Chapter 841: The Last (74)
‘Magic power…’
What I saw was a feast of colorful magic circles.
‘Jung Hayan.’
“Jung Hayan… Can you see it?”
“…”
“Are you seeing it?”
“…”
The scene was so beautiful that it couldn’t be explained in words, and it was also a scene that brought tears to my eyes for some reason.
I might be a little emotional. No, I was taking it emotionally. Most of the magic in my body was drained, and I was at my physical limit. And above all, this situation felt dramatic.
I might have been exhausted and thought about useless things.
“Are you okay? Sora… and you… is everyone fine?”
“Yes, I… I’m fine.”
“…”
“What about you…”
“…”
“Still…”
“Okay…”
On one hand, perhaps it was because I got to know Jung Hayan better.
Now that I thought about it, it would be closer to the latter than the former. There was a time when I thought it was crazy to understand this person, but now that we had spent a lot of time together… I thought I could understand her a little bit.
Maybe I was inspired without even knowing it.
I hated to imagine the first time we met, but… now, I could sympathize with the pain and suffering that Jung Hayan had.
I wasn’t good at reading other people’s minds, and I wasn’t even aware of everything about her.
It was just my thoughts after what I had been seeing or hearing, and I wasn’t even sure about that, but… Jung Hayan was a very pitiful person.
‘Crazy… It’s crazy to even think like this. Maybe this is something like Stockholm Syndrome. I need to come back to my senses… I really do…’
It wasn’t common to be abandoned by one’s family.
It was hard to imagine that the people someone trusted the most would turn their backs on them at some point. That was her trauma, and it had to have been an event that had a decisive influence on her psyche formation.
She still didn’t trust people, so what more could I say?
Jung Hayan was extremely reluctant to come into contact with other people.
She showed reluctance when she had to meet people and didn’t make herself clear in places where she was forced to meet. At first glance, it might seem like she couldn’t get along with others, but upon closer inspection, she actually didn’t want to.
She thought that others built the wall first, but Jung Hayan was the first to do it.
She never allowed others to come near her except for a few people.
‘Although she’s a very lonely person…’
It was strange that she felt more comfortable being alone.
Maybe that was why she was constructing one.
She was creating it because she was afraid of growing away from the people who knocked on the wall, of not being able to be with the people who came inside it.
I shouldn’t think that, but it was enough to feel like a dog suffering from a separation anxiety disorder. Jung Hayan was definitely abnormal when she couldn’t be with someone who had stepped into the wall.
She was terrified and couldn’t let her body just stay still. She tried not to stop thinking and kept coming up with thoughts she didn’t like. Due to the family members who suddenly abandoned her one day, she was constantly worried that those who broke through her wall would abandon her.
These people were no different than the parts that operated the person named Jung Hayan.
She had parts that wouldn’t have been a problem if she didn’t have them from the beginning.
If a part were missing, she wouldn’t function normally.
She couldn’t satisfy her basic needs, such as eating or sleeping. She couldn’t do everything a human being needed to survive. I never spoke to her directly, but this was…
‘It must be a mental illness.’
As I slowly looked to the side, I saw her holding a staff and looking up at the sky.
Magic power constantly flowed out of her mouth and eyes, and she was constantly chanting spells.
Shouts echoed all over the place.
Booooooooooom!!
With a loud sound, the undeads were thrown out in all directions.
They tried to reach Jung Hayan somehow, but they were blocked by a transparent wall and couldn’t advance anymore.
“Protect Jung Hayan!”
“Jung Hayan! Are you okay?”
“We will assist you. Everyone, chant the spell. It doesn’t matter if you run out of magic, so keep chanting the spell.”
“Don’t let these filthy undeads run wild any longer! These damn bastards! These dirty bastards! You dare harm Jung Hayan? You dare!”
“Jung Hayan! Jung Hayan!”
The guild members of the magic tower who spent time with her, the old men and grannies who cared for her like her granddaughters, the scholars who respected her, and the trainees who had just started studying, regardless of young and old, were raising their voice, so how could she control her emotions?
It wasn’t simply because they admired her power or looked up to her. These were the people who knew about her well, and they were probably attracted to her human side. They sent her support with a pure heart.
‘Jung Hayan, how about meeting some other people?’
‘…’
‘Magic tower called to have a meal together.’
‘I-I don’t want to go. I just want to eat with Sora.’
‘Still…’
‘W-W-Why? D-Do you want me to go?’
‘No. I didn’t mean it that way. I just…’
‘I’m asking if you want m-me to go… y-you want…’
‘I didn’t… mean that.’
‘I-I don’t… really want to meet them. They have nothing to do… with me… a-anyway.’
Many memories passed by.
‘Sniff… ugh…’
It looked like she was sniffing alone in a dark room.
‘I-I will become a magic god.’
Even the way she tried to comfort herself by saying something a little absurd.
‘I will become a god too. S-Sora will become a magic angel.’
‘…’
‘I’ll be able to meet o-oppa. Even if he can’t come down, I can go up. I-It’s not that hard. If you have a goal, you can focus. Oppa told me that. O-Oppa… right…Oppa said… that we can even forget the hard stuff…’
‘Jung Hayan… you can do it. Don’t cry. Make a step-by-step plan. You did it last time and stopped. Do it in a little more specific way this time…’
I didn’t think I had seen her smiling lately. The only images that came to mind repeatedly were images of her wiping away tears or being covered with a blanket.
Sometimes she laughed happily, but she quickly became depressed.
I also thought that meeting with other people could play a positive role in her…
I wasn’t even sure if that was really the right thing or the right thing to do. I couldn’t distinguish those who approached her for pure purpose.
If I persuaded her, I could have arranged a meeting with someone else, but…
‘Excuse me, but I have a request for Jung Hayan…’
‘I refuse. If you want to talk about a public matter, contact the guild. Jung Hayan, let’s go.’
‘Ah… Ah. Okay… is that alright?’
‘Yeah. It’s okay. I think I misunderstood the person. Ptooey. Dirty man.’
‘D-Do you want me to kill him?’
Most of the time, the results were not good.
‘I want to make an offer to recruit you to our guild…’
‘Shut up, bastard. Do not contact me in the future.’
“…”
‘I’m researching new magic. Sora unnie. I’m really sorry to say this, but if she could help me a little…’
‘Don’t call me anymore.’
There were a lot of people who made outright nonsense suggestions… They weren’t the only ones who coveted the handful of knowledge she had.
In fact, there was someone who stole Jung Hayan’s knowledge.
She was a wizard hired as an assistant when she was in the middle of her studies and someone to fill vacancies if she had other work to do.
When she disappeared a few days later, I also remembered that she was not disappointed.
She didn’t even mention why she didn’t show up, and she didn’t ask questions about her.
She couldn’t have been hurt because she had no interest in her in the first place.
‘Jung Hayan…’
‘Perhaps… That…’
‘I-I don’t know. I-I don’t know about that. I really don’t know.’
‘…’
She didn’t even believe in herself. She didn’t have those who could give her strength and endow her with healthy relationships, so she’d drawn her conclusions and didn’t move forward any further.
That was why. I started tearing up because I was thinking about that.
“There are so many.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are so many people who love you.”
“Hey, who could hate her?”
“There are so many people who cheer for you without any conditions. Jung Hayan. You think you’re alone and that no one likes you, but that’s not the case. Look at that. Look at that sight. You don’t have to think you’re alone. You’re not alone.”
“Well, of course, she’s not alone. Many people believe and follow her. I don’t know why Sora is suddenly talking like that… All of our Blue Guild members believe in her. Hyejin, and the new guild member Alps too… It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, but Hee-young said she was sometimes concerned about her.”
“Are you seeing this, Jung Hayan?”
“Hyunsung, hyung-nim, Ki-mo, Yeri, manager Kim Mi-young, Ahyoung, and Chang-ryul… a-and not only the guild members. You are the most loved wizard on the entire continent. Maybe everyone is cheering for you.”
“Yes. Everyone is cheering for you. Everyone likes and thinks of you, the people from the magic tower, the people from the State, and the Lindel people, the people I meet when I go for a walk, and the people I greet at a cafe or restaurant.
The one who could support her the most wasn’t here.
That’s why I thought it would be good if she saw this sight.
Perhaps everyone was praying. Countless wizards who fought against the enormous magic power, creating thousands or even tens of thousands of magic circles, and those who empowered her with their own life-like magic in return also chanted spells. They were looking at her and sending her prayers.
“The citizens of Laios… are probably the same. It’s not like we’re saving them twice.”
“Yeah.”
“Cheer up. Jung Hayan!”
“Cheer up! Archmage!”
“Listen to the entire army of Laios! Never let the undead get to the Archmage. Protect her, even if it means giving up your life! For the benefactor of a neutral country! For Laios! Let’s show that we can risk our lives too!”
“Let’s protect her!”
Strangely, tears kept flowing.
“Jung Hayan… are you seeing this?”
It was at that time that large wings came out from Jung Hayan’s back.
They were so huge that they felt like they were made with pure magical power.
An agglomeration of magic, no, a crystal of magic… no, magic itself.
As they spread out, it seemed that a huge wind blew in Laios. Perhaps due to the influence of magic power, the image of her rising into the air was simply phenomenal.
The figure of Jung Hayan surrounded by four pairs of wings made her look like an angel. The magical energy that continued to pour out of her mouth and eyes faded away at some point.
Contrary to the way she continued to shout, her calm face seemed to have grown more mature.
As she spread her wings, a beam of magical energy began to scatter out into the sky.
Boooooooooooooooom!
A huge barrier surrounded Laios once again with a majestic sound.
“Jung Hayan? Can you see this?”
“Uh… Yes.”
“You are…”
“S-Sora, I-I…”
“Yes!”
“I-I… think… I am the magic god. I’m still not good enough, but…”
“Yes! Many people believe in and love…”
“Thanks to i-i-idiot people.”
“What?”
“S-Sometimes fools are helpful, r-right?”
“No… That… that…”
“C-Come here… Sora.”
I thought that something was wrong.
At that moment, I confirmed that an enormous stream of magical power was slowly approaching me.
“I’ll make you an angel.”