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SIDE STORY – THE EVE BEFORE THE DECISIVE BATTLE

The sun had already set a few hours ago.

The sky was now completely black.

Stars were bound to twinkle on nights when Selene and Helene could not be seen, but even the twinkling little stars did not appear today.

It was a dark and deep night.

But there was still someone who looked up the sky.

And he eventually found a little star.

A star so small and blurry, but was definitely a twinkling star.

“Landius.”

The man, who was the only survivor of the Knights of the Sun that was the pride of Paragon, turned his gaze at the low voice that called him.

A beautiful girl with traces of youth appeared in his sight.

“What did you see in the sky?”

Lena Ainsburg.

The favorite disciple of Bardo Ainsburg who was the royal wizard of the Paragon Kingdom.

Being too kind and naïve for a royal wizard, he treated his favorite disciple like a daughter, and Lena, who was abandoned in a monastery as soon as she was born, also treated Bardo like a father.

One could say that the time she began practicing magic was too late.

She was already around ten years old when Bardo saw her talent for magic.

It was good to start early in anything, but for magic, it took that very seriously.

‘Is it the Astral Line?’

The origin of all souls.

A ring of light that surrounded the world.

All beings with souls originated from the Astral Line.

Souls from the Astral Line would get born and enjoy life on the ground, and when their life ends, they would head back to the Astral Line.

After being mixed and purified in the immense flow of souls, they would start a new life again.

Putting aside the complicated stories that wizards like, all souls began on the Astral Line, so it was always better to be a little younger in age in beginning the practice of magic.

‘The older we get, the farther we are from the Astral Line, so the more we forget.’

Magic was the artificial manipulation of the systems of the world, so it was important to awaken even a little more of the senses and latent memories present at the time when one was on the Astral Line that was a part of the systems of the world, that is, not long after one was born.

‘It’s the time when the so-called magic affinity, mana control ability, and so on are determined.’

He looked at Lena again after recalling the introduction to magic that he was forced to listen to by the royal wizard Bardo, who said that knights should also know some magic since they used a similar magic called ‘chivalry.’

This small and slender woman looking at him and smiling beautifully was less than 20 years old and had started practicing magic too late.

But she was a genius, and her talent and Bardo’s dedication created an amazing miracle.

Having qualified as an official wizard at the young age of fifteen, she entered the Grey Tower where Bardo also studied at, and achieved the feat of completing the whole scholastic course in just 3 years.

‘I did it because I wanted to see my master quickly.’

It was the answer she shyly came up with when asked one day why she finished the entire course in the Grey Tower in 3 years, which normally took 8 years, or even 5 years for the most talented wizards.

‘I wanted to live in Paragon again with my master. And…’

Her words trailed off as if there was more to it, but in the end, she did not continue answering.

She was that kind of girl.

After completing all the courses in the Grey Tower, she returned home with lots of gifts as she joyfully thought of meeting her father-like master again.

“Not much. Even though it’s so dark, there’s only one star.”

Landius said and pointed to the sky, and Lena looked up the sky with big blue eyes.

“Wow, that’s true.”

The admiration did not come out of the mouth of Lena.

It came from the boy who was sitting across the campfire.

“Old man, look at that. It’s so dark, but there’s a real star. Of course, it’s very small and blurry.”

The boy was very handsome – no, he was a pretty boy.

If no one pointed out that he was a boy, everyone would think that he was a girl since he was a strange boy who looked like a girl.

Druid Fran.

The Solari denomination was known to have lost its genealogy, and it was true in fact, but one could not say that for the Paragon Kingdom.

Because the kingdom was a place where the Solari denomination was revived, albeit crudely, to somehow connect the severed genealogy.

There was also a story that the Paragon royal family inherited the blood of the sun goddess Solari, but no one knew if this was true or just a made-up story, though Landius believed that story.

Not because of his loyalty to the royal family as their knight.

Landius had his own reasons.

Anyway, back to Fran again.

A pretty but impudent boy.

“Old man, you can’t see it? It’s because you wear such a dark mask every day. Do you even wipe the lenses on your mask?”

Fran was only fifteen years old.

In other words, this blue-eyed boy was less than a fifth in age to the person he was now teasing and throwing words as he pleased.

However, he was the most powerful druid in the Paragon Kingdom.

Not because all the druids in the Paragon Kingdom were massacred except for Fran.

That was also true, but he was the strongest druid in the Paragon Kingdom even before that happened.

‘The chosen child.’

There were also rumors that he was a child of Orion, a god of the forest, but its authenticity was uncertain.

One certain thing was that he was the last survivor of the druids living in a forest located at the western end of the Paragon Kingdom, and that he was a boy with tremendous capabilities that even the name of Orion got brought up.

His hometown was burned down.

The demon followers burned the western forest, killed all the druids, and impaled them on spikes, displaying their corpses among the trees.

Fran had lied to the Archdruid and went to the festival of a neighboring country, thus, he became fortunate enough to avoid that tragedy.

But Fran did not consider it fortunate.

He did not have a sentimental reason like he should have died together with them.

‘If I had been there, I would have killed all the ones who invaded us.’

No one knew if this was possible or not, but this statement clearly revealed the personality of Fran.

Fran thought of revenge.

Vengeance was a strange thing for a druid who obeyed the laws of nature, but Fran had a valid reason.

‘They are not part of the laws of nature.’

It was not lighting that fell from the sky, or wild beasts on the road, or even thieves who coveted the treasures the druids might have.

It was demon followers and demons.

Beings from another world.

Monsters that defied the laws of nature.

So Fran chose to fight.

Instead of fleeing to the neighboring country again, he headed towards the center of the Paragon Kingdom where he encountered the party.

“Ah, old man. That way. Over there. Is your eyesight actually bad?”

When Fran raised his voice and pointed his finger at the sky, Landius looked to the side with a slightly worried face.

Fran was a boy who grew up among the elder druids in the western forest, so he liked the elderly.

But not all elderly people were the same.

The person Fran kept talking nonsense to.

Velkian.

His last name was unknown.

He was an old man whose first name was his only known name.

A necromancer and old friend of Bardo, the royal wizard of Paragon.

Although he did not always stay in the Paragon Kingdom, he tended to spend about half a year in Paragon, so in fact, he was a familiar figure to the royal knights in many ways.

‘Landius, you’re always too reckless. You may be strong, but it’s impossible to receive magic spells or curses with your body in that way.’

Velkian was both a necromancer and an excellent pharmacist.

He made a lot of medicine whenever he stayed in the Paragon Kingdom, and since injuries were common to the knights, all of them were somehow indebted to Velkian.

In addition, he sometimes taught knights on how to deal with wizards, that is, combat training, so for the royal knights of the Paragon Kingdom, he occupied a position close to a ‘master.’

‘He’s amazing.’

Velkian was certainly a good person.

But like powerful wizards, he was not a very normal person.

Moreover, he was a necromancer who manipulated the souls of the dead.

He had the smell of death around him since he used the power of death, and every little gesture he made felt like a threat to the living.

Even the royal knights of the Paragon Kingdom, who were relatively familiar with him, could not easily relax in front of him.

But Fran treated Velkian like an ordinary old man.

It was absolutely not because all the people in the Paragon Kingdom treated their elderly like that.

It was just how the impudent Fran treated Velkian like how he treated other elderly people.

If it was Landius, he would rather fight demons with bare hands than do that to the elderly.

But strangely, Velkian was not particularly angry with Fran.

Considering his personality, Velkian would have already turned Fran into a frog a long time ago, or cursed Fran and made him beg.

[Oh, you didn’t know? He already cast a curse. Fran negated it just now though.]

At the magic Lena had sent, Landius widened his eyes in surprise.

‘A curse?’

[Yes, but not a very strong curse. If Velkian is very determined in casting a curse, even Fran will not be able to negate it with just a smile.]

Lena sent an additional message and giggled as if she could tell what Landius was thinking by just looking at his face.

Because was Lena looking at him and not at the star in the sky, Fran, or Velkian.

Now that he thought of it, Lena often did that.

When he unconsciously felt a gaze and turned around, he would always see Lena looking at him.

Anyway, that was not what mattered now.

‘He cast a curse on Fran.’

But Fran just negated it again.

In a way, it was a very serious situation, but Landius smiled without realizing it.

He strangely felt pleased.

“That star is… Althea.”

Everyone in the party turned their attention to the small but beautiful and clear voice.

At the corner of the collapsed church.

A young man was sitting in a place where the warmth of the campfire could barely reach, and he looked up the sky before lowering his gaze and facing the party.

Kamael.

Although he did not receive the surname of Paragon, he was clearly of royal blood.

He was a very beautiful young man.

He was different from Fran who was always seen as a girl.

Kamael was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman, but his face was clearly full of manliness.

A neutral beauty.

A doll-like impression created by his added coldness.

“Althea?”

At the question of Fran, Kamael slightly frowned as if what he said was useless, but did not ignore the question.

“Yes, that is Althea. It’s small and blurry, but that mysterious star can be found no matter how dark and deep the night is, like now.”

Contrary to his neutral appearance, the voice of Kamael was very manly because of its low tone and firmness.

Fran had said that the voice of Kamael did not match his face, but also said that he liked it because it was a nice voice to listen to, though he ended up receiving a glare from Kamael. And Lena had also complimented it lightly, saying that it was pleasant voice to hear.

But Landius knew that the voice of Kamael was something he deliberately made up.

Kamael was often told this and that because of his neutral appearance, so he tried to do something with his voice.

In fact, the voice of Kamael was higher and much more beautiful than that.

And the reason Landius knew this was simple.

‘I’m the only one.’

Whom he asked of that request.

Remembering the Kamael from several years ago who was talking and blushing from either shyness or embarrassment, Landius smiled to himself.

Because it was Landius who helped Kamael in his voice modulation training.

‘Well, I just listened and evaluated it though.’

Landius actually thought that the real voice of Kamael was more natural and better, but did not say that to Kamael, the owner of the voice, as Kamael liked the modulated one better.

After all, what one liked was the best.

“That’s amazing. Why didn’t I know that?”

“It’s probably because you were lazy.”

When Velkian spoke at the right time while wearing the mask of a plague doctor, Lena unconsciously burst out laughing.

“The druids know of the stars in the sky, so you must have been really lazy.”

At the additional hit of Velkian, Lena could not hold it in any longer and rolled on the ground as she held her stomach and laughed, while Fran puffed up his cheeks with a displeased look.

‘He didn’t refute it.’

If it had been the usual, he would have refuted it, but it was not the case this time.

However, it was actually a little unfair for Fran.

Because Althea was a star that did not usually appear.

Moreover, it was only in the palace of the Paragon Kingdom that Althea could be seen.

Therefore, only those who inherited the blood of the Paragon royal family knew of the existence of Althea clearly, but Kamael did not bother in revealing that fact.

The first reason was that he did not care if Fran was humiliated or not, and the second reason was that everyone except Fran was enjoying it.

“Ugh… Anyway, it’s tomorrow.”

The atmosphere in front of the campfire subsided as Fran said that in passing.

Tomorrow.

The day they would invade the palace of the Paragon Kingdom that the Demon Prince Baikazel had already made as his territory.

Frankly, it was a crazy plan.

Confronting the god-like Demon Prince and his army with just them five was like hitting a rock with an egg.

But they still had to do it.

The words Bardo had said right before he died.

A Hell Gate was opened in the basement of the royal palace.

If that gate was not closed, a greater calamity would befall the world.

‘One week later.’

The time left until the worst could happen – was what Bardo said.

Therefore, the party could not choose the option of leaving the Paragon Kingdom and asking for help from the Sälen Kingdom or the Argon Empire.

It would be too late then.

The five had to defeat the Demon Prince and close the Hell Gate.

The tragedy and destruction brought about by the demons should be limited to the Paragon Kingdom.

“After tomorrow… So if we win… What will you do after that?”

Lena asked as she stared at the campfire.

A faint smile was on her white face that had received the red and yellow light of the campfire as though it was paper.

It was filled with anxiety and fear, but she forced herself to smile to overcome it.

“I intend to continue my research.”

Velkian said in a low voice.

When everyone turned to him, he continued his words with a small smile, though it could not be seen because of his mask.

“I have a research I want to finish. There are also things I want to research due to this incident. So I plan to continue my research.”

Landius and Lena smiled at the words of Velkian, but Fran frowned.

“It’s really the words of an old man. You’ve lived in a lab all your life, but you plan to spend the rest of your life in the lab? How about going on a trip with me? You have to look around the world a bit.”

Landius glanced at Velkian at the end of those words, but it was impossible to see the latter’s expression because of the plague doctor’s mask.

[Oh, he has now cast a strong curse. I think it worked this time.]

Ahem, I see.

At the commentary of Lena, Landius coughed and pretended to not have seen or heard anything, and Fran suddenly grumbled, perhaps because of the curse.

“Ehem. Well. As I have said, I’m going on a trip. Because I have lived my entire life in the Paragon Kingdom. I want to travel around the world.”

“That entire life is only your fifteen years of age.”

Landius laughed out loud at the retort of Velkian, and Lena held her stomach again and began to laugh.

“Hey… Anyway. The old man’s personality is twisted, twisted.”

Fran grunted and frowned, and turned to Lena, asking.

“What will you do, Lena?”

“I…”

Lena said and glanced at Landius before looking back at the campfire and speaking.

“I want to live a normal life.”

“Normal?”

“Yes. Wizards usually stay in the lab and live alone for the rest of their lives, right? So not that ordinary… I want to be like the ordinary people. I want to meet a person I will love, get married, have children, grow old together… and live among the people I love.”

It was a difficult dream to achieve.

She had already become an angel through Ancestral Regression, so she was too far from an ordinary human.

She did not know what fate she would face in their fight tomorrow.

However, she expressed her dream with a small smile.

It might be natural for others, but it was a wish she had dreamt of all her life.

Landius looked at Lena and softly said.

“Lena is pretty and kind. I’m sure you’ll meet a good person.”

His words were warm and nice.

But for some reason, the gaze of Lena turned cold and she bit her lips, while Fran who was watching them from the side had an annoyed look as he said.

“Wow, how could you say that?”

“Eh? D-Did I say something wrong?”

Landius turned to Lena in confusion, but Lena just stared at the campfire with her mouth shut instead of answering, and Fran also did not answer and just clicked his tongue.

“Master Velkian?”

“Just continue to live like that.”

What do you mean?

But in the midst of it, there was someone who smiled a bit – Kamael, who then spoke.

“Yes, Lena is kind and pretty, so she will surely find a good person.”

Landius quickly nodded at the words of Kamael.

In any case, there was someone who sided with him.

“Haa, seriously. Anyway, what will you do, Kamael? Are you going to rebuild the country?”

The Paragon Kingdom was destroyed.

Even if the five gathered here now won, that fact would not change.

However, the royal blood was not completely gone.

Even though Kamael was an illegitimate child, he was a child of the king and the blood of the Paragon royal family flowed in his veins.

“I do not intend to do that.”

The expression of Kamael turned cold again.

Like most illegitimate children, he had a harsh childhood, and things did not improve much when he became an adult.

Fortunately, he was able to take classes as a knight rather than being regarded as a seed of conflict that would threaten the throne because the royal family had a lot of enemies, but it was just that.

Kamael had little affection for the Paragon royal family, and no sense of mission to rebuild the royal family.

“Then what are you going to do?”

When Fran asked again, Kamael slightly frowned but continued to speak.

“I plan to join the Guardians of the Holy Cross.”

Those who defended the continent against the demon followers.

His words were unexpected to others, but not to Landius.

Because he knew that the master of Kamael, Sir Might, was from the Guardians of the Holy Cross.

“Then what about Landius?”

The eyes of everyone, especially Lena, turned to Landius.

Landius smiled at the gazes of everyone and looked up the sky once more.

“Can I be honest?”

“Sure. I’ll even grant you a wish to become a harem king.”

At the words of Fran, Lena flinched and her gaze turned sharp, but Kamael was the only one who noticed this.

Landius said with a chuckle.

“What harem king? Even if I do my best for just one person, I can’t fully convey my love for them… Why do you all look like that?”

“No, well… Let’s just move on.”

Landius looked a bit displeased at the annoyed expression of Fran, and was puzzled on why Lena covered her face with both hands, but he quickly adjusted his expression and spoke in a serious tone.

“I’m going to track down Archbishop Manuela.”

The culprit behind the tragedy of Paragon.

Having corrupted the queen and summoned a number of demons within the royal palace, he had already left the Paragon Kingdom.

Landius wanted to chase him down and kill him.

Not to avenge the Paragon Kingdom, but to prevent Manuela from harming the world again.

To protect everyone in the world.

He shyly expressed his hero mentality.

But no one here laughed at him.

Because it was very much like Landius.

“That’s why the Solar Blade chose you.”

What Velkian said was not wrong.

The Solar Blade.

The sword of the sun goddess Solari.

The treasured sword of the Paragon Kingdom that no one could use.

That sword chose Landius.

The sun shone again in front of Landius.

“Well, Landius is indeed a hero.”

As Fran giggled and said, Lena gently nodded and even Kamael smiled in agreement.

“No, what’s with those reactions? I feel embarrassed.”

And Landius really blushed and scratched the back of his head.

The other four, who would later be called the heroes of Paragon, smiled at that sight.

Tomorrow.

The fight tomorrow would definitely be tough.

Perhaps not everyone could return to this place even if they miraculously won.

It was scary.

It was terrifying.

But they would still fight.

Because the sun was by their side.

A person whom they could always trust and rely on anywhere and anytime like a ray of hope that always showed the way forward.

“Shall we sleep now?”

For tomorrow.

And for the tomorrow to be continued.

Everyone smiled again at the words of Landius.

They nodded and agreed with him.

***

Landius looked in front of him.

He faced the ruins that had changed a little in the past ten years or so.

The royal palace of the Paragon Kingdom.

A place where the demonic energy remained strong, becoming a land where no one could live.

But not anymore.

The demonic energy was disappearing bit by bit.

The energy of life once again resided in the ruins that were once filled with only blood and death.

“Landius.”

At the low voice calling him, Landius turned around.

As he expected, a woman stood there.

“Lena.”

Ten years had passed but she was still there. Her youthful appearance still remained despite her mature face.

“It went well, right?”

Her words came out of nowhere, but Landius nodded.

It was just as she said.

Archbishop Manuela ceased to exist.

The archangel and overlord who threatened Pleiades were also killed, and Pleiades regained its stability.

“It must be a bit disappointing.”

“What is?”

“Like it’s the 8.5 door? After all, you couldn’t become strong enough to open the ninth door.”

Although he met the goddess of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors and attained enlightenment, it was still impossible for him to open the ninth door.

But Landius had achieved a lot.

He defeated not only Demon Prince Baikazel who caused the fall of Paragon in the past, but also the Ancient Black Dragon Malekith who appeared in the south.

If it was the current Landius, he could do it now all alone.

But Landius did not regret it at all. Rather, he was glad that he had been deprived of the opportunity to use his power.

“Because not having to fight is the best.”

Someone would die or get hurt… and as a result, those who were left behind would suffer.

Because those things were enough now.

“Then what are you going to do now?”

Landius paused for a moment.

And realized that the current question was an extension of the question 10 years ago.

Now that Archbishop Manuela was gone.

What was Landius’ own wish?

What did he want to do in the future?

Landius thought for some time and then smiled.

Because Landius had grown a bit over the past ten years.

Now, he was not that ignorant.

Or rather, it would be strange if he did not notice it even now.

Because a lot had already changed in many ways from ten years ago.

Landius lowered his head.

Lena looked up at him.

She was trembling a bit from embarrassment, but did not cover her face with both hands like she did on that day ten years ago.

Those blue eyes.

“Let’s get married.”

He gently spoke.

He initially wanted to say something cooler, but what came out of his mouth in the end was too simple.

But this was enough.

A large hand caressed the cheek of Lena who bit her lips. Without realizing it, she burst into tears and then replied with a wide smile.

“Yes, let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

Let’s live so sweetly that even Jude and Cordelia will hate it.

Let’s have lots of children and live happily ever after.

Both of them now remembered their past lives.

They knew that in their past lives, the dreams of Lena were always unfulfilled and shattered in the end.

But it had changed now.

Lena did not sacrifice herself to close the Hell Gate.

Landius did not forcibly open the eighth door and destroyed himself.

“If it’s not me, who else would live with a giant like Landy? I need to save Landy.”

Lena said that while crying, and Landius chuckled and agreed.

He lifted up the very lovely woman and kissed her lips.

***

There was a country called Paragon.

It was a small but beautiful place.

There were those who were born and lived in the land that was now destroyed.

They knew no fear.

Not because they were not afraid of death.

But they did not run away.

Sometimes they stumbled, stepped back, and collapsed, but they kept moving forward.

And finally, they created a miracle.

They once again lifted away the darkness of the night and brought forth a new morning.

People called them the Five Heroes of Paragon.