Chapter 155: How to Write a Proper Ending (7) (Part 2)

***

Can a mistake become hope.

Can pain become a path.

I raise my eyes to look at the goddess bursting with joyful laughter. She laughs so hard her waist bends, then she wipes her tears while looking at me.

“Well, should I give you a welcome greeting? Welcome, Rem! To my soul! What do you plan to do now? Oh, let me guess?”

The goddess continues speaking while theatrically waving her arms.

“200 years ago, to escape the seal, I placed my ego in a small stone. And then, I parasitized the body of Betty, who was just born.”

…Through Pope Hairston.

“And you’re right in what you noticed! Because of those decisions, the connection between my soul and flesh has loosened!”

Which means,

The goddess began speaking as if screaming. She pointed at her chest and smiled broadly.

“If this, my ego, disappears, my soul and flesh will easily be dissected by those parasites out there. Am I correct?”

I didn’t bother to deny or confirm.

I simply walked toward her.

“Aha! Are you thinking of strangling ‘me’ to death? Or perhaps beating me to death? Amazing! Truly!”

She extends her hand toward me.

“How can you be so incredibly stupid!”

And so, ‘I’ melted away.

In an instant, my soul is dismantled, becoming part of her soul. I am erased without a trace, like the hundreds of thousands devoured by her.

“I am a god! The god of this disgusting world!!”

She was no longer smiling. She screams at the top of her lungs toward the spot where ‘I’ had been standing.

“A MERE PARASITE thinks it can enter MY SOUL and overwhelm MY EGO? HOW dare YOU!! How DARE you?!”

Reddened face, bloodshot eyes, blood flowing from tightly clenched fists.

In the end, that must have been her true face.

That’s why I can finally feel relief.

“My mercy ends now!! Right now, I’ll tear your women apart piece by piece…”

We can win.

“I always used to ask myself that question.”

The feeling of my tongue touching the roof of my mouth, the feeling of my feet on the ground, slowly return. In my slowly returning vision, I see the goddess’s bewildered face.

“Why, why is my life so full of pain?”

“…Get lost.”

At the Goddess’s gesture, ‘I’ disappear again.

Overwhelmed by her enormous soul, I am erased.

However,

[Yes! Pull harder! Do you think your wrists will be cut off with just *that*?]

The pain in my wrists makes my wrists exist.

[Rem… I-I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…!!]

The pain in my legs lets me feel my legs.

[Now that you see the golden needle, are you scared? Don’t worry, it’ll hurt like hell.]

The pain in my eyes opens my vision.

[Hehehe…! Look! Th-this is your heart! You worthless piece of shit!! This is what you get for defying me!]

The pain in my chest makes me feel the flowing blood.

[Well, don’t look at me like that. Unfortunately, this is my job. If you don’t want your artery cut, stop making a fuss.]

The pain in my throat lets me know I can make a voice.

“But, only now, do I understand why it had to be that way.”

Because pain is ultimately the most powerful proof of existence.

‘I’ can maintain ‘myself’.

‘I’ can prove ‘myself’ through pain.

Because my life has been full of more pain than warmth.

I can move forward.

Now, ‘I’ do not waver at her gestures. Not crushed by her massive soul, ‘I’ stand before her.

“You worthless insect…!!”

She grabs my shoulders with a twisted expression. She pours out her hostility, trying to erase me.

But I don’t care.

Instead, I reach into my chest.

It’s similar to what I had done when persuading Amy. When I took out a piece of my soul to show her, to convey my feeling of ‘I missed you.’

But what I’m taking out this time is not something beautiful.

The countless scars etched into my life,

The wounds that cannot be erased no matter how hard I try,

The tears I couldn’t bring myself to shed,

I gather them all in one hand. I grasp that slimy mass and press it against the goddess’s chest.

“This time, it won’t end with just vomiting.”

I gift my pain to her.

.

.

.

“Shut up.”

The Goddess’s hand grabs my ‘filth’. She grabs me by the collar and brings her pale face close to mine.

“You insignificant creature, do you really think your pathetic little life can make me falter? Do you think the trivial discomforts of your flesh could break my ego?”

Blood flows from the Goddess’s eyes.

“2500 years!! I’ve lived all that time longing only for freedom!! Enduring while hating every single thing in this world!!”

I can feel the excruciating pain contained within her voice. I can feel that pain touching my heart.

“And yet, your life that’s not even half a century…!”

And that was the key.

“Right, I didn’t expect to be able to break you with that.”

Bewilderment fills the Goddess’s face. Only then do I let out a sigh of relief and speak the truth of the world.

“But pain is contagious.”

My pain, that slimy liquid, finally falls to the ground. Like poison, it stains the earth black as it spreads.

And this world is inside the Goddess’s soul.

And the Goddess’s soul isn’t composed solely of the Goddess.

[mommydaddywhereareyouhelpmesavemeithurts]

[mylegsohgodmyleghurtssobad]

[monstermonsteritseatingmybrain]

[pleasesavemeihaveawifewifeishurting]

[[iamgeniusiamclaireiamageniusi]

[revengerevengerevengrevenge]

Screams and cries boil up everywhere. The ground cracks, and black liquid sprays out like geysers.

“Ah…”

“They are the tens of millions you’ve devoured.”

“That can’t be. They were all digested. Such lowly creatures…”

“They were only sleeping.”

All those who were sacrificed to the Goddess.

Those who met their end in the most horrific pain.

They, the black liquid, gradually rise and stain the bodies of myself and the goddess. All kinds of pain and sorrow echo in my head and devour me.

But still, ‘I’ am clear.

Unlike her.

“Sh-shut up…! I said shut up…!!”

I reach out to the goddess, who is clutching her head.

“They simply let go of their pain for a moment and mixed in with your soul. But when someone else’s pain touches them, and they remember their own pain because of it.”

“Uaaaah… Ahuaaa!!”

Standing before her, I hold her cheeks. I look into her eyes doused with fear.

“They become one giant death rattle.”

“No, don’t be ridiculous…! Mere parasites…! Mere parasites…!”

“Try enduring the pain of tens of millions you’ve devoured.”

“Let go! Please, I beg you! My head…!! My heeeaaad…!!”

By now, the black liquid, the souls of those she devoured, had risen to just below our chins. I embraced her body with all my strength and put my weight on her.

“No…!! Please…!!”

“Let’s fall into hell together.”

Our bodies, intertwined like lovers, tilt,

*Splash-*

***

It was the moment when their defeat seemed certain.

“__________________!!”

The goddess screams at the top of her lungs.

A sound so sorrowful it’s horrifying.

The fact that they were in the middle of a battle, the fact that they had been facing death, all of it melts into sorrow, becoming tears that flow out of their eyes.

Only the feeling of wanting to sit down and cry aloud fills their chest.

However, that sorrow is erased by the sight of one man.

Rem, their lover.

How could they freely grieve when he’s on the verge of death.

[O Lord-!!]

Clara lets out a scream as she unleashes her divine power. However, this time, she doesn’t sever her limbs.

Not adding to the body, but exchanging bodies.

Streams of blood, like blooming flowers, burst forth from Clara and the Goddess’s bodies. The more white flesh is added to Clara’s body, the more black, rotting flesh appears on the Goddess’s.

However, even a weak soul cannot bear the burden of a powerful body.

“Ughk-!!”

Black blood pours from Clara’s mouth. The holy magic that had been filling the room loses its light at the same time.

However, it’s not a failure, but a signal.

“Rosalia! I’ll take the lower body!”

“Then I’ll take the upper body!”

Feya and Rosalia’s attacks sever the Goddess’s body. They ignore their breaking arms, disregard their severed legs.

They simply swing their weapons at the softened parts Clara created.

Finally, the goddess’s body is completely dismantled.

Parsley, having already lost both arms, picks up Alain’s pocket watch with her teeth.

[ani…shb!!]

As Parsley’s legs turn to blood, blue light swallows the dismembered body parts. It blows them away to another world where they can never be reached again.

And finally, what remains is the Goddess’s soul.

A blackened, thread-like soul undulates. It looks around as if confused.

The last, final chance.

“Uaaaaah-!!”

Amy thrusts her sword into the soul with all her might.

The iron sword cuts through the thread-like soul’s body

And digs into it…

*Crack-*

Black lightning scrapes against the overworked sword.

*SNAP-!*

Everyone’s despairing eyes follow the broken blade.

They watch in horror as the tentacles fly toward Amy’s heart.

…No, not everyone.

Amy remembers.

How Rem took out his true feelings and showed them within her soul. The way to give one’s all from the soul.

There’s no such thing as can’t, hesitation, or fear.

Because Rem is by her side.

Amy reaches into her own chest.

A pure white hilt, then a blade, sprouts from her chest. Her hair, which had become white, gradually regains its golden hue.

The Holy Sword, Abraxas.

*Slash-*

The holy sword, finally grasped in the hero’s hand,

Severs the dark soul.

“________!!”

With a gruesome sound, the soul is sucked into the holy sword. It stains the pure white blade black as it is devoured.

And then,

…And then.

*Thud-!*

Amy lay sprawled on the floor, panting.

Naturally, there isn’t a single part of her body that doesn’t hurt. Her vision is blurry from blood loss. If she were to fall asleep now, she feels she might wake up in the afterlife.

“Haha…!”

But laughter escapes from her lips.

Through the ceiling, shattered in battle,

A beautiful red sunset spills in.

Telling her it’s time to go home.

That the battle is over.

The story, in the end…

“_______!!”

A scream.

But not one of sorrow, but of rage.

And a familiar voice.

Amy forgets even the pain and raises her body. She is speechless at the scene unfolding before her eyes.

“You promised!!”

Rosalia is clutching Rem’s limp body by the collar, shaking him violently, tears streaming down her face.

“You promised!! You promised me!! You clearly said it with your own mouth!!”

Next to her, Clara is simply shedding tears with a blank expression. Parsley is desperately clutching Rem’s sleeve with trembling hands. Feya is just shaking, curled up on the floor. Marianne is banging her head against the wall, her face a mess.

No.

This can’t be.

“That you’d come back…”

Finally, Rosalia lets go of Rem’s body and sobs, covering her face with her hands.

Amy, with trembling legs, approaches the fallen Rem. She kneels down beside him and places her fingers beneath his nose.

She couldn’t feel his breath.

Amy stares blankly at Rem for a moment, then quietly embraces his body. Feeling the coldness of his corpse, she lets out a wail.

Maybe, just maybe, mistakes can become hope.

Maybe, just maybe, pain can become a path.

But what about a sinner?

A sinner who killed 72 people,

Who destroyed a world with their ignorance,

And ultimately brought the end to their own world.

…A sinner who even caused his friends to die.

How can such a sinner atone.

This is my own answer.

[somebodyhelpmepleasehelpmeitshurts]

[curseyoucurseyoui’lltearoffyourlimbs]

[It’scoldsocoldsocold]

[goddamnitwhythefuckwon’tyoulisten]

I wrote a proper ending.

A proper… yes, a proper ending.