Chapter 794 - Deus Ex Machina (5)

In Edora’s stories, dragons roamed the skies, Giants ran to their heart’s content, and magic flourished. The young boy had only ever lived in the village of the One-horned tribe, where martial arts was everything, so he was enthralled by all these stories. In particular, he was most interested in tales of the Tower because only a few adults in the village remembered it.

When she began to spin her tales, Edora became excited too. It felt as if she was back in the past again. Memories of when she left the village to climb the Tower with Phante, and the various ups and downs she experienced after meeting Yeon-woo, flashed through her mind. It had been exhausting at the time, but in retrospect, they were all happy and fun times.

What happened to Arthia after the Tower toppled down and Yeon-woo disappeared? Leonhardt was able to create a new clan with his genius mind and was expanding his forces rapidly. Kahn retired early and was living with his large extended family in the quiet countryside, and she heard Doyle went off the grid after living quietly in some temple.

Members of Demon Beauty Castle all went off on their paths and they occasionally contacted each other. Heidi and the others returned to their home planet to restore their ruined nation. Sesha and Ananta, who she contacted the most, were still living well. Neither of them had transcended, but their family head had pulled the strings for them to live comfortably.

The other societies who Arthia worked closely with seemed to have gone on their own paths too. The Chan Sect had a long age of peace and recently fought a war with the Jie Sect after a fight. Edora heard Erlang Shen and Prince Nezha had contributed the most. The Jie Sect only became weaker after they got on Yeon-woo’s bad side in the past, so there were rumors Jie Sect would truly fall to the Chan Sect this time.

The L’Infernal led by Agares had a completely different atmosphere from when Baal ruled, and apparently, Agares was just doing whatever he wanted. However, they weren’t able to touch Olympus, which was led by Athena, because it was well-known that Cha Jeong-woo was behind them. Malach had begun to regain their pace somehow after consecutively losing two of their leaders, Metatron and Michael.

Aside from them, there were many conflicts between other societies, but it wasn’t as severe as in the past. Overall, order was established in the Heavenly World under Olympus’ rule. There was the occasional conflict, but Athena suppressed them with overwhelming power every time, so people had no choice but to follow them. Olympus was now so powerful that no one could defeat them, even if all the societies came together against them.

There were no laws of causality like in the Tower, but Olympus became the new laws of causality to control the heavenly world in order for the lives of mortals to continue as normal. Due to this, the system was still running.

‘I heard Cernunnos helps occasionally too.’ He had disappeared after avenging Vimalacitra by defeating Oceanus, but he’d been showing himself these days. He was still an unaffiliated god, moving under the radar, but he seemed busy recently.

But in all their busy lives, Yeon-woo was nowhere to be found. It was why although they had all been tied together as Arthia, they had grown distant. In their memories, Arthia was a group that had come together temporarily to emerge victorious in the Tower. There was no such thing as a voice that pulled them all together anymore.

Agares and Athena seemed to realize they were missing something, but they weren’t able to remember properly either.

‘No. There’s one more person.’ Edora’s aged eyes turned downcast. ‘Henova.’

The old blacksmith dwarf had stayed as a guest of the One-horned tribe, and passed away around when Phante had grandchildren. A grandchild… I think I had something like that one day. Edora had sobbed as she watched his last moments when he closed his eyes sadly. She probably cried more than when the Psychic Medium died.

Cha Jeong-woo was the librarian of the Changgong Library, and Edora had the eye of the Psychic Medium, which was how they were able to remember Yeon-woo. However, Henova was a normal mortal who had still yearned for Yeon-woo.

At the time of Henova’s death, it had come as a great shock to Edora that there were fewer people who missed Yeon-woo now. Edora tried to hold onto Yeon-woo’s disappearing traces as best as she could, because she longed for him. It was because although she thought it was futile, she hoped someday he would return, and they could all laugh over it.

‘It did really all become futile though.’ The thought suddenly occurred to Edora as she smiled bitterly. ‘I’m…thinking a lot of useless thoughts these days.’

They said people who treaded back on the past did so because they didn’t have much time remaining to live. Was that why?

‘Well… I did live for a long time.’ The members of the One-horned tribe lived the longest out of the non-human races, and Edora was able to live longer than most because of her power. However, there were still limits to her body because she wasn’t able to cross that final line.

Edora knew in her gut that she didn’t have much time left. These last few months, she was feeling heavier. Her mind wasn’t as sharp anymore, and her young grandson had to repeat himself several times for her to understand him. She also couldn’t see well, so she couldn’t enjoy her pastime, which was observing the stars. Still, she came to the cliff with the help of her grandson, hoping to find any hint related to Yeon-woo… But she knew her days doing this were now limited.

‘No.’ Then, Edora came to a realization. ‘Today’s…my last.’ So that was why she was speaking more than she usually did. She must’ve taken a trip down memory lane so someday when he returned, he would know she had waited for him. Her young grandson would tell her stories to his grandson, and so forth.

Then, Yeon-woo would probably cry a bunch when he heard of it. Although he looked cold and stiff on the outside, his heart was warmer and weaker than anyone else’s.

I’ll pay a visit soon. Sorry.

Edora didn’t dare think Yeon-woo wasn’t going to come. No one knew how long it would take, but Edora firmly believed Yeon-woo would come to find her. He was someone who kept his promises no matter what. Rather, she was sorry that she couldn’t wait for him any longer. But…

“Oh, I’ve heard of this before!”

Just when Edora’s eyelids were becoming heavier, deep in thought, her young grandson looked at her with sparkling eyes. She wondered what he was talking about. “You’ve…heard of what?”

“The story you told me just now. It’s the story of how some human wearing a black mask came to our village and became the third or fourth disciple of our suuuuuper strong tribe leader! It’s the story of that man, right?”

“…!” Edora’s eyes widened. She was surprised, questioning how her young grandson knew that story. “Where did you hear that?”

“Huh? Where did I hear this…?” Her young grandson flinched at her frantic question, but he racked his brain for an answer, wanting to please the great grandmother he loved the most. But strangely, he didn’t remember where he heard of it, so he had to keep on thinking.

As he did, Edora’s heart began to pound. Thump! Thump! Her heart began to beat faster.

“Oh,” Just then, Edora’s young grandson clapped his hands together with a smile. “The kids told me.”

“The kids…?”

“Yes. I was playing with my cousins and they said our tribal leader Nayu had a disciple like that. It was the first time I heard of it, so I asked Grandpa about it, but he said he didn’t know either… I thought they were just rumors, so I was surprised that you were saying the same thing. Hehe.”

“…!” Edora’s eyes shook.

“D-Did I say something wrong…?”

“No. Nothing.”

The young boy shifted his feet, thinking he did something wrong, as Edora stayed silent. Edora shook her head and smiled genuinely.

‘His stories…still remain.’ Edora didn’t know how, since she never told this story to her grandson or other children of the village. She’d attempted it multiple times, but they forgot immediately after, so she gave up. She knew the world was trying to eliminate any of his records, so she steeled her resolve that she should remember him at least.

It was why Edora never mentioned “Cain” or “Cha Yeon-woo” when telling stories and was vague. The fact that her young grandson had heard the story meant his stories were somewhat distributed in the village now… She didn’t know how much of his stories had spread and to what extent, or how long it would last, but with this, she became hopeful.

Legends became ingrained in the minds of mortals, allowing them to perceive the divine being. Then, they became divine, took on divinity, and established domains. The fact that his legends were spreading…meant Yeon-woo’s forgotten records were slowly returning!

‘Ah!’ The gone and forgotten man would return soon, and this fact made Edora happier and happier.

“So that person. I heard he rode dragons and controlled giants. Whoa… So cool. Do you think I can do that too, granny?”

But Edora was sad too. Yeon-woo was slowly preparing to return, and she was now ready…but she wasn’t able to wait that short while and had to leave.

“…Grandma?”

‘Ah, my body. Why can’t you hold on for a little longer? Why are you in such a rush, shouting at me to leave?’

“Grandma!”

Edora didn’t even expect that much. If only her body could wait half of half of the time she’d already spent waiting. She wouldn’t wish for anything more. That was all she wanted, but why was she being urged on? It was cruel and harsh.

“Grandma! Don’t do that! Don’t joke around! What’s happening?”

She heard her young grandson crying. He shook her arm with his tiny hands and began to call for the adults. She wanted to hold his hand and tell him it was okay—to comfort him, but strangely her hand didn’t move. She was sorry she couldn’t do that.

“Grandmaaaaa!”

The village people began to gather hearing the young boy’s voice. All the village people— elders, adults, and children—gathered and cried.

Edora was just an old woman dying; she didn’t understand why they were all gathering here like this. It was funny, but she was grateful too. At the same time, she thought she had lived quite a respectful life. But one corner of her mind…felt empty. She didn’t want to be admired and famed like this. All she wanted was to take walks with the person she loved, eat meals with him, chat and laugh, have the occasional argument, make up, and sit together on a bench in their last years. It was a normal life, but living a normal life was more difficult for her.

‘I’m leaving without being able to see you. I’m sorry.’ Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, Edora’s head began to nod down. In her fading vision, she tried to see her village people for just a few seconds longer. She hoped there was the slightest chance she could also see him too.

Just when she was about to smile bitterly at that lingering attachment, Edora saw a man smiling wryly at her from behind the sobbing village people. He was smiling, but he looked sadder than anyone who was crying for her.

The moment they met eyes, the man widened his eyes in surprise. Edora could see his gaze shaking emotionally. Then, he waved his hand, as if telling her to come over to him. Edora nodded. “You…were keeping your promise all this time… Oraboni.” Then, her head slowly dropped.

* * *

“You were by my side all along. And I wasn’t able to see that… I just resented you. Sorry.”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Don’t be. I’m the sorry one.”

“Right? Yes, actually, you were in the wrong this whole time. You made me wait.”

“S-Sorry.”

“Pft! How cute. Then I’ll let you off for all these times. Instead, make me a promise.”

“What?”

“Let’s not be apart any longer.”

“Yes, let’s not.”

The two tightly held each other’s hands as if they would never let go.