6. Proof of Existence (66)
“Why, why are you doing this… Ian, Ian did nothing wrong… It’s all my fault. I wasn’t enough… I, I have committed a sin to death! So, please!”
It was a scream that he squeezed with all his might.
The sincerity contained in it had more persuasive power than logic. Saints standing on the battlefield, judges standing on top of steep cliffs, and tens of thousands of people.
The reason why I couldn’t bring myself to say anything would also be irrelevant to this.
“Kill me! Hang me, throw me stones, burn me with fire! That, that’s exactly what you want. aaa!”
It was a plea that bordered on screaming at the end.
Panting for breath, the saintess squeezed all the air out of her lungs and sadly closed her eyelids.
drop, drop.
Clear dew drips and falls.
“So, let go of Ian… Why, why does that person have to suffer… Whoa, black… … .”
silence.
The saint did not give an answer.
It was then that the man groaned and wriggled. His fingers trembled as if an electric current had passed through them, and the man slowly began to stand up.
The saint’s gaze turned to the front again.
The saintess looked at the scene and thought.
No.
“… … not possible.”
Pak, and the blood and flesh splattered again.
“Ah, ah… aaa! Oh no… Stop, I told you to stop! Are you a saint even after doing this?! Can you claim to be a servant of the Heavenly God!”
“Then who are you?”
It was a solemn question.
There was a mysterious power in the saint’s voice. Although the saintess was already delirious, the question left her speechless for a moment.
Who am I?
In the past, I would have said it proudly.
I’m a ‘Saint’, I’m a Saint of the Holy Land.
But now?
Blood flowed from the clenched fists due to the extreme emotions. It was the mark of a fingernail digging into the palm.
“Are you also a servant of the Lord?”
“I… therefore… … .”
The light pink eyes that had sunk in a daze blazed again and the flames blazed.
Fragments of fierce emotions formed a torrent through clenched teeth.
“If I am not a servant of the Celestials, then what am I? Even now, aren’t we following the will of the Lord well!”
“Thy will.”
“You abandoned me!”
It was a criticism that was swollen with resentment and distrust, and was even primary.
“I’ve been believing all my life… I’ve been living for you! Abandoned like a devoted mate, that’s why you say you’ll be abandoned! I will obey! You can only throw me away… But why are you trying to take away my most precious person… … !”
“is it.”
He flinched, and once again the man’s body began to twitch slightly.
The saint turned his head indifferently again.
“Then, sit down and be obedient. Is this not also the will of the Lord?”
“Oh, no… Wait a minute… … !”
Pak, the man’s life flew through the air again.
“Ah, uh, ah… aaagh! stop, stop! That, please stop… Wrong. I fell short, please! Please have mercy just once… As much as Ian, as much as Ian!”
“It’s the path you chose for yourself.”
The saint’s tone was so low-key that it sounded grim.
I couldn’t possibly guess what it was.
“You who do not even have a name, how can you interfere in the fate of others? You don’t deserve it.”
“It is my destiny!”
With bloodshot eyes, the saintess uttered a desperate plea.
“Even if I can handle it, I have to handle it! Ian, no crime… … !”
The saint didn’t even answer anymore.
Pak, Pak, Pak!
He slaughtered the man like a machine. Every time that happened, a shrieking sound resounded, and the saintess tried all kinds of tricks.
Begging, threatening, negotiating, whatever.
If you asked me to die, I was willing to die. He would have gladly accepted it if he had been asked to stand there in Ian’s place and be killed until dawn and sunset.
If only Ian could be saved!
In the past, the saintess changed the object of her plea. To Ian, who is not a saint.
“Ian, Ian… I, please stop… Ugh, black… Me, I feel like my heart is going to break. I feel like I’m going crazy! You know it’s never, ever impossible… So, please!”
However, the man’s eyes only glanced at the saintess.
In the next moment, the man always grabbed his sword and stood up. How many times have you died and come back to life like that?
The saintess, exhausted from crying, couldn’t even scream properly because her throat was so sore. However, he was just repeating his advice as if he couldn’t figure it out.
“Why why… Why don’t you give up? Why is it happening again?! Surely there would be no meaning, no meaning at all… … !”
“Well.”
The answer came out of nowhere.
was a saint He continued his plain tone without even looking at the saintess.
“How do you see it?”
“I feel stupid… … .”
Tears dripping down her cheeks, the saintess let out a light cry.
“So, it’s so precious… Because there is only one person in this world… … .”
Only then did the saint’s gaze glance at the saintess.
The voice of the saintess, who had let out a heavy cry, suddenly stopped for an instant.
As if he had suddenly remembered something.
“… … Wait, did you say I didn’t deserve it?”
“Maybe.”
“What the hell is that ‘entitlement’?! How can I stop doing this… … !”
“Prove it yourself.”
It was a brutally principled answer.
The saintess’ face became stern, but the saint’s tone was still blunt.
“Who are you… The road is always there. It’s just that no one has ever walked that road, so I don’t call it ‘the road’. Kneeling and begging won’t create a road that didn’t exist.”
“What is that… … .”
The question didn’t go any further.
The man’s body squirmed, and sent a signal.
And Pak.
The saintess’ nightmare began again.
“Ah ah ah ah ah… aaa! no, stop… please… Don’t do this, how many times have I… … !”
At the same time, the saintess suffered desperately.
what to do, what to do
What do you mean by proof?
Who am I?
She gave up even her name to fit the guise of a ‘saint’!
It was fortunate that both hands were tied. Otherwise, the saintess would have chewed up all her fingers or pulled out her hair in a fit of anxiety and despair.
No, I might have cut my skin with my fingernails because I couldn’t scream.
How much time has passed that seemed like eternity?
The man was slowly not regaining consciousness. He had been lying on his face for several minutes without even moving.
It was a spiritual death.
No matter how much the body regenerates infinitely, if the mind dies, it is the end. And this was also the ending the saintess feared the most.
No, the saintess held Ian’s figure in her eyes with a feeling of resentment.
please, please don’t do this
you have to survive Even if I die, somehow as much as you… … .
Right then.
He flinched, and the man’s body wriggled.
For the first time, the saint’s body stiffened.
**
As the boundary between life and death blurs, the sea of unconsciousness overflows.
Where is this place?
I couldn’t tell the difference between dreams and reality. As I walked along the scenery, I had arrived at a familiar place.
My dimmed eyes scanned the scenery around me.
It was a place I had been to several times.
All kinds of corpses were strewn across the dingy plains. Starting with the Witchbeast, monsters and humans of unknown origin formed a low hill.
It was a bizarre landscape.
I was looking at the corpses far away, and I suddenly thought.
Shall I sit down like this?
It was only full of pain to go outside anyway. I’d rather sit down here, if I never dream of going outside again.
The desire to do so was like a chimney.
Even so, why am I moving my steps.
I already forgot why. My blurred consciousness couldn’t turn the fragmented language into a sentence.
But there was one thing I couldn’t give up.
Even if it was painful and painful, there was a path that could not be yielded.
so walk
Even if each step is arduous and cold sweat flows profusely.
I stumbled and took a step.
Hard. It was so hard that I felt like dying.
I have to go. I will not stop or
because, because… … .
“stop.”
Hearing that low voice, I was startled and regained my senses.
It was a sensation of a tingling electric current running through the spinal cord.
The consciousness that had been floating in the dream was restored to its place at once. Before I could figure out where this place was, my eyes turned to the epicenter of the thunderous echo.
There was a man with jet-black hair.
Sitting astride a rock, his arms crossed, his nonchalant golden eyes turned to me.
“It’s too early for you, kid.”
As always, there was no hesitation in harsh criticism from the man, and no hesitation in getting to the point.
“Leave it to me.”
There was no high or low to that tone.
As if telling the obvious truth, he declared it in a tone without a single doubt.
“… … It will bring you victory.”
A man and a man faced each other.
Standing on a land of corpses and shadows.