Chapter 1146
Episode 260: The Head Family Succession Ceremony (3)
The Black Sea was no longer the dark land it had been in the previous world.
The entire region had transformed into a realm resembling Morganiell’s domain. Bright yellow trees soared ten paces high, and unknown insects crawled among blue and red flowers that drenched the earth.
If there were a forest that bloomed first in the world, this would be it. There was no trace of human hands anywhere, and the winding paths and rivers twisted endlessly in chaotic beauty.
Yet Jin moved through the Black Sea as comfortably as if he were strolling through his own home. The ground seemed to welcome him, shifting aside to clear his way, and the trees danced, stirring cool breezes wherever he stepped.
Siron sat deep within that land.
“Have you come?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Sit.”
Between father and son sat a bottle of liquor and two cups. Siron carefully poured the drink.
Clink, clink, clink…
After a moment, their cups met, and the two downed the liquor in one gulp.
“This tastes good. Do you know what this is?”
“I’m not sure. It’s the first time I’ve tasted it, but it’s sweet and fragrant to my palate.”
“Fate’s wine. The wine of destiny.”
“Fate’s wine?”
“It’s the drink your mother used to brew when she wanted to share a drink with me in our youth.”
Jin’s eyes flickered.
“There was nothing left, so I tried to imitate it once. Fortunately, it tastes quite similar.”
“Mother…”
For a while, Jin stared into the sky reflected in his cup, unable to speak.
To Jin, Rosa was no longer his mother. She was a fiend, the enemy who had tried to bring ruin to the world before Keliak.
Yet, as he refilled his cup, Jin spoke again.
“Father, what kind of person was Mother?”
“She was beautiful. She had a cute side, brewing wine with me and calling it fate’s wine.”
Jin had seen that side of Rosa before.
Separated from the fiend, the last remnants of Rosa Runcandel’s humanity. Jin had heard her story during the Fiend War.
“In her youth, she said she liked me because I was handsome.”
Honestly, in that moment, the image of the woman who said that wasn’t so unpleasant.
She wasn’t a traitor to the family, nor a fiend to be despised and loathed. That was why Jin had always distinguished between the fiend and her.
“I should have been the one to slay Rosa, not you. Saying that was difficult.”
I’m sorry.
At Siron’s words, Jin emptied his cup.
“Is that the only thing you regret?”
“No, there are so many things it’s hard to list them all.”
As Siron drank, Jin felt something he had never sensed before in the great sword saint—a simple, human regret and sorrow.
He was not a great husband, nor a good brother, nor a good father.
Jin saw the deep, bitter face of a man. Yet those eyes did not avoid his gaze.
The two sat silently, emptying their cups. As Jin poured more fate’s wine, he chuckled softly.
“I think I’ll try brewing this myself from now on.”
“It’s an easy wine to make.”
“That’s a relief.”
“My youngest.”
“Yes?”
“When did you become so strong? How did you grow so powerful that I have nothing left to teach or leave you?”
“From what I feel, Father, your life was not easy.”
“None of our lives are.”
“Only those who live solely for themselves are exceptions. I was like that before my return. Back then, I was so consumed by my own pain and desires that even after things improved, I couldn’t find my way back to Gilly. I was trash.”
“That too is something I regret toward you.”
“But Father, you never lived for yourself. You bore the weight of the world—the Black Sea’s Five Kings, and this world—on your shoulders. So I don’t hate or resent you.”
“You’re too kind.”
“Now I’m strong enough to be so, just as you said.”
They smiled, showing their teeth.
“Did you say your goodbyes to everyone?”
Goodbyes.
Jin thought Siron might not know, but he did.
Siron was leaving now. Forever, to a place unknown to the living.
“This time has reminded me anew that no matter how hard you try, some things will always be left wanting.”
When Elona and Helluram restored the world, one problem remained unsolved: Morganiell, the largest fragment of the Black Sea’s Five Kings that had seeped into Siron.
Morganiell had already merged with Siron’s inner self when he was young. It was why Siron had suffered so long from demonic possession.
—The one I faced was not merely a shard of the Origin Stone.
—Not a shard? You mean Morganiell existed before the Origin Stone was destroyed?
—Exactly. Gliek, Kial, Su, Nirgand—I thought the Black Sea kings were born simultaneously, but Morganiell was different. Morganiell is like a vast primordial will. It wandered the world for ages and took form the moment the Origin Stone was born.
—Like a sun god existing from the beginning?
—I can’t say for sure, Ban. But since Morganiell guarded the arrangement left by Solderet, there must be some connection. That’s why it opened the path now.
“The original of the Demon Stone, the Origin Stone. Morganiell was born the moment the Origin Stone was created. More precisely, it was the world’s primordial will that existed before, taking form. The will that flowed with the light…”
The world’s primordial will.
In other words, the world could not understand those who hated and denied each other without reason.
At the moment when a power capable of erasing this land without a trace and even manipulating the past first appeared, the world agonized.
Should it annihilate them or watch over them? The same dilemma the sun god Kinzello once faced.
Finally, when Siron reached out to people, the world—and Morganiell—made a decision. They would give Siron more time. They would watch.
Morganiell was an error born from the mistakes of the previous world.
“The reason Lady Elona cherished and mourned your friends yet could not remain in this world is the same as mine. For Morganiell and me to separate again, leaving only me behind, would be manipulation. Still, I am grateful to have this time to say my final goodbyes to people.”
For a year after the Demon War ended, Siron diligently met with people.
Not as the great sword saint, but as a father, a friend—living ordinary, precious days.
He danced at a tavern with Luna, stargazed with Runtia, visited Dipus’s grave with Merry, picked green roses with Yona, trained with the Tona brothers.
He sang with Balas, watched plays with Jed, drank jewel wine with Ban, rode Mote with Thalaris, wrote letters with Kashimir, watched the old fools of Kinzello with Orgal, and visited the ancestral tombs with his knights.
And now, he sat alone with Jin, sharing a drink.
Until today, he had never done this.
“I didn’t have the courage. To drink with you alone, my youngest.”
“Was that because you felt sorry?”
“Yes…”
A single tear slipped from Siron’s eye, quickly swallowed by the wrinkles of his face.
“Still, you chose me as your last drinking companion because I’m strong enough. So I can say sorry without shame, and lean on you.”
“That’s right. That’s why I said my goodbyes to everyone else first, and only now came to you.”
“On the day of the succession ceremony, I secretly hoped you’d pour me a drink. That’s the part I regret.”
“It sounded like you wanted me to hurry up and leave.”
They laughed together.
“Either way, you chose well. I am the strongest person in the world, after all. My swordsmanship is just a little behind you and the other sword saints. The sisters are all gentle, and the brothers… well, you know. Did they cry much?”
“They all cried more than I expected. I was sweating trying to comfort them like a good father. It wasn’t just your brothers. Have you ever seen Ban cry?”
“Wow… the sword saint brother?”
“He pretended not to cry until the end. I felt sorry for his act and pretended to be fooled, but it was an awkward time for all of us. Great-grandfather even punched me, crying if he had to go before you. Thalaris asked me why Rondo and I kept leaving first.”
But none of them showed it in front of Jin. Except for Gilly, who couldn’t hold back after seeing a note last night, everyone acted as if nothing had happened.
Jin also continued to pretend not to know.
As the strongest man.
“So this is the first time you’ve cried, Father.”
“What are you saying?”
“Didn’t you say you felt endlessly embarrassed because of Ban?”
“Ha ha ha… Yes. Since I became self-aware, this is the first time tears have come. How should I put it…”
It’s bittersweet.
The two finished their last drinks.
Then, as if on cue, they both stood and slowly drew their swords.
“Siron Runcandel considers it a great honor that you are the last to cross blades with him.”
“I feel the same.”
With each clash of Barisada and Bradamante, a deep, clear sound echoed.
No one could say how long they fought. The father and son’s blades never actually touched flesh.
It was as if they were exchanging stories of their lives, leaving only sounds and traces near each other with every strike.
Shiron’s body grew increasingly transparent. Just when it seemed he could no longer remain in this world, he plunged Barisada into the ground.
In that instant, the unfamiliar blues and strange hues that had blanketed the Black Sea flashed brightly like a burst of light.
When Jin opened his eyes again, he sheathed his sword and looked down at Barisada. The sword stood alone, upright—just as his father’s life had, before it had quietly slipped away.
“…Goodbye, Father.”
Only then was Jin able to cry.
Kneeling, he grasped the warm hilt of Barisada with both hands.