Chapter 1001
Chapter 1001
With its wings shredded and fluttering like tatters, the Blue Dragon fought desperately against the churning ocean.
“Forgive me, Uncle…”
Dripping with blood, Evelyn stroked Lokta’s scales using the single hand she had left.
[Quiet yourself!]
With trembling claws, Lokta attempted to channel his own mana into Evelyn, yet the energy refused to take hold, spilling uselessly away from her shattered form.
“There is no time left.”
Evelyn swayed her head gently, recognizing that the end had arrived.
“Our goal was within reach, yet right at the finish…”
The memory of hesitating simply to catch one final glimpse of Cela flashed through her mind, drawing a faint, self-deprecating chuckle at her own lingering attachment.
“Still… do you know?”
Looking down at the fingers that had embraced Cela, a tender smile graced Evelyn’s lips.
“Even while realizing it was not truly Mother’s spirit, I felt an overwhelming joy. Never once in my life had I embraced her first.”
In the past, Cela had drawn her close on countless occasions. Even in her final moments, she had held her tight, whispering declarations of love. Yet Evelyn had never taken the initiative to hold her. The simple act of grasping her mother’s palm and wrapping her arms around her one final time brought her pure peace.
[……]
A mournful rumble escaped Lokta’s throat, his voice lost to sorrow.
“I apologize for being so stubborn through all these years.”
[Hush now, conserve your life!]
Detecting the heat slipping away from Evelyn’s skin, Lokta bellowed, abandoning all formal reserve for the first time.
“I owe you everything, Uncle.”
Caressing Lokta with her fading strength, a delicate smile rested on Evelyn’s pale face.
[Wait—no!]
“By my authority as the sole surviving heir of the Sirken Kingdom, hear my decree: as of this breath, Knight Lokta Deport is unbound from his oath.”
[Evelyn!]
Halting his flight mid-air, Lokta could only stare down at her in disbelief.
“Uncle, please find the happiness that Mother and I could never have. I am deeply, truly sorry…”
Uttering those parting words, Evelyn allowed her eyelids to shut, her arm slipping down limply. The remaining spark of life and warmth vanished entirely from her flesh.
[Ah….]
Lokta slumped forward, transfixed by the lifeless fingers that had just released him.
[Aaaaaaargh!]
As though echoing the solitary anguish of the Dragonian, the surging waters beneath them hurled crests higher and darker than the sea had ever known.
Exhaling a weary breath, Lokta traced his fingers along the frozen surface of the monolith.
“Seeking joy on my own? Such a thing is impossible.”
He bowed his head heavily, gazing upon Evelyn sealed within the crystalline ice. Though she had severed his duty and urged him toward a bright life, he possessed neither the desire nor the ability to follow that path. His own wounds were fatal, steadily consuming the remainder of his days, and he could never bear the thought of abandoning the forsaken child to total solitude.
While Lokta stood in quiet despair before Evelyn’s remains, letting out another hollow breath,
The faint rustle of approaching footsteps echoed from the mouth of the cavern.
“……”
Maintaining absolute silence, Lokta reached down and took hold of the blade leaning near the stone wall. Just as he coiled his muscles to strike whatever crossed the threshold, a pale, lantern-like ember flared into view.
“Ah, so you chose to hide here.”
Stepping past the floating ember walked an elder wizard sporting an elongated silver beard.
“Birn?”
It was none other than Birn, the high magician who had commanded the mages during the previous conflict.
“By what means did you…”
“I merely tracked your trail. You pushed extraordinarily deep into the wilderness.”
Birn let out a tired sigh, remarking on the arduous journey required to reach such seclusion.
“So in the end, Evelyn has fallen.”
Interlocking his fingers as though offering a silent prayer, he looked toward Evelyn preserved within the ice.
“Had destiny granted her life, the path of magical history across the lands would have been rewritten.”
Shaking his head with deep regret, Birn remarked that her natural gifts far outshone any other prodigy.
“I offer my apologies. Concerning what transpired that day…”
Lowering his gaze, Lokta let out a subdued sigh.
“It could not be helped.”
Birn offered an understanding nod.
“Even so, our principal design was fulfilled. The Lothair Kingdom has been reduced to ash, after all.”
A faint, bitter smirk touched his lips, expressing his satisfaction with the outcome.
“Indeed. You sought solely retribution against Lothair, caring nothing for the prestige or wealth that followed.”
Acknowledging the truth in the elder’s observation, Lokta lowered his drawn sword.
“Precisely. Which brings me to why I sought you out. We must resolve the final lingering matter.”
Birn shifted his attention from the Dragonian warrior toward Evelyn’s frozen form.
“What do you intend by that?”
Lokta’s brow furrowed with sudden suspicion.
“If she remains in this state, her unrest will transform her into an evil spirit.”
“An evil spirit, you say?”
“Her deepest desires went unfulfilled, leaving behind profound attachments to the world of mortals.”
Lightly touching the frost encompassing Evelyn, Birn clicked his tongue in apparent dismay.
“Furthermore, encasing her within an icy seal like this only worsens the corruption.”
“What must we do, then!”
Desperation seizing him, Lokta grasped Birn’s sleeve, pleading for a solution.
“Her body must be committed to the flames or returned to the earth. Naturally, a proper cleansing ritual must precede it.”
Birn nodded reassuringly, offering to conduct the rites personally.
“I beg of you. I cannot bear to let her endure any further agony!”
With trembling lips, Lokta appeared on the verge of complete emotional collapse.
“Rest assured.”
Resting a comforting hand on Lokta’s shoulder, Birn remarked that an ally’s burden was entirely his own.
“Even so, particular materials are essential to conduct the ceremony. Would you retrieve them for me? I must commence the foundational rites here.”
He pressed a parchment listing the necessary supplies and a pouch of coins into Lokta’s grip.
“Take this opportunity to step outside, breathe the open air, and steady your thoughts.”
“Yes… of course!”
Declaring that he placed all his faith in the mage, Lokta sprinted out into the elements.
“And thus our paths cross once more.”
The moment they were alone, Birn dropped his weathered demeanor, speaking with grand formality as he laid his hand against the frozen shell containing Merlin. His silhouette cast across the icy surface morphed away from the bearded elder, revealing a strikingly handsome visage with piercing amber eyes. It was the Sage.
When a swirling void manifested upon the Sage’s palm, an ethereal essence was ripped from Evelyn’s chest and drawn into his grasp.
“Fascinating. I might harvest even more than anticipated from this vessel.”
A cruel sneer curled across the Sage’s lips as he gazed upon Merlin’s dormant form. In that very breath, motion ground to a halt, and the surrounding realm washed out into monochrome gray. Observing the true countenance of the Sage cast against the ice, Raon let out a dry, contemptuous chuckle.
“So that was how the deception played out.”
It was clear the Sage had assumed Birn’s identity to infiltrate the sanctuary and siphon power directly from Merlin’s remains.
‘He unquestionably tampered with her memories during the process.’
A spellcaster of Merlin’s mastery would never fail to identify the Fallen. The Fallen must have systematically fractured her spirit, plundering her raw power while rewriting her recollections.
“I was aware her circumstances were grim, but to this extent…”
-A mortal’s destiny. Worse, the very legacy of an entire lineage was reduced to a plaything inside that wretch’s grasp.
Rather than exploding into fiery fury as he often did, Wrath radiated an icy, merciless thirst for blood.
-I would rip his throat out myself, regardless of whatever cosmic backlash causality might impose.
With crimson flames pooling in his gaze, Wrath burned with genuine hatred toward the Fallen.
“As much as I share the sentiment…”
Raon gave a calm, measured shake of his head.
“That monster belongs to Merlin.”
Slaying the Sage—eradicating the Fallen—was an act Merlin herself had to carry out the moment her consciousness awoke.
“Phew.”
Watching the ice-bound Merlin with heavy eyes, Raon watched as the slate-colored butterflies that formed the backdrop of the scene took flight, their fluttering wings unveiling an entirely different terrain.
“Could this be…”
Upon closer inspection, the surroundings were not unfamiliar. It was the ancestral settlement of Para, the exact hamlet he had encountered within Merlin’s earliest memories.
-The grounds where the lunatic once dwelt. And yet…
Wrath narrowed his focus.
-This diverges from the recollection before. This is the authentic inner sanctum of the mad woman’s psyche.
‘Undoubtedly.’
Just as his own internal realm was forged entirely of blades and martial discipline, Merlin’s inner world was sculpted solely around this quiet village.
‘Yet the structural state is disastrous…’
Raon furrowed his brow as he observed the fractured halos of energy hovering across the sky.
‘Completely shattered.’
Those luminous structures represented the mana circles encircling Merlin’s core, serving a role identical to the Ring of Fire inside his own inner domain. Because her circles had been ruined in the physical world, their metaphysical reflections here were similarly fractured into ruins.
“Haa…”
Releasing a heavy breath, Raon stepped toward the settlement.
‘I must find Merlin without delay.’
Prioritizing her rescue above all else, he pressed forward into the streets.
“Wait…”
The moment he crossed the threshold, his eyes went wide with astonishment.
“What on earth is this…”
What had initially appeared to be masonry formed of vibrant stones was, upon closer inspection, an endless collage of illustrations portraying his own likeness.
“Good grief…”
Pausing mid-stride, Raon glanced toward the structure to his right. The exterior of that home was likewise blanketed from base to roof with sketches of his face.
-The wretched woman deserves pity, to be sure, but…
Wrath shook his head in exasperation.
-Her sanity is entirely absent.
‘……’
There was no plausible argument to offer against the observation.
‘This is utterly bizarre.’
Letting out an exhausted sigh, Raon resumed his path through the town.
-Look closer at those portraits lining the walls, however.
Wrath squinted toward the countless renderings papering the village facades.
-They are far from simple depictions of your features.
‘What do you see, then?’
-They are visual records of every moment spent in your company.
Wrath clarified that rather than vainly painting his likeness, she had meticulously documented every instance they had shared together.
‘When you put it that way…’
Halting once more, Raon studied the drawings in careful detail.
‘Every single backdrop is familiar.’
From their very first encounter to the various antics where she startled him by shifting into beasts, and all the quiet days passed within Zieghart. Every single panel captured moments uniting the two of them.
‘It appears that Merlin…’
Closing his eyes, Raon let out a soft, contemplative breath.
‘Has been endlessly reliving the memories of our days together within this sanctuary.’
An overwhelming number of illustrations depicted the period she spent working as an attendant in the annex, clearly cherishing that chapter of her life. The sorceress he had long dismissed as unhinged had, in truth, harbored a soul far more delicate, tender, and yearning for genuine warmth than he had ever suspected.
‘Is that the dwelling?’
Ahead, the former residence shared by Merlin and Cela came into view. Enveloping the structure like a colossal serpent was the form of a Blue Dragon, standing as a vigilant protector. It was Lokta. The dragon exchanged a brief glance with him before raising his scaled tail, granting clear passage toward the entrance.
“My thanks.”
Acknowledging Lokta with a respectful nod, Raon stepped across the threshold into Merlin’s home. The air inside proved far more piercing and frigid than the depths of winter within Zieghart, bitter enough to raise goosebumps along his skin and make his hair bristle.
Resting in the middle of the room was Merlin, her eyes fixed upon an easel supporting blank paper. A vast sea of ruined, discarded sketches lay piled around her feet.
“It is utterly useless…”
Merlin’s voice broke into quiet, wretched sobs.
“My mind cannot grasp it…”
Whispering in defeat, she wadded up the paper she had been laboring over and cast it aside onto the floorboards. Stepping quietly behind her, Raon picked up the discarded sheet and smoothed it open. The sketch depicted a graceful woman adorned with radiant golden locks and crimson eyes, yet the facial features were completely distorted and blurred.
‘Could it be…’
With narrowed eyes, Raon unfolded several other crumbled sheets nearby. Each contained the same silhouette of a woman possessing golden hair and crimson irises, yet none possessed clear facial features.
‘The truth is obvious.’
Raon pressed his lips tightly together.
‘Merlin has been desperately attempting to recreate Cela.’
Driven by an aching longing, she had sought to capture Cela’s visage, yet the insidious tampering of the Fallen had stripped away the memory of the one she loved and the ability to picture her features.
‘There is still a way…’
Drawing a measured breath, Raon approached Merlin just as she laid out a fresh sheet upon the board. Reaching down, he gently enveloped her trembling fingers.
“Ah…”
Merlin’s eyes expanded in sheer shock.
“Raon? How have you arrived here! You must not tread in this place…”
“The mother I had the privilege of seeing…”
A warm, serene expression touched Raon’s face as he gently directed Merlin’s hand across the blank canvas.
“Wore her brilliant golden hair bound tidily, gleaming like sunlight, with eyes carrying the gentle warmth of a hearth fire. The bridge of her nose rose sharp and proud like a masterfully forged blade. She was a woman of striking grace, radiating an aura as refreshing as a morning breeze.”
Summoning the vivid impression of Cela etched within his mind, he guided Merlin’s own strokes to recreate her mother’s likeness.
“She cherished you until her very last breath, just as your love for her never wavered for a single second. The scene I bore witness to was…”
He steadily guided the brush while sharing every detail and emotion he had gleaned from the past. Recounting the extensive vision required considerable time, yet as the sorrowful and tender narrative unfolded, a serene, welcoming warmth formed upon the lips of the portrait, as if Cela were greeting her beloved daughter once more.
“Is this truly…”
Allowing the brush to slip from her fingers, Merlin parted her lips in disbelief.
“My mother?”
“Without question.”
Raon nodded firmly, looking down upon the completed visage of Cela that matched the vision he held in his thoughts.
“Ah…”
As a profound, shuddering sigh left Merlin’s chest, a radiant beam of sunlight pierced the icy gloom of the dwelling, while a cheerful ember sprang to life within the cold hearth. The gentle, nurturing comfort that once defined the home shared by Cela and Merlin was fully restored.
Following the brilliant luminance pouring from the cottage, the shattered remnants of Merlin’s internal mana pathways began weaving themselves back together into an unbroken tapestry.
Yet this newly formed power was entirely different from her past state. It resonated as the primordial, pure mana pulse inherent to the lineage of Para. As the tenth circle ascended into the heavens above, a shimmering violet brilliance draped over Merlin’s entire being.
“I…”
Merlin gave a slow nod, experiencing the sensation of all ten rings revolving rhythmically around her heart.
“Every memory has returned to me.”
Crystal tears streamed down from her luminous purple eyes as she voiced the reclamation of her entire self.
“Then let us depart.”
Extending an open hand toward the young woman who pressed the cherished portrait against her chest, Raon spoke softly.
“Evelyn.”
Comments for chapter "Chapter 1001"
MANGA DISCUSSION
Madara Info
Madara stands as a beacon for those desiring to craft a captivating online comic and manga reading platform on WordPress
For custom work request, please send email to wpstylish(at)gmail(dot)com