Book 6-4.2
Once they entered the guest room, a weak and skinny looking Mai turned his head and started to smile, and Luff, who gave off an aura of 'I am a strong person,' quickly started to approach Yulian.
"Mai-nim, Luff-nim."
Yulian hugged Luff tightly as he welcomed them.
"Yulian, why didn't you come visit? I wanted to see you."
"That is the same for me as well, Luff-nim."
"Hmm? Who is this woman?"
Luff's eyes turned wide while still hugging Yulian as he looked toward Grace and asked.
"She is my wife. Her name is Grace Nellisi."
After Yulian's introduction, Luff let go of Yulian and approached Grace.
"Luff!"
"Kya!"
The moment Mai urgently called out, Luff had hugged Grace.
"Grace, you're pretty."
As Luff lifted Grace high into the air, Mai had an embarrassed look on his face as he started to speak.
"I completely forgot about this. Grace-nim, please do not be offended at this. Luff, quickly let her go."
Luff was disappointed at Mai's command, but he let her go and just started to smile toward Grace.
"This is not the first time he's caused me trouble because of this. Please understand."
As Mai started to explain to Yulian, Yulian started to laugh and respond to Luff.
"Luff hyung-nim, isn't our Grace beautiful?"
"Yes. Beautiful. Very beautiful. As beautiful as the princess-nim."
Mai bitterly smiled at Luff's response as he explained.
"Luff is talking about the Rojini Kingdom's Bella princess-nim."
Yulian had heard a long time ago that Mai and Luff had relations with the Rojini Kingdom.
"Did you eat already?"
"Did not eat. Am hungry."
Grace smiled brightly at Luff's response and quickly left the room. Yulian offered both Mai and Luff a seat.
"I was surprised when they said it was you. I did not expect you to suddenly come visit me like this. I was planning on going back to visit you once things settled down a bit."
"You are amazing. We heard the stories on our way over. Did your dream become a reality now?"
"Not just yet. I still have a strong rival left to defeat."
"That is a problem."
Yulian was confused at Mai's response and asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I was hoping that you would have completely unified the desert. Or at least control the entire desert."
"Does that mean ……"
Yulian seemed to understand and started to ask as Mai nodded his head.
"Correct. The seal has been broken. I cannot say for sure, but a large number of monsters will start to pour out of it. It will return to the ages of old."
"The ages of old ……"
Yulian mumbled what Mai had just said.
"The age of old. Monsters will start to rise all over the continent. Then the hidden forces may start to once again appear in the world in order to protect their race as well."
Yulian nodded his head at Mai's words.
Although it was not recorded in great detail, the previous era was one where there were significantly more monsters living in the world. Incantations were more developed than present day, and they also had a lot more warriors. At least until the fight for power in the continent began.
"What do we have to do now?"
Mai let out a small sigh at Yulian's question before slowly starting to speak.
"We need to prepare. As I mentioned before, the person that will receive the most pressure is you, Yulian. The center of it all is right here in the desert. Only a small number of monsters will spawn in the continents, the majority will spawn right here."
"I do not think I will not be able to handle them. Our warriors are strong."
"Of course humans will not lose to monsters. But what I am worried about is the humans. I cannot say with certainty because I have not figured everything out yet, but how will you be able to handle a horde of monsters in the middle of a war? It really will become dark times if you cannot put your strength together to fend them off."
Yulian tightly closed his lips for a moment. It was like he was meeting a hidden enemy. He had completely forgotten about it, but after hearing Mai's words just now, he could see the seriousness of the situation. He had enough experience in the Monster's Desert; they would not have any time to think about war if the entire desert became like the Monster's Desert.
After a long duration of silence, Yulian finally started to speak.
"We will prepare. We will make sure to prepare enough."
Mai's eyes started to shine at Yulian's responses.
'I guess it is his Mandate from Heaven.'
Even in the desert, a hero, one of the chosen ones, was starting to shine.
"I need to let the continent know. I need to send the message to many kingdoms and Empires. The time of Chaos is quickly approaching. It is not time for humans to be fighting with each other right now. You have the biggest burden in all of this."
"The desert is my home. I am just protecting the things I need to protect. I am the Glow."
"Many heroes will come to you. Looking past their identity and nationality, they will all come find you to prevent the time of Chaos."
Yulian seemed to feel less pressure after hearing Mai's words and lightly smiled as he answered.
"Warriors respect and enjoy the company of other warriors."
"Nobody knows when it will be. The time will ambush us like a thief."
"I will make sure to be ready for anything."
"Yulian, I trust you. Let's push through this together."
"Let's win together."
As Luff smiled and repeated what they said, Yulian grabbed Luff's hand as he continued.
"Let's go eat now."
"Huu~ it could have been really bad."
He could see a shabby looking man sighing in relief when he barely managed to open his eyes.
"Glow!"
"Do you know how many days you have been laying here for?"
His heart wanted to cry after realizing that this person had been by his side the whole time.
"What happened to the war?"
"We called a truce."
"What?"
"A truce. Thankfully, it looks like Pareia's young Glow received significant injuries as well."
He lightly bit down on his lips to come back to his senses.
"So disappointing. It was a great opportunity……"
He knew these words were not necessary. However, he felt like he needed to say something.
"Do you think war would be possible without you? Who in the Shuarei can handle Pareia right now other than you?"
"Glow … our Shuarei warriors are strong. Please do not look down on them too much."
"The enemy warriors are just as strong. Especially the enemy's Greatest Warriors. They are very very strong."
He was angry that he could not give a rebuttal to that statement. The Shuarei needed to get stronger right now when Pareia was getting stronger. Their internal discord prevented them from growing their strength in the past, and that moment of difference was responsible for the growing gap between Pareia and Shuarei. In fact, it was so late now that they could not even do anything about it.
"There is still an opportunity. It starts now. We shortened the gap, and can take them on. Please set your resolve firmly. I am still here, Glow. Please do not forget that I am here for you."
There was an oddly bitter smile.
"I really hope that is the case. Please. That is the only way for my terrible self to be able to face my father."
"Glow!"
He could not help but become extremely shocked at the GLow's words. How strong did this Glow of his look while they were expanding their territory? He seemed to have been full of vitality. So why… why would he say something like this all of a sudden?"
"Segunira has told me. The Lord is calling me."
"......?"
"It is the same illness as my father. It is hereditary. This stupid unknown illness that runs in my family."
"Glow. Please forget about that. Glow, your age is only ……"
"Prepare yourself. I will push you forward with everything I have. If it is not you, who else can lead our Shuarei into the future?"
"Glow!"
"You do not have to be surprised. I was already aware of it long before we went into war. I just pushed myself a bit more in order to prevent the warriors from finding out my condition. I was afraid that their morales would drop if they found out."
He could feel a headache starting to set in. Just what was his Glow saying right now? This was just the beginning for their Shuarei. He was going to make this just the beginning. The Shuarei was going to prosper from here on out."
"There should be something we can do. We can call in the doctors or priests who can supposedly perform healing incantations. There are many of them in the continent. It is too soon for us to give up. It is too soon for YOU to give up on your life."
The Glow shook his head. He seemed to have already resigned himself to his upcoming fate.
"Do not pay attention to things like that. It is not the time. My time is already up. If I had trusted you just ten years earlier … no even five years earlier ...if I had trusted you back then … then we ……"
"Please do not say such weak words in front of me, Glow. I will be angry if you say something like that even once more."
"That is why I am saying this to you. Please do not prevent this stupid Glow of yours from doing something for our Shuarei before I die."
"Glow……."
"Prepare yourself. Prepare yourself so that the Shuarei can become yours."
He could feel his heart becoming full of frustration.
End of chapter.
Next up:
The Second Takeoff
Pareia was already an extremely strong nation.