Chapter 373
Episode 112: Why They Seek Temar’s Tomb (Part 5)
Even the trees and plants of the Wantaramo Forest were weeping. The trees twisted as if wrung dry, oozing sap, while the plants shed their leaves, releasing a foul stench.
With Sheila’s authority broken, the forest was bound to Mayla’s body.
[Kaaah!]
A piercing scream grated on Jin and Aria’s eardrums, causing them to frown. From their hiding places, Sheila and the Myoin tribe emerged into view.
“Sister! Cough! Please, spare me!” Mayla begged shamelessly, without a shred of pride or dignity. Despite writhing in unbearable pain, she flattened herself to the ground, pleading for her life.
Sheila looked down at Mayla, her eyes shining with a lonely light.
“I was your sister, your friend, your parent. I was also the queen of you and your kin.”
“I was wrong…!”
“I was always lenient with you. Even when you decided to betray me, I never held resentment. Even after you incited our people to strip me of my authority, I never hated you.”
“Sister! Sister!”
At that moment, Mayla seemed to glimpse hope in Sheila’s gaze—the steadfast sister who always forgave her foolish younger sibling.
“I—I’ll return control of the forest to you! Please, just spare me…”
“I forgive you for trying to harm me.”
Mayla lifted her head and met Sheila’s eyes, her expression awash with emotion, as if seeing light for the first time.
But Sheila held that gaze for a moment longer before speaking.
“However, I cannot forgive you for endangering the forest and our people.”
“Sister…?”
“Farewell, my beloved sister.”
As she finished speaking, Sheila’s form began to shift rapidly.
Her once-lustrous wings melted away like snow, and her small fairy-like body swelled, glowing red.
Soon, she took on a form resembling a human, radiating a crimson light.
Then, she gently lifted the despairing Mayla, who was rolling helplessly on the ground, into her hands.
“No, please!”
Mayla struggled, but she could not escape Sheila’s grasp.
With a soft breath, like blowing dandelion seeds, Sheila exhaled toward Mayla. Where the breath touched, Mayla’s body shattered like snowflakes.
A final, agonized scream—“Aaaah!”—carried on the wind, scattering luminous red particles that had once been Mayla in every direction.
When Sheila’s hands were empty, the forest’s cries ceased.
The twisted trees returned to their original forms, and the plants exuded their sweet fragrance once more. The darkened sky cleared, revealing a pale yellow dawn moon.
The corpses littering the ground were swallowed by the earth, vanishing without a trace in an instant. In less than a minute, the battlefield was transformed into a scene so pristine, it was hard to believe a fight had taken place.
Sheila remained silent for a while, staring at her empty hands.
From the fallen Mayla, she had glimpsed her own past self.
“Jin Runkandel.”
She turned to face Jin.
“Yes.”
“The name inscribed on this Gawangju originally belonged to me.”
Taking the Gawangju in hand, she examined the name once more.
(Gawangju — Sheila Damiro)
The name belonged to the one who brewed this liquor and left behind this story: none other than Sheila, the ancient queen of the fairy descendants.
Jin said nothing, quietly studying the Gawangju.
He recalled a conversation he had with Sheila earlier.
“Mayla… She didn’t want me to keep my promise with Solderet. The others feel the same. They think our fairy descendants are making needless sacrifices, or clinging to meaningless hope.”
“So that’s why Sheila was effectively dethroned, and Mayla took control of the forest?”
“Yes. Waiting for you was uncertain and offered no clear reward… But there were those who promised everything we desired in exchange for just a bit of information. In some ways, betrayal was inevitable.”
“What do the fairy descendants truly want?”
“To reclaim their original selves.”
Their original selves.
The beings of Wantaramo Forest were not merely descendants—they were fairies themselves.
“I hope there’s something in this story that can help you.”
Pop!
Sheila opened the lid.
Using it as a cup, she poured the liquor and offered it to Jin. An indescribably fragrant aroma filled the air, and the spirit within the cup shimmered vividly.
Jin and Valeria took turns sipping the liquor.
Unlike the Gawangju they drank when meeting the Scarlet Jade Cat Shuri, no singing voices echoed this time.
Instead, they heard the sound of someone weeping mournfully—the voice of Sheila before she lost her name, crying as she brewed the liquor.
After a moment, they were drawn into the story contained within Temar’s fourth tomb.
The Primordial Forest.
A mystical realm where fairies once lived.
Jin and Valeria, having drunk the Gawangju, could clearly sense that the land they had entered was exactly that place.
They had never been here before, nor had they ever seen any depiction of the Primordial Forest.
Yet the power of the record within the Gawangju made it feel as if they had always known this forest.
Though they stepped on thick undergrowth, their footprints left no trace. Even when they spoke to each other, those recorded within the story could not hear them.
In other words, Jin and Valeria were observers, silently watching the forest.
For some reason, Valeria felt a piercing longing as soon as she entered—a grief that tore at her heart, like when she lost her brothers in the Gray Owl Mercenary Corps.
She had to sit down for a while, struggling to catch her breath.
“Valeria.”
“I’m fine.”
Soon, Valeria stood, and the two resumed walking.
As they moved, information about the Primordial Forest flowed into their minds from the record.
The forest was currently ruled by the fairy king, Ruet Damiro Yul.
“That must be Ruet Damiro Yul,” Valeria said, pointing to a fairy standing deep within the forest.
Red hair, a cold expression full of anger. Jin and Valeria took their places beside her.
Jin studied her carefully and shook his head.
“No, she’s not the one I saw in the record device of the third tomb. She must be another fairy.”
Before long, they learned her name.
Sheel.
Another fairy appeared from the depths of the forest, calling out to her.
It was Ruet Damiro Yul. Filled with fury, she had come to meet her younger sister, Sheel Damiro.
“My queen.”
Sheel knelt on one knee, but Ruet shook her head.
“You don’t need to be so formal, Sheel.”
At Ruet’s words, Sheel rose.
“Sister.”
“Speak, little one.”
For a long moment, they stared at each other in silence.
Before this meeting, they had experienced the deepest conflict of their lives as blood relatives.
Ruet’s expression said she understood Sheel, while Sheel’s eyes showed she could not understand her sister.
“Are you really going to get involved in human affairs?”
Sheel finally spoke, and Ruet nodded.
“Yes.”
Sheel bit her lower lip.
She could not comprehend her sister’s choice. The other fairies who followed Sheel felt the same.
“Do you have to? If we don’t intervene, Jiple won’t attack us.”
“From the moment they began rewriting history, they’ve already attacked us.”
“No, that’s just your perspective. Jiple wants us to stay out of it and let humans solve their own problems.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Sheel said nothing.
“…Sister, think carefully. Even if we help, do you think Runkandel can defeat Jiple? Will they be grateful?”
“That’s not important.”
“No, it’s the most important thing! The lives of our entire people are at stake. Your wrong decision could kill us all!”
Sheel shouted in desperation, and Ruet closed her eyes.
“You’re putting our people in danger. More than half oppose you. Why don’t you understand?”
“I know.”
“If you do, then make a different choice now.”
“Sheel.”
Ruet opened her eyes and looked at her sister.
“Individuals can choose the wrong path. But a queen must always make the right choice.”
“Sister.”
“You’ll understand someday, when you become queen. Why I have no choice but to make this decision…”
Sheel could not accept those words.
“Be honest, sister. You’re just in love with the leader of Runkandel. That’s why you’re risking all our people to help Temar Runkandel, to win his favor.”
“Do you really think that?”
“I can’t trust you anymore.”
Ruet sighed.
“So… because you no longer trust me, you’ve brought so many of our people here to threaten me, Sheel?”
As Ruet finished speaking, more fairies emerged from the shadows of the forest.
They were fairies who shared Sheel’s views.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Luet, filled with hostility, each hand gripping a sharply honed dagger.
“Will you kill me and become the new king?”
“If you won’t give up your will, then I have no choice.”
Shil glared at Luet and answered coldly.
But Luet’s gaze remained calm, just as it had been from the start, quietly meeting her sister’s eyes.
Shil believed that eventually, Luet would back down.
In her mind, Luet wasn’t the type to stubbornly resist when her own kin had gone this far.
She had always outshone Shil in everything, making her suffer in silence, and even though she resented her sister for ascending to the throne she had long desired, she still trusted her. That infuriating sister would always choose what was best for the fairy folk.
That was why Shil couldn’t accept or believe the recent decision Luet had made.
There was no other way.
“Will you change your mind?”
Luet shook her head.
“If this is the ending you want… then kill me.”
Luet began to step forward.
Shil drew a dagger from her cloak and pressed it against Luet’s throat.
But Luet showed no sign of stopping, even with the blade at her neck. Shil’s mind went blank, and she gritted her teeth.
Damn it…!
With a sharp clatter, Shil finally threw the dagger to the ground.