Vol 6 Chapter 4

Hearing those words, Kapros tried to recall his memories. Ilumine had directly spoken about the past 500 years ago, but it was mostly about the time after the war rather than during it. Still, he felt like he had asked about the past at least once... Yes, that's right. He remembered asking about the Dark Knight...

'Ilumine kicked me out then because the moon had risen, so I didn't get to hear a single word properly.'

"Human legends are not really reliable. They are created based on what numerous people saw simultaneously, so they record only from their own perspective without knowing what the actual participants experienced, and as they continue to pass on these mistaken stories orally and distort them, they often end up becoming completely fictional stories later. It seems it hasn't gone that far yet since it's only been 500 years, but the problem I want to point out clearly comes from such a case."

Kapros felt confused as issues he had never considered before came up one after another. In fact, that legend story was the foundation of the quest, and he hadn't even thought about whether to trust it or not. Who considers such things while doing a quest? But in MIST, which felt so real, it wasn't such a simple matter.

"I... see. I had never thought that legends could change."

"Later generations of humans who have never met the actual people in the legend stories have no way to verify the facts, so they've continued to record and distort the stories without doubt. I understand."

"..."

For the first time in a while, Kapros thought that this was truly a mind-bending game. Who plays a game considering the truth of the events that became the source of the legend they heard? You just play along thinking, "Oh, so that's how it is," if that's what the story says.

Amidst his surprise and dejection, Kapros continued to listen to the man.

"But beings that live longer than humans never forget the truth. Kor feels very sad about the fact that the truth about the humans he knew has been passed down in a distorted form. I feel the same way. However, since Kor hardly moved even 500 years ago, he only knows the most important truth related to the two humans he met, and doesn't know exactly if there are other distortions about the other humans mentioned in that story."

Seeing the look in the man's eyes asking if he still wanted to hear it, Kapros quickly nodded. By this point, he was dying to know what this grand 500-year-old distorted event was that the man was talking about. Surely it couldn't be something trivial.

The man took a long breath and then opened his mouth, his vertically slit pupils gleaming.

"The demon slayer who possessed a sword with its own will, who was by the side of that red-haired mage you called Lord Superior. In other words, the dark hero mentioned in that story. He never betrayed his own kind."

'What...?'

What came out was truly an unexpected part. To think that the problematic sentence was the part about "the dark hero betraying"!

That sentence occupies quite an impressive part in the entire legend. Not only because of the sentence about an ally betraying, but even more so because of the tragic situation where a fellow hero killed him.

Kapros felt extremely surprised and intensely interested at the same time, as he had never heard any of Superior's memories or testimonies about that situation until now. It was a twist that seemed to instantly double all the interest he had felt while pursuing Lord Superior's story since starting the quest.

Trying not to show his burning interest after a long time, Kapros asked.

"Is that... really true?"

"Among the three memories you just saw, the last one that Kor showed arbitrarily would be the best evidence to explain this. That man came to receive Kor's blood. Given his situation at the time, it was tantamount to saying he was prepared for death that would come soon. According to what Kor heard later, the 'unacceptable enemy demand' he mentioned then was that the enemy on the demon god's side said they would offer the mage as a sacrifice. That day was when the deadline for the demand was approaching urgently, and if he didn't accept, there would only be battle. And the man who received blood from Kor immediately went alone to the demon god's side. This is an undeniable fact since Kor personally showed him the way. Would you think that such a person went to betray?"

'This can't be...'

Kapros felt everything he had known until now shaking. With the certainty that this new information would definitely play a big role in the quests he had done and would do, he firmly etched it into his mind.

But that was when it happened. Suddenly feeling his waist getting strangely hot, just as he was about to look down, his right hand started moving on its own.

[ To think it was you who sent that guy there...! ]

Superior's voice, which had been silent until now, rang loudly in Kapros's head.

"Ugh...!"

As Kapros staggered, feeling pain as if his head was about to split, the dragon's mental manifestation reached out his hand with a surprised expression.

"What's wrong all of a sudden?"

However, it was Kapros's right arm, moving independently of his will, that roughly grabbed the outstretched hand. Before the man could say anything with surprised eyes, the index finger of the right hand that had grabbed the man's arm stood up and drew a small circle.

'This is...? What I just saw in the memory...!'

Before he could think any further, the magic that started glowing from his right hand caught his attention.

Whoosh!

Ice that curled like unrolling paper burst forth from his palm, instantly trapping the man in front of him in solid ice and even covering part of the dragon's enormous body.

'W-what? This is magic I don't even know, how can this be possible?'

[ You, give me permission to speak as well. ]