A Father's Redemption
The story of a miracle (2)
Kyle Stroban, the Red Sword Saint. He was a hero of the continent who had led the great subjugation of the cultists, a figure whose name blazed across dozens of pages in the annals of history. The star that had reached the highest point in the night sky. He had slain countless dark mages and illuminated a chaotic empire with brilliant light. In the end, he had died a heroic death on the battlefield. His noble journey had drawn the empire's attention. People called him the 'Fallen Star' and mourned the tragic end of a hero. It was the classic biography of a great man.
'Of course.' That wasn't the whole story. Beyond the screen, there were always tales the audience could never know. Kyle Stroban was no exception. There were plenty of unknown stories.
I saved the continent... but I couldn't protect the things that truly mattered.
The man had a family. A beautiful wife and a daughter so precious that even looking at her hurt. The hero had taken up his sword to protect them from the beginning, but that choice had instead plunged their once-happy home into hell. It was a single nightmare.
'I ruined everything.'
Kyle, who had stood at the forefront of the subjugation campaign, possessed truly overwhelming power. The dark mages, deciding they could not face him head-on, devised a single scheme to bring down the star. They kidnapped his beloved family.
He could not defy their words. The star fell in vain. The man was captured without offering the slightest resistance. The cultists locked Kyle away in a facility where no one could find him. They tortured him, used him as a test subject for dark magic experiments. They never even told him whether his family was alive or dead. Kyle could only endure. For the sake of his beloved family, who might still be alive.
Painful days passed. He was stabbed, sliced, torn apart. It was closer to torture than experimentation. As he was toyed with by those hands filled with malice, even his heart of steel began to crack little by little. That was when someone appeared.
"I've come to take you back, Red Sword Saint."
It was a boy with deep golden hair and narrowed eyes. Having infiltrated the facility, he massacred the cultists in an instant before casually approaching the iron bars where Kyle was imprisoned. His ominous gaze seemed to assess the man's condition.
"You're not a monster yet."
"I was worried what would happen if I arrived too late... Should I call this fortunate?"
"It would be quite troublesome if you appeared as a stage boss, you see."
Incomprehensible mutterings. The snake murmured indifferently even as he sliced through the iron bars and freed the man. He quietly supported the body that had collapsed to the floor, as if to help him escape this place.
"Come with me."
The wounded beast was taken in. Leaving the devastated facility behind, the boy led the fallen man somewhere. There, Kyle was able to meet someone he had never even dreamed of seeing again—his wife, who had been kidnapped.
"She was being held in a branch outside the empire's territory."
"I rescued her while wiping out the remaining cultists."
"As you can see, she's badly injured... but they say she'll recover fully."
"She was lucky."
Kyle embraced his wife and wailed. His heart crumbled weakly. The snake slipped into that tiny gap. He cunningly seduced the once-brilliant hero.
The voice rang out calmly. Though his appearance was that of a boy around sixteen, the ominous smile he wore carried the filth of an adult. The snake whispered an offer that could not be refused into his ear.
Kyle could not resist.
From that day on, the hero came to serve a new god.
The promise was eventually fulfilled. At a moment no one could have predicted.
"The daughter you lost... I have brought her back, just as I promised."
The boy's narrowed eyes curved into a gentle smile. Behind him, a massive lump of flesh writhed.
Yet Kyle could not tear his eyes away. Instead, he stared blankly at the dying monster, completely entranced.
Perhaps it was some kind of instinct.
"......"
No matter how twisted the appearance, a parent recognizes their child. It is like an instinct. Not something deduced from given clues, but something realized through emotions that burn hot in the heart. Kyle, as a father, was no different.
The daughter he had loved so dearly. His pupils denied it, insisting it could not be, but the man's heart was pounding violently. How could a father not know?
"......Aileen?"
The short word caught in his throat. A name he had not spoken in so very long. The sound of it hurt more than anything.
His breathing grew ragged. Kyle realized it. That the monster before his eyes was truly his daughter.
His body froze from the suffocating breath. The man could only take in her wretched form.
"......"
Flashing red pupils. Among the countless eyes, there were crimson ones that especially resembled his own. He was certain they were the same pupils his daughter had once possessed.
Kyle, who had been frozen for a moment, soon took a step. He slowly approached the monster. Blood dripped from his lips, which had been bitten until they tore open. His steps were hollow.
"Aileen... my daughter."
Thud—.
Strength finally left his legs. Kyle collapsed to his knees before the writhing tentacles.
Dry tears flowed down his cheeks.
"How much your father missed you..."
In truth, he had known. Since she had been kidnapped by dark mages, he had expected this kind of ending to some degree. Every night he had steeled himself against it. But.
"...How could you return in such a form?"
The pain of facing it in reality was on another level. Standing before the daughter who had once been human but could no longer be called one, Kyle clenched his fists tightly. It felt as if a cold awl had been driven into his heart. Life was this cruel. What had he struggled so desperately to survive for?
"I really... I really missed you."
His voice gradually grew wet. Though it felt like his sanity would snap at any moment, Kyle forced his eyes wide open with all his strength. There was still something he had to bring to an end. A duty he had to carry out himself. At the same time, it was a responsibility he could not pass on to anyone else.
Aileen let out a painful groan. It sounded especially pitiful, as if she were saying she didn't want this anymore.
He wanted to let her rest now.
Srrrng—.
Kyle drew the sword he carried at his waist. The writhing tentacles reflected on its cold surface. The father, who had stood speechless for a long while, soon raised his sword toward his daughter. It was a cruel scene.
You have lived a life of punishment for the crime of existing. How could the world possibly understand your pain? But since you came into being because of me, I will tie your end with my own hands.
The sword flashed dangerously. Just as that horrific scene was about to unfold—
"Stop right there."
Someone appeared from behind and interrupted the attack. A shadow grabbed his arm to prevent it from moving. When he turned around, the snake was smiling. The boy asked calmly.
"After all the trouble I went through to bring her back, why are you trying to send her away so hastily?"
"......Captain."
Kyle answered while suppressing his sobs.
"As she is now, there will only be pain. I want this child to find peace now."
"I share the same wish."
"Then... please let go."
His transparent red eyes stared at the snake. Tears fell one or two drops from pupils filled with sorrow.
"I want to end it myself."
"My, my... It seems you misunderstood what I said."
"Pardon?"
"I am a person who keeps his promises thoroughly. There's no way I would call this sloppy ending a fulfilled promise, is there?"
"What do you...?"
"Just watch quietly."
The snake pushed the man back. Then he placed his palm against the massive tentacles. Black darkness slithered around them. The scattered shadows soon gathered into a single point and formed a sharp light at the boy's fingertips. At the same time, the snake began to chant.
"Shatter."
Clang—!
A sound like shattering glass rang out. Immediately after, black cracks appeared in the air and densely surrounded the giant monster. The landscape shattered into tens of thousands of fragments. Before the shock could fully register, the boy opened his closed eyes and snapped his fingers.
"Rewind."
Snap—!
White pupils were revealed between his eyelids. Following the dazzlingly shining surface, the entire space was covered in pitch-black shadows. The darkness lasted for a few seconds.
One. Two. Three.
"Enough."
Snap—!
His fingers snapped once more, and the area covered in darkness brightened again. The cracks had been cleanly erased.
"Captain? What did you just... Huh?"
Kyle, who had been looking around in confusion, soon discovered it. The monster had vanished without a trace. And in its place lay a single girl.
"......"
Delicate features, red hair that reached her shoulders, gently closed eyelids. It was exactly as he remembered. Kyle stared blankly, wondering if he was seeing a hallucination.
The snake, who had been smiling quietly, spoke to the man in a soft, gentle voice.
"The promise has been kept."
Aileen was there, without a single wound. Kyle reached out with trembling hands to check his daughter's pulse. She was alive. A warm body temperature could be felt at his fingertips. The sensation was so vividly clear that it told him the scene before him was not a dream.
The father pulled his daughter into a tight embrace.
"Aileen...!"
The snake smiled brightly.
"She's alive, she's really alive... Oh god."
"She's just exhausted and sleeping. She'll open her eyes healthy after a day."
"Ah...!"
A story like a miracle. The world that had been shattered in half had finally become whole again. The man bowed his head, shedding tears.
"Ah, Captain..."
He raised the sword he held upright. Kneeling on one knee, he planted the tip of the blade into the ground. Then he raised his hands as if in prayer. It was the posture swordsmen took when swearing loyalty to their master. The hero murmured.
"My god."
It was worship steeped in hot emotion. The members standing in the same space also knelt, following the man. They had all witnessed the miracle.
Kyle brought his two hands together neatly. And with very clear pronunciation, he repeated the meditation offered to Him. Toward that sacred resonance.
"All things according to Your will."
A hymn that brushed past in an instant.
"All things according to Your will."
Even as all the believers recited the prayer, the god simply stood there calmly. A faint smile lingered on his lips. The only thing the boy was thinking was—
'I'm glad it was a happy ending.'
A heart that wished for others' happiness. Perhaps it was far too soft a heart.
Meanwhile, Irene was watching the scene. She had been dazed by witnessing a miracle for the second time, but the following sight brought her back to her senses. It was the snake letting out a light cough.
"Cough..."
A low cough rang out. The boy covered his mouth. A dark red bloodstain was left on his pure white glove. It was none other than blood he had coughed up.
"Huh...?"
The fox unconsciously let out a stunned sound. She was flustered by the unexpected sight, but the boy was casually wiping the blood from his lips. As if he were used to it.
"......"
The surrounding members seemed not to have noticed. They all had their eyes closed and heads bowed. The only one who noticed was Irene.
Snap—!
The snake lightly snapped his fingers and erased the bloodstain. After briefly checking his surroundings, the boy soon sent a bright smile toward Irene.
"Shh."
He placed a finger to his lips. It was as if he were asking her to keep it a secret. Irene could not react at all. She simply stared with wide, shocked eyes. At the boy with narrowed eyes standing there so casually.