Chapter 78 : Whereabouts Of Colleagues

Linian, who was so focused on Luna right in front of her that she didn’t even realize I was there, stared at Luna with a flustered voice full of confusion.

“Mom! How are you here?! It doesn’t seem like an illusion, so what the heck…? Did you escape?! What about those underground worm bastards?! Wait, does this mean I can go back to normal too? No, before that—why were you even captured by those kinds of people in the first place?! I always told you not to trust humans! But you never listened, and look what happened! Did a little suffering finally knock some sense into you? Seriously, Mom, you’re just… ugh!”

“Linian, your wounds are very deep, so please don’t get too worked up. I managed to escape. I came here because I need your help… but it seems like you’re in no condition. Could I ask you to look after Linian?”

“Huh? Mom, who are you talking to… Ah.”

“……”

When I saw her back in Liberta, she seemed like a composed, powerful person, but now—talking to Luna like this—she felt like nothing more than a typical teenage daughter.

It was my first time seeing Linian act like this, so I stood frozen, just watching her on top of Bifrost.

Linian gaped at me for a second before her face flushed red and she waved her hands frantically.

“Y-you—you! What are you doing here?! How did you—how did you interrupt a conversation between me and my mom—I mean, the goddess… Wait? You’re the one who had the goddess’s power…!”

“Uh… long time no see?”

“Why are you here… and Mom—I mean, the goddess—why is she here too? And why are you two together? How did you even know I was here… And why can’t I feel any divine power from the goddess?! And your power—why is it way stronger than before?!”

As Luna gently touched Linian’s cheek to calm her down, she began to speak softly.

“Linian, I’ll explain everything slowly, so please calm down for now. First, we must tend to your wounds. Alvis, could you assist?”

“Yeah, sure…”

As I drew my lightsaber, power surged through it—far greater than anything before.

Linian gazed at the light as if entranced.

I channeled its full power into healing, then swung it toward Linian.

A radiant light enveloped her body, slowly healing the terrible wounds that covered her from head to toe.

Though many scars remained—it was a miracle she was even alive—the bleeding she had barely managed to suppress with her own magic finally stopped, and the holes throughout her body were sealed.

Her breathing grew noticeably easier.

As many of the wounds closed and her body began to recover, Linian looked at herself, then at me, her expression full of disbelief as she muttered:

“The goddess’s power… it’s incomparably stronger than before. And yet, I can’t feel a single trace of it from her. What happened, Goddess? I had some idea you did something when this human suddenly showed up in Liberta last time, but I never imagined things would go this far.”

“I’ll explain. It’s kind of a long story though…”

I then roughly explained the major events that had happened after I parted ways with Linian in Liberta.

When she heard that Vector, one of the underground worms, had died, she looked visibly relieved.

But when I told her that Arboness had burned and disappeared, she grew angry, saying the land she had personally blessed had been destroyed.

And when I told her how my group and I were dragged into the underground worms’ lair, Linian couldn’t hold back anymore—she cut me off mid-story and jumped in.

“Y-yeah! The underground worms! The leader of those bastards! Mo—no, Goddess! Do you know who their damn leader is?! The bastard who did this to me—!”

“It must be Solaris. I know. Even though I was bound, I could still sense what was happening.”

“Huh?”

Solaris.

The only son of the Sun.

A white dragon that shines like the sun.

He had never actually appeared in the game and existed only as a part of the lore.

Solaris, the only son of the Sun; Lunarin, the daughter of the two blue moons; and Liniaras, the daughter of the three sparkling stars.

The three dragons were the first creations in this world by the goddess Lunia.

But now, Solaris—said to be the strongest of the three even within the lore—was leading the underground worms?

Solaris and Lunarin had always been theoretical figures in the lore, and the only one remotely accessible in the actual game was Liniaras—Linian herself—so even I didn’t know much about Solaris.

But judging by Linian’s state, it was said that dragons like her had lost their true forms due to the goddess’s fall.

So then why was Solaris, also a dragon, leading those monsters?

Linian, gripping Luna’s hand tightly, trembled with tears in her eyes.

“That damned bastard… He was born of you… and yet he betrayed you and sided with those worms that brought you down… All because of his obsession with returning to his original form… And… sob… Lunarin… That bastard did something to Lunarin…”

“…I know. As the one who brought you into existence, it breaks my heart as well.”

According to Linian, Solaris killed Lunarin.

Not knowing this, she had initially gone to ask for his help in destroying the underground worms.

But when she uncovered the truth, she fought Solaris to the death, only barely surviving and managing to escape here.

“That bastard… He drained your power, and though it’s a bit twisted, he’s almost restored his original form. No matter how hard I fought, I couldn’t win. I thought I was going to die, but apparently he couldn’t maintain that form for long either and had to revert back to his human shape. That’s when I managed to escape and hide here.”

“Solaris… was deeply disappointed in me when he saw what I had become. He believed that I was no longer worthy of being a god in this world—defeated and drained by traitors I should’ve been able to crush. More than that, even if all the traitors were slain, he didn’t know how to free me safely. And even if it were possible, he wasn’t sure he could ever regain his own divine power.

So instead of taking that gamble, he chose to directly exploit my divine power to strengthen himself and become the next god.”

“That damn fool…”

Luna then explained how we came to this place, and when she mentioned that the creator of this world had lost her divinity and become a mere human, Linian wore a deeply conflicted expression.

To her, Luna—whom she called “Mother”—was essentially her true parent.

As she applied the healing waters of Lake Campbell to her body, Linian let out a long sigh.

“So it’s true… You really have lost all your power. Is there no way to get it back?”

Luna shook her head.

“In that moment, I exchanged my divine status for the freedom to move in a physical body like this. While some minor powers that are unrelated to my godhood still remain, I have no means of reclaiming what I gave up. My divine spark now… resides with Alvis.”

“That can’t be safe—giving the divine power of the creator to a mere human… that’s far too dangerous.”

“Huh? Me? I don’t feel anything weird though.”

“That’s not the kind of danger I mean! The danger is in humans themselves! The ones who betrayed the goddess and shackled her with cursed chains were humans! And now you’re telling me that her divinity is entrusted to another human?!”

Linian shouted, pointing angrily at me.

“Of course, I’m grateful that you healed me! But that’s a completely separate issue from whether a human should be entrusted with a divine spark! What’s stopping you from becoming just like those underground worms?! At least the Bunnykin are pure, and while Elves are a bit dense, they’re honest at heart! But you humans? You’re different! Your greed knows no bounds. You act kind on the surface, but keep a knife hidden behind your back, waiting for a chance to stab!

You’re the kind of creatures who would sell your soul for personal gain—who’d throw away even family for wealth! That’s what humans are! And you want to entrust a goddess’s divine spark to that? Who’s to say it won’t be misused? Who can guarantee that?!”

It was a fair point—but unfortunately, one that could just as easily be turned on Linian herself.

“Then what, if you were entrusted with this divine spark, there wouldn’t be a problem?”

“Obviously not! Dragons aren’t like humans—we’re wise and noble!”

“Oh? And yet the one leading those filthy, greedy underground worms is Solaris—the very same dragon who’s supposed to be wise and noble. He betrayed the goddess out of his own selfish obsession to reclaim his true form. On what grounds are you making your argument?”

“T-that’s… Solaris is just a lunatic! Lunarin and I never even thought about doing something like that!”

“Then think of me as a rare case among humans. Same thing, right?”

Now that an irregular like Solaris had emerged from among the dragons, Linian had no proper counterargument.

With no comeback, she fumed and grumbled under her breath, and Luna gently comforted her.

“Don’t worry too much, Linian. Alvis may tend to dismiss and belittle me, but he’s more noble and pure-hearted than any human I’ve ever met. He has a deep love for this world. Yes, he ignores me, but I truly believe he’ll never walk the path of betrayal, and that he’ll do everything in his power for the sake of this world. Even if he does constantly mock and disregard me.”

“Man, you’re really holding a grudge, huh.”

“What?! You really treated the goddess like that?!”

“Try spending two days with her and see how long your patience lasts.”

Back when we met in Liberta, Linian herself didn’t seem too concerned about the goddess’s well-being.

Maybe that was just her tough act.

Now, with Luna in front of her, she’d completely shifted into full-on protective daughter mode.

“Linian, it’s time we talked about the real reason we came. We have a favor to ask.”

“A favor…?”

I stepped in to explain.

“You remember my companions from Liberta, right? During our escape from the underground worms’ lair, we got separated. Luna said you might be able to find them. Think you could help?”

“The Bunnykin and that rude Elf, right? Seems you added one more since then? Hmm… I don’t like that one with the disrespectful attitude toward the goddess, but… you did save me. And you did help the goddess escape, after all… Fine. I’ll help you. You better be grateful—getting help from a dragon is something that might happen once in a thousand years.”

Linian clung to her pride to the very end as she grunted and climbed out of the water.

She could move, but the twisted expression on her face showed she was still in a lot of pain.

She knelt on the ground outside the lake, placed her hand to the earth, and closed her eyes.

No one said a word.

“…”

“Can you tell where they are?”

After a long silence, I finally spoke.

At that moment, Linian opened her eyes and nodded.

“Yes. But… the situation looks…”

“What?”

“The three of them—they’re fighting against a lot of enemies.”