Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

Twilight.

A time when the sun goes down on the horizon and the sun's rays scattered in the atmosphere creates a heartwarming scene.

Half golden and half dark with night, this horizon looked more fabulous in the vast grass fields.

A setting sun at the far horizon, the rising sad blue moon, the faraway stars, this dancing grass, the calm breeze... and an unfathomable beauty standing in the middle of this field.

She was stunning, as if a celestial being.

Her figure was undeniably perfect, and there was a fire in her pure blue eyes.

... real fire.

A fire that burned fiercely as a magic circle appeared before her.

The complex, golden magic circle shined with bright light and some peculiar chains wrapped around a boy's body came out of it.

His body... or maybe calling him a corpse would have been more appropriate if not for the eyes crying, the tears of blood, and his calm heartbeat.

The chains that were perfectly fine some time ago before he vanished were now in the state of almost breaking down and they vanished when the fire in her eyes went out.

She walked up to the alive boy and his entire body was covered in a warm green fire.

Blood that was flowing out of every hole in his body stopped, and he started regaining new vitality.

His wide open, blood-covered eyes cleaned up, and he regained his consciousness after a while.

"Don't move just now. Drink a red potion and then slowly get up," she said and helped him drink the elixir.

He almost healed after that and a pure white flame suddenly coved his body.

"Hmmm?" He gasped as he felt the warm touch on his body, but nothing hurt despite the fire being real.

This fire was soul-soothing, something he really needed at this moment after his soul was almost disintegrated in nature.

He had seen something impossible and the things that happened in that short amount of time in that unreal place confirmed his doubts.

After the fire vanished and the boy stood up, he looked deep into her eyes.

"Why do you have those things... grandma?" He asked without questioning her previous behavior.

She had just chained him without saying anything but, from the way he returned from that place... it was clear something unbelievable had happened to him.

Smiling at him with a knowing smile, she answered, "Because I'm old?"

He was calm now... on the outside only, though.

His heart was now beating even more wildly than before, but his mind was now clear.

Looking straight into her pure blue eyes, he asked, "H-how many?"

His voice was filled with hesitation, and he did not want to confirm the known.

"48. Some being moments long while the later ones lasting three millennia," she answered, understanding her grandchild had already known what she was.

And her words... those expected words… broke him.

"H-how..." as if a dam had broken inside him, a strong dam that kept his important emotions safe, tears flowed out of his eyes.

Tears as clear as precious gold, reflecting the light of the setting sun.

She hugged him and her warm embrace, as always, calmed him quickly.

Caressing his head with her gentle hands, she said, "Eon. Though we can't forget the past, dwelling on it is meaningless.

I never wanted a long life where I see others die before me.

I never wanted all the lives I lived with or without others.

You knew for a long time but you denied it, right?

You wanted me to confirm it for you.

All this time, you just wanted to hear that from me, so I shall say it.

Yes, my beloved grandson.

I am a [Divine Beast].

More precisely... a Phoenix."

His eyes widened at those words even more and for someone who has lived with this person finally knowing she actually was the creature, he thought, being shocked would be a small word.

She just said a [Divine Beast].

Creatures that stood at the apex of beings in this world.

Possessing not only unparalleled strength and wisdom but also special authority only they had in this nature.

They considered just witnessing the phantom forms of these creatures a lifelong blessing while the person he had stayed with, laughed with, and learned with all this time... was one of those beings.

Not the phantom, not a part, but the actual creature itself.

And not only that.

She... was a Phoenix.

A creature of afterlife and rebirth.

Symbols of life and masters of truth.

Being that showed the souls the paths on the road to the afterlife, or so the books said.

In this world, Phoenix was admired as greatly as Dragons, maybe more in some cases.

A creature that had the ability to cure any illness, injury, or abnormality with their flames.

Creatures born directly from nature a long ago that maintained their existence as the only beings that can born back from their ashes after their death... or so was written in books.

They believed these immortal birds to never die and live eternally as the same creature.

Books had many debatable things about these creatures but, we actually knew nothing about them.

All we knew was from the books, as no one had seen these creatures and there was no way to just believe this lady just because she said it.

But he believed her nonetheless.

He believed her words because he had seen things that would be impossible to possess if you weren't at least something she claimed.

And she was his grandma.

There was nothing to hide now that things were going to end with the worst scenario he had thought.

"W-won't you just come back even if you... go?" his voice was cracking, and he was still hugging her tightly, not letting her go.

He had felt it many times, but tried to deny it.

The desire to have something she deeply desired.

She wanted something, and there was only one that could grant her that wish.

He never understood what it meant to be her successor, but he knew she wanted him to fulfill that one wish.

She had always said just how old she was or how long she had lived.

The tower she created herself was already more than a thousand years old.

He just recently began to doubt things even more when he achieved his three eyes.

His skill told him too much, and sometimes the age of random things was one of them.

She was old, and there weren't many mortal creatures that could live in this place for that long of a time.

And more than that... she lived here, in these vast grass fields and this magical tower all by herself.

Being alone is a difficult thing for any race, and if it's this long, few creatures had the ability to endure this silent solitude.

She had said she made this place to live for the rest of her life.

But... how long was this 'rest'?

Some years? Decades? Centuries?

Can someone live alone in the same place for millennia?

I don't think others could, but if we were talking about a creature that had lived long and many lives, then it could be possible.

And what would a being that had lived for that long, had all the knowledge, wisdom, treasures, and power, and could live like anything it wanted for as long as it wanted, have as their last wish?

Last wish...

Last.

Meaning something at the end.

And that was the easiest question to answer, right?

She held his face with her two hands and got close to it.

Looking deep within those ruby red eyes with her emotions, sorrow, and happiness-filled clear blue eyes, she asked, "Eon? Won't you grant my last wish?

My last wish... of a true death?"