201 – Ghosts
In a dark room.
In the cold night air, undying candles fluttered in their shadows.
“Adonis, if you see what I see, you will understand me too. So-“
“… Cudalin. What did you see As I see it, now you can’t see anything. Your eyes are blinded by darkness.”
“Adonis!”
The two men were guardians of the empire.
It was a shadow that supported the empire in an invisible place.
They swore.
With this power allowed by the empire, I will serve with devotion until my body wears out and disappears.
As a shadow of nothing, where no one can see, who covets nothing.
But since when? The fact that the shadow of nothing had grown so large that it covered the entire empire.
Can you see that as a shadow?
In the first place, is there a reason to stay in the shadows?
The captain of Harashin Guard. Left arm, Cudalin.
He had a question, and the question became a delusion.
Something that was sealed in the very depths of the empire where they stood took advantage of Kudalin’s delusion and dug into him. Whispered
Don’t be satisfied with the position of a feeble shadow.
Eat the light and become darkness. To grab everything
You have the strength and the qualifications.
Cudalin thought the whisper was very reasonable, so he did.
The shadow ate the empire.
Guardians became de facto rulers.
All that remains now is to dedicate the Empire to the Great One and help him incarnate.
At that time, Harasin was the leader of the enforcement corps. The right hand, Adonis, stepped forward.
To make things right, I blocked the front of his left arm.
“Cudalin. Have you forgotten our duty?”
“Our duties? Our duty!? What do you mean by our duty? Devoting and serving those insignificant things and the ignorant people! What to waste!? Adonis! We have been serving false values.”
“… “
“Truly, the one whom we deserve to serve. A truly great being! Whispered to me to serve you! Then I’ll give you a piece of the world! Adonis. One day this empire will perish. As if it were the providence of the world, it would naturally become nothing and scatter as dust. What we have accomplished we. Entire! But if you serve Him. You can become the ruler of a truly great empire that will prosper for eons in the future. The Great One will give up part of the world for us!”
Kudarin spread his arms.
Hwaruk.
The unsettling shadow cast by the flickering candles covered the entire room.
“Our guards have already agreed.”
“Do you agree?”
“Yes! Now, if only you agree-“
“…Then what did I see and hear?”
“What?”
“Cudalin. I know about the second and fourth arms of the Inspection Corps. You probably know more about them than I do. That they are not the ones to plot a rebellion. That they’re not the ones who agree with you.”
“…”
“Cudalin. How did it come to be like that? They were the people you really should have by your side. When you were wandering in the dark, they were the ones who would be willing to burn themselves to be a signpost. Even though it was so futile. They weren’t the ones who deserved a dishonorable end.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not too late. We can make it right now. I’ll help you.”
Adonis looked at his friend with calm eyes.
As if he would understand and accept everything.
“…”
Cudalin averted her eyes.
For two people who knew each other well, that was enough.
The candle went out and darkness came into the room.
Soon after, sparks flew with an intense metallic sound.
The flames illuminated the figures of the two people who had passed away. They were fighting swords.
“Adonis, you’ve always been like that. Like you know everything about me. Like you know things I don’t.”
Cudalin’s sword is pushed back. But it was only for a moment.
“…!”
Ominous whispers filled the place, like a mixture of countless shouts and screams.
Then darkness dwells in Kudalin’s body and sword.
Adonis’ sword began to slide.
“Then how did you know this?”
Kudalin’s eyes, accustomed to the darkness, projected the image of a close friend onto his retina.
The guy who always looked down on himself.
She looked up at herself and was perplexed.
Kudalin thought so for a moment and smiled contentedly.
But the candle was lit again, and Kudalin’s eyes flickered like the candle.
“Cudalin… “
He wasn’t embarrassed.
He was mourning. What?
I didn’t know. I didn’t even want to know.
The tip of Kudalin’s sword pointed at his friend’s chest.
***
Left arm and right arm.
The conflict between the Inspector Corps and the Execution Corps led to a civil war on the continent, which lasted for a long time like an anointed flame, burning the empire.
Speaking only of results.
The last one standing at the end was the left arm, Kudalin.
But there was no winner.
An empire dedicated to a great being has collapsed.
Cudalin and the great beings he serves have suffered devastating damage.
To the extent that it would take hundreds of years of waiting to recover.
“Adonis… “
Cudalin looked at him as his sword pierced his chest.
“… “
He was still looking at himself with the same gaze as before.
Within seconds, he realizes that he too is looking at him with the same gaze as before.
Adonis, who must have already stopped breathing, moved his mouth.
It was an illusion created by the darkness of Kudalin.
-Even though I borrowed the power of darkness.
-Even though I gave up on myself.
-You couldn’t get over me.
-My foolish friend.
-That’s what you are after all.
Cudalin screamed and slapped Adonis on the neck.
He cut off his eyes to keep them from looking at him.
Even so, the image of Adonis, imprinted on his retina and in his brain, could not be erased.
It’s just that after a long time, it was buried in dust and forgotten for a while.
That Adonis.
It appeared in front of me again.
“The true Harasin… “
To deny what he has achieved, what he will achieve.
Emotion appeared on the face of a man who denied his mortal destiny and became an existence that even death could not redeem.
The ghost of the past that the man couldn’t shake off was looking at him.
The man realizes that he has the same face as before.
“No… “
The man covered that emotion with anger.
“Adonis… “
The man made up his mind.
“That will not work… “
This time, I will win a complete victory over him.
The old man had a twisted smile.
A dark vitality appeared on the face of the old man, whose emotions had completely dried up a long time ago.
“… “
There was a woman in a mask standing upright next to the old man who was sitting and staring at the old man.
The fifth arm of Harasin, the wet arm.
She showed strong curiosity about the unfamiliar appearance of the old man.
With questions.
“Left arm, what the hell is the true god Hara-“
A power handed down from the root of only the left arm.
Assassination.
The pride of Harasin. Identity.
How come that power is in the hands of people other than Harasin?
That is also to a being who calls himself the true God Hara and denies the existing God God Hara by dismissing it as a specter.
It wasn’t just the left arm that was shaken by the appearance of the true God Hara.
Only to pursue power.
Or perhaps because he was chosen by God Hara.
For various reasons, the assassins who turned to Hara were confused.
Perhaps this power he possesses is merely an imitation.
“Hey. No presumptuous questions.”
The man in the mask dismissed the question of such a wet arm.
It was Harasin’s third arm, the tearing arm.
“… “
The wet arm raised doubts because the left arm didn’t say anything.
On the surface, that is.
‘The true Harasin… Adonis… ‘
The Fifth Arm was determined to find an answer to this question.
‘The smiling face of the lineal master.’
Her consciousness turned to the Free City where the academy was located.
Ttogak.
Ttogak.
At that time, the sound of shoes echoed in the cavity where they were.
The light emitted by the magic tool in the form of a lamp hanging on the wall seemed to darken the cavity where there was a bluish twilight.
The owner of the shoe sound drove the darkness and approached Harasin.
Black silky, straight hair crossed her waist to the floor and was brushed like the hem of a dress.
The black dress, which seemed to contain all the darkness in the world, had a hollow back and part of it was made of black lotus-patterned mesh.
The white skin that appeared between them, as if it contained all the light in the world, created a mysterious yet eerie feeling.
Drreuk.
Her chair moved on its own as she got closer.
It seemed that the darkness near her had pulled out her chair for her.
The woman sat down in her chair and placed her hands, gracefully and seductively, gently upon her legs.
Then she said, creating an arrowy yet alluring smile that reminded her of both her courtesan and the Virgin.
“I’m sorry. Am I a little late?”
A deep voice that makes listeners, regardless of gender, enslaved to lust.
The leader of the Black Root Church.
She was a saint.