Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 281
Chapter Title: Savior (7)
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"...Abel?"
Cain blurted out without thinking. The boy standing before him resembled him so closely that he could pass for his twin. The boy, who had been sniffling, grabbed Cain's collar and asked,
"Bro. I'm cold."
"What in the world is... No, hold on just a moment...!"
Cain hurriedly shrugged off his overcoat and draped it over the boy. He had no idea what was going on, but he couldn't ignore a child tossed out into this freezing cold. The boy, now wrapped in the coat, flapped the oversized sleeves and said,
"The clothes are huge... Sniff. And I'm still cold."
"Y-yeah. Just bear with it a little. I'll warm you up soon."
Strangely, Cain didn't feel the cold even after taking off his coat. He took the boy's hand and found shelter in the ruins of a wall and roof that could block the wind.
He built a campfire using scrap wood and whale oil. Sitting across from Cain with the fire between them, the boy grinned.
"Hehe, it's warm. Thanks, bro."
"It's nothing... But let me ask you one thing."
"Yeah?"
"...Who are you?"
Cain asked. This was too big an issue to gloss over. The boy, who had been cupping his hands and blowing on them, tilted his head.
"Why ask something like that all of a sudden?"
"Just answer me. Do you... know my name?"
"You're being weird today, bro. It's Cain."
"...!"
Cain's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't told the boy his name yet. Things were growing more incomprehensible by the minute.
"Th-then, what's your name?"
"Abel. Bro, are you really okay?"
"How... Then what about Mom? Dad's name?!"
Cain jumped to his feet in excitement. The frightened boy shrank back. In a trembling voice, he answered Cain's barrage of questions without a single mistake. Cain, who had slowly backed away, muttered to himself.
"This... This can't be."
"S-scary, bro... I didn't do anything wrong."
"No. Something's wrong here...!"
His head spun. The throbbing pain was gone, but a new sensation enveloped his body. It felt like something other than blood was flowing through his veins. After splashing his face several times, Cain bolted from the ruins.
"No!"
"Bro! Where are you going?!"
The boy shouted, but Cain didn't respond. The brilliant starlight still poured down from above. He ran toward the pit where he had fallen.
'It started after I fell into that pool.'
Cain's thoughts raced hundreds of times faster than usual. He concluded that all the inexplicable events had begun after he fell into the giant's blood—even the moment right before drowning when he wished to go back.
The pit still gaped wide in the center of the village. Cain stopped before it. Despite sprinting with all his might, he wasn't even winded.
'I want to go there again.'
Repeating this to himself, Cain closed his eyes. It was the same process as when he had returned to the village. Soon, the wind died down. Three seconds later, he opened his eyes and gasped.
"...Good heavens."
Cain was back in the pit he had fallen into. The giant was still impaled on the ice wall. The blue blood bubbled like hot spring water, steaming faintly.
'My wish came true.'
He was starting to understand. Cain wished to return to the village again—this time without closing his eyes. The scenery shattered and twisted, revealing the ruined village once more.
Imagining the pit again brought him back to where he stood before. Wishing for a fishing rod made an exact replica of the one in his mind appear out of thin air. Cain clenched his fist, drawing his conclusion.
"With this power... Mom and Dad too...!"
He could scarcely believe it even as it happened. His wishes were manifesting exactly as desired. The boy claiming to be Abel must have been the embodiment of his longing for a little brother.
There was no more time to hesitate. Taking a deep breath, Cain pictured the restored village and his parents welcoming him warmly. The moment he opened his eyes...
"Yes...!"
He stood in the heart of a perfectly intact village. Overwhelmed with emotion, tears streamed down Cain's cheeks. The massive pit was gone, replaced by familiar streets and buildings.
"Mom! Dad!"
The strange boy claiming to be his brother had long been erased from his mind. Cain ran home without even wiping his tears. His father might tease him for crying like a big baby, but he didn't care.
From today on, I won't hold back. I'll say 'I love you' or 'I like you' whenever I feel it, no matter how embarrassing. Bang! Reaching the front door, Cain flung it open. His eyes widened.
"...Huh?"
The house was empty. His father's harpoon, his mother's rocking chair, even the logs burning in the fireplace—all were there, but his parents were nowhere to be seen.
"Th-this can't be...?"
Noticing how unnaturally quiet it was, Cain stepped outside. Not only were there no pedestrians, but even the sled dogs and reindeer that gave the village life were absent.
Checking house after house, he found none occupied. A chilling thought crossed his mind.
'Can I not bring back the dead?'
His breathing grew ragged, cold sweat trickling down. It couldn't be. It mustn't be. His casual "I'm going fishing" couldn't be his last words to his family.
'Right. I need more blood.'
Panting heavily, Cain snapped his fingers. He instantly wished himself back to the pit. Kneeling down, he murmured,
"Wait. I'll save you."
Cain scooped up handfuls of the giant's blood. The liquid shimmering in his palms glowed with an otherworldly hue. Gulping down a mouthful, a searing pain like fire scorched his throat.
"Urk...!"
It was different from the mindless sip earlier. But he couldn't stop. Scooping and drinking, he soon plunged his face in and guzzled it down.
With every gulp sliding down his throat, his senses sharpened further. Drinking until he could hold no more, Cain closed his eyes and prayed.
Please, bring them back.
****
"...It didn't work after all."
Ronan said. The savior had suddenly fallen silent mid-story. Behind his sunset-hued eyes, the scenery of that fateful day—where everything began and ended—was replaying.
Prayers unanswered, empty houses. The indescribable taste of the blue blood. The boy screaming in despair at the village edge, where only buildings stood intact, everyone else lost. The savior nodded.
"Yes. No matter how many times I tried, it never worked. I couldn't bring back the dead."
"Damn it. Then what about that Abel guy? He was dead but came back to life."
"I don't know. I've lived countless ages, but Abel was the only one revived by this power."
The savior twisted his lips. In the end, he had accepted Abel as his true brother.
He knew the boy was just a suspicious kid calling him brother, but Cain, having lost everything, had no luxury to question it.
"After that, Abel and I wandered the world together. Until the day I was stabbed in the back on that cliff. Looking back now, we spent an incredibly long time side by side."
"Must've been exhausting. Anyway, your father drank the giant's blood, sure, but how did Abel live so long?"
"I don't know. Abel never aged or fell ill like I did. At some point, he suddenly wielded the giant's power too. Like a clone born from my body."
The savior explained he didn't know Abel's true nature. He mentioned that people at the peak of ancient technology had developed cloning, but nothing that replicated the original so perfectly. Ronan shrugged.
"Maybe he secretly drank the giant's blood too?"
"No. Abel didn't know. No one did but you and me. I was young then, but I knew enough to realize this power was dangerous."
The savior said neither Abel, Elisia, nor anyone else knew of this place. He had hidden it deep, but above all, he had wished for it to remain secret, keeping it so.
It was a cheat-like ability no matter how many times he heard it. A sudden question struck Ronan.
"But with such an absurd power, why go through all that trouble helping people? Couldn't you just wish for peace without making a church or anything?"
"It may seem omnipotent, but it's not without limits. Clear boundaries exist—I can't kill or revive living beings, and overuse brings pain and long slumbers. Decades at least."
The savior gave a wry smile. He shared a tale of once sustaining a doomed nation with his power, only to sleep for nearly a century and wake to find it destroyed anyway.
"Heh."
Ronan let out a hollow laugh. As powerful as it was, the drawbacks were severe. Dismounting Ronan, the savior continued,
"And that's the power Iril inherited from me."
"What?"
"The power to make wishes come true. Among what I gained from the blood, it's the strongest. Even Abel, who could mimic most of what I did, couldn't copy this."
The savior's voice grew solemn. Ronan's eyes widened. Memories from the illusory world during the sea voyage flashed by. The savior had inflicted far more curses on Iril than on him.
"So that's why you cursed my sister too."
"Yes. Partly to hide it from Abel, but mainly so she wouldn't unknowingly shorten her lifespan using it. Even suppressing it with twenty curses, it still subtly affected those around her."
The savior nodded emphatically. He asserted that Ronan and Iril had grown without incident thanks to her power.
Kind-hearted Iril had wished for people's goodness and peace, her brother's happiness—and it had come true. Until Ronan clashed with Nebula Klazie and got entangled in fate.
"Then that bastard kidnapping my sister...!"
"Yes. He sensed my daughter's power. He'll surely use it for his vile goals."
The savior's voice lowered. Ronan nearly gripped his sword hilt from the sudden killing intent. The furrowed brow held no trace of prior gentleness.
"That foolish brother always dresses it up as evolution, opening new horizons. But to put it simply..."
The savior trailed off. The true nature of "Star Descent," which Ronan had heard endlessly while battling Nebula Klazie, was about to be revealed. Finally, he spoke.
"He plans to kill everyone on this star and have the giants absorb them. Their souls within the flesh."