episode_0153

“The spell is almost complete. In another half-month, it will have drawn in all of the Second Princess’s curse. And I, too, will conclude my life within a year.”

The fated destiny remained unchanged.

It was too late to sever the connected spell now, as they had already come too far.

The Emperor already knew he was consumed by the curse.

“It’s too late to live.”

The reality of impending death.

However.

My lies are not bound by mere reality.

For a lie, by its very nature, is valuable in breaking down truth.

If someone were to speak of this damned fate.

“Do you truly believe that?”

“What good is belief against a predetermined fate?”

“From now on, you will have to believe in me.”

“Hmm?”

I would make this moment worthwhile.

“Because I will break both of your curses.”

“Break the curse…?”

The Emperor reacted with doubt.

I spoke, a relaxed smile playing on my lips.

“Didn’t I tell you before?”

That I could solve it.

I wanted to help them reclaim their positions.

A silence fell over the audience chamber for a while.

***

After the conversation in the audience chamber.

We headed straight to the prepared infirmary without delay.

Since the questionable parts had been revealed, there was no longer any reason to hesitate with the treatment.

At this very moment, the curse was gnawing at both their hearts.

Now was the time for a miracle.

“……”

Rose and the Emperor, each lying on a sickbed.

Few words were exchanged.

Only Valkaros quietly posed a question.

His voice was still unwavering.

“Is it truly possible?”

“Of course.”

“Honestly, I find it hard to believe. You claim to solve a task that the history of the continent couldn’t.”

“One cannot remain stuck in the past forever.”

“Your words are true.”

I calmly prepared for the treatment.

As I gathered my lies at my fingertips, someone soon clutched at my sleeve.

My gaze gently turned to where a red-haired girl lay.

It was none other than Rose.

“Your Highness.”

“……”

Elize, who had remained silent all this time.

She was probably confused.

The truth she had belatedly faced negated ten years of resentment, and now, suddenly, the narrative had shifted to curing the illness.

In merely two hours, the world that defined her was on the verge of being overturned.

The sudden change was enough to incite fear.

Her eyes, resembling blades of grass, slowly wavered.

*Gently.*

I slowly stroked the girl’s head.

Meaning that everything would be alright.

“There’s no need to be afraid.”

“But…”

Her eyes seemed on the verge of breaking.

I took Rose’s hand.

“Do you remember? The promise I made.”

“……”

“You don’t have to worry. I will always be by Your Highness’s side.”

“……I’m sorry for acting weak. I just felt scared for no reason.”

“Your Highness is strong enough.”

It was not an empty compliment.

Elize was a much stronger person than someone like me, at the very least.

The scars remaining on her arms and wrists proved it.

“Yuda… I’ll trust you.”

Yuda.

It was rare for me to be called by my name.

She definitely seemed psychologically shaken.

Even so, since she said she’d trust me, it was right to reciprocate that trust.

I slowly expanded shadows around me, smiling.

“Then.”

*Clap!*

I lightly clapped my hands.

“Let’s begin.”

The next moment.

Pitch black darkness enveloped the entire infirmary.

It was meant to block mana from the outside.

Inside, only a black background and two sickbeds, arranged side by side, existed.

I extended a hand towards the Emperor and Rose, each lying on their respective beds.

My palms touched their dantian.

“……”

All eyes were focused.

Behind me, Charlotte and Tanya watched with anxious expressions.

Tension swirled like pitch-black darkness. I calmly moved my hands.

Wavering shadows soon thinly coated my palms.

*Slowly.*

The generated shadows seeped into the patients.

I lifted my eyelids.

‘Mana Calcification Disease.’

A disease known to be incurable.

It wasn’t exactly wrong.

Even Astro, despite repeated research, had never found a solution.

It was an unreasonable disease where death was certain from the moment of onset.

It was like an inescapable fate or natural order.

‘If so…’

There was only one way.

To shatter that absurd fate.

This time too, I had to transcend the natural order.

‘Untangle the chaotic mana lines and re-establish them in the correct arrangement.’

According to the lore.

Mana lines typically run directly alongside blood vessels.

In other words, the branches of the mana lines are as immense as the blood vessels that extend throughout the entire body.

Especially in the abdomen, where mana lines converge, the complexity of the structure surpasses that of the heart.

From now on, I intended to meticulously repair each one of those structures.

Literally, one by one.

‘Purify the permeated curse.’

This was no simple treatment.

A form closer to decomposition and reconstruction than recovery.

Strictly speaking, it was a process no different from restoring a chimeric creature to its original form.

However, this time the conditions were even more restrictive. Because I had to treat two people simultaneously.

The curse, dispersed on both sides, made the treatment even more difficult.

The spell mixed in midway was also a factor.

‘As expected, it won’t be easy.’

I clicked my tongue, yet still increased the output.

Divinity and stars fabricated by lies.

The power of both mixed in an appropriate form, erasing the curses that touched my fingertips one by one.

The night, once filled only with pitch black, soon overflowed with pure white light.

Even in the dazzling vision, I kept my eyes wide open.

– *Ding!*

[Current remaining output: 86.4%]

– *Ding!*

[Current remaining output: 62.1%]

– *Ding!*

[Current remaining output: 49.7%]

Output plummeting in chunks.

Indeed, continuously transcending providence was not an easy feat.

I thought that if I expended some of the vitality I had accumulated, I might barely succeed.

I was worried my body would be weak for a while, but there was no other way.

Moreover, there were many ways to recover vitality, so the burden was less.

‘It’s a relief I don’t have to use my lifespan.’

It was fortunate that both my output and vitality were sufficient.

Because I didn’t have to break my vow to never use my lifespan again.

I silently continued the treatment.

Light drives out darkness.

Erasing curses, undoing spells, correcting all that was wrong.

As I chipped away at my own vitality, a few thoughts crossed my mind.

A question I had heard countless times while walking this path.

– Why do you.

The world always asked for a reason.

The reason I always stepped forward.

The reason I displayed such paltry hypocrisy, claiming to save others.

The reason I was devoted to those who were practically strangers.

I always answered.

‘That’s not what I am.’

I was not a good person.

Nor was I a righteous person.

‘Usurpation War.’

That sinful year.

Even during the time I fought a war from the bottom, I was drenched in countless blood and evil.

By my own estimation, I was closer to being a villain than a virtuous person.

But.

‘I… I just wanted to see.’

Even if it meant drowning in a chilling original sin.

There was a story I absolutely had to see.

It was none other than the happy ending of a world that had only repeated destruction.

I finally wanted to see the protagonists be happy.

‘That’s why.’

Misunderstanding, sorrow, despair.

I believed that those weren’t the only words that defined the world.

I believed that somewhere, salvation also existed for them.

‘What if.’

If this damned world wouldn’t allow salvation.

If it was determined to push you into misfortune.

I intended to become your salvation myself.

For that reason, I remained here, continuing the struggle for the ending.

Perhaps it was lingering regret or a sense of debt from the past.

I moved my hand.

‘Is it almost over?’

Despite the dazzling light, my clear vision looked down at Rose.

And then, I gazed at the Emperor.

Valkaros, his eyes calmly closed.

The spell entwined around his heart was no ordinary venomous one.

To the extent that one wondered how he had lived for the past ten years.

I imbued a faint monologue into the starlight.

‘Valkaros Rantana von Stauphen.’

Love.

Your devotion that entirely burned your life.

I remember that desperate struggle.

You have fulfilled a father’s duty, so this time, I will take over the role.

I will ensure she no longer drowns in a cursed fate.

“O lowly curse.”

Before I knew it, my lips were chanting the final incantation.

The shining star soon caused cracks.

*Crack, snap!*

The infirmary was filled with divine light.

A backdrop of stars surging like waves.

With the wavering pure white light, I snapped my fingers.

Blood surged back and spurted from my mouth.

Nevertheless, I continued the chant.

“As the Star’s Emissary commands…”

All of it, for my pitiable Princess.

“Shatter.”

Yes.

For Elize.