― Yes, indeed, what a shining beacon.

Lydon shook his head annoyed at the low voice that echoed in his head. On the other side of the view, Cadel was leaping and shouting his cheers.

“It’s! Finally! Over!”

Lydon threw his arms up in celebration, not sure what he was so excited about, but if Cadel was happy, Lydon was happy.

After the last trial ended, they returned to the hallway they had entered when they first arrived at the temple. Unlike the first time, they could clearly see a beam of light coming from the end of the corridor.

Cadel headed for the end of the corridor with Lydon, carrying the still-unconscious Van and Lumen.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? Stella will heal you all, so don’t hate my Hesonia too much.”

There she was, with her back to a massive stone door. Cadel could instinctively recognize the door she was facing as the ‘Gate of Liberation’.

A warm glow of energy surged through Stella’s body. The peaceful, intangible energy stroked the sharply etched marks of pain and soaked into the torn wounds.

Cadel spoke softly, feeling his body slowly relaxing.

“……Where is Hesonia?”

“He’s getting ready.”

“Getting ready?”

“You are the first challenger to pass the trial. You’re also a favorite challenger of Hesonia. He said he would give everything……. Yes. I suppose it’s fair to say he’s fading away?”

While Cadel was still reeling from the unexpected statement, Stella’s aura reached out to Van and Lumen, who had fallen to the ground. As a cool breeze caressed them, the color returned to their pale faces.

“Do you want to go in first, Cadel?”

“Is that okay?”

“Hesonia’s successor is this one.”

With a faint smile, her gaze flickered to Lyidon standing against the wall. As if sensing an unusual aura, Lydon stared blankly at the Gate of Liberation.

“It’s Cadel who has the closest ties to Hesonia’s successor, so you’re welcome to go, and Stella will give you permission. In the meantime, I’ll see to it that Cadel’s precious comrades are nursed back to health!”

There was no reason to delay if the entire mercenary corps was not present. Stella’s energy had healed them somewhat, and they didn’t need to gather together to watch Lydon break the seal.

Cadel nodded slowly and called for Lydon. The corner of Lydon’s mouth twitched up at the short call, and he strode over to stand beside Cadel.

“Are you ready to break the seal?”

“Do I need to get ready?”

“Prepare your mind or something……. No, forget it. Let’s go.”

As Cadel stood in the doorway, a new system window popped up as if waiting for him.

「The ‘Gate of Liberation’ is open.」

「The souls of Knight ‘Lydon’ and the Seven Knights ‘Hesonia’ resonate.」

* * *

The scene beyond the Gate of Liberation was nothing like the interior of the temple. Instead of dark stone, pure white crystals lined the exterior walls, and light bounced off them in every direction, illuminating the view.

Cadel pushed his way across the uneven crystal floor. Hesonia stood with his back to him in the center of the room, his head turned only after hearing the jeers of Lydon, who grumbled that he had shown up again. Up close, Hesonia’s face was hard-lined and masculine, reeking of the scent of a hero who reigned high and mighty, yet somehow also of loneliness.

After a brief glance at Lydon, Hesonia turned his attention to Cadel. A low voice drifted into the room as he stood there, unmoved by the piercing stare.

“A fairy who is blind to his surroundings and whose only interest is his own. You managed to drag him this far.”

“You’ve already got the perfect idea of Lydon.”

“……Do you want to save his life?”

Cadel did not know that Hesonia was a fairy, nor that the seal that bound Lydon’s freedom was his.

But in Hesonia’s questioning eyes, he could see traces of the years that had passed. For a life lived in darkness, for one small hope that he could not let go of. A true regret that left a soul in a shell of a trial even after death.

‘I feel like I’m looking at Hyron.’

It resembled the traces of longing he’d felt in Hyron, and so Cadel chose his words carefully, not wanting to add insult to injury at the end of such a solitary life.

“I have made a promise. To Lydon and his people, to give them back the freedom that was taken from them. ……I will keep it.”

Everything was for his own survival, and his promise to Hyron was part of that. But Cadel had never, not once, taken his promise to Hyron lightly.

‘Really. That’s an absurd amount of confidence, Cadel’

At the last moment, Cadel saw through the vague sincerity that Hyron had shown.

Hesonia stared into Cadel’s firm eyes. The unwavering steadfastness seemed to reach out and stroke a faint emotion long forgotten.

“If I had an existence like you back then, maybe…….”

Hesonia took a deep breath as if recalling the distant past. Deep regret and longing flickered across his hardened face.

And Lydon, who had watched the two men face to face in silence, couldn’t stand it any longer and interrupted.

“Keep your eyes off my human.”

His tone was amused, but the way he looked at Hesonia was less than friendly. Cadel shoved Lydon lightly as he reached to embrace him, and Lydon gave him an exaggeratedly sullen look.

Only then did Hesonia’s attention shift to Lydon in a stark temperature difference.

“From now on, I will break the seal on you.”

“Can you make it quick? I want to finish everything and have dessert.”

“Before that, be aware of the obligations that will be placed on you.”

Hesonia’s next words were so unexpected that Cadel could not hide his surprise and concern, and Lydon’s rejection and annoyance were openly expressed.

“Don’t wanna. Why should I help liberate the other fairies? I’ll just spend my days fighting with Cadel.”

“That’s the condition.”

“Then change the condition.”

“I can’t.”

Looking at Lydon’s grim face, Cadel paused for a moment in thought.

‘It is also surprising that Hesonia was directly involved in the sealing of the Fairy Tribe, but it is surprising that Hesonia would hand over all authority over the sealing to Lydon.…….’

If Cadel was right, fairies whose powers were sealed by the power of Hesonia, which Lydon would inherit, could be unsealed without the trials of the temple. If they were willing to step outside, there would always be someone to help them.

‘That’s great, but is it right to give such great power to Lydon? Hesonia, have you been cooped up in the temple for so long that you’re tired of it and want to leave it all behind?’

Lydon’s lack of enthusiasm for managing the Fairy Tribe is evident in his pouty, annoyed expression. Cadel wondered what Hesonia saw in Lydon that led him to make this decision. It was none of Cadel’s business, but it made him uneasy. To the point that after all these hardships, he hesitated to break Lydon’s seal, so he said everything.

And Hesonia said, turning to Cadel, who looked back and forth between Hesonia and Lydon with a frown.

“If you are sure you are ready for liberation, do not hesitate to spread my power. Until then, that power will support you wholeheartedly.”

“……That means.”

“It is not you who will gain the power of liberation, but it is you who will use it, Cadel Lytos. So may you continue to guide the successor’s fate in the right direction.”

Cadel pursed his lips in thought, but Hesonia did not wait for his hesitation. He had already made up his mind.

“Finally, it’s time to say goodbye to life.”

Hesonia’s voice faded away, like the last breath of one who had come to the end of a long life of regret.

“Hesonia……?”

Cadel’s muffled voice cut through the air. In the blink of an eye, he was all gone. Except for an unidentifiable object on the floor where Hesonia had been standing.

It was a small, snow-white gemstone that looked like a pearl at first glance. Cadel slowly stooped to pick it up. Instinctively, he could sense that it was Hesonia’s ‘Power of Liberation’.

His head turned, his gaze locked with Lydon’s, who stared down at the jewelry held out in front of him wordlessly.

“Do you want me to have this power?”

“The choice is yours, I don’t have the power to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. ……However.”

The hand that held the gem slowly clenched into a fist, and a shallow pressure was felt over the palm. Cadel tried to remember the fragile sensation.

“Lord Hyron, Hesonia, all of you. All of you want freedom. I don’t know why you have to die for that natural right.”

Cadel opened his white-knuckled hand. A warmth hovered over the revelation of the gem.

“So…… Yes. I want you to have this power.”

The corner of Lydon’s mouth twitched as he stared at the tinkling gem. An outstretched hand skimmed over Cadel’s palm, then gently squeezed the gem.

“Then shall I?”

Rolling the gem playfully between his fingertips, Lydon suddenly opened his mouth and tossed the gem into it. His tongue flicked out as if to taste it for a moment, and his throat moved slightly.

“If Cadel is with me, I think that would be fun too.”

The long wait was over.