Chapter 247 – Fragments of the Past – 2

“Uh… uh…?”

Claudia seemed so flustered that she couldn’t even speak properly, her lips flapping continuously. Iris, Lize, and Erica, who were watching the sparring, were no exception.

No matter how you looked at it, those three couldn’t possibly act just like I had a moment ago. If they recklessly tried, they would end up losing not just the greatsword but their entire upper half as well.

I easily pulled the greatsword stuck in the ground with one hand and rotated it 90 degrees in the air. The hilt, which was pointed skyward, now faced Claudia.

“Here, your greatsword.”

As I stretched out my arm, the hilt was thrust right up to Claudia’s front. Even spinning the greatsword with one hand would be no easy task for her.

Knowing this better than anyone else, Claudia simply stood there, dumbfounded, without even thinking of grasping the hilt presented to her.

“I usually don’t get surprised much, but… this… I have no words…”

Claudia stuttered, alternating her gaze between the greatsword’s hilt that was right in front of her and me, who was holding it upright with just my fingers.

“I told you before the sparring began. I would surprise you.”

“…That’s not the point! This is way beyond being surprised, don’t you think?”

With a dumbfounded expression, Claudia grabbed the hilt and started swinging it around. Even swinging a greatsword of that size with one hand produced a whoosh sound in the air.

“…The weight hasn’t changed at all.”

“Why suddenly talk about weight?”

“You’ve been hanging around with Skeantia lately, right? I was wondering if you learned some magic or something.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I know, I know. I was just joking because I couldn’t believe it. If you were using magic, I would have noticed long ago, right?”

While Claudia continued to marvel, Iris, Lize, and Erica, who were just as shocked, quickly approached.

All three had faces that couldn’t hide their astonishment, but their detailed emotions were slightly different. Iris appeared confused, Erica was horrified, and Lize had a hint of excitement mixed with her surprise.

“What did you do, Delta?”

“What did I do? Just what you see. I caught what Claudia was swinging with strength and said, ta-da.”

“You caught it with strength…? Wait, does that mean the time your sister was caught by Delta was real, not an act?”

“Didn’t you hear before the sparring? I said I used quite a bit of strength, though not at full power.”

“……”

Iris and Erica’s mouths hung open. While these two froze in shock, Lize, noticeably excited, jumped up and rushed toward me.

Lize wrapped her legs tightly around my waist and showered me with kisses, ending only after countless pecks.

“Amazing, Delta! What happened? How did you get so strong?”

“Well… it’s nothing special. Ever since I confronted the Goddess, my memories started to come back.”

“…Really?”

With a smile fading from Lize’s face, it quickly turned serious. Iris, Erica, and Claudia had similar reactions.

Though it felt like a long time ago, those were the same words I had said when we first met the Silver Dawn Knights.

I had claimed that I was cursed by a witch, resulting in all my physical abilities having devolved to the lowest level, and that I had lost my memories. It was a convenient explanation that fit the lore of the Forsaken, but somehow, it had all turned into the truth.

It was true that Nix had put some kind of curse on me, my physical abilities had reduced to the bottom, and I had indeed lost my memories.

It was like catching a mouse while trying to step back from a cow.

“Not all my memories have returned; only some. But as my memories come back, my abilities are returning too. That’s why it was possible just now.”

Nix had mentioned that concepts like levels and stats were part of my process of regaining my past strength. In other words, if I reclaimed my strength, it meant I could access all the game systems from Brightest Darkness 1 through 3.

I had already experienced it in the past.

While the experience had improved significantly since 3, Brightest Darkness 1 and 2 were games that could be described as either quirky or poorly made, if said kindly. If used cleverly, there were quite a few setups that could ruin the balance.

There were certain magical abilities so overpowered that one could ‘break’ the game as soon as they were acquired, and techniques that could effortlessly pin down enemies using weapons, just like what had happened a moment ago.

I hadn’t actually played the games, but since they were the predecessors of Brightest Darkness 4, I had researched quite a bit about it, and even naming a few things that came to mind took more than one hand.

‘If my memories come back, I might be able to use them.’

“…Delta. So, do you remember who you were in the past?”

At some point, Lize, who had come down to the ground, cautiously asked. I just smiled, as it was a tricky question to answer.

The first immortal. The one who inherited the mission. The one who suppressed the curse. All three of them were me, but I couldn’t just say that out loud.

As the Knight Commanders grumbled about my smile, someone landed in the training ground and quickly approached us. There wasn’t even a thud or a puff of dust.

“Knight Commander Delta.”

It was the maid who had been delivering messages from Kaiquilia for a long time.

“What’s the matter?”

“His Majesty the Emperor has ordered you to move to a specified location immediately.”

“Got it. Where do I need to go?”

Her emotionless eyes were directed at me.

“In front of the treasure vault in the imperial palace.”

‘The imperial treasure vault, huh, I didn’t expect to get there this quickly.’

I had initially thought to receive the golden key from Fetch, casually mention it to Minerva, and then use the golden key to come and go.

In the game, if you handed over three or more ancient scrolls, you could enter and exit the imperial treasure vault without becoming hostile to the empire. It was set that the Eternal Magician persuaded the Emperor for that reason.

‘Now it seems I could just ask Kaiquilia to open it, even without that…’

Ever since going to Hell, my relationship with Kaiquilia had rapidly improved. It felt like I needed to reconsider the use of the golden key now.

“Delta! Over here!”

In front of the treasure vault, Kaiquilia and Aurora were waiting for me. Seeing the two lined up side by side, I couldn’t help but think that Kaiquilia’s mother’s genes were incredibly powerful.

Aside from one looking slightly younger, they could pass for twin sisters instead of aunt and niece.

I had previously thought it was the result of reusing character models, but the truth was purely due to genetics.

“Why have you called for me, Your Majesty?”

“What else would be the reason for summoning you all the way here?”

“I don’t quite understand.”

“Ha, so you intend to make me say it directly. You sly one.”

Although Kaiquilia frowned at my act of pretending not to know her intentions, there was no trace of the killing intent she used to have.

While the old Kaiquilia felt like a ticking time bomb, ready to decapitate me if she got annoyed, the current Kaiquilia was entirely different.

No matter how much she tried to act imposing, she came off as just being spoiled.

“I heard from my aunt. Are you okay, Delta?”

Aurora looked at me with a worried gaze. I nodded.

“Yes, I’m fine. The Goddess healed me personally.”

“Thank goodness. I was worried about what would happen if anything went wrong. Oh, and I heard you caused a scene in the Holy Kingdom? Well, I guess that’s necessary for meeting the Goddess directly.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Did you forget who I’ve been with all this time? I heard that His Holiness the Pope followed you all the way to the imperial palace, and my aunt immediately called the Pope as soon as she heard.”

“……”

I made a disgusted face, predicting what kind of conversation the two had. Kaiquilia snickered at my expression.

“You foolish one. The Holy Kingdom is a nation made up of zealots who would gladly sacrifice their limbs for the sake of the gods; do you think you could land in the middle of the Holy Kingdom without knowing what would happen?”

“…I truly did not intend to.”

“Whether you intended to or not, from now on, every word you utter, every action you take, and even every glance will become an object of worship and praise by those zealots. That is inevitable.”

Her words, devoid of any exaggeration, felt even scarier since I had recently experienced it firsthand. Kaiquilia continued her bland monologue despite my horrified reaction.

“If you don’t want that, you could spend your life in the imperial palace, never leaving the Goddess’s side; think about it carefully.”

“……”

As I struggled with the dilemma of going to Hell, Kaiquilia placed her hand on a door that was smaller than the entrance to the Central Hall but many times more ornate.

The entire door was made of gold, and if you gathered the jewels embedded in its surface and sold them, it would be enough to live for a lifetime.

After placing her hand on it, three seconds passed until the door opened wide. Without hesitation, Kaiquilia stepped inside. Aurora followed second, with me entering last.

The door closed automatically as soon as I stepped in.

“Wow…”

Aurora gasped at the sight of the stairs.

Everywhere I looked was gold, and there were so many types and quantities of jewels that counting them was beyond me. Each step I took felt like I was stepping on jewels that crunched beneath my feet.

Noticing Aurora was trying to walk carefully to avoid stepping on the jewels, Kaiquilia casually advised her, “The entire treasure vault is protected by Minerva’s magic, Aurora. No matter how much you trample it, it won’t get scratched, so just walk normally.”

Having heard that, Aurora turned back with an awkward smile and started walking normally.

After walking down the stairs for a while, we saw another door. It was an exterior that rivaled the previous door, perhaps even more ornate.

Kaiquilia stood in front of it. A magic circle on the floor lit up, and a blue prism appeared in the air as Kaiquilia rested her hand on it.

‘…Um, I might not be able to open that with the golden key?’

At this point, it was more like a biometric scan, wasn’t it?

Before long, the door opened, revealing the scenery inside. As Aurora followed Kaiquilia through the door, she immediately froze in place.

Inside was a mountain of gold, quite literally.

The piles appeared to reach dozens of meters high, and there were dozens of such mountains. The jewel spectacle partially covered the mountains, and scattered weapons served as bonuses.

In the game, apart from a handful of items strategically placed for consumption, everything was merely decorative.

While I was merely moderately amazed since I had seen the scenery through graphics, Aurora, who had frozen stiff, didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of moving. I had no choice but to push her forward.

Kaiquilia traversed through the gold without hesitation, eventually stopping in the center after a while.

“Do you know what this rune is, Knight Commander of the Dark Night Order?”

At the place where she stopped was a rune stele.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I wish to give this to you.”

“That rune… you mean?”

“Indeed.”

Kaiquilia nodded.

This was originally a rune that was given as the final reward for serving the Emperor until the end of the game. The effect was incredibly impressive, just as fitting its means of acquisition.

‘Sure, it has good effects, once activated. Just need to activate it…’

“Aunt, what does that rune do?”

As I swallowed a wry smile over the rune’s requirements, Aurora asked. Instead of immediately answering, Kaiquilia stared at me for a moment before finally speaking up after a while.

“It allows one to be resurrected from death.”