The Eternal Guardian (End)
There is no hope.
“It’s because Lilly has a special constitution…. If she could receive the blessings of both the sun and the moon, she would have been healthier than anyone. But realistically, that was impossible… so I managed to suppress it, however weakly, with that child Karnoa’s power and my own divine power.”
The voice that kept rambling on trembled.
“I always wanted to try it. If I poured all my divine power into her, wouldn’t it stabilize Lilly’s condition? Wouldn’t a perfected Dawn Child’s body even overcome death?”
It was not the voice of someone who held any hope.
“I wanted to test it the moment my divine power reached its peak.”
The heavy silence that had filled this place began to shake once more. A low rumble echoed. The sound of cracks spreading across the ruined ceiling reached my ears. The immense flames of divine power coiling around Matthew’s body seeped into Lilly’s.
“It’s only been twenty years by human count. I conducted a great deal of research. The possibility isn’t zero.”
Lilly’s body began to float. Desperation filled Matthew’s distorted face.
“So…! If I pour every last drop of my divinity…!”
Color returned to Lilly’s cheeks as her body rose within the blazing flames. But that was all. Stimulating a dead body to make it seem temporarily better was nothing more than a biological reaction. Tears welled in the strong yet wrinkled face.
It was time to accept it.
“Will that be enough?”
“…!”
A voice rang out. I was in a state where even lifting a finger was difficult. Just thinking normally felt like it would overload my brain. But Matthew…
“There’s no need to be surprised, Father-in-law.”
“Jensen?”
The voice flowed from the corpse of the Death Priest.
“I am most certainly dead right now. No, I’ve been dead for over twenty years. In any case, everything I was has been destroyed, and even the last remnants of my ego are fading. A spirit body… would be the appropriate term.”
Matthew’s eyes widened even as he continued pouring divine power into her.
“So… it was you? That thing?”
“There’s no time. Fortunately, this place is overflowing with Lady Luna’s divine power.”
I felt it. A power different from Matthew’s intense and brilliant divine energy—something cold, yet gently enveloping. The formless being drew without reserve from the surrounding atmosphere, the divine power left in Karnoa’s corpse, and even the Death Priest’s own divine power.
That power settled heavily onto Lilly’s body, which burned within the flames of divinity.
“Father-in-law, thank you for protecting Lilly.”
“You…!”
“I’m sorry. Karnoa’s power blinded me, and I nearly harmed you. Your flames lifted the veil that had covered my eyes.”
Lilly’s body was glowing brightly. A being receiving the blessings of both gods.
“I tried to control my strength. It wasn’t too much for you, was it?”
“You brat. From the time you were a snot-nosed kid, you’ve never once reached even my toes.”
Matthew’s face began to wither. In contrast, joy flooded his expression.
“Ah… so that’s why you could never fully trust me.”
“No, no. That’s not it.”
Lilly’s body slowly descended. A clear vitality now radiated from her.
“How could I not trust someone who took responsibility for his family even in death?”
Before I knew it, Matthew had fallen to his knees. His once sturdy body had grown gaunt, nothing but skin and bones. He looked like a sick old man on the verge of death. Seeing that desperate longing in his eyes, I forced my immobile legs to move and supported him.
Lilly’s chest was rising and falling slowly. Matthew pulled her into one final, tight embrace. The last tears he shed held only relief.
“Thank you. I want to see Victoria now. It’s been… far too long since I last saw her.”
Was “vitality” even the right word for a spirit body? But by then, his voice had grown impossibly faint.
“You’ve… suffered a lot.”
“I have no regrets. To meet the daughter I never dreamed I’d see again and save her life? I would endure it a hundred times over.”
The Dark Priest’s corpse began to crumble into dust.
“Father-in-law, I’ll go to her first, so please finish things here…”
“Don’t worry. Go on ahead.”
All that remained was an ornate robe of ancient design.
“Lee Han, my boy.”
“Yes.”
“Using honorifics now? I’ve waited quite a long time for that.”
His movements were terribly weak.
“From this moment on, you are Belcard. Go to Seattle and find Lucas. I won’t force you, but from what I see, the scales of fate have already tipped.”
Matthew took out a necklace and placed it around my neck. A black dagger emblem engraved at the center of a blazing sun.
“This is a gift containing my final strength. Call it a bribe. So I have one request.”
The neck I was supporting slowly tilted.
“Will you stay with Lilly? She’s a child with many dreams. She’ll want to travel the whole world.”
His breathing sounded like it might break at any moment.
“And… I know it’s shameless of me, but protect that child as far as your hand can reach…”
“Yes, Matthew. Don’t worry.”
We had spent a great deal of time together, but I had never seen Matthew smile so brightly. I closed his smiling eyes with both hands.
“Rest easy, Master.”
What happened after that? All I remember is endlessly digging through the collapsed debris of the exit, trying to escape the ruins. In my hazy mind, I gathered the kids who had fainted among the corpses, Lilly who seemed to be merely sleeping, and finally Matthew who had entered eternal rest.
When the endless labor of clearing the rubble made jealousy toward those peacefully resting surge within me—
A shout came from beyond the wall. ‘Move aside.’
I tilted my head at the familiar voice.
Boom—.
Explosives detonated. The first thing I saw through the smoke was… red eyes and white hair. Several figures followed behind her.
“Lee Han, I’m here.”
“You came yourself because I didn’t go back?”
“Of course. Even if I die, I’ll find you.”
Beyond her, the sky was beginning to brighten with dawn.
I finally let the strength drain from my legs that had barely been holding me up. Rebecca caught me in her arms.
“You did well. Let’s go home now.”
She patted my back. She was strong. It was finally over.
My body, which hadn’t slept for nearly a week, had been tortured and ultimately worked to the brink of collapse, finally surrendered to exhaustion.
Remaining Time: 3 minutes
“Sleep well, Lee Han.”
The hand stroking my hair was warm.
System: Solar is activating.
Job change has been completed.
[Title Acquired]
Successor of the Sun That Tore the Moon
Inheritor of Belcard
Species: Human
Job: Assassin / Embers of the Sun (Hidden)
[Unique Skills]
├─ Umbra Assassination Arts (Advanced Lv.1)
├─ Lamina Numen (Intermediate Lv.9)
└─ Belcard Divine Arts (Beginner Lv.1)
[Traits]
├─ Blessing of Dragon Blood (2-Star)
├─ Sacred Sun (1-Star)
├─ Shadow Beneath the Sun (1-Star)
└─ Hate the Sin (1-Star)
[Status]
├─ Mana Suppression
└─ Luna’s Curse
[Titles]
├─ ‘Child of the Sun’
├─ ‘Walker in the Shadows’
├─ ‘Successor of the Sun That Tore the Moon’
└─ ‘Inheritor of Belcard’
※ Luna is watching you with caution.
※ Solar is blessing you.
Congratulations! The options available to you while cornered were limited! Submit, or resist to the end. You resisted magnificently until the very last moment and succeeded! We offer our highest praise for that indomitable will!
Does this mean you refuse to take the easy path? However, one might question whether you complicated things yourself by over-investing during the tutorial. You really shouldn’t invest like that! There may be some controversy, but you did well! This break for reorganization will last one week. There shouldn’t be any major time shifts this time, so please rest easy and recover fully!
— See you again.
Crash—.
“Guh…!”
I slid out of the capsule. My mind was clear, yet somehow not. The eyelids that had been about to close at any moment, the hazy consciousness, the blood that kept surging up my throat—everything vanished in an instant.
And that sense of dissonance manifested as a shock from a distortion unfamiliar to the true Lee Han.
“Haa… haa…”
I gripped the capsule and caught my breath. My condition recovered in no time, as if the exhaustion had never existed. That’s right. This was the kind of body I had. An abnormal recovery rate and an immutable physique that would never break.
A bitter chuckle escaped me. Seeing that I had escaped like this, it seemed the first trial of Eclipse had been safely completed. Everyone had been injured and in critical condition until the very end, but they had survived. Of course, Matthew… had been lost forever, but that was the final form he had desired. It wasn’t my place to say I was sad or add any words to it.
And then—
“I definitely saw it…”
The status window! How long had I waited for that? It was an essential element that every game should have! I had seen the strings of text scroll by, but in the chaos I hadn’t been able to check them properly. It looked like everything that had been hidden was finally revealed!
“Aaaargh! I’m so curious!”
I flopped onto the bed and let out a frustrated groan.
“…?”
Come to think of it, why was it so quiet? The silence was familiar to me, but hadn’t Yena moved in next door? …No, not next door—next house. Given Yena’s personality, there was no way she would let a spectacle like this slide, and she would definitely pester me with questions about what happened!
“Yena?”
Well, she must be busy with work at the company. As a jobless person, I didn’t need to know about that!
I pressed the button on the computer tower, which was suspiciously clean—someone must have been maintaining it recently. Ahem. If I worked, I should at least take a little break. So, the patch notes…
The main portal was completely taken over by bizarre articles.
“What the…?”
National Disaster Declared – Outbreak of Zombie Virus
Failed Experiment by Secret Government Agency?
We Are Heading Toward the Apocalypse in Real Time
What the fuck is this? I just came back from fighting corpses?
And then—
The internet cut out.