novelnext Chapter 252 : Recall (4)
Chapter 252 : Recall (4)
Siren Everglenn.Rikerka Valentin.
Together with Talia Poas—each of them once a name that defined an era, and also founders of the Three Families—these two figures had once existed.
And in the end, they had fallen asleep within history…
Yet now, the two Heroes who had once more set foot upon the earth slowly rose to their feet and firmly steadied their stance.
Their appearance was as though they had awakened from a long slumber; vitality stirred upon their faces.
“…….”
“…….”
The two of them loosened their stiffened bodies one by one and turned their gazes toward Lian and Berenistella.
Within their eyes clearly shone the light of intellect belonging only to the living.
Yet at the same time, their movements were somehow unnatural and awkward.
It looked as if they were forcing an unfamiliar body to move.
…That man must be Siren Everglenn.
The moment Lian saw one of them, he immediately recognized him.
He was neither riding a Dragon like in the legends, nor holding a massive spear, but Lian knew instinctively.
Pale golden hair that reminded him of Cecilia.
And something difficult to describe… the unique atmosphere peculiar to their lineage.
Above all, even though his face was expressionless, there seemed to be a faint trace of a smile lingering there, as if it were sketching the personality he had in life.
At a glance, one could tell he had a gentle and amiable impression.
Cecilia had said he was talkative, joked often, and had a cheerful personality.
On the other hand, the other one—Rikerka Valentin—gave the complete opposite impression.
Even accounting for the expressionless face, he looked severely gloomy and cold.
His eyes were sunken, and although one might call him handsome if pressed, there was something about him that made people instinctively reluctant to approach him.
“…….”
Lian let out a small sigh.
Because the way he was acting right now felt somewhat absurd—even laughable.
What am I even doing, calmly observing my opponent like this?
The only reason he could leisurely examine and evaluate the opponent like this was because Berenistella was standing beside him.
And the reason he could do nothing but engage in such meaningless behavior was also because of her.
“…….”
Even Lian himself knew well that his memories had not yet fully returned.
However, even from those incomplete fragments of memory, he clearly remembered just how powerful a being Berenistella was.
At the very least…
In a situation like this, she wouldn’t simply abandon him and leave.
She had treated him like an annoying burden and often looked down on him as pathetic, but she had never hated him enough—or been indifferent enough—to leave him to die.
But to face this kind of situation the moment I regained my memories…
If he could, Lian wanted to grab her and complain.
More precisely, he was struggling over what kind of reaction he should show her.
“…….”
Should he cry and complain about how hurt he felt?
Or should he rage and curse at her?
Or perhaps sarcastically ask whether watching him from the sidelines and mocking him had been so amusing?
Why…
Why, exactly?
He wanted to ask her.
Why had she sealed his memories?
And why had she tried so desperately to obtain that Jar—the very object that had become the starting point of his life’s downfall?
Why had she come all the way to the Academy to meet him, despite originally being someone who should have remained confined to her territory?
Why had she given him that strange book, spoken incomprehensible words, and offered cryptic advice?
Above all, why—despite claiming she found him so annoying and threatening to twist his neck the moment she could perfectly extract the Brand—had she still tried, in subtle ways, to help or save him?
“…….”
Even though he had regained his memories, there was still so much Lian could not understand.
What frustrated him even more was his own situation—unable to move freely even in a moment like this.
My luck really is atrocious.
Lian became acutely aware of the situation he was currently in.
Regaining his memories and charging here with momentum had been fine.
Meeting his Master and roughly confirming the situation had been fine as well.
But had coming here truly been the right answer?
…There’s nothing I can do here.
No—if anything, hadn’t he simply walked straight into mortal danger?
Lian sometimes had a habit of viewing himself with almost self-deprecating objectivity.
And in this situation, he judged himself to be nothing more than dead weight.
After all, wasn’t it obvious?
The Eight Demon Lords and the Wolpen Knights.
On a battlefield where such legendary beings had gathered in confrontation, what could a mere young follower of the Holy Sun Church possibly do?
One didn’t need to see it to imagine what would happen to a shrimp caught in a fight between whales.
The problem was that he might soon become not just a shrimp caught between whales—but a shrimp forced to fight the whales directly.
“Ha.”
The situation had become so extreme that it almost felt unreal.
Lian let out a faint, hollow laugh.
At that moment, perhaps because his body shifted slightly, a sharp throbbing pain crawled up his right arm.
…My right arm is already losing sensation.
It must have been the aftereffects of pushing himself too far while fighting the Man without a Head earlier.
His right arm could barely move now—he could hardly even feel the pain.
Without even examining it closely, it was obvious it had been completely ruined.
Muscles twisted, bones shattered, swollen grotesquely, and patches of skin had turned purple.
“…….”
Even in that state, Lian kept his mouth shut and watched the situation.
In a standoff that might end in an instant, he didn’t want to make the foolish mistake of drawing Berenistella’s attention because of himself.
Then it happened.
“…Come here.”
Berenistella spoke quietly.
“To my side.”
She was calling Lian.
Lian silently stepped closer to her.
“Your arm.”
She spoke again.
“Give your arm to me.”
When Lian hesitated, she clicked her tongue in irritation.
“…Your right arm. The one you shattered through your own stupidity.”
Eventually, Lian extended his arm, and she carefully stroked it.
“Ugh.”
A painful groan escaped Lian’s lips.
Sudden agony had surged from his right arm.
Then something astonishing happened.
The wounds on his arm—so mangled they were hard to look at—began healing and returning to normal.
“Ghh…!”
Lian groaned again.
As the wounds healed, the pain he had forgotten returned together with them.
“…….”
Berenistella paid no attention to his reaction.
Once she finished treating his arm, she gently lowered it.
Even then, she never once looked at Lian.
Her gaze remained fixed forward the entire time.
“…Thank you, Master.”
“No matter how many times I say it.”
She answered coldly.
“I am not your Master.”
Talia, who had been watching the scene silently, shrugged.
“…You seem pretty confident you can handle three of us alone.”
Berenistella looked at her as if asking what she meant, and Talia muttered, sounding slightly offended.
“No matter that you’re alive and we’re dead bodies… we’re still not opponents to be taken lightly.”
“…….”
“You’re even wasting power using healing magic, which isn’t even your specialty… and from the looks of it, you even adjusted it to work on a human body instead of a Demon’s. Such devotion. Honestly, if someone said you two were parent and child rather than Master and disciple, I’d believe it.”
Even at Talia’s mocking words, Berenistella said nothing.
She simply looked back and forth between Siren and Rikerka, who were still staring at her with stiff postures.
“Stop the useless chatter and get to the point.”
“The point?”
“If you truly intended to settle this with a fight to the death, you would have done so long ago.”
Berenistella declared.
“You dragged this out because there is something you wish to say to me. All this time-wasting and needless displays of intimidation—was it not merely to frighten me?”
In the middle of speaking, Berenistella suddenly clicked her tongue softly.
“And don’t beat around the bush. I am… in a bad mood right now. Unlike usual, I would like to end this quickly and rest.”
“Heh.”
Talia responded with a dry laugh.
“You’re quite relaxed. If you’re going to rest anyway, how about I make it permanent? Finishing a duty I couldn’t fulfill before doesn’t sound so bad.”
“You couldn’t kill me when you were alive. Do you truly think you can defeat me now that you’re a ghost?”
“Well, we won’t know until we try. …How about it? Come with me. The afterlife is surprisingly cozy.”
Berenistella gave a crooked smile.
“…Do you think I will die quietly?”
“Your opinion isn’t important.”
“Then try as you wish. Even if I must go, I shall at least take that mermaid girl lying beside you—and the Elf collapsed behind me—as companions on the road.”
“…….”
At those words, Talia’s expression cracked slightly and stiffened.
Seeing that, Berenistella tilted her head.
“What is it? Were you not the one who said the afterlife was comfortable? If it is such a wonderful place, surely it would be best if old comrades and archrivals all went there together hand in hand.”
“…Yeah, yeah. I can’t win against you with words.”
Talia finally shook her head as if conceding.
“Let’s stop the emotional quarrel here. Like you said, we didn’t gather here to fight in the first place.”
“And the noisy one over there?”
Berenistella pointed toward the Man without a Head.
He was kneeling before the unconscious Arpentia, staring down at her while muttering meaningless words.
He looked no different from a madman who had lost his mind.
“He approached me too.”
“And?”
“It seems he has some schemes. He may harbor intentions different from yours.”
“Still, he’s technically the orphan of your comrade. Isn’t that a bit cold?”
“Must I concern myself with such things?”
At Berenistella’s cold reply, Talia shrugged.
Then she nodded leisurely and answered back.
“Then let me ask the opposite. Do I need to worry about a child like that?”
She added quietly.
“No—do we?”
“…….”
Berenistella fell silent.
Though faint, it was clearly a sign of agreement.
“…Alright then. Shall we begin?”
Sensing the situation had roughly settled, Talia shrugged.
Then she stepped forward at a relaxed pace, moving between Siren and Rikerka.
“You keep whining about being tired, and… time isn’t exactly on our side either. So I’ll keep it short.”
Standing between the two of them, Talia spoke bluntly.
“We were revived in order to die.”
She grinned.
Then she looked toward Berenistella and Lian, who wore expressions of confusion.
“Did I shorten it too much?”