Chapter 467: Proof of Existence (55)
Chapter 467: Proof of Existence (55)
The traitor’s death was surprisingly hollow.
Even though Yuren’s blood drenched my entire body, I was not in my right mind. My blurred vision flickered with every blink, and before I knew it, I was rolling across the ground.
My breath came in ragged gasps. It felt as if I would lose consciousness at any moment.
I had lost too much blood.
But I still had work to do.
Letting out a deep groan, I crawled forward and forced myself to stand on trembling legs. The hand axe in my grip was bathed in a silver radiance.
Only then was I certain.
My aura had grown stronger. It had been showing signs for a while now, and it seemed the Blooming had finally reached its completion.
It felt as if I had been swimming through an otherworld all on my own.
The moment I opened my eyes and faced Yuren again, my world began to decelerate. By the end, even the scattering sparks and spraying blood seemed to have come to a standstill.
And within that frozen time, my five senses grew sharper.
Killing intent and intuition rang through my brain with a stinging intensity. Countless virtual trajectories and threads of space revealed themselves in my vision, exposed and defenseless.
I didn't yet know the full extent of its effects.
However, it was entirely thanks to the Blooming that I was able to overcome Yuren’s aura. I had considered trying to remove the gray lesion through ‘Unbinding,’ but the lesion was spreading faster than I could act.
The slowing of my body meant that my aura was slowing down as well.
I wondered what would have happened if my aura hadn't bloomed at the very last second.
I wandered through these drifting thoughts. Suddenly, the woman from the memories I had glimpsed came to mind.
She was a strong person. Even though she must have rolled through the mire countless times, she still shone, unbroken.
Perhaps she was the reason I was able to keep from collapsing.
As I retraced those memories, I finally reached my destination.
Trembling hands fumbled at my cheeks. Only then did I snap back to my senses.
My vision cleared. I saw the face of a woman dripping with tears.
A pale pink hue shimmered and spread before me. The eyes of the beautiful, silver-haired woman had long been soaked with moisture.
Hic, hic.
A voice followed, struggling to suppress her sobs.
“Why... why did you do that...?”
Instead of answering, I stared blankly at the Saintess.
Perhaps because my consciousness was so hazy, I couldn't understand her question. So, I decided to do what I had to do first.
Clang! With a shower of sparks, a restraint snapped.
Fortunately, the subtlety of ‘Unbinding’ was effective even on the chains imprisoning the Saintess.
That was one. Only three restraints remained on her limbs.
Regardless, the Saintess only stroked my blood-stained cheek with a look of anguish. Beneath her bowed head, a few tears fell like jewels.
The sob caught in her throat grew thicker.
“It hurts... hic... it looks so painful. You almost died...”
Clang! Sparks flew again.
After confirming that another restraint had been released, my vacant gaze turned toward the sobbing Saintess.
Why did I do it?
The answer was obvious. Even if it was painful and difficult, I wanted to save her.
Did I really need to put that into words?
I wasn't sure. So, I decided to postpone my answer for now. I judged that liberating the Saintess was a more urgent matter.
Clang! Another chain fell away. Once the last restraint was removed, she would be free.
“If I... if I had just done a little better... hic... if only... if only I hadn't hesitated...”
Clutched in the hands of the self-loathing Saintess was a blood-red sphere.
Only then did I realize why she felt so guilty toward me.
It seemed she thought I had been driven to the brink of death because she had hesitated.
Added to that was the pain of being betrayed by someone she considered family.
And the fact that this person was the one who had turned me into this state.
There was nothing about the situation that didn't torment her heart.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry... I... hic... because I’m so incompetent...”
“Saintess.”
Clang! As I released the final restraint, I spoke in a low voice.
I placed both my hands quietly on her shoulders. The Saintess flinched, her pale pink eyes turning toward me once more.
Her tear-filled pupils held an even more beautiful color. They looked like meticulously crafted jewels.
“Don’t regret it.”
“...What?”
I didn't even know what I was saying; I simply gave voice to the thoughts rising from my mental imagery.
“There are things you must protect, even if it’s painful and agonizing. Don’t blame yourself and grieve alone later.”
The woman in my memories had likely been like that.
She suffered from guilt her entire life, wandering through the mire of despair on battlefields where tens of thousands perished.
I truly hoped that such a wound would not be carved into the Saintess’s heart.
“Because I... I will make sure it stays that way...”
“Why?”
It was a question soaked in tears.
I had to fall silent for a moment and meet her eyes. Rarely did the Saintess seem so unable to hide her emotions.
She was crying. The face of the woman, steeped in despair and betrayal, was so wretched that even the word 'pitiful' felt insufficient.
“I... I’m not that great of a person... I gave up my name and lived as a ‘Saintess’... but all of it was a lie! I haven't achieved a single thing...!”
“Because it’s you.”
Once again, an answer flowed out without passing through logic or thought.
The Saintess’s expression went blank again.
“Because it’s you, I believe in you.”
That was the end.
My body, which I had been barely holding up, swayed and collapsed. My clear mind followed suit.
Thud. My vision flickered out with the sound of the fall.
“Ian... Ian?! Wake up!”
I had reached my limit.
My eyelids slid shut, and my consciousness sank into the abyss.
*
Snap. My consciousness returned like a flickering spark.
I was standing on a familiar plain. It was a battlefield covered in dried blood and countless corpses.
I remembered seeing this scenery not too long ago.
My eyes wandered vacantly around the area. It was truly a sea of corpses. It was a wonder how such a vast land could show not a single sign of life.
This was the path a certain man had walked.
And this world must have become his life.
As I floated aimlessly through the surroundings, my gaze became fixed on one spot.
A corpse. A man whose face I couldn't even see when I saw him last time.
No, should I call her a woman?
It was Yuren.
I looked closely at the woman with the elegant jawline lying face down with her eyes closed. Come to think of it, she had looked like this when I struck her down.
The cause of death was likely a penetrating wound. The hollow hole near her heart bore witness to the moment of her death.
While I was staring blankly at Yuren’s corpse, a dry voice drifted from behind me.
“...It’s finally over.”
My gaze naturally turned toward the source. There, I saw a man sitting on a rock.
He was indifferently adjusting the knot on his scabbard. He looked like a general preparing for a campaign.
“It took longer than expected. ‘Greed’ had laid quite a few traps.”
“Did you know?”
It was a question that carried a faint heat.
The man looked at me blankly, as if asking what I meant.
I had to grit my teeth against that emotionless gaze.
“That Yuren was a traitor.”
“I knew. Because I killed her.”
My fists clenched involuntarily at his answer.
Despite my fierce glare, the man remained indifferent. His eyes flicked toward the corpse in front of me.
“In the early stages of the war against the Dark Cult, Yuren tried to surrender while taking the Saintess with her. She was branded a heretic by the Saintess, who narrowly managed to escape.”
“And?”
“During the final battle, she blocked my path when I went to rescue the Saintess.”
As he spoke, a hint of loneliness flickered in the man’s eyes.
It was an emotion like gray ash left behind after everything had burned away.
“So I killed her... though in the end, I was too late.”
“Couldn't you have given me even a single hint?”
To my heated voice, the man threw back a cold reply.
“I feel this every time, Novice. You want too much.”
“If you had, Mr. Reynold wouldn't have died... no, the number of sacrificed orphans would have been much...!”
“And could you have survived without the Blood Essence?”
It was a frigid rebuttal. Because not a single shred of emotion could be felt, the question pierced my heart even more sharply.
I felt something surge up my throat. But in the end, no words left my mouth.
Because I couldn't refute him.
As if he had expected as much, the man’s hollow gaze turned toward the empty air.
“Also, Yuren’s betrayal is an event that has a significant impact on the future. I couldn't just reveal it or give it away... Don't be too sad.”
Surprisingly, advice that doubled as consolation followed.
I couldn't quite believe it, so I looked at the man with a slight furrow in my brow.
As always, the man’s face just looked exhausted.
“This is something you will have to experience countless times from now on. Losing things, saying goodbye, being betrayed... you have to become numb to it.”
“...How?”
My question was only natural.
Even now, my hands were shaking. It was hard to bear the reality that my life was continuing upon the sacrifice of orphans, and that Yuren was a traitor whose throat I had cut with my own hands.
And yet, he told me to become numb?
How could a human being do such a thing?
Before I could even let out a cry filled with such complex emotions.
“I’ll give you one piece of advice.”
The man quietly stood up.
The more I looked, the less I could read his eyes. His golden eyes, worn down by erosion and weathering, were burning brightly even though there was no radiance left for them to hold.
What kind of path must one walk to have such weary eyes?
While I hesitated for a moment, the man spoke with sincerity.
“Don’t be stubborn. Sometimes you have to know when to give up. If you don't...”
Step, step. The man walked past me.
His hand briefly patted my shoulder twice as he left.
“You’ll suffer a painful fate. Very much so.”
Before I could even ask what he meant.
I felt a force pulling at my body. It felt as if I had become water in a bottle, being sucked out through the neck.
The last thing I saw was the man’s back, and... yeah.
He looked very much in pain.
Soon, my eyelids were forced open.
The sound of ragged breathing filled my ears. I scanned my surroundings with a bewildered gaze.
It was an unfamiliar bed. The clean, pure white blankets suggested that this was a place maintained with hygiene in mind.
But my interest lay elsewhere.
Where was the Saintess?
The incident wasn't over yet. The contents of the letter were only the beginning.
My anxious gaze searched every corner of the room, but the Saintess was nowhere to be seen. In my growing anxiety, I almost sat up, despite my body being wrapped tightly in bandages.
If only the door hadn't quietly opened.
Beyond it, I saw a pair of startled, wide-open pale pink eyes.
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
“...Saintess.”
Perhaps I still had a chance.