6. Proof of Existence (55)
The traitor’s death was surprisingly futile.
Even though Yuren’s blood was soaking all over my body, I was still beside myself. Blurred vision flickered repeatedly along my eyelids, and before I knew it, my body was rolling on the ground.
shortness of breath It felt like I would lose consciousness any second.
It was because he lost too much blood.
But I still had work to do.
While letting out a deep moan, I crawled forward and staggered to raise my body. The hatchet in my hand had a silvery glow.
I was sure then
My aura got stronger. It showed signs not too long ago, and I didn’t even know that the flowering was over.
It was the feeling of swimming in another world alone.
The moment I opened my eyes again and faced Yuren, my world started slowing down. In the past, even the scattering flames and blood seemed to have stopped.
And the five senses become clearer in that time.
It made my brain tingle so that my life and intuition tingled. In the field of view, countless imaginary trajectories and threads of space were revealed, revealing my self defenselessly.
The detailed efficacy is not yet known.
However, it was entirely thanks to the flowering that he was able to overcome Yuren’s aura. I wanted to remove the gray lesions through ‘Hae’, but the speed at which the lesions spread was faster than that.
Slowing the body meant slowing down the aura as well.
What if the aura didn’t bloom at the end?
That’s how I walked around in the floating thoughts. Suddenly, I remembered the woman in my memory that I had peeped at.
He was a strong person. No matter how many times I rolled through the mud, it was still shiny and unbreakable.
Maybe that’s why I couldn’t collapse.
Looking back on my memories, the road has come to an end.
A trembling hand touched his cheek. Only then did I come to my senses.
My vision became clear. The face of a woman dripping with tears came into my eyes.
A light pink hue shimmers and spreads. The eyes of a beautiful woman with silver hair had been wet for a long time.
ぅ, ぅ and
A voice that was trying to suppress the crying continued.
“Why, why did you do that… … .”
Instead of answering, I stared blankly at the saintess.
Maybe it was because her consciousness was blurry, but she couldn’t understand the saintess’ question. So I decided to do what I had to do first.
“Kang,” and the restraining ball cut off along with the flames.
Fortunately, the description of ‘Hae’ was also valid for the chain that imprisoned the saintess.
First of all, there were only three restraints that tied the limbs together.
Regardless, the saintess just stroked my blood-soaked cheek with a pitiful look. A few drops of tears fell like jewels down the drooping head.
The weeping in the cry deepens.
“It hurts, ugh… it hurts I almost died… … .”
Kang, and sparks fly again.
After confirming that the other restraints were released, my blank gaze turned to the weeping saintess.
why did you do that
The answer was obvious. Because I wanted to save the saintess even though it was painful and difficult.
Do I really need to put this into words?
It was ambiguous. So I decided to hold off on answering for now. There was also a judgment that liberating the saintess was more urgent than that.
Kang, and the chains are released. When the last remaining restraint was removed, the saintess was free.
“If I, if I had done a little better… black, uh… Tea, rather… If I, if I hadn’t hesitated… … .”
A blood-colored marble was held in the hands of the saintess who blamed herself like that.
Only then did I realize why the saintess was so guilty of me.
It seemed that the saintess thought that I was driven to death because of her hesitation.
In addition, the pain of being betrayed by a family-like being.
Even the fact that that person made me this way.
There was nothing that didn’t bother the saintess’ heart.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I, uh… Because I’m so incompetent… … .”
“Holy Lady.”
“Kang,” I let out in a low voice as I lifted the last restraint.
My hands were quietly placed on the saintess’ shoulders. Startled, the pale pink eyes of the trembling saintess turned toward me again.
The watery pupils took on a more beautiful color. It was like a carefully crafted jewel.
“Don’t regret it.”
“… … Yeah?”
I didn’t know what to say, I just spit out the thoughts that came to my mind straight into words.
“Even in pain and suffering, there are things you must protect. Don’t blame yourself later and be sad.”
The woman who appeared in the flashback was probably like that.
He was plagued with guilt all his life and wandered in the mire of despair on the battlefield where Suman died.
I sincerely hoped that such scars would not be engraved in the saintess’ heart.
“I, I will definitely make it… … .”
“Why?”
It was a question full of tears.
I had to shut up for a while and make eye contact with the saintess. Rarely did the saintess appear unable to hide her emotions at all.
Crying. The woman’s face, steeped in despair and betrayal, was so cruel that even the expression pitiful was insufficient.
“I-I’m not such a great person… I even abandoned my name and lived as a ‘saint’… It was all fake! Anything I’ve accomplished, not a single one… … !”
“Because it is you.”
Again, the answer flowed without logic and thought.
The saintess’ face went blank again.
“Because it’s you, I believe.”
That was the end.
My body, which I was barely maintaining, stumbled and collapsed. It was the same with the red spirit.
The sight flickers with a thump.
“Ian… Ian?! Wake up!”
It was now the limit.
My eyelids closed, and my consciousness sank into the abyss.
**
With a thump, my mind returned like a spark.
I was standing on a familiar plain. It was a battlefield covered in dried blood and countless corpses.
I remember seeing this scenery not too long ago.
My eyes blankly scanned my surroundings. It was a sea of corpses. It was to the point of wondering how it was possible not to see a single sign of life in this vast land.
It was the trajectory that a certain man had walked.
And this world would soon become his life.
My eyes, which had been wandering around so blankly, were locked in as if nailed somewhere.
It was a corpse. A man whose face I couldn’t even see when I saw him a while ago.
No, should I say woman?
It was Yuren.
I closed my eyes and took a closer look at the woman with a beautiful jawline lying face down. Come to think of it, it seemed that I was in this form when I defeated Yuren.
The cause of death was probably a penetrating wound. A hollow hole near the heart was proving the moment of death.
While I was staring at Yuren’s corpse in a daze, a dry voice leaked from behind.
“… … It’s over now.”
My gaze naturally turned to the epicenter. There, he saw a man perched on a rock.
He was arranging the knots in the scabbard with a nonchalant expression. As if it were a general who was about to go on a campaign.
“It took longer than expected. ‘Greed’ has set quite a few traps.”
“Did you know?”
It was a half door that even felt the subtle heat.
The man looked at me blankly as if he meant something.
I had to grit my teeth at that emotionless gaze.
“The fact that Yuren is a traitor.”
“I knew. Because I killed him.”
It was an answer that put strength in my fist.
Despite my ferocious gaze, the man only put on a sad expression. His eyes glanced at the corpse in front of me.
“Yuren tried to surrender with the saintess at the beginning of the war against the Dark Church. Then, the saintess who managed to escape was branded as a heretic.”
“therefore?”
“During the last battle, he blocked my way to rescue the saintess.”
There was a look of sadness in the man’s eyes as he said that.
It was a feeling like a gray color left after it had been burned out.
“So I killed him… In the end, it was too late.”
“Couldn’t you say a word?”
In response to my warmed-up voice, the man gave an indifferent answer.
“I always feel it, kid. You want too much.”
“In that case, Mr. Reynolds would not have died… No, the number of orphans sacrificed is far… … !”
“Could you have survived without blood?”
It was a cold objection. I couldn’t feel any emotions, so I dug into my chest even more sharply.
It felt like something was going up against my throat. But nothing really came out of my mouth.
because I couldn’t resist
As if he knew that, the man’s empty gaze turned toward the empty space.
“Also, Yuren’s betrayal is an event that will have a significant impact on the future. I couldn’t reveal or tease… Don’t be too sad.”
Unexpectedly, the advice that served as comfort continued.
I couldn’t believe it at all, so I looked at the man with my eyebrows slightly narrowed.
The man’s face, as always, looked tired.
“It is something we will have to go through countless times in the future. Lost, parted, betrayed… You have to be blunt.”
“… … how?”
My doubts were valid.
My hands were still shaking. The fact that my life depended on the sacrifice of an orphan, and the fact that Yuren was a traitor and that I had cut his throat with my own hands was hard to deal with.
But should I be blunt?
How can humans do that?
It was even before such a complicated cry was uttered.
“Just one piece of advice.”
Silently, the man’s body stood on the ground.
The more I looked, the more I couldn’t read his eyes. The golden eyes, which had gone through wear and tear, were burning roaringly despite the lack of brilliance they could contain.
What kind of road should I walk to have such tired eyes?
While I hesitated for a moment, the man spoke with sincerity.
“Don’t be stubborn. Sometimes you have to know how to give up. Otherwise… … .”
The man walked past me.
His hand tapped my shoulder a couple of times and left.
“You will get sick. very much.”
It was before I even asked what it meant.
I felt a pull pulling on my body. It felt like water in a bottle and coming out through the bottleneck.
The back of the last man I saw like that, yes.
It looked very painful.
Before long, my eyelids were forcibly pushed back.
The sound of panting breath filled my ears. I looked around with a bewildered look.
It was a strange bed. The clean, pure white blanket suggested that this place was hygienically managed.
But my attention was directed elsewhere.
where is the saintess?
The case is not over yet. The contents of the letter were just the beginning.
My nervous gaze wandered all over the room, but the saintess was nowhere to be seen. I was even more nervous and almost raised my body wrapped in bandages.
If only the door hadn’t opened quietly.
Beyond that, as if surprised, I could see light pink eyes that were wide open.
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
“… … Holy Maiden.”
I didn’t know if I still had a chance.
Hey, those words scared me, could it be that even Mc’s friend Leto would be one of the Seven Deadly Sins…?