chapter_0195

I knelt in front of Aria, whose eyes were constantly shifting between gray and blue.

‘You said your souls were mixed.’

If that was the case, I could separate them. Fortunately, the Holy Lance could do something similar. It couldn’t directly separate the souls, but it could produce a similar effect.

I drew out the Holy Lance. A golden light appeared in my left hand, and the surroundings brightened. Aria’s struggles became more violent. From this point on, I had to concentrate. I took a deep breath and brought the tip of the Lance to Aria’s chest.

With my right hand, I supported Aria’s back and used magic to wrap her limbs, forcing her to lie down straight. Her body continued to writhe. It seemed like Latina was trying to stop Aria from struggling. The Holy Lance pierced her chest.

“I’m sorry, Latina. It might hurt a little.”

I pushed the Lance inward, and a Lance of light tore through the flesh, dripping with bloody nun’s habit, and fresh blood gushed out. The divine power began to tear through her insides.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

The blue and gray eyes widened. A muffled scream escaped her mouth. I focused my mind on the tip of the Lance, and I felt something wrapping around me. The Holy Lance was searching for the soul.

‘I found it.’

Soon, divinity wrapped around one of the souls. It felt like finding something in the middle of a mess of mud. I twisted the Lance, which was wrapped around it.

“Kkh, heuuuuuuk?!”

Aria struggled. Not yet. I continued to pour divinity into her body, giving her strength. Finally, a gap formed between the souls, which had been jumbled together.

I thrust the Lance all the way in.

“!!!!!!”

A silent scream escaped her mouth.

Aria, who had been writhing, went limp, as if she had died. Her entire body was covered in cold sweat, and blood gushed from her chest wound. I healed the wound and checked her eyes.

The gray eyes were looking at me. Blink, blink. The gray eyes tried to form words.

“It hurts. Didn’t you say it wouldn’t hurt this much, Savior?”

“……Latina.”

Something hot rose from the depths of my throat. There was so much I wanted to say, but when the moment came, I didn’t know where to start.

“I’m sorry for hurting you. There’s still one more step. I need to purify Aria’s soulㅡ”

As I was about to say that, Latina gently took my hand.

“It’s done.”

“What do you mean, it’s done?”

“From here on, I’ll do it. Please allow me.”

.

.

.

Trapped in stopped time for over a thousand years, Aria had thought endlessly.

‘Why me of all people?’

Why did it have to be her? Why did it have to be herself?

She blamed and resented herself, and she felt an intense hatred and loathing for the one who had done this to her. If she didn’t blame someone, she felt like she would go crazy.

At some point during those endless moments, Aria’s thoughts took a completely different turn.

‘It’s because I’m special.’

She was special, so she was able to move in the stopped time, and that’s why she had to endure this moment.

The thought soon turned into conviction and fanaticism. There was no one to stop or contradict Aria, so it was only natural.

“……Yes. This was a trial. It was a special trial for the protagonist.”

Her conviction peaked when she realized that this world was created by a novel and that she was the protagonist of that novel.

The fact that she had imprisoned Laura, the creator of this world, in an infinite regression and watched her gradually deteriorate only reinforced her belief that she was special and superior.

Even after bringing in real humans, her mindset didn’t change. No matter how real they were, they were still trapped in Aria’s time and deteriorated just the same.

“Now I understand. I know why I had to go through all that. Because I’m special.”

Aria’s thoughts didn’t change, bend, or break.

A thousand years stood behind Aria April’s conviction. A thousand years of loneliness and solitude had led to her twisted conviction.

If she were told that she wasn’t special, that time would be meaningless. She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t let it be decided that the time Aria had sent was meaningless.

It should have been.

“Kya, haeuuuk……!”

Aria writhed in pain from the depths of her soul.

It hurt. It hurt too much. It wasn’t the separation of the soul that hurt, but the fact that the nun’s soul was painfully fight her.

She tried to lift her consciousness as much as she could, but Aria, whose soul had already separated, had no control over her body.

Aria desperately tried to lift her consciousness from the depths of her soul, and  saw Mira about to stab her with the Holy Lance.

‘You’re aiming for me, aren’t you.’

Now that the soul was separated, Latina could freely dispose of herself without hesitation. Aria scoffed as she struggled endlessly. She was destined to be with Mira, she was sure of it.

Even if she had to discuss that destiny, the nun had nothing to be ashamed of. The soul within the Holy Lance had awakened and crossed dimensions to resurrect after the awakening.

Aria smiled helplessly as she felt the Holy Lance in her chest. “It’s done. From here on, I’ll do it. Please allow me.”

Even if the nun, who had regained control, pushed the Holy Lance away from her chest, Aria would have been finished. Her vision was growing darker and darker, and Mira’s puzzled expression was reflected.

“You’re going to do it? What?”

“The work of purifying the soul that was bound to mine. Isn’t your fight somewhere else?”

Her finger pointed to the golden light, indicating the situation was quite serious. The space-time had become extremely unstable due to the divinity that Aria had unleashed in her last struggle.

“……Are you sure?”

“Of course. I won’t die. How could I miss this second chance?”

‘That’s right.’

Aria was confident, even though she was dazed. The nun intended to kill Aria herself. Of course, she would. After all she had been through, she wanted to take her revenge with her own hands.

“Instead, just hold my hand. So that I don’t wander and lose my warmth.”

At the same time, something solid grabbed her right hand. Aria wanted to plug her ears if she could. This warmth wasn’t for Aria.

The soul sank beneath the surface. With neither of them in control of the body, Latina’s body fell limp. Someone gently picked up the fallen body, and Aria finally faced Latina.

Aria was overwhelmed by the aura of Latina’s soul, as if it were emitting a radiant light, and she covered her eyes.

She felt so insignificant.

“It’s nice to meet you for the first time.”

“……Why.”

A surge of emotion welled up inside her. Aria screamed, her body trembling.

“Why are you making me so miserable! Why are you making me feel so insignificant! Why……!”

If Latina had resented Aria for stealing her soul and mocking Mira, Aria wouldn’t have felt so miserable.

But Latina didn’t resent her. She didn’t blame Aria. She simply faced her. As if to say that Aria was nothing.

The fact that Latina’s actions seemed to deny her past and dismiss her thousand years of solitude as insignificant made it even more unbearable.

“I’m special! It’s my destiny! It’s who I’m supposed to be! But why…… why are you here…… hwiik……”

Aria burst into tears before she could finish her sentence. Latina, who had been watching her with a blank expression, opened her mouth.

“What makes you so special?”

“……What do you mean?”

“I asked what makes you so obsessed with being special.”

Aria was silent for a moment, not understanding the question. But the silence didn’t last long. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she shouted.

“You’re just saying that because you don’t know anything! If I’m not special, what was that time for! Over a thousand years of loneliness and hardship!”

Latina listened to her outburst calmly. I know. Their souls were intertwined, and some of their memories had been transmitted.

Her obsession with being special had driven her insane, but at the same time, it had also kept her going.

If it weren’t for that obsession, Aria April would have ceased to exist.

“I understand. I understand that feeling.”

“You understand me? Me? How?”

Aria growled.

“I, too, was once the protagonist of the world.”

 P.S. Hello everyone! I’m VarieTL! I created a new patreon Here were you can read all chapters ad-free and read ahead or you can go to my Ko-Fi! If you like this work visit my other Novel: I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game  Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy and I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy