Morning has broken.
The previous day’s banquet had been in full swing, reaching a point of intense heat.
As for what happened to Hio, who had been grinning foolishly while surrounded by numerous ladies, and why morning had suddenly arrived…
“……?”
Even Hio did not know.
Morning had simply come all of a sudden.
“What… kind of phenomenon is this?”
[Well, it’s a type I’ve never seen before. It doesn’t feel like an illusion meant to deceive the eyes…]
While he was losing his senses to the sweet scents and fragrances, everything had gradually begun to blur.
Like a vision that couldn’t find its focus, both the scenery and the people had become hazy.
The landscape, which had turned mushy like a faint memory, gradually shifted and then sharpened into what he saw now.
He found himself standing alone in a spacious room.
The bedding laid out beside him was neatly folded, and Hio was standing in front of a large mirror, staring at his own reflection.
The person standing in the mirror was definitely Hio himself.
He was standing there wearing the Tetradia Hat and robes, holding a staff that was slightly taller than his height.
“Has a day passed?”
[Could be. Or perhaps several days have passed.]
There was quite a bit of information he had gained through the banquet.
First, this place was Basterion, a kingdom forgotten by history.
Basterion was a nation with national power so strong that it was nicknamed the Kingdom of Knights, but for some reason, the current situation was not good.
Here, he was the only Magician and had apparently brought them a great victory in some battle.
Because of that, every person in the banquet hall had shown him great favor.
Finally, the King here was not trusted by anyone.
That was the extent of the information he had gathered in a short period of time.
He had found out quite a bit, but it was still insufficient.
Compared to the absolute amount of information he needed to know, he was still surrounded by mysteries.
‘What was Basterion fighting against?’
In fact, it wasn’t hard to deduce.
Basterion was an ancient kingdom that Furnel knew of, but he did not.
The answer was obvious from that alone.
“The Abyssal Depths.”
The Abyssal Depths.
The Abyss.
A war from a thousand years ago that must have been different in many ways from the wars of the present.
Perhaps he had entered that very site, into the memories of that time.
Just as his thoughts reached that point.
Knock, knock—along with a knock, someone called out to Hio.
“Pavlenko, I will escort you to the meeting hall.”
“……A meeting.”
It seemed the dream intended to skip over unimportant memories and head straight to the meeting.
“Let’s go.”
It was certain that there would be many things to find out there.
Most of the people attending the meeting were the same individuals he had seen in the banquet hall.
However, if there was one difference from the banquet, it was that instead of tight uniforms that looked ready to burst, they were attending the meeting clad in armor with swords at their waists.
It was a sight truly worthy of the nickname Kingdom of Knights.
The King sat at the head of the table.
Despite sitting in a palatial chair draped in luxurious robes, he somehow lacked any sense of dignity.
Naturally, the knights were continuing their heated discussion amongst themselves, effectively excluding the King.
The King merely looked back and forth at the knights with an anxiously trembling gaze.
“We cannot even reach Quiato anymore. There is truly no way back now!”
“Even so, does it make sense to suggest we march out first? Let’s look at the possibilities. The possibilities!”
“You are being truly frustrating. The opponent is a collection of Strange Entities. What use is there in fighting with our backs to the castle walls? There are countless citizens, our families, in the royal capital. Why do you not understand that we must strike first before the Strange Entities swarm us?”
“What about reinforcements from Verdan?”
“We can’t get in touch with the Empire either. It seems they are in total chaos.”
“It will likely be impossible. Not just the Empire, but every other nation is in the same state.”
As he had guessed at the banquet, the situation appeared to be extremely dire.
That must be why they had been so overjoyed by a single victory.
It was then that the King, who had been merely observing the situation with an anxious gaze, stepped forward.
“But do we not have the Master Magician with us?”
At the King’s words, everyone’s eyes turned toward the silent Hio.
Even so, they could not easily open their mouths.
Hio was strictly an outsider.
In a situation where they felt they had already received great help, how could they easily ask him to fight for them once again?
Especially when he was a Magician, not a knight.
Instead of the hesitating knights, the King spoke up himself.
Looking at Hio with a fairly desperate gaze, the words he delivered, filled to the brim with urgency, were completely unexpected.
“Therefore, Lord Pavlenko. Could you not help us escape?”
The help he begged for so despicably was for the sake of running away.
No matter how terrifying the enemy was, those were not words a King should say, nor a sight he should show, in front of his subjects.
It was truly the epitome of a feeble King.
“What did you just…!”
“Your Majesty!”
As expected, it was such a shocking statement that almost every knight stood up from their seats in horror.
However, the King did not back down easily.
“If we stay like this, there is no hope! If one is a Master Magician, would it not be possible!”
“Your Majesty! Please reconsider!”
“This is shaking the very foundation of Basterion!”
“We might consider a temporary retreat, but to run away? Your Majesty! How can you say such a thing!”
These were not ordinary nobles.
Everyone present was a man of war who prided himself on being a knight.
They held strong pride and self-respect in that identity.
On the other hand, the King’s physique was small, and his courage was proportionate to it.
Sure enough, the King of Basterion flinched and let his voice trail off at the fierce reaction.
“B-But… do you all not also know that the possibilities are slim? Rather than that, it would be better to…”
“Your Majesty! Please remember how the late King met his end in martyrdom!”
“It can never be! Your Majesty!”
“You must never forget the last words of the late King and the Grand Prince! Your Majesty!”
Well, even to Hio, who didn’t know the situation well, the King’s remarks were problematic.
In the middle of a meeting discussing how to fight, he had suddenly brought up fleeing.
And that came from the King, who was supposed to be the pillar at the highest point.
He wasn’t asking for help in the war, but help to run away.
‘How could the high-prided knights accept such a thing?’
Furthermore, since he was a King who lacked trust, the level of backlash was even more severe.
“I-I see……”
So, the King ended up shrinking back again after barely saying a few words.
“I understand for now, so please continue the meeting.”
Even that vague statement made while he was cowering was not permitted by the stern knights.
“This is not something to be passed over as ‘for now’! Your Majesty! To abandon the royal palace and flee is something that must never happen!”
“Please steel your heart! Your Majesty!”
“I-I said I understood, didn’t I? Let us quickly continue the meeting.”
The weak King could not even properly express his own opinion among the sturdy knights.
He was someone truly ill-suited for the position of leading the Kingdom of Knights.
A silence fell for a moment after the King’s words ended.
In that silence, an old knight was the one to speak.
“Lord Pavlenko.”
He was a veteran with a long beard and hair that had turned entirely white.
He looked at Hio with a gaze that seemed to have reached some sort of resolution.
“I know this is shameless, but please help us just a little more.”
He asked for just a little more help.
That request was in complete opposition to the King’s opinion.
It was a completely different attitude.
It was cautious, but not despicable.
His gaze was dignified, and his gestures were polite.
As he stepped forward, the other knights also began to speak up one after another.
Just as one could feel from his polite demeanor and firm voice, he was a figure who commanded the respect of many knights.
Unlike the King.
“Lord Pavlenko… could you please stay just a little longer.”
“I know it is asking too much. If necessary, you may spread the word to the entire Continent. You may call us shameless knights who do not know honor… so I beg of you.”
Hearing the contents of the meeting, most regions except for the vicinity of the capital had already fallen to the Abyss or were on the verge of it.
That was why they were so desperate.
Because their families and countless citizens were still left inside the royal castle.
That must be why they were so earnest.
To them, Hio’s presence was likely nothing less than their last hope.
“……I understand.”
Hio nodded.
In any case, it was something he naturally had to do to reach the end of the trial, and it was also an opportunity to learn very important information.
The Abyss of the present took the form of a Gate, gradually invading by using those whose souls were consumed long ago as monsters.
‘Then, in what form did the Abyss from a thousand years ago descend upon them?’
Since this was a chance to find out, he nodded without much hesitation.
Naturally, the knights, who had no way of knowing his thoughts, were moved and bowed their heads.
“……Lord Pavlenko!”
“Thank you… thank you so much, Lord Pavlenko!”
“You are truly worthy of being called the great hero and sage of the Continent!”
“Even after death, I will never forget today’s grace.”
There were a few somewhat exaggerated expressions mixed in, but the meaning was ultimately one and the same.
The Magician who decided to join the battle without turning away from the kingdom’s crisis.
The knights bowed their heads toward him without hesitation, conveying their deep gratitude.
In such a touching situation…
“…”
Only the King remained still, eyes closed, letting out a quiet groan.
***
Simultaneously with Hio’s decision, the scene shifted once again.
His vision blurred and shook as the background changed.
When it had completely transformed…
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Hio was standing in the middle of a battlefield.
“Never retreat!”
“Behind us is our home! Remember that the lives of our families depend on our hands!”
A place where shouts echoed like screams, and screams sounded like shouts.
Hio quickly scanned the battlefield.
“Is this… the first Abyss war?”
Everything was black.
It was a dark battlefield that brought to mind Atawolf’s appearance scene in the game.
However, the reason it was impossible to even compare the two was likely due to the thick Abyssal Curse that made his skin tingle.
All the soldiers of the kingdom were blocking the pitch-black energy with their backs to the castle walls.
Within that energy, they were fiercely swinging their swords and spears against mysterious entities.
What they were fighting against were beings whose entire bodies were twisted while wearing the same armor and holding the same swords as them.
Those things were swarming from afar along with the jet-black Abyssal Curse.
[I suppose we could call this the original form of the Abyss Monster.]
It wasn’t hard to guess their identity.
The Abyss Monsters of the present were so twisted that their human appearance could hardly be found, but those things swarming now were changing their forms even as they ran.
Traces of the clothes or armor from their time as humans clearly remained.
Those who had been submerged in the Abyss like that must have become monsters with completely distorted forms over time.
[That’s not all. There are other things as well.]
When he raised his head slightly and looked above those things, he saw other entities, just as Furnel said.
It was the Abyssal Curse itself, which was approaching while dominating the entire sky like a Black Mist.
If one looked closely, it wasn’t scattered wide and shallow like a mist, but was approaching while gradually clumping together to form masses.
Those bizarre masses approached, each containing a massive amount of Abyssal Curse.
“Those must be the truly original Abyss Monsters.”
‘Could those things even be called living creatures?’
They were simply made of dense, clumped Abyssal Depths.
That was why they were more troublesome than anything else.
One of those masses of energy lunged at a soldier.
“Aaaagh!”
The terrified soldier swung his sword randomly, but since no energy was infused into it, it simply passed through the mass in vain, as if cutting through air.
“N-No! Please……!”
The reason he was so despairing was likely that he had already seen it countless times.
It was because he knew all too well what form his comrades had turned into after being swarmed by those masses.
That was why he resisted with all his might, but…
It didn’t even take a few seconds for his eye sockets to be completely dyed by the Abyss.
“Kraaaaagh!”
Thus, a new Abyss Monster was born.
This was the reason why numerous ancient nations had no choice but to be destroyed without even being able to use their strength properly.
“……How horrific.”
He knew it wasn’t real.
But it was also certain that it was something that had actually happened.
So, Hio immediately raised his staff.
To stop the merciless slaughter where people were just helplessly swept away without being able to put up much resistance.
Because he didn’t want to see that horrific sight any longer, the skill he unleashed was Celestial.
[Skill – ‘Celestial’ is being activated.]
The blue sky, which had not yet turned black, opened up, and a golden radiance poured down.
Centered around Hio, the goddess’s touch began to cover the entire battlefield.
“T-This is……”
A golden miracle had arrived in a place that was no different from hell.
As if time had stopped, the flow of the fierce battlefield halted for an instant.
Just as Hio wished, the cruel slaughter and despair came to a stop under the goddess’s touch.
However.
“K-Kuaaaakh!”
The Abyss was tenacious.
It wasn’t just at the level of the Abyssal Curse that could be felt in a typical raid Gate.
It was similar to the energy that filled the space in the Abyssal Depths where he had been dragged with Daphne.
Literally, the Abyss itself had invaded.
Therefore, although they were affected by the divinity of Celestial, complete annihilation did not occur.
“Grrrrrr!”
Those who were stained did not care even if their bodies were burning; they swung their swords, spears, arms, and legs, and bared their teeth.
The masses of clumped Abyss broke through Celestial and covered the soldiers’ bodies and the knights’ heads.
Although their speed had clearly slowed down, it seemed impossible to block that endlessly thick energy with Celestial alone.
The battlefield was vast.
If he were concentrating on blocking one spot, it might be different, but Hio’s divinity and magic power would not be able to withstand blocking this entire wide range.
He had to quickly find another way, and one sight caught Hio’s eye.
“You cursed Strange Entities!”
It was the figure of a single knight.