After that, I said no more.
My mother's gaze tried to hold me back, but my steps had already decided not to stop.
The moment I stepped through the door, the cold night air sank deep into my lungs.
The night within the castle was strangely quiet.
Too quiet.
As though someone had deliberately lulled it to sleep.
I slowly lifted my gaze.
"...As I thought."
Above, in the sky.
The starlight was faint.
No.
More precisely, it seemed as though something was blocking it.
This was no mere cloud cover.
This... was intentional.
I crossed the walls and headed for the outskirts of the city.
With every step and every breath suppressed, I moved with the sensation of erasing my own presence.
Among the things I had learned from Teacher Chiron, the technique I had once thought the most useless now flowed through my body with the greatest natural ease.
And not long after.
"Found you."
A ruined temple.
At its center.
Sssshhh—
Black mist writhed and breathed like a living creature.
Within that mist, something opened its eyes.
One.
No, dozens.
No, hundreds.
"...."
Silently, I rested my hand on my sword.
And at that instant—
Whoosh—!
The black mist took shape and poured toward me.
It was a serpent.
No.
It was a curse wearing the shape of a serpent.
Crack—
I stepped forward.
And cut.
Without hesitation.
Then, as though nothing had happened, I passed straight through.
A moment later, the space I had severed split apart as if collapsing, and the black serpents scattered into fragments.
"...As I thought."
I narrowed my eyes.
"So the true body is elsewhere."
Just then, a low, strangely gentle voice came from behind me.
"Interesting."
"...?"
"That sword. And... you."
I slowly turned my head.
And there, I found a woman draped in a shadow darker than darkness itself.
Even moonlight could not reach her.
And yet I could see her eyes.
No. They were shining.
The moment I saw her, I recalled a similar passage from a book I had once read about the gods.
And the moment I saw her, I began to doubt her identity.
"...Who are you?"
At my words, the corner of her lips rose ever so slightly.
"Well. You don't know me, but I know you."
"...I've never seen anyone like you."
I had suspected it the moment I saw her, but the instant I heard her voice, that suspicion turned into certainty.
The being before me was neither an ordinary fairy nor a human.
"...You."
She took a step closer.
"You're chasing that poison, aren't you?"
"...."
"Black scales. A serpent that lost one eye."
I looked at her properly for the first time.
And then I spoke.
"So you know."
She did not smile.
She only said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Of course."
After those words, a brief silence fell.
Then she revealed her name.
"I am... Hecate."
At that moment, the air turned completely over.
As though this place were her world.
"That poison does not belong to some mere beast."
Hecate slowly raised a hand and lightly scraped the air.
Then the black mist split apart, revealing a deep-seated trace within.
"Someone made it."
"..."
At those words, I tightened my grip on my sword.
"...I see."
A faint smile touched my lips.
"This won't be boring."
Hecate saw that and, for the first time, laughed openly.
"That's why I like you."
And then—
"Your face is to my taste too... Hmm. Yes. I've decided. You. Will you become my disciple?"
She made me an offer the very first day we met.
An offer to become the disciple of the goddess known as the Goddess of Magic.
At that, I fell silent for a moment.
Normally, I might have denounced her as someone falsely claiming a god's name, but the dignity leaking from her seemed to prove that she truly was a goddess.
"...If you truly are the Goddess Hecate, then I have no reason to refuse. But..."
"...There is a condition."
"Hmm?"
At my words, the Goddess Hecate looked at me with clear interest.
"I've never seen anyone put conditions on my offer. How bold. But... interesting. Go on, then."
"That poison. And its source. I want you to help me uncover everything and eliminate it."
A brief silence.
But the Goddess Hecate smiled and answered.
"Very well."
Then, with her eyes shining, she replied,
"In exchange, you will no longer be able to run from me."
At that, I gave a faint snort of laughter.
"I have no intention of doing so. It would be foolish to let slip the chance to learn directly from the Goddess of Magic."
"As expected. Isn't that right?"
At my answer, the Goddess Hecate smiled with satisfaction and said,
"Come now. Let's go. I'll answer your questions on the way."
And so, as I walked with the Goddess Hecate, I was able to hear the story of the serpent.
She said that the serpent here had once been a horse created by the Lord God Poseidon with his own power in order to seduce a nymph he had taken a liking to, but after failing to win the nymph over, he left the horse alone and forgot about it. Over time, it fed on people's negative emotions and transformed into its present form.
"Then Lord Poseidon..."
"He doesn't care. In fact, he probably doesn't even know it's still around."
"..."
"Well... they do that sort of thing all the time, so there's no need to worry about it."
As I spoke with the Goddess Hecate on the way, I kept worrying about the serpent's identity and whether Lord Poseidon might retaliate for the death of his horse, but—
"And if something like that does happen, I'll step in."
Hearing the Goddess Hecate's words, I felt relieved.
As we walked, the Goddess Hecate and I arrived at a vast hall open on all sides, and at its center was a gigantic serpent of black light whose mere sight sent a chill through the body.
"That thing is..."
The moment I saw it, I immediately realized that this serpent was the source of the incident, and the horse created by Lord Poseidon. I prepared to fight at once.
The serpent, which had been keeping its eyes closed, seemed to notice our presence and suddenly opened them wide, raising its massive body high.
Kashaaaah—!
Then it took an aggressive stance toward the Goddess Hecate and me and charged straight at us.
The air in the enormous underground hall trembled at the serpent's roar as though a pane of glass had shattered.
A creature warped by hatred, yet still bearing the power of Lord Poseidon.
Its scales were darker than pitch, and between them a vile, viscous poison was boiling up.
Its charge was like a collapsing tidal wave, and despite its immense size, the serpent closed the distance at a speed impossible to track with the eye.
"Astellon, do not retreat! Its hide is a curse mixed with divine protection. Simple force won't be enough to wound it!"
At the Goddess Hecate's shout, purple threads of magecraft burst from her hand and briefly bound the serpent's movements.
"Ngh...!"
I did not miss that fleeting opening.
Drawing the sword Teacher Chiron had given me when I left the forest, I felt the magical energy Hecate had poured into it blaze along the blade like blue fire.
KWAANG—!
The serpent's tail slammed down where I had been standing.
The massive stone pillar crumbled like paper, but I had already thrown myself into the air.
The senses I had honed in the forest over the past several years awakened every cell in my body.
"I can see it."
Its right eye.
The place my father had taken from it was now swirling with black mist around a hideous scar. That was its core, and its only weakness.
"Kaaah!"
The serpent glared at me with its remaining left eye and opened its mouth.
From within poured the deadly black venom that had once brought my father low.
"That won't be enough."
I twisted my body in midair to evade the stream of poison, and at the same time, I unleashed the magical energy dwelling within my sword.
With the Goddess Hecate's aid now upon me, I slowly recited the name of the sword I had heard from Teacher Chiron.
"Hold your breath. For the world shall stop. My sword is the orbit of the stars, and my steps are the afterimage of light. Beyond my master's wisdom, I now rule this space by my own will. Behold the first and last glory you shall ever face. [Asterion Arche]—Silver Flash That Usurps the Night Sky!!"
A cold silver slash cleaved the air.
It was no mere physical cut. It was a conceptual strike that erased the 'divine curse' clinging to the serpent's scales.
Clang—!
Black scales harder than steel screamed as they split apart.
A deep wound was carved into the serpent's body, and from the gap, ominous black blood gushed forth.
"Well done, Astellon. I'll help you finish this."
As the Goddess Hecate watched, she struck the ground, and tens of thousands of shadowy spikes surged up from the floor of the underground hall to pin the serpent's body in place.
The serpent writhed in agony, but my sword's tip was already aimed at the center of its brow.
"Poor beast, fed on hatred."
I opened my languidly narrowed eyes wide.
My silver hair flew, and for an instant it felt as though my entire body had become a single beam of light.
"Now sleep. For the peace of my country."
Puhak—!
The sword pierced straight through the center of the serpent's head.
The blade Teacher Chiron had given me passed without resistance through its brain and drove on into its heart.
"...!"
The serpent froze without even managing a scream.
The black mist wrapped around its body was purified and vanished in an instant, and the colossal serpent's form slowly began to scatter into motes of light.
Only silence remained in the hall after the battle ended.
Where the serpent had vanished, a single transparent blue jewel remained behind, glowing softly.
"Well done, disciple. For a first hunt, that was quite splendid."
The Goddess Hecate approached and lightly patted my head.
I drew in a rough breath and returned my sword to its scabbard.
"This jewel is...?"
Then I picked up the jewel left behind by the serpent and asked the Goddess Hecate about it.
"It's the source of that thing. Poseidon's magical energy, crystallized in its purest form. Take it and give it to your father. It will cleanse the poison from him more surely than any medicine."
Now I could save my father.
At the Goddess Hecate's words, all tension left my body, and I smiled with no trace of falsehood.
"Now then, you should head back, shouldn't you? The castle must be in quite an uproar in your absence."
At the Goddess Hecate's teasing smile, I gave a wry one in return.
"Yes. I should... What do you intend to do, Goddess Hecate?"
"Let's see. I haven't decided anything in particular yet... so I think I'll keep an eye on you for a while."
"...On me?"
"Of course. It's only just beginning. My magic lessons, and your life as a king."
"...."
The moment I heard that, I truly believed the Goddess Hecate intended to teach me magic in earnest.
To learn magic directly from a goddess.
Even that alone foretold a path of immense hardship, but—
"...Then I look forward to working with you from here on, Goddess."
It was a temptation I simply could not ignore.
Whoooosh—
Then, as the Goddess Hecate and I looked toward the place where the serpent had vanished, we sensed something rising there and turned our eyes to it.
There, the serpent I had slain gradually shed its monstrous form, and within it appeared a beautiful horse.
"...What is that?"
At the sight, I wondered why a horse had appeared here.
"That... is the horse Poseidon made. It seems your strike just now severed the hatred clinging to it, and it returned to its original form."
I stepped forward.
The remnants of the beast twisted by black poison and hatred had already vanished without a trace, and in their place stood a single horse glowing faintly, as though it had swallowed moonlight.
With every breath it exhaled, a dim blue radiance scattered into the air, and its mane rippled not with the wind, but with something far more fundamental.
This was not merely the presence of a living creature. It was closer to meaning than existence.
"...That is the horse Poseidon created."
The Goddess Hecate continued as she looked at the horse.
"You probably cut away the hatred attached to it with that strike just now."
I stared at the horse in silence.
The horse lifted its head toward me as well.
And slowly, it approached.
"...It isn't running away."
"Of course not."
At my words, the Goddess Hecate gave a light laugh.
"Right now, that one has... for the first time, gained freedom."
The horse stopped before me.
Its eyes, clear and deep, were nothing like those of the black beast it had been before.
And then it bowed its head.
"...?"
I froze for a moment.
This was not submission.
Nor was it fear.
It was a choice.
"Pfft..."
Watching from behind, the Goddess Hecate let out an amused laugh.
"Look at that. It chose you."
"What do you mean, chose me?"
"That one originally belonged to a god. It is not something a human can command."
The Goddess Hecate answered my question, her gaze fixed entirely on me.
"And yet it bowed its head before you... which means its master has changed."
"...Its master..."
I slowly raised my hand.
Without hesitation, I placed it on the horse's head.
Swish—
The moment my hand touched the horse's head, something connected.
There was no sound, no light, but I felt it clearly.
The sea.
The storm.
And freedom that ran without end.
"...It needs a name."
I murmured softly.
"Good."
At my words, the Goddess Hecate looked at the horse and me with interest.
"What will you call it?"
At that, I thought for a moment, then spoke after a short pause.
"Noctis."
At that instant, the horse's eyes shone.
As though it had been waiting for that name.
Hiiiiiigh—!!
A clear, deep whinny rang through the space.
"...My, my. Even your naming sense is perfect."
The Goddess Hecate clapped softly.
"It suits it perfectly."
I stood beside the horse, which had no reins.
Yet strangely, I already knew instinctively how to handle it.
"...Let's go."
At my words, Noctis lowered its body quietly.
And I climbed onto its back.
At that moment, it felt less like I had mounted a horse and more like I had mounted a single, living force.
"Heh... this is getting interesting."
The Goddess Hecate murmured from behind me.
And her voice sank lower.
"I'll be looking forward to how far you rise."
I did not answer.
There was no need.
Even without holding the reins, Noctis already knew where I was headed.
There was only one place our gaze turned toward.
Eirene.