Chapter 1060
Episode 251: The Adversaries (10)
“Lady Lucy, if I’m correct, your eldest daughter is currently… in the custody of Rokia Ganesto.”
“I’m not sure ‘in custody’ is the right way to put it. My daughter left my side of her own accord one day and went to find Rokia.”
“She left willingly? To Rokia?”
“Yes. At the time, I had lost the power of the Sun God, but my combat skills as a Tenth Knight remained nearly intact. Yet Hailin subdued me with ease and said this… that she needed Rokia Ganesto. It was winter, when Hailin was about eight years old. We were living on a remote island in the empire.”
During their time in hiding, Lucy never once spoke of her family. She abandoned not only Temar but even the name ‘Runkandel’ itself. She used an alias, and naturally, her daughters had no idea of her true identity.
“Before leaving me in shock, Hailin incorporated the entire island into a pocket dimension—a space where dragons, abandoned and imprisoned, were confined. She trapped me inside it.”
Abandoned dragons.
According to Lucy, the gods cast out ‘special dragons’—those too closely linked to divine power—into the same pocket dimension.
The gods cannot kill these dragons, for doing so would weaken their own power.
So instead, they imprisoned them in this pocket dimension, whose entrance had never been opened—until Hailin did.
The clumsy dragons currently in the secret palace are descendants of those imprisoned dragons.
“Wait a moment. Maybe your daughter placed you somewhere safe? You survived nearly a thousand years in that pocket dimension. Unlike you, Hailin likely recognized her powers from the start.”
Hailin never mentioned Rokia’s name, yet suddenly said she needed her. She never taught any magic beyond basic swordsmanship, yet opened the pocket dimension with divine power. As Thalaris said, Hailin must have been aware of her abilities from the beginning.
“…I’ve thought about that too, Thalaris. I adapted to that world through the persona of the Great Serpent’s Head. But Rokia is currently hunting me. Joshua Runkandel—or rather, Joshua Ganesto—has come looking for me.”
The moment she heard Joshua’s name, Jin pressed his forehead.
Lucy recounted her battle with Joshua inside the imprisoned space. At the time, Joshua wielded considerable power granted by Rokia, but he never inflicted any fundamental harm on Lucy.
“That wretched man… he just won’t die and keeps causing trouble. I’m sorry you had to deal with him.”
“Lady, there’s no need to apologize. He’s just a moth ignorant of the truth. He seems to regard Rokia as his new mother, but to Rokia, he’s nothing more than a disposable tool—nothing more, nothing less. A means to an end.”
Jin narrowed his eyes, recalling Rokia’s purpose.
“From what I’ve deduced, Rokia seems intent on creating… her own paradise.”
“That’s right, Sir Jin. She’s already created her own world and reigns as its sole deity. Joshua said that in that world, Runkandel won the Sword Demon War against Ziphl. He claims that’s the rightful history that should have been.”
Jin suddenly remembered a story Luke had told him.
Luke’s goal in resurrecting the Sun God was to build a world where the Pluto clan would reign forever—much like Rokia’s world.
“So Rokia wants to replace the current reality with that strange world.”
Perhaps she doesn’t intend to replace just one world.
Jin had a sudden thought: if Rokia knows the truth of the multiverse, if she recently realized it like Jin did—or even if she’s known all along—her plan might be to make every dimension a world where Runkandel triumphs.
Jin explained the concept of the multiverse to Lucy. Upon hearing it, her eyes widened as if something had clicked.
“The multiverse… then maybe what Hailin said when she left back then… could have meant that.”
“To destroy all worlds, Rokia Ganesto is needed. Mom and Makos will stay here.”
The words Hailin left when she departed.
Lucy had repeated those words for a thousand years, but she never found any clue about the phrase ‘all worlds.’
She had only thought it was a metaphor for the total destruction of this world. But if Hailin had been aware of the multiverse from that moment, the meaning changes entirely.
Hailin might literally want the ‘end of all dimensions.’ The thought sent chills down their spines.
“…Recently, when I faced Rokia, I saw her with the face of a woman resembling Temar. After talking with Murakan, I considered the possibility that Temar and Lady Lucy might have had a child, and that Rokia might have taken over that body.”
“That would be Hailin’s body.”
“At that time, Rokia’s presence didn’t feel like your daughter’s… well, she’s your daughter, Lady Lucy, but to me, she’s an ancestor, so calling her ‘daughter’ feels odd. I’ll just say Lady Hailin.”
“Ha ha ha, my son-in-law is funny at times like this. Then why do you always say Temar’s name so casually?”
“That’s because I’m used to it. I feel a strange closeness to the first head of the family. Anyway, Rokia didn’t seem to have Lady Hailin’s consciousness or will. It was just Rokia herself.”
So at the time, they thought Rokia was using Temar and Lucy’s child.
But it could be the other way around. Perhaps Hailin is the one using Rokia.
Jin couldn’t bring himself to say this to Lucy, but she already suspected it and nodded gravely.
“Whether Rokia is using Hailin or Hailin is using Rokia… either way, it’s a terrible fate for the family and the world.”
Lucy paused, recalling the days a thousand years ago when she fled with her daughters.
Hailin rarely showed emotion, but sometimes, when Lucy was in pain, she would hold her hand.
Even if she had no memories like that, Hailin and Makos were her most precious daughters. And yet one of them is now a being who seeks to destroy this world, the entire multiverse. And that power was inherited from her.
Even now, a thousand years later, it was hard to accept.
But it was an unavoidable reality.
“In any case… we must stop Hailin. Only then can she be freed from the will of destruction. Lady, I am a sinful being by nature. For some reason, I was born a terrible existence beyond words. I realized my true self late, but still, I want to fight.”
Tears streamed down Lucy’s expressionless face.
She had lost her family, her comrades, her lover, her children, and herself. In endless pain without reason or cause, she cursed the world, the Sun God, the gods, her enemies, and herself.
But she never gave up on life. That meant she never stopped fighting.
“Please don’t say that, Lady Lucy. Everyone who survived owes a debt to Runkandel. I am among the greatest beneficiaries. The person before me is not Ameris’s head or the Sun God’s persona, but the Tenth Knight, Dragon Sword Lucy Runkandel, who has never once stopped fighting. It’s an honor to fight alongside you.”
Lucy wiped her tears and nodded. Her golden eyes shimmered with moisture, reflecting deep emptiness, sorrow, and a burning rage toward her enemies. A rage that even a thousand years of torment couldn’t suppress.
“The family and the alliance will welcome you, Lady Lucy. Many will be especially glad to see you.”
“Lady of the Secret Palace, may I go meet old friends and new comrades with Lady Lucy?”
“Hmm? Why ask? You’re my guest, not a subordinate. If anything, you’re senior to me, but let’s just be friends. I liked you from the start. That’s why I even got a massage with you.”
“If someone like me, a walking sin, can share friendship, then I’m more than willing…”
“Stop calling yourself a sin. Did you choose to be this way? You’re just a victim of the world, like so many others. As my son-in-law says, the world owes you. When I got that massage, I kept wondering if someone like me deserved such treatment. It was maddening.”
Jin updated the situation at the Sword Garden and Tikan via communicator. Just then, the Golden Ship returned after wiping out the remnants of the Sun God’s cult. Jin summoned the Golden Ship to honor Lucy.
“Thalaris, I’ll be taking Lady Lucy back now. Would you like to come along?”
“I’m good. I want to hang out with the dragon brothers Lucy brought. Daughter, are you coming?”
“I have some paperwork to catch up on, Jin. Lady Lucy, we’ll be seeing each other often from now on. I look forward to working with you.”
Soon, the Golden Ship arrived and took Jin and Lucy aboard. Thalaris and Siris saw them off.
“Oh? By the way, daughter, you braided your hair differently than usual. Hmm, it looks nice. Even though you’re my daughter, you’re truly beautiful.”
“Is that so?”
Talaris flinched slightly and looked at Syris. Usually, Syris would just brush off Talaris’s playful displays of affection.
“Well, look at you answering every question. Did spending time with your son-in-law put you in a good mood?”
Syris replied with a calm expression, “Since Mother said I looked pretty, I suppose I’ll have to keep it up from now on.”