Chapter 197: The Previous Hero Of Light
’Holy sh*t...’ Luke’s pupils contracted as he stared at the statue’s ruined face.
Which had been deliberately obliterated.
Meanwhile, Nyx and Caelith exchanged surprised glances.
They could clearly sense it.
The unmistakable bloodline of a Titan flowed from the stone giant before them.
The ancient stone Titan noticed their reactions.
Somehow.
Despite having no visible eyes capable of seeing them.
"Now then..." His deep, ancient voice rumbled through the Temple.
"Where was I?" As he spoke, the colossal stone hand that had been resting peacefully upon his knee slowly rose.
The movement was unhurried. Yet every inch it traveled made the temple tremble.
He brought his massive hand to his shattered face.
Grrrk...
Thick stone fingers slowly rubbed across the broken remains, as though trying to remember a face that no longer existed.
All the while, his ruined head remained turned toward the four of them.
Somehow...
It felt as though he was looking directly at them.
’System, what the hell is this thing?!’ Luke shouted inwardly.
In response, the System merely gave him a shrug.
[Isn’t that why you’ve come here?]
[To find out who he is?]
"..."
Hearing the System’s utterly nonchalant reply, Luke’s face immediately darkened.
’Find out?’
’You want me to ask a giant that could turn me into a paste with a single finger?’
’Hell nah!’
Fortunately, the ancient stone giant continued speaking before Luke had to say anything.
"You are not four." His ancient voice echoed through the silent temple.
Slowly, the colossal Titan leaned forward.
The movement alone caused the ground beneath them to groan.
His shattered face first turned toward the Faceless Titan.
He remained silent for a brief moment.
Then his broken head slowly shifted until it was facing Luke.
Even without eyes, Luke felt as though every secret within him had been laid bare before that ancient gaze.
"You..." The ancient stone giant’s voice rumbled through the temple.
"You are the one carrying them."
He paused.
"Or-"
The giant slowly fell silent.
His enormous stone hand rose toward the cavern’s ceiling.
Then, to Luke’s complete confusion. He began counting on his fingers.
One.
Two.
Three...
’Is he? counting stars?’ Luke blinked, utterly baffled by the giant’s strange behavior.
Meanwhile.
Myrkhal paid no attention whatsoever.
He had already wandered away, leisurely strolling around the enormous temple as though it were his own home.
Luke’s eyelid twitched.
’Hey...’
’Do you realize that thing could turn you into paste with a flick?’
Fortunately nothing happened.
The stone giant merely watched Myrkhal in silence before his ancient voice echoed through the temple once again.
"Interesting!" This time, the stone giant’s voice boomed through the temple with far greater force.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire temple trembled. Yet, despite the overwhelming vibration. Not a single grain of dust fell from the ceiling.
Luke’s eyes narrowed.
’So the entire temple. It’s built from the same material as that colossal gate.’
Otherwise, the cavern should have collapsed long ago under a voice like that.
Meanwhile, the giant remained completely still.
His ruined face was pointed directly toward Luke.
Or perhaps.
Not Luke himself.
’My heart?’ Luke immediately dismissed the thought.
’No-’
’My soul.’
Somehow, he felt the giant wasn’t looking at his body at all.
It was looking at something much deeper.
After waiting a moment and sensing no hostility from the ancient being—at least, not yet—Luke decided to speak.
"Sir..."
He unconsciously lowered his voice.
"May I know... who you are?"
Silence.
The stone giant didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he slowly raised one massive hand and scratched the side of his shattered head.
His posture. Surprisingly...
Looked genuinely confused.
"Me?"
"I don’t know." The stone giant simply shrugged.
Luke froze.
’How can you not know your own na—’
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
His pupils contracted.
The quest description flashed through his mind.
*The One whose true name was struck from history... because even those who ruled eternity feared to speak it.*
"..."
Luke slowly swallowed.
’So that’s what it meant...’
It wasn’t that the giant refused to reveal his name.
He genuinely didn’t remember it.
Realizing this, Luke immediately changed his question.
"Then."
"What should we call you, sir?"
The stone giant tilted his shattered head ever so slightly.
He remained silent for a long moment before speaking.
"Even though I no longer remember my true name." His ancient voice echoed softly.
"But I still remember some of my titles." Before continuing, he slowly turned his broken face toward Myrkhal.
The Faceless Titan was currently...
Bathing his face in the flame of one of the ancient wall lamps.
Luke’s eyelid twitched.
’That’s not an ordinary flame.’
Yet Myrkhal was treating it like warm bathwater.
Beside him, Nyx and Caelith merely sighed and shook their heads, already accustomed to Myrkhal’s incomprehensible behavior.
The stone giant watched him for a brief moment. Then he slowly turned back toward Luke.
His shattered face remained unreadable.
"I have borne many titles throughout the ages."
"You may call me by any one of them."
The ancient giant paused...
Before revealing the one title.
*THE ORIGIN TITAN*
The moment those words left its mouth, the whole temple seemed to shake, like they were fearing...
Fearing that even this title could bring back the horror which the temple or the prison had contained within it.
After a few moments, the shaking finally stopped and Luke also took a breath of relief.
’What the f*ck!’
’But it also feels cool.’ Luke first cursed, before thinking that having this title could also be cool.
Just think, whenever his name was introduced with his title, the whole ground would shake, while people would become crazy from this.
[0-0]
[Luke, the girls would not be impressed by this.]
"Ahem." Luke lightly coughed to remove those thoughts, still, he gave an annoyed glare to the System.
Then he looked toward the front, where Nyx and Caelith both had frozen.
’Huh? Frozen?’ Luke became surprised, wondering what happened to them, so he looked toward Myrkhal.
Who was also frozen while bathing in fire.
Seeing this, his eyes became suspicious as he looked toward the stone giant.
Who was actually surprised at seeing Luke standing fine.
"How are you still fine?" its voice filled with curiosity, which made Luke confused.
"Even the previous hero couldn’t stand properly after hearing my title."
But these words made Luke’s eyes wide. ’Previous hero!’
Though the stone giant continued, "Did you get the map from the previous hero?"
The more Luke heard, the more he became confused, but the giant continued, like he was fulfilling his own curiosity.
"Of course, she would have given it to you. After all, you have her blessing on you."
"Blessing?" Luke finally muttered the confused words, because it was getting out of hand.
Since he never met the previous hero, then how could he have a blessing on him?
"Huh? The blessing which will resurrect you once."
’WHAT THE F**K!’ Luke was about to shout out loud, but controlled himself and screamed inside to not disrespect the giant.
’I literally have a revive spell on me and I didn’t even know!’ He shouted inside again, but that made him more confused.
So he asked his question out loud. "Sir, I have not met with any hero that you are talking about."
"And I myself am a hero of light, though a new one." He said those words, but the next words that came out of the giant’s mouth baffled him even more.
"Ahh, she was also a Hero of Light." The giant scratched its head, seemingly trying to remember something.
"Yes, her name was-"
"Lumina Celestia."
’Lumina.’ Luke also froze this time, not because of some spell, but because he knew this name.
How could he not?
When it was the name of the same person who smiled at him when he came to this world.
The same person who married him to his bride.
"The Saintess of the Holy Church."
’Young hero, what’s your name?’ And these words of her were repeating in his mind.
’Young hero...’
"She was the previous hero of light." Luke’s voice, filled with shock, slowly came out.