Chapter 2 - Inheritance of Ashes
"Fire magic and ice magic can never be learned together."
The mana of fire and the mana of water were absolute opposites.
Once Eldryn had accepted the mana of water into his heart and built up the foundations of ice magic within his body, there was no way he could ever learn fire magic again, unless he was somehow reborn.
That was why Harman had genuinely regretted that Eldryn had studied ice magic with the Vael family.
"But I was wrong."
Eldryn had proven it perfectly—by driving his magic into Desmond's chest.
Harman watched Eldryn's precarious back as he stood.
He was freezing the parts of his collapsing body to hold their form and preserve his mana circuits, attempting to cast magic of the same power as ever, even in this extreme condition.
"No—even stronger magic than before."
Harman could see it.
Right now, Eldryn was accepting the permanent damage of his circuits and instead was expanding them wider than ever before, freezing them in place.
"If he does that…"
Harman knew by instinct.
Everything would be decided in this final clash.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you to the end, Eldryn."
Instead of those words, thick clots of dark blood welled up in his mouth again.
"…"
Eldryn did not take his eyes off Desmond.
Blood trickled from the lips he had bitten to endure the pain.
And in the middle of the plain, the two began to chant, their voices overlapping.
"Eternal Frozen."
[Death.]
It was hard to believe these were their final incantations.
A fierce storm of mana collided between them.
And—
Eldryn ' magic succeeded in freezing even death itself.
"Craack— craaack—"
Desmond's body—he who had nearly brought the continent to ruin with the mana of darkness—was frozen solid.
"Rumble."
The shattered ice fell and crowned the peak of the mountain of corpses.
The plain, which had birthed more screams than any other, sank into silence.
"…It's over."
Eldryn exhaled a shallow breath.
Without turning his head, he spoke to the empty air.
"Harman. Earlier, you said you used to think fire magic was the only answer."
"Craack."
Cracks split the ice that had been holding his neck in place, and his voice broke.
But Eldryn continued without concern.
"Of course, you were wrong. But even the ice magic I have now—it was only close to the answer. It wasn't the answer itself."
If the path he had walked until now had been the one true answer, he should have killed Desmond long before things came to this.
Eldryn, who had mastered ice magic, had ironically realized it while watching the magic of Harman Flameforce, the master of fire.
The astonishing stability he had pursued in ice magic.
But precisely because of that stability, his methods had become rigid.
If only he could have harnessed the freedom of fire magic—
"I might have reached a higher level still."
And perhaps he could have stopped Desmond before this ever happened.
"The research on accepting and wielding both powers together was almost complete… But I was too late."
Eldryn took a slow breath.
"…There's no point in saying this now, but…isn't that right, Harman?"
"Cough."
Eldryn managed to turn and look behind him.
"…"
But no answer came back.
"…How lonely."
For the first time, Eldryn—who had spent half his life quietly wrestling with solitude—spoke those words.
His frosted breath scattered in the air.
"I wonder… what happened to the family."
The faces of the disciples he had left behind rose unbidden in his mind.
Had they managed to defeat Desmond's followers safely?
"If I had realized it just a little earlier… I could have taught them a better way."
"Craack."
But now, even time to regret was nearly gone.
He had spent all his mana.
The ice that had barely held his body together was breaking and melting.
Naturally, his body began to collapse without strength.
Even so, Eldryn stepped forward—toward Harman, who lay unmoving.
"Thud."
His right arm fell to the ground.
His left arm nearly dropped too, but he clung to it with all his might.
"Thump."
His right leg gave way.
His left shin melted.
He braced his left hand on the cold earth and dragged himself forward.
And at last—
He reached out and closed the eyes of Harman Flameforce, who had died with them open.
"Thud."
Eldryn' head fell to the ground.
---
For some reason he could not explain, Eldryn' consciousness remained.
"Now…what happens to me?"
He had never given much thought to the time after death.
While alive, he had been too busy using every moment he was given.
It wasn't that he had no regrets about his past life.
But everything had already passed.
"Still…I did kill Desmond for certain."
—[Khuh… I had thought I would claim it this time. But one day… I surely shall…]
Just before Desmond froze completely, he had mumbled something ominous.
But that only made Eldryn even more thorough in ending him.
He had checked again and again—Desmond was dead.
It bothered him that he hadn't confirmed whether his family was safe.
But if his disciples had survived, they would have been enough to defeat Desmond's followers.
Eldryn quietly gathered his thoughts and settled his drifting awareness.
And then—
"…"
"So…the family head has finally stepped in."
"Looks like this is really the end."
"He held on for a long time."
Suddenly, voices reached Eldryn' ears.
"…What? I'm not dead? There can't be any humans left alive in the Heran Plain…"
In the next instant, his vision brightened.
"…This isn't the Heran Plain."
It wasn't the Heran Plain, where corpses had littered the ground as far as the eye could see.
"Lucian Vael."
A middle-aged man standing before him spoke his name.
"Lucian Vael?"
"Yes."
He replied without meaning to.
Even as Eldryn's mind raced to understand this strange situation, his body accepted it as if it had always belonged here.
"What is this…"
Even so, the family head did not pause.
He opened his eyes wide and shouted.
"Lucian Vael, and all children and disciples of the Vael family—listen well! I, Blake Vael, the 17th Head of House Vael, hereby declare—!"
His powerful voice rang through the hall.
The murmuring fell silent, and all eyes turned to them.
"Wait—17th Head?"
It was a confusing situation, but Eldryn drew a swift conclusion from the barest facts.
Somehow, the man before him was the Head of the Vael family.
And for some reason, Eldryn had become someone called Lucian Vael.
Or rather—it was as if Eldryn' memories had awakened within Lucian Vael.
If he were to describe it from Lucian Vael' perspective—
"I've recovered the memories of my past life…"
The one problem was that he could not recall any memories of "being" LucianVael.
His vast memories of a previous life had flooded in all at once, pressing down whatever Lucian Vael had once remembered.
"If he's the 17th Head…that means five generations have passed since me. That's about two hundred years… For now, I should listen to this declaration and assess the situation."
As he thought this, the family head began to speak in earnest.
"Our Vael family has long protected the Empire from the monsters of the Garil Snow Mountains, here on the border."
Garil Snow Mountains.
It had been a very long time since he'd heard that name.
"Before moving the castle to the capital, this was where we lived."
Before Eldryn had raised the house to the rank of a magical great family, the Vael had guarded the border, slaying monsters in the snowy mountains.
They called it a holy duty, but in truth, it was simply that no other family wanted the role, and the weak Vael had been forced to take it.
"So I've come back here after all. Regrettable, but inevitable."
At any rate, the fact that Lucian was listening to the family head's declaration meant the Vael had survived Desmond's followers.
That, at least, was a relief.
"This was a sacred duty bestowed upon us by the Emperor himself. And though the monsters have grown ever more savage, our Vael family has repelled them perfectly."
Lucian gave a faint nod.
"Yes. Even if I've returned to such a place, the foundation has held firm."
It seemed his teachings, left behind in the form of grimoires, had borne fruit.
"And it is all thanks to this: though our numbers have dwindled, our Vael family has faithfully inherited and mastered powerful fire magic."
Indeed. The long-transmitted, mighty fire—
"…Wait. What?"
Lucian Vael, who had been nodding along, froze at the words that followed.
"Therefore!"
And then, with a voice that resounded through the hall, the family head proclaimed:
"Lucian Vael—though you are of direct blood, you have reached the age of fifteen and yet cannot wield even the most basic fire magic."
The Head of House Vael—Blake Vael—who had just spoken of fire magic, declared:
"You are hereby expelled from the Vael family."