Chapter 169: Seventeen’s Summer (1)
「The weeping god always mumbled those words.
Believe.
But he told me not to believe.
Hope.
But he didn’t say what to wish for.
Believe, hope, and love.
At the last word, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Who should I love?”
The god pointed to himself with a faint smile.
Woosh━.
In the wind blowing from the east, the god pointed at me, the ground, the sky, and finally clenched his fist.
There was nothing in his fist.
Without belief and hope, there is no love.
Swoosh━.
The god spread his small, white hand.
But if you love, all that will be yours.
That was the last smile the god showed.
━ Sorcerer King’s Summer.”」
Cain knew this scene.
He and the white-haired woman stood on Ethelred’s white cliff.
The sight of the Agweska she pulled out piercing his heart.
‘I know this story.’
Because when he made eye contact with Oleciren after killing Arian in Ironheart, the world that Cain had changed was shown for a while.
Rumble━.
Oleciren’s overwhelming presence crushes everything around her.
The grass on the grasslands bows down as if in submission, and weak rocks crumble. The nearby sea level is under immense pressure, unable to even form waves.
Cain had to react.
He had to knock away Oleciren’s hand, which seemed to move forcibly but held the sword precisely.
However, all Cain could do was read the message window that appeared as if to separate her and him.
[Resistance to ‘The White Demon King Oleciren’ is low.]
What Edmund asked her to do in this place came back like this according to the warning of 『Four Seasons』.
[‘Winter’ and ‘Summer’ are absent.]
The problem must have started from the point where the messages from the two disappeared.
[The Demon King’s coercive force is crushing you.]
But he couldn’t budge.
Like a statue, Cain could only watch silently.
[75% of the world laughs at you.]
And lastly.
Oleciren was an incredible witch from the beginning, but would she be this strong even if she awakened as a Demon King?
Cain would shake his head.
But if the original world that Cain couldn’t change was supporting her.
‘It’s possible.’
The opponent is not the Demon King but 75% of this world.
The restorative power of the predetermined fate stepped forward to stop Cain, who was changing the world.
Because all of that was combined, Cain could only helplessly watch as the jet-black blade of Agweska pierced his chest.
Drip━.
Tears began to flow from Oleciren’s eyes, which had turned completely white.
It started with faith.
During her time with Cain, she came to believe in a person named ‘Cain,’ not just the eldest son of Ethelred, whose name she didn’t even know.
Next was hope.
To Oleciren, who merely lived day by day, Cain showed hope.
Why do you want to be king?
Why do you hate witches?
Then what do you want to do?
Although she was alive and breathing, Oleciren, who had no color of her own like her nickname, Gypsum Flower, had a chance to accept the black color of a witch.
Because that was the hope she had.
The one and only thing that connects faith and hope.
Love.
75% of the world aimed for the moment she was about to express that love and twisted the birth of the Demon King, which should be born along with the birth of the hero, onto her.
Shhhshshshsh━.
Sword of Despair, Agweska, flows into Cain’s heart as if being sucked in.
The eerie fear the blade brings grazes his bones, cuts through his skin, and splits his heart.
He can feel her hand trembling against his heart.
He looks into Oleciren’s eyes.
Squeeze━.
And Cain raised his arm amidst the immense pressure.
“Don’t cry.”
“……”
Oleciren couldn’t answer.
“It’s going according to plan.”
“……?”
The Demon King, Oleciren’s eyes widen.
“It’ll probably take a while for me to come back. You have to hold on.”
“Ca… in.”
Like a child calling for his mother and father for the first time.
Her first words as she was born into this world as a Demon King were Cain’s name.
“Yes, me and the Demon King.”
Whoosh━.
With the half-broken blade of Agweska still embedded in his chest, Cain plummeted over the cliff.
“Cain, Cain!”
Oleciren cried out his name, frozen stiff.
Clang━.
She dropped the hilt of Agweska and tried to move towards the cliff where Cain had fallen, but it was impossible.
[75% of the world says it is fitting for the hero to die at the birth of the Demon King.]
“Oli…… siren.”
And below the cliff.
Someone was calling her.
Abel, a boy with brown hair and autumn-like eyes.
He had followed the two from a distance where they looked like dots, worried that something might happen after seeing them move from dawn.
“Oleciren!! You killed my brother!”
Abel started running.
His usual cheerful expression was gone.
He drew his sword with the look of a vengeful ghost, ready to tear her apart, but.
Rumble━.
The closer he got to her, the heavier his body became.
The pressure, like sinking deeper into the sea, crushed him.
“No, no!”
Oleciren shook her head violently and shouted. But her words didn’t reach Abel, whose eyes were half-rolled back.
“Oleciren━!!”
He didn’t know why she had turned white.
He didn’t know how his strong brother could be stabbed and fall without even raising a hand.
But one thing was certain: it was she who had plunged the sword into Cain’s heart.
“Die━!”
Abel’s entire body began to burn with the flames of aura.
Driven by rage, the Sword Master took one last step toward Oleciren and glared at her.
“……”
She met his gaze with infinitely sad eyes.
The peace of Airian that Cain had created began to crumble along with him.
And below the cliff.
“Ca, Captain.”
One of the Imperial Special Intelligence agents, who had arrived on a miniature submarine known only to a select few in the Empire, codenamed ‘Tuna,’ raised his finger.
“S, Summer is coming down.”
As if an angel was descending from heaven to earth.
The golden holy sword, ‘Summer,’ was slowly falling down the cliff, supporting Cain’s body.
The three, who had been planning what to do in the Ethelred County, nodded simultaneously.
“If we kill him now, we’ll never be able to move ‘Summer.’”
“That’s right. They say even the Holy See kept it in a 72-layered sealed chest.”
It was a sword infamous for burning everything around it if someone unqualified touched it, and it was only quiet now because it was supporting its owner, Cain.
Knowing this, the Special Intelligence agents immediately dismissed the idea of killing Cain and taking the sword.
“You get off here and find your way back to the Empire.”
The captain sent one agent away and the other two lifted Cain, who had collapsed with a blade in his chest.
“We’re taking the new ‘hero’ with us.”
After placing Cain in their submarine, the captain took out a small vial from his pocket.
Glug, glug, glug━.
The golden, highest-grade potion began to seep into Cain’s wound.
“We can’t pull out the blade right now, but at least he’ll be able to withstand the sea.”
The agent who was left behind saluted the two, and the other two returned the salute before boarding the submarine again.
Splash━.
The waves, which had been still until now, began to move. A shout rang out from the top of the cliff, but they couldn’t understand what was being said because it was muffled.
“Where are we going?”
“Märchen Academy.”
“What? Why there……”
The intelligence chief smiled bitterly and looked back over the eastern sea.
“Marquis Margette Wiseman.”
The agent’s eyes widened.
That was not a name he expected to hear here.
“She’s a bit….”
“Do you have any other way to save the hero?”
The agent eventually shook his head.
Crash.
The waves swallowed the Empire’s ‘Tuna’ once more, and Cain, unknowingly, was headed for the Empire.
🔹🔹🔹
In the middle of the universe, a floating room.
A silvery light hovered, and half-broken vials floated like dust.
【Why, why can’t he come to his senses?】
Three figures surrounded the lying Cain.
One was ‘Spring,’ who took Cain’s form from the previous timeline.
【You know everything! Tell me!】
The silver-haired woman, ‘Winter,’ shouted at ‘Spring’. The golden-haired little boy, ‘Summer,’ rolled his eyes between them.
The shouting woman grabbed ‘Spring’ by the collar and yelled.
【Bring back my Cain! I don’t care about the cycle of the world, the end, or anything like that.】
【You know better.】
‘Spring’ retorted in a low, dark voice, unlike his usual self.
‘Winter’ shook her head violently.
【I know! If my Cain is gone, I don’t care if this world, these seasons, all come to an end or ruin.】
【Winter.】
【I want this child’s happiness.】
【……】
【If this world takes away his happiness, I will freeze this world before the predetermined end or sudden ruin, whatever comes first.】
‘Spring’ stared at ‘Winter’ with hollow eyes and gave a small laugh.
【That temper of yours, never changes.】
【And you, even though you’re already dead, you still talk in circles. Makes me want to rip that mouth off.】
【Calm down.】
‘Winter’ stood up.
And she looked at the black universe and the twinkling stars that stretched endlessly outside the room with sharp eyes and shouted.
【I won’t allow it.】
【What are you going to do?】
【If Cain’s not in it, I’ll just have to break it.】
If the previous moment was a flame burning with anger, ‘Winter’ was infinitely cold now.
‘Spring’ sighed.
【Frey.】
At that moment, ‘Winter’s face contorted, and she frowned, turning to him.
【How dare you call my name?】
Rumble━.
The whole room shook.
No, the entire universe seemed to tremble in fear as ‘Winter’s emotions fluctuated. ‘Spring’ smiled bitterly.
But just as ‘Spring’ and ‘Winter’ were in a tense standoff, looking as if they were about to fight.
【Look!】
The golden light, ‘Summer,’ who had been watching over Cain, shouted. He pointed to Cain’s finger, which was twitching.
Whoosh━.
A wind blew.
‘Winter’ and ‘Summer,’ who had been in human form until just now, turned into white and gold orbs of light, respectively.
“That’s a pretty voice……”
Cain mumbled unconsciously.
‘Winter’ flickered reflexively in response. It was a clear sign of pleasure.
【Are you alright?】
Cain opened his eyes at ‘Spring’s words. Seeing the pitch-black universe instead of the sky, he realized where he was.
【The Demon King’s curse was stuck in your heart while your resistance was low and we were gone, so you won’t be able to move easily here or in reality.】
“I see……”
Cain lay there with an unreadable expression on his face.
He wondered when was the last time he had such a peaceful moment.
Then.
Blink, blink.
‘Winter’ flashed urgently.
She seemed to be urging ‘Spring.’ ‘Spring’ smiled bitterly and asked Cain.
【You seemed to have predicted that Oleciren would become the Demon King.】
“I didn’t know about the Demon King, but I thought something would happen. I saw it.”
【You wouldn’t have let yourself be caught off guard if you knew. What do you mean it’s going according to plan?】
‘Spring,’ who knew Cain well, locked eyes with him. Cain smiled a wry smile and opened his mouth.
“Didn’t ‘Summer’ tell you?”
Swoosh.
In that instant, their gazes were fixed on the golden orb of light, ‘Summer.’
He flickered at a tremendous speed as if flustered.
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