Book 17 Chapter 11
Chapter 108
She Who Died as a Human, Beyond Faint Love and Farewell (6)
As the broomstick pierced the barrier covering <Simila> with poison, Rin was thrown from the front seat and fell alone somewhere in the formidable castle.
“Friede, where are you?”
The poison was so deep and thick, and eerie wails like sobs echoed from everywhere, making it feel as if a ghost could appear at any moment.
“Hmph, Friede, sir, where are you? To be honest, I’m a little scared right now…”
Clearing away the poison with the radiance spewed by the Geumyeongjang, Rin desperately began searching for Friede.
Visible enemies aren't scary.
Invisible enemies, like ghosts or such, were what was truly terrifying.
‘No, what nonsense? I’m the [Strongest]. Do you think I’d be afraid of ghosts?’
Finding Friede wasn't that difficult, because in this eerily quiet castle, all sorts of noises could be heard from one particular spot.
But, but…?
What is this presence…?
Wasn't it Ken Serman, whom Rin had clearly killed last time, returning in his boyish form and smiling?
‘Gh-gh-ghost…!’
Was it just as Friede had said?
Had Rin lived such a bad life that the guy's vengeful spirit became a ghost to take revenge on her?
To shake off this fear, Rin unconsciously let out a scream.
“Stop that bullshit────!”
As if to deny the unreality unfolding before her, the psychic phenomenon itself.
“──When a person dies, they can never be resurrected! Because a person dies as a person!”
As if to deny the very existence that clearly had a form right before her eyes.
“How dare you───!”
Science said the existence of ghosts itself was impossible. This guy's very existence was an insult to science and common sense.
“───Don’t insult it!”
If Rin were to admit right here and now that this guy was real, she wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom at night for the rest of her life.
There was only one way to stop that!
To deny its very existence!
Not just with words, but with power!
If, when blasted away with maximum output Thunderfield, its form itself disappeared, then it would simply have been an illusion. Crazy sophistry!
“Osarius style Hand Seal, 5-star.”
Rin's favorite magic, and the most powerful among her spells, Thunderfield, had two precursors.
They were light.
One was the Osarius rosary wrapped around her left arm unfolding ecstatically to draw a constellation of power, and the other was the Geumyeongjang strapped to her back brilliantly flickering.
“Secret Art.”
The Geumyeongjang was the soul of Lord Yoshuhar!
“Thunderfield.”
The lightning, which was current but possessed the properties of light, was extremely amplified by the properties of that soul!
‘Rin, that guy…’
Friede let out a gasp.
While it was always appreciated that Rin was there during critical moments…
‘Died as a human, where did she learn such cool words…’
She usually seemed like a simple, ignorant child, but sometimes, when she became more mature than anyone else like this, she had a side that moved people's hearts.
[That little brat…!]
To avoid the eye of the first pillar, this boy, currently possessed by Zernix, was merely a puppet fulfilling minimal conditions.
‘The parallel line barrier can only be deployed with minimal power. If it clashes with that at full strength, this puppet's barrier would be instantly shattered.’
Amidst a golden aroma, before the descending lightning that divided the world into black and white, Zernix attempted to move the puppet into a sub-space.
‘No…’
But Zernix soon changed his mind.
‘Could I really be considered the strongest mage if I did that?’
If he ran away from that arrogant junior without doing anything, using the excuse of being the weakest puppet, his pride as the strongest mage would shatter!
‘Even if it means mutually destroying this puppet, I’ll kill her here and create a stepping stone to retrieve the Osarius rosary.’
He would transfer the coordinates of this entire area directly to that junior.
Simply put, he would overlay ‘the dimension where the lightning was falling’ onto ‘the dimension where Rin was located.’
Zernix, who was about to flash a triumphant smile, detected an anomaly.
[Hmm? What is it…?]
Spacetime transfer technology is achieved when geometric knowledge reaches its peak.
To interpret the current phase dimension and move its coordinates to another, one must accurately know and input the ‘coordinates before movement’ and the ‘coordinates after movement.’
But what if the value of the [coordinates before movement] completely changed? What if it was located in a completely different space?
“No, that’s not possible. You must disappear from here now.”
The coordinates Zernix had interpreted were of this <Simila>, eroded by the abyss.
But at some point, hadn't <Simila> returned to a state not eroded by the abyss?
Zernix instantly discerned the true nature of this power.
‘This is one of the <The Ones Who Came>, the miracle of the noble moon Jeyannir… Picture Manifestation?’
Picture Manifestation is a miracle that projects a drawing spread across a canvas onto a dimension, completely transforming it.
Thanks to Jeyannir's power, the world could instantly transform into a beautiful ‘post-creation’ state as soon as the mythical era war ended.
However, this power was extremely difficult to use, and its preparation time, longer than any other miracle, acted as a significant drawback.
‘To spread such a thing across the entire <Simila> castle as an area-of-effect, and its speed is as fast as mine?’
She’s not even a mage, let alone a fairy?
[Who… are you, exactly?]
Before being engulfed by the lightning, before the connection was severed as a flash of full-power electricity completely incinerated his body in a single strike, Zernix asked that.
“Since you’re about to die, I’ll subtly inform you that there may or may not be a story about me in Chapter 3, Verse 7 of 『Jeyannir’s Canticle』.”
This was the wandering shepherd Xuan's answer… and before Zernix had a chance to rage at the insult, the next moment the lightning completely engulfed the puppet's body in white.
‘It ends this easily?’
Friede blinked blankly.
No, that couldn't be.
Xuan's use of Jeyannir's miracle was definitely an unforeseen situation.
“Ha, haa, haa…”
As soon as the guy disappeared, Xuan, who seemed to have been feigning composure just moments before, knelt down and panted as if his breath would give out at any moment.
But the problem was something else.
Zernix, that guy, reappeared just as Friede had ominously predicted… but then disappeared too easily for that to be the case.
‘Does that guy keep reviving no matter how many times he’s killed? No way. How is this phenomenon even possible?’
An ominous intuition about Zernix throbbed in her mind, but there was still an opponent she needed to focus on.
“It’s done! The caster is gone, so the vengeful spirit should settle… no?”
Aena, who had swiftly flown away from the lightning and landed on a tiled roof, was already aiming at Friede and nocking a new arrow.
“I… died hating this world.”
“Crazy, a voluntary rampage? Rin, you have to do it! Don't let Kiese attack that woman! Absolutely not!”
“The hatred for a world that twisted our happiest moments into the most miserable will never disappear, whether the caster is present or not!”
“Friede-nim, the barrier… it’s targeting you!”
“This world needs to feel that same pain!”
Besides Aena, there was still one more spirit remaining, and that spirit instantly lunged at Friede, giving her no time to deploy a barrier…!
“Friede, Friede, Friede!”
…Pipi desperately threw herself forward, but at this rate, it wouldn't just be failing to block Aena's arrow, but an extreme crisis where they would be pierced through and die together!
“Huh…?”
However, that moment, that moment of crisis, couldn't even begin.
By a magical arrow that, in that volatile instant, simultaneously blew away Aena's left arm holding the bow and her chest.
Therefore, it wasn't Friede who let out a bewildered groan… but Aena.
“…”
The expression Kiese wore then was…
Even Rin, who lacked social skills, was so overwhelmed by the atmosphere that she stopped forming the hand seals she was rapidly making; it was such an… endlessly sorrowful smile.
It was then that Rin first realized that some smiles appeared even sadder than a face weeping bitterly.
“Kiese, how could you… me…”
Aena muttered blankly, as if she absolutely couldn't believe this situation and moment.
“Kiese, don’t.”
Friede said.
Aena spoke again.
“Don’t tell me, you were deceiving me…?”
As the last remaining spirit was completely incinerated by flames, Friede shouted.
“Kiese, I told you not to do it with your own hands! Stop that hand! Rin! What on earth are you doing?! Why aren't you blasting away that nonsense-spouting spirit right now?!”
As if not to be buried by that scream…
As if to convey her true feelings beyond the scream of another woman…
Aena let out a heartbreaking scream, but…!
“Back then, the day before the execution, all the words you said to me were lies───!”
There were two reasons why that scream couldn't finish.
Because of the colossal Thousand Oriole Kill formed on the bowstring of Baekchang Palace… a thunderous roar like a thousand birds singing.
And because that singing arrow surged forth, completely engulfing Aena's body without a trace.
‘I was always… sincere.’
Then, too.
And now, too.
Even the words that he wanted to live his whole life with her.
- Kiese, you know? I really, truly wanted to have a child of ours, even just one.
On that last day.
Even the fragments of dreams he shared with her.
- A child who looked exactly like both of us.
Because it was all sincere.
Because he was always sincere.
Now, he had no choice but to do this.
- So I wanted that child to grow up knowing only love and happiness. A child untainted by this era.
Because he knew she wasn't the kind of person to say such things…
Just as Rin had said…
To protect her pride of living as a ‘human’ and dying as a ‘human’…
‘Aena.’
He now thought it was fortunate that his tongue was pulled out while defending her back then.
‘Then, on that last day, in that last moment, the words I said to you.’
That he loved her…
That no one could love her as passionately as he had…
That he was grateful for the happiness of loving someone…
‘Because she was the only one he could say that to, and he would never be able to say it to anyone else, even if he wanted to, until the day he died.’
As Aena vanished, a profound silence fell, and only the squirming sound of the [King's Flesh] that had fallen to the ground could be heard.
Crushed by that immense and grand silence that stole his breath, Kiese knelt helplessly.
It was a moment when his lingering attachment to this utterly wretched life had… all but completely disappeared.
Splash…
But the sound of his knees touching the ground was strange. Wasn't it like submerging himself in a lake, rather than touching solid ground?
‘No?’
Where was this?
Was this a lake, or the sea?
What calmly overwhelmed Kiese's vision as he opened his eyes again was… a lake.
‘World Tree?’
The tree beautifully rising from the center of the lake, the World Tree, flickered and emitted light that was so familiar, he knew this was a space created by Baekchang Palace.
“…!”
And… right in front of that World Tree… she stood.
Aena.
She, who was the end of Kiese's happiness and virtually the beginning of his despair… was looking at him with the gentle smile she had in life.
‘How…?’
The Geumyeongjang's lightning had washed away the vengeful spirit and the abyss from Aena's fragments bound to this land…
“Kiese.”
…And before those fragments could ascend, the power of the World Tree had temporarily held them in this world, allowing for a miraculous reunion!
“You've grown so tall?”
Aena walked across the lake towards him.
“Kiese is indecisive, so I’ll say it.”
Aena was among the taller women, so she used to be about Kiese's height.
“Our connection, Kiese and I, ends here. We are over.”
However, Kiese continued to grow even after Aena's death, and now he was a head and a half taller than Aena.
The passage of time, though his consciousness was no different from before, that difference was incredibly heartbreaking.
“So, Kiese, from now on, eat many delicious things, marry a woman prettier than me, and stop drinking so much. You'll need to have a healthy child, after all.”
Aena, who had come to stand before Kiese, already had her lower body scattering into particles of light.
“Don’t you understand what I’m saying?”
Aena simply smiled brightly.
“Live. Don’t die.”
Then, standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to Kiese’s.
“Live for me, Kiese. Be twice as happy as I would have been. And then tell me how happy you were… when we meet again, okay?”
With those final words, Aena's body completely scattered and was sprinkled over the lake.
‘No, Aena…!’
Even desperately waving his arms, it was impossible to gather all those light particles… and soon the World Tree's lake also vanished from his sight.
“Ah, ah, ahh, ah, ahhh…”
Kiese poured out the most sorrowful lament that a tongueless person could utter.
Rin rushed over, startled.
Friede, on the other hand, slowly, very slowly, walked over and merely placed a hand on Kiese's shoulder…
“I told you not to do it with your own hands… I shouted so much… Why do you never listen to me, you damned drunkard…”
The inexpressible trembling of that hand was the kind of comfort and sympathy that only those who shared the same pain could give.
No matter if it was a ghost…
No matter if it was a spirit…
With its body, voice, eyes, gestures, and movements all identical to when it was alive, how could one casually kill it? A loved one, with one's own hands.
“Friede-nim, Kiese-nim…”
Xuan, still pouring cold sweat from his entire body, lowered his gaze, unsure of what to do in this situation.
‘What happened?’
When that spirit vanished, Kiese's soul seemed to fall completely into darkness.
But, how…?
Now, the light of the World Tree was overflowing from the hole in his soul, and that hole had become a pathway for new shoots to sprout, hadn't it?
“Rin! Friede! Kiese! Look at this! I caught the third cardinal! The [King's Flesh] is this big!”
It was around this time that Lista ran over, holding a large piece of [King's Flesh] in her left hand.
She had subjugated Razul.
She had originally intended to boast of her victory and celebrate together, but in a situation where even Rin remained silent, Lista, though confused, shut her mouth.
“Rin, could you put this in the Geumyeongjang for me?”
Instead, she approached Rin and whispered quietly.
“Read the room and shut up a bit.”
“Ah, come on.”
“If it’s urgent, submit a three-line summary of the reason. I’ll review it.”
“One line is enough. It keeps squirming in my hand, and it’s disgustingly creepy.”
“Under review.”
“What’s there to review? Are you going to keep being stubborn? Friede and Kiese are in a strange mood, what if they get angry if we’re loud?”
As Friede, who had missed the timing to take her hand off Kiese's shoulder because of Lista, irritably scratched her head, Pipi flew towards Rin and Lista.
“Shut up, shut up, just shut up.”
“Ugh, sorry, Pipi! Rin keeps being stubborn!”
“I said it’s under review.”
But the commotion didn't end there.
“Hey, you cheating hero! That was something I was going to coolly and chicly boast about to Rin! Who are you to take it?!”
“Roar (Give it back)!”
“Roooar (Give it back right now)!”
Hosen's Quickfire Squad, disguised as a volunteer corps, also cried out desperately.
“Return the [King's Flesh] that our Princess, no, our Captain, was going to coolly and chicly present to Rin-nim! We've been ambushed here for days for that!”
Lista put her index finger to her lips and scolded them.
“Read the room and be quiet! Do you want to get scolded by Pipi?”
“Review complete. Decided to contain it within the Geumyeongjang in 5 minutes.”
“Why? What’s the reason? Huh? Why 5 minutes, not 1 or 3?”
“You, don’t just grab Rin’s shoulder and shake her! Th-that’s something only a spouse can do!”
How many people are there who lack social skills…? Friede despaired, covering her face with both hands.
‘Hmph…’
Kiese, on the other hand…
Although the shadow of sorrow still lingered…
He still looked at the center of the commotion… Rin, with a somewhat refreshing smile.
‘Let’s try to live on, just a little, a little more.’
Although he couldn't be with Aena, and couldn't watch the child Aena bore grow up…
‘Let’s watch the child who grew up receiving love, growing untainted by the evil of this era.’
When he first met her, she was someone who could only think of herself. Had the battle with the Cardinal instantly matured Rin's spirit?
- She lived as a human, and died as a human!
To think she had become an adult who could say such things.
- Live.
So, let’s live on.
- Kiese, live for me.
What he would be like when this journey ended… so that he could see it all and tell Aena, let’s stubbornly live on until the very end of this journey.
‘Surely, it will be a story Aena would like…’