Chapter 52: Rowene Dungeon(12)
by AfuhfuihgsThe days he had spent caged were vivid in his memory.
His mother, a nobleman’s mistress, had died of illness within those walls. After that, his father’s visits, once or twice a month, dwindled to once a year. With their master’s attention elsewhere, the servants began stealing food. It hadn’t been plentiful before, but now, he was often hungry.
So, Selenis took up the sword. The reason was simple.
The story of a knight in a book he had read. A wandering knight, free from the constraints of the world, wielding only his sword and Aura.
So, he took the decorative sword from above the fireplace. At first, it was too heavy to even hold properly, and he dragged it around. The servants mocked him, but he persisted, practicing every day until his hands bled. It was the only way he knew to escape beyond the high walls.
He yearned for freedom. He didn’t want to end up like his mother, withering away, waiting for a father who never came. After two winters, he awakened his Aura. Perhaps it was the warrior blood in his veins.
He remembered the moment the Aura at the tip of his blade touched the wall. The walls that had confined him crumbled effortlessly.
That day, he saw the ocean for the first time. He saw fields stretching as far as the eye could see. He realized just how vast the world was, how many people lived in it.
He was free.
‘…Briefly.’
A knight who could wield Aura was a valuable asset, especially one so young.
So, he was captured by his father and his knights. He was no longer a caged pet but recognized as a member of the family… but his life became even more miserable.
His half-siblings, jealous of his talent, and his stepmother, who constantly plotted his demise. His father, who ignored his pleas and brought his back every time she escaped. He often longed for his caged days. Back then, he at least had hope.
Giving up on escape, he became obsessed with his duties as a knight. It was the only way to maintain his sanity. He enjoyed the admiration, but when alone, regret consumed him.
If he hadn’t awakened his Aura. If he had escaped those walls another way. Would his life be different?
‘I don’t know.’
It didn’t matter now.
He had an amulet to protect against mental attacks, but unlike the others, it hadn’t worked. Perhaps the demon was right.
He hated the world. Since his mother’s death, he had been alone. Perhaps it would be better if it all just ended—
‘…Cold.’
In his inner world, Selenis was a solitary golden dragon. His pride as a knight, his golden scales, had been his sole motivation.
But his pride had tarnished. Corrupted by the demon’s mist, even thought was difficult now. It was a miracle he had lasted this long.
He wanted peace. He wanted it all to end.
‘Mother.’
Would he see his mother again after death? Would his soul ascend to heaven, guided by the Goddess?
‘Probably not.’
Having spent his life resenting the gods and hating the world, he was surely destined for hell, not heaven. And unintentionally, he had unleashed a demon upon the world.
But it didn’t matter anymore. He was tired. If this was the end… then so be it.
Selenis gave up, closing his eyes.
[You’ve been through a lot.]
A voice, warm and gentle, like the sun, echoed through the darkness.
The mist receded. The dying golden dragon felt a surge of life. As Selenis slowly opened his eyes—
‘Ah…’
He couldn’t help but gasp.
Beautiful. Even his mother, the most beautiful woman he had ever known, paled in comparison to this silver-haired girl.
[It’s alright now.]
The girl gently stroked the dragon’s snout. The warmth of her touch brought tears to Selenis’s eyes.
Who was this girl? How had she dispelled the mist? How could she enter another’s inner world so easily?
Countless questions flooded his mind, but he couldn’t voice them. He was completely overwhelmed by the girl’s presence, her almost divine aura.
[Rest now.]
At the girl’s words, Selenis’s eyes closed again. But unlike before, it wasn’t the darkness of despair, but—
‘…Warm.’
—yes.
Like a mother’s embrace—
“Avalli!”
Hans yelled, sprinting towards her, sword drawn. He ignored Lucy and Professor Pel’s shouts, urging him to stop.
“Raaaagh!”
His battle cry was filled with rage. He knew he couldn’t defeat the possessed knight.
But he wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t lose Avalli again.
He didn’t understand this feeling, this primal urge—
‘Even if it costs me my life’—
—to protect her.
But before he reached her.
Thud.
The knight collapsed, the Aura around his sword vanishing.
Hans didn’t understand. The knight had been about to attack her, so why—?
—WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, GIRL?!
A chilling voice echoed through the chamber, and a dark mist, thick with magic power, erupted from the fallen knight. It was the demon, the one sealed within the Rowena Dungeon!
The mist spread quickly. Even Hans, unfamiliar with magic, instinctively knew that it was dangerous. But he was too close to avoid it.
The mist enveloped him, a sickening sensation filling his mind. But unlike the knight, he wasn’t immediately possessed. His pure, untainted mind was resistant to the darkness, and—
—the expensive amulet he had purchased from the magic tool merchant was working.
But it was a temporary reprieve. The demon’s power would eventually overwhelm the amulet and consume him.
But before that could happen, the mages reacted.
“Hans!”
He heard Lucy shout, and then his body lifted into the air. Levitation. One of the few spells Lucy could cast without chanting.
“Professor, that mist is dangerous—”, “—I know!”
Professor Pel had already anticipated it. He had been preparing a barrier the moment Hans returned. He didn’t know why the being had emerged from the knight’s body, but now, in its mist form, it was clearly a spirit. And spirits couldn’t easily penetrate his barrier.
—Clever, but futile!
The demon, realizing it couldn’t breach the barrier, turned its attention to another potential vessel.
It didn’t understand how this ordinary girl had expelled him from the knight’s body. But it was an opportunity. Such power… her body would be an excellent host.
The brown-haired girl stared at him with emotionless green eyes. She emanated no holy power, wore no protective amulet.
He lunged at her, pouring all his power into invading her mind, her inner world.
And then he saw it.
—…What.
A world beyond his comprehension. An endless void.
At its center blazed a blindingly bright sphere of light. The demon, unfamiliar with the concept of a universe, wouldn’t know it was a sun.
Countless massive spheres orbited the sun, each radiating an incomprehensible amount of energy.
Was this… the inner world of that small girl? Where could he even begin to invade, to take control?
He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand. It was beyond comprehension.
The incomprehensible always evoked a single emotion. Even a demon was no exception. The ancient demon, who had once ruled half the continent—
—What… is this?
—was consumed by a fear so profound it defied description.
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