Book 2: Chapter 512
The site of the brutal destruction was covered with a thick aura of death.
Standing among it, the Black Knight silently looked down at the empty ground where there was not even a corpse.
After a while, he knelt onto one knee as his gaze skimmed across the rough ground.
[…he’s dead.]
Turning, Anastasia, who was staring at the sky for fear that a blue haired monster might be chasing after her, asked.
“Who?”
[Diablo.]
Anastasia blinked her large eyes a few times.
“…what?”
[…]
“Hey. Don’t just gloss over it, say it clearly. Who died?”
[It’s fine. I can save him. Although it will take a lot of time and concentration.]
At those words, a ridiculous expression flashed across Anastasia’s face for a moment.
“The ability to save the dead. Since when did you become so versatile?”
[It’s not my skill. It’s his arrangement.]
Saying that, Lucid drew a sword.
Srrng.
It wasn’t ‘Deukid’, the beloved sword that the Sword King Lucid used in his lifetime.
Instead, it was ‘Heart Knight’, the weapon of the Black Knight that filled all who saw it with dread.
Puk!
Lucid stuck Heart Knight’s blade into the ground.
Rumble…
Then, something amazing happened.
A white powder-like substance began to flow from the ground where the sword was stabbed. At first, the grains were as small as millet grains, but as they clumped together, they began to take shape.
Anastasia, who was watching this scene for a while, was shocked when she realised it was Diablo’s skull.
“I see… so that’s why it’s the ‘Heart Knight’. That sword is Diablo’s heart.”
[…]
“Even taking that into account, he’s really different from other liches. Even if their heart is still living, it wouldn’t be possible for them to regenerate if all of their bones are ground into powder…”
Lucid didn’t respond. The eyes within his helmet remained fixed to the blade, and his mind seemed to be even more hyper-focused.
Anastasia’s head ached.
It felt like her mind couldn’t keep up with the complicated situation. s.h.i.t, did her mind become stiff because she was using her body too much? The t.i.tle Great Sage would cry.
Pressing on her temples for no reason, she turned to look elsewhere.
To a woman who might, no.
To a woman who definitely had a much more accurate grasp of the situation than she did.
“Hey, what are we gonna do?”
“…”
Iris Peacefinder was looking up at the place they’d just come from a deeply depressed gaze.
The [Next Stage].
A battlefield that would soon become a scene of unparalleled chaos, or a living h.e.l.l, that was completely incomparable to what happened here on the ground.
The sounds of conversation, roars, wars of nerves and fights that were happening there.
…Iris.
Could see all of it.
She bit her lips, clenched her fists, and her body trembled for reasons that even she wasn’t entirely sure about.
By the time the chills and gooseb.u.mps had disappeared, a faint smile appeared on Iris’ face.
“You, are you smiling?”
Without replying, the smile on Iris’ face disappeared as if she was trying to hide it.
“There’s something I have to do.”
“What?”
“Lucid seems to be in a defenceless state right now, so you have to protect him. There are still a few disturbing presences in the surroundings.”
“Hey?”
Ignoring the calling voice behind her, Iris disappeared into s.p.a.ce.
After a while, Anastasia, who had guessed her destination from her att.i.tude, let out a meaningless scream.
“Hey! Wait, Iris! s.h.i.t. What do you plan to do there?!”
Anastasia didn’t realised it, but her voice certainly reached Iris.
As she moved quickly through the cracks in s.p.a.ce, Iris once more let out the smile she was hiding.
What she was going to do. It was just what needed to be done.
It wasn’t a big deal.
Iris Peacefinder recalled.
What happened in her home universe.
The things that happened right after Lukas Troman disappeared.
* * *
“I will make you remember.”
She still clearly remembered the words Peran Jun had uttered one day.
“You all forgot about him. Despite saying this, I don’t remember everything, either. I know… I don’t have any right to question you. I know it’s not our fault. However, still, I can’t help but feel angry.”
At the time, what her thoughts were when she heard those words.
“Even if you encountered him simply as ‘information’ now, it wouldn’t change much. That is what I can’t understand… Perhaps this is my role. All my life, I have acted according to the cause. Sometimes for family, sometimes for country, and always for the voice of the people. However, from on, I will move according to my own personal desire.”
Looking at those seated around him with cool eyes, Peran declared.
“In order to bring Lukas’ existence back to this world. Even if it is an act of rebellion against G.o.d’s order, I will not hesitate.”
Then, Peran left. Nix was the only one that followed.
The rest fell into an uproar. They all felt confused.
Iris wasn’t.
She regretted that she could neither sigh nor snort derisively, and at the same time, she made a conclusion about the human named Peran.
‘A reckless man.’
After hearing what the Great Medium said, she knew who ‘Lukas Trowman’ was. And it was true that her mind was a bit confused right after that.
The reason for that was simple.
It was because she couldn’t understand the fact that she so deeply loved a man she couldn’t even remember.
In fact, when she was talking to the man, her composure had broken and she couldn’t lose the feeling that she was being swayed by something, so Iris couldn’t completely deny the Great Medium’s words.
So she took time to think carefully.
It didn’t take very long to reach a conclusion.
Iris would just, admit it.
Right.
It was clear that ‘Iris Peacefinder’ loved ‘Lukas Trowman’. She loved him so fiercely and sacrificially that she willingly gave up 4,000 years.
But so what?
What did that have to do with the current Iris Peacefinder?
The feelings of the past were foggy, but the feelings of the present were clear.
She had no deep feelings for the man named Lukas Trowman. At most, it was a bit of sympathy.
After realising that, her head cleared up.
Her composure didn’t shake any longer.
Because there were no longer any feelings of love left within her.
It just felt like she was peeking at some characters in a novel, nothing more, nothing less.
According to the Great Medium, Lukas Trowman was a hero.
He lived as a hero his entire life.
He might feel despair at that moment because the world had forgotten him, but he would soon be able to overcome it. One of Iris’ theories was that heroes didn’t want anything in return.
Besides, she couldn’t afford to focus on Lukas at that moment.
‘s.p.a.ce earthquakes’ had occurred all over the world. She needed to find out the reason and prepare for the unknown threats that would surely come in the near future.
Iris made an incredibly rational judgement, and after that, she forgot about Lukas Trowman.
And after some time pa.s.sed.
That moment came suddenly.
* * *
A cloudless dawn.
“Hup…!”
Iris, complexion paler than the moonlight, jumped out of bed.
In contrast to her cold fingertips, cold sweat flowed unceasingly from her entire body.
“A-. h, ahh.”
Her hands and feet shook under shock that she had never felt before. Ruffling her hair with both hands, Iris tried to say something, but found that she couldn’t speak.
“What’s wrong?”
Sheryl appeared from the dark. She could realise the abnormalities in her master’s physical condition faster than anyone else.
“She-, ryl.”
“Yes. I’m here.”
“Huff, huk, hah…”
“…I will bring some cold water. Please wait a moment.”
Iris took a deep breath and nodded.
Quickly leaving the room, Sheryl was taken aback by the sight of her master’s face, which she had never seen like that before. No, she was shocked.
Iris Peacefinder was a woman known for being good at hiding her emotions. Even at that end of the apocalypse, she was able to smile meaningfully.
And this Iris, was now terrified.
Trembling like a little girl that had gotten a nightmare.
Sheryl couldn’t understand what happened.
Iris couldn’t even drink half a sip of the water Sheryl brought for her. As if she didn’t even have the strength remaining in her trembling hands to grip the cup, she eventually spilled the water.
Sheryl hurriedly took out a handkerchief.
“I will wipe it up for you.”
“…I.”
Iris muttered in a blank voice.
“What did I say?”
And the intention of the words that flowed out was unclear.
“Huh?”
“What I said. I, what did I say to him?”
“What are you talking about? To whom?”
“I, I, I…”
Lowering her head, Iris managed to squeeze the words out.
“…I, what did I say to Lukas?”
Sheryl paused at the name that suddenly appeared.
Lukas.
It was a name that she long since forgotten.
That man’s name, why now…?
“Answer me. I, what did I tell Lukas?”
Those questions disappeared as soon as she heard that voice that was just shy of a sob, and Sheryl instinctively realised.
The moment she was talking about.
It was the meeting between Iris, Ivan, and Snow.
A meeting where a man named Lukas appeared when they had gathered to respond to Diablo’s threat.
In a situation where the man’s name was intentionally revealed.
Iris looked at the man and─
“…hearing it for the first time.”
Sheryl spoke.
“I too am hearing it for the first time.”
“—.”
Sheryl,
Couldn’t look at Iris’ expression anymore.
* * *
It was hard to breathe.
It felt like her heart was being torn to pieces.
A hoa.r.s.e cry leaked from her locked throat.
“How, could I….”
─Was it possible, to forget…?
A subject whose return she longed for so much.
…Why did she forget?
…Why didn’t she realise?
─He said his name is Lukas. Do any of you know him?
The gaze that turned to her when his name was revealed.
The emotions contained in those eyes, the sorrow, longing, and expectation,
─…Lukas?
─That’s a pretty common name. It’s especially common here in the empire.
─Nevertheless, his appearance is fairly impressive. At the very least, I don’t think I would easily forget him even if I only met him once.
Why did she…
─I too.
…This,
Whose voice was it?
─Am hearing it for the first time.
Ah. it was her voice.
That was her answer.
The expectation, which was thinner than a thread on the verge of breaking, was ruthlessly severed by her hands.
“Aha, ahahaha…”
Laughter leaked out.
An awful joke.
So awful it even caused her laughter to dry up.
“Ahahaha…”
The empty laughter didn’t stop.
He’d never betrayed her expectations.
He always brought her more joy and happiness than she expected.
‘But I.’
Forgot him.
When he was at his weakest, when he was the least like Lukas Trowman, when he needed her more than ever.
She… denied his existence.
The law of the world? G.o.d made them forget?
Crunch, she grit her teeth.
So what?
She still shouldn’t have forgotten.
She didn’t know about anyone else, but at the very least, Iris Peacefinder shouldn’t have forgotten.
She recalled Lukas’ face.
The bewilderment, disbelief, denial, and finally despair that appeared there after hearing her voice.
The fragility that could be seen just before he left the scene.
At that moment, Iris stopped laughing.
…It hurt.
It was so painful, saddening and distressing that she couldn’t bear it.
She’d never seen a face like that on Lukas before. She didn’t want to see it.
What made it even more impossible for her to ignore it was,
─She, was the one that made it that way.
“…sorry.”
Sorry. I’m so sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me.
Lukas, Lukas….
But.
It was a very shameless wish, but─
“…can you please stay alive?”
Her cheeks became moist.
“Can you please stay alive one more time?”
Up to her chin was wet.
“One more time, please, one more time…”
The moment Iris remembered the promise she shouldn’t have forgotten.
It had already been a year since Lukas Trowman disappeared.
(TL: I’m not crying, you are.)