Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: A World Without Me Is So Fragile - 1
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The world is much like a cheap whore. It heats up at the slightest touch, but cools off just as quickly once everything's over. As if nothing had ever happened.
Another thing they have in common is how easily their fate can be changed. In less than two weeks, I completely overturned the fate of this city. And perhaps the entire empire as well.
Three days after Revolution Day, the city's old face was nowhere to be seen. The grand cathedral that had pierced the heavens lay in ruins, and the priests who served false beliefs were trampled underfoot by enraged citizens. The fake archbishop who once bore the name of Craton met a brutal end as well. His corpse, torn into more than a thousand pieces, was left in the streets in such a gruesome state that even crows wouldn't touch it.
Now the citizens know. Archbishop Bobby is finally dead. The government has cleared away the rot the Order had hidden. And that they can seize their future with their own hands.
And they don't know.
They don't know that while Archbishop Bobby was being executed, the Saintess vanished without a trace. She'd only wiped off her disguise and changed clothes, but the divinity she'd carried on her back like a burden sloughed away in an instant. A few people are still searching for her, but most no longer care.
They don't know that more than a hundred young girls were locked away in the cathedral's basement. With no parents or siblings, they vanished along with two mystery guards who had infiltrated the Order—and ten priests as well. No one will miss them anyway. Who cares where girls without records and priests who deserved death disappeared to?
And they don't know that they didn't seize their future with their own power. They have the will to survive, sure, but to achieve more than that, they need someone's help.
But none of that matters anymore. Because we've finally met. After all those long years, our eyes have finally met.
Right, Bobby?
"Were you... hoping to see me?"
Bobby couldn't say a word. Instead, he looked at the faces surrounding him. Me, Rachel, Vanessa. Her children. And dozens of the imprisoned girls.
I grabbed his chin and peered into those blood-red eyes filled with fear. They looked like they'd taste bittersweet if I plucked them out and swallowed them. Staring into them steadily, I spoke clearly.
"I've missed you so much."
"Lu... Luca..."
Bobby called my name in a trembling voice. Not much emotion in it. He had only one hope, after all.
When I said nothing, Bobby's eyes darted around anxiously. But that wouldn't bring him any peace. Everyone in the room was looking at him with the same eyes.
"Hey... Luca..."
Bobby's gaze finally returned to me. Desperation in his eyes, he opened his mouth.
"I don't know what you're thinking right now... but I want to tell you it's all a misunderstanding. You know what I mean, right?"
"Bobby."
"Yeah?"
"Call me Lord Luca."
"..."
I stared into his eyes, checking if any scrap of pride would rear its head. But there was no defiance there. Just the writhing of a beast steeped in defeat.
"...I'm sorry, Lord Luca. But I have to tell you this. I... I didn't betray you. I just moved locations. I was researching your curse! It might not look that way, but..."
"Is that so?"
"Yes! It's true. I..."
"Let's verify that."
I turned to the girls behind me and met their eyes. Of the hundred or so, fewer than twenty had regained consciousness. I gently called one over.
"Can I ask you something?"
"..."
The girl didn't answer. Bobby's perfume stench still clung to her body. The nightmare of the past year would linger like a stain no matter how long she scrubbed.
"What's your name?"
"Rose."
A nickname fit for a street whore. And truthfully, her body wasn't much different from those women. Bobby's sense of humor was sickeningly grotesque.
"How many years have you been with Bobby?"
"...I don't know."
That long, huh. It probably didn't matter much to her anyway. What mattered was this.
"What did he do to you all that time?"
"..."
The girl clamped her mouth shut again. This time, not because she couldn't speak, but because there was too much to say. Her small shoulders trembled, dust settling slowly into the air. The nightmares were replaying in her mind.
"He..."
Still, she spoke. Hatred outweighed the wounds. Staring straight into Bobby's eyes, she said,
"...touched me every day."
"I know."
"No, every moment. Even when he made other girls suck him off, he wanted me by his side. Even while raping two girls at once, he'd shove his fingers inside me, grab my nipples, and suck on them."
Once she started, a year's worth poured out. I nodded calmly as she spoke without even breathing.
"That's enough."
"No. It didn't end there."
The girl clenched her fists and stepped forward. Then she unleashed the rest.
"One day, he said just sucking was boring. He wanted breast milk. So he said he'd impregnate me and raped only me for a whole week. Every day. Without a single break. The other girls were grateful to me for it. So I endured a bit."
Tears welled in her eyes. But her lips kept spilling the nightmare.
"After a week, he got bored and started bringing in others again. I was selfishly relieved. Thought I'd get a break. But no. He'd cum on them, scrape it off, and make me shove it inside me. He wanted me pregnant no matter what. So I did it. Scraped the cum off their pussies, mouths, bodies, everywhere it stuck, and shoved it all inside me. But I still didn't get pregnant. No milk came out. So... I cried. Not because of what that man did, but because I couldn't get pregnant. I was scared of worse punishments... so..."
"..."
"So... so..."
"That's enough."
Tears poured from her eyes, ones she couldn't shed back then. Exhausted, she staggered and leaned on my shoulder, sobbing out the rest. Hot wetness spread thickly over it.
"One more question."
I waited for her to calm, then asked again. With her face buried in my shoulder, she nodded.
"When's your birthday?"
"...Forgot."
"Then let's say it's today. Because I want to give you a birthday present."
I turned back to Bobby. Loud enough for him to hear, I said,
"So, make a wish."
"A wish...?"
"Yeah. A wish."
"Anything?"
"Yes. If you pray sincerely, the Goddess Ennesic will grant it. If she doesn't..."
I met the girl's eyes again.
"I'll make it happen somehow."
"I want..."
The girl spoke immediately. Glaring at Bobby with pure hatred, she said,
"Him never to rape any more girls."
"Good wish."
Are you listening, Ennesic?
I said to the incompetent goddess, hoping she'd be omnipotent for even a moment. But the useless, ugly wretch seemed to leave it to me. Or maybe she planned another bizarre miracle.
No complaints. I approached Bobby slowly. He screamed at the future awaiting him.
"W-wait, Luca!"
"Save it for later. I'm not pulling your tongue or teeth right now."
"Wh-what?"
Clear bewilderment on his face. He couldn't even imagine what was coming. To uproot his last shred of hope, I recited the future I'd prepared for him.
"Confession sacrament, Bobby. You know what that is better than anyone."
"Ah... aaaah..."
"No rest. They say dozens of cocks come and go every day."
"They...? Who... who the hell...?"
"You might not know them. Never seen them, after all. But they're your spawn, shat out by you. So take responsibility. No need for complications. Just provide the hole."
After hearing me out, realization dawned, and he gaped in horror. I poured on the coming future.
"Made a deal. They lend me twenty in exchange for a hole to fuck. So I offered you. They don't care if it's man or woman, as long as there's a hole. They were thrilled to fuck the Ennesic Order's archbishop. Even said they could attach and detach as they please—went wild over it."
"No..."
"So I'm dolling you up nice to send you off. Cut off anything unnecessary. Could rip off limbs too; doesn't matter. They'll remodel you as they like. Make you do it, actually. For a hundred years. Exactly the time you stole from those girls."
I closed in. Stared through his one eye.
"A hundred years, but it'll be your lifetime. You'll get fucked there forever, Bobby. Until you croak."
"No... no..."
"And at the end, I'll come for you. So I won't let you die till then. Not sure if you'll have a tongue left to beg for mercy. I really want to hear it."
"Lu... Luca..."
"Let's start by ripping off that shitty cockhead of yours."
"No!!!"
His one hand flailed wildly as he thrashed. His endless agony had just begun, but he screamed till his throat burst. No need to stop him. He'd wear out soon enough.
"No! Please, Luca! I'm begging like this! Please!"
His desperate wail pierced the sky. Like pigs squealing at slaughter back home. The sound of raging against known fate. Denying your life's end as you watch it tear apart. Knowing he couldn't change the future, Bobby wailed madly.
"Luca!!! Luca, please!!!"
"Too late."
"Please! Luca! Hear me out! Just listen!"
My hand already gripped his balls. An unpleasant sensation crushed my palm. I pulled slowly, deliberately.
"Gaaaaah!!! Please, Luca! Lord Luca! I'm begging!"
"Shut up, Bobby."
"Please! I won't beg forgiveness! Just give me a chance to atone! Please, Lord Luca!"
Hoping he'd shut up, I squeezed hard. But his screams only grew more pathetic.
"Aaaaaagh! Please! Lucaaa!"
Riiiip... riiiip...
The sound of tearing flesh echoed faintly. Bobby heard it too, clawing his hair out, screaming insanely. Like scraping blood from his own throat with talons.
...
For some reason, these sounds felt familiar. Like I'd heard them once before.
No, just my imagination.
This wasn't the first time Bobby's balls were torn off.
As always, past scenes oozed from the shadows. Memories draped like curtains, choking my breath, burrowing deep into my brain. My body went numb for a moment.
...No.
I shook my head, scattering the visions. Not the time.
"Luca!!! Luca!!!"
Bobby was into his final screams. I gripped harder to shake the crawling déjà vu.
"Aaaagh! Aaaagh! Luca!! Let me say one thing! Just one!"
I don't want to hear it. Meaningless death rattle anyway.
I gripped his balls carefully one last time and yanked hard. Bobby screamed with every fiber, bones aching.
"Eli's alive!!!"
That instant, my hand stopped.
The hand I'd vowed not to stop.
The stone-hard hand.
The sand-covered hand.
The blood-soaked hand.
The hand that would one day hang myself.
All stopped at once.
"Eli's alive... alive..."
The man before me said it. Tears streaming nonstop.
"......"
"It's not... a lie... It's true..."
I must've said something. He shook his head desperately, muttering.
"I even figured out the curse's nature, more or less. It was those damned demons' language. Not perfect, but I got it, Luca..."
"......"
"Maybe it's already undone. Or she's still working on it. I don't know. Ask Leo. I'll... I'll take you to her. Yeah? So please..."
...
Hope is like a weed.
Stomp it down, and it grows back.
Uproot it, burn the earth, and it still drifts in on spring winds. Hiding underground, waiting, then exploding upward under summer sun.
I'd crushed hope in others' hearts. But what needed sorting was my own.
A crack in my hardened heart. Hope sprouts.
"What? What did you say, Luca?"
He asks again. I look up and ask.
"......"
"The curse's nature? I'll tell you... I'll tell... It's..."
Eli. Seta. Artani. Verum. Erengti. Luta.
The man uttered the word she'd repeated. The shadow I'd fought off seeped deep into me. And the spell that decided all our fates revealed its meaning.