711 – 8. Will (85)
A trail of silver light pierces the dew.
Broken pieces of dew fall down on the sword that cuts through the falling tears. It was the moment when the night sky settled in a landscape as beautiful as the Milky Way, the frozen garden of hell.
The body of the woman who was looking at me blankly, fell apart.
The water droplets that had not yet flowed flow down my pure white cheeks. My body falls down at the speed of falling teardrops.
There was no power left to retrieve the sword.
Even without that, his body was no different from a wreck. Since I overexerted myself by using my ‘blood spirit’, it would be even weirder if it didn’t break down.
The slash with all my might did not reach the woman. No, to be more precise, it would be more appropriate to say that she wasn’t aiming.
Because from the beginning, my purpose was one.
Wuuu-!
From Noble mtl dot com
The ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, where hundreds and thousands of souls are trapped, cries out.
The monster, which took the shape of a large tree, struggled as if it could not understand the cracks forming in its body. Thousands of hidden faces were revealed and looking at me.
Their eyes are all shining white.
Among them, Princess Iris was included.
A wry smile inevitably forms on my lips.
“…… “Please take a break.”
Thousands and tens of thousands of pairs of limbs rise above the ground and tremble. The cracks that began to appear in the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ soon spread out of control, and the light bursting from within became increasingly stronger.
Soon, the explosion occurred.
Blood, flesh, foolish desires, and the victim’s poison all mixed together and erupted like firecrackers. With a patter, the falling pieces of meat soon turned into particles of light and dispersed.
Is it an illusion?
The last time I saw Princess Iris, it seemed like there was dew in her eyes.
I closed my eyes and silently prayed for the thousands of souls who were finally liberated. We don’t know where they will end up, but if there is a God.
If it is God’s will that I arrive here.
I just hoped that they too would find rest. Just as ‘Eunseongnyeo’, who was once my lover, believed so.
But the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ was not the only one that ended.
He coughed and vomited out dark red blood. The pieces of flesh mixed inside were proof of my appearance, with even my internal organs intact.
Die.
This was a confirmed fate. Since my body was about to become a master, I was still holding on, but there was no hope anymore.
But isn’t it a lonely death?
“Ian!”
Emma rushed to my side, screaming my name, and her expression was pale. As soon as he saw my serious appearance, which seemed serious at first glance, he started crying and even started to feel restless.
Yes, it was the ‘Emma’ I remembered.
A woman who had always been kind and innocent, her kind heart was particularly impressive, and it seemed like she had finally returned after the tragedy had never left my mind.
But hasn’t even his temperament become docile?
“W-what did you do…” What did you do?!”
With a trembling voice, the woman squeezed the hem of my clothes. My body naturally turns over due to the force pulling me.
It was much easier to see Emma as her face turned toward the sky.
Her crying face is also pretty.
I thought to myself that maybe my eyes had become strange without me knowing.
“You came to kill me?! Just now was a golden opportunity… Why…… !”
“Emma.”
One word I exhaled while taking a deep breath.
That was enough. To make Emma cry again and shut her mouth.
“Run away… ….”
Emma’s face becomes dumbfounded by her unexpected advice.
“Since I destroyed the ‘Philosopher’s Stone,’ Your Majesty will not bother to come after you… “Run away like this and live.”
“Ian.”
“You, you… Cough! I wanted to save you…….”
As her breathing becomes heavier, her tone trembles.
Nevertheless, I kept kissing my lips. As if this were the last chance.
Actually, that was also the case.
Perhaps my words will become a will.
“Just once… You, no… “Anyone.”
“Ian, you… ….”
“Why couldn’t I have saved you earlier?”
Focus is lost and vision becomes blurred.
The shadow of death was gradually becoming clearer. Like a crow waiting to die, the feeling of someone watching me from around my edge as if I could catch them.
The memories rewind. One by one, the nostalgic faces emerge.
Samae.
Junior.
Lovers.
And, in the end, my lord was unable to stay by my side until the end.
I wanted to save it. Madly.
I didn’t want to be left alone. But why do I have to live with the death of my precious people?
“I regretted it, I regretted it… Even now, I can save you…….”
“I thought I was going to die.”
Emma’s heavy criticism rests on her heart.
I took a deep breath and didn’t say anything.
The voice of a woman reciting absentmindedly knocks on my eardrums.
“I planned to die from the beginning. Save me, and instead…….”
“I didn’t want to lose anything anymore.”
It wasn’t a lie. I have already been hurt so much that I have had to live with so many scars in my heart.
The reason why I accepted the vision to the point where my body became a mess.
Isn’t this also because I resented myself in the past for not having the strength to do anything?
“Already, too much…” Cough! Because I lost it… ….”
Emma was just quietly listening to my confession with a mesmerized look on her face.
“Not as much as you, as much as you, never…” ….”
The end of long regrets lies here.
The struggle of an ugly person who desperately wanted to save someone, but because he couldn’t, he didn’t want to repeat his mistake.
Drop, drop.
Raindrops are falling. I was blind and couldn’t see clearly.
Rain falling on the ground smaller than a cloud.
The rainwater was warm.
“I don’t want to lose it.”
The end is approaching. I didn’t even have the strength left to turn my head anymore.
My five senses were moving away one by one. The only remaining sense is hearing.
The voice of a woman suppressing her cries reached my ears.
“…… “You’re stupid.”
It was a brief impression. And because it was an evaluation I had always heard, I ended up twitching the corner of my mouth that never moved.
“You don’t want to lose anything anymore? Ahahahaha… Are you a child? That thing, that thing…… !”
“Cook,” The hand holding my clothes becomes stronger. The woman’s head is bent, water drops falling down her cheeks.
“It’s impossible! “You still don’t know?!”
Even her earnest appeal gradually becomes distant.
“Because I didn’t want to lose anything… ….”
My vision suddenly goes dark.
“The fact that you will eventually lose it.”
I feel weak throughout my body. Feeling drowsy and having the urge to lose consciousness and fall asleep.
It was finally rest.
Just when I thought that I would finally be able to meet the women I had been waiting for.
“…… Ian, let’s make a ‘contract’.”
Like a flash, the woman’s suggestion flashes into my mind.
What on earth do you mean by ‘contract’?
The answer was faster than my worries.
“Oh, no…” ….”
“I will make you perfect.”
Pronunciation becomes slurred because the tongue is loose. She wanted to struggle, but her limbs had no strength.
What I managed to see beyond my open eyes was the face of a woman smiling while crying.
The watery light green eyes are kind.
“The first daughter of the heavenly god, the first mother created by the evil god… ….”
“Please, please…” Please… ….”
“As the first sacrifice.”
Stop it, it can’t be like this.
I want to shout with all my might, but my body doesn’t listen. Emma saw my earnest eyes and smiled.
Because her smile was breathtakingly beautiful.
“You’re ‘arrogant’, Ian.”
Huh, huh.
The only thing I could do was hold my breath and appeal with my eyes.
No.
“You can’t lose anything… But, if I help you.”
Don’t do this.
“Then it might change.”
Stop it.
“The terms of the transaction are ‘me’… “I will sacrifice my body and soul to make you ‘arrogant.'”
A miracle happened then.
An electric current runs through the fingertips that were not even slightly moving. It was unknown whether it was the result of squeezing out the last bit of vitality or whether a desperate heart finally moved the heart of God.
I just tried to stop Emma by extending her hand.
Talk, then.
I felt a warm, soft touch covering my lips. Her tear-soaked cheeks, sweet breath, her eyes closed.
Her arms, which had been very tense, gradually lost strength. As the woman grabbed my wrist, she quietly parted her lips and continued her words.
“In return, you save the world.”
“Emma… ….”
As I sobbed, I wanted to somehow express my weeping feelings.
I could not put my feelings into words. Only a crying tone passed through the throat.
“I resented, hated, and ruined…” ….”
“Please.”
“This world, Ian.”
Emma smiled and shook her head.
“I can’t do it.”
The woman pulled my wrist, which she was holding, up to about my heart. So that you can clearly feel the warm, soft texture and the pulsating heart beyond it.
“You have to do it.”
“Why?”
With a tearful voice, I asked that question.
“Why me again?!”
Shouting out a question that has been asked several times.
“Am I going to have to live with your death again?! To save this world… Why me! I, as much as you… I wanted to save you somehow…… !”
But the scream did not last long.
“Because it’s you.”
I couldn’t say anything at the words he spoke with a kind smile. The woman who slowly closes her eyes while saying that looks so sacred.
“Because I remember the commoner girl who no one cared about, who suffered because I couldn’t save her, and who came to save me in the end.”
My expression becomes distorted.
“Because it’s you, I’ll leave this hateful and painful world to you.”
It was so hot that it hurt my eyes. Is it because blood is rushing into my veins, or is it because my tear ducts are so hot?
From Noble mtl dot com
It hurts.
“Ian Perkus.”
It hurts so much.
“Will you make a ‘contract’ with me?”
My heart ached, my chin trembled, and my head hung low.
I couldn’t say anything for a long time. I just cried. Because I want to enjoy the warmth of a woman in my hands even a little more.
It was some time later that the hoarse voice finally came out.
“…… Okay.”
As I gritted my teeth, I felt a strong pressure in my eyeballs. I don’t know for sure, but my eyes are probably very bloodshot right now.
“I will save you.”
If that is your will.
If it is a mission given to me by God,
“No matter what happens, I will definitely…” ….”
I will follow.
No matter what you do, no matter what you do.
“Only in this world.”
I will definitely protect it.
Because that was the ‘will’ entrusted to me.
**
Boom!
When I came to my senses, the sword met the sword and I started drinking heavily. A shock wave so strong that it is hard to believe it was the result of a blade colliding tears through the atmosphere.
Consciousness flickers, rising and sinking repeatedly.
Then, a question suddenly comes to mind.
Who am I?