To hear the voice of the past.
And so clearly...
Jin took another look around but only saw a tornado of Shadow Energy. Jin had lived a total of forty-seven years between his past life and the present and had seen many mysterious things, but none as shocking as this.
To hear voices from a thousand years ago was quite unreal.
Solderet sounded as if he had already foreseen what would happen a thousand years from that moment.
Jin felt confused. It was as if someone had put their hands in his brain and turned them around. He was about to vomit from the nausea.
It also didn't seem like a third party was playing a prank on him.
Jin had never heard of any spell that could record voices, and even if that were possible, who could imitate Solderet's voice?
'This can't be a deception or a trap. And certainly, I haven't gone mad after the battle. This has to be a message that Solderet left for me.'
There was no other way to explain this strange phenomenon.
A small sound like someone trampling on dry straw resonated in his ears. He stopped hearing the voices when he lost concentration.
'I must remain calm. Relax. I first need to hear the voices.'
Jin calmed himself down and refocused on the voices coming from the tornado.
He heard the ancient conversation again. In fact, he not only heard their voices.
Jin was drawn into the whirlpool of Shadow Energy and absorbed into a different dimension.
------------------
Everything was dark and empty when he opened his eyes again.
It was another ethereal plane within the ethereal plane.
It was incomparably darker than the previous one. The entire area was covered in complete darkness. It was black as coal, and Jin could barely see anything in front of him, but, for some reason, it retained color.
This mysterious ethereal plane should obviously feel strange to him, but it mysteriously felt familiar. He had once arrived in a similar place when he first signed a contract with Solderet in his past life.
This is quite similar to that day...
That was the first time Jin experienced such ethereal planes, but he didn't feel out of place back then.
In fact, as the Shadow Contractor, he instinctively felt safe there. He knew that only those who belonged to the shadows could enter that place from the moment he set foot in it.
Now he felt the same. Jin no longer felt confused.
There was something different in this plane.
The voices from the past were much clearer.
-Hey, Solderet. Why aren't you answering my question? Now you're making me feel uncomfortable.
-Hey, Solderet! Why aren't you answering my question? You're...
-Hey, Solderet! Why aren't you...?
Temar's voice resonated, and Jin headed towards the source of the sound. He looked around and saw in the distance a large bright orb of gray color.
When Jin reached the orb, he observed the unfolding events with his own eyes.
He could see Solderet and Temar having this conversation a thousand years ago. Diiscover new 𝒔tories at n𝒐ve/lbin(.)c/o𝒎
They were talking inside the orb.
The surface of the orb was blurry, and he couldn't see everything in detail. However, he could distinguish the shapes of the people and objects inside it.
Yet everything was soaked in a dark gray that made it difficult to distinguish colors, like an old and deteriorated painting.
Essentially, Jin was catching a glimpse of the world a thousand years before his time as an observer.
The man sitting at the table must be Temar. Yes. He looks exactly like the man I saw in the great desert.
Solderet manifested in human form. But Jin could only see his back. Jin had never seen him manifest in his past life, so he found it hard to imagine what his face would look like.
Jin took a closer look at the gray orb.
The scene of the two sitting together felt mysteriously familiar to him, and he soon realized the reason.
'It's the central hall of the Castle of Storms. I can't believe it looked the same back then.'
The central hall of the Castle of Storms hardly differed from how it was now.
-Well, you know I'm the god of swords and shadows. That means I can't see the future as clearly as Az Mil.
-What? Then how did you choose the contractor who will come a thousand years from now?
-That and seeing the future are two different things. Let's say I can already name one, like a god.
The grand doors of the central hall opened.
It was Silderay Runcandel who joined them in the hall. He wore his armor and held his giant sword over his shoulder, dressed the same as in the fight against Jin earlier.
-Silderay, do you really have to bring such intimidating giant swords inside the house?
Silderay simply ignored Temar's complaint and greeted Solderet politely.
Silderay Runcandel faced the guardian god of the clan. And yet, he paid no attention to the patriarch's words.
-Hey, Silderay. So, what do you think about it?
-About what, Patriarch?
-Solderet tells me he doesn't know whether we would win or lose against the Zipples. He even set a contractor to come a thousand years later, and yet, he's making excuses, acting as if he can't see what's coming imminently.
-Patriarch.
-What?
-Are you afraid?
Temar didn't respond. Instead, he briefly exchanged a glance with Silderay.
-I'm just curious to hear Solderet's opinion.
-Everyone is counting on you, Patriarch. Don't you realize the enormous impact of every word you speak? Please, don't ask those questions so lightly to the guardian god when there's someone else nearby.
Temar shrugged.
-Well, I guess you're right. But you know what? I'll be honest. I'm anxious. Silderay, you must feel the same, right?
-I am not anxious, sir.
-You're lying more often these days. Even I, as a Knight of the Divine Star, am afraid to fight the Zipples. I'm sure you and the others are much more afraid than I am.
-The Runcandels are undoubtedly the strongest clan, Patriarch.
-In any case, feeling fear is not a crime. And one should be proud for not fleeing even with fear.
-I beg to differ, sir.
-Yes, you would differ, alright. But unfortunately for you, my word happens to be the rule and truth within the Runcandel clan. I have been hearing news that you have been reprimanding any clan member who shows signs of fear lately. You shouldn't do that, you know? A person can feel fear. That's nothing special. Even more so when facing a battle on an unprecedented scale.
His words were not formal or strict at all. But Temar's casual and somewhat playful tone still carried undeniable weight.
-You are sensitive and aggressive towards clan members because you yourself feel fear, don't you? Don't deceive yourself, Silderay. You must recognize it, accept it, and control it. Carrying that atrocious giant sword with you all the time is another sign of your fear.
-Understood, sir.
-Sure, sure. But what has brought you here?
-Oh, I came to report the unusual activities happening around the Zipples' first magic tower recently, sir.
-First magic tower. The Tower of Tales, right?
-Yes, Patriarch. Over three hundred Dragons gathered abruptly around the first magic tower, so Sarah Runcandel went to investigate with five others.
-With that strength, she wouldn't have much trouble escaping to a safe place even if she's discovered. No, since we're on the subject, maybe I should go and see. I wonder what they're trying to do with three hundred Dragons. Prepare yourself, Silderay.
-Yes, sir.
-Solderet, I'll be back in a-
The gray orb suddenly twisted.
What's happening? Jin wondered. He shivered and inspected the orb. The display continued playing on the distorted orb, but it was so twisted that he could barely make out anything. The voices were also distorted, making it impossible to decipher.
It was like a book whose pages had been deliberately torn out.
But Jin couldn't do anything about it since he knew nothing about those peculiar forms of recording devices.
It was impossible to know if his actions would make things worse.
Time seemed slower now.
"Oh."
Jin couldn't help but comment aloud as the gray orb returned to its original state after a while. It displayed a scene from a thousand years ago.
But it was from a different time.
The scene was no longer unfolding in the central hall of the Castle of Storms. Nor was it the scene of Temar and Silderay on their way to support Sarah Runcandel.
What Jin could see now was a healing room from a thousand years ago. A man was sitting next to the bed with his head hanging in defeat. It was Silderay.
It seemed like a long time had passed within the orb after it became distorted. The beard on Silderay's face showed the passage of time.
But Jin had no way of knowing what could have happened between the two scenes shown by the orb.
-Patriarch, we all had our hopes placed in you and only you.
It was Temar who was on the bed.
He had no visible wounds, but he was noticeably emaciated and barely breathing. Silderay couldn't help but sigh loudly and look at the bed and the ceiling as if expressing his resentment.
-Just because... Damn it! Solderet, you damned traitorous bastard! Is this what you meant by keeping the promise? Come out, reveal yourself, you damn bastard!
Silderay shouted aloud. A group of knights who had been outside hastily entered the room. They tried to calm Silderay, but they were no match for his brute strength.
-Sir Silderay! Please, calm down for the sake of the other clan members. We need you to be an example for them. Please, calm down, I beg you!
-It wasn't the guardian god who did this to the Patriarch. Please lower your voice, Sir Silderay.
-Who did this to the Patriarch then, if not Solderet? What was that useless god doing when our Patriarch was attacked?
-How dare you blaspheme against the guardian god, Silderay?
A woman entered afterward and held Silderay by the shoulder. She was one of the ten knights, just like Silderay.
-Blaspheme?
-Didn't you hear the Patriarch's final order? He ordered us not to resent the guardian god and to fulfill the promise we made with him. He emphasized it over and over again, even as his consciousness left him.
Then Silderay's entire body trembled, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
-Diana, are you telling me that you still believe in Solderet after seeing the Patriarch in this state?
-Whether I believe in him or not is not important.
-See? Even you no longer believe in Solderet! You feel the same way I do, don't you, Diana? I know you do!
-What I feel is also irrelevant. Silderay, what truly matters is that this was the order given by the Patriarch. The Patriarch's word is absolute. We were the ones who established the laws of the Runcandel Clan! If you continue in this state, I won't let it slide, even if it's you.
-Accept the Patriarch's order. It is the only duty and the only hope we have left.
Diana waved her hand, and all the knights, except Silderay, left the room.
She gave a long hug to the immensely strong man who cried like a little child.
The gray orb distorted again. But unlike the previous time, it didn't seem like it would return from its unstable and distorted state.
The Shadow Energy forming the gray orb dispersed into particles. In fact, the ethereal plane itself was dissolving into particles of Shadow Energy.
It took only a blink of an eye.
Jin was torn from the double layers of ethereal planes and found himself standing in the middle of Vaollai, in the great plains of Anz. This was the same place where he had activated the key with Murakan.
He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind.
Then he saw two unfamiliar objects before him.
One was a black bead made of Shadow Energy, and the other was a fragment of Silderay Runcandel's giant sword from a thousand years ago.