Chapter 273: The Frozen Spring (3)

“The Freezing Talon expelled you... So I was right about what’s really inside this spring?”

“...If you’re curious, see for yourself.”

Karyl’s voice brimmed with anticipation, but Zarka Hochi’s reply wasn’t particularly enthusiastic, his expression sour. His entire body was covered in frost, as if he had just emerged from an ice vault. Despite being a spirit, the biting cold seemed to chill him to his core, causing his voice to tremble.

“Hmm...” Karyl mused. He turned his gaze in the direction Zarka pointed. The spring, which had been emitting an intense, maddening cold just moments ago, had now become eerily still.

“What’s going on?”

“I managed to temporarily convert the cold within the spring into spirit power to halt its eruption. It will start thrashing again soon enough.”

“So you turned the spring’s mana into death energy? Spirit power and death energy are different, not to mention the fact that this energy is not Duaat’s. Can spirit power really be transformed?” Karyl asked, his eyes fixed on Zarka.

Spirit power, used in necromancy, and Duaat’s death energy were both forms of dark magic, but they were fundamentally different. Moreover, the being Karyl suspected lurked within the spring—although colder than a corpse—was primarily associated with ice, not death.

“That’s why I said you should see it for yourself.”

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The spring, which seemed on the verge of exploding, was shaking violently. Karyl glanced downward as Zarka had suggested.

“This is...”

His eyes flickered slightly in response to what he saw.

“I wasn’t pushed out of the Freezing Talon because the Queen of Tides is slumbering in this spring, forcing me out with her power. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

Zarka Hochi’s transparent form slowly became more solid, taking on the full appearance of an elf, just as he had looked when Karyl first encountered him at the Ghost Castle.

“The powerful mana within this spring isn’t due to the Queen of Tides lying dormant here.”

Sploosh!

As if in a trance, Karyl reached his hand into the spring’s water, seemingly oblivious to Zarka’s words.

“Wh-What are you doing?!!” Zarka shouted in surprise, knowing better than anyone else just how excruciatingly cold the spring was, having emerged from it moments earlier.

Sizzle...!!!

But as soon as Karyl’s hand touched the water, heat radiated from the spring. Instead of freezing his hand, the water bubbled and soon came to a boil under his touch.

“...”

Karyl’s expression remained calm, suggesting he wasn’t in any pain. Soon, he pulled something out of the spring.

Even though Ramine’s heat enveloped his arm, Karyl’s skin had turned a deep blue, almost black, as if stained by the spring’s deadly cold. His flesh was disintegrating, sloughing off as though it had been doused in acid, filling the air with a sharp, acrid scent as steam rose from his arm.

“You’re an absolute freak...” Zarka Hochi muttered to himself, shaking his head at the sight.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“...Why is this here?” Karyl murmured as he held something from the spring, his face etched with confusion rather than pain.

“Wait, you... You know what that is? That thing didn’t exist in the Mythical Era. It was created during the Magical Era. I thought I was the only one who would recognize it.”

Zarka looked at Karyl with slight surprise.

“You’re telling me this was made in the Magical Era? And that’s all it amounts to?”

“Even if it was made in the Magical Era, it’s been a thousand years. What do you mean,

just that

? Do you even know what that is, or are you just pretending?”

“What nonsense... This is from the Oracle Wa—”

Karyl was about to respond to Zarka but quickly clamped his mouth shut. He couldn’t reveal that the necklace he had just retrieved from the spring was one of the relics he was destined to find according to the three Oracles of his previous life.

“...”

There was no need to explain something that had not yet occurred, especially since the Oracle’s revelation had not pointed to this place as the location of the necklace.

“Can you explain this?” Karyl asked Zarka, biting his lip slightly.

“Haha. That smug look of yours is gone, I see.” Zarka grinned, taking pleasure in Karyl’s uncertainty.

“Right. So why don’t you share what you know before I decide to destroy you?”

“...”

Karyl sighed and readied to toss the Freezing Talon back into the spring.

“W-Wait!! Damn it, you’re not one for jokes, are you?”

“Have you ever seen me joke?”

“...I was about to explain, so calm down and put that sword away.”

Ignoring his request, Karyl held the blade upright, urging Zarka to speak.

“It’s the Necklace of Revelation.”

Zarka pointed to the rusty, old relic in Karyl’s hand.

“That’s its name.”

“And?”

“Long ago, Narhan Tinuviel, the leader of Aerial Woods and an elven craftsman, forged a weapon made of three pieces.”

“...”

Upon hearing that, Kary’s heart sank. Three relics, and three Oracles in his previous life—could that really be just a coincidence?

“Go on.”

Karyl unwittingly tightened his grip on the necklace.

“He was one of the Bladers from the Magical Era. You know about those, right? Maybe that old lich by your side would recognize them. They weren’t the original Bladers from the Mythical Era, but rather a group of eccentrics who gathered to forge powerful weapons.”

“Stop with the pointless rambling and tell me about this necklace.”

“Don’t ask why an elf made such an artifact, or why it’s here. I don’t know, nor do I care to find out.”

“So?”

“The very idea of elves mixing with humans and dwarves is beyond my comprehension. Narhan Tinuviel was born into the elven royal family, but he was someone who defied common sense.” Zarka Hochi continued, “Because this is an artifact imbued with the power of the Demon Realm.”

“...What?”

“It’s also the reason I’m able to take this form now. As you know, the Demon Realm is full of spirits and souls. The obsidian embedded in the Necklace of Revelation is a mineral that only exists in the Demon Realm, giving it its power.”

“So you’re saying this is an artifact from the Demon Realm?”

For the first time in a while, Karyl’s usually composed expression faltered. He found himself unable to hide his shock.

“No, to be precise, it’s an artifact imbued with the power of the Demon Realm. That’s why I told you from the start. Why an elf would tamper with the unholy power of the Demon Realm is beyond me.”

Despite his appearance as a lich, Zarka had never lost awareness of his elven identity. Perhaps that was why he had remained to guard Aerial Woods and kept a portrait of Fürrel, the queen of Elvenheim.

“The elven power alone was insufficient. The Bladers of the Magical Era were determined to create powerful weapons, even if it meant borrowing power from other races.”

“But why power from the Demon Realm?”

“That much I can tell you. Only elves possess the Soul Spring capable of opening portals to other dimensions.”

Karyl looked at Zarka, signaling for further explanation.

“Your companion, the Spirit King, said something similar when you acquired the essence of the Soul Spring from the treasure vault.”

Karyl nodded in acknowledgment.

Ramine had referred to the Soul Spring as a sort of dimensional portal and mentioned that it could open a gate to the Spirit Realm.

“Could it be...?”

“Yes. Even though elves and demons are fundamentally opposing species, ironically, the Soul Spring of the elves can also open a portal to the Demon Realm.”

Crack...!!

At that moment, the ground beneath Karyl’s feet shattered.

“...”

Zarka fell silent. There was no need for words—the oppressive aura emanating from Karyl was undoubtedly anger.

“But as I said, opening a portal to the Demon Realm is extremely dangerous. They must have known that too, which is why they divided it into three pieces. Without all three, it’s impossible to open the portal.”

“So if those three pieces are brought together, demons could invade this continent?”

“That’s right, but only if a Soul Spring with mana exists...”

Zarka gestured toward the massive spring before them.

“There’s no need to search for it. It’s right here.”

Karyl let out a faint chuckle at Zarka’s words.

“But who would go through the trouble of doing such a thing? There’s no reason to open a portal to the Demon Realm.”

“Ha... Hahaha...”

As soon as Zarka finished speaking, Karyl’s laughter grew louder, his head tilting back .

“Wh-What...?”

Zarka, startled by Karyl’s sudden outburst, took a step back.

As his laughter died down, Karyl said in an icy tone, “Someone already went through that trouble.”

The immense power radiating from him caused the entire cave to tremble, as if it might collapse.

“...What?”

When the Oracle was prophesied and the Tower of Pharel emerged, humanity was forced to fight not only the monsters called Tarak swarming from the giant tower but also demons. And the Ten of the Oracle carried out the three divine tasks for the future of humanity.

However...

How dare they... use us?

Karyl could hardly believe that the keys they had been tasked to gather would ultimately open the gate to the Demon Realm, releasing even more horrors upon humanity.

He looked at Zarka.

“Is there anyone else who knows about this?”

“Well...” Zarka shrugged slightly. “Humans probably don’t, but anyone with elven blood would know instinctively. The will of the Tinuviel family is like a shackle that binds all elves.”

At that, Karyl’s expression darkened.

“Even if they’re a hybrid?”

“If they have even a drop of elven blood, absolutely. The Tinuviel bloodline is strong. Unlike humans, our royal line has never been overthrown or replaced by rebellion. It’s been passed down through a single family since the Mythical Era.”

Although long dead, Zarka spoke with pride about his elven heritage, but Karyl was barely even registering his words.

“Rael...”

That name had been etched into his mind—the leader of Wooden Cloud, a person who inherited the blood of both elves and Nephilims.

Karyl had initially thought of them as merely a group of twisted fanatics. Later, when he discovered that the Wooden Cloud was cultivating plants from the Demon Realm, he assumed they were the ones responsible for summoning demons.

It was only natural. The fanatics of Blue Roar, the successors of the Wooden Cloud, worshiped Tarak and sought the annihilation of humanity.

That wasn’t it.

The deeper he delved, the more secrets surfaced.

In his previous life, Karyl hadn’t been aware of the Soul Spring. Olivurn had chosen this place as the battleground against the Tarak because of the alarm system established by the principality, and thus no further investigation into the principality had been made.

Could even that have been part of the plan?

No one was an ally. The Wooden Cloud fanatics who worshiped the Tarak, Olivurn, who had tried to kill them at the end of the Oracle War... and even the damned gods who had prophesied the Oracle to find the keys to the Demon Realm.

They were all in on it.

Karyl looked up with cold eyes. All he could see was darkness, but that darkness seemed to reflect his own heart.

The gods never intended to let humanity survive.

Boom!!

He couldn’t shake the feeling of being played. Rather, it wasn’t just a feeling, but a cold, hard fact. Any shred of hope or belief he’d had was now completely gone. Filled with rage, Karyl hurled the necklace to the ground as hard as he could.

Crash!

Despite the loud impact, the necklace didn’t bear a single scratch; as expected of a Blader artifact.

Someone among them must have known this necklace was here and moved it before we could find it. If I destroy it now, the gateway to the Demon Realm won’t be opened.

Karyl could have prevented one of the major threats in the Oracle War from the very beginning.

He lifted his foot, ready to crush the necklace then and there.

“...”

But in that moment, he paused, looking down at the artifact.

“No.”

Crrrunch...

Slowly lowering his foot, he pressed down on the necklace, his voice a low growl.

“Destroying it just like this wouldn’t be any fun.”