Chapter 374: Nairy
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Are you awake young master? My beloved Master Grimm, you’re finally awake!”
Grimm’s eyelids fluttered open to see Little Myna’s beady eyes staring back less than an inch away.
“Little Myna…”
Grimm felt utterly exhausted, with not even a strand of energy left. Just as he was about to push Myna away, a thought drifted into his mind before he sat straight up with a start.
“Where am I?”
Grimm looked at the four metallic walls that surrounded him. He could feel the faint signal of magic-suppression in the room. Two Mechanical Marionettes stood idly on both sides of the door, guarding Grimm’s room.
The last fragment of memory he had was of that apocalyptic-sized palms of the Infernal God, Dark Destroyer closing in on him back in the spatial tunnel. At that time, both he and the Thousand-eyed Carcinus were facing utter despair. No matter how many times he activated the Thousand Birds Frost Burst spell, it would not make so much as a scratch on the enemy.
That fear he felt in his heart at that moment, that despair, that futile struggle for his life…
These emotions came flooding into Grimm’s mind as his heart pounded against his ribcage. The muscles on his body unconsciously tensed up as the memory of his near-death experience flashed through his mind. In the end, there was nothing he could do so he laid back onto the bed.
“Caw caw, we’re in the Void Fortress now. Young Master, you have been in the recovery process for a little more than two months now. It’s best for you to make it till the end and get a full-recovery.”
Two months?
Grimm felt an indescribable feeling in his body. It was as if he had somehow developed a new ability. But, considering the state his body was in at the moment, it wasn’t possible for him to make any confirmations.
Wrapped around Grimm’s arms and legs were rings of purple vine, most likely to help with his recovery process.
“What about the Dark Destroyer Infernal God? What happened to him?”
Grimm asked nervously.
“Oh, he was sealed by the Dark Realm Stigmata Sorcerer. All the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers saw it go down. After that, he couldn’t even make his escape anywhere. Caw caw caw caw, Young Master, do you know how many times your name popped up in the little ones’ conversations? You’re gonna be famous now!”
Myna shrilled, as if itself was going to be the famous one.
As for the “little ones”, Myna was referring to Demon-Hunter Sorcerers. The only acceptable excuse Myna had for calling them such names was the fact that it had been around longer and had more experience. Other than that, a comparison in terms of strength or abilities, would reveal Myna to be nothing but a proud, pompous feathered baby.
Sigh…
“So he was successfully sealed off huh…”
Grimm sighed in relief. He lay silently on the bed, staring soullessly into the metallic ceiling of his room.
If that’s the case, it’s safe to assume that his Rank-1 Honor Badge mission was completed then?
***
One month later.
Grimm once again put on the Mask of Truth and raised the Sabbatic Goat Staff in his hands. With Myna perching securely on his shoulder, he disintegrated into a mass of yellow sand before flying off beyond the confines of the Void Fortress.
While there were no noticeable changes to Grimm’s Mandala Sorcerer Robe, he could feel that he had used up half of its lifespan after the continuous battles he engaged in back at the Infernal Spirit World.
In the sky, the World Gate that connected the Infernal Spirit World and the Burrow World had been reduced to less than the span of three meters.
Such a small World Gate, even a level-one creature could barely make it across.
Due to its dramatic loss in size, it had lost its glow and grown dull. Even its original rotating vortex state could not be maintained. The internal structure of the passageway had started collapsing on itself, gradually fading out of existence over time due to the effect of the Endless World’s law of equilibrium.
The millions of slave creatures that stood guard outside the World Gate had begun to feel impatient. Even the Dark Demon-Hunters remaining on standby alongside the creatures had started thinning out in numbers.
The only one that remained patiently waiting was the massive army formation of Bright Demon-Hunter Sorcerers.
The day came when the World Gate had finally shrunk into a black sphere the size of an eyeball, before the crisp sound of a pop, like a burst bubble, marked the end of the World Gate’s existence.
“Phew, it finally ended…”
“Ha ha ha, then you should head back and get some rest. What plans do you have for the upcoming expedition a hundred years later, to the Infernal Spirit World Black Isotta had announced?”
“A hundred years? Well let me rest for two hundred years before I give you an answer to that question.”
Such lighthearted conversations were held among many of the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers. Their faces relaxed into smiles as the Demon-Hunting Expedition in the Burrow World had finally come to an end.
It turns out…
It turns out that the World Coordinates in the records of the glass fragment Grimm had handed over to the Black Isotta did not belong to this Burrow World.
And it turns out that this Burrow World was just one of the many enslaved worlds of the Infernal God, Dark Destroyer’s Infernal Spirit World, also known as the Acraepoid World.
From the perspective of an insignificant level-one Demon-Hunter Sorcerer, Grimm had always found the arrangements of the Black Isotta Stigmata Sorcerer to be puzzling, and couldn’t help but question the rationale behind them.
But now, after personally watching the entire process unfold, he had found them to be reasonable.
Perhaps this was the difference in perspective between lifeforms of a different level? Or was it just due to the incapacity of an inferior lifeform?
As for the Demon-Hunting Expedition in the Infernal Spirit World a hundred years later…
If he could obtain the soul-knowledge in this upcoming expedition in the Infernal Spirit World at the cost of temporarily suspending the research process on the Destructive Energy for a hundred years, it would be fairly worth it.
Right, yes!
He could even call up the help of Wicky, Solumn, Millie, and Claudia to form a five-man team for his Demon-Hunting missions in the Infernal Spirit World. If there were any delays, he could spend some Sorcerer Essences to make up for it.
According to the Holy Tower’s laws, a Level-1 Demon-Hunter Sorcerer who has never carried out a demon-hunting mission over two hundred years could pay the rate of one Sorcerers Essence per year to extend the period of non-activity.
If one failed to do that, he would be stripped of his rights as a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer and be changed to the status of an Arcane Sorcerer.
The reason for the odd choice of these four people, was because they were the ones who had remained faithfully with him throughout his imprisonment at the Seven Rings Prison. Consequently, he was touched by their loyalty as his friends.
As for Mina, she was walking the path of a World Guardian. Aspiring to become the Guardian of Summer, she can never take a step beyond the Sorcerer World. Over time, she would gradually become the physical embodiment of the Sorcerer World’s Principal Will.
“Grimm.”
Suddenly, the sound of metallic friction grew louder as a figure wrapped in a layer of metal chains flew over. It was Nairy.
Grimm turned over. He nodded his head and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Nairy with a question instead, “What happened to my boy Grimm?”
That expression was exactly like what one would expect from a traveling poet’s guardian, who would go out of his way to stop others from asking for Grimm’s signature for memory’s sake.
Nairy’s eyes met Myna’s for a brief moment before he continued in a hushed tone, “Back then, you saved me once and sought the knowledge of the Crystallized Time spell as a reward. I turned you down.”
“Yeah.”
Grimm nodded his head before sighing.
After the final phase of scouting the Burrow World, Grimm had indeed saved Nairy’s life and tried to extract knowledge on his self-sealing spell as a reward for his benevolence, which was rejected nonetheless.
Like Nina York and Chris York, Nairo once had a brother, called Nairy who had loved her unconditionally, and would stick with her through thick and thin.
Both of them had entered the Dark Sorcerer Academy in the twenty-second district of the Holy Tower of the Seven Rings, and started walking their paths as sorcerers.
However, chaos spread from the twenty-first to the twenty-eighth district. A deadly war between sorcerers apprentices had sparked between four Dark Sorcerer districts and four Bright Sorcerer districts. It was in these districts that saw the worst fighting go down. Too many sorcerers apprentices would lose their lives pointlessly during this period.
Not advancing will breed weakness, which spells death!
Not only do the Dark Sorcerers apprentices here have to face being caught up in the brutal clashes between Dark Sorcerers themselves, they had to face the Bright Sorcerers who worked together with deadly efficiency as teams.
Amidst the cruel fighting, the darkness and despair, the pair of prodigy apprentices called Nairy and Nairo could not help but feel lost, like tears in the rain.
Perhaps, it was done out of a brother’s selfless affection towards his sister.
One day, fate directed Nairy to a sorcerer’s scroll. An idea lit up in his mind as he decided to use his intelligence and love for the sake of creating a chance for his sister to live on in this cruel world, to create a legendary spell for himself!
And on one day.
Nairy decided that the remaining will from his intelligence and love will be physically manifested as a black chain. After that, he would join bodies with Nairo in order to protect his sister once and for all. And thus, a nightmare Dark Sorcerer-apprentice was born in the state of pandemonium around them.
If…
If only he could use the Crystallized Time spell to actualize the self-sealing spell of “Lefay’s Memories”, to bring his eternal lover back into his own life then…