary room.
A narrow space where the chill of the night creeps along the walls and floor.
A man is sitting in a chair, his full body bound by thick chains.
Whether he was sleeping or dead, his head hung low, his hair falling over his face.
This man was none other than Vargan, who was currently sealed of his mana due to accusations of the collapse of the Academia.
“……”
He hasn’t moved for approximately five days, like a corpse.
His arms are tied behind the chair, and his legs are firmly attached to it, so tightly that bruises have formed on his wrists.
Below him, a circular spell is inscribed, allowing for real-time observation of his movements.
Outside the bars, two heroes ranked in the double digits are on guard, keeping a strict vigilance.
This level of caution seemed excessive for monitoring a single suspect.
However, with the memory loss of Erica, who had not been subjected to magic, and the emptiness of Gamigin’s core, it was speculated that Vargan might have absorbed the Cardinal Gamigin’s powers. If anything, they expected it to be more than less.
It felt as if time had stopped.
A prison with no changes at all.
In this place so quiet that one could hear the noise of dust dancing in the moonlight,
Clank—.
The sound of chains moving echoed.
The two heroes outside reacted sensitively.
In case of emergency, they drew their weapons, exuding a fierce aura.
One hero, checking on the unresponsive Vargan, frowned and snapped at him.
“Stop pretending and lift your head.”
“…….”
Then, like a blade of grass swaying in the wind, Vargan’s hair showed a slight movement.
The sound of chains was no illusion after all.
Vargan slowly lifted his head.
Finally awake, he lazily leaned back in his chair.
“Sigh….”
And then he took a deep breath.
A rich, full inhalation that swelled his chest. He savored it until satisfied.
After enjoying the act of breathing for a while, Vargan lowered his head to face the two heroes.
“…I must say, the air in this underground prison isn’t as bad as I expected. Don’t you think?”
He spoke, a smile stretching across his face, as if he were utterly free despite being completely bound up, which would frustrate anyone watching.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to report to the higher-ups that the infamous traitor has woken up?”
