Chapter 309
Episode 94: Fragments of the Past – Sarah (2)
[What a shame… it’s come to this.]
Temar’s eyes darkened, stained black with spiritual energy.
Seeing that, Sarah steeled herself. She had no choice but to strike down her own brother.
With a hiss, a blade wreathed in flames slid free from its sheath.
Determination burned fiercely in Sarah’s eyes. Since she had decided to cut him down, she wanted to end his suffering as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Grieving over the sorrow would come afterward.
From the spiritual energy flickering behind Temar, a blade shot forth. Sarah and Padler swung their swords to deflect it, and in Temar’s hand, a sword took shape.
It was identical in form to Barisada’s, but it was no real sword—just a counterfeit forged from spiritual energy.
The Temar wielding that blade was no longer the man they once knew. He was a monster, unrecognizable even to those who loved him.
From Temar’s black blade poured a torrent of spiritual sword energy.
Each strike carried immense power, but compared to the true Temar, it was crude and unrefined.
Whoosh—!
When Murakan spread his wings, the overwhelming spiritual energy filling the tower suddenly stilled.
Like a beast frozen in the presence of a colossal predator.
Facing the mad Temar was Murakan in his prime, a thousand years ago.
Even when Temar was whole, many said their powers were evenly matched. But a Temar who had lost his mind was no match for Murakan.
And now, Sarah and Padler stood alongside him.
Flames and lightning—two elemental magics—merged with their auras, transforming into sword energy. The multicolored blades stretched out, threatening to split the entire tower.
Murakan bound Temar with spiritual energy, while Sarah and Padler pressed in from both sides, cornering him.
Crack, clang, creak…!
Their energies clashed, steel ringing against steel. Temar barely managed to parry their blows while retreating, leaving everyone stunned.
But that was only the beginning. The power of the giant Temar Runkandel was far greater.
[Sorry, Temar.]
As if this were the end, Murakan summoned his released spiritual energy. Waves of it surged around him, enveloping the tower.
The entire sky above the tower—the dark sea’s heavens—turned black with spiritual energy.
Even the poisonous miasma unique to the dark sea vanished, swallowed by Murakan’s aura.
This was the power worthy of the name once given to Murakan—the King of the Sky.
[Sarah, Padler. It’s time to finish this.]
But the moment Murakan finished speaking—
A dimensional gate forged of steel opened right before Temar. From within stepped a faintly outlined figure.
A radiant brilliance flowed from his hazy form.
Startled by his sudden appearance, Sarah and Padler stepped back, taking defensive stances, and Murakan ceased his attack.
[Fate can be cruel sometimes… just like your god. Isn’t that right, Murakan?]
[…How did you find this place and appear out of nowhere?]
[There’s little in this world—known, erased, or altered—that I don’t know. You know that.]
He and Murakan seemed to know each other. Sarah and Padler’s expressions showed they recognized him as well.
[Temar. Surely everyone wants to save this poor friend of ours?]
He placed a hand on Temar’s shoulder. Temar didn’t resist; he stood quietly, panting heavily, weighed down by Murakan’s spiritual energy.
Sarah and Padler’s eyes flickered with uncertainty.
[What kind of trickery is this?]
Murakan glared at him.
[Trickery? I’m just a lucky man, crushed under too much fortune, trying to show kindness to some poor orphans.]
[Cut it out and get lost. Before I kill you too.]
Murakan’s murderous intent turned toward him.
But Sarah and Padler stepped between them, shaking their heads.
Their eyes pleaded silently: “Let’s at least hear him out.”
There was trust there. A belief that this man might somehow bring the mad Temar back.
[Don’t be so sharp-tongued. Hear me out, old friend. I’ve prepared a future that’s good for everyone.]
Screeeech—! Fssssss…!
The gray sphere distorted once more.
It didn’t look like the footage would resume. Just like with the first tomb, after a shift in perspective, the sphere was breaking apart.
But Jin barely had time to feel annoyed at the sudden cut. His heart pounded fiercely from the shock of seeing ‘him’ at the end.
He was the one person Jin had faced directly just once.
‘The Captain of Kinzelro…!’
It was definitely him. The hazy form, the shimmering radiance, the tone of voice, even the steel dimensional gate.
Even the way he spoke to Murakan—as if they were familiar—was the same. They seemed to know each other well.
But unlike the day they met in old Oterium, in the footage Murakan also acted as if he knew this man.
‘What’s going on? If Murakan knows him, why did he pretend not to back then?’
Jin quickly corrected his thoughts.
‘No, it’s not that he pretended. The current Murakan truly doesn’t know who that man is.’
Murakan’s memory was flawed.
It was an easy conclusion to reach.
Suddenly, a story Jin had heard near the end of his preliminary training in Oterium came to mind.
—[When Temar went berserk and tried to kill you, it was me who stopped him, Murakan. Don’t you remember me?]
—Who dares throw around names like that? You look like some old demon, but there’s no way Temar would associate with the likes of you. And as for this ‘berserk’ you speak of… that day’s madness was…
—Are you saying it wasn’t you, but Temar? It’s one thing not to recognize me, but to blame Temar for that fight? I can’t even imagine how unfair that must be to our fallen friend.
—…Mention Temar’s name one more time. I’ll kill you on the spot and send you and your Kinzelro scum straight to hell.
—That’s impossible, even for you at your peak. But I’m curious—do you really have memory problems? Do you truly believe Temar was the one who went berserk?
—You’re tempting death.
—Or have you reconstructed your memories to suit yourself?
—Shut up…!
The conversation between the Captain of Kinzelro and Murakan.
Since hearing it, Jin had often wondered what had really happened between Murakan and Temar a thousand years ago.
And if there was truly a past between the Captain and Murakan, what was it?
His mind was a mess.
‘The footage cut off suddenly, but judging by the circumstances, it’s likely Temar didn’t die in that tower.’
Based on Sarah and Padler’s reaction to the Captain’s appearance, and another reason:
In the footage, Temar didn’t have the power to pierce and destroy Murakan’s heart.
Even without Sarah and Padler, Murakan alone could have crushed him easily—Temar was that broken.
There was no way such a Temar could have put Murakan into a thousand-year slumber.
Though he only glimpsed it briefly, Jin immediately recognized how monstrous Murakan’s spiritual energy was in the footage.
‘Judging by the footage, contrary to what the Captain said, Temar was the one who went berserk—not Murakan. But what happened after that, I have no idea. The footage cut off, so I can’t confirm.’
It was frustrating.
If the recording device hadn’t been damaged, they might have been able to observe the rest of the story.
It was the same with Silderei.
Every time the perspective shifted, the missing past left Jin’s thoughts tangled and confused.
‘Misha must know. There has to be a way to restore this recording device… Wait. Recording device, recording device, record…’
Suddenly,
Several words and names flashed through Jin’s mind.
Recording magic.
The Hister family’s recording magic. And his past-life mentor, Valeria Hister.
She was probably still wandering the world, trying to restore the lost ancient magics of the Hister clan.
‘Why did I only think of my mentor now? If it’s her, she might know something about the recording device Solderet left behind!’
Recording magic was unique to the Hister family. Though the Mingwang tribe and Solderet also used similar devices, none matched the Hister’s.
Recording magic was the main reason Ziphl had thoroughly exterminated the Hister clan. To those who sought to manipulate history, nothing was more detestable than the Hister’s recording magic.
But how?
How could Jin find Valeria Hister, his old mentor?
That was the problem. Since his return, he’d wanted to meet her many times, but for various complicated reasons, he’d been waiting for the right moment.
One of those reasons was legitimacy.
Now that he was a Rider, issuing a Rider’s decree to search for Valeria wouldn’t be difficult. Or he could command the Seven-Colored Bird to do it.
Jin knew all of Valeria’s hideouts and places she frequented, even her many aliases.
But if he just showed up out of the blue and tried to reunite on his own, from Valeria’s perspective, Jin was nothing more than a stranger—someone who had come looking for her for reasons unknown.
Though they had shared a deep bond in a past life, in this one, they were complete strangers.
‘…Misha once told me that the master goes by the alias Aria Owlheart. Maybe I can use that as a reason to meet her. But if I do, my involvement could cause major disruptions in the master’s life.’
“If you are the one chosen by the Shadow, then Aria is the one chosen by history. If you ever meet that child, encourage them. From a broader perspective, you can consider them an ally.”
That was what Misha said just before leaving when she first came to Tikan.
At the time, Misha seemed hesitant to say more about the master.
‘Now that my identity is exposed, any reckless contact could put the master in danger from my enemies. I need to think this through carefully. First, I should meet with Misha and subtly ask for her opinion.’
Jin’s influence wasn’t strong enough yet to fully protect Valeria. That’s why he wanted to be extra cautious about meeting her.
Huuuu…!
As he gathered his thoughts, the pocket dimension began collapsing rapidly.
Stepping outside, he saw his companions standing atop a massive, opened clam shell. Then his eyes landed on two objects: Sara’s broken sword and a new spirit orb.