Abyss, Girl, and Lies (3)
The Boundary. It was a kind of passage that connected the bright human world—where all life shone brilliantly and lived in splendor—with the afterlife, where everything that had burned away left only ashes, souls clinging to the last embers as they waited for the next chance they would be given.
That Boundary existed as a separate space, distinct from both the living world and the afterlife. Only those who possessed the Gatekeeper’s authority could freely pass through it or create doors wherever they wished. However, beings with exceptionally strong divine power could perceive the places the Gatekeeper had opened, and if they committed the sin of stepping outside causality, they could even enter directly. Though of course, the Goddess of Causality would never forgive such an act….
I had returned once more to that place I had not visited in a truly long time.
To that vast passage where spacetime overlapped endlessly, where layers of time piled upon one another to create yet another dimension. The ■■ ■■ that had already been destroyed once could not be remade, but using the Gatekeeper’s authority to form a separate space in its place did not violate causality. So on the day I saved Niyu, I had personally shattered that sword—the one and only Divine Instrument capable of slicing through the Abyss and annihilating it—and sealed it away there.
Only… that girl, Lee Seha. How had she obtained information about the Divine Instrument? She had behaved as if she possessed it herself. That was why I had sworn never to set foot here again, never to open the seal of this prison. Yet the girl’s existence had shaken that vow, and out of an old woman’s nagging worry, I had ultimately returned.
If someone had truly stepped outside causality and entered my space… if they had stolen even a fragment of the Divine Instrument and delivered it to Lee Seha… what was their purpose? What did they want?
If it was simply to eradicate evil and judge the Abyss, there had been no need to violate causality by coming here. It would have been far better to ask me directly, since I held the authority, and seek a solution together.
Lee Seha… Abyss Hunter. That name, that sign, felt off. After all, “hunting” is a word that only exists when both prey and hunter coexist. Yet in this place, not a single prey… exists.
“····.”
At last, the sound of tens of thousands of thick iron chains clashing together rang out—charrreung—echoing violently inside the Boundary and filling the entire space. The long, massive chains of divine power that had been left unbound for several hours began to unravel even faster at a single wave of my hand. Only after a long while did the door finally reveal itself from within that mountain of chains.
“…As expected.”
Yet just as expected, it remained tightly shut, rusted over as if no one had touched it. There were no signs that anyone had intruded. No traces of anyone attempting to open it. That was why, without even opening the door, I could sense the unclean aura leaking from what was sealed inside. I could feel the intense malice writhing within it against every inch of my skin.
Still, I had to confirm it with my own eyes. If even a single fragment had leaked out, the Abyss would have shattered completely. So without hesitation I grasped the door handle, slowly opened it, and stepped inside.
It was a pure-white space containing nothing but the object placed at the center of the sealing chamber. In that narrow room, lit only by a single mysterious azure light source hanging from the middle of the ceiling…
“····.”
A single enormous sword, glassy in appearance, hung in the center of the sealing chamber, bound every which way by chains. It was horribly damaged. The five large fragments that had broken off lay scattered in the five cardinal directions around the main body, each shackled by mystical restraints.
Not a single piece was missing. That intense mass of malice remained trapped here, still shattered beyond any hope of repair. Only after seeing it with my own eyes could I breathe a small sigh of relief and rule out the danger of the Divine Instrument leaking. Then I began to consider the possibility that another Divine Instrument existed.
“…Divine Instrument.”
I slowly reached out toward the greatsword. The Abyss wriggling across its surface flowed down and surged forward as if to greet my palm, brushing against my hand.
“Show me. The memories of that day.”
I closed my eyes and read the memories held within the Divine Instrument.
“The memories of everything you destroyed that day.”
I was searching for any clue that another Divine Instrument might exist.
The moment my hand touched it, the Abyss began to erode my body. But the fact that it could erode me also meant I could erode it in turn. The moment the forces of light and darkness began their tug-of-war, the dark power that had tried to devour the light with cataclysmic force vanished at a single gesture from the Gatekeeper.
"Show me the memories of that day."
"The memories of everything you destroyed that day."
⟨ Memory Resonance ⟩
⁕⁕⁕
Lady Shinryong still hadn’t returned.
It had already been four days, yet I remained alone in this detached residence, sitting by myself. I had taken over her morning duties and walked the grounds in her stead, but the fact that I walked alone had not changed. Even though people kept coming to see her, all I could say was that she was currently absent. When the fruit shop uncle asked if I knew why Lady Shinryong had been away so often lately, I could only answer that she was busy these days….
It had already been four days. Four whole days.
Could something that had lasted this long really end with the words “already”?
“…Haa.”
Sitting on the veranda alone, staring at the pond, I hung my head and squeezed my eyes shut, just like every other day. Saying it had only been four days felt like an eternity of standing alone on ground covered in tens of thousands of thorns. The wind that blew across that ground was laced with blades; the pain of being cut and stabbed was so unbearable I felt I might collapse at any moment. And even amid that agony, the thorns had grown so thick there was no longer any place left where I could lay my body down comfortably.
So I could only cry.
“····.”
The brown rice tea Lady Shinryong loved had already filled three entire packs in the refrigerator. The oranges she used to enjoy eating looked so fresh that I didn’t even know how many I had bought anymore. I couldn’t even begin to guess how many dishes I could make with all the ingredients now crammed inside the fridge. I had finished cleaning every corner of the residence, polished the veranda until it gleamed, swept the courtyard, pruned the trees, and even removed all the algae and moss from the pond.
The detached residence was now breathtakingly beautiful.
“Haaaa…”
If only Lady Shinryong were here. If only she were present.
Lady Shinryong still hadn’t returned.
I had sent her away with nothing but ugly words, yet I still wanted to welcome her back with the very best appearance possible. So I had done my utmost to spend the time without her.
“····.”
Had something happened to her? Had she been caught in an accident? Had she truly fallen into the kind of grave threat I had feared, leaving her unable to do anything? Had she really encountered something no one could overcome…?
No. My Lady Shinryong would never perish like that. She couldn’t. And even if she did, I still had this heart connected to her. If she suffered any misfortune, I would notice it instantly.
But… that was exactly the problem.
Even now, long after she had left, I felt nothing. Nothing at all. Only emptiness. She wasn’t in danger. She wasn’t in urgent trouble. That should have been a good thing. It should have been a far better state of affairs.
“····.”
Because I couldn’t sense her anywhere, this devastating emptiness hollowed out my chest and tore through my entire body. Even when the Abyss had eroded every inch of me, I had not felt this empty. Even in the days when the Abyss and my flesh had become one, I had not felt this empty.
“Lady Shinryong…”
Yet every time I tried to step forward and do something about it, her voice from that day rose in my mind and stopped me. The words she had spoken to me amid our argument.
Don’t change. Don’t lose yourself. Stay as the being called Niyu. Don’t change. Remain the Niyu who always smiles brightly and stay by my side.
But… but… but…
“····.”
If the person who said those things isn’t by my side, then what am I supposed to do? Even if I want to be by her side, if it’s like this…
“———”
That was when it happened. It must have been then.
“——You’re overthinking again, Niyu.”
From behind me as I sat hugging my knees in front of the pond, face buried, she had approached so quietly I hadn’t noticed. She gently reached out with both hands.
“····.”
I lifted my head in a hurry and met her eyes. Yes. It was the Lady Shinryong I knew, her eyes still shining like red jewels. Her chubby tail swayed gently as she pulled me into a careful embrace.
“…It’s really Lady Shinryong.”
Perhaps because I hadn’t seen her in so long, it looked like an illusion. The words slipped out unconsciously.
“Is this a dream…?”
Hearing my murmur, Lady Shinryong gave a faint smile. She sat down close beside me, stroked my hair with her tail, and guided my head to rest on her shoulder. Only then did I realize it wasn’t a dream.
“Why did you take so long, you idiot dragon…?”
Maybe I had cried too much over the past four days; tears no longer came easily. My voice trembled as I spoke sullenly, wanting to hear her voice.
Lady Shinryong thought for a long moment, then lightly scratched her own cheek with a fingertip.
“I went to the Boundary for a moment to check on something… and happened to find a forgotten item.”
She slipped her hand into her robe, rummaged around, and then held something out to me.
“You looked so sad, I thought it might help, so I brought it on purpose.”
From within her embrace emerged a shard of an azure blade, half-wrapped in cotton cloth. She offered it to me.
“This is…”
I felt a strangely familiar energy and carefully accepted the blade fragment. Lady Shinryong spoke.
“It is yours.”
I sensed the powerful divine power contained within it. Suddenly receiving such a mighty treasure from her left me dazed.
“A-a treasure imbued with divine power… suddenly to me…”
Lady Shinryong blinked several times, then smiled once more.
“I am not simply giving it to you, Niyu.”
She took my hand firmly in hers.
“Use this to slowly grow accustomed to divine power, so that you may wield it skillfully with that body.”
She remembered how I had suffered because I could never keep up with even the tip of her tail. She completely overturned her original plan to nurture me slowly.
Even if it meant using every treasure at her disposal, she wanted to help me. With boundless generosity that reached the very end of her patience, she showed me her vast, Pacific-like heart that wished only to ease my sorrow. With that unchanging gentleness no matter how much time passed, she embraced my endlessly frail self.
From that moment, the tears that had pooled at the corners of my eyes began to slide down my cheeks and drip onto the treasure.
Lady Shinryong watched the treasure grow wet for a moment, then met my eyes again with that same gentle smile. She pulled back the sleeve of her robe and began to wipe away my tears.
“Th-thank you, Lady Shinryong…”
I had finally obtained the power I had only ever dreamed of. With these two hands, I would never again let the blade stray.
“I’ll work hard… I’ll work so hard…!”
I had forged this blade countless times in my heart. With that hardened resolve, I grasped the sword once more. I swore I would never wield it wrongly. I would swing it only toward the Abyss. Only for Lady Shinryong.
And it was exactly then.
'Please open the door.'
That Lee Seha had come to visit the shrine again.
“———Lady Shinryong.”