Chapter 846
Episode 210: Memories of the Past – Murakan (5)
Several times a day, he would lose consciousness and then awaken again.
Those days dragged on endlessly. Occasionally, Diana and the others would come to visit his bedside, but Murakan barely communicated with them.
January 1, 800.
Runkandel and Ziphl officially declared the end of the war.
The world assumed that Ziphl, who had held an overwhelming advantage, suddenly ended the conflict because Temar had returned.
They said it was only possible because Temar had sacrificed himself to eliminate Elona and Ziphl.
But soon, the names Temar and Elona faded quickly from public memory. The Tower of Stories easily altered the perceptions of ordinary people—those without the power of existence or resistance to manipulation.
Only the members of Runkandel and Ziphl still remembered the two.
“It’s just a fake peace,” Lokia said. “Murakan, Ziphl is still desperate to find the lord’s corpse. They humiliate us by demanding surrender terms, and their obsession with the lord’s body is downright strange.”
Murakan barely opened his eyes and looked at her.
“Lokia…”
“They keep raiding areas where they think the lord’s tomb might be. Meanwhile, we don’t even know where he’s buried. So we’re always a step behind them.”
Murakan remained silent for a while, lost in thought about Temar’s death. He was finally accepting the fact that Temar was gone.
But the harsh reality Murakan had to face didn’t end there.
“Diana… Diana…”
“She’s dead. Yesterday, while trying to protect the lord’s tomb. Well, not exactly protecting it—like I said, we don’t even know where it is. We just spotted Ziphl’s troop movements and went to investigate, and a battle broke out. She pushed herself too hard, even though she wasn’t well.”
Lokia spoke calmly, though it was clear she too bore serious injuries all over her body.
“The survivors… are you and… who else?”
“It’s hard to confirm. The most likely is Lucilo.”
“Ugh.”
Lokia summoned magic in her palm and wiped the dark energy from the corner of Murakan’s mouth.
“…There’s not much magic left to use. Ziphl and their gods have cursed Runkandel. We can no longer wield magic.”
“Lady Lokia, I worry this might be too much of a shock for Lord Murakan. Perhaps it’s better to tell him later.”
“Is that so? Hm. Shock… not a bad thing. Murakan deserves to pay the price.”
“Lady Lokia!”
“If only he had stayed conscious and fought alongside us in the lord’s final battle, we wouldn’t be in this state. A hollow peace, a curse called the Pact, scattered remnants fighting to protect the lord’s corpse. I’m sick to death of it all.”
“Lord Murakan is not at fault. We lost because history was rewritten, not because of anyone’s fault.”
“You may still be blinded, but I don’t see it that way.”
“With the whereabouts of the steward and the ten knights unknown, Lady Lokia, you must lead the family.”
“Yes, that’s my burden now. But the moment Lucina or any other survivor returns, I will leave the family and retire.”
“What do you mean? You’re abandoning the family…?”
“There’s no ideal left for me in this family. Kin, we fought for Runkandel and lost so much. And yet you expect me to keep fighting? What right do you have?”
Kin had no answer.
“Be grateful I haven’t left yet. I’m only delaying retirement because I can’t bear to see the family vanish without a trace.”
Lokia left the room. Murakan, wrapped in a new shell of sorrow, slipped back into sleep.
But no matter how often he fled into sleep,
the moments when he had no choice but to kill his comrades remained chillingly vivid. Even though Temar had performed a miracle, the miserable reality of Runkandel did not disappear.
Eventually, Murakan began to act strangely.
From one day, he started wandering the Storm Fortress as if sleepwalking, rising suddenly from his bed. Sometimes he walked the halls in human form; other times, he flew in his true form.
No one could stop him. The one time someone tried, he reacted violently.
Half a year passed like this. Lokia left the family, and the invisible war between Runkandel and Ziphl dragged on.
Murakan’s strange behavior continued.
He ventured farther and farther away, then returned repeatedly. Sometimes he was gone for hours, other times for days.
“I don’t know if Lord Murakan is really okay. I’m terrified he might fall victim to Ziphl’s assassins.”
“Kin, we worry too. Ziphl has no reason to leave him alone. If he ever falls into their anti-air defenses… I heard he can still fly, but his combat abilities are almost gone.”
“And now, without the strength for the Divine Bow, he can’t even ask for help. All we can do is wait.”
As Kin and the retainers’ worries grew, Murakan’s absence stretched beyond a month for the first time.
“Still no sign of his return today? How’s the situation on Ziphl’s side?”
“There’s still no news of Lord Murakan being seen in the Lutero Federation.”
“Has anyone from our side or the Empire spotted him?”
“No… no reports from anywhere.”
No one anywhere in the world had seen Murakan.
The Black Sea.
At that moment, Murakan was walking across the Black Sea. Since the first time he left his bed, his unconscious mind had been drawn solely toward the Black Sea.
And finally, somewhere there, he encountered someone.
[Murakan… you’ve managed to reach this place alive.]
The witch Heluram.
She looked down at him from a tower rising above the Black Sea.
[With your body, your heart destroyed, you shouldn’t be able to handle the monsters and filth here.]
Heluram seemed genuinely amazed, glancing repeatedly between Murakan and the depths of the Black Sea behind him.
She was trying to gauge just how likely it was that Murakan, with a shattered heart, could safely enter the Black Sea and meet her.
It was nearly impossible.
[Whether it was someone’s blessing or your willpower transcending all limits… you deserve to pay the price. So, what is it that you desperately seek from me?]
“Memories…”
[Memories?]
“Erase my memories…”
So I won’t give up.
When Murakan added those words, the witch’s eyes widened in surprise before she smiled slyly.
[You want me to erase memories you’ve already forgotten yourself. Isn’t that a waste to ask of me?]
Without hesitation, Murakan nodded.
[Very well. I will grant your wish.]
At Heluram’s voice, Murakan opened his eyes again—back in the Storm Fortress hospital room.
He hurriedly watched Kin and the retainers enter, recalling what he had to do.
He vowed to recover his heart as much as possible before the Thousand-Year Contractor appeared.
Huuu…
Suddenly, a scattering of energy like ash drifted away, and the scene from a thousand years ago began to fade.
Jin stood silently, unable to speak, watching Murakan and the ten knights. Murakan, lost in his own mind, sobbed as he reached out into the void.
What he was trying to grasp were the ten knights he had killed back then. Dranax, Biolo, and Frey from a thousand years ago filled his vision.
But illusions born of delirium cannot be held. His arms flailed helplessly in empty air.
“I was wrong. Please forgive me…”
At Murakan’s hoarse voice, the ten knights shaped by the guardians bowed their heads briefly. Their time to vanish was near. Their bodies gradually faded as particles of energy scattered.
“Ah, damn it. Why does this bastard make people cry like this? Damn it. We’re about to disappear, and now you want me to cry? Ugh, hic!”
“Yeah, I hate this kind of thing. Huuuurk! Waaah!”
As Dranax and Biolo spoke, Frey suddenly embraced Murakan from behind. Dranax and Biolo joined the hug, and all three burst into tears.
“Murakan.”
“Frey…? Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me. Frey.”
“Frey, please forgive me.”
“We are the ones who should seek forgiveness. You protected us all this time, but we resented you without knowing.”
“Forgiveness, huh? What forgiveness, you bastard!”
“Yeah, you bastard! Huuuurk!”
“Dranax… Biolo.”
Turning around, Murakan saw the two crying and Frey smiling brightly.
That radiant smile almost made him forget his headache. The sight of his friends clinging to him like this felt like a dream, and he blinked several times.
Murakan embraced them. Their voices, their trembling, their heartbeats, their warmth—all of it pounded through his body. The chains that had tormented him for a thousand years were breaking piece by piece. He was finally facing them head-on.
But he couldn’t indulge in joy alone.
“Don’t go, guys. Where are you going?”
The ten knights’ disappearance accelerated. With each particle of energy that drifted away, their forms grew more transparent.
“We’re not disappearing. We’re going into your memories.”
“Don’t do that. Just stay here.”
Murakan wanted to reply, but his throat tightened, and no words came out.
“Murakan, this kind of talk feels a little awkward, but from now on, we’ll all be watching over you together, fighting alongside you.”
“It was us back then who lost—not you, not the Rune Kandel of today. Hey, Jin! I’m counting on you to take care of him. I don’t really understand all that stuff about being a thousand-year contractor or whatever, but I like you. If it’s you, I can trust him.”
Murakan felt the presence of his friends, who had been so close, begin to fade.
Then Frey gently brushed back Murakan’s hair, as if trying to deny the farewell, and lightly pressed her lips to his.
“I’m proud to have loved you. Murakan, you protected us with such hardship, and you searched for us with such hardship. So don’t let yourself fall into sorrow again—live bravely. Just nod once, please. That way, I think I can rest easy as a memory in your heart.”
Murakan nodded.
If he didn’t nod now, he never would.
He even smiled. If he didn’t show this smile now, he never would.
“Goodbye, Murakan.”
With Frey’s final words, the image of Keitam came to an end.