CHAPTER 169……………………..
The people in the mural were writhing in agony.
The sky was darkened, and the bodies of those already dead were tangled together with the sick who would soon die, rolling across the ground.
Even the priests were no exception. There were depictions of them collapsed in their robes, eyes wide open and mouths agape.
Some clung tightly to the windows, trembling in fear as they looked outside. It was utter chaos—hell on earth.
“Disasters caused by floods or volcanoes are recorded in the scriptures… but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Zion muttered as he gazed at the mural.
I felt as though I were witnessing a horrific tragedy. It was as if I had made eye contact with a child staring straight ahead with hollow eyes.
Above the mural, something was written in an ancient language:
“An unnamed plague spread.”
“It looks like it continues to the side. Let’s follow it.”
At Zion’s suggestion, we moved forward. The further we followed the wall, the worse things became.
They tried every possible method, but the unidentified plague only continued to rage. Swarms of rats spread, and flies laid eggs on the corpses.
As the farmers died first, food soon ran out, and people in the cities began to starve one after another.
When the starving people rose in rebellion, countless tragedies followed. For example, a forcibly conscripted boy soldier and his father, who had become a rebel, would meet each other on the battlefield.
If hell were to unfold in the mortal world, it would look like this.
Zion and I walked in silence, looking at the mural. And when the chaos finally reached its peak—
“This is….”
The nation made a grave decision.
They decided to exile all those infected with the plague.
“…What on earth.”
The dead, the sick, and even their families were all forcibly loaded onto ships. They were sent to a southern island far from the continent, never to return.
“And they called that place the ‘Island of Death’… in other words, the ‘Island of Thanatos.’”
I quietly read the inscription on the mural.
The Island of Thanatos.
The name was far too familiar—it sent a chill down my spine. Why was the name of the island known as the birthplace of dark mages appearing here?
With unease, I looked at Zion, but he too was staring at the mural with a hardened expression.
A mother clutching her infant tightly as she boarded the ship, families hiding their sick father, and soldiers dragging them out and forcing them aboard—it was all depicted.
“…Let’s move. We need to see what happens next.”
Zion spoke with resolve, and I silently nodded.
Inside the ship, things were even more horrifying. Knowing they would never return, the captain knelt and prayed to the gods as soon as they arrived at the barren land.
The island truly lived up to its name—“Island of Death.”
Most of the plants were poisonous, and their fruits were either too bitter or too small to satisfy hunger. There were hardly any animals to hunt.
People often tried to quench their thirst with seawater, only to collapse from dehydration.
The island was a living hell.
And in that extreme situation…
Demons reached out toward that island—a fertile ground that cultivated deep despair, pain, and death.
“Thus, the first dark mage was born.”
And that was the end. The mural, which wrapped around all four walls, returned to the beginning.
“……”
“……”
Zion and I couldn’t speak for a while.
Was this… the truth?
All I had ever known about the “birth of dark mages” was that they suddenly appeared 300 years ago and threatened humanity.
That before that, there had been a terrible plague, and people were exiled to such a hellish island…
I had never heard anything like that. Not even once.
“What… what is this?”
My voice trembled without me realizing it.
All my life, I had been taught to fear dark mages as unknown monsters.
And now… to be told that those monsters were actually created by humans themselves?
“How could….”
—“It’ll show what those humans you love so much have done. I wonder if you’ll still be able to say the same after seeing it.”
Claude’s voice echoed in my ears. Had he known this all along?
If his intention was to plant a sense of betrayal toward humanity, then he had succeeded.
Because right now, I was overwhelmed with an indescribable sense of betrayal and loss.
We thought dark mages were creations of demons—just as humans were created by gods. Beings made purely to torment humanity, nothing more.
But… what if they were the result of human selfishness?
What if dark mages weren’t incarnations of evil or servants of demons, but merely helpless sick people driven to that island?
…Then why had I spent so many nights drowning in guilt?
“Is it because I’m a dark mage that I empathize with them?”
Maybe that was it. Or perhaps, from another perspective, it had been an unavoidable choice to save the rest of humanity from the plague.
Even so, throwing together the infected and anyone who had come into contact with them without distinction…
That couldn’t be justified.
At best, it only meant the situation had been that extreme.
“…Haha.”
Beside me, Zion let out a hollow laugh.
When I looked at him in surprise, he twisted one corner of his lips as he stared at the mural.
It was hard to tell whether he was smiling or sneering. A faint anger flickered across his face.
“So this is the forgotten truth. Or rather… the truth that was erased.”
“……”
“How far… just how far are we willing to fall?”
Zion let out a bitter laugh, almost self-mocking.
I had never seen him this fragile before. He clenched his teeth, his fists tightening.
Like someone barely holding himself together.
“Then who am I supposed to blame?”
“Zion…”
“The dark mage who killed my family? Or the humans who created dark mages? A child who became a dark mage and killed people… or the humans who captured them and locked them underground—whose fault is it supposed to be?”
His fingertips trembled.
“When I look at Luka, I start to wonder—what makes this child any different from other human children? …And then I think—was the dark mage who tore my family apart like that too?”
I opened my mouth several times, but closed it again.
No shallow comfort would reach him.
“Then what am I supposed to say? To my family who come to me every night, crying tears of blood, begging me for revenge…!”
“Zion.”
I pulled him into an embrace.
So he wouldn’t have to look at the mural any longer.
So he could calm down, even just a little.
“I don’t know, Emily.”
He murmured.
“It feels like everything I believed to be true was a lie… I don’t know how I’m supposed to move forward…”
I gently patted his back as he clutched my clothes. He, who was always so composed, seemed like he might break at any moment.
“It’s okay, Zion.”
Like he had comforted me before, I wanted to offer him the same solace.
“It’s not your fault.”
At the same time, it was something I wanted to tell myself.
“It’s not our fault…”
I closed my eyes tightly.
My heart churned with confusion. I was even frustrated at the thought that I had fallen right into Claude’s scheme.
If he saw me now, he would probably smirk and say:
“See? I was right, wasn’t I, darling?”
…Yes. This time, Claude had won.
If his goal was to shatter the “common sense” I had about humanity.
“—Huh… so that’s what it was?”
Yulia kept muttering to herself, “No way… how could that be possible?”
When I told her what I saw at the abandoned temple last night, everyone reacted the same way.
It made sense. A fundamental belief—something as obvious as “the Earth is round”—had just been shattered.
“To think dark mages aren’t servants of evil sent to prey on humans, but monsters created by humans themselves…”
It sounded like something that wouldn’t even work as a third-rate stage play.
“So, Emily—what do you think?”
Edmond asked me.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
As if he could see straight through my turbulent thoughts, he continued:
“Now that you know the truth—have you grown disillusioned with humanity? Has your resolve to stand on the side of humans instead of dark mages changed?”
“…I…”
I slowly began to speak.
