103 – Report on the Fall of Kindness (13)
The blood and flesh of the unclean fall to the ground. The writhing, pulsating, greedy stalks came to suck Cain’s blood. Grasp the blood-soaked dirt with the roots and suck it up as if you were clenching it with your fist.
The trees that drank Cain’s blood cracked open. The trees that so greedily drank blood now split open their bodies to spit it out.
But it was too late to regret.
The trees’ greed was extreme. Not knowing what the blood that had been sprayed for the first time in a long time was, I just swallowed it and drank it in. He was sucked in so quickly that he couldn’t stop Cain’s blood from spreading even though he cut himself.
The faces carved into the trees were angry. They pushed their faces out of the trees, like people crying behind a thin curtain.
Then the trees stood up.
There is only one way to wash away what is wrong and unclean: the blood of Cain. Eating more of the good and safe things. That’s how you dilute the poison.
So the trees grabbed each other. Is there anything else in the world that is as safe to eat as its own kind?
It stabs out a large branch and digs into the split gap. Lift the roots up from the ground and place them in the gaps. It pierces through the thick roots and sucks up the fine roots.
But it was not all one-sided. The roots of trees are immeasurably deep. The same goes for eggplants. And no one alive can judge malice, greed, and the desire for survival.
Trees are those things. Things that can survive by constantly increasing their size in order to delay the death that is slowly accumulating within their bodies. Things that die if you don’t catch them and eat them.
However, because they were punished by being forced to just stand there, they learned how to spread their roots long and deep.
Maliciousness is spreading again.
* * * * *
The tree people surrounding Maria and Lily suddenly stopped. Thick sap gushes out from between the broken heads.
Despite this, the trees still move their bodies. It uses its arms, legs, appendages, and twigs to shake, hug, and suck the trees next to it.
With the orderliness from earlier gone, all that remains is instinct. It is a manifestation of the instinct to eat others in order to survive.
The God who created the world did not tell people to disobey their instincts. Instead, it taught us to control, govern, and solve problems in a better way.
Sometimes fire and water were used, but most of the time it was done through people.
That’s why Maria was angry about what was happening.
Roberta mixed people and non-humans. He brought to light only one of man’s many natures. As if eating and being eaten is all that humans have.
“I am here in the dark.”
On the flat roof of the log cabin, Mary got down on her knees. The backs of her hands rested on her roof and her palms were open to the sky. Her rays of light waver as if they are looking down upon her Mary.
“Give me the strength to discern between right and wrong.”
The sky is scorched by the pillar of light that soars up to the sky. It feels like a black piece of paper is being held over a candle. Flames rise like waves along the texture of the clouds. Pieces of the scorched sky fall like sparks.
“What darkness has crushed, let light pick it out! Take the children who resemble you out of the mud and wash them! “Your children cry and cry out to you; lead them like a parent holding his child’s hand!”
Then the heavens poured down.
Each of the flames clung to the bodies of the tree people as if they were living angels. The burnt trees rolled around on the ground to somehow avoid the wrath, but their depravity only aroused their anger.
The light did not leave behind a single drop of sap, a single twig, or a single leaf. They burned it, crushed it, and crushed it.
‘It was eaten!’
Lily was happy. Of course, she couldn’t express herself properly because she was dealing with an unexpected situation.
What Lily was worried about was what would happen if Seonghwa failed to exert any power like he did when Brother Henry did.
When the sacred fire was lit on the old monk’s forehead, nothing happened.
But if you think about it, Henry was himself at that time. He was helping Cain and his group entirely out of his own will and good nature.
But the tree people running rampant now are not themselves. Humans eaten by monsters. These are people whose hearts were stolen by witches. These are people who have been robbed of their own will and have become puppets.
What parent would not be angry that their child is acting as someone’s puppet? God’s wrath was persistent and primal.
‘Cain… ‘
Lily was worried.
The act of causing the trees to run away and escape Roberta’s control was successful. It is also a miracle that God directly punishes trees that have lost their senses.
If all goes according to plan, Cain should have joined the group by now. But Cain still hasn’t come, even after some time has passed.
A burning tree branch extends this way. Lily quickly cut off the branch with her imperial sword. It doesn’t make sense to cut wood with a knife, but it is possible if it is a lump of charcoal that has burned and hardened.
The branch was cut off with a crunching sound. Lily caught her breath. The purge is not over. Maria also cannot move yet. Until everything goes right, she must protect Maria.
So, Lily saw a flash of light on the other side of the village. It wasn’t light. It was reflected light.
‘Oh no!’
She quickly stamped her feet. The planks covering the roof jumped up. It is a sturdy and thick oak tree, about the height of a normal person and shoulder width.
Puck!
However, the arrow that flew was strong enough to pierce the temporary shield. The arrowhead was thin, but the pole itself was long. It was fired with great force.
It is a hunter’s arrow that kills a huge beast.
Lily quickly stamped her feet. She kicked up two or three more planks.
Every time, an arrow flew out and stuck in the plank. The sound grew louder, and the arrow sank deeper. This meant that Roberta was shooting with increasing force.
Lily let out her yell. The shout of a knight on the front line. It is the voice of a guardian who gives strength to tired soldiers and touches the hearts of those whose will is broken.
Not a single arrow will be able to pierce the shield.
‘Hold on and protect.’
That’s all.
* * * * *
Cain threw away her hand in frustration.
There are many unpleasant sensations in the world, but the tangle of flies is unique among them. It’s cool, sticky, and even unpleasant.
If you think about it, it’s a strange thing.
Flies around the world wash their hands and snouts thoroughly before they stick to them. They don’t sting or hurt like mosquitoes and are much more polite. Isn’t there a swollen, itchy skin left where the mosquito leaves?
But flies are more annoying than mosquitoes. Because it’s unclean. No one says that mosquitoes are unclean, but flies are nasty, unclean, disease-carrying insects.
Because I only go to places like that.
‘Just like us.’
Cain grinned, recalling an old joke from the Security Bureau. ‘Swarms of flies of the empire.’ A sarcasm that refers to servants who earn their living by digging up rotten soil.
Of course, security agents don’t care about jokes like that. It is usually the nobles who blatantly tell unpleasant jokes. Who would like it when those who take orders from the empire and the imperial family reveal their wrongdoing?
‘Then don’t do anything wrong.’
Eyeing, the sound. It was attached to the nape of her neck. Cain waved her hand away.
Nape of the neck?
“Ugh!”
Cain frowned at the intense pain. It was really annoying and painful. What’s even more frustrating is that once she realized she was sick, her pain came rushing in like a debt collector.
The creeping pain made her head ache and her eyes sting. Cain eventually closed her eyes. Still, her fever and pain did not subside.
It’s strange. There is no light at all. Why are her eyes sore and sore? Why does the front look clear when there is no light at all?
Light. Light… Cain traced her memory. She seemed to have forgotten something important. She was supposed to follow the light. I don’t think it was an ordinary light…
“You mean Seonghwa?”
Thankfully, there was someone who helped. Cain tried to nod her head, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t because she was lying on the floor, or because she couldn’t lower her head because of the pain in the side of her neck.
The sheathed knight was looking down at her from the other side.
Cough. Cough. Cain groped her hand. The handle of the imperial sword was touched. And when there are so many, it’s hard to believe that he looks like this and that he is that guy.
Her hands had no strength. But Cain tried to stand up. Her whole body felt like it was being crushed, but she still tried to stand up.
Because that guy is in front of me. But that black guy just shakes his head.
“Lay down. “I lost a lot of blood.”
Cain stubbornly stood up. Her left hand held her staff, and her right hand held her imperial sword. She forces her mouth to open.
“Helmet… Take it off. “Let me see your face before I arrest you.”
It was only for a moment, but the knight lowered his head. It looks like he’s holding back laughter.
“… “What are you going to do with me?”
“I asked to see her face.” Cain took a breath.
“You probably have a face too. Since she had a human-like face, she would have joined the boy and girl crusades, as well as the crusade against the devil. “I don’t know which knight order it is, but I don’t think they would have accepted a faceless guy as an apprentice knight.”
Cough. Cain spat out her blood. Although her heart felt like it was burning, she found it easier to talk.
“… So take off her helmet… !”
Her legs were shaking and it was difficult to stand. Just standing there made her head spin. Even though the knight with the scabbard was clearly standing still.
“Why is it so important? “Are you that curious about my face?”
“You are a human, not a monster.”
Cain caught her breath.
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“He does things that are not human, but at least I know that what’s inside is human. So, I… “
Cain eventually got down on one knee. The impact felt as if her head had been hit with a battering ram, making her so dizzy. I suspected that her heart had already been pierced by a tree.
But it must be said.
“So I will have to bring you to trial. “I must take you with me in order to judge the law written down by countless good and evil people, through countless trials and errors, and with blood that would have drenched the world.”
Cain gathered strength into her hands. Using her cane as support, she stood up again. She clumsily lifted the Imperial Sword. Although she had given up on aiming with the tip of her sword, she was at least able to lift it.
“I must measure your actions by human law, which contains the will, thoughts, and experiences of those who shed their blood to create a better world.”
There was a sound of metal scraping. The sound of iron nails scraping against her steel plate. Sounds like trimming a steel plate with a saw file. The knight of her scabbard bent down to her waist.
It was laughter.
“… Under. Under… It’s ironic. It’s ironic. “When you were a victim, you were treated like livestock, but when you became a murderer, you were treated like a human being.”
“Are you giving me medicine?” Cain took a step. There was confusion as if I was kicking the world instead of the ground, but I was able to maintain my balance before I fell.
“When I see you appear before my eyes repeatedly asking me to catch you, I wonder if you wanted to be caught too. Is that ironic? “Why do you show me that black face everywhere I go?”
The sheathed knight shook her head.
“It was not my will to come here.”
“Why? “Did you also have your heart ripped out and thrown under a tree?”
For some reason, the driver paused a little.
“… “My sword led me here.”
“Are you pointing a finger at a sword that can’t even be pulled out of its sheath, telling me to go here or there?”
Cain, who was cackling, slipped. She wanted to say something more, but her mouth tasted bitterly, like blood and wet dirt. She has trouble speaking because of the foam at the corners of her mouth.
The knight slammed his sword sheath on the floor.
The shadow stood up and her hands and arms jumped out. She held onto Cain’s limbs and grabbed her waist and shoulders. Cain tried to fight back, but all she could do was squirm.
Her hands and arms carefully lifted Cain up. She slowly stood up and busily brushed herself off. She tingled and crackled, but somehow her body felt lighter.
“Ugh… “
Instead, her palms seemed to be on fire. When I opened her hand, I saw that her black fire symbol was burning red. It was just as Maria’s mother had drawn it.
“… “He is the guardian of the tree of life.”
She tried to say, ‘He who can’t even see her, pretends to know,’ but she was in so much pain that all Cain could do was stand.
The knight turned his back on Cain. She raised her sheathed sword and walked in front of her.
“Where…” !”
The knight stopped her walking.
“Just as you do your job, I also came to do mine. Roberta said she was always kind… I also came to show her her kindness.”
“Ah. “What did you do?”
“I showed kindness that actively attracted others. So… “
The knight slammed his sword down on the floor. The Black Forest was in turmoil. Darkness rose as if the dry land had been trampled.
“… I will also do her kindness to attract her to me.”
The trees stood up.
The black trees stood upright. Whether the face is painted or not. Either they are almost dead or their waists are cut off. Whether you stand against the storm or are broken by the storm.
A wave of sinister trees rushed towards the village.