Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 829

829. Temares

“Temares.”

Yongin walks alone. That’s why he names himself.
Temares, just before leaving his parents’ embrace after childhood, chose his name in a language he had learned.
It meant the essence of life.
In a way, it fits the Yongin ethnicity.

‘Wouldn’t most of them be named similarly?’

Temares had such thoughts as he named himself.
Special eyes, special lungs, special stomach, special skin, special talents.
They were a race born with everything. But even so, they couldn’t achieve anything without learning.
After realizing this truth, Temares learned everything faithfully.
Of course, if Encred had seen his life, he would have said, “Faithful? What the heck?” But
for a race that lived a life close to immortality, it was quite an effort. And Temares lived a very long life.
So long that counting the years became meaningless.

‘Why should I live?’

Yong-in is always troubled. He is a nomad, wandering in search of a purpose in life.
He doesn’t easily feel desire, has no desires, and has no aspirations. This is
why he can become a solitary walker. Furthermore, this temperament compelled him to wander in search of a purpose in life.
Just as a ship needs an anchor to stay anchored, so too did he need an anchor to survive. His exceptional intellect prevents him from living a meaningless life.
Therefore, to others, Yong-in sometimes appears to live with a sense of sublimity, and conversely, he appears to live with a profound incomprehensibility.

“The tolerance is different for each individual.”

Yongin, walking alone, do not resemble each other. While all races observe and resemble one another, they reveal only innate traits instead of such similarities. They
are a race that, while not alike, shares a commonality in their display of boredom.
This was the cautious conclusion reached by the continent’s leading scholars.
Half right, half wrong.
They shared a common thread. To put it simply, it could be described as an anchor.
More precisely, the anchor that sustains life.
Without desire or wind, what’s the point of living? What moorings the ship of life?
Watermen are intoxicated by sexual desire and appetite, while froks cannot resist their urge to explore. Elves yearn for a stable society and situation, while dwarves are drawn to the urge to create.
Giants are a species with an inherent killing instinct. They aren’t called bloodthirsty beasts for nothing. Humans are both intoxicated by and overcome all these desires.
And Yongin have no desires. Therefore, they cast the anchor of duty to anchor the ship of life.
They set goals and live their lives to shake off boredom.
As those destined for eternal life, they needed a reason to stay in this world.
Furthermore, to live eternally, they must not be easily swayed by desires or desires.
Life is a constant storm, the waves crashing against us.
Only by remaining indifferent to all of this can one live eternally.
Perhaps this is the Creator’s design.
Indifference is one of the conditions for eternal life.
However, this indifference isn’t always beneficial.
When one sinks into boredom, one falls into a slumber, and waking up becomes a distant prospect.
What would you call a sleep from which one cannot awaken? It could be defined as death. Those who could die at any moment—that is precisely what Yongin was.

‘duty.’

Dropping anchor.
One day in the past, Temares saw traces of the Salamander, and he knew that this being did not need to be called a monster.

‘I was manipulated.’

Who? Finding it is a long way off. Salamanders are phantom beasts. I understand that. Temares has found an anchor to stay in reality.

‘Let’s protect it.’

To put it in human terms, it’s a pastime. Like playing cards after a hard day’s work. It
wasn’t particularly important, and it was optional, but it felt like a reason to live.
Just as a card game with a few jokes and a beer made the hard work bearable.
Temares found a duty. And for Yongin, duty meant something he had to protect even at the risk of his life.
He went beyond simply protecting the Salamander, seeking to care for its will. The
duty expanded, and Temares’s goal became clear:
to not allow anyone to harm the Salamander, and to not allow anyone to be killed directly by it.
It was difficult, and therefore meaningful. It might not bring joy, but it would bring a small sense of satisfaction. And yet, he made his calculations clear. He drew a line.

‘As a being of the beast, the flames that spread around it are devoid of will.’

Therefore, it was beyond the scope of his duty.
Only the Salamander, the beast that directly exerted its power, was within the bounds of his duty and responsibility, Temares calculated.
And so, countless years passed.
Yongin was unaffected by any desire or need. Generally, that was true. And generally, that meant there were times when it wasn’t.
Beyond his anchor-like duty, there was only one thing that drew Yongin’s favor.
To put it in words, it could be called a “grand dream.”
If Temares were to put it in his own words,

‘A will that seems unbreakable.’

You could say that.
I’ve encountered such intelligent beings several times in my life.
Temares was kind to them all. They were worthy of respect. They displayed pure will, transcending good and
evil. They pursued ideals, not desires.
Yongin could neither hate nor dislike such people.
When Yongin took sides, it was for that sole reason.

‘Respect for the will.’

They shine. They shine like stars, burning their own lives.
For Yongin, what must be grasped and squeezed out of duty can only be felt by those who shine naturally.
Yongin possessed the sense to capture and perceive this.
This is why Temares, as he crossed swords with Encred, displayed joy and anticipation, along with unreasonable favor.
Just as Prok appreciates beauty, fairies delight in pure energy, and Yongin simply rejoices when he meets someone who fills him with a will rarely seen.
It was like seeing a beautiful work of art, or listening to heart-pounding music.
To put it more bluntly, it was something addictive. It
didn’t take precedence over duty, though.
There was no cause, no justice, no morality. Nor did it prioritize malice or murderous intent.
For Yongin, duty was paramount. It was the very reason he lived, so it was only natural.
Temares simultaneously thought through several thoughts, grasping what had just happened.
In the past, when the Salamander was active, magical creatures made of flames were born everywhere, and anyone who came close to the Salamander would be overcome by illusions and lose consciousness. This was the creature’s unique ability.
Temares had no intention of killing anyone behind him.

‘The spirit of the returned person has been polluted.’

Why? I don’t know. Just because I’m a dragon doesn’t mean I can split my body into hundreds of clones. I don’t wield magic freely. I only know how to wield power.
That’s why I missed the parasite’s intentions, which were burrowing into this place.

‘Trickery.’

However, he had a feeling. Someone must have done something like that. Finding out why would be a waste later. For now,
he had to deal with the situation at hand. Temares was particularly saddened by the death of the man who had shared his sword with him. That’s how much he liked that author.

‘Do you feel sorry?’

Have you ever felt this way?
It’s strange. Of course, this feeling is something to reflect on later. For now, we must ensure those intoxicated by illusions don’t fall prey to the flames.
Just as I was making up my mind, one of the group behind me spoke.

“Enki.”

It was a black-haired sorceress. She easily overcame the illusions cast by the Salamander and opened her eyes. It was a blink of an eye.
Temares was forced to witness another sight he had never seen before.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

He was a gray-haired human. He, too, had overcome his illusions. And that wasn’t all; Yong-in experienced a surprise he’d only encountered a few times in his life.

* * *

Esther recently experienced a fantasy where her world of spells overlapped with reality.
It was hard to forget that moment, a surge of exhilaration that went beyond thrill. But is there any benefit to being intoxicated by that sensation?
No. The line between reality and fantasy must be clear. A magician must know how to draw that line.

‘If you are intoxicated by fantasy, it is like being trapped in a maze from which you can never escape.’

Content to live in the illusions and hallucinations I created, I would cease to seek a reason to live in reality.
She had overcome her illusions. Therefore, it was easy for her to crush and shatter the illusions the Salamander had presented, and then awaken.
Her dead master appeared, spewing resentful words.

‘He’s the kind of person who wouldn’t say something like that even if a shaman woke him up.’

The welcome was flimsy. It didn’t delve into the human psyche, but merely stirred emotions.
Of course, that alone could shatter the human spirit without a trace, but none of those who have come this far are ordinary.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

Rem’s words are heard.
Encred turns his head at Esther’s call and asks again.

“why?”

He pretended it wasn’t a big deal. He’d neatly overcome illusions and hallucinations.

“I know that it is not yet time for you to call me.”

Audyn exuded white divinity from his entire body along with the prayer.

“I am the best guide on the continent.”

Ragnar spat out nonsense.

“How many times have I met and fought the devil, and how could I be defeated by something like this?”

Sinar scoffed at the illusion. Of course, being a fairy, one had to listen closely to glimpse its emotions.
From the moment they encounter a demon, they begin to corrode their opponent’s spirit. Even a Balrog alone would cause them to collapse and die if they couldn’t overcome its aura and pressure. It was a death that simply came. What about
the one who had tried to make her his bride? Even a mere brush with the sword was dangerous, but hadn’t he ultimately attempted to devour the entire fairy city?
Imagining the worst wasn’t Chrys’s forte. Instead of revealing their emotions, the fairies sang of despair and frustration from deep within.
The entire city was like that.
Therefore, this level of illusion was merely endearing compared to the time when the city was being devoured and dying.
And Encred’s resolve was beyond words.
He was unwavering. He pressed forward, even facing the child he couldn’t protect. If he hadn’t done this, he would have long ago been trapped in this day and age.
He had no difficulty distinguishing between reality and fantasy. Encred was never intoxicated by omnipotence.

‘If I had brought Dunbakel, I might have been a little shaken.’

I had enough leisure to allow such distracting thoughts
to enter my mind. Giants and beastmen are inherently vulnerable to such tactics.
In terms of sheer combat prowess, Dunbakel could easily hold her own against Teresa, and she could even hold her own against Lawford and Fel. Of course, in a fight to the death, it’s pointless to speculate on who would win.

‘still.’

Dunbakel must have overcome it, too.
In the East, she learned to deal with fear. She showed mental growth, too. She wouldn’t crumble even if shaken by hallucinations and auditory hallucinations.
Anyone else besides her would have figured it out on their own.

“If it were Suin, I would have been a little shaken, but it’s impossible for me.”

Rem says. The savage may appear rough on the outside, but he’s meticulous on the inside. You can tell by the fact he just mentioned Dunbakel. He’s referring to the person he’s most worried about.
However, his expression of affection is so harsh that it’s painful for Dunbakel.

“Clumsy.”

Encred heard the boatman’s voice.
Yes, it was a bit awkward.
The flames covering his head looked like a red cloud. A bright red flame covered his head.
To be precise, it wasn’t a cloud, but rather a wide expanse of flame.

“It falls from above. Fire.”

“Temares,” Yongin said. “He didn’t stop there.”

“My name is Temares.”
“I am a dragon.”
“You are human.”

Now that the Salamander had awakened, his task was clear. He repeated the same words to accomplish it.