Chapter 46
‘Isn’t this just… one of those legends attached to a national treasure?’
Just as Osbrandt passed down Emil’s heart as a national treasure, perhaps Transis had something like a feather from Cardina, Emil’s mate. Marcel sneered inwardly and asked,
“I understand what you’re saying. If Emil’s absence proves Osbrandt’s betrayal, does that mean Cardina is still alive even now?”
He pictured Emil as a crow, recalling the depiction he’d seen as a child in the temple. If it was a gigantic black bird, maybe it could exist, but the Emil in those paintings was as big as a fortress. There was no way a bird that size could be real.
Marcel, half-expecting to hear how Cardina died as well, looked perplexed at the old woman’s unexpected answer.
“Of course, she’s still alive. We’ve been sending signals for some time, so she’ll be coming to save us soon.”
Unlike the old woman’s confidence, none of the younger people seemed to agree.
‘Ha… What a waste of time, held up by some superstitious old woman…’
Just as Marcel, steadying the prince, was about to hurry their departure, suddenly everything went dark as if the sun had set.
“What’s going on? Is it a monster attack?!”
Snapping back to his senses, Mikhail drew his sword, but the old woman cried out in a voice trembling with awe,
“Look! It’s her, she’s finally come! I told you she would never abandon us!”
Through the small window, they saw wings of unbelievable size beating in the pitch-black darkness. The old woman began to chant quickly in a voice ringing like metal.
“Oh, Goddess, look after your most faithful child…!”
Marcel, rubbing his eyes in disbelief, checked the prince’s condition. Mikhail was completely stunned, staring as the enormous sacred beast soared through the sky. Just like the mural in the temple depicting Emil, the sacred beast with wings larger than a house let out a thunderous roar.
[——–!]
A piercing cry rang out, and to their amazement, the monsters began writhing in pain and dropping one by one.
“……!”
“Thank you, thank you, Your Majesty!”
The old woman, nearly fainting, gave thanks to someone unseen, while the sacred beast turned toward the gathered monsters and flapped its wings. With each beat from that impossibly massive bird, dark shadows rippled beneath it like a spreading veil.
What was this situation? Did we even need to come at all? Five years ago, when the Grand Domain of Quillan was trampled by Osbrandt’s soldiers, no such savior appeared—Marcel felt dazed, as if he were dreaming.
As Marcel and Mikhail watched the sky in a trance, every time the sacred beast roared, the monsters’ heads burst as if overripe fruit. Moments before, the monsters had been scattering throughout the forest, devouring any sign of life they found. Now, in an instant, they began to converge on the sacred beast’s location.
The sacred beast soared ever higher with a grace undiminished by fear. Feathers drifted down like stardust from where it had passed, and for the monsters, they seemed like a deadly poison—screams of pain echoed as they writhed.
Mikhail, his face blank with shock, stared at the sacred beast’s elegance and valor and thought of someone. Was the ‘one’ the old woman spoke of really the person he was thinking of?
Mikhail couldn’t take his eyes off the sacred beast, which was so strong and beautiful and yet looked somehow lonely, when he suddenly noticed something reaching up from the ground toward the beast.
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