Chapter 28: Half

[What is this… this power…!?]

Eclipse couldn’t understand why it was lying on the ground.

‘What on earth happened…?’

It was a disaster-grade ghost story. A being that hunted humans by utilizing a natural phenomenon called a solar eclipse.

‘Why is this body lying down?!’

[This can’t be. Me… this body…! I can’t possibly lose to a mere mortal!!]

—Swoosh.

[Eclipse’s Final Stage: Total Solar Eclipse has been completed.]

[Haha… Hahahahahahaha!!! Finally!! The eclipse is finally complete!!]

Eclipse broke free from beneath Phantom’s feet and began to shout towards the sky.

[Indeed… it has been a long, long time. The days of being sealed by a lowly shrine maiden, unable to even open my eyes, are finally over!!]

As if responding to its cry, the red moon split in half, revealing Eclipse’s massive eye.

The calamity, finally fully awakened from its seal.

[It’s been a thousand years. After a millennium!! I see the mortal world with my own eyes!!]

“……!!”

Ren, the guild agents, and even Tsuki couldn’t properly understand Eclipse’s words.

‘Sealed by a lowly shrine maiden.’

What exactly did that sentence mean?

Then, there was a being that provided the answer.

[O, Shrine Maiden of the Moon. You are not a ghost story.]

“……!”

[A pitiful yet noble being who sacrificed herself to seal Eclipse for a long time, trapped within the ghost story.]

“……M-me? I’m not a ghost story…?”

Until now, she had believed she was hurting everyone because she was a ghost story.

She had thought this tragedy couldn’t end unless her breath stopped.

The truth was the exact opposite.

[A thousand years is too long for a human.]

[Memories and will slowly eroded. Within that, you must have gradually assimilated with Eclipse.]

[But you are by no means a ghost story. Rather, you bound Eclipse for a thousand years with the power of the moon.]

The pitch-black being calmly stated a truth she herself had forgotten.

“I… I didn’t forget my duty as a shrine maiden…?”

[You were, and still are, the shining Shrine Maiden of the Moon, even a thousand years ago.]

His voice was emotionless, yet it gave off a strangely warm feeling.

“Tsuki wasn’t a ghost story?”

“Then the reason Tsuki always prayed at the shrine was…”

The guild members realized how greatly they had misunderstood.

Foolish people who had believed that killing Tsuki would solve everything.

‘What on earth have we done to the shrine maiden who was protecting people from calamity for a thousand years…’

—Thump.

“Tsuki. Even if we didn’t know, we inflicted an irreparable wound on you.”

“It’s too late, but… I want to apologize like this.”

“We believed that eliminating you was the way to save the world. We’re truly… sorry.”

One by one, the guild members knelt and begged Tsuki for forgiveness.

[Humans are always the same. Late regrets and repentance. Abominable creatures who mistake that for receiving forgiveness for everything.]

[You’re the abominable one, Eclipse, for failing to read the mood.]

[Ha! Right. Your voice has been annoying me since earlier!]

—Roll, roll.

Eclipse rolled its red eyes around before focusing on the black being.

[The sin of attacking this body, a mere mortal. The sin of speaking lightly will be heavy—]

Eclipse, looking directly at Phantom for the first time.

[……!!]

—Tremble, tremble.

Its strange eyes suddenly began to tremble violently.

Eclipse was clearly feeling fear.

What on earth was a disaster-grade ghost story afraid of?

[You are……]

Eclipse spoke with a voice full of bewilderment and confusion, as if unable to comprehend.

[Why are you here……?]

[You clearly died failing to stop the destruction… why?!]

[Why are you here, Savior Lucian—!!!]

The moment that name was heard.

“……!”

Tsuki could remember everything.

****

The sight of one man, the only one standing against the destruction of the crimson sky and dark red energy right before his eyes.

“I’ll handle this here. Everyone, run.”

A being who intended to stop the destruction that no one else could end, without retreating a single step.

“Shrine Maiden, please go quickly. This place will soon be engulfed in flames too.”

“Lord Lucian… no matter how strong you are, blocking that ominous energy alone is… dangerous. Please let me help too.”

“Tsuki. Don’t be stubborn.”

“My name…!”

From the moment she became a shrine maiden, she had to live a life separate from the secular world, so no one was supposed to casually call her name.

Uttering the name of a being dedicated to a god was taboo.

“But if I don’t say it like this, you’ll just be stubborn again.”

“…You might get struck by lightning by the gods.”

“I’ve been struck a few times already, and it didn’t hurt much? Haha.”

“You’re still joking at a time like this…”

“It’s precisely because it’s a time like this. Your face, Shrine Maiden, looks so ugly, like you’re about to cry.”

Lucian smiled faintly and walked into the flames.

“Lord Lucian… you must return alive.”

“Haha, don’t worry. I’ll definitely return.”

****

A year had passed since Lucian vanished, vowing to stop the destruction.

Tsuki had left for a distant foreign land and was living a simple life there.

“I heard the country I belonged to vanished overnight due to the destruction… did Lord Lucian eventually perish…?”

Life here wasn’t bad.

The villagers welcomed Tsuki, whose reputation as a shrine maiden was already widely spread, and she was able to continue her duties as a shrine maiden by building a small Moon Shrine.

But Tsuki’s heart was not at ease at all.

“My country… and the Savior… everyone disappeared, so is it alright for only me to be alive?”

—Thud.

“Pant, pant. S-shrine Maiden! Something terrible has happened! Th-the moon!!”

“Calm down. What happened to the moon?”

“The moon… like a red eye…!”

“…Take everyone and flee. It seems the aftermath of the destruction has reached this village too.”

The situation was that the demonic hand had finally reached where Tsuki was.

‘Lord Lucian… I will also live for everyone until the end, just like you.’

That day, thanks to the sacrifice of a frail shrine maiden, the village was able to survive the calamity of the solar eclipse.

****

“I remember now… what my end was like… and what was in Lord Lucian’s heart when he left…”

Old memories suddenly surged forth like water gushing from a broken dam.

Eclipse, who was assimilated with Tsuki, could also glimpse those scenes.

[You clearly died stopping the destruction, so how on earth do you exist here?]

Eclipse squinted its eyes, staring intently at Phantom.

Then, as if realizing something, it began to laugh loudly.

[Kukuk… Hahahahahaha!! So that’s it, Lucian, you… that’s why you’re standing here!]

[The black energy surrounding your entire body is clearly part of the destruction. For you, the Savior, to possess that power means…]

[You, too, have fallen, Lucian.]

His black hair and pitch-black eyes were originally his own,

but the dark energy surrounding his entire body was exactly like ‘that’ of destruction.

[I thought it was strange. Your strength is certainly great. But you are fundamentally human. You shouldn’t be free from the rules of the underworld, yet you seemed completely unaffected.]

[But if you have that pitch-black energy derived from our origin, that changes things. You have become a being like us, Lucian.]

[What an irony! For a Savior to become destruction. Hahahahahaha!!]

****

‘No, seriously, who the hell is Lucian, you otaku freaks?’

Now, beyond Tsuki, even Eclipse. Everyone was mistaking him for this person named Lucian.

‘Didn’t they say there are three people who look alike in the world? It’s definitely a case of mistaking me for someone similar to this appearance.’

From the way Eclipse was talking, he sounded like some kind of hero-like figure.

‘I’ve never even heard that name in novels, seriously, who is it?’

Would the notification window tell him anything if he asked?

‘Notification window. Who is this Lucian that thing is talking about?’

—Tremble.

However, the notification window floating in the air was not only not answering but just trembling.

‘You had a vibration mode too—’

[How dare you… how dare you… insult my beginner’s packageeee!!!]

‘Huh…?’

[What? Destruction? Destructiooooon?!?!?!!]

At the sight of the notification window suddenly flaring up, Sihyun couldn’t help but be flustered.

What on earth had upset the notification window?

‘Hey, calm down a bit and listen to me first—’

[This is absolutely unbearable! How hard did I work on my beginner’s package?! You dared to compare my masterpiece to something like destruction!!!]

‘I get that the beginner’s package is amazing, so please, can you just answer my question first?’

[Control authority is being transferred from Sihyun-nim to ■●.]

‘What.’

—Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Suddenly, dark red killing intent burst forth from Phantom’s entire body.

[Oh my, oh my, calm down, Lucian. You are already a being like me. So there’s no need for us to fight, is there?]

[Furthermore, having received the energy of destruction, you have become the most ancient (最古) and supreme (最高) being. It would be even better for you to act with us, wouldn’t it?]

Eclipse wagged its tongue like a seasoned negotiator.

Phantom, as if mesmerized by its words, slowly began to walk towards Eclipse.

“N-no, Lord Lucian! You mustn’t be consumed by the energy of destruction!!”

[Shut up, girl. He is already destruction itself. Give up on the expectation that he will side with a lowly mortal.]

Finally, Phantom stopped right in front of Eclipse.

[A good decision. It’s more fun than you think, isn’t it? A life of ravaging humans.]

[You…]

[Hm?]

[You have angered me.]

‘More precisely, you angered the notification window that’s going crazy behind me…’

[I’ll kill you. Kill you! I’ll kill youuuu!!!]

‘Seriously, what on earth is this beginner’s package that made it suddenly act like this…? It’s so different from when it talks to me, it’s scary…’

[You’re dead. You insignificant wretch! I’ll slice you in half and kill youuuu!!!]

‘That “insignificant wretch” meme is wild.’

Sihyun resolved to put away the manga at home once this incident was over.