Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity
Chapter 212
While the Allied Forces and Shaura's mages were engaged in a fierce battle, Aden headed towards the Thorn Fortress.
‘It wouldn't be a bad idea to end my revenge on Shaura like this.’
Aden recalled how just the mention of anything related to the terrorist Gustav from the Tower of Magic made her tremble with anger.
She had found it shameful that the tower had been half-destroyed by a half-wizard who had even lost her magical power.
To meet her end at the hands of such a person would be the worst possible fate for her.
The Thorn Fortress also housed numerous powerful Talos, and Fenrir had decided to take them on so that Aden could reach his destination.
The royal castle had transformed into a black thorn fortress.
As Aden entered it, he sensed something strange.
“...They’re not attacking.”
In his previous life, the thorny vines had fiercely attacked from all directions to prevent anyone from entering. But now, they remained silent.
- It's probably because of the influence of having me inside you, Aden.
“You mean, because of you, a remnant of the Underlord, the fortress recognizes me as a Talos?”
- That’s highly likely.
Though it felt disgusting, thanks to it, he had been able to enter the royal castle more comfortably and quickly than expected.
Aden asked Curse.
“Are you really okay with this?”
If everything went according to plan, Curse would disappear.
Despite being a sentient being, how could it not be afraid of such an end?
- I've already told you. I am nothing more than the residue of Florence and the Demon God, merely a curse that clings to you to maintain my existence.
But Curse spoke firmly, unfazed by Aden's concern.
- If you're worried about me, there’s no need to.
“Do you really think that’s what this is about? I'm just concerned that you might go back on your word at the last minute.”
If Curse betrayed him during the plan, everything would fall apart.
There was absolutely no way he was genuinely concerned about Curse.
- Heh, if you say so.
“Damn it, why are you laughing?”
As they exchanged light-hearted banter, Aden reached the front gate of what used to be the Great Audience Chamber of the royal castle.
“They've blocked it off completely.”
Black thorny vines, exuding a sinister dark energy, were tightly intertwined, blocking the way.
“If it's blocked, I'll just break through it.”
Of course, it wasn't as easy as it sounded.
These thorny vines were formed of dark energy, making them difficult to cut with ordinary aura.
But Aden didn’t possess just any aura.
Ssshhhh!
The dark energy fused with the blue aura blade in Aden's hand.
Flame of the Dark Heavens.
“Let's see that wretched face of my old friend.”
Aden grinned wickedly as he swung his sword, now cloaked in the Flame of the Dark Heavens.
Krrraaaaack!
The black flames voraciously devoured the thorny vines.
Finally, the path was cleared.
A vast space unfolded before him.
The Great Audience Chamber of the Immortalia Empire's royal castle.
It was once a place where numerous nobles and officials stood in rows, and the emperor sat on the throne overlooking them.
Now, the chamber was filled with countless thorny vines.
And in the midst of them was a figure.
A golden-haired young man with a crown on his head.
“You’ve finally made it here.”
Kalsis of Immortalia. No, the leader of Chaos and a fragment of the Demon God.
He sat on the throne, resting his chin on his hand, smiling slightly.
His demeanor was one of utter leisure and lack of tension.
“You went through all that trouble to crawl your way in here. I must commend you, Aden Remes...”
Ssshhh!
“...Res...?”
Aden ignored Kalsis’ words and immediately unleashed the Ravenous Blade, infused with the precision of the Scale Cut.
“Strike first, win first, you bastard!”
Kalsis probably imagined a different kind of meeting.
But Aden was not the type to indulge such fantasies.
The Flame of the Dark Heavens contained the power to sever beings of dark energy.
That lethal strike engulfed Kalsis.
Kraaaaaaang!
Caught off guard, the blow landed squarely, raising a cloud of dust.
Clatter.
Everything except for his head and shoulders was destroyed.
Clink!
The crown that Kalsis had been wearing fell to the ground. Given how easily he was defeated, his previous arrogance seemed absurd.
Seeing him like that made Aden feel a bit of relief.
‘I wish he would just die like this...’
But nothing in this world was ever that easy. If he were the type to die so easily, Aden wouldn't have bothered with such a ‘plan’ in the first place.
As expected, Aden’s thoughts were proven correct.
“...Heh, you're quite impatient, aren't you?”
Kalsis’s fallen head chuckled and spoke.
Then something strange happened.
Ssshhhh.
The thorny vines formed of dark energy began to move.
They gathered Kalsis’s scattered remains and reattached them, filling in the missing parts.
Hisssss.
As if time itself had reversed, the dark energy reconstituted his body, and he was restored to his original form.
Around him, the black thorny vines moved like extensions of his own body.
Aden narrowed his eyes.
“...You’ve already fused with the Thorn Fortress.”
The Thorn Fortress was the Underlord’s true body.
Kalsis had already merged with it and become the new Underlord.
In this state, Aden could not kill him.
He wouldn’t be able to kill him by mere physical means.
Knowing this, Kalsis maintained his leisurely expression.
The power emanating from Kalsis felt almost infinite.
With a flick of his finger, Kalsis commanded the thorny vines to retrieve the crown from the ground and placed it back on his head. He then spoke to Aden.
“Well done, Aden Remes. Or should I call you by this name?”
He grinned widely.
Then, he said something Aden hadn’t expected.
“Nice to meet you, my old friend Aden Albireo.”
* * *
In the audience chamber of the royal castle, which had transformed into the Thorn Fortress, a strange silence fell.
Aden, whose lips had stiffened, broke the silence.
“...Do you remember?”
“Yes, I remember. No, I’ve regained my memories. Who would have thought that not only would I regress to the past, but that you would be reborn as the eldest son of the Remes family? Haha, it’s no wonder all my plans were disrupted with that great Dragon Slayer constantly interfering.”
With those words, Aden was convinced.
Kalsis definitely possessed memories from his previous life.
Kalsis shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, it hasn’t been long since I regained those memories. Thanks to opening the gate to the Underworld, I was able to reconnect with my past.”
So that was it?
Aden realized how Kalsis had regained awareness of his past life.
The Underworld was less affected by Aden’s regression.
Connecting to the Underworld must have allowed Kalsis to recover memories of a world that had disappeared, making it all understandable.
Aden sneered.
“Is that so? Then you must be even more furious now. Not just once, but twice, your meticulously laid plans have been ruined.”
“There’s no way, Aden. In fact, I’m grateful to you.”
Kalsis spoke with a relaxed smile.
“Thanks to you, I was able to make a bold decision instead of delaying things by another decade out of caution. Here, take a look.”
Hummmm.
An endlessly deep and vast dark energy emanated from Kalsis.
It was the power he had gained by connecting to the Underworld.
“If it weren’t for you, it might have taken me another ten years to reclaim this sweet, nostalgic power. I should be grateful to you!”
“Damn, this bastard...”
Aden’s face twisted.
He knew Kalsis was deliberately trying to provoke him, but he couldn’t help the anger that surged within him.
“Why are you doing all this? Did you do all this just because you want to become a god?”
In ancient times, Kalsis had devoured the World Tree, and in the present, he had secretly worked among humans, even establishing an empire.
For over a thousand years, he had endured with a single-minded obsession to devour the world.
What could have driven such determination?
“The reason is simple, Albireo. Devouring—that is my true nature.”
“Your nature?”
“My beginning was as something small and insignificant. I was a mere speck, unable even to think.”
The Lord of Gluttony was originally a small, weak, ‘something’ born without parents or kin.
A ‘something’ that simply drifted through the sea, existing without purpose.
That ‘something’ moved purely on instinct.
It ate small fish, taking on the form of small fish, and when it ate larger fish, it took on the form of larger fish.
As it took on the form of a fish, it instinctively yearned to devour even greater and stronger beings.
And so, the ‘something’ that had become a ‘devouring being’ continued to consume larger and larger creatures.
Eventually, when it emerged from the water onto the land, the ‘devouring being’ saw something.
A divine World Tree radiating brilliant light.
Under that blessing lived all sorts of beautiful life.
Seeing that sight, the ‘devouring being’ thought.
‘How beautiful.’
The light emitted by those lives was so beautiful.
‘I want it.’
And it gained the greed to possess all those lights.
Devouring beings greater than itself.
That was the driving force of that being,
and it was the source that elevated it from a mere creature to the ‘Lord of Gluttony.’
“So now, it's time for me to devour my next prey. The prey called ‘the world.’”
“Monster bastard...”
Aden clicked his tongue.
Kalsis was a true monster.
Born without form or kin, with the sole purpose of devouring greater beings.
It was hard to even consider him a living being.
“Still, out of respect for our old friendship, and because I've used you so thoroughly, I’ll offer you a proposal as an apology. Albireo, how about becoming my servant?”
“...What?”
Kalsis made an offer to Aden.
“Even if I devour the world, the world itself won’t disappear. I will simply become the world, and the world will become a part of me.”
He meant that he would literally become the world itself.
“If you swear to become my servant, I can give you whatever you desire. You could have eternal youth and immortality, enjoy wealth and glory. If you wish, you could even become a king who rules the world.”
Kalsis tempted Aden with the promise of everything a human could desire.
And it wasn’t a lie; it was the truth. That was how much Kalsis desired Aden.
A human with the potential to reach the pinnacle of transcendence.
Kalsis wanted to either eliminate Aden before he fully realized that potential or make him his own.
“...”
“You can have everything in this world. So, what do you say?”
You can have everything in the world: immortality, eternal life, wealth, and glory.
Most people would have been swayed by such a temptation.
It was no wonder that Chaos had so many followers and that the Tower of Magic had fallen.
The offer was just too sweet.
Aden responded to the offer.
“You know, this world is a real mess. I don’t like it.”
Nobles were busy filling their own bellies, while commoners in the slums worried about their next meal. Monsters rampaged in the frontier, and there were villains so vile that it was embarrassing to be of the same species.
In Aden's opinion, anyone who liked the world as it was had to be out of their mind.
However...
“But no matter how I look at it, a world where someone like you is a god would be even more messed up. I can’t see it being any better than it is now.”
“...”
The world tainted by the Demon God's will was the Underworld.
In other words, if Kalsis became a god, the world above would become just like the Underworld.
In such a world, it would be better to die quickly rather than live long.
“So just get lost and die, you bastard.”
“Hahaha, that’s a shame.”
Kalsis shook his head as if disappointed, and his gaze changed.
Ssshhh.
Around Kalsis, thorny vines made of dark energy shot up, aiming at Aden.
“Then die, Aden Albireo.”
Ssshhh!
The thorny vines rushed towards Aden at lightning speed.
It was too fast.
At this rate, Aden would be impaled by the vines.
But the outcome was different.
Fwoosh!
A translucent, silver shield appeared in front of Aden, blocking the thorny vines.
Fwoooosh!
Suddenly, white flames erupted, sweeping away everything and incinerating it instantly.
Flap!
The Phoenix King, Pyrones, flapped his wings, as if protecting Aden.
“No, it’s you who will die. And you’re wrong about something else.”
Sssshhhh.
Then, a cloak of winter, exuding an icy chill, fluttered behind Aden.
The power of frost merged with Aden's Flame of the Dark Heavens.
Around him, flames and frost whirled together.
“I am Aden ‘Remes.’”
Not Aden Albireo, the free mercenary with nothing to protect.
But Aden Remes, the eldest son of a duke’s family, who now had things he must protect.
Ssshhh!
Thorny vines fell from all sides, even from the ceiling, targeting Aden. Aden swung his sword.
Kraaaaang!
The thorny vines and Aden’s sword clashed violently.