Chapter 136. Elkadion (1)

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Enbi Arin braced herself after seeing the people in the distance.

Since she knew what kind of strength the Akadus had.

And it wasn’t the Taruhol of the past.

‘…He came back as a monster. What the hell did he pick up out there?’

While Enbi Arin was confused, the four other pillars of Akaron made distressed expressions.

Since they knew the reason of that strength.

‘Dragon Essence Blade… How does Taruhol have the Dragon Essence Blade?’

The people could only feel tense.

But contrary to the worries of the people around them, the two’s conversation actually flowed quite peacefully.

***

Hansoo and Elkadion grabbed each other’s hand as they communicated.

With the special language of the Akaron race that sent messages using muscles.

— What have you done to the crown of thorns?

Elkadion laughed as she spoke.

— Insurance. Just in case, for those who had left.

Soul Telautograph.

Elkadion, who had been making the Crown of Thorns and the Akadus with the information within it, found out about a special power of the Crown of Thorns.

The power to summon the soul of somebody of one’s choosing.

Then Hansoo made a confused expression.

— Then why didn’t you list such things in the memory crystal?

At least such information wasn’t listed in the Memory Crystal Hansoo read.

At those words Elkadion laughed and spoke.

— That’s what i want to ask. the fact that i’m here is something unbelievable.

Elkadion had roamed around the Abyss for quite a long time.

The extremely vicious and dangerous land that was beyond human imagination.

And Elkadion had created the memory crystal and left behind all her memories as insurance just in case.

She wanted to put in the location of the Crown of Thorns as well as the mana code for controlling it.

So if Hansoo had obtained her memory crystal then the fact that she was here wasn’t impossible.

But there was a reason why she was completely baffled.

Since Hansoo obtaining her memory crystal was impossible.

Elkadion looked at Hansoo with a meaningful smile.

— You see, I haven’t even made the memory crystal yet. I’ve only made plans for it.

She had only made the plans, she hadn’t even started to make the memory crystal.

But she was here.

Elkadion thought of a lot of possibilities that would explain this current situation.

But no conclusions were made.

If she were to exclude one very impossible hypothesis.

— A person who had obtained the crown of thorns with the memory crystal that i had only planned but hadn’t actually made… I’ve thought of a lot of possibilities but there is only one that could make sense with my imagination.

This man had obtained the Memory Crystal that she hadn’t even made.

And had summoned her.

Elkadion relayed her hypothesis to Hansoo.

With an expression of utter disbelief.

— Did you perhaps come from the future? Using the treasure of the dragon tribe that was only told as a legend, the space time crystal?

***

“What the hell happened? Did everything work out?”

The conversation ended and the formation was released.

Gwanje, who had been gazing at Elkadion who was leaving along with the Akarons, asked Hansoo who was walking towards him.

And Hansoo nodded at those words.

“For now.”

He had told her that they couldn’t speak about the Abyss.

— I thought as much. i shall keep the fact that you came to the past as a secret then. Anyway… you must be quite tired.

It seemed like Elkadion, who was looking at him in such a way as if she was asking if he wasn’t lonely, knew what he was doing here.

— Well anyway, for a warrior that could slay the dragon race to come back. The humans who have you as their leader are very lucky. I believe we can become very good allies.

An extremely courteous tone of speech.

Hansoo realized something from this.

‘…A leader huh.’

Hansoo knew.

When one roamed around the Abyss for a long time, a certain idea gets unconsciously nailed into one’s mind.

***

“…Are you really Elkadion?”

The priestess, Oteon, asked Taruhol who had finished talking with Hansoo and had approached her.

It wasn’t just Oteon.

All the Akarons who were rebuilding things in the holy land had gathered around Elkadion.

In order to meet their hero who had left in order to save them but had now returned.

Elkadion looked at the surrounding Akarons and smiled as she nodded.

“I am.”

“Dear lord…”

The priestess, Oteon, and everyone else made expressions of utter disbelief.

For such a character, whom they had so revered, to appear in front of their eyes.

“My return here is also a gesture of the gods. To recover the Akarons.”

Elkadion looked extremely confident.

The main reason for this was because Elkadion had been the best researcher as well as a pioneer even before she had left.

And that Elkadion gained countless unimaginable amounts of new information as well as saw marvelous sights that could only exist within dreams.

In the current head of Elkadion, countless plans and methods for the Akarons were stacked up.

And she was really looking forward to put them in motion.

“What are your plans? O mighty Elkadion.”

Oteon carefully asked Elkadion.

And Elkadion made a slightly dejected expression as she answered.

“Well, my actual goal was the cure of the Gragos.”

Oteon flinched at those words.

Since the endeavor to cure the Gragos had already been completed.

Elkadion made an amused expression at Oteon’s reaction as she continued to speak:

“I know that it has already been completed. I had roamed all around the outside world for this and it does feel a bit in vain.”

Oteon and all the other Akarons now looked at Elkadion with complex expressions.

Elkadion and the 13 pilgrims had given up everything they had and embarked on a harsh journey to solve the Akarons’ problems.

But how would they feel if the problem had already been solved when they returned.

Elkadion took note of their reactions as she continued to speak.

“Don’t make such expressions everyone. Isn’t it good that we can go straight to the next stage since the Gragos are all cured?”

Everyone looked at Elkadion with confused expressions at those words.

Next stage.

For another stage to exist after healing the holy beast, Lazar, and removing its suffering.

Elkadion made a benevolent expression as she spoke:

“I’ve realized something much more important while roaming the outside world. No, should it be called a new goal instead?”

Marvels and wisdom wasn’t the only thing she had seen in the outside world.

Danger.

A tremendous amount of danger that nothing else could compare to.

Them, the Akarons, were mere frogs trapped in a well.

Elkadion gazed upon everyone as she made a resolution.

That she would not be satisfied with just the Body Enhancement Surgery and the Akadus.

That she would need to raise up much more strength for the collision against the races she had seen that could happen at any time.

Elkadion pointed at the humans.

“Look at them. It hasn’t even been 10 years since they started to improve in strength. But there are those among them who can even kill Margoths. If we, the Akarons, are satisfied with our current situation then we may get beaten at any time.

Oteon was shocked as she slowly and cautiously spoke out.

“O Elkadion…Those are not our enemies.”

“Hahaha. I’m just saying it as an example. I also believe that we need to keep a good relationship with the humans. But we shouldn’t lose out in strength right? We Akarons have much more potential than them, since I am here now.

The Akarons made strange expressions at the confident words of Elkadion.

Since it was a bit different from the Elkadion of the past which they knew.

The part where she emphasized getting stronger wasn’t the weird part, since she had always claimed that weakness was the greatest enemy of peace.

But the way she was saying it was different this time.

‘Hmm…’

While Oteon was gazing at Elkadion.

Ailen, the priestess in training, carefully asked Elkadion while staring at her.

“Then what is going to happen to the first pillar, Taruhol? Is he gone?”

Elkadion made another benevolent smile as she shook her head.

“No, he is merely asleep within me. But it seems like the one you need right now is me. Do not worry. Once I hand over all the wisdom and plans I have gained to you then I’ll just fall back asleep. Since you are the ones who will lead us in the next generation.”

Elkadion then spoke out loudly to every Akaron around her.

“Let’s hurry and rebuild the Great Temple first. It would be better the faster we do it.”

“Yes O Holy Elkadion.”

The Akarons shouted out loudly in unison after having met their great leader and spread out in all the corners of the Holy Land.

***

Elkadion stood at the highest point of the Holy Land and stared at the Great Temple that was being rebuilt at a tremendous pace.

And at the humans who were constantly building their camps.

‘It’s nice here.’

The Lazar that she had returned to after a very long time was too peaceful.

And even more so compared to the hell-like environment of the Abyss that she had been in the day prior.

Elkadion woke herself up the moment she felt like she was going to get complacent and refocused.

‘No, it’ll be bad if I become like that as well.’

Peace was very good for the warriors.

And because of this they had to maintain it as best as they could and she needed to do everything she could in order to maintain the peace.

Tekilon looked at Elkadion with a strange expression.

‘…She didn’t really like high places in the past.’

But Tekilon shook his head.

Hundreds of years was more than enough time for anything to change completely.

But the tiny amount that Elkadion had changed was enough for anybody to say that she hadn’t changed at all.

As if Elkadion had felt Tekilon’s gaze, she straightened herself and asked about what she had heard earlier.

“You said that there was a thing called the World Tree in the world you had gone to right? That it could multiply the numbers of a race very quickly?”

Tekilon nodded.

“Yes, O Holy Elkadion.”

“The world is large and there are a lot of magnificent things. Is there no way of bringing that World Tree over to this world?”

Tekilon made a bitter smile at those words.

“If it was possible then I would’ve brought it here already. The World Tree can only live in that world.”

“Pity.”

Elkadion made an extremely sad expression.

Having a lot in numbers was a very good thing.

The crustacean race of the Abyss who laid 2000 eggs at a time and only took 4 days to grow into an adult, the Detuels, would destroy the enemy’s entire land even if one of their immeasurable amount of numbers had gotten killed by that enemy.

Elkadion finished her thoughts and looked at the human territory in the distance with a jealous expression.

Humans were endlessly coming out from beneath the lake.

And those humans were killing the beasts that were crawling out from the Gragos and were constantly getting stronger by gobbling up the runes.

The Akarons were stronger than humans for now.

Since they had the Akadus and the Body Enhancement Surgery.

But this gap would close up and that was not very far in the future.

‘Since we supply them with the Body Enhancement Surgery for the alliance they would close the gap even faster. God is really unfair. Why doesn’t god give us a chance to get strong like that?’

Elkadion mumbled inwardly.

Weakness was a sin and the chance to get stronger was a blessing in itself.

‘Those who haven’t been to the Abyss do not know the truth.’

Elkadion was actually a bit unsatisfied with the current speed of progress.

There was no urgency within the minds of the Akarons.

The Gragos was no longer an existence they feared and had turned into a motherly land which supported them like in the past.

And there wasn’t much to say about the Margoths.

The Akarons sang songs blessing the peace and raised flags praising Elkadion.

This is all because they do not know about the world called the Abyss.

‘Mmm…’

Elkadion felt a chill run down her back after thinking about the powerful races that lived in that place as she shook her head.

‘This won’t do.’

The time of the Great War where Mekido had led them was not like this.

Their race had done everything in their power to survive and get stronger so they had gotten strong very quickly.

The Body Enhancement Surgery and the Akadus wouldn’t have been made if they weren’t desperate from the battles.

‘As I expected, the only person who can really understand me is Hansoo. He is the only one. He knows about everything.’

She could see with just a single glance.

That he was preparing all he could for the Abyss.

‘He’s working really hard. He should be very lonely.’

Would a person be lonely even if their entire race was next to them?

Elkadion could confidently say out loud that it was possible, one could still be lonely with their entire race next to them.

Since she was like that currently.

She had met countless people from her race and the loneliness she had felt down to her bones had disappeared in an instant.

But only for a moment.

The loneliness had returned to Elkadion.

They couldn’t see the same things and walk on the same road as her despite being next to her.

She couldn’t discuss things with them even if they wanted to.

And something else that hadn’t existed when she had been roaming in the Abyss currently pushed down on her.

Responsibility.

‘Not knowing is not a sin. I must lead my race. I must train them to be more powerful.’

Elkadion mumbled.

Hansoo was the only person thinking along the same path as her.

‘I must go and talk a bit more with him.’

It seemed like there was a lot he hadn’t told her yet.

Well, it was the same for her too.

Elkadion got up and headed towards Hansoo.