Side Story 34. [After Story] Damien
“Mm.”
Lucas stroked his chin, lost in thought.
“Hungry~.”
“Food, Daddy~.”
His son and daughter clung to him from both sides, biting him at the same time. But Lucas, already used to it, remained unbothered.
Evangeline placed a plate down with a thud in front of her husband and children.
“Alright, alright! Lunch is here! Mom put in some extra effort today, so stop chewing on Dad and eat!”
“Food!”
“Meat!”
Finally, the two kids stopped biting Lucas and buried their faces into their plates.
Evangeline took her seat across from them, bringing over the largest plate for herself.
“What’s wrong, old man? Something on your mind?”
“Ah, it’s about getting the invitations sent.”
Lucas took the lunch plate Evangeline handed him. A large steak sat on each of the four plates.
Lucas was an active knight, and Evangeline never neglected her training. Their twins, who had inherited their parents’ blood, were naturally built for combat as well.
In other words, the entire family loved meat.
Watching his children tear into their food like a pack of carnivores, Lucas smiled in satisfaction before continuing.
“We’ve located almost everyone, but Damien’s whereabouts are still unknown. We need to get him to the lord’s coronation…”
“Oh! I know where Damien is!”
Evangeline, cheeks puffed from stuffing her mouth with steak, waved her hand.
“Our Queen of the Lake Kingdom, Ariel, passed on the news through her sources!”
“Oh.”
Lucas perked up, then tilted his head.
“But how does Ariel know where Damien is?”
Evangeline gave a wry smile.
“Well… the person Damien is with right now is…”
–—
The farthest reaches of the north.
A treacherous mountain range blanketed in snow year-round.
A towering peak near the summit.
Whooosh!
A sharp wind howled around the mountaintop before sweeping away.
Jagged terrain, thick snow, bone-chilling cold.
In the era of magic, this peak had been conquered countless times through arcane power. But with magic now gone, no one had been able to cross the snowy mountain.
Yet, for years, one man had been attempting to scale it.
“Huff… huff… huff…!”
It was Damien.
A rope gripped in his left hand, an ice axe in his right. His brown curls peeked out from under his tightly pulled-down winter hat as he struggled up the sheer cliffside.
The tip of his nose, exposed to the cold, was bright red. Gasping for breath, Damien fixed his gaze upward.
‘The weather was clear just this morning…’
The mountains were unpredictable.
Today had been the clearest morning in days, so he had set out for the climb. But in an instant, the sky turned murky, and frost-laden gusts began to rage. Going any higher was impossible now.
‘I’m almost at the top of the cliff. If I can just make it to the camp I set up before…’
Then—
Slip!
His frost-coated left hand lost its grip, and the rope slipped from his grasp.
To make matters worse, the device securing the rope to his waist had broken during a previous climb. The wind flung the rope away from him, beyond reach.
That rope, anchored to the campsite above, had been Damien’s lifeline.
Swallowing a scream, he clung desperately to the ice axe embedded in the rock.
‘I need to grab the rope again…!’
But the fierce wind sent it whipping wildly, teasingly close yet just out of reach.
As Damien reached with his left hand to snatch it—
Snap!
A chilling sensation ran down his spine.
The ice axe, his only support, began to slip from the cliffside.
Gritting his teeth, Damien stretched out his left hand, desperately grasping for anything—
Thud!
A hand shot down from above and seized his wrist.
“You alright?”
The person who grabbed him from the cliff’s edge—was Crown.
After a frantic struggle, the two of them finally managed to pull Damien over the ledge.
“Whoa… you saved my life… Thanks…”
Collapsing onto the ground to catch his breath, Damien was met with Crown’s scolding.
“I told you, didn’t I? That old gear of yours is dangerous. You need to get new equipment.”
“Haha…”
Damien let out a bitter laugh.
“To get new gear, I’d have to go all the way back to the Ariane Kingdom. That’d take months… By then, winter will be here again.”
Once winter arrived—or even if autumn deepened just a little further—scaling this peak would be impossible.
And that would mean waiting until spring.
“Jörmungandr won’t last until next year.”
“…”
Crown’s gaze fell on the tiny, motionless snake coiled around Damien’s neck.
He let out a chuckle.
“The weather’s turning. Let’s get to the camp.”
Lowering their bodies against the wind and frost, the two adventurers crawled toward their shelter.
–—
It had been three years since they met here.
Damien, determined to see the ends of the north, had made his way up only to be blocked by these mountains. He joined an expedition attempting to cross, and after years of failure, he unexpectedly ran into Crown.
Crown, after stabilizing the Lake Kingdom, had left without hesitation. He wandered aimlessly for a while before eventually drifting into this expedition at the edge of the world.
Crown had removed his mask, revealing himself as a nobleman with silver hair and turquoise eyes. He assumed no one would recognize him like this, but Damien identified him instantly.
It was inevitable. Even when he wore the mask, his eyes were still visible. More than that—
‘His voice is way too distinctive…’
Crown’s low yet melodious voice was so unique that it was harder to forget than to remember.
And so, after an awkward reunion, they became companions, struggling together to conquer the snowy mountains.
Damien’s purpose for heading to the northernmost point was clear. But why Crown was pushing himself to such extremes remained a mystery.
However, one thing was certain—Crown was both strong and capable.
By the midpoint of the climb, expedition members would start dropping from exhaustion. Even the Sherpas, who assisted with supplies, would refuse to ascend any further. Yet, Crown silently pressed on, challenging the mountain to the very end.
Thanks to that, during the expedition two years ago, they had managed to reach this very camping point and set up camp and ropes.
Whoooo…!
The cold wind rattled the makeshift camp.
“We’re so close to the summit…”
Clicking his tongue, Damien glanced at the frost swirling outside.
Two years ago, last year, and now this year—they had always made it this far, just shy of the peak. Yet, they could never take that final step.
As if the mountain itself rejected human footsteps, the weather would always take a sudden turn for the worse at this exact point.
“We can’t move until the weather clears anyway. Get some rest.”
Crown spoke as he chewed on his rations, wrapping a tattered blanket around himself and curling up.
There was no way to start a fire, so his breath left his lips in white puffs. Damien also nibbled on his rations and huddled in place.
But sleeping was out of the question.
The wind continued to shake the camp violently. If they fell asleep, an accident could occur at any moment.
Resting with his eyes closed, Damien suddenly asked,
“Crown.”
“What is it?”
“Why are you climbing this mountain?”
After a brief silence, Crown surprisingly answered without hesitation.
“…Because there’s no place left for me in this world.”
“…”
“So… I ended up here.”
Crown chuckled lightly toward Damien.
“And you? Is it for Jörmungandr?”
“It’s partly for Jörmungandr, but also because of a promise I made in my childhood.”
“A promise?”
“Yes. I promised a friend that we’d go on an adventure to the end of the world.”
Damien let out a soft laugh. Crown frowned.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s just… it feels strange. We’ve been climbing in silence all this time without asking each other anything, and now we’re having this conversation.”
“No grave exists without a reason. Everyone who climbs has a reason.”
Crown exhaled a long, white breath.
“But while climbing, you forget that reason. When you’re scaling the mountain, all you see is the mountain.”
“…”
“Maybe that’s why I’ve clung to this climb so desperately.”
Crown said nothing more, simply curling into himself.
Damien, too, fell silent and focused on resting.
–—
A few hours later.
“The weather’s clearing.”
Damien noticed the frost-laden winds easing and turned to Crown.
“We have to go now, before night falls…!”
The two hurried out of the camp.
The wind was still fierce, and the air was biting, but visibility had improved, and the path was clear.
As they pushed forward step by step, it finally came into view—
The summit of the mountain.
“We made it, Crown! We’re almost there!”
Damien’s voice rang with excitement as he looked ahead.
But behind him—
Thud!
Crown suddenly collapsed onto the spot.
“…Crown?”
Damien turned, confused. Crown simply waved him off.
“Go on alone.”
“…What?”
“The summit is close. You can make it yourself.”
“What are you talking about? We’re right there!”
“…”
“You’re giving up after coming all this way? Come on, let’s go together!”
“If I reach the summit… this challenge will be over.”
Crown shook his head.
“And then… I’ll have nowhere left to go.”
“…!”
“The moment I see what lies beyond the peak, I’ll have to descend this mountain.”
That was when Damien finally understood.
Crown wasn’t searching for the summit.
What he had been searching for all along was a prison to confine himself in.
“There’s no place for me in this world anymore.”
A bitter smile curled at Crown’s lips.
“A sinner who destroyed the world—what right do I have to settle anywhere?”
“…”
“But this mountain, standing at the border between the world and its end… This is a gap where I can remain.”
Crown nodded heavily.
“I won’t look at the summit. I’ll stay in this gap forever.”
“…”
“So go. Go see the summit for yourself.”
A long silence followed.
Then, in a low voice, Damien muttered,
“Don’t be a coward, Christian.”
Crown—Christian—flinched at the sound of his real name.
“If you’re a sinner who destroyed the world, then even more so! The last thing you should do is run away into some meaningless void.”
“…”
“What you should be doing is seeing the world’s end, pioneering it, and expanding the world.”
Christian lifted his head.
Damien was grinning at him.
“As much as you’ve broken and destroyed the world… No, even more than that—you should make it bigger. Wouldn’t that be a better way to atone?”
“…Expanding the world?”
Christian stared blankly.
Damien extended his hand.
“Let’s go together. Let’s make the world bigger.”
“…”
Christian met Damien’s gaze, looking at the hand held out to him.
Then, he let out a breathless chuckle and shook his head.
“…Even after losing Far-Sight, your eyes are still as noble as ever.”
Slowly—
Christian reached out, grasped Damien’s hand, and pulled himself up.
Together, they climbed to the summit.
“Hah…”
“…It’s a beautiful sight.”
Beneath a sky that had cleared as if by magic, the world stretched endlessly beyond the distant mountain ridges.
Below them lay an ice field—
A frozen plain beyond the northern mountain range, extending all the way to the Northern Sea.
“…”
“…”
Standing on the northernmost and highest land that humanity had ever reached, they planted the small flag they had brought for the occasion.
“Yah-hoooo—!”
Before he realized it, Damien shouted into the vast expanse.
His voice echoed back at him, filling the air.
As he soaked in the moment, he suddenly felt something shift around his neck.
Carefully, he reached up and set the small, pale gray snake onto the snow-covered ground.
Jörmungandr slowly twisted its body, as if stretching after a long sleep.
“This is the northernmost point, Jörmungandr. We finally made it.”
Damien looked down at the tiny snake.
“Are you going to keep going?”
As if answering, Jörmungandr slowly nodded its head up and down.
Then, without hesitation, it began slithering north—
From this towering summit, toward the distant ice fields ahead.
Damien and Christian stood motionless, watching the pale gray snake vanish into the vast whiteness, barely distinguishable against the snow.
“Goodbye, Jörmungandr.”
Damien whispered, his voice slightly hoarse.
“Have a great journey.”
Had the farewell reached it?
For a brief moment, Jörmungandr paused.
It turned its head back toward Damien, flicked its tongue with a soft hiss, and then resumed its slow crawl northward.
“…”
They watched until the creature—once known as the World Serpent—disappeared from sight.
Then, with a stretch and a groan, Damien stood up and flashed a grin at Christian.
“I’ve seen the ends of the south, west, and north. Now, I’m thinking of heading east.”
“…”
“Want to come with me, Christian?”
Christian let out a chuckle and shrugged.
“In this world, there’s probably no one who knows more about the eastern continent across the sea than I do.”
Laughing, he nodded.
“Alright, let’s go. To the next end of the world. No, let’s become the world’s end ourselves and push the boundaries even further.”
Breaking free from the limits of perception—expanding the world.
That was the duty of an explorer.
And if, beyond the horizon, there was another world with people of its own—
Then it would be their job as explorers to make sure both worlds could shake hands.
With their next goal set, the two adventurers exchanged a grin before turning around.
The long, treacherous descent stretched before them.
“…”
“…”
“…”
They had suffered enough climbing up—now, they had to suffer just as much going down.
Without meaning to, both men let out a sigh.
–—
After several grueling days, they finally made it down from the mountain.
However, they couldn’t head east immediately.
An envoy from the Everblack Empire was waiting for them.
“The prince’s coronation?!”
Damien shrieked as he read the invitation.
“We have to go!”
Christian, scrutinizing his own invitation with a grimace, muttered under his breath.
“…Wait, I’m invited too?”