The moment he received his reward, the scenery began to blur.
The illusion, taking the form of hell created by Lilith, began to distort.
When Ian finally opened his eyes, the previous landscape had long disappeared.
Instead, a new scenery greeted him.
Whoosh!
A crumbling empire. Land engulfed in flames. And the sky filled with black smoke.
Ian was horrified by the scene akin to a disaster.
‘This is… what on earth.’
It was an environment so ruined that it could be considered a wasteland. Could he confirm the secret hidden by Ian in such a place?
Though not easy to believe, Ian decided to walk first. The system had never lied before. That was reason enough to believe.
How long had he walked?
Gradually, something began to appear in Ian’s eyes.
‘That’s…’
A man embracing a corpse, wearing a hopeless expression.
Behind him, a white spirit looked at the man with pitiful eyes.
The man’s face… was familiar.
‘It’s Ian Volkanov.’
The man with the hopeless expression was none other than Ian.
More precisely, it was Ian from his memories.
Now that he came, the woman in Ian’s arms was also a familiar face.
‘Erzebeth?’
Princess Erzebeth. She was dressed in the empress’s attire, nestled in Ian’s arms.
‘But she doesn’t seem to be alive.’
With closed eyes, she didn’t seem to be breathing. Seeing the bleeding from her abdomen, she seemed to be already dead.
The Ian in his memory, like a doll devoid of emotions, slowly caressed Erzebeth’s face.
From within his embrace, he took out a single stone the size of a palm.
Grasping the ominous stone emitting a sinister aura, the spirit behind him trembled.
“Ian, that’s…”
“It’s a Soul Branding Stone. Once used, it will imprint a curse on my soul and activate. It’s acquired from the Miler family, so there’s no need to doubt its quality.”
“I’m not doubting…. What I want to say is, are you really going to do this?”
“Elysion.”
Ian looked at Elysion. The spirit of the Holy Sword was in distress.
“I hope you don’t use it…. You know what will happen if you do.”
Elysion reached out to stop him, but Ian pushed her away.
“Elysion, when Ariel died by the Demon God’s hand. You told me that. For Ariel to fully harness the power of the Holy Sword, she must live a happy life.”
“That’s right…”
“That’s why I have to use this. If I’m hated…. Ariel will become stronger. Then, she won’t die from the Demon God, and the Empire won’t perish.”
As Ian spoke calmly, Elysion’s clenched hand trembled.
“But even so. Is it really okay?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Do you understand what will happen if you use the curse stored in the Soul Branding Stone?”
With emotions overwhelming her, Elysion took a deep breath before speaking again.
“I said that it contains curses that make those close to you hate you. If you use it…”
“…”
“It means nobody will be on your side. You’ll live a life even harsher than this one, full of indifference.”
Tears welled up in Elysion’s eyes.
“You might suffer abuse akin to t*rture. Friends you rely on might leave you. Despite all that, are you still going to use it?”
“I know.”
“But why! Why go to such lengths.”
“If someone has to make sacrifices anyway, it’s better if it’s me.”
With Ian’s firm response, Elysion couldn’t forget the words anymore.
Though her sad gaze fell upon Ian, he remained indifferent.
Casually placing Erzebeth, whom he had embraced, on the ground, Ian gently caressed her face before firmly grasping the Soul Branding Stone.
Crack!
As the stone shattered, a powerful energy enveloped Ian’s body.
Watching this, Elysion couldn’t help but shed tears.
In the end, she could only witness Ian’s choice of sacrifice.
“I’m sorry…. Really. It’s my mistake… for causing you so much pain.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was something I had to do anyway.”
With those words, his vision once again faded into darkness.
Alone in the dim space, Ian recalled the scene he had just witnessed.
‘So, this is what a secret is?’
Honestly, Ian never thought his hidden secret would be like this.
The reason Ian had lived through neglect and abuse by his parents, it was all for Ariel.
‘Huff…’
Although overwhelmed by the flooding information, Ian made an effort to organize his thoughts.
‘Firstly, in his first life, Ian failed to defeat the Demon God and returned?’
The cause was Ariel’s death. The only person who could wield the weapon capable of piercing the Demon God died. As a result, the empire perished.
Up to this point, it wasn’t particularly important. It was similar to the cutscenes that appeared when he failed to defeat the Demon God in the game.
What mattered was the conversation between Ian and Elysion, the spirit within the Holy Sword.
‘Ian obtained the Soul Branding Stone through the Miler family and caused those around him, including his family, to distance themselves from him.’
According to Elysion, in order for Ariel to unlock the power of the Holy Sword, she needed to be happy, and Ian chose to sacrifice himself.
If he is rejected by everyone, Ariel can lead a happier life than anyone else.
‘In that way, Ariel will become stronger than she was in her first life, and the possibility of defeating the Demon God will increase.’
He had to forsake his family, childhood friends, and even his mentor.
‘Solely for allowing Ariel to wield the true power of the Holy Sword.’
Because of this, Ian chose regression and, as expected, lived a life of abuse in his second life.
Ian was dumbfounded as he realized the truth.
It seemed insane that there were still more secrets left after he had hidden the first one.
But one thing was certain.
He had to somehow uncover all the secrets.
‘If I don’t want to die, I have to try.’
It was a moment of determination.
As a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over him, Ian’s body swayed.
He tried to resist, but…
‘Ah…’
In the end, Ian lost consciousness in the darkness.
***
Ian, unconscious, was transferred not to a hospital but to the Blue Moon Pavilion.
According to the rules of Ark, a student injured during training should have been moved to the infirmary where the priests were for thorough examination.
But Ian had no wounds on his body at all.
Of course, it was also necessary to consider the possibility of psychological shock. However, the priests judged that it was better to spend time in a familiar environment rather than in a sickroom to treat psychological shock.
In the end, Ian was transferred to the Blue Moon Pavilion as it was.
The priests for treatment also accompanied Ian, so there were no major problems.
After the treatment, Neltalion looked sadly at Ian, who was sound asleep in bed.
– Ian… still not awake… I’ve read his diary over ten times already.
It had been four hours since the priests had finished the treatment, but Ian showed no signs of waking up at all.
Seeing him not even open his eyes despite reading the thick diary multiple times, it was natural for Neltalion to worry about Ian.
Of course, it was evident that there were no major issues with his life, given the contract they had established.
– But.
If someone you consider important isn’t waking up, wouldn’t you worry?
– And Ian hasn’t even eaten…
Even if there was a muscle-bound man or blond-haired woman accompanying Ian, they were also absent from their positions, busy with the affairs of their families.
Surely, when the blond woman had mentioned today’s tasks, the muscle-bound man had screamed.
Considering that reaction, the possibility of them arriving early was slim.
Eventually, Neltalion began to draw mana into his body.
– Ugh…
The Neltalion’s form, which had taken the shape of a large slime, began to change gradually. It resembled Ian’s appearance, a body created using mana.
Of course, it wasn’t a fully developed body. At a glance, it looked like a five-year-old child.
Neltalion, now a little child with black hair and red eyes, looked in the mirror with a sulky expression.
– I tried to hide it, but I can’t help it.
Ideally, it would have liked to reveal its adult-sized body later.
But there was no room for choice given the urgency of the situation.
The slime body was uncomfortable to nurse Ian with.
Click!
Opening the door and confirming that there was no one outside, Neltalion muttered to Ian.
– Ian! Just wait a moment! I’ll be right back!
Closing the door, Neltalion quickly dashed down the corridors of the Blue Moon Pavilion.
Tap-tap!
The sound of small footsteps began to echo in the corridor.
First, Neltalion headed to the dining hall.
Since the training began, Ian hadn’t eaten a single meal.
While others had even eaten emergency rations like jerky, Ian hadn’t even had that, as he was busy treating Lia Hurst.
From Neltalion’s perspective, he couldn’t help but worry that Ian might collapse at this rate.
(TLN: I’m going to leave Neltalion as a ‘he’, when needed, although ‘he’ is genderless, although again, I recalled that Neltalion was referred to as a female in the last chapter of the novel or somewhere… tho I can’t find it… )
That was the reason.
– Soup… Soup is good when you’re sick! The recipe… Seafood? Ian doesn’t like seafood! We need to add meat!
Spread out the book with the recipe, Neltalion started cooking for the first time in his life.
Luckily, Neltalion was good at cooking.
Being naturally quick to absorb knowledge from books, following the recipes wasn’t difficult for Neltalion at all.
If there was a problem, it was that he was too small to cook comfortably. But even that was solved by standing on a chair to cook.
He worked hard to make the food, sweating profusely in front of the hot flames.
– Yes… Okay!
Cooking with tiny hands wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t particularly difficult once he manifested his divine power.
After making beef soup, Neltalion grabbed a towel to cool himself down and headed back upstairs.
– Ian… Are you still sleeping?
Although he checked just in case, Ian was still asleep.
Relieved, Neltalion carefully entered the room and neatly placed the food around the bed.
After putting the towel on Ian’s head, Neltalion’s task was done.
Thud!
– Mmm… It’s warm.
Neltalion, lying next to Ian, hugged his right arm.
– He-he.
Neltalion liked Ian.
Ian had pulled him out of his thoughts of when he could leave the dark cave and had treated him warmly.
– Other people… don’t like Ian like this. I don’t understand…
Reading the diary, Neltalion knew how difficult Ian’s life had been.
Of course, now there were good people around him. But that didn’t mean the sadness he had felt before disappeared.
Those wounds didn’t disappear easily. The only way to solve them was by staying by his side for a long time.
Ian had saved him, so Neltalion knew it was his turn now.
That’s why Neltalion hugged Ian tighter.
***
Ian woke up thirty minutes later.
“A towel… Who did this?”
Ian, blinking his eyes, picked up the towel on his forehead.
A neatly folded towel… Ian blinked as he looked at it.
Was there someone who would do this for him?
‘Igor wouldn’t know how to do this, right?’
Igor, who filled his pain with training, wouldn’t do something like this.
Then, maybe it was Eri?
Looking around, she seemed to be absent too.
‘But the food is still warm. Which means it was made recently…’
Then, who could have done this?
Ian’s gaze shifted towards Neltalion, who was sleeping soundly beside him, the slime…
‘Could it be Neltalion…?’
But the dilemma didn’t last long.
It wouldn’t make sense for the slime Neltalion to cook.
Furthermore, there seemed to be no need to care about who did it.
Trying to figure it out alone wouldn’t lead to a proper answer anyway…
He could just thank them later if he found out.
Ian picked up the soup beside him. It was still warm.
Although he wanted to eat it right away…
‘Still, just in case…’
It was then that he tried to use mana to check for any abnormalities.
Ping!
Once again, his status window appeared before him. It was a moment of surprise for Ian.
[You have confirmed part of Ian’s secret!]
[You will receive a reward for confirming the secret.]
[Mana proficiency has increased. You can now use even more mana.]
“Huh? What?”
Ian’s pupils widened as he looked at the mana in his hand.
