Chapter 396
Extra Chapter. Emptiness (1)
Only silence remained. It was just that one person that disappeared, but the entire world seemed to have been destroyed. In fact, it was the very opposite since the world would have been torn apart if that person didn’t disappear.
“Master…”
The first person who spoke in the middle of the mania was the exclusive maid and witch, Belois.
“Master really…disappeared.”
“Calm down!”
Shine realized the condition which Belois was in just by hearing her murmur, so he jumped on her in a hurry. But he was one step too late.
“Argggggggggh!”
―Kyaaaaaa!
The mana, which was influenced by Belois, went out of control and started to break down everything in the area!
“Calm down!”
“Master…!”
“Haaa…! Lin, Lan!”
“Uhm, yeah!”
Shine called Lin and Lan, thinking that the Eternal Glacier might be obliterated. The girls understood what Shine wanted from them and cast a sealing spell that suppressed Belois’s mana by gathering their powers, but they couldn’t hold her.
“Huuuu, grggggggh!”
“Raihan Hyeong! Hey, stop staring and help us out, everyone!”
“Krgh…!”
Nobody imagined the impossible, that Evan would vanish from this world. If it weren’t for Belois, another person would have gone on a rampage instead of her.
“Arggggggggggh!”
“Calm down!”
“Yeah, that’s right…Belois, gain your senses first!”
The members who didn’t have the time to feel the despair due to Belois’s rampage tried their best to suppress her.
“Oppa promised he’ll be back!”
“You are not the only one who’s going through a hard time, you know? You are not the only one!”
“Belois Unnieeeeee…!”
One tried to comfort her with personal information, another tried to taunt her, and another just held her tight since she didn’t know what to do. Then Shine shouted angrily as her rampage didn’t seem likely to be subdued despite everyone’s efforts.
“Hey, idiot! When Master comes back, he won’t have any land to step on because you are destroying everything!”
“Hiiii…!”
That moment, Belois’ mana rampage calmed down a bit. And Serena, who noticed it, spoke, too.
“He said he’ll bring some presents, so let’s be good girls and wait! Oppa said he’d come back, so he will don’t worry!”
“…”
The mana flow that was about to swallow the entire area gradually subsided. Then Belois’s eyes, which lost focus, seemed to regain their normal look.
“Will he really…come back?”
“Yes, he will! Master said it, so he definitely will! Besides, he told you personally that he won’t die!”
“But…!”
Her ruby-like eyes became teary. It was everyone’s first time seeing her act so childlike, so they held their breaths and realized that she was going through a hard time.
“Believe in your Oppa. Master will return for sure.”
Shine spoke strongly once again. With Evan off the scene, he believed he was the only person who could comfort Belois as her Oppa.
“Stupid Shine…”
“Jeez, just call me Oppa at times like this!”
The fierce mana in the area became tranquil. Perhaps comforting her worked, even though she spoke bluntly. As Shine realized the changes, he walked up to Belois while sighing. He patted her head as an expression of gratitude for her endurance. Belois hit his hand but said thanks.
“It’s a minus point for me that I won’t be able to protect Master until he comes back.”
“I’m an assassin, so how am I supposed to stop it…”
“I should’ve been by his side and not Shine…”
Even though the magic field was already activated, the trigger for bounding Evan was the Demon King’s self-sacrifice. If Belois were by Evan’s side at that moment, she would have tried her best to undo that spell or redirect it to herself. Then, wouldn’t Evan have already predicted that this might happen? And that was why he sent her along with Louise’s party, didn’t he?
“Mirole.”
“Yes.”
Belois called Mirole as if she suddenly remembered something. So, Mirole willingly replied to her while nobody knew what thoughts and emotions she held behind her calm face.
“Did you know it would turn out this way?”
“Yes.”
“And yet, you’ve purposely let Master experience such a danger?”
“No.”
Mirole knew that Belois was still far from being calm, so she shook her head while looking bitter. Why wouldn’t she know? Mirole was the person that understood her feelings the most.
“I’m really sorry, but I couldn’t have stopped it. If I did, the world might have perished.”
“But making Master, the sacrifice instead is…!”
“I said it’s different. Hear me out, for now, Belois.”
Belois’ fever cooled down a little at the sound voice of Mirole. Why? She felt waves of strange emotions while staring into her sorrowful eyes. Perhaps it was a sense of kinship.
“He was there in the past that I’ve lived in.”
“…”
“God’s Era…it was the time where horrible incidents that could wipe out humankind happened frequently. So, everyone struggled every day for survival. Then he created peace and order in the world for the first time. He separated the Mana realm from the human realm and ensured the future for humanity. If it weren’t for him…we wouldn’t be standing here right now. And that is why I had to let him go.”
Most people would only have a headache when someone brought up the topic of time paradoxes. Still, only Belois precisely understood the entire story.
“…That explains why Master realized your intention and didn’t go all out against you.”
“Trying to deny the fact although knowing the truth…was a bit cute of him.”
Mirole’s words got on Belois’s nerves. She knew things about Evan that Belois didn’t know, and that already irritated her!
“I’m really sorry. But I can guarantee you this. He will come back.”
Because she said it with a bit of sadness.
“He left my side while saying he would return.”
“Argh…”
Belois understood what Mirole had been through by hearing her words, and she cowered. She did mention it was since God’s Era. Aside from the fact that Mirole was a granny who lived since the God’s Era, the fact that she waited for Evan until now made Belois speechless.
“Compared to that time, this is rather short. He told me that it’s not that different from then…yes, I’m sure. He said that for sure.”
The High Elf recalled the long past she lived in and started talking.
“’The spin-off in between the main arc cannot affect the time flow of the actual main arc,’ that’s what he said.”
“It does sound like him…!”
Everyone would know that those words came from Evan for sure! It was certain since the specialist for Evan’s language, Shine, acknowledged it, too. The uneasy atmosphere among the other members started to calm down gradually. Understanding that Evan hadn’t died and that he would come back settled the member’s complicated emotions.
“If so, I’ll defend this place until Master returns.”
“Count me in.”
“Wait, if Shine joins, then I’ll join, too. Even though they are siblings, I can’t let them be by themselves!”
“Then, me, too.”
“Woah, he won’t return that soon. Chill, everyone!”
Everyone stopped preparing to camp over the place as Arisha shouted. It was either Shine or Arisha that had to kick some sense into the members of the Knighthood in Evan’s absence.
“Let’s say we all stay in this place. What if Evan doesn’t return right away? What would other countries think about us?”
“We fought the Demon King and died valiantly.”
“Yes, that’s right! Evan is keeping the order among all countries with his power alone, and what will happen if he and everyone here leave? Everybody will go on a rampage!”
Also, the chaos brought by the Demon King hadn’t been completely subdued. Most Demons and members of the Mahwa Tribes in Merdin were eliminated. However, it was still filled with numerous monsters. The demons that were sacrificed in this place by the magic circle were mainly summoned from the Demon Realm, so there were still other Demons all over the continent. Nobody would think that the Demons would stay quiet after hearing the news on the Demon King’s death along with the heroes that fought against him (although they were still alive).
“We have to let them know that the Astray Knighthood still remains. And we have to take care of the Merdin incident and then minimize all the negative effects coming from Evan’s absence. Those are our tasks during his leave.”
Arisha’s cold voice soothed down the members who were indulged only in the thoughts of Evan. Save was looking at Arisha in astonishment, but she didn’t even glance at him. Evan finally started to trust her when he was worried about Save taking her heart away from him, so there was no need to make any room for any doubts.
“Well then.”
As Save recognized Arisha as the representative of Evan, who understood him the most, he spoke courageously whether or not she was looking at him.
“He went away to make his own legacy, so we will prepare a stage for him to return. That would be the summary on what we should do.”
“Haaaaa…!?”
Enoch let out a scream when he listened to the summary calmly made by Save.
“God’s Era!? The ancient time!? Wait, wait a second. Please tell me it’s a joke!”
“It’s true, Enoch. I told you to accept it as-is from the beginning.”
Save looked like he was somewhat proud. All the other members didn’t understand his words. Still, some members of Louise’s party were looking at Save and Enoch while narrowing their eyes.
“Ha, why is this happening…?”
Enoch kneeled on the ground in the end.
“No way…the nameless god had a name…!”
“He probably disliked being called the nameless god…”
“The irritating part is that my holy power is increasing as we speak! Why!?”
“Everyone, attention, please!”
Serena clapped to gather everyone’s attention.
“Let’s make a shift for this! Everyone will take the rotation and wait for Oppa here! Then the person will change out with others according to that schedule!”
“We might need a gate for that.”
Belois spoke of the gate so easily, which required a country’s national budget. Still, everyone knew she had the ability to make it happen.
“I’ll set up a gate that only the current members in this place can access. Does everyone agree with waiting for Evan…in a rotation?”
“Yes!”
“Let’s do that.”
“But let’s leave out those who have families or other personal matters. Also, one of the two Vice-Commanders must be within Sherden. So, taking that into consideration, if either of the Vice-Commanders is away, the other person must wait.”
“Argh, I want to stay and wait for Master in this place like everyone else…”
“Bear with it, Hyeong. Master is not the only person you need to protect.”
That was how the course of action for the future was decided, and Belois started setting up the gate. Arisha drafted the detailed shift schedule and finalized the list of people who would willingly wait for Evan in this place. Maybe the Junior group members would volunteer for it, but their names were excluded from the list. One thing, however, was peculiar.
“…Louise? Aren’t you going to volunteer?”
Louise, one of the people with the biggest obsession with Evan, didn’t write her name on the shift list.
“Yes…I have other tasks to do for Master.”
Louise replied calmly to Arisha. But her eyes were empty as a void, so people looking at her started to grow worried.
“That’s why I’ll leave the waiting to everyone here. I…will prepare to greet him in a different place.”
“Umm, okay…I understand.”
If Arisha asked about Louise’s intention, she might have answered frankly, and Arisha might be able to stop her, but… She didn’t ask more, which made Louise go on with her determination without anyone intervening.
The world without Evan began.
[plot twist: Mirole is the first member of the harem]
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