Chapter 823

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After leaving Hidden Palace, Elona Zipfel wandered the vast sea for a long time. She didn't feel like returning quickly to those who awakened her. Although she was undoubtedly someone who fought for her clan, it had been a thousand years since she awakened from her seal.

Elona was not particularly happy about this fact. Just like staring into a deep, dark well, it was difficult for her to read her own thoughts.

'The chill... It's cold.'

A human in the genesis mage realm would hardly feel the cold from such a mild sea breeze. But she felt a sense of loneliness in the chill.

As Ameris suspected, Elona was born with an inexplicably strong power from the moment she was born, and the reason was the essence of the Sun God.

Of course, Elona didn't know what the power within her was. Just like Zipfel at that time.

Elona's transparent footprints were imprinted over the sea, but when she looked back at her own footprints, they didn't appear transparent but rather blood-red.

She thought her body must be soaked in the blood of all those countless people she killed a thousand years ago.

Her opponents had never pleaded for mercy or begged. At that time, most of the people she encountered did not realize their impending death.

Those who faced Elona and had the power to survive didn't plead for mercy. They either fought back like Temar and the ten great knights or retreated while cursing.

On the battlefield, there was never a time when Elona retreated first.

'Back then, I felt like I wanted to disappear while fighting. Just like Temar, I wanted someone who could kill me... Why did I have such thoughts? Did I hate my clan? Did I no longer want to kill people?'

She didn't know.

The more she thought, the more her head throbbed, but she couldn't stop thinking. As a result, her mana unintentionally stirred the sea chaotically in response to her troubled emotions.

The frost mana spread, freezing the entire sea, and then the fire mana surged, melting it again. The mana that turned into wind created a huge storm, and within it, lightning struck.

All of it was not magic, but merely the power generated by Elona's emotions. However, if someone had been nearby, even a fleet wouldn't have been able to withstand the onslaught and would have been reduced to debris.

'Should I just sink into the deep sea, never to resurface. Don't return to the clan. Maybe that would be better. But the clan…'

Zipfel, the clan she had to protect.

The faintly remembered faces of her clan members all showed only two expressions: fear or disdain.

She didn't understand the former. She had no intention of harming the clan members.

She understood the latter. They judged that Elona was just strong, not fulfilling her duty as a Zipfel.

'Even now, I'm the same as back then. I think I have to fight for the clan, but I feel confused.'

She wished someone would put an end to this confusion.

As she thought about it, Elona noticed a group of lights approaching in the distant dark night sky.

It was Zipfel's First Fleet.

"Kozec..."

If that's the case, the patriarch must be on board. Elona looked up at the fleet, gathered her scattered mana, and the fleet descended and took its position before her.

"I, patriarch of Zipfel, Veradin Zipfel, greet the old hero of the clan."

Veradin knelt on one knee as he spoke on the frozen sea. Behind him, the executives and mages of Zipfel were all saluting.

Elona was shocked.

She had never received such respectful treatment from the clan. On days of ceremony, she had received formal bows, but the atmosphere was entirely different from now.

That bow felt more like a reprimand. Facing the gaze of the clan members' eyes, she felt suffocated and oppressed more than anything else.

"I am sorry I came to see you so late. We have been neglectful and have left you, Lady Elona, unattended."

"...Can you raise your head a little?"

Elona made eye contact with Veradin. From his words, she couldn't read any hatred, disdain, or falsehood.

"Is it you who called me?"

"It was not me; the Tower of Stories unsealed you, Lady Elona. Regrettably, we were not even aware of your existence until the Tower of Stories called you."

"The Tower... unsealed me?"

The Tower of Stories, the place where Elona spent most of her time along with the battlefield a thousand years ago.

As she recalled the appearance of the tower, her hazy memories and emotions revived at a rapid pace.

When she communicated with the tower and wielded her mana, Elona often felt more at ease than ever. The Tower of Stories was her only place of rest and her friend.

"Nearly a thousand years have passed, and yet the Tower of Stories still remains. That's why the calling energy felt so familiar, I suppose."

"To be frank, it seems the tower has been waiting for you, Lady Elona. As I mentioned, we were not even aware of your existence, but as soon as the conditions were met, the tower unsealed you on its own. It could have endangered my life as well."

At his words, Elona felt the loneliness buried deep within her melting away like snow. It was as if a long-forgotten friend was embracing her.

"You, the patriarch of the clan, were in danger because of me."

"The tower judged that you were more important to the clan than me, and that is absolute. So, please don't worry about it."

"But you said that you didn't know anything about me until recently. I'm not that valuable of a person."

"When Tower of Stories unsealed you, I glimpsed into your life, lady Elona. I, too, would have made the same judgment as the tower did."

"May I go to the Tower of Stories?"

"In the clan, Lady Elona, you can do whatever you want. There is no place in the clan's land that you cannot go, no item in the clan's possession that you cannot have, and no person in the clan that you cannot command, including the patriarch, myself."

Elona found it difficult to respond and simply gazed at Veradin and his entourage for a while.

"Then what is it that you and the clan want from me?"

"Please protect the clan."

"That's the only thing I can do, the only thing I know how to do."

"If you wish to help the clan because it is your duty, then Lady Elona, you have already fulfilled that responsibility a thousand years ago. Those incapable and arrogant ancestors of that time did not acknowledge this fact. If you wish to help the clan out of pity or affection, the current Zipfel is not the Zipfel you once knew. However, if you simply wish to help at the request of the patriarch, then even if you refuse, I will not hold any resentment."

As Elona conversed with Veradin, she felt her inner self calming like a lake.

Soon, she understood the reason. Every word he spoke was like a warm consolation she had never experienced before.

And as Veradin read her inner thoughts more and more, he felt anger toward the arrogant and foolish ancestors of that time.

'They are unworthy of being called ancestors, worthless trash. The day when the Demon's God's Orb is completed, I will personally erase their history.'

When the Tower of Stories merged with him to unseal Elona, Veradin did not only glimpse into Elona's life. He also saw the incompetence of the Zipfel of that time, who despite having the perfect conditions, failed to fulfill their long-cherished wishes.

"The words you speak are a great comfort to me, Veradin."

"The fact that a hero who protected the clan was so lonely is truly lamentable."

"Thanks to you, I now know what I want to do."

"Please tell me; I will assist you in anything."

"I... I want to live a better life than before. I want to avoid unnecessary killings and not feel lonely when I look back on the day before going to sleep."

"Are you saying you wish for a retired life?"

"Not exactly. The fact that the Tower risked the patriarch's life to call me means that the Tower still loves the clan. I feel the same way. I mean that I want to continue doing things for the clan, fulfilling what I just said."

"In that case, it means you want to step onto the glorious battlefield filled with honor, excluding senseless killings, loneliness, and confusion."

"That seems to be it. I only know how to fight enemies and kill them."

"I cannot say there won't be any painful battles. However, if there comes a day when you feel burdened on the battlefield, you can leave the clan at any time."

"I don't want to leave. As long as the Tower does not abandon the clan, I will not leave either, no matter what situation arises. However, since you mentioned that there is no one in the clan that I cannot command, if a day comes like a thousand years ago, I want to change the clan as I see fit."

"It is not necessary for you to seek permission from anyone, Lady Elona."

"However, you are the patriarch. Until such a day comes, I will remain a loyal servant to the patriarch. Also, somehow, I feel like such a day will never come. I have never felt at ease like this since I was born."

"That's too kind of you to say. But since you mentioned it, I do feel better when you speak like that."

"Then please rise now. I feel embarrassed and sorry for making you kneel, patriarch."

Veradin slowly stood up. Elona smiled brightly. It was an expression she had never shown a thousand years ago.

"Then, let's head to the Tower of Stories."

Kozec began the flight towards the Tower of Stories. Elona looked down at the city visible below, capturing the different landscapes from a thousand years ago. Unlike back then, she sincerely felt a surge of desire to protect those cities.

"Patriarch."

"Speak, Lady Elona."

"A thousand years have passed, so there must be a mountain of things I need to learn anew. But there is one thing I'm most curious about."

"What is it?"

"Among the enemies of Zipfel right now, is there anyone stronger than me?"

Veradin immediately thought of Chiron, Vahn, Jin, and Murakan.

"...Lady Elona. What was it like during the time of Temar Runcandel, first patriarch of Runcandel?"

Elona pondered for a moment and replied, "At that time, I don't think there was anyone."

"If that's the case, most likely, it hasn't changed even now."

[T/L: A kid still wet behind his ears giving evaluation about Vahn and Chiron.]

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