Ch.104The Time of Choice

# 1.

Everything was a mystery.

Why had she taken me in when everyone called me a monster?

Why had she helped me, who had no emotions and was all alone, to mingle with the other children?

And above all, why…

“Are you… alright, Pedro?”

“…Huh?”

Why had she sacrificed her life to save me?

“…Why did you do it?”

To Pedro’s unconscious murmur, Lia answered without hesitation.

“Think about it yourself.”

Just as the old man had once told her, emotions could only truly become one’s own when realized by oneself.

“What…?”

“Goodbye, Pedro.”

BANG!

Lia forcefully pushed the dazed Pedro away, removing him from the battlefield.

The Inquisitors and Lia grew distant.

“Run away, Pedro. Far away.”

When he finally hit the ground and rolled.

【Character – <Lia???> seals the evil in Pedro’s essence.】

【Last Will activates.】

【”Run away, Pedro. Far away.”】

【Condition – When the seal is released by Pedro’s own will, <Memory> will be played.】

“…Why am I here?”

-Run away, Pedro. Far away.

“…Okay.”

With his memories and evil sealed, Pedro followed Lia’s wish and ran far away.

That was the end of the sealed memory.

Only then did Pedro leave his young body and observe Lia as a third person.

She was surrounded by Inquisitors, conversing with Silas.

“……”

“……”

Though he couldn’t hear the content, Silas’s pupils dilated as they spoke.

Lia clutched her wound while talking, and Silas gradually lowered his head.

And finally, the conclusion.

Lia, with a faint smile, grasped Silas’s hand.

“I forgive you.”

Silas’s eyes trembled violently.

Lia looked at him with dark eyes, as if to devour him, and added:

“In exchange, spare Pedro.”

Still an incomprehensible conversation.

Finally, after much deliberation, as Silas was about to nod and put down his stake…

“No, forgiveness? That can’t be a condition for guaranteeing that boy’s life.”

A man wearing a cloak with the same emblem placed his hand on Silas’s shoulder.

“…! F-First Elder…!”

The leader of Ilsik – the First Elder.

He approached the dying Lia and spoke with an expressionless face.

“Let’s make a bet.”

“……A bet?”

“Yes. In exchange for saving that child, when his seal is broken in the future, tell him everything and let him choose.”

As he spoke, a dark red energy floated around him.

“If Pedro forgives the Third Elder, you win. If he continues his revenge, we win. If you accept the condition, regardless of the outcome, I’ll spare that child.”

Lia immediately realized this sinister energy was not of this world.

‘I can’t resist anyway.’

As long as Pedro’s life was guaranteed regardless of the outcome, there was nothing to lose.

After finishing her thought, Lia nodded, and the First Elder nodded as well.

“Now exit the stage.”

A casually swung hand.

…Thud.

Lia’s head fell and rolled on the ground.

Following the momentum of the cut, it slowly rolled to Pedro’s feet.

“……Lia?”

Pedro hurriedly knelt down and picked up Lia’s head.

A faint smile.

That face, which looked like it might speak at any moment, gradually turned blue.

Crunch.

Unconsciously grinding his teeth, Pedro raised his head to look at Silas and the First Elder.

“……How did you come to this place?”

“The recruitment of the Returning Savior is complete. The bet will flow as I wish anyway, so Pedro will eventually aid our plan.”

“……But this was my task.”

“If you’re dissatisfied, quit Ilsik.”

As the two continued their incomprehensible conversation, Pedro immediately made a decision.

“…I’ll kill you.”

I might not know what emotions Lia and the orphanage children gave me, but I certainly know what this feeling is now.

‘This is just an illusion anyway.’

After leaving this place, I’ll make those two die in terrible agony.

If I can’t find them, I’ll keep killing until someone who knows appears.

If I lack strength, I’ll accumulate evil by killing people until I become strong enough.

As Pedro was about to release his power to destroy the mental world, something dark red appeared before his eyes.

【Choose.】

【One – Revenge.】

【If selected: Silas’s death, strengthening of essential evil, repeating fate.】

【Two – Forgiveness.】

【If selected: Farewell time with Lia, maintenance of essential evil, new fate.】

【The mental world will end when your selection is complete.】

Ominous choices written in dark ink.

He tried to leave without choosing, releasing his power, but the world remained intact.

Finally realizing he had to choose to leave, he immediately reached out.

Naturally, he reached for revenge.

Just by choosing, Silas would die, and his essential evil would strengthen.

‘I don’t know how much stronger I’ll become, but if it’s not enough, I can kill more to become strong enough to kill the First Elder.’

Just before choosing revenge.

Pedro unconsciously shifted his gaze toward forgiveness.

-I forgive you.

Why did Lia make such a choice?

Why did she whisper forgiveness to the person who drove a stake through her heart?

-In exchange, spare Pedro.

Was it because of me again?

Even though Lia was also evil, how did she choose my life over her own?

【Choose.】

【One – Revenge.】

【If selected: Silas’s death, strengthening of essential evil, repeating fate.】

【Two – Forgiveness.】

【If selected: Farewell time with Lia, maintenance of essential evil, new fate.】

【The mental world will end when your selection is complete.】

The system window drew closer, as if urging him as his deliberation unconsciously lengthened.

‘There’s no benefit in choosing forgiveness.’

Lia was already dead, and having a farewell time wouldn’t change anything.

‘So revenge is better, giving me power for revenge while killing Silas.’

Pedro calmly moved his hand.

If he just chose revenge, it would be over.

“…There’s nothing difficult about it.”

# 2.

These days, Nahan often pondered.

‘Among all the things I’ve gained in this world, what is the most valuable?’

Transcendent artifacts?

Power rivaling the strongest in the world?

Vast wealth that could establish a kingdom if he wished?

While all were valuable, after much contemplation, Nahan concluded it was the people.

Through the orphanage director,

Through his younger siblings,

Through his master,

And through his only friend.

Nahan, who had always been lonely and struggling, was able to find salvation because of them.

The same was true in this world.

Thanks to his only friend, he had less worry about the orphanage director and his siblings, but that only friend and the master he served had passed away.

While grieving alone with no one to comfort him, he crossed over to this world, and <Black Wolf> comforted him.

From when he mistook them for a C-rank mercenary group until now, when they’ve become the world’s strongest and most evil criminal organization.

He found comfort meeting and mingling with many people, and sometimes offered comfort in return.

Sometimes receiving, sometimes giving.

And now,

【Character – Before <Pedro>’s choice, an alarm is sent to the <Saviors>.】

【Please choose.】

【1. Intervene to save <Pedro(Ex-)>.】

【2. Abandon him to destruction.】

【As always, this world respects <your> choices.】

It was time to give back what he had received.

“Lactea. Stay by his side.”

“…Are you really going to bring him back?”

“Later. For now, I’m counting on you.”

“…Yes, Captain.”

Nahan, embracing the collapsed Pedro, quietly selected option 1.

【The Savior’s will has been observed.】

【Do you wish to intervene in <Lia??>’s mental world – <Cradle of Evil>?】

【Accept / Decline.】

Nahan intervened without hesitation.

Simultaneously, his vision expanded.

-Say hello, everyone. This is Pedro, who I’ve just brought in.

-Hello, Pedro!

-Do you have anything to eat?

-Huh?

Having intervened in Pedro’s past, Nahan watched the unfolding situation from a distance.

Pedro’s past,

Born as an evil spirit living in the gutter, then meeting Lia and finding salvation.

But being an evil spirit, he couldn’t understand or realize what emotions Lia and the orphanage children were showing him, leading to an uneventful life.

The Inquisitors who barged in,

The former captain who followed them,

Lia’s death and the Ilsik leader’s proposal.

Pedro’s past flowed by quickly.

What remained at the end was a bet between the Ilsik leader and Lia.

【Choose.】

【One – Revenge.】

【If selected: Silas’s death, strengthening of essential evil, repeating fate.】

【Two – Forgiveness.】

【If selected: Farewell time with Lia, maintenance of essential evil, new fate.】

【The mental world will end when your selection is complete.】

Pedro, staring at the status window, hesitated for a while before moving his hand toward revenge.

“…There’s nothing difficult about it.”

And only then,

【Observation ends.】

【Intervening in the story.】

Nahan’s opportunity came.

‘I must stop him. But how?’

He shouted with all his might toward Pedro, who was about to choose revenge.

“REVENGE CAUSES ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION!!!!”

It was a line from a public service announcement he had seen somewhere.