Chapter 141

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The Holy Fire Guard Knights (2)

Did Helmet Knight’s roar have some kind of provocation effect? Immediately after he shouted, the Forgotten Ones locked onto him.

While a few still swung their weapons at Najin, their numbers were noticeably reduced.

– It’s not really provocation, it seems he amplified his starlight.

‘What?’

– You know how Forgotten Ones are drawn to starlight, right? Like how the undead are drawn to the living. Amplify the starlight, and you can provoke them.

Merlin’s whisper reached Najin’s ears. Perhaps feeling guilty for not teaching him how to adjust his starlight earlier, she explained in meticulous detail.

She even sneaked in an excuse, claiming, “It’s been so long since I’ve hidden my starlight that my memory’s a bit hazy…” all while cautiously gauging Najin’s reaction.

‘Don’t worry about that incident. Really,’ Najin reassured her, annoyed by her constant sidelong glances.

– Really? Are you sure?

‘Yes, absolutely.’

With Merlin visibly brightening, Najin evaded the few Forgotten Ones still targeting him. Once he created enough distance, even those stragglers turned their attention to Helmet Knight.

Even the knights stationed on the walls and towers, who had been aiming to snipe, transformed into beasts and leaped toward the knight. In the end, around 20 Forgotten Ones swarmed him.

Of the roughly 20, 14 appeared to be Sword Seeker-level, their Imagery-infused auras manifesting in distinct forms around their weapons.

Najin knew that, if he were surrounded by such a number, he’d have no hope of escaping unscathed.

Helmet Knight seemed undaunted. He wasn’t just holding his ground—he was pushing them back. He swung his massive lance to scatter them, kicked them aside, and moved like a rampaging beast among them.

The sight of the giant, easily 2.5 meters tall, wielding a 3-meter lance looked like something out of a myth. It was as if a colossus had come to life.

Seeing how relaxed he was, Najin couldn’t help but think, ‘I guess he really is a transcendent.’

“What are you gawking at?! Go on already, I’m struggling here!” Helmet Knight’s yell snapped Najin into action, not quite so relaxed, after all.

Najin dashed into the fortress, aiming for the top floor, where the holy fire, and likely the master of the fortress, was located.

He could have scaled the walls and jumped over everything in his way to head straight for the top, but he didn’t. If he’d planned to do that, he wouldn’t have joined Helmet Knight in that flashy lance charge through the front gate in the first place.

“Might as well see this through.” He decided to embrace the romance of the moment, just as Helmet Knight had suggested. He, too, was a romantic at heart.

‘A frontal assault—what a phrase to stir the soul!’ he thought, his sword aura flickering to life.

– You’re driving me insane.

‘That’s just how mages are.’

– What did you say?

‘Nothing.’

What could a mage understand about it?

– That’s mage discrimination!

Najin swung his sword. For a swordsman, the best response to a mage’s grumbling was always another strike of the blade.

Atula Fortress had concentrated its forces on the exterior. Despite its considerable size, the number of knights stationed inside was minimal.

As Najin made his way upward, he encountered only three Forgotten Ones.

The near-empty fortress was utterly devoid of any sign of life.

Climbing the stairs to higher floors, he glanced at Merlin. She merely observed his actions, refraining from comment. Her silence struck him as unusual.

Since arriving in the Outland, Merlin had interfered less and less in Najin’s decisions. Normally, she’d have offered suggestions like, “It’s better to do it this way,” or “How about this?” or even pointed out, “That’s an inefficient method. Want to hear a more effective one?” Such advice had lessened.

Even during his duel with Helmet Knight, where his life had been on the line and one misstep could’ve ended his journey, Merlin hadn’t tried to stop him. All she’d asked was, “Do you think you can handle it?”

– That’s because you’re no longer a child.

Merlin broke her silence.

– Your star and my star are embedded in the same sky. Even if their numbers or altitudes differ, that fact remains unchanged.

‘And?’

– It means the time has passed for me to see you as a child.

It was no longer a guardian-child relationship—It was more like the relationship between a senior and a junior.

Since they stood on the same battlefield, Merlin explained that she needed to regard Najin differently.

– So I must respect your choices. Unless, of course, they lead you to a dead end or a certain death. When you faced Helmet Knight, you had your reasons, didn’t you?

‘It was instinct, mostly.’

An opponent aspiring to knighthood, someone who expressed their honor and pride in the form of drink, yet wished to revel in it. Najin hadn’t acted entirely without thought.

– That’s enough. As long as you judge the situation with some basis and make your choice, I’ll respect it. Because that’s the way it must be.

– To become a transcendent, trials are essential. Not just physical growth, but mental growth too. No one else can face those trials for you.

Reflection, struggle, conflict—the answers found at their end.

Only the answers you find yourself hold meaning. That’s why Merlin was determined to respect Najin’s free will.

– Besides, whatever price comes with your choices… I’ll share it with you.

‘Share?’

– Of course. Why even ask something so obvious?

Merlin sighed, glaring at him.

– Do you think I’d let you die in vain? This isn’t the continent, where my interference is limited. If it ever seems like you’re truly about to die, I’ll step in. The aftermath… well, we’ll deal with that when it comes.

Najin chuckled, exasperated.

Merlin’s tone was casual, but Najin, knowing the implications of what she was saying, found her words far from lighthearted.

Her “interference” didn’t mean her current spiritual form acting beside him; it meant her true body—the star at the edge of the Outland—would move, and that would mean…

The barrier of Camlann would waver.

Just as a boundary prevented the Forgotten Ones of the Outland from crossing into the continent, a similar barrier existed at the Outland’s edge, stopping Camlann’s cursed entities.

Arthur had exchanged his life to establish that barrier; it was protected by the constellations of the Round Table.

If Merlin, the strongest of those constellations, moved her star, the barrier would shake, and with it, Camlann’s “cursed things” would cross the boundary. The balance of the world would collapse. The mixing of Outland and Camlann wouldn’t just be the Outland’s problem, it would ripple through the continent as well.

“My shoulders feel heavy,” Najin muttered without thinking.

Merlin probably meant to reassure him by saying, “I’ll save you once, so don’t worry,” but to Najin, it came across quite differently.

“If I die, Merlin will interfere, and the balance of the world will shatter.”

The countdown to destruction would begin. Far from reassuring him, her words made him reconsider the weight of his own life.

‘Isn’t the balance of the world or that barrier more important than me? This feels burdensome,’ Najin joked, but…

– More important than you? That nonsense? Why?

Merlin didn’t take it as a joke. She tilted her head, her clear eyes fixed on him as she posed the question.

For a moment, Najin couldn’t respond. He stopped on the stairs and turned to look at her.

A brief silence followed.

Merlin blinked, as if realizing her slip, and she quickly backtracked.

– Ah, it’s important. Of course, it is. Just… never mind. Let’s talk about this later.

She smiled awkwardly.

Najin couldn’t bring himself to smile back.

Their minds were connected. Even without speaking, even without thinking, they could communicate.

As Najin’s abilities grew, their connection deepened, allowing them to share not only thoughts but sometimes raw emotions and inner monologues.

Unintentionally, intense emotions or unguarded thoughts sometimes slipped through, as they had just then. When Merlin had said, “That nonsense? Why?” her underlying emotions had surged into Najin.

Balance, peace, stability.

None of that matters.

That was never important.

Her inner voice resonated in Najin’s heart, accompanied by an overwhelming tide of emotions—hatred, regret, remorse, anger, resentment, sorrow.

They were feelings Merlin usually suppressed and managed, but she couldn’t do so on that topic.

– Let’s talk about this later.

Merlin, oblivious that her thoughts and feelings had reached Najin, still wore her usual smile.

He couldn’t see it as just a smile anymore. ‘Merlin…’

– Hm? What is it?

He looked directly at her. His sunset-hued eyes met her sapphire gaze. Her expression was unchanged, but why did her eyes seem precarious to him?

He shook his head and spoke. “It won’t come to that.”

– Come to what?

‘I won’t let things reach the point where you have to step in.’

– Of course not. But why?

‘No reason. Just because.’

The surge of emotion faded as quickly as it had come. Merlin returned to her usual slightly goofy, scatterbrained demeanor and turned her gaze away.

Then, her eyes widened.

– Hey! Look ahead! Ahead!

She slapped Najin’s shoulder, pointing forward. A Forgotten One was charging toward him with terrifying speed.

It seemed the conversation would have to wait for another time.

Najin tightened his grip on his sword.

– Why were you staring at me during a fight? That was dangerous!

Merlin complained the moment Najin dispatched the Forgotten One.

Najin held back the words bubbling up in his throat and continued walking.

The final staircase to the top floor… As he ascended, he was greeted by an open view.

The top of the fortress had no roof. While the lack of a ceiling should have improved ventilation, he wrinkled his nose as soon as he reached the top.

The stench of rotting corpses was overwhelming.

The roof was littered with bodies. Some wore the same armor as the knights below—the armor of the Holy Fire Guard Knights, others wore different armor, or none at all; some donned mage robes, while the origins of others were indiscernible.

The one thing all the corpses had in common was the gaping hole where their hearts should have been. All had died from having their hearts ripped out.

The foul stench of the corpses filled the air, and at the center of the roof stood a single brazier…

The holy fire. The flame of the stars.

The flame wasn’t platinum like the stars; it burned a red hue, no different from ordinary fire. Only the occasional golden spark rising from its tongues of fire distinguished it.

Was it the holy fire the knights were sworn to protect?

The smoke rising from the brazier stretched high into the sky. Najin shifted his gaze slightly. Beside the brazier, slumped like a corpse, sat a man. He was staring directly at Najin.

“Are you the master of this fortress?” Najin asked.

The man didn’t reply. He simply rose to his feet.

His appearance was ghastly—his charred armor was shattered in places, failing to cover his body. Beneath the broken plates, his flesh was shriveled and blackened, resembling burnt wood.

Half of his body seemed consumed by fire, and yet, only half.

The other half bore no signs of burns or deterioration. Unlike the Forgotten Ones who had lost all humanity, his eyes held a glimmer of intelligence. Half of him was still human.

He didn’t respond to Najin’s question. Not because he couldn’t hear or understand, but because he saw no need to answer.

Instead, he raised his sword to the holy fire.

The flames leaped onto his blade, igniting it. The fire engulfed the weapon, crackling fiercely. Whether this was the holy fire’s essence or a manifestation of the man’s own Sword Aura, Najin couldn’t tell.

The man saluted with his flaming sword.

Najin said no more. He raised his sword vertically, pointing its tip toward the heavens. It was a salute he’d learned from Ivan.

Salutes exchanged, no words were necessary.

Introductions, names—all were conveyed through their gesture of swords. Najin took his stance. The man mirrored him. The star-like radiance of Najin’s Sword Aura clashed with the fire-like glow of the man’s as both prepared for battle atop the fortress.

Then, with a single step, they charged at each other.

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