Ch.199The End

Serena, Charlotte, and Christine were anxiously waiting for the boy.

As the rebound from the soul binding gradually subsided and the ecstasy slowly faded, they began to worry about the situation unfolding before their eyes.

Originally, it should have been their job to finish this. She was the woman they should have killed, and he was the boy they should have saved. But the situation had reversed, putting them in this predicament.

Being protected by the boy wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling, but it was slightly less satisfying than when they were the ones doing the protecting. Because they couldn’t monopolize his love.

Despite these feelings, the three didn’t rashly intervene between the boy and Olivia. Instead, they sat quietly in their places, merely observing the fight.

It wasn’t that they chose not to interfere—they couldn’t interfere.

Even at this moment, the boy was drawing away all of their mana and divine power, leaving them without the ability to join the fight.

It was the boy’s strategy. Knowing that if he left them with any energy, they would certainly continue growling at each other without tiring, he had completely drained their power, cutting off the source of conflict at its root.

The strategy worked perfectly. Neither Serena, Christine, nor Charlotte took any action. The three of them had been drained of mana and divine power to the bottom, making them no different from ordinary people.

Jumping into that fight in such a state? It would be equivalent to throwing away their lives. All three knew this fact all too well.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Of course, no matter how much power he drew from them, he couldn’t prevent them from engaging in verbal arguments rather than physical fights, but surprisingly, the three kept their mouths shut and just watched the boy’s back.

It was because of their fierce pride.

Even if the three of them fought now, at best they would just bicker verbally or exchange punches that wouldn’t really hurt—their towering pride wouldn’t allow them to fight in such a “cute” manner.

Indeed, when competing for love, one should always be prepared to tear apart their competitors. A battle where you can’t kill your opponent is meaningless.

The same applied to verbal fights. Engaging in arguments when everyone knows they can’t kill each other? What could be more shameful than that?

The three had quarreled quite often before, but it was closer to power struggles where they genuinely considered killing each other if necessary, not just verbal spats.

They shared the common thought that it was far better to take no action than to fight shamefully, which was why all three were sitting quietly without incident.

Additionally, watching the fight between Olivia and the boy had made them quite uncomfortable.

Just when it seemed the boy would subdue Olivia, he suddenly embraced her affectionately. The three shifted uncomfortably in unison, their moods souring.

Didn’t it look like he was trying to reconcile and forgive Olivia rather than kill her?

That wasn’t actually the case, but they were too far away to understand the details, leading to this misunderstanding. It’s more surprising that they could even see that much from such a distance.

The three, filled with a mixture of irritation, anxiety, and anger, suddenly rose from their seats in unison as they watched the embrace between the boy and Olivia.

It happened right after they saw Olivia cut off her arm, create a new one, and bring it to the boy. From the position of the arm, it looked like she had stabbed it into the boy’s body.

What happened next was even more outrageous. She cut off her other arm as well and then embraced the boy tightly.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Rage boiled within them. Serena, Christine, and Charlotte all reacted instinctively, their bodies moving before their minds as they were about to rush toward the boy and Olivia.

Just then, as the boy’s arm moved slightly, they felt a small pulsation in their bound souls. The three frowned as soon as they confirmed this reaction.

The meaning of what had just happened was simple. Her god, her lord, her husband had touched souls with that woman who deserved to be torn to pieces.

The pulsation quickly faded, but their discomfort remained. As the three were irritably debating whether to approach the boy or not, Olivia released her embrace.

I grabbed Olivia’s hand that was lodged in my heart and pulled it out. The heart that had been nearly completed collapsed weakly as soon as Olivia’s touch disappeared.

In its place, I reconstructed my body with mana and divine power. The blackened blood vessels and skin regained their original color. The newly created heart began its activity leisurely.

Olivia realized what I had done and was aghast. Her face turned pale, and her open mouth couldn’t close. Her fingertips trembled.

“Ah… ah?”

After releasing her arms from around my neck, she frantically felt her chest with a bewildered expression. Then she jumped to her feet. She backed away a few steps from me before falling backward on her own.

Her black pupils faced the sky—a sky made of black mana, the same color as her eyes.

I pressed my left knee on Olivia’s abdomen while placing my other knee on the ground beside her. Olivia was still in shock, unable to regain her senses.

“It’s the same position, isn’t it?”

I smiled bitterly as I looked at Olivia, who was breathing heavily. It was exactly the same position as back then—when I had to kill Olivia with my own hands for the first time.

Back then, I had knelt on one knee over Olivia, who was melting from the direct hit of divine power, and thrust my greatsword into her heart. Though I changed my posture afterward.

“Even as you were dying, you confessed your love to me. Honestly, I thought you had died then. I never imagined I would have to do this again.”

Who could have expected her to survive after her heart was pierced while her body was melting from divine power, and her soul was torn apart through the dimensional rift?

“Ah, aaah…?”

“It’s okay, Olivia. Everything will be fine.”

I stretched my left hand to the side. Using telekinesis, I retrieved the greatsword I had been using since the past, which Olivia had dropped on the ground.

I pointed the greatsword downward. No strength was needed, only emotion remained. Strength penetrated softness. The blade tore through flesh and dug inside. I felt a faint heartbeat.

The heart that had been performing meaningless work was given a long rest. The heart expressed a small gratitude as it stopped working and disappeared to enjoy its freedom.

I applied force to my hand. With a squelch, the greatsword sank deeper. The tip of the blade tore through the skin of her back and dug into the ground.

“You won’t die. I won’t let that happen. You’ll just… change a little.”

I infused the greatsword with mana and divine power. The two conflicting forces mixed inside Olivia’s body, preparing to welcome a new master.

“No… Master…”

Olivia reached out her hand toward me. That hand grasped at futile hope, then collapsed emptily. Despair crumbled like sand between her fingers.

“No… no…”

Noise appeared in her voice. It was a signal that the past Olivia was slowly rising to the surface.

“Nooooooooo!!!!!!”

Olivia struggled desperately, flailing wildly. I applied force to the knee pressing on her abdomen and the arm thrusting the greatsword. The current Olivia couldn’t overcome my force.

Her consciousness would already be sinking below the surface, mixing together.

“Master, Master! No! Please! Stop! Please!”

Instead of answering, I thrust the sword deeper. Proportionally, Olivia’s screams grew louder.

“Kyaaaah! No! I said no! I hate that someone else who loves you is appearing! Master! Please! Master! You can’t do this! Please! You love me! You love me! So please let me go now! You can only love me! No! Don’t come inside me!”

Tears streamed down from her eyes.

“Master is mine! Mine! I won’t give you to anyone! Never! I was so close! I almost completed a world just for Master and me! And you’re taking it all away? I’ll kill you! I’ll kill someone like you! When I come back to life, I’ll kill you first! I won’t forgive you! This is my love! My Master! To lose that to someone like you… kuhk, cough!”

Her struggles gradually weakened. Her sharp voice subsided. Gaps began to form between her words.

“Master, Master can only love me! He’s my Master! Why, other than me… that’s, kuhk. Not right, Master… Pl-cough. Please. It’s, it’s not too late yet… right? If you turn back now… I’ll, I’ll love you for the rest of my life… Please…”

“Olivia.”

I reached out my right hand and gently caressed her cheek.

“There’s no need to be so afraid. You will continue to be you. Just, you’ll become a gentler Olivia. I told you. Your continuity of memory will be maintained, and your consciousness will remain the same. Just fall asleep for a moment and wake up. Strictly speaking, you won’t even disappear. So…”

“I… I… lo-love… Mas-ter…”

“Goodbye, Olivia. See you soon.”

“You…”

Her words remained unfinished. Her outstretched hand fell powerlessly. The life completely disappeared from her pupils. The divine power and mana that had entered her body fulfilled their roles and vanished.

All movement ceased. With my right hand that had been caressing her cheek, I carefully closed her bulging eyes. When I pulled the sword from her heart, her body twitched slightly. The wound healed quickly.

Olivia was sleeping peacefully, as if all the madness she had displayed until now was just a lie.

“Mmm…”

It didn’t take long for the peacefully sleeping Olivia to open her eyes again. Black pupils full of life met my gaze.

I waited for the words that would come from her lips. If she called my name, I would smile and call her name in return; if she used the title “Master”… I would have to try again.

Olivia smiled brightly. Then she moved her lips to form words.

“Master.”

With a jolt, my body stiffened.

“I’m joking, Abel. I’m back… Ow?!”

“……”

I flicked her forehead with cold eyes, causing Olivia to grab the spot and make a tearful face, complaining that she couldn’t even make jokes.

Smiling slightly, I stroked her forehead. Olivia quickly changed her expression and grinned, overlapping her hand with mine.

Now, it was truly over.