Ch.106Chapter 106. Impure Love

All training was for this moment.

After emphasizing this, Irie left him alone with the spear in the center of the dragon vein, then blocked the entrance with boulders.

For the important task of experiencing the past, external interference needed to be thoroughly isolated.

-Woooong.

Standing before the now-sealed cave, Irie attempted to harmonize her power of seeing the past with the dragon vein.

Originally, her power was limited to understanding others’ circumstances.

But this time, it wouldn’t end with merely examining memories.

What he needed to pursue was power and abilities befitting a hero, and the surest way to achieve that was to walk the journey of “Tachia Pailoi,” a hero who actually existed.

‘Stuffing someone else’s experiences into one’s mind… it could potentially destroy one’s personality.’

Moreover, there was no guarantee this ritual would succeed.

The memories she sought to access belonged to a hero whose strength rivaled that of dragons, and the one who processed that hero’s soul into a weapon was none other than a being who had reached the pinnacle of this world.

As someone clearly defined as a “Transcendent,” bearing such memories with a human mind would be no easy task.

‘There’s no guarantee the future will succeed.’

Yet it had to be done.

If they gave up now, all their efforts so far, and the sacrifices made for him, would be for nothing.

“…Is it over?”

Merilyn, who had been watching the process from the side, approached Irie as she saw the barrier form.

“Yes, now we wait…”

And boom. Before her answer could finish, a fist was swung.

Uncontrolled excitement had struck the surface of the barrier-protected rock.

“…Please don’t break it. If external interference enters, the ritual will be interrupted.”

It was somewhat expected.

No matter how unpredictable this embodiment of madness might be, when it came to the one person she loved, her actions were easily predictable.

“Now that Hyoseong has already accepted, you wouldn’t want to cause him trouble, would you?”

“You’re unusually cold compared to usual. Even though Hyoseong might die.”

Gritting her teeth, Merilyn reached out.

She grabbed Irie’s collar and began sending fierce glares from point-blank range.

“Tell me. What future did you foresee that changed a person so drastically?”

“…What will you do if I don’t tell you?”

“I’ll tear your heart out while you’re still alive and leave with Hyoseong.”

It had been long since she abandoned any pretense of hiding her true colors.

Her sharp voice no longer contained any of her usual pretense, but Irie simply returned a coldly prepared answer.

“And Tashian would follow you and Hyoseong and kill you both.”

Flinching, Merilyn glared at Irie while trembling.

The reason she suppressed her anger at that moment was because she had realized the difference in caliber between herself and Irie since their first meeting.

“…Why does that monster come into this?”

Monster.

Even the second-in-command of the Demon Lord’s army had no choice but to evaluate her opponent as such.

Even in decline, she could easily overwhelm someone like herself, and could probably exert power equal to her former lord at least once.

“If Hyoseong fails to awaken as a hero here, we will all be killed by her.”

“What are you suddenly saying? You said with your own mouth that woman wouldn’t release her power until Hyoseong died.”

“Despite such a contract, a situation will soon arise where Tashian will have no choice but to rampage. You can guess it too, can’t you? What’s about to happen in this land.”

The excavation site where dragon bones were buried.

She had already guessed what would happen here during the month she had spent in this place.

She simply thought it had nothing to do with her, so she kept her distance, believing that if such signs became reality, she would just take him and leave this place.

But if the disaster that would unfold here would provoke that monster…

“…Damn it.”

At that realization, Merilyn released her grip on Irie’s collar, unable to swing her fist and only grinding her teeth.

As much as she wanted to tear apart the person in front of her, she knew that Irie had done this because she too had no choice.

“Why…”

But even if her head understood, her heart couldn’t easily let go of the resentment toward this situation.

“Why does it have to be Hyoseong?”

If she had been with him first.

Perhaps he wouldn’t have had to take on the obligation to stop the desperate future that would befall this land.

“…Hyoseong also accepted this.”

“You don’t want to do this either. Even with all these people who would dance to your tune swarming around like a pack of dogs, you could have just picked one of them to fulfill that precious mission!”

Love and mission. Choosing a path where both coexist could lead to the ruin of both.

Why was the person before her trying to send the one she loved into danger?

“…No, I can only support the person I’ve chosen as my partner.”

“What…”

“Merilyn. Knowing the future is an extremely powerful ability. At least within the scope of prophecy, someone who knows the future can seek the optimal path to protect their safety and achieve what they desire.”

In this place, Irie tried to explain why it had to be this way.

How powerful her ability was, despite its imperfections, and why the beneficiary of such power had to be limited to an “individual.”

“But if more than one person benefits from such a powerful ability, prophecy itself becomes meaningless.”

“…Meaningless?”

“When there’s no whim from a Transcendent, the only factor that can influence predetermined fate is ‘the person who knows the future.’ In other words, the more people who know the future, the greater the risk of negative influences on the future someone wants to change.”

The most important thing in moving toward the right future is minimizing variables.

Naturally, as the number of people benefiting from prophecy increases, errors occur in the prophecy, which is why her journey for salvation chose a path that minimized the number of people who knew the future.

No matter how great the power bestowed upon her, it was ultimately wielded by a mere human.

For such an imperfect being to use the power of prophecy correctly, she had to select one person to serve for her entire life and devote herself to them until the very end.

“In such a situation, to prioritize the mission and restrain myself from seeing his future… do you think that’s possible?”

Yes, as a prophet, she should focus solely on supporting the one designated as the savior.

It would be a natural progression for that person to become her partner.

“…Even if Hyoseong doesn’t want that?”

Even if it meant using her partner and causing them pain.

“Hyoseong has already accepted.”

“Even if such a judgment risks driving your love to death?”

Even if it leads to a future that cannot be foreseen.

“…Because otherwise, everything ends.”

She had already chosen him.

And she was always seeking the optimal path for him to follow.

“…Pfft.”

Hearing her firm resolve, Merilyn snorted and began glaring at her rival.

“Selling the present for an uncertain future… so that’s how trivial your love is.”

No, this woman is not a rival.

Is it even reasonable to consider someone who uses love as a “tool” for their mission as a rival?

“Actually, anyone would have been fine as long as they met the conditions. Anyone would have been fine, so you just needed to help one person, and it happened to be Hyoseong, leading to this situation.”

Just bad luck.

The situation turned out this way simply because she wasn’t the first.

“…Why did you choose him of all people? Unlike me, for you, it could have been anyone.”

The one who didn’t care who it was for their mission happened to choose the one who meant everything to her.

Damn it all, the one who had freed her from this cursed mission was now being manipulated by the one who imposed this cursed fate.

“…It’s not that anyone would do.”

Amidst the resentment flowing from such grievances, sobs began to escape from the woman who had become the object of hatred.

The cold demeanor she had maintained was gradually crumbling with this outcry.

“What are you trying to say now…”

“As you said, before I met him, I thought anyone would do. I thought it didn’t matter who it was as long as they were suitable for the mission.”

The mission of the Haven clan was to find a savior who would prevent destruction and to become their partner, supporting them for life.

She thought her own will wasn’t important for that mission.

She believed she just needed to find the most promising person and devote everything to them.

“But after being bound to him by chance, I realized why I would be bound to him in the future.”

After constantly reminding herself to kill herself, she strongly recognized his existence for the first time.

By seeing his past, she understood what kind of person he was.

Furthermore, by seeing fragments of the future with him and imagining the futures they would share, her confused feelings gradually took shape.

“I could have changed being bound to him… but choosing to be bound to him when the time came was my own will.”

While the mission might have been fine with anyone, love wasn’t.

The first night she chose to be with him was clearly a result accompanied by her own will.

“But why… why must I be like this?”

She felt grateful to him for forcibly accommodating her, and even more so, she felt a great sense of guilt.

As those feelings became clearer, she came to view her innate fate as a curse.

As that awareness created a gap with her past self, a smile began to form on her lips.

“I love him just like you do, but why…”

“Why can’t I love him purely like you do?”

Just by facing it, she realized.

Unlike herself, who had abandoned everything and thought only of being with him, this person was still wrapped in her mission, determined to achieve everything.

How enormous that resolve was to grasp both mission and love.

And how much suffering accompanied the act of not giving up on either and killing one’s heart.

-Thud.

It’s not hard to understand.

She too had experienced wandering in eternal solitude for one person, unable to abandon her mission.

-Ding, ding~♬

As if faithful to that realization, Merilyn sat down and began playing an instrument.

With the strange power contained within it, Irie began to feel her spirit gradually elevating.

“…Merilyn.”

“This much.”

Yes, the past is unchangeable.

Yet if she still loves him… furthermore, if he is to share his fate with this damned woman, she too needs to be with them.

“This much should be okay, right?”

Given that he’s being swept away by waves of memory within the barrier, she’s not sure how much influence her power will have, but this is all she can do.

Watching her silently continue playing with such thoughts, Irie wiped the moisture from her eyes and bowed her head before her.

To express minimal gratitude to the woman who had accommodated her insistence.

“…Please take care of Hyoseong.”

The reason she couldn’t continue this for long was that she too had things to do outside this place.

Soon, disaster would strike here, and someone needed to protect this place until then.

‘It’s almost time.’

What Irie saw as she finally left the cave was a sky covered with dark clouds.

‘Soon, Tashian will rampage.’

It was exactly the sky she had seen in her prophecy that day.

******

-Swoosh.

Under a sky covered with dark clouds.

On the battlefield where cold rain fell, I swung the sword in my hand, eliminating those before me one by one.

But no matter how many I erased, they kept appearing. Even if I cut down tens or hundreds…

-Slash, crack!

Yes, it’s that kind of era now.

An era where humans killing humans is considered natural. The reason I drifted here was to survive.

In a world where death is prevalent everywhere, the surest way to protect myself is to grow stronger and kill everyone in front of me.

“Why on earth…”

But it wasn’t always like this.

Before… no, clearly until recently, happiness existed in my life too.

“Why am I doing this…”

The more I recall that happy past, the more painful this moment feels.

My mother.

My mother who raised me after finding me drifting in the river, one day silently disappeared before me.

“Ah, aah… Mom, Mom… Mom, where are you?!”

Would it have been less painful if I hadn’t known such happiness?

If I had never met her and had known from the beginning that the world was this cruel and disgusting…

Then I wouldn’t have defiled this body to the extent that even this heavy rain couldn’t wash it away.

“If I had known this would happen, you shouldn’t have picked me up. You shouldn’t have taught me something like love.”

Tashian. I hate you.

I resent you for still remaining in my heart even though you left my side.

You who gave me a name…

I want to make you like the numerous corpses behind me, you who gave me the name “Tachia Pailoi.”

-Ding, ding~♬

As my mind was being eroded by such hatred, a faint music sound suddenly reached me.

Listening to that sound, I thrust the sword in my hand into the pile of corpses before me and exhaled deeply.

“…No. I’m not.”

The coldness seeping deep into my lungs gradually brought clarity.

Nevertheless, I felt an uncontrollable hatred growing from within, but I pushed it away, gritting my teeth.

“I am not Tachia Pailoi.”

Yes, this is merely someone else’s memory.

By experiencing that memory, I’m merely feeling myself becoming immersed in what happened in the past.

“I am Hyoseong Woo.”

Though the force is so strong that I feel like I’m losing myself, I stubbornly endured and prepared to move forward through these miserable memories.

Drawing a little strength from the faint music I could hear.

“Not Tachia Pailoi but Hyoseong Woo… that’s my name…”

Even in this terrible nightmare, I never forget.

Constantly reminding myself of my existence.