Book 2: Chapter 564
[…You.]
Residue started speaking but couldn’t find the words to continue.
So he looked into Lukas's inner self. He focused to understand what he was thinking. However, he soon realized that it was like staring into darkness, unable to see anything, and felt a sense of futility.
…It wasn’t strange.
Ever since the contact with Destruction, reading Lukas's inner thoughts had become difficult.
[Are you asking me to wear your shell?]
“That alone is not enough. You also need to imitate me.”
[Imitate?]
“I want you to play the role of ‘Lukas Trowman.’”
Residue was momentarily speechless, and what broke that silence was a rising fury.
[Don’t… talk nonsense.]
Residue felt shame and humiliation at the same time.
He even doubted if this bastard was in his right mind to be saying such things.
[You dare suggest I play the role of a clown?]
Despite Residue’s anger,
Lukas could probably guess the reason for that anger, but he just laughed.
“Is that how you feel? …Well, it can’t be helped. But you don’t have a choice, do you?”
[What?]
“I told you. I’ve already decided to go to the right. I have no intention of changing that.”
He spoke as if he felt liberated.
With a face that looked refreshed, as if he had no regrets.
…Residue,
He couldn’t understand it.
[How can you do that?]
At this moment, the burden he might have to bear disappeared from his mind.
He simply couldn’t understand.
It was like that from the beginning.
Since the time he was a Ruler, Lukas Trowman was an incomprehensible being.
[What is so refreshing? Is it because you’re passing the burden to me? Because you’ve shed a responsibility? Do you feel liberated from the burden? …This isn’t that kind of issue.]
“…….”
[You know, don’t you, Lukas? That beyond is a greater hell.]
To the right,
A world that Residue couldn’t even see.
What awaited Lukas there would be a pain that made the word hell seem laughable. The weight of the name ‘Lukas’ that Residue would bear here would feel like a feather in comparison.
[…I didn’t hear what conversation you had with the Beginning Wizard here. But I can tell. That wasn’t what he had planned.]
“…….”
[I don’t ridicule your change of heart. So let me ask you. Is this really your choice? Do you have to go there, Lukas?]
And Lukas slowly closed his eyes.
Residue looked at him for a while and then suddenly realized.
Why hadn’t he noticed before?
The guy’s face was pale. Cold sweat was running down his whole body, and he was trembling all over.
Yes. Of course. It's only natural.
─Just because he wasn’t afraid of Destruction didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of the ‘outer world.’
He had been forcing himself to smile all along.
Even so.
“I’m going.”
He muttered in a voice mixed with fear.
Residue found all his demeanor unbearably irritating. But that irritation was entirely different from the feeling one gets when watching a moth fly into a flame.
Such a sight is pathetic and amusing, but never pitiful.
[Why?]
“Because that’s my role. Because that’s the only way I can accept it.”
With a trembling voice and an awkward smile, he said that.
Residue was speechless for a moment, and then, not wanting to see his face anymore, he turned his consciousness elsewhere.
[…You’re a real fool.]
Lukas seemed to smile faintly, but Residue’s rebuke did not stop.
[You’re an idiot who doesn’t know your place, a fool who can’t make proper distinctions, a moron, a lifelong virgin who’ll never hold a woman’s hand. And……]
“Is there more?”
[…You.]
Perhaps he had been thinking this since the first time he saw him.
However, Residue ultimately swallowed those words and said something else.
[…Do I really have to imitate you?]
“You can't keep doing it forever. But at least for a while, I want you to live as Lukas.”
[You know how insulting that suggestion is, right?]
“I know it very well. That’s why I’m asking you.”
[…….]
“You have to do it. No one else can.”
[Damn it. You say that so easily.]
Residue spat out a rough curse.
[Even for me, it’s heavy. Your burden…!]
He never thought there would come a day when he would complain.
But maybe he considered it an exaggeration.
Lukas burst out laughing once again.
“Then I’m more relieved. It means you’re afraid of failing. That’s proof that you’ve become a remarkable person. Residue, we’re the same. Both of us are trembling.”
[Ha. So, does that mean you’re amazing too?]
His laughter grew louder.
What’s so funny in this situation, this guy.
“Mark Trowman, my brother, took on my responsibility. I learned something from that.”
[…….]
“Isn’t it true that the world is full of unknowns, Residue? When you were the Lightning God, I declared to you that I would never pass my burden onto someone else.”
…Come to think of it, there was a time like that.
─I will not pass on my burden. It’s the path I walk and the choice I made. There’s no part where you need to interfere.
Lukas said that with clear eyes.
But now─
“The me who said that, now I’m asking you. To take on my responsibility.”
[…….]
“I thought I could never pass it on. Honestly, even now I do. Not to the most trusted disciple, or the closest friend. I couldn’t give them my burden.”
But.
“If it’s you, I can trust you. So I’m asking you, Residue. Be my last arrangement.”
Lukas didn’t wait for an answer.
As if he had already heard it, he took a step forward.
Ssss—
And it began to flow out.
The desperately maintained body collapsed powerlessly, and black smoke began to flow out from the top of his head.
“Cough…!”
Residue moved.
He moved with Lukas's body and looked at Lukas.
“Wait, st…op…!”
He squeezed out his voice.
He had moved Lukas's body before, but this time was different.
It was heavy.
This body,
Lighter than an average adult male, was so heavy that Residue felt like he wanted to kneel right then and there.
“You’re not planning to die, are you…! Lukas Trowman…!”
At those words, the departing black smoke halted.
[Die? Me?]
“…….”
[No. For a long time, nothing could kill me. Destruction will be no different.]
Lukas had become a form like black smoke.
Residue couldn’t even guess what state Lukas was in now or how he viewed the world.
But.
[So, Residue.]
He could tell that the guy was smiling now.
[─See you again.]
He disappeared.
No, he was leaving.
To a place where the most painful journey awaited.
…He wouldn’t want to. He must be scared.
If he could, he would want to delay or pass this on too.
The remaining emotions in Lukas's body claimed as much.
But you won’t regret it.
“…This isn’t a sight I should be seeing, is it?”
Residue, left alone, murmured powerlessly.
He thought that someone else should be here instead of him. It shouldn't be someone like him who witnessed this scene.
…But Lukas thought differently.
He chose Residue. He believed it had to be Residue.
So this was the first time.
Being relied upon by someone.
“…….”
Residue stood up.
The space that had been a ‘boundary’ until just now returned to its original state.
The room of the Beginning Wizard was merely a few compartments with minimal furniture.
In there were a staff, a robe, and a mask.
Residue reached out for the mask.
* * *
At the entrance to the Beginning Wizard’s room in Tower 77.
All the Truth Seekers alive were gathered there. They all looked at the door with the exact same expression, as if stamped out of a mold.
Amidst the heavy silence,
‘…How much time has passed?’
Altata, the Sevens Magician on the 44th floor, suddenly wondered.
There was no time limit given, but this much delay felt unnatural.
His Lordship had said that after the ‘task’ was finished, whoever emerged from his room would be the next Beginning Wizard.
And now, the emergency that had plunged the Magic Tower into chaos was over.
The distortion of space had vanished, and the black waterfall had disappeared. The ‘darkest darkness’ that had occupied most of the upper floors had also faded away.
So the only space still uncertain was the Beginning Wizard’s room right in front of them.
‘…His Lordship had forbidden access to that place.’
And he added that they must not approach until the door opened on its own.
Should they keep waiting? For days and nights like this?
The anxiety didn’t go away.
Altata bit his lip at that moment.
Creeeak─
The door opened.
All the Truth Seekers flinched.
And they drew up their mana, ready to cast spells at any moment. Even Altata, who knew the situation, and Haike, another Sevens Magician, were no exception.
Though they were in a position to follow whoever came out of there, the tension remained because they had just faced darkness.
Then a man walked out.
“That person is……”
Murmurs spread among the Truth Seekers like waves.
To some, the face was familiar; to others, it was strange.
The man's identity didn’t matter much.
Their eyes were more focused on the staff, robe, and mask in his hands.
─Symbols of the Beginning Wizard.
‘Then this man is.’
No, this person is.
Altata was the first to realize his role.
“─Your Lordship.”
She felt a cold gaze behind her bowed head.
Altata bowed even lower.
“Your Lordship.”
As Haike’s voice followed, the other Truth Seekers quickly came to their senses.
“Your Lordship.”
Voices overlapped.
“Lead us.”
“Give us answers.”
“Please save us.”
Those who knelt.
Among them,
The man looked down at the mask indifferently.
“No,”
It was a detached voice, like a stone rolling off a cliff.
“I will not lead.”
A silence like held breath fell.
“I will not give answers. I will not save you.”
Some of the Truth Seekers who had encountered him before felt a sense of discord.
Though the voice and face were the same, there was an inexplicable difference.
“This bo……. No.”
The interrupted words resumed.
“I will rule.”
That day.
One great wizard left,
And another great wizard was born.
The most unusual great wizard in history.
* * *
‘Ridiculous.’
If Residue were to sum up life in one word, that would be it.
When one has fallen this far, it’s natural to laugh before feeling anger or futility.
─When he was the Thunderous Lightning God, when he was a Ruler.
Perhaps Residue felt no pride in those titles at the time. He had never been anything else. From birth, his position was at the top. He didn’t know what it felt like to stand anywhere else, and he didn’t want to know.
Whatever he desired or wanted soon became reality. It wasn’t just overwhelming physical power. The mental strength of a Ruler was so solid that it wouldn’t waver even through eons of fear, remaining unshaken by unexpected events.
…So when did it start?
When did I become familiar with turmoil?
─For me, humanity is about being able to smile while sipping a glass of wine under the moonlight.
Those were the words.
The words Lukas had said to the Black Horned Demon God.
At the time, they might not have meant anything to him.
But at some point, slowly but surely─
Residue began to feel envy.
It’s an inner feeling he never wanted to show, especially not to Lukas. Though, if it were him, he might already know─
Yes.
Residue, absurdly enough, harbored admiration.
And he wanted to know more.
It’s not about being human. It’s about you, Lukas.
I just wanted to know more about you.
Every moment spent with you was intense. High-density memories added one by one, each with vivid colors. I learned about the beauty in a fleeting life.
And sometimes.
No, actually, always.
…It was enjoyable.
“…..Stupid bastard.”
Residue muttered.
It might have been the first time he reproached himself.
Like an idiot, he realized it too late, after Lukas had already left.
─You’re an idiot who doesn’t know your place, a fool who can’t make proper distinctions, a moron, a lifelong virgin who’ll never hold a woman’s hand. And…….
─Is there more?
─…You.
He should have said it.
─You… are an amazing person, Lukas.
That’s how,
He should have seen off his departing friend.
*****