#When I returned, the family was ruined (208)
Theron was looking around in a dark space.
The scenery appeared to flow sparsely, like shadows reflected in water. My arm was strongly pinched. I didn’t feel any pain.
He tilted his head.
Is this a dream world?
The scenery in front of me was almost colorless. Suddenly, I saw a child leaving a huge castle in the scenery.
That child was himself.
A memory of a past that happened a long time ago.
This was what it looked like when he left Ardan and entrusted himself to the Duke of Agiles.
This time a different scene unfolded.
Perhaps a lot of time had passed, but the child had suddenly changed into a boy.
Next to him was a figure made entirely of black.
In the boy’s hand was a sword. It was a sword entirely engulfed in black flames.
A boy smiling brightly as if he were proud. It was a memory from when Ardan’s vision technology, Black Flame, was restored.
In order to restore that technology, I devoted a very long time to research with Aguileth…
It was at that time.
The scenery, which was almost colorless, began to gradually become black. As if they were trying to smear him.
The scenery became more blurry and unintelligible voices could be heard occasionally.
‘Kill me.’
‘all.’
Eerie language.
It was a strange yet irresistible sound. Swing the sword and kill. It was a simple act. Each time that happened, the color of the flame rising above the sword body became darker and darker.
plural.
Revenge….
for what?
For what?
To whom?
The landscape turned completely black. I couldn’t see anything. So much so that one wonders if he was wearing an eye patch over his eyes.
Kill…
kill…
take it back. Yours…
The scene in the landscape shook violently.
Very occasionally I was able to catch a faint image. Pupils completely out of focus. I could see myself moving faithfully to the voice, as if I were a doll.
Theron’s face hardened.
From what I could see so far, the scenery before my eyes was virtually no different from my memories.
‘…These are my memories?’
It was truly bizarre.
This was a nightmare. He left his family to regain its former glory, but ended up being manipulated by others like a puppet tied by strings.
This cannot happen.
Theron denied any memory.
And I prayed.
I hope this damn nightmare ends quickly. Despite my earnest wishes, the nightmare continued endlessly.
Kill.
Being injected with something.
The scenery becomes even more pitch black.
How long have you been trapped in a nightmare? It was a time when fatigue had built up. The landscape shook violently as if there had been an earthquake.
fast.
Faster.
The scene passed quickly, moment by moment. Even in pitch-black darkness, I was able to find out that much. Suddenly, I saw a figure standing in the scenery.
He was swinging his sword like crazy towards the pitch-black figure. Even though I was looking at the scenery from an outside perspective, the sight of it shaking as if there had been an earthquake seemed to clearly show how angry I was. My body suddenly trembled.
I didn’t know why. I just felt afraid. Meanwhile, the memories continued to flow.
Burning anger.
The sword clashes with the new knight.
Sum of ten.
Twenty sum.
Time continued to flow as if it would not stop.
It was then.
In an instant, the darkness cleared completely. Strictly speaking, the darkness in the landscape had been lifted.
I was able to quickly figure out why. A knight who shared sum with himself. A pure white flame was burning brightly above the knight’s sword.
A flame with such a cold light that it completely brightens up a space that was completely filled with darkness.
The knight’s face was revealed.
Theron’s eyes widened. It was because it was a very familiar feeling to me.
My eldest brother, who passed away a long time ago.
The image of surviving each day relying on magic tools still remained vivid in my memory. It was as if the older brother I remembered from my childhood appeared as if time had fast-forwarded.
The sword body filled with pure white flames drew a trajectory. A straight, straight trajectory.
It was definitely slow.
To the point where I felt like I could avoid it if I wanted to. However, I did not avoid myself in the scenery .
No, strictly speaking, it would be accurate to say that it could not be avoided. Even if it is a sight that appears slowly when viewed from a distance.
For me in the scenery, it was a moment that could be called a fleeting moment, enough to make my pupils dilate ever so slightly.
Pow!
There was an explosion that sounded like hundreds of bombs exploding.
Color began to appear around the area that was filled with only darkness.
Okay!
Okay!
Eerie sounds were heard from all directions. A space named Nightmare. There were cracks all over the space. A network of incontinence that continues as if it were a dense spider web.
It was an inevitable collapse.
Wajangchang.
The entire space collapsed, and Theron was already in a room with sunlight streaming in.
“…Hmm.”
Theron’s eyes opened little by little.
The light was bright enough to make you feel cold.
So much so that my tear ducts naturally overflow with content. It was a moment when I shook my head violently, as if resisting the light.
“uh? “You’re awake.”
I heard a voice.
I turned my head.
What caught my eye was a girl I had never seen before.
No, she seemed a little older than a girl.
On the outside, she looks like she’s about 20, so should I say she’s a lady?
Anyway, what was certain was that it was the first face he had seen in his life.
‘Has the dedicated maid changed?’
Only then did the surrounding scenery slowly come into view. It looked very different from the room he was familiar with.
To put it bluntly…
‘Have you seen it?’
I would say it looks the same as the room in the inner room I saw when I was young.
Theron stood up and looked out the window. The scenery spread out below.
It’s definitely true.
This was Ardan’s inner city.
“Why am I here…”
Theron held his head.
The last remaining memory came to mind. I think I was fighting a knight who had the same face as my eldest brother…
or maybe that’s what I remember.
In fact, it might have been one of the fragments of a distorted dream. Terrible confusion came. It was then.
“calm down.”
The woman raised her hand. Then, a blue energy surged out. Without even a moment to stop, Mana burrowed into his head.
Theron’s eyes widened. It felt like my head was soaked in cold water. The confused feelings quickly subsided.
His eyes became much calmer.
“…thank you.”
“Why have this much?”
“Who are you anyway? “Why am I here?”
“Isn’t this your family?”
“That’s true, but…”
“The reason I’m here is simple. “The duke brought it.”
“…A duke?”
“Ethan. “Your brother.”
Theron was shocked.
The reason was simple.
Firstly, it was because I was able to infer that my older brother had woken up through the active phrase ‘I brought him’, and secondly, I
found out that my older brother had taken over Ardan. It was.
That was quite a surprising fact.
Although he is the eldest son, he would not have transferred power from the 10 collateral families simply by opening his eyes. Maybe it would have been better if they had pushed Myers, who was known to be an asshole.
Theron naturally pinched his arm. I was wondering if this too was a dream. But this time there was a complete difference from before.
It feels like the pain is vivid. This was undoubtedly reality. I looked at the wizard in front of me. When I saw that magic was implemented with a single hand gesture, the other person was definitely a great magician. A person like that would not be a maid at best.
In all likelihood, he is one of the high-ranking wizards working in the duchy. An explanation was needed to understand the situation.
Because I was confused as to whether the memories in the nightmare were true.
“…Could you please explain what happened?”
“of course. Before that, let me introduce myself first. The name is Ilya. “His position is… well, Ardan’s exclusive wizard.”
“All right.”
“How much do you remember?”
“…I even remember entrusting myself to Lacian and heading to Duke Agileth to restore the Black Flame. “By any chance, how old is your eldest brother?”
“I’m twenty this year.”
“To put it simply, I think I can say that I still have vague memories of about two or three years ago.”
“After that?”
“…I barely remember anything.”
Although he confirmed it was a nightmare from before, it was unclear whether or not it was really his memory. Considering that, it would be safe to say that my true memories only last two or three years ago.
“To put it simply, you were the victim of Agiles’ trick.”
“If it’s a trick….”
“Can’t you guess? Since it was the restoration of the Black Flame, he must have asked for various things. As I followed it, I was completely swallowed up by negative emotions and then manipulated by black magic. “In summary, it can be explained like this.”
“….”
Theron’s face hardened. He entrusted himself to the Kingdom’s Seven Families to restore his declining family, but…
‘…in the end, he was only taken advantage of.’
It’s not that I didn’t feel strange. Especially when Agiles brought up the absurd statement that all living things must be slaughtered as a way to strengthen the power of the ‘black flame’.
At that time, I felt even more doubtful.
So I made some preparations, but it seemed like it wasn’t enough to escape Aguiles’ trick.
He smiled bitterly.
“okay. Then, the fight with my eldest brother…”
“Do you still remember it?”
“…I remember being cut by my eldest brother’s sword at the last moment. For some reason, now that I look at it, it seems to be fine, but…”
“The duke saved you. By utilizing the power of white flame.”
“White flame… you mean?”
“uh. “The flame that the first head of the family used.”
Theron’s eyes widened. The wizard in front of me was speaking. My eldest brother restored Baekyeom. If you think about it with common sense, this was nonsense.
Because no one has ever restored Baekyeom since the first head of the family. Moreover, even two or three years ago, when my eldest brother last remembered, he was still suffering from a sick condition.
That was no different from telling that Ethan had just woken up.
In such a situation….
“You really restored the white flame?”
“uh. Not only that, I drove out the 10 collateral families, took down the three particularly hostile families among the seven families in the kingdom, won the continental swordsmanship competition, saved you too, and restored the divine sword… I can’t stop talking about this, can I?”
“Eldest brother… when did you wake up?”
“About a year ago.”
In other words, it was no different from accomplishing all of those achievements in just one year. That was ridiculous. Unless the eldest brother becomes a transcendental person.
“What kind of level is your brother?…”
“They say he’s a transcendent?”
“…Does that make sense?”
“Why not? “The rumor has already spread around the world for a long time.”
“…yes?”
Theron’s eyes widened.