Morgan took out a magic ring of his pocket and showed her a single demon ring ring,
its surface stained with coagulated blood.
“A copy of a ‘Cursed Ring’? No, a bit different… The original that the copies were based on?”
“This was meant to be offered to the ‘Land God.’ It’s also the prototype for the copied ‘Cursed Rings.’ Your father made this ring to save the ‘Land God.'”
“The copies are infused with demon power. The original…”
Eline, deep in thought, suddenly widened her eyes in realization.
“…So Nenel’s father was trying to transfer the miasma from the ‘Land God’ into that magic ring?”
The only way to save a ‘Land God’ contaminated by miasma is through purification.
Purification requires the magic of the fifth element; without it, the miasma can’t be cleansed.
But… if it’s not about purification, but rather transplantation…
Instead of eradicating the miasma, what if it could be moved from the Land God’s body to another location? That could save the Land God.
“Indeed, that method might save the Land God. But…”
“Yes. He failed. He was killed by the Land God he tried to save.”
Morgan stepped forward.
“Did you think that vile lord set your father up? That he was dealt with? Or were you relieved that you didn’t have to kill the Land God?”
“—!”
Nenel, overwhelmed by dark anger, took a step back.
As if to corner Nenel, black wolves emerged from the miasma swirling around Morgan’s finger.
“I watched you through these black wolves. You looked so happy, walking with that kid. Peaceful. Carefree. Did you really think ‘this is the only way’? That ‘if you don’t give up, another path might open’? That’s nonsense.”
Step by step,
Morgan approached, leaking dark miasma.
“Ugh…!”
Nenel clutched her head, groaning in pain.
“…!”
At the same time, a dull pain ran through my head. No, it wasn’t just me. Charl, Makina, Eline, and Noel—
all of us felt the pain and something seemed to be flowing into our minds.
“This headache… be careful! It must be a magic spell causing hallucinations…!”
It’s not Morgan. He doesn’t seem to be casting illusions.
Then who…?
“What… is this…?”
Images flowed into my mind. It was… a scene. A place that looked like ancient ruins.
Someone was walking. A man. And beside him, a woman walking closely…
“Father… Mother…”
“Nenel’s parents…? If so, then this hallucination is…”
Other people dressed in sacred attire were lined up.
Among them was Morgan. This must be… when they went to offer the magic ring to the Land God.
“It’s the truth. Everything I saw.”
The scene shifted. The group proceeded along a path that was a mix of ruins and forest, heading to the deepest part.
“—-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
There, a dragon infected with miasma… that must be the ‘Land God’ of Garland.
Roaring, it writhed in agony, spewing miasma from its body.
While the people who came for the offering fled in terror, Nenel’s father faced the Land God alone, brandishing the magic ring.
But in the next moment, flames erupted from the writhing Land God, engulfing the surroundings.
“Ah…”
The flames mercilessly incinerated everyone present.
The ground was ablaze, and people fell like puppets with their strings cut.
No, that was still the better outcome. Nenel’s father, who had approached closest to the Land God, was completely incinerated, leaving only his right arm. His severed right arm, still wearing the magic ring, fell to the ground with a gruesome thud.
Nenel mother retained a barely recognizable human form, but her body was charred black, making it difficult to tell if she was ever human. To an unknowing observer, she would look like a lump of coal.
The smell of burnt flesh. The lukewarm wind. The screams of the survivors.
Everything felt real, as if we were actually there.
“Ah… Father… Mother…”
Nenel, who was beside me, reached out. But this was just an illusion.
Her small hand clawed at the empty air in vain.
“Aren’t you angry?”
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Morgan’s voice brought the illusion to an end.
We were abruptly pulled back from the deepest part of the Land God’s forest to a cold underground space.
“Your father tried to save them. He tried to help them. But the Land God killed him. Killed your mother. Aren’t you angry? Aren’t you sad? Don’t you want revenge?”
“Gasp… gasp… gasp…”
Nenel, breathing heavily, collapsed to her knees. her pupils dilated, and sweat poured from her like a waterfall.
“Nenel. Now, you can do it. With the copy of the ‘Cursed Magic Ring’ here and your talent, you can overpower the Land God with overwhelming force. You can avenge your family! Take my hand!”
Morgan extended his hand to Nenel—
“—Alvida!”
“…!”
The spirit I summoned instantly warded off the miasma, blocking Morgan’s hand.
While keeping the surroundings in check, I clad myself in ‘Alvida’ as spirit armor, grabbed the reassembled gun, and pointed it at Morgan.
“You bastard…!”
“Damn… showing such horrible things to a kid… Overbearing old men are not popular, you know.”
Nenel’s eyes were still shaking, still in turmoil.
Of course. There’s no way she could stay calm after seeing something like that so suddenly.
I don’t know if that illusion was true. But the fact remains that Nenel’s family is already gone, killed by the rampaging Land God.
“Nenel. I told you, didn’t I? Not to misuse the power of magic.”
“…”
“I’ve made mistakes. No, until recently, I’ve been making mistakes constantly.”
“What…?”
“I used my power to keep running away, to avert my eyes from reality. I kept making mistakes, which led to a huge fight with my brother. That brother… I told you this too, didn’t I? He lost an arm and is now separated from his family.”
It’s a regret that still lingers deep within me.
“If, after seeing and learning all this, you choose revenge, I won’t stop you. That’s not a lie. But if you choose revenge, do it the right way.”
“The right way…?”
“If you’re going to direct your hatred, aim it only at the enemy. Don’t drag unrelated people into it.”
I glared at Morgan while pointing the gun at him.
“Hey, old man. That copy of the ‘Cursed Magic Ring’ is your tool for revenge, right?”
“So what?”
“There are more copies of the ring stored here than you and Nenel have fingers and toes. Who were you planning to distribute them to?”
“……”
Morgan fell silent at my question.
“Don’t tell me you were going to force the ring on unrelated people too.”
“Huh…? That means…”
As the daughter of a goldsmith, Nenel seemed to have some basic knowledge about the ‘Cursed Magic Ring’.
“The ‘Cursed Magic Ring’ forms a contract with a demon upon use. Even a degraded copy wouldn’t lose that drawback. And the magic in these copied rings is all derived from the original ‘Cursed Magic Ring’ you contracted with, right?”
The magic ring made by Nenel’s father was just an empty vessel prepared to house a demon.
And all the copied rings here contain fragments of demonic power. The original demonic power they copied came from Morgan’s ‘Cursed Magic Ring’.
“Don’t tell me… you were trying to make innocent subjects bear the drawbacks of your ‘Curse Ring’, the forbidden magical ring?”
By connecting a path between the original copy as the parent and the destination of the copy, you could make them shoulder the drawbacks. You went out of your way to make this copy. …If I were you, that’s what I’d do.
“Did you plan to force innocent people to bear the drawbacks of your ‘Cursed Magic Ring’?”
Morgan didn’t deny my accusation.
In fact, he looked relieved, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“My family was killed. Yet those people… they think the Land God’s incident was just an unfortunate accident… that they’re unrelated and continue living in peace today! Still relying on the Land God! Disgusting! Unforgivable! How could they?!”
With his outburst, black wolves emerged from the darkness, gradually filling the room.
“I can’t understand your anger, sorrow, or hatred. But I’ll still stop you. I’ll stop you from misdirecting your anger. That’s my duty as a royal.”
I aimed at the darkness filled with black wolves trying to engulf Garland’s land.
And I pulled the trigger.
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