CHAPTER 075
Beosoo Volcano Island
"The woman by the emperor's side was a Lumen Savior...! I couldn't have imagined such a thing."
"Her light, which reflected the curse, was the strongest among the Lumen Saviors we've seen so far. She is definitely..."
The two people who had returned to Beosoo Volcano through the boy's magic spoke in disbelief to the boy ahead of them.
"The heir of the Lumen Savior royal family."
The boy, sitting on a low rocky ledge with his thin legs submerged in the rising lava, spoke.
Red threads formed and spread out long over the boy's skin, which was so transparent that bones could be seen.
The two people, who had cloaked themselves from head to toe, could sense how excited their leader, Caligo, was at this moment.
"I must go deliver this joyous news."
With a faint smile on his pale lips, Caligo stood up, his small, frail body rising.
Invisible clawed footprints formed as the boy walked through the cave, leaving marks on the ground.
As the boy and the two people following him emerged from the cave located halfway up the mountain, they quickly began to climb. The temperature dropped rapidly as they ascended, making them forget they were on a volcano.
At the summit of the mountain, hidden in thick clouds and fog, a cold snowfield stretched out, contrasting with the fiery volcano below.
As the biting cold hit them, the bodies of the two people flinched...
Dark brown fur suddenly sprouted all over their bodies.
The boy, as if used to their transformation, paid no attention and walked into an ice cave lined with icicles.
The cold that no human could withstand filled the entire cave, with long icicles hanging from the ceiling and ice covering the walls like mirrors, reflecting the interior.
The boy's eyes, which looked like frosted glass, suddenly started glowing bright red.
As he walked towards a tall, large box placed in the center of the cave, white fur sprouted on his thin feet.
The boy, standing in front of the ice box placed on a rock, lifted his thin, emaciated arm and wiped the frosty surface of the box.
Short white fur began to grow on his pale arm, with ice fragments sticking to the fur ends.
The cloak worn by the two people who followed him into the cave fell to the ground with a thud.
The man's two feet soon turned into four, and the woman beside him also turned into four feet, lumbering forward.
No longer human, the two people had transformed into large brown bears, growling beside the boy.
The ice box the boy was tenderly caressing with both hands was...
An ice coffin.
Inside the ice coffin lay a beautiful woman with pale skin, as if in a deep sleep.
White-furred, bony fingers traced the ice coffin's surface as if gently touching the woman's face.
Every touch was filled with tenderness.
They had aimed to achieve their goal by taking over the body of the Heltered Emperor...
But now, the boy's slit eyes, increasingly stained with crimson, sparkled with hope.
They had found an unexpected Lumen Savior.
And not just any, but the best Lumen Savior they had ever seen, possessing the most powerful light, a royal bloodline.
It was far superior to the Lumen Savior they had found nine years ago.
Perhaps...
Resting his cheek on the coffin's surface, the boy whispered softly.
"I promised, didn't I? That I would find the princess's light, even if it took a thousand years."
The boy pressed his bloodless lips against the coffin.
"I thought I would find the light by taking over the body of a Heltered royal... but the light was next to him. If we use him to bring the light and offer it to the princess, then we can all cross the Aether River."
A large white panther appeared on the ice wall reflecting the boy's thin body, then quickly reverted to the boy's form.
A thousand years ago, the Lumen Saviors who were massacred by the betrayal of the three kingdoms had their souls safely cross the Aether River.
The goddess of nature, Fildeteria, had allowed it, as the Lumen Saviors, who were guardians of animals, had helped when her daughter was kidnapped, allowing them to cross the Aether River.
The souls of the Lumen Saviors left the human world and moved to the land east of the Aether River, where ancient gods, elves, and mythical beings lived, enjoying eternal peace.
All but one.
The last princess of the Lumen Saviors, Ermyr.
Princess Ermyr, who loved the king of what was then the Kingdom of Heltered, used her light on him, a human rather than an animal, to save his life after he was severely injured in a war.
It was forbidden for the Lumen Saviors to use their light for humans...
The king was saved, but she lost the light of the Lumen Savior to the dark world.
The king, who had sworn eternal love, betrayed the princess and led the massacre of her tribe.
The king justified his cruelty by claiming it was to elevate his empire to the greatest on the continent.
Without her light, Princess Ermyr's soul could no longer be a Lumen Savior and could not cross the Aether River.
The Lumen Saviors, cherishing the princess who had once had the most beautiful and strongest light, each contributed a little of their own light to her, preserving her body and soul in a dormant state.
If they could find the light of Princess Ermyr, buried deep in the underworld, and place it back into her sleeping soul, the princess could cross the Aether River.
"If the princess finds her light, will we... also be able to cross the Aether River?"
The brown mother bear, choking up, asked hesitantly, while the father bear beside her buried his head in her shoulder, comforting her.
Even after a thousand years, the memory of their young children who had crossed the Aether River first was vivid.
"Of course. We will all cross the river with the princess. Absolutely."
Determination and sorrow mixed in the boy's tightly closed lips.
Princess Ermyr was the one who protected them when they were unjustly cursed and turned into monsters.
Especially Caligo, who had grown up with Princess Ermyr from a young age, shared a deep bond and mutual understanding with her.
Princess Ermyr had constantly tried to turn Caligo, who transformed into a white panther, back into a human using her light, but always failed.
Realizing why she had failed, the boy had to endure the pain in his heart.
To lift the curse of the monsters, the greatest light from the Lumen Saviors was needed, a light born from love.
Princess Ermyr loved and cherished Caligo as a brother, but not as a man.
The person she loved was...
Caligo's white eyelashes trembled as he looked at Princess Ermyr, lying as if asleep.
The damned king of Heltered.
Even knowing she would lose her light, she willingly gave all her light to him.
She gave her most precious gift to the most wicked and cruel man.
**Monsters, like other cursed creatures, could not cross the Aether River. The goddess Fildeteria had made them a promise:**
'As a reward for protecting the princess, you will also cross the river when she finds her light.'
Other cursed beings stayed by the princess's side because of the goddess's promise, but not Caligo. He would have stayed by her side forever, even if he couldn't cross the Aether River. The goddess, who was furious with the three kingdoms that destroyed nature and massacred the Lumen Savior clan—the guardians of animals—had cursed them, leaving only the Heltered Empire remaining.
"Princess, I'm no longer the weak and fearful boy I once was. Though I'm still trapped in the frail form of a boy because of this cruel curse... I've become a cursed being who can use black magic that manipulates the goddess's curse. A thousand years have turned me into a true monster."
The boy's faintly smiling voice was sorrowful, and the brown bears beside him nuzzled against his sides.
Having waited a thousand years and mastered magic more powerful than any sorcerer, Caligo had realized something: The body of Heltered Emperor Maxwell was strong enough to retrieve Princess Ermyr's light from the underworld.
"You know that on the day he turns twenty-six, when he permanently transforms into a black panther, we plan to take over his human body, right?"
Caligo continued speaking tenderly as if conversing with the princess.
"When my soul enters his body, combining with me, who has the energy of a white panther, it will create immense power. With that power, I can go to the underworld and retrieve your light, Princess."
It was impossible to fight the monsters of the underworld and retrieve the princess's light with his weak human body. Even transforming into a white panther, his energy was too weak.
But if he could possess Maxwell's human body...
His heart pounded as he thought of Maxwell, who roamed the battlefield with energy stronger than the god of war.
If my soul can enter his body, I will be able to reclaim the princess's light.
The thousand years were not wasted.
Caligo knew that on Maxwell's twenty-sixth birthday when he transformed into a black panther, there would be a brief moment when both his human body and the black panther would exist simultaneously.
Unable to contain his excitement, Caligo spoke to the princess.
"When his soul transfers to the black panther, I can insert my soul into his human body. It's a one-time chance, but it will succeed. If it does..."
You'll see me not as a young boy but as a man.
Perhaps you'll look at me as a man, just as you once looked at the king of Heltered...
"Do you need to take the risk of entering his body when we've found a Lumen Savior who can provide the light to the princess?"
The male bear asked worriedly, and Caligo responded with a bitter smile instead of words.
Initially, they had planned to find the princess's light by taking over the cursed man's body.
But now...
Even if they took the light from the woman beside the emperor and gave it to the princess, he would still take the emperor's body.
Caligo glared at his reflection in the ice, disgusted by his eternally stunted, frail form.
He would cross the Aether River with her as a man.
"How do you plan to take her light? She doesn't seem to know she's a Lumen Savior or how to use her light."
The female bear, her voice high with the hope of finally reuniting with her children, asked.
Caligo pulled one side of his mouth into a grin as he answered her.
"It doesn't matter if she doesn't know she's a Lumen Savior or how to use her light. Even Princess Ermyr wasn't sure if she could save a human when she used her light on the dying king of Heltered."
As two pairs of gray eyes looked at him, bewildered, Caligo explained.
"Arabelle, she will use her light at the emperor's most perilous moment, without even realizing it. That's when we'll take her light."
His red eyes fixed on the princess inside the ice coffin, and he added leisurely.
"The night he permanently becomes a black panther on his twenty-sixth birthday will be the night we take her light. It will be the night the princess awakens."
It didn't matter if an innocent woman lost her light and disappeared, as long as his princess could awaken.
A cruel glint flashed in Caligo's red eyes.
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