episode_0198

The Dawn Seeker.

The woman known as the fourth apostle of the demon god.

A powerhouse who, given certain conditions, could even contend with the stars.

Such a Dawn Seeker could currently not hide her bewilderment.

It was none other than because of the silver-haired girl standing before her.

“Haa, haa…”

The battered girl.

Her breathing, on the verge of giving out, hinted at her condition.

However, even amidst the heavy nightmare that had settled upon her, her gaze did not dim.

She merely glared fiercely at the Dawn Seeker.

The woman couldn’t help but show her surprise.

It was the first time such a thing had happened.

‘How?’

The Dawn Seeker muttered.

Until now, no living being had ever endured her nightmares.

An ordinary opponent would have already been devoured by their inner darkness.

However, the girl before her was shaking off the hallucinations and auditory illusions as if struggling fiercely.

On the contrary, her consciousness seemed to grow clearer with each passing moment.

How could she have escaped the nightmare?

‘This can’t be…’

The questions didn’t stop there.

As she stood there, lost in thought, a blow landed on her abdomen.

The girl, who had approached like a flash of light, swung her fist.

A powerful tearing sound broke the silence and reverberated.

Thump!

“……”

The Dawn Seeker was pushed sideways by the recoil.

There wasn’t even a hint of change in the woman’s expression.

At first glance, it seemed like an indifferent reaction, but doubt flickered in her pupils.

Her gaze, from which dark red tears flowed, was fixed on Neria.

More precisely, on her fist.

‘Light…?’

At her fingertips, an alien light was slowly spreading.

The Dawn Seeker caressed her abdomen.

She had entered an awakened state, gaining immunity to all physical phenomena.

Normally, Neria’s blow should have been nullified, rendered meaningless.

To the point where she wouldn’t even know if a fist had struck her stomach or if the wind had simply blown.

But.

‘……Pain.’

A tingling sensation was slowly spreading.

The intensity of that pain was so faint it felt as if she had been hit by a pillow.

However, the Dawn Seeker took this alien sensation seriously.

No matter how small a number, there is always a huge gap between 0 and 1.

A chill ran down the woman’s spine.

“Hmph…!”

“Ah!”

Clang!

A dagger pierced through the opening.

The Dawn Seeker, who had been lost in thought, instinctively parried the surprise attack.

It was quite different from how she had been taking attacks with her bare body just moments before.

The woman had begun to acknowledge the girl’s light.

The impact transmitted to her palm was even more intense.

‘Increasingly… the blows are getting stronger.’

The Dawn Seeker had no choice but to chew on this alien sensation.

The girl before her was clearly abnormal.

She was growing stronger in real time.

No, rather than growing stronger… it seemed she was reverting to her original form.

As if the child, born as a star, was drawing upon the brilliance she should have naturally possessed.

Neria’s light, which had only been faint, was now illuminating the darkness.

With a furrowed brow, the Dawn Seeker raised her blade.

In her hand, nightmares, condensed to their limit, seethed.

‘The atmosphere is unusual.’

I must kill her quickly.

Perhaps she had sensed the danger from the light.

The Dawn Seeker sought to quickly deal with the girl.

She scraped the nightmares accumulated in the seed, channeling them onto a single sword.

And then she swung it, as if to immediately sever Neria’s neck.

However, it was already a delayed judgment.

“Ah.”

Their gazes crossed in an instant.

The silver-haired girl had gently opened her previously closed eyelids.

Beyond her pupils, a clear radiance flickered.

The straight-drawn dagger blocked the nightmare.

Boom!

“……”

A chilling silence settled.

The Dawn Seeker froze in place.

It was due to the profound pressure that weighed down on her shoulders.

Whoosh—.

Around the two, a brilliant white halo of light was swirling.

The girl was looking up at the woman with calm eyes.

Holding a star within them.

***

Neria Lightni.

A girl born with the blessing, or perhaps curse, of a star.

She always lived with loneliness tucked away in a corner of her heart.

Having lived a cruel fate, she dared not muster the courage to break free.

Perhaps she had concluded that there was no place for her to truly belong, for her entire life.

Because of this, she was pessimistic.

‘Actually, I wanted to give up everything.’

The pain she once felt soon became the home that comprised her entire life.

For Neria, sadness was her only home.

A home she could always return to, a place where she could rest her eyes.

No other sanctuary was allowed.

More precisely, she believed it would not be allowed.

-Perhaps, Neria-yang’s surroundings… may contain more homes than you had ever despaired of.

So when she first heard the boy’s words, she couldn’t understand their meaning.

Many homes? For her, who had always lived with loneliness, those words held no meaning.

Neria gently lifted her closed eyelids.

Her silver eyes remained profoundly silent.

Scenes reflected in her pupils.

‘I…’

Neria had always turned away.

From her own fears.

-You are a child filled with all sorts of malice.

-You were born with the fate of misfortune, and you will surely burn your surroundings to ashes.

-Please do not wish for happiness from the outside world.

The girl was afraid of the light.

Afraid that she might hurt someone again.

Afraid that the position she had worked so hard to build might disappear meaninglessly.

Afraid that she might be left alone again, just like in her old memories.

The words the monarch had left behind, like a prophecy, often felt like her own destiny.

That’s why she was afraid.

And so, she had turned away.

‘I thought I was alone.’

She might have idly thought that.

Even with companions by her side, there was a loneliness that swelled up at dawn.

There was also the weakness she wanted to hide, from having nightmares and sometimes shedding tears.

There was the contradiction of pretending to be fine in front of loved ones, only to crumble behind their backs.

And a throbbing heart, especially during winters with heavy blizzards.

And there was herself, who hated and disliked all of it.

The girl was a coward.

‘But then.’

Amidst all that, she had a nightmare.

The Dawn Seeker’s ability forced Neria to stand up.

It forced her to face the fears she had ignored and her humble self.

With the aim of breaking her spirit.

But.

‘……I wasn’t alone.’

The nightmare, on the contrary, hardened Neria.

The malice intended to break her instead knocked on the girl’s heart.

The tightly locked door. It made the trembling girl beyond it come out.

Creak— The world she faced with the sound of old hinges. Her head hesitantly poked out.

Scenes formed in her eyes.

-Neria-yang.

Standing outside the door was her master, who had waited for her.

He whispered with a faint smile.

Like a tranquil ordinary day.

-Do you remember that mansion?

-The mansion where the two of us lived, even before Astro was founded.

-After everything ends, I was thinking it might be nice to live like before.

-No matter what anyone says… sometimes, I miss those days.

-How about we live there together again?

Softly—.

As if nothing was amiss, they talked about the future.

It was a memory with the boy, piled up neatly in the office.

Neria gently closed and opened her eyes.

Then, the scene shifted.

-Hahaha!

-Our Vice-Commander is always so quiet.

-It would be great if you mingled a bit more with the other members!

Sir Kyle, bursting into hearty laughter.

He was a somewhat chaotic but always caring adult.

It was as if she were his daughter; a gentle affection was evident.

She blinked her eyes again.

-Vice-Commander, we will handle this task.

-Especially since the Commander-nim has visited.

-That’s right! Vice-Commander-nim, you should be by their side!

-We’ll take care of the remaining tasks.

-Have a good time together… Hehehe.

-Oh dear. You don’t need to pay attention to what that fellow says.

-Please go quickly. The Commander-nim is waiting.

-Thank you…? Hmph, aren’t we family?

-This much is no problem.

A bustling atmosphere.

The members who subtly approached and pulled her from her desk.

Neria inadvertently stood up from her chair.

Everyone around was smiling at the girl.

Yes, it was always like this.

‘You all…’

They were always kind to the girl.

They treated her as if she were truly family.

Finally, her vision cut out.

And then.

-I want to give up.

Whoosh—.

A snowy field whipped by a blizzard.

At the heart of that winter stood the silver-haired girl.

Neria faced the lingering image of her past before her eyes.

That girl was also glaring at Neria.

‘This is…’

It was none other than the nightmare she feared the most.

It was also the image of herself that she hated the most.

Starlight flickering all over her body, and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Even the dagger held to her neck, as if she had decided to end her life.

It was an old memory.

“……”

Thump—.

Neria, who had been momentarily paused, then took a step.