Ch.286Icarus’s Wings (6)

Icarus was a free man.

He was bound by nothing, stayed nowhere, and always traveled the world freely.

“Daedalus.”

“What now, Icarus.”

“That island in the middle of the sea, doesn’t it look interesting? Should we go there?”

“What? How do you plan to cross the great lake?”

“Well, you know, somehow. I’ll figure it out.”

A man without a plan.

A freak who acted first and thought about consequences later.

“Daedaluuuuuuus!”

“Shit!”

“Hahaha, fly, fly!”

Sometimes with Daedalus’s help, other times with unexpected ingenuity, he overcame obstacles. Icarus always sailed freely.

“I’m going to rob that corrupt nobleman’s vault.”

“What? That’s a crime, Icarus.”

“But isn’t it fun?”

“You’re insane.”

The two of them stirred up trouble all over the continent.

“Catch those men!”

“Well, my lord? Those two are both at least Sword Seeker-level fighters. One is a candidate for the next Grand Magician, and the other holds the Empire’s certified Master Craftsman title…”

“Shit!”

They became famous across the continent by causing incidents both large and small. Their fame wasn’t limited to the continent. Icarus suddenly departed for the Outer Continent, where he gained notoriety by hunting down demons and witches trying to sprout anew in places where King Arthur had trampled.

“The man who eloped with the princess of Kalian Kingdom.”

“In her final moment, the princess closed her eyes with a smile.”

“The king of Kalian promised unlimited support to Icarus…”

They called him the benefactor of Kalian Kingdom.

“The city hero who saved the floating city of Bersia.”

“The birth of the sky city, Bersia.”

“The savior of the free city Pavanne. He swept away the monsters advancing on the city, saving it.”

“The savior of Port Bershuchia.”

They called him the savior of Bersia, Pavanne, and Bershuchia.

“He killed a demon that crossed the border of the Outer Continent.”

“A freak, but a hero.”

“A hero or a delusional man?”

“What’s certain is that he saved countless people.”

“A new hero.”

They called him the new hero.

“The wind is good.”

A freak among freaks. A madman without a plan.

He was called by all sorts of ridiculous names, but no one denied that Icarus was the representative hero of that era.

The chaotic era that Arthur ended.

And the human era that began.

In this newly opened era of humanity, Icarus was the first hero to appear. After the legend of King Arthur came to an end, the first star to rise was Icarus’s star, and he was the first to become famous enough for his name to be known across the continent.

A symbol that a new era was beginning.

Not as lofty or noble as Arthur… but nonetheless an enjoyable and playful hero impossible to hate.

“Let’s go, Daedalus!”

Icarus was free.

“The sky awaits us!”

Forever.

“……”

Daedalus thought he could remain free forever.

“Icarus.”

“……”

“Pull yourself together. Icarus. This isn’t your fault. This didn’t happen because you did something wrong.”

The crack in that journey appeared on the day Icarus ascended to transcendence. Many transcendents who had been wary of Icarus, who had been infinitely close to transcendence, existed, and one of them attacked Icarus.

A long and difficult battle ensued.

At the end of the fight, Icarus defeated the transcendent and stepped into transcendence. Icarus had won, but he himself couldn’t accept it as a victory.

“Ah……”

Because an entire city was annihilated in the aftermath of the battle.

Because that’s what battles between transcendents were like.

Standing in the city reduced to ashes, Icarus’s expression hardened. A few children who barely survived stared at him.

Those children’s gazes.

Those empty eyes.

Icarus couldn’t bring himself to look away. Icarus, who had always looked forward, always gazed at the high sky as he lived, looked back for the first time. Perhaps he looked down. His eyes were trembling.

That day was the beginning.

That day was the beginning of everything.

2.

Icarus tried to take responsibility for the children.

He built an orphanage for them and occasionally visited to play with them. Daedalus thought things were fine until then.

The problem came after.

Icarus was an adventurer and a traveler.

He was often away, and an incident occurred where the orphanage was burned down by those who envied Icarus. When Icarus hurriedly returned from his journey, what he saw was an orphanage reduced to ashes.

“……”

The bodies of children who had said they wanted to adventure with their teacher when they grew up were strewn about. Children who had lost their parents and hometown finally lost their lives as well.

Icarus caught and killed those who committed the arson.

He traveled with the few surviving children. And he decided. That he would build a home for the children himself.

“Hey, friend!”

Icarus went to find the oldest whale and smiled.

“I told you. That I would keep my promise.”

The Great Sea of All Things.

To Icarus, the world was a single sea. An endless sea where one could sail forever. The moment Icarus, who had ascended to transcendence, set his stage, everything turned into a sea.

“It’s time to swim in the sky, friend.”

Icarus kept his promise. The oldest whale did not ignore Icarus’s sincerity. The whale gladly became a ship for Icarus and began to migrate to the sky with its children.

Tens of thousands of whales soared into the sky.

From the great lake to the blue sky.

On the backs of the whales were several small houses built by Icarus, which became homes for the children. Now the children would no longer be threatened. After all, no human would be crazy enough to attack whales floating in the sky.

“…Ah.”

There were no such humans, but.

“Oh, shit.”

There were transcendents.

There were several battles.

They weren’t battles worth remembering, nor were they pleasant battles, and they certainly weren’t victorious battles. After several fights, Icarus began to change little by little.

“……”

Icarus, who had freely soared looking only at the sky without caring about anything.

“Daedalus.”

“Speak.”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“What now.”

“Build me a wall. One that will never break. One that can withstand even the battles of transcendents…”

“That’s a difficult request.”

“Is it impossible?”

“No, it’s not impossible.”

At some point, he began to look at the ground instead of the sky.

He began to walk looking behind rather than ahead.

What started with a few orphans grew, and more people entered Icarus’s enclosure, which was built to protect ten children.

“Lord Icarus.”

“Icarus.”

“Hero.”

“Savior of the city.”

“Icarus……”

“You are truly.”

Icarus was a hero. There might be many words to describe a hero, but they’re mostly similar. A hero is ultimately a term referring to someone who takes responsibility.

In his youth, Icarus flew freely through the sky.

He ran as his heart desired without looking back.

But as he grew older and looked back, there were abandoned people there. If he had ignored them all, it wouldn’t have mattered, but from the moment he took in the children, Icarus could no longer ignore them.

“Icarus.”

“Oh, Daedalus.”

“When’s our next journey?”

“Well, wait a little. First I need to prepare residences for these children… Oh, Daedalus? Could you build a building over there?”

“…Alright, why not.”

Many humans migrated to the backs of the whales.

Icarus took in children from his hometown, the trash city, took in abandoned children, and as if taking responsibility for the lives of those he had saved, he moved them one by one onto the backs of the whales.

In the process, people who followed Icarus appeared. Those who were captivated by Icarus’s beliefs and values joined.

When people gathered, they became a group.

When groups gathered, they became a city.

When cities gathered, they became a nation.

Now, Icarus was no longer an individual. What had started as an orphanage had somehow become a country. Icarus looked down at the sky whales from the highest place, on top of the oldest whale.

“Helios would be good.”

“What’s that?”

“The name of this country.”

Helios.

An ancient word meaning sun.

“Somehow I ended up creating a country.”

“So it seems.”

“It’s thanks to you, Daedalus. Or should I call you Grand Duke Daedalus now?”

“Call me whatever you want.”

Icarus created a nation, created titles, divided classes, and divided districts for governance.

“So when’s our next journey?”

“When the country stabilizes a bit. I can’t leave my post right now.”

Icarus postponed the journey.

“The next journey.”

“Wait a little longer, Daedalus.”

He postponed it again and again.

Saying the country needed him.

“……”

“Ah, Grand Duke. You’re here? It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face. I’ve been too busy lately.”

One day Daedalus realized.

That his friend, once the freest adventurer in the world, was no longer there. What was there was not Icarus the adventurer and explorer.

He was a king of a country.

He was a ruler responsible for a nation.

A ruler cannot be free. Because he has many responsibilities, he cannot leave his post. After that day, Daedalus stopped visiting Icarus.

Time passed.

It passed and passed.

Icarus, who had soared freely without being bound by anything, had his feet tied to the country he created. He could no longer fly in the sky. The bird that had built a nest stopped flying and settled down.

Icarus no longer looked up at the sky.

Helios, the country of the sky.

The sun melted Icarus’s wings.

3.

Najin walks.

As he walks, he looks at Icarus.

The Icarus who always smiled leisurely and pointed to the sky as he soared is gone. Icarus, who once wore light clothing, now wears clothes that display the dignity of a king and has begun to adorn himself with ornaments.

His face, once full of laughter, has hardened.

It has become the face of a dignified, solemn monarch.

All of this appeared to Najin as chains. Numerous chains were binding Icarus’s body.

“……”

Najin walked silently.

Daedalus silently accompanied his friend.

He hoped that someday his friend would fly in the sky again. He believed that once the country stabilized, Icarus would set off on another journey. Daedalus believed without doubt that he would fly freely in the sky and hang a star in that high place.

‘Such miracles don’t happen.’

But Najin knows.

What will unfold after this.

“The Sky Tyrant, Star of Heaven.”

“The Great War.”

“Division.”

“And, the grand fall.”

It was a famous event recorded even in the Empire’s history books. Helios, the country built in the sky, continued to expand its territory and clashed with various nations.

In an era where flight magic and magic towers were not yet developed, the concept of air supremacy did not exist, but there were quite a few monarchs who felt uncomfortable with whales passing over their heads.

The monarchs united. Several demons joined that alliance and instigated conflict. Many transcendents who had been envious of Icarus joined, and an alliance was formed.

…It was a chaotic period.

Peace came after the story of King Arthur, who traversed the entire world, ended, but the world where the Empire had not yet established itself was chaotic. There was no force powerful enough to control when a great battle broke out.

And war broke out.

And Icarus, who had not moved, moved. Icarus, once called a hero, had become a ruler, had become a dictator. He rose from his throne.

“Icarus.”

“Ah, Grand Duke.”

“It would be better not to go. If you step in, the situation will grow uncontrollably.”

“I know.”

“Then why go?”

“Well.”

Icarus looked down at the ground and said.

“Because I must protect my country.”

The boy who had dreamed became a hero.

The hero became a leader who built his own force.

And, a contradiction arises.

A boy and a hero can dream the same dream, but a leader can never live in the same way as those two.

“So I must go.”

Because to protect one’s own, a leader must trample on others’. The dictator who was once a hero wielded his power. Transcendents intervened in the human war, and it escalated into a battle between transcendents.

A great war broke out.

Countless people died.

The war continued for years. For Icarus, a transcendent, even decades of war were possible, but not for humans. Different opinions began to circulate, and the nation began to divide.

“……”

Najin, Daedalus walked.

The citizens of Helios began to argue with raised voices. There were those who shouted that this war must stop, that their king had gone mad.

No, the king is always right. Have you forgotten the grace you received from him? The king’s path is our path. There were also those who raised their voices like that.

And, a fight broke out.

The conflict between factions, the conflict that drew in outside forces, grew.

Tap.

The tragedy of citizens killing each other unfolded. Icarus remained silent as he watched the fight within his own enclosure. Blood began to flow in the castle garden. Screams echoed inside and outside the castle.

Tap.

Daedalus crossed through the commotion and reached the top floor of the castle. Icarus was there.

“Icarus.”

“Grand Duke.”

“I am not a Grand Duke.”

“Then?”

“I’m your friend, Daedalus. Just an ill-tempered inventor who knows how to hammer a bit.”

“Ah, indeed.”

Icarus laughed weakly.

Daedalus asked.

“Who are you, Icarus?”

“I am the king of Helios.”

“I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

“……”

“Icarus.”

“Yes.”

The aged hero weakly raised his hand.

“Once I was a hero. Once I was an adventurer.”

His star was crumbling.

The star of adventure and sailing could not be satisfied with Icarus’s current life. The wear that started from two stars had spread throughout Icarus’s body.

“I can’t remember that time well now.”

“Is that so.”

“It was quite enjoyable.”

“Do you miss it?”

“I do. Very much.”

Daedalus chuckled.

In his hand was a ball of thread. As he walked here, Daedalus had unraveled the thread. As if marking the only path to escape a labyrinth.

“Take it.”

With a whoosh, Daedalus threw the ball of thread to Icarus. The moment he grasped that thread, Icarus couldn’t help but smile.

“A final gift?”

“Yes.”

It was Daedalus’s final invention.

“Icarus.”

Looking at his old friend, Daedalus shrugged. Daedalus’s body, which had climbed up here through the chaos, was pierced with spears and swords.

“The next journey…”

He wasn’t given time to finish his last words. The rebels who had followed Daedalus, and the transcendent who had infiltrated the country in alliance with the rebels, blew off his head. Thus, Daedalus met his death.

The only companion of the adventurer Icarus was dead.

The moment he saw the head of his only friend rolling on the floor, Icarus let go of himself.

Icarus’s star crumbled.

The wear of a transcendent with ten stars is like a natural disaster. The sky was shaken, and countless cities built on the backs of sky whales were erased without a trace. What he had built with his own hands, Icarus destroyed with his own hands.

Countless humans died and countless stars fell.

All that remained was a single castle.

Only the first castle designed by Daedalus to “withstand even the attacks of transcendents” remained.

Tap.

Najin escaped the last memory. Looking down, there was a long thread stretched out. Following that thread, Najin moved his steps. He pushed open the firmly closed iron door.

Creeeeak…

With the sound of old hinges, the door to the top floor opened. It was the audience chamber with the throne at the top floor of the castle.

There was a man there.

The man sitting on the throne was wrapped in chains, and the chains were spread throughout the audience chamber. Najin stopped in front of the chains that stretched out like a spider’s web.

“Icarus.”

Najin, or Daedalus, said.

“When is our next journey?”