Chapter 452: Proof of Existence (40)
Chapter 452: Proof of Existence (40)
“That’s right. They’re made from orphans. Pretty, isn't it?”
The girl held out the Blood Essence with a look of pride, as if she were showing off a prize.
To me, her words were the finishing blow. A muffled scream leaked through my gritted teeth.
This was a precious offering, one that had benefited me many times before. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that its raw material was the souls of orphans.
I couldn't wrap my head around it. How could such a thing be an offering to the Heavenly God?
Regret, a sense of betrayal, and crushing guilt surged within me, consuming my heart.
It wasn't just about my life.
As Yuren said, countless miracles had been performed using that Blood Essence as a sacrifice. Without that power, the path I had walked until now would have been cut short long ago.
The life of a hero, admired and praised by all.
It was a blood-stained trajectory built upon the sacrifice of orphans. The realization was unbearably nauseating.
I felt as if I were suffocating.
“Urgh… ugh…”
I writhed, groaning in agony. I wanted to scream, to vent my fury, but I didn't have the strength left to do so.
All I could do was glare at Yuren with burning eyes.
Yuren’s expression remained eerily calm.
“I’m sorry, Ian. I didn’t want it to be like this either.”
“The… Saintess…”
I managed to move my parched tongue, bringing up the truth Yuren was desperately trying to ignore.
“She won’t… forgive you… for this… cough! Not for something like this…”
“I know. Perhaps I’ve made a foolish choice.”
Despite his words, his voice was steady, carrying a heavy weight of conviction.
It was an emotion bordering on blind devotion or fanaticism.
Perhaps it was better described as faith.
An ominous light flickered in Yuren’s green eyes.
“But Ian, growing up as an orphan, I’ve seen things no one should have to see. I know how cruel the world is to the weak, and how greedy and brutal the priests of the Holy Kingdom truly are.”
Only then did I understand Yuren’s heart.
He claimed he did this to help the Saintess, but the scale of the crime was too vast. If this were ever discovered, the consequences wouldn't end with Yuren alone.
In all likelihood, the fallout would consume the Saintess as well.
Yet, the reason Yuren participated in this anti-human act was simple.
It was his conviction.
From the beginning, Yuren never followed the doctrines of the Heavenly God Religion. If anything, he was a man far closer to the Dark Cult.
“What is the point of hollowing out the inside of a rotten tree? It’s much better to burn it down and use the ashes as fertilizer to grow a new one. My sister will be that seed. No, she will wear the laurel wreath atop that tree and rule over everyone!”
“You… crazy bastard… The Dark Cult will…”
“I’ll make sure of that.”
The girl clapped her hands together and gave a sweet smile.
She wore the face of a reliable merchant, as if telling me not to worry.
“As long as a few conditions are met, of course. Well, I’ve heard she’s not a stupid woman… and if all else fails, I have plenty of ways to persuade her.”
Further conversation was meaningless.
These two had long since stepped into the realm of madness. It meant that common ethics, common sense, and logic no longer applied to them.
Was this the end?
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't see a way out.
Then again, perhaps this was to be expected. Looking back, I had been far too lucky until now.
It wasn't just the Blood Essence. My story had been sustained by countless other sacrifices.
I couldn't expect another stroke of luck.
As I sank into despair, a shadow loomed over me. With her hands behind her back, the girl looked down at me with smoldering eyes.
“Actually, I’m the one who planned this. The Shylock Merchant Guild was a pawn I intended to use for much longer. But when I saw you, Ian, my heart…”
Pant, pant. The girl’s breath hitched, her expression turning dazed and dreamy.
“My heart started pounding so hard… I wanted you so badly I thought I’d go crazy! So I provoked you a little on purpose. I couldn't let a wonderful bait like the ‘Shylock Merchant Guild’ go to waste, could I? I even tried to make you jealous, teehee… though my partner here didn't seem to like it and tried to get rid of my precious doll.”
“I will definitely collect on this debt someday,” Yuren grumbled, but the girl didn't pay him the slightest bit of attention. Her eyes were filled only with me.
“Finally, finally my dream has come true… Hail Omeros! Ian, let’s have a beautiful child together, okay?”
A voice intoxicated by lust, greed, hatred, and resentment flooded my ears.
“And then we’ll go find those people who abandoned me… Wouldn't that be fun? When they realize what kind of consequences their sins brought about…!”
“…God.”
Just before I closed my eyes, those were the last words I uttered.
I had done everything possible with human strength.
All that remained was to pray to God.
It might have been nothing more than pathetic self-satisfaction, but in that moment, I cursed the two of them.
“Aren't you afraid of God?”
The girl’s eyelids blinked blankly. She looked as if she had heard something so bizarre she couldn't even begin to fathom my mental state.
Yuren, on the other hand, simply let out a hollow laugh.
A cynical sneer curled his lips.
“…There is no God, Ian.”
With that, the man turned his back. His farewell was brief.
“Your current state is proof of that.”
Step, step.
The sound of his receding footsteps formed a steady rhythm. Like a newborn listening to a lullaby, I slowly blinked in time with the sound.
Closing, then opening.
At some point, my eyelids refused to open again.
The only thing I could hear was the faint humming of the small bead in my pocket.
The bead was crying. Over and over again.
*
Once again, I float through a dream.
A scene from a day witnessed by a strange man.
“We must pull back the frontlines.”
It was a heavy declaration.
As if to prove the weight of that statement, groans erupted throughout the conference hall. Several people looked like they had something to say, but no one actually voiced an objection to my opinion.
Because my judgment was perfectly rational.
Humanity was maintaining four different fronts. We were surrounded on all sides, and with spies from the Dark Cult causing internal unrest, the war situation was steadily deteriorating.
So, the leaders of humanity made a decision.
To abandon the remaining lands and protect the final territory they could hold. And on that boundary, they planned to build a wall that concentrated the last of humanity’s strength.
Of course, it was a decision with as many losses as gains.
If we pulled back the frontlines now, what would happen to the residents living there?
The evacuation process would be grueling. There was no way the journey of leaving the homes they had built over a lifetime wouldn't be agonizing.
It was a decision that might require the sacrifice of an unbearable number of lives.
In fact, that very calculation lay at the base of this plan. The intention was to abandon the unproductive population who couldn't even evacuate properly, reorganize the population structure, and engage in a final stand.
The commanders gathered in this tent surely knew this as well.
That was why they all wore such uncomfortable expressions.
These were people who had stepped onto the frontlines, claiming to be the protectors of humanity. Some were nobles with estates here, and many had lived here their entire lives.
But even they didn't dare speak up.
They felt more poignantly than anyone else that there was no alternative. If things continued like this, humanity was headed for total annihilation anyway.
The forces of the Dark Cult were too powerful.
They were monsters who had been gathering strength in the shadows for thousands of years. The presence of a Master had barely managed to suppress them, but as soon as the demons known as the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ appeared, the entire tide of war shifted.
The Dark Cult had finally bared its claws, and this was the result.
Humanity was racing toward destruction.
Like a runaway train that could no longer be stopped.
I had expected that no one would raise a counterargument. Nor did I expect them to actively support me.
They were cowards.
Even though they agreed with the necessity of pulling back the frontlines more than anyone, they didn't want to hear the resentment and blame that would follow.
So, I had no choice but to play the villain.
A voice thick with fatigue escaped my lips.
“If there are no objections, we will consider this matter closed and move on…”
“Countless people will be hurt.”
The words were spoken without even asking for the floor.
But no one in the conference hall rebuked the speaker. Because this woman was the leader of the Eastern Front and the very person who had defended against the Dark Cult’s invasion under extreme conditions.
Incidentally, she was also my lover.
She was the most submissive woman in the world in bed, but outside of it, she always drew a sharp line between public and private matters.
Couldn't she just go along with her husband’s stubbornness for once?
I barely swallowed a sigh and recited the lines I had prepared.
“But it is something that must be done.”
“I have no disagreement with the judgment that we must pull back the frontlines. But then, who will take responsibility for the people staying behind those lines?”
“No one can take responsibility.”
It was a cruel reality, but one that no one could deny.
Glances filled with resentment were thrown at me from all directions.
It didn't matter. I would take all the insults they wanted to hurl.
“It’s a situation where even retreating while preserving our strength is impossible. To be cold-blooded, we don't have the luxury to worry about others.”
“I see.”
Surprisingly, the woman seemed to accept it quite easily.
Had the experience of being unilaterally dominated every night recently caused a change of heart?
In that sense, I thought it was a good thing we had started dating. I knew better than anyone that once she became stubborn, no one could stop her.
But my expectations were shattered in just a few seconds.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to stay.”
My breath hitched.
It wasn't just me. The breathing of everyone seated in the conference hall seemed to stop.
My wide-eyed gaze turned toward her, filled with a desperate wish.
I muttered inwardly.
Please, no.
“I will stay behind and defend this front.”
Tell me you were just joking.
“Everyone else can retreat in the meantime. That would work, wouldn't it?”
As she spoke, the woman quietly traced the sign of the cross over her chest.
My fists began to clench. Veins bulged, and my gritted teeth trembled.
“Immanuel…”
It was then that I slammed my hand down on the desk.
Splinters of wood flew in every direction. I heard the sound of several people letting out small screams, but it didn't reach my ears.
Only the Saintess, looking at me silently, filled my vision.
What on earth should I say?
After agonizing over it several times, I…
“…Follow me out.”
Decided we needed to talk in private first.
And in the next moment.
Cracks began to form in the world I was standing in.
“Ian, are you awake?”
A clear whisper soaked into my ears.
As I gripped my fading consciousness, my vision cleared.
I let out a faint groan. The wounds on my body had vanished without a trace. Nevertheless, the lingering pain awakened my senses.
My dazed eyes looked straight ahead.
There, a beautiful girl with black hair and golden eyes was smiling brightly.
The only unusual thing was the girl’s position.
The girl who had woken me was sitting on top of my waist.
Startled, I tried to pull away.
It was a futile effort. The restraints binding my arms and legs were incredibly firm.
My panicked gaze swept the surroundings.
A dynamic scene met my eyes: a fainted Celine, Senior Elsie groaning in pain, and my younger sister—who looked exactly like the girl in front of me—all bound in a row behind the girl.
Just as I was about to ask myself where I was.
“Ian, are you ready to be mine now?”
A viscous temptation coiled around me like a snake.