Chapter 89: The Stolen Name of Fabian

As they descended the stairs, they saw something like a door set into the cliff.

It was a structure invisible from above, obviously placed where it would escape people's notice.

Inside, there was only darkness.

“I brought plenty of oil, but...”

The problem was, there was no telling how far this path extended.

“I suppose we should try to use the minimum necessary.”

When Martin lit the torch, a bit of their surroundings was revealed.

“What a desolate cave.”

Leon spoke with a visibly tense expression.

A little further in, they came to a fork.

“So soon...? That’s not good.”

Rohan’s eyes narrowed.

“Which way should we go, Your Highness?”

“Rohan, this is definitely a labyrinth trap.”

Retina looked back at the Elphirian warriors behind them.

“Everyone, let’s try magical tracking.”

“Yes, Lady Retina.”

The four Elphirians stepped forward and gathered in a circle.

[May the World Tree’s protection light our path ahead.]

As they chanted something like an incantation, a faint light immediately began to flow down one side.

“I think it’s this way.”

To the right, then again right. To the left, then right again...

How far did they go like that?

“A foul stench!”

Eventually, as the stench wafted over them, the warriors drew their swords.

Ssssss...!

Slash!

“Shadows.”

Retina’s red eyes flashed, and her sword cleaved through the air.

Slash, crack!

With that as the signal, everyone raised their swords.

Except, of course, for Rohan.

“Seeing all these shadows swarming in, I’d say we’re close to our destination.”

Cutting down the shadows, Retina spoke.

Deeper, ever deeper.

The group pressed on, following the direction from which the shadows advanced.

Before long...

Splash.

Stepping into a wide space, the group’s feet became soaked.

It was clearly underground, and yet the ceiling looked no different from the night sky.

“What... is that?”

In the center stood a single, massive tree that commanded their attention.

‘That must be the Dark World Tree!’

Rohan’s eyes grew wide.

“Tch.”

His left chest began to burn with heat.

Now that he’d encountered the Dark World Tree, the blessing of the World Tree was reacting.

“...! Those are the northern residents who became puppets!”

Leon, face pale, pointed at the tree.

“Fruit?”

The tree bore huge fruits to match its size, and inside those fruits, something was writhing.

People, curled up and eyes closed.

“Their bodies should be in the audience chamber at Malta Castle...?”

“Don’t tell me, these are the real ones?”

Everyone was aghast.

“Whatever is real or not, we have to save them first.”

Rohan stepped forward.

Splash.

“Wait, Rohan. This water...”

Retina stopped Rohan, frowning.

“It’s just like the water from Kataka Canyon.”

“What?”

“Be careful. If this gets into your body, you’ll die instantly.”

“...!”

Hearing that, Leon’s face turned solemn.

“So it’s as Your Highness said; that bastard prepared everything. It’s impossible to get through because of this water.”

At that moment.

“To crawl all the way here on your own. I’ve felt it for a while, but you really are fearless, aren’t you?”

A voice rang out suddenly.

Step, step, step.

Beyond the water laced with poison, a figure emerged from behind the tree.

“Kazin.”

Rohan growled his name.

“So we finally meet.”

“It’s been a long time. You’ve grown taller, I see.”

He was as he’d always been—composed, dignified.

“Don’t you feel any shame for your children and grandchildren? Even after doing this... Do you really want to be seen as human?”

At Rohan’s words, Kazin burst out laughing.

“If I’d ever wanted to be human, I wouldn’t have abandoned my child and my grandchildren. Life, by its nature, is something you carve out alone.”

He had never thought of them as his children to begin with.

“Human beings... How utterly tiresome.”

After all, isn’t it humans who are weak, ruled by their emotions?

Kazin had long since abandoned being ‘human’ itself.

“That’s why I gave up on being human a very long time ago.”

He never liked it.

He wanted to become a man who surpassed those limits.

---

Kazin was born the eldest son of Count Fabian’s family, a minor noble house in the southeastern Empire.

On the surface, he was a boy who had everything.

A beautiful mansion, clever tutors, orderly mealtimes.

But to his young eyes, all of it looked cold as ice.

Kazin’s father, Varel Fabian, was a perfectionist.

He always said,

“A noble must never show flaws. The heir must be perfect.”

If Kazin’s writing was even slightly crooked, he would mercilessly beat the boy’s tender forearm with a cane.

If he reacted slower than his younger brother by a year during sword practice, he’d be made to run laps around the training ground without water.

Even when he caught a fever, he was dragged out of bed, told not to use weakness as an excuse.

His mother, Lienne Fabian, was always silent.

She watched it all, but never intervened.

Whenever young Kazin, on the verge of tears, tried to lean on her, she pushed him away.

“Don’t betray your father’s expectations. Don’t bother me with such trifles.”

Kazin was alone, and in that loneliness, he struggled to become perfect.

He woke before dawn every day, studied until his eyes were bloodshot, swung his sword until his hands bled.

Dreaming of the day his father might praise him.

But that day never came.

He was always insufficient, always met with disappointed eyes.

He was endlessly compared to his increasingly accomplished younger brother, his self-esteem plummeting.

Rumor even spread throughout the mansion that his father would make his brother Lucien the heir.

Then, on his fifteenth birthday, the carriage he rode with his brother overturned in an accident.

Because of this, Lucien lost use of one arm, and chaos reigned in the mansion.

“If you were his elder brother, you should have kept him from getting hurt. It would have been better if you’d been crippled instead!”

His father always took his brother’s side.

Again, the boy was whipped, and again, his mother said nothing.

What had he done wrong to deserve such discrimination?

That night, Kazin stood before the mirror and looked at himself.

The marks of the accident on his face, his clouded eyes, scabbed forearm.

The boy realized he would never be loved in this house, in this family.

No matter how hard he tried, his parents only ever wanted his brother.

After that day, he decided to kill his emotions.

He abandoned joy, anger, sorrow. No longer striving for praise, he only practiced to remain within his own limits.

He chose to become a tool, not a person.

And then, one day, he happened to overhear his parents talking in the study.

“Lucien may have lost an arm, but that won’t stop him from becoming the head of the family.”

“Of course. We can’t let lowly blood inherit the noble Fabian name. Honestly, why did you even bring him here...”

“At the time, I never thought Lucien would be born. To proceed in secret, a street orphan was the best option.”

The boy’s heart was torn to shreds.

That night, he burned the family photo and wrote a letter with his left hand.

Every word, written with care.

Mother, Father, I hope you’re well.

I can’t bear this any longer, for I see no hope left.

Having finished the letter, the boy tucked it into his chest and left the room.

On that dark night, with even the servants asleep, a figure fell from a window into the pitch-black darkness.

Thus, Lucien Fabian, the younger son of House Fabian, ended his life at the age of fourteen.

“Breaking news, breaking news!”

Word spread to the capital that the eldest son of House Fabian would inherit as the new heir.

---

“I don’t care about your circumstances. The point is, you think human life is worth less than a fly’s.”

And you’ve committed horrors.

At Rohan’s words, Kazin laughed loudly.

“And how precious do you think others’ lives are, Your Highness? Considering your desperate struggle just to keep your own life in the past... What a funny thing for you to say...”

While Kazin went on, Rohan quietly whispered to the group.

“Retina. Can you and the Elphirians cross the water and hit him?”

“We can. The water isn’t that deep, and if we run fast enough, we can dash right over it.”

“Then draw his attention. Martin, cover me, and Leon, you find our weak points among those guys.”

By “those guys,” he meant Kazin and the Dark World Tree.

“Yes, understood.”

“Alright.”

Everyone nodded.

“Kazin! All your rambling is pointless. You die here today!”

At Rohan’s shout, the six Elphirians leapt forward.

They crossed the stream in an instant and charged at Kazin.

“Haha! Come! I’ll offer you to the Divine Tree as a sacrifice!”

But Kazin wasn’t flustered.

On the contrary, he spread his arms wide and laughed gleefully.

Slash! Thud! Slice!

The Elphirians’ swords hacked at Kazin—his neck, arms, and belly.

But as expected—

Ssssss.

His body began to recover rapidly.

“I was granted immortality by the Divine Tree. This kind of paltry attack is meaningless.”

In the blink of an eye, Kazin was fully healed and stomped his foot—thud!

From the ground, sharp vines burst out and lashed at the Elphirians.

“Tsk.”

Clicking her tongue, Retina instantly sliced through the vines.

But the vines didn’t appear just once.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Each time Kazin stomped, more vines burst forth from the ground.

“Martin, fire!”

At Retina’s order, Martin hurled his torch toward her.

The Elphirians lit the torches they’d prepared at their waists, and as each raised a torch, the shadowy vines began to hesitate.

“There’s too many! If this keeps up, we’ll all be caught!”

Just as Leon said, the space around the Dark World Tree in the middle of the water was filling up with shadowy vines.

“They’ll manage. We need to focus on finding the weak point.”

“Yes, understood.”

At Rohan’s calm command, Leon nodded.

‘Where is it? Where is it?’

Rohan wasn’t focusing on Kazin.

The real core was the Dark World Tree, not Kazin.

Since all this power came from that source, he figured eliminating the cause was first priority.

Rohan’s eyes moved rapidly, scanning the trunk of the Dark World Tree.

The giant black tree stood like a living nightmare, sticky fluid oozing from its surface.

‘Is it there?’

His gaze halted at the base of the World Tree.

Unlike the rest, there was a single spot glowing with an unusually intense crimson light.

From that place—blooming like a wound—black vines extended, connecting to Kazin’s body.

“There, that spot is the core.”

At Rohan’s gesture,

“Where... do you mean?”

Leon and Drake narrowed their eyes.

“There, at the base. The place that glows brighter than the rest.”

“Eh? I can’t see anything...”

“Nor can I.”

Apparently, the red light at the World Tree’s base was visible only to Rohan.

Just like when he’d discovered the transparent stairs.

‘Looks like I have to go myself.’

If they couldn’t see it, they’d never find it.

“Leon, do you think there’s a way to cross over?”

“I’ve been thinking about that as well.”

Leon was faithfully fulfilling his role.

“How about this, Your Highness?”