Ch.140Chapter 140 – Consciousness (2)

“It’s been a while,” Kara said.

Christina stared blankly at Kara for a moment.

“What’s wrong? Am I not welcome?”

“No, I’m just so happy to see you…”

She must have zoned out because Kara looked exactly like she remembered.

“Well, I guess you never expected to see me in a place like this.”

Kara calmly remarked that such a reaction was understandable.

And looking at her, Christina quietly spoke.

“Kara.”

“What is it?”

Christina hesitated for a moment.

Then she quietly said.

“There’s something I want to ask.”

Christina quietly looked at Kara.

“…Is Kara’s divine power mixed within me?”

Long ago, she had seen a light here that felt like Kara.

On the day she instinctively realized she had survived thanks to Kara’s sacrifice, this stone tablet had also appeared.

And today, that priest had told her there was another divine power mixed within her.

To turn her suspicion into certainty, Christina asked.

And Kara nodded.

“Yes.”

Christina’s blue eyes and Kara’s red eyes looked at each other.

They had similar hair color and build, but their eye colors were different.

“I desperately squeezed out all my divine power to save you, and you absorbed it.”

“I see.”

“It wasn’t through any ritual, and we weren’t even of the same religion, so the efficiency was extremely low. Still, my divine power now resides in you.”

After saying this, Kara smiled a bit awkwardly.

“Though compared to what I had, only a very small amount dwells within you.”

“Is that so?”

“The efficiency was just too poor.”

Kara said with a quiet smile that this couldn’t be helped.

“Anyway, thanks to that, your divine power grew stronger, and you were chosen as the owner of that stone tablet.”

“The owner?”

“I think that tablet… while there must be other conditions too, one of the important ones seems to be the quality and quantity of divine power.”

Kara looked at Christina.

“Of course, having Lady Evgenia’s divine power, or something similar to it, must also be one of the conditions.”

“I see.”

Christina quietly clasped her hands together.

“Then thanks to Kara, I…”

“Met the conditions and became the owner of the stone tablet.”

Christina bowed her head slightly.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Well, I feel a bit deflated thinking I didn’t earn it through my own power alone.”

“Well, that’s true enough.”

At times like this, she should deny it.

Christina felt like pouting a little.

Kara smiled and said.

“But you fulfilled all the other conditions too, which is why it appeared. …I knew when I handed you that tablet, it hadn’t chosen an owner since its previous user.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. It seems it had been sealed in the gap between dimensions, between the celestial and human realms, ever since its previous user died.”

That’s why it could appear so suddenly.

That’s why she could hand it over in that form.

Kara explained.

“I should tell you as much as I can while we can talk like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“That stone tablet contains Lady Evgenia’s will.”

Kara said, looking straight at Christina.

“Lady Evgenia’s…?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know that?”

When Christina asked in surprise, Kara slightly averted her gaze.

“Well, um…”

“Kara?”

When Christina pressed her slightly, Kara opened her mouth as if admitting defeat.

“…It’s intuition. I had an immediate feeling when I saw the tablet.”

“Intuition?”

“I think I felt it right away because it contained a deity’s will. The drawback is that things related to gods are difficult to explain logically.”

Kara avoided eye contact again.

Then she cleared her throat slightly and looked at Christina.

“Whatever arrangements she made with the tablet, she occasionally used your body to guide you and your companions here.”

Kara said it was probably just nudging events along a little.

Christina was slightly taken aback by Kara’s words.

“Is, is that okay?”

“I don’t know.”

Kara said with a smile.

“I could sense that Lady Evgenia’s will harbors no malice toward humans. I can be certain she didn’t guide you here for any malicious purpose.”

“I see…”

Christina let out a small sigh.

“That’s a relief.”

“Is it?”

“I was worried I might have become strange and caused trouble for people.”

“That’s not possible.”

Kara said with a smile.

“That helmet guy and the other lady too. They would all willingly take risks for you, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Really?”

“I have a good eye for people. Your companions aren’t the type to coldly abandon each other, so don’t worry.”

Kara and Christina looked at each other.

And then, a moment later.

The dark place began to be tinged with golden light.

“This is…”

“It’s finally starting.”

Kara looked up.

“Kara, what is this?”

“This is Lady Evgenia’s true divine power.”

Kara said quietly.

“True divine power… so what I have is…”

“It’s the divine power of someone who consumed her power. It seems Lady Evgenia prepared for that as much as possible.”

At Kara’s words, Christina nodded slightly.

Looking at Christina, Kara smiled.

“I see you were mentally prepared, probably because you heard it from that priest.”

“I’m trying to not let it shake me anymore.”

Christina said, and Kara just smiled quietly.

After a moment, Christina spoke again.

“Who could it be?”

“…What do you mean?”

“The deity who absorbed Lady Evgenia.”

When Christina asked quietly, Kara’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Then she quietly opened her mouth.

“Christina.”

“Yes.”

Kara hesitated again.

But soon, as if she had made up her mind, she looked straight at Christina and spoke.

“I never told you from the beginning, but I am a follower of Lady Emiris.”

“What?”

Christina was surprised.

And as if driving in the final nail, wanting to get it over with quickly, Kara said.

“I was a saint of that order.”

Christina’s eyes wavered slightly.

And she finally managed to speak.

“Haha, you’re joking.”

“It’s true. Really.”

“Kara, a saint? Then am I… a bishop?”

“Why are you downscaling there? Since this is just between us, you could confidently mention being a saint or even a pope and we could laugh it off. You’re so timid.”

At Kara’s playful rebuke, Christina laughed as if embarrassed.

Kara quietly spoke again.

“Originally, divine powers of different gods don’t mix. But yours and mine did.”

Kara looked at Christina.

“Then…”

“It’s Lady Emiris.”

Kara quietly opened her mouth.

“She must have either absorbed Lady Evgenia or absorbed the deity who absorbed her.”

Christina quietly nodded.

And Kara continued.

“That’s why my divine power, serving Lady Emiris, could mix with you along with my will.”

“Your will?”

“It seems that when I desperately infused you with divine power, thinking I couldn’t die like this, my will somehow took root in you.”

When Christina looked slightly alarmed, Kara quickly added.

“Don’t worry. I can share what you see and hear in this space, but I can’t directly do anything to you. This is your body, after all.”

Kara quickly spoke as if to reassure Christina.

But Christina seemed concerned about something else, her eyes sharpening.

“Kara.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you remember who killed you?”

Kara hesitated for a moment.

But soon she quietly said.

“…It was Somnus.”

Somnus.

That name again.

The adversary connected to Beatrice through bad blood.

The one who kept targeting Sera.

The one who allegedly caused the terrorist attack where she was badly injured.

Hearing the name of the opponent she had met once before, Christina’s eyes sharpened.

“…Christina.”

“I’m fine.”

Christina raised her head.

“It was shocking, but I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Christina’s eyes regain their composure, Kara nodded as if relieved.

“That’s good. Look at that.”

Christina looked in the direction Kara was pointing.

There, the golden light was taking form.

“What is that?”

“…Probably Lady Evgenia’s form.”

Kara said with a bit of uncertainty.

Honestly, there was a form, but it was too blurry to make out.

Still, Christina could intuitively sense that it was Evgenia’s form.

“Why is it there…”

“Because you’re currently absorbing her fragments.”

Kara said quietly.

“Something might have been contained in those fragments.”

“I see.”

“But you can feel it, can’t you?”

Kara smiled.

Christina smiled.

“Yes.”

Kara and Christina each spoke a sentence.

“She sacrificed herself.”

“For humanity.”

“Entrusting the future.”

“A noble sacrifice.”

Kara said with a smile.

“I can feel the divine power in your body being replaced by Lady Evgenia’s divine power.”

“Really?”

“…For a while, you’ll experience a period of weakened divine power. Some parts will be damaged or lost.”

Kara added that this was something they would have to accept.

Christina nodded at Kara’s words.

She too had sensed this intuitively.

“But it’s alright. You and your companions will manage.”

“Yes.”

Kay and Sera, Guild Master Eve and even Beatrice.

Christina also thought it would be fine since they were all more capable than her.

And looking at Christina, Kara smiled and said.

“For the stigmata to appear, you need to absorb more divine power and make it your own.”

Christina nodded at Kara’s words.

“…Perhaps because I’m absorbing her power, I think I understand.”

Christina quietly looked at Kara.

“…The divine power I can absorb in this place is limited, and to absorb more, I need to find other seals.”

“There seem to be 4 more seals. For the stigmata to appear, you’ll need to visit all of them and absorb the residual divine power that has gathered there.”

Christina quietly nodded at Kara’s words.

“…If I break all the seals and absorb the divine power from those places…”

“We’ll know what her arrangements were.”

The golden light filling the room began to shine brilliantly.

Gradually, even Kara’s figure in front became invisible.

And intuitively, she knew it was time to wake up, time to leave this place.

Kara quietly looked at Christina.

“Christina, I have one request.”

“A request?”

“Please save my siblings and my mother.”

“Siblings? Mother?”

Christina asked in surprise.

Kara had clearly introduced herself as an orphan.

“…Since we don’t have much time, I can’t explain at length. But my mother is alive.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

“I’m not sure if ‘wonderful’ is the right word, though.”

Kara’s voice was bitter.

Christina felt slightly uneasy at that tone.

She should first ask how Kara knew this.

“But how did you find out?”

“Inside you, I can objectively examine not just your memories but also my own. The fleeting memories that existed in my subconscious.”

Kara explained bitterly.

“It’s similar to how you could see your mother’s image.”

“…I see.”

Subconscious memories.

Since this was a place where all her memories were stored, she could even see memories from when she was a baby.

And Kara could check her own memories in the same way.

“Just to be clear, you can’t see my memories.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kara and Christina looked at each other and smiled.

The time to part was approaching.

“Kara.”

“I’ll be fine. My divine power is already one with yours. And my will shall live on within you as a shadow.”

Kara said with a smile.

“Let me give you one piece of advice. Be more honest with your own feelings.”

“What?”

“You’re quite dense, or should I say extremely dense, about your own emotions. It’s almost painful to watch from the sidelines.”

“What?”

Christina didn’t understand what Kara was talking about.

But Kara shook her head as if she had expected this reaction.

And the two of them laughed together.

“I promise I’ll save Kara’s siblings and mother.”

“Thank you. Free them all from suffering.”

After saying this, Kara smiled and put her hands together.

“I pray for blessings on the path ahead for you and your companions.”

The light surrounding them grew stronger.

And Christina lost consciousness again.

+

The light disappeared, and they rushed over.

“Christina!”

“Chris!”

Christina had been screaming in agony earlier, as if her throat would tear.

If the priest hadn’t warned them that it would be extremely painful, that she would scream, and that they absolutely must not interfere, they would have jumped in long ago.

The warning was that interference could cost her life, so it was better if she was just in pain.

“Sera.”

“…Fortunately, her breathing is normal. She’s sweating a lot, though…”

He felt slightly relieved at Sera’s words after she quickly checked Christina’s condition.

[She’ll get better with rest.]

“…Really?”

[Trust me on this. I’m an expert in this field, you know?]

The priest said, waving his hand slightly.

Then a faint golden light emanated from Christina.

Compared to the light they had seen before… it gave off a sense of purity.

“This is.”

[That’s a relief.]

The priest said with a smile.

[The ritual was successful.]