Erenes stared at Yulian with trembling eyes.
"You..."
If he were truly the Adversary, he wouldn't act like this. The Adversary wanted to destroy humanity, not fight to protect it.
But look at him now. He had fought against the Rifts, against the Salvation Church, and now he wasn't even afraid to fight a dragon.
There wasn't a hint of selfishness in him. He was sacrificing everything solely to protect people.
This was the image of the hero who had once fought alongside her.
'The Savior.'
In the ancient war, the hero was also known as the Savior.
And when Erenes had gathered information about Yulian, she had learned that he was also called the Savior in the Turian Kingdom.
This only deepened her confusion. She could no longer be certain that he was the Adversary.
Her heart ached. His face kept stirring old memories she had tried to bury.
Suppressing those memories and emotions, Erenes spoke coldly.
"No matter how strong you are, you can't defeat him. Dragons aren't called the ultimate lifeforms and supreme beings for nothing."
Even Ghislain nodded at this. He had fought a dragon in his previous life and knew their strength well.
He and Yulian, along with Jerome, Parniel, and Idun—five of the continent's seven strongest—had led armies against Artherion. And yet, they had struggled against the dragon's overwhelming power.
There was still more to clarify, more that needed to be understood.
"Yulian, we can't let you go fight the dragon alone."
"It's fine. The dragon is looking for me anyway. I'll handle it myself."
"Why hog all the fun? If you're going, we're all going."
"..."
"Erenes, why are you and that dragon so certain the Adversary has been resurrected? From what I've heard, he died in the ancient war."
"Yes, he did die."
"Dead people don't just come back to life..."
Ghislain trailed off mid-sentence, suddenly recalling something.
He himself was someone who had died filled with resentment, only to live again.
Technically, he had returned to the past, but still.
Erenes answered with a calm expression.
"It's certain that the Adversary died. But before his death, he foretold his resurrection. He cursed us as he did so."
"No matter how ominous his prophecy was, isn't it strange to believe it literally?"
"We also thought it was just a vengeful curse. But we were actually cursed... and only now has the curse been lifted. That's why the dragon and I can move again."
The others remained silent, their eyes darting about. They wanted to believe her but couldn't shake the feeling that it was an outlandish tale.
Ghislain, too, found it hard to confidently assess the situation. He had only confirmed a few details from his dreams.
Vanessa, the mage, summarized the situation simply.
"So... a long time ago, Lady Erenes and the dragon fought the Salvation Church... defeated their king and won... but that king prophesied his resurrection... and now he's alive again?"
"...Yes."
"And the Salvation Church believes in that prophecy... so they're looking for their king... and you and the dragon are also trying to find him and kill him?"
"...Yes."
Even someone indoctrinated by a cult wouldn't believe a prophecy this literally. To Vanessa, a mage, it seemed even less credible.
She offered a rational hypothesis.
"Uh, well... isn't it hard to conclude he's resurrected just because the curse lifted? Even powerful curses can dissipate over time."
Erenes nodded. She had once thought the same.
So, she presented additional evidence.
"Even if the Demon God's lingering thoughts were sealed, they never truly disappeared. They've already spread throughout this world. I don't know the details, but I've heard that it's been part of the world for a long time now."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Only members of the Salvation Church can sense or manipulate that energy. No one else can see or feel it."
The group tilted their heads in confusion.
They knew the Salvation Church wielded unique powers, and according to Erenes's myth, it came from the Demon God's lingering energy.
But how did that connect to the Adversary's resurrection?
Erenes continued in her calm tone.
"The stronger the Adversary's power becomes, the stronger the spread of that energy throughout the world. The Adversary bears the purest essence of the Demon God's energy in his soul."
Her eyes grew distant, as though she were recalling someone from her memories.
"Those connected to him are also affected. First are those who use the Salvation Church's power. Second are those cursed by him."
The group nodded in understanding. Whether or not the Salvation Church's power had grown stronger, the evidence of the dragon's curse lifting seemed credible.
Then Erenes said something shocking.
"The third is the Rifts. If you investigate them, you'll surely find anomalies."
"..."
The group's expressions hardened, especially Jerome and Vanessa, who reacted intensely.
There had recently been abnormalities in the Rifts, prompting mages to gather and conduct extensive research. They had yet to determine the cause.
If Erenes's words were true...
Jerome murmured to himself, "The Adversary's resurrection, and his growing power... could that be causing the Rifts to act strangely?"
Erenes turned her gaze toward Jerome.
"What kind of anomalies?"
"Ah, the size of the Rifts we had suppressed with magic circles... they've grown slightly larger."
Erenes nodded, as though she had expected this.
"Yes. The Rifts are influenced by the Demon God's energy. The Adversary must have been secretly growing his power somewhere. That's probably why he hasn't shown himself until now."
It seemed Erenes's certainty about Yulian being the Adversary had turned into doubt.
Jerome asked Erenes, "Is it really possible for us not to sense the Demon God's energy? How can that be?"
Jerome, a mage of the eighth circle, was more attuned to the world's energy than anyone.
Yet, he had never felt such a strange force in his life.
Erenes nodded.
"The energy dispersed throughout the world is beyond our perception. But it is real. You know well that the Salvation Church uses an alien power."
"Then how does the Salvation Church use it?"
"I don't know. They must have their own methods."
"...Hmm."
"Think of it like spirits. Someone completely lacking affinity with them cannot sense their presence."
Jerome found her explanation reasonable. It made sense.
The origin of the power used by the Salvation Church's priests remained unclear.
They drained life force from others, yet their power differed from necromancy. Even Hellnik couldn't pinpoint its exact source.
If it truly came from the Demon God's energy, it would explain everything—just as ordinary people harness mana.
"Hmm..."
Ghislain fell into thought. Even though he had reached the level of glimpsing the world's flow, he had never seen anything resembling the Demon God's energy.
Perhaps he wasn't strong enough yet, or maybe there was another reason.
In any case, the energy's existence couldn't be denied. The Salvation Church's priests clearly used it.
After a moment of silence, Erenes addressed the group.
"I think you now have a rough understanding of the background. Of course, it's mixed with myth, so I understand if it's hard to believe. Even I don't know the full truth. But what's certain is that the Adversary has been resurrected, and his influence is growing stronger."
"..."
Some glanced at Yulian. Comparing what they had heard with Yulian's actions, everything seemed to align.
After all, Yulian had grown stronger faster than anyone else.
Even so, they quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way someone like him could be the Adversary.
Ghislain, too, was certain Yulian couldn't be the Adversary. He had seen in his dreams that the one resembling Yulian was a hero.
Even if reborn, the odds favored him being a hero rather than the Adversary.
Wasn't he already fighting for the people, embodying the very image of a hero?
The Adversary is...
Ghislain glanced around furtively and closed his mouth.
'Ah, why does he resemble me more?'
— Master! Isn't that totally you? Just admit it already and beg for forgiveness! Say you'll give up on world domination!
'Shut up.'
In the dream, the Adversary seemed like a version of himself using Dark's power. It really did look like him—hadn't Dark pointed that out before?
Even Erenes had attacked Ghislain the moment they saw him in the past. It was only after experiencing Dark's energy firsthand that Erenes admitted they had been mistaken. But didn't that mean the Adversary and Ghislain were strikingly similar?
Ghislain couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. That damned dream had been making him feel so unsettled lately.
Everyone fell silent, lost in thought. Erenes's words had been shocking, but they had undoubtedly shed light on the mysteries surrounding the Salvation Church.
As everyone remained immersed in their own thoughts, Jerome stepped forward as if making a decision.
"Um... Actually, there are some records about the Adversary."
At his words, Erenes looked startled and asked, "What? There are records left?"
"Yes. In our Tower, there are records about the Salvation Church and the Adversary. Well, it doesn't specifically mention the Salvation Church but rather a darkness that engulfed the world..."
"What kind of records? What records remain?"
Erenes's fiery gaze fixed on Jerome, who swallowed nervously.
"Well, I don't know exactly. I just heard that the founder of our Tower created a spell to confront the Adversary. The spell I used against Gartros before—that's the one."
"And beyond that?"
"There... isn't anything else. Just instructions to use that spell when encountering the Adversary... That was our Tower's mission."
"Who is the founder of your Tower?"
"The name is unknown."
Jerome's teacher and their predecessors had lived hidden lives for generations, passing down only their mission.
Initially, Jerome had hesitated to speak. After all, it was a secret the Tower had safeguarded for countless years.
But Erenes's account aligned too perfectly with the Tower's ancient traditions. It no longer felt like a secret worth keeping.
So he had spoken, but Erenes's reaction was strange.
She looked at Jerome and asked again, "Truly, there are no other records?"
"No, really, there's nothing else."
The others also looked at Erenes suspiciously.
A moment ago, she had claimed not to know why the records had been erased. So why was she so agitated about them now?
Sensing the scrutiny, Erenes shook her head and said, "I wondered if it might be a record left by someone I knew from that time. If so, it would have been someone who fought alongside me. I just wanted to revisit old memories."
Jerome started to say something but closed his mouth.
The Tower's founder was known to have been a companion of the Hero and the Saintess. But for some reason, he felt it wasn't the right time to reveal that.
Ghislain, too, eyed Erenes with suspicion. She was clearly still hiding something.
'She's not the type to spill just because she's pushed.'
For now, it was enough to have gathered this much information. In his previous life, she hadn't even gotten this far.
What could be such a closely guarded secret? It must have been related to the war a thousand years ago.
Still, Ghislain chose not to press Erenes.
'The current information is sufficient.'
The rest could be uncovered through the dreams. After all, the dreams clearly showed that war.
But there was one thing he needed to know immediately.
Ghislain looked at Erenes and spoke.
"Well, most of my questions are answered. If I have more, I'll ask later. Finding the Adversary seems tough for now, so we should focus on stopping the dragon first."
"Yes. Right now, nothing is more important than stopping the dragon."
"But... I'm curious about the end of that war."
"Didn't I say humanity won? That's why we're thriving now."
"I know that... but what happened to the Saintess and the Hero? Weren't they cursed?"
"They... poured all their power into purifying the Demon Realm and sealing the Demon God's corpse. They died in the process. Thanks to their sacrifice, the Salvation Church lost its territory and was forced into hiding."
"I see. That's truly in line with what you'd expect from a Saintess and a Hero."
Everyone nodded. The two who had sacrificed themselves for the world were undeniably worthy of praise.
Just as the conversation seemed to be wrapping up, Ghislain suddenly asked, "Where was that Demon Realm? Does such a place exist on this continent?"
At this, Erenes hesitated. She remained silent for a long while.
After several moments of hesitation, she let out a heavy sigh and finally spoke.
"That place... is somewhere everyone here knows."
"Where? We've never heard of such a legend or rumor."
Erenes looked at the large map on the wall and pointed to a specific spot.
"The Kingdom of Lutania's..."
Everyone followed her finger. When they confirmed the location she was pointing at, their expressions hardened.
Erenes's voice echoed in their ears.
"The Forest of Demonic Beasts."
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