Ch.215EPILOGUE – I Cannot Escape from the Woman Who Saved My Life.

*

I truly felt sorry for Sylvia.

Despite it being for her sake, our last conversation was almost a fight, and I was filled with belated regret.

Would it have been better to just exchange words of love before parting?

Should I have named our child before leaving?

Though it might not have been useful, should I have at least told her the direction to the nearest village?

I regretted all the words I had failed to say.

But if I hadn’t said those final words to Sylvia, that too would have surely remained a deep regret for me.

Because Sylvia deserves to be happy now.

No matter that she would be an unwed mother with a child, with Sylvia’s appearance, she would shine anywhere; with her achievements, she would be praised everywhere; and with her skills, she could make a living anywhere.

She could live a happier life with someone better than me.

That’s why I left her with the dying wish to meet someone else.

‘…and forget me.’

But in all honesty…

I wanted to tell her not to forget me.

I wanted to beg her not to meet any other man.

I wished for her to remember me forever.

I wanted to demand that she pledge her love to me.

Though I clearly wanted to die then, now I wanted to stay with Sylvia even a little longer.

That’s what I wanted to confess.

Of course, I would never have said any of those things, knowing they would become a new curse for her, but that was my honest and pitiful true heart.

‘Well… it’s fine now… it’s too late anyway.’

I sighed.

To have so many distracting thoughts even after death.

It seems the habit of studying and reading in my room all my life hasn’t left me even in death.

‘Was I at least a little cool? That’s enough, I guess… wait,’

Come to think of it, how am I thinking right now?

Wasn’t I dead?

Have I become a ghost?

Or have I really come to the afterlife or hell?

No, it can’t be hell.

I clearly saw my family coming to greet me.

Layla couldn’t possibly be in hell.

I slowly opened my eyes to find my family.

…

I opened my eyes?

“Ugh,”

As I opened my eyes, the light that entered my vision was so bright that I grimaced and let out a shallow groan.

My pupils couldn’t regain their senses and kept losing focus.

It felt as if I had been in a dark cave for a very long time and then came outside—my eyes simply couldn’t adjust to the light.

Barely maintaining squinted eyes and gradually adapting to the light, my focusing vision was slowly transforming into the face of a beautiful woman.

Bright platinum-blonde hair flowing down like a waterfall.

Skin so white it appeared almost transparent.

Firm muscles and rough fingers that seemed impossible to imagine from her appearance and skin.

Eyes as blue and beautiful as jewels.

Lovely lips that I wanted to kiss right away were quivering, barely holding back tears.

“…Sylvia?”

“Welcome back… Ash.”

Hot tears fell from Sylvia’s face onto my cheeks as she looked down at me lying there.

I couldn’t make sense of what had happened at all.

Am I dead? Or did I miraculously survive?

Did she come to the afterlife where I was? Or did I remain in the world of the living where she was?

I couldn’t know anything for certain, but I reached out to wipe away her tears.

As my fingertips brushed beneath her eyes, Sylvia flinched greatly, then smiled broadly while shedding even more tears.

“It’s Ash. It really is Ash, you haven’t changed at all.”

“…Sylvia is still beautiful too.”

“Ash!”

Sylvia embraced me tightly.

Her smooth hair covered my face.

I parted her hair with the tip of my nose and barely managed to free my lips between the strands.

“…Sylvia, what’s going on? Am I not dead?”

“…”

“Sylvia?”

“You don’t need to worry about it.”

“…?”

“Because I’ll never be apart from Ash again. Never!”

Sylvia hugged me tightly.

Unlike how she always carefully controlled her strength considering the difference in our physical power, she was now holding me so tightly it was almost painful.

I patted the back of her head gently and slowly stroked her smooth hair as I spoke.

“…What happened?”

“…”

“Tell me.”

“If I tell you, Ash will get angry.”

What is it,

What did you do?

I placed my hand on Sylvia’s head to calm her down and said:

“I won’t get angry.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

At my straightforward answer, Sylvia hesitated for a moment before slowly beginning to speak.

“I missed Ash. So”

“So…?”

“I brought you back to life.”

“…What?”

*

The day Ash died.

Sylvia held the corpse of her lover—no, her husband—who had fallen asleep in her arms, with all her might.

The person who had troubled her the most in her life.

The person who had pushed her the hardest.

The person she cherished the most.

The only person Sylvia had ever loved.

And the person who had loved Sylvia the most.

But paradoxically, the last words that man left her with were a request to forget him and love someone else.

“…Ash.”

She was so angry, so sad,

Yet the tears that should have flowed from anger or sadness didn’t come at all.

The tears that should have flowed had already been shed during her conversation with Ash.

Sylvia’s blue eyes were as empty as a vacant sky, containing nothing.

“…That’s too cruel.”

Sylvia’s hoarse voice echoed hollowly in the unnecessarily spacious room.

It had been an adequately sized bedroom when she shared it with Ash, but as soon as he was gone, it became an unbearably empty space.

Sylvia, tightly embracing Ash’s body, kissed his lips.

While warmth still remained on his skin, while even a breath of air might still remain in his lungs.

Chasing his scent that she would never feel again if not now, Sylvia buried her nose in Ash’s neck, gently licking it, then kissed his lips again.

With each repetition of this process, Ash’s skin grew colder.

Sylvia struggled as if trying to hold onto Ash’s fading life, clutching his body.

But sadly, she wasn’t insane enough not to know that this was a futile struggle.

“…No.”

Pain.

The pain she had forgotten began to climb up Sylvia’s spine again.

A hell beyond hell.

A torture beyond torture.

Loneliness was about to swallow Sylvia once more.

Sylvia hugged Ash’s corpse with all her might, like a little girl clutching a teddy bear.

“I’m scared… already… as soon as Ash left… I’m so scared…”

Sylvia whispered in Ash’s ear.

“Ash, you were wrong… I can’t live without you. Not for a moment… not for a single moment can I endure… So. Come back… please… Ash, Ash… don’t go… don’t go. Don’t leave… please… you can’t leave me like this, you can’t…”

Ash gave no answer.

The only response from him was the warmth dissipating into the air.

Sylvia embraced Ash’s body even more tightly.

It was more like trying to force his body between her ribs than an embrace.

“Kugh!”

Sylvia gritted her teeth at the sudden heavy pain in her abdomen.

It was because her full-term belly was being pressed hard.

The trace Ash had left stirred in Sylvia’s womb.

“…Baby.”

The child kicked at Sylvia’s belly.

It was as if it was scolding her for what she was doing outside.

Though it seemed detestable that the child was fighting to live while its father had died, she couldn’t entirely hate this being that proved what kind of relationship she had with Ash and how much they had loved each other.

Is this what maternal love is like?

Sylvia let out a hollow laugh.

Live with this child?

Ash, is that what you want from me?

To love this child as much as I loved you?

“…No.”

Sylvia shook her head as she looked at Ash’s peacefully closed eyes.

“Ash, I told you, I love you much more than you love me… You never knew in the end. How much I love you, how rotten my insides have become because of my feelings for you.”

At that moment, the last words Ash had left suddenly flashed through her mind in sequence.

It was like the panorama of life that people reportedly see before death.

What is this?

What am I trying to see right now?

Why are Ash’s words swirling so chaotically in my head?

To reminisce?

About our last conversation?

To reflect on my miserable state, receiving a wretched farewell notice when I should have been whispering words of love?

Sylvia was becoming angry that even her own mind was tormenting her.

At that moment, one of Ash’s voices rummaging through Sylvia’s mind caught on her nerves.

It was as if all other language disappeared except for that one sentence.

‘The curse is broken now, and the Demon King is gone.’

That statement from Ash was repeating endlessly in her head.

“The curse is… gone…”

That damn curse in Sylvia’s eyes.

The curse had two main effects.

One was the madness that infected others through eye contact.

And the other was protecting Sylvia from death.

“…I see.”

Sylvia lamented her own foolishness.

She had finally found the answer to Ash’s mischievous riddle.

“The curse is… broken…”

Sylvia looked at her own face holding Ash in the mirror.

Empty blue eyes were clearly fixed in her eyes.

“I can die now too.”

Sylvia lifted Ash with her arms supporting his back and the back of his knees.

Stepping away from the bed, Sylvia glared at the massive structure standing outside the window.

The grand mansion of the Goldfield County.

If she fell from there headfirst, even Sylvia with her sturdy body would die instantly from a broken neck.

Of course, the baby in her womb would die too.

But it didn’t matter.

“Together… I’ll take our child too, and come to meet you.”

There was no reason for Sylvia to hesitate before the only way to meet Ash again.

There was no need to steel her resolve or make elaborate plans.

Before Ash entered her life, suicide had been one of her hobbies, so she could throw herself naturally, like water flowing.

It was then.

“Sit down right now.”

A strong wind suddenly swept into the room, pushing Sylvia’s body backward forcefully.

Sylvia fell onto the bed, sprawling.

“…!”

“What were you trying to do?”

“Pia…”

“What were you trying to do!”

Pia appeared before Sylvia with a ferocious expression, baring her teeth.

Pia, who had begun to appear faintly to Sylvia’s eyes since her pregnancy, was now visible clearly enough to discern her expression at full term.

No, perhaps it wasn’t Sylvia who could see Pia, but the child in her belly.

Since this child inherited Ash’s blood.

Pia had vertical wrinkles between her eyebrows due to her deeply furrowed brows, and both her ears were pulled back sharply.

She looked like a wolf warning that it would bite at any moment.

But Sylvia, without even blinking, answered from her lying position.

“I was going to die.”

“How… could you. When Ash… said those things, while carrying Ash’s child!”

“…What do you know to talk like that!”

“I’m sad too, I’m even sadder! I lived by Ash’s side all my life, but Ash worried only about you until the end! How can you ignore Ash’s words and try to die!”

“Ash wanted me to follow him.”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

“Ha…”

Sylvia was considering if she could cut down Pia.

The absence of a sword nearby was a problem, but more fundamentally, spirits were beings far removed from physical laws.

To fight properly, she would be facing an opponent that could be even more troublesome than the Demon King.

Moreover, Sylvia’s body was extremely heavy right now.

Sylvia glared at Pia and slowly opened her mouth.

“But why are you still here?”

“What?”

“Ash is dead. So why are you, Ash’s guardian spirit, still here?”

Pia bit her lip and said:

“…I don’t know,”

“Ha,”

That’s right,

This bitch knows nothing about spirits despite being one herself.

That’s why she couldn’t help Ash properly!

If you had properly helped Ash, he might not have died!

Empty murderous intent began to surge in Sylvia’s vacant eyes.

Pia could read that gaze too.

Though the color was different, the spirit was not changed at all from what she had seen before.

“I thought Ash had changed you. But no… you’re still the same, still a crazy woman like before.”

“What do you know about me, a guardian spirit who’s lost its master? You’re just a bug who couldn’t protect Ash, you have no right to interfere with me.”

Sylvia rose again.

As Pia gestured, heavy air forcibly pressed down on Sylvia’s upper body, making her lie back on the bed.

Pia growled with her eyes flashing straight ahead.

“…I am Ash’s guardian spirit.”

“So, your role is already…!”

“I am the being that fulfills what Ash wishes.”

“…”

“Ash wanted you and that child to live. So I’ll keep you here, even by force.”

“Ash is dead… do you really have to do this?”

“Even if you want to die on your own, you absolutely cannot take that child.”

“Ha,”

Sylvia found everything tiresome.

She needed to follow him quickly while Ash had just left, so they could walk the path to the afterlife hand in hand, but she hadn’t expected this kind of interference.

If only she could quickly follow Ash’s soul while it was still nearby…

“…Wait.”

“…”

At that moment, something occurred to Sylvia.

An idea that was just a tiny fragment began to flesh out and develop a framework.

“What is it…”

“Shut up for a moment. Don’t even think. It’s distracting.”

…The possibility is slim.

It’s an absurd plan with little chance of realization, and it’s uncertain if she could get the appropriate help.

But nevertheless, it occurred to her.

Sylvia had thought of a possibility to meet Ash again without dying.

“…Pia.”

“What are you thinking? What kind of expression is that?”

“You’re Ash’s guardian spirit.”

“…Yes.”

“Then, if there’s a way to meet Ash again, you wouldn’t oppose it, right?”

“That’s just suicide, I tell you!”

“Not that.”

“What…?”

“If there’s a way, you’ll follow, right?”

I’m sorry, Ash.

I know, I’m not a crazy woman.

I know this is something I shouldn’t do.

I know Ash would never be happy about this.

I know too well that if I do this, I’ll be isolated from this world again.

Even though I’ve already committed such a great sin out of desire to keep Ash by my side, Ash forgave me.

I know this would be disrespecting Ash’s forgiveness.

But, Ash.

I don’t need this world.

Without Ash, I wouldn’t have saved this world.

I need Ash.

There’s no way I could love someone else.

I will only love Ash.

A life free from the curse, mixing with other people

I don’t need any of it.

Even if what stands opposite to that is our child.

So.

You can be angry, you can curse me… you can even hit me.

Just forgive me one more time.

“Pia, listen to me.”

*

I could sense something ominous in Sylvia’s explanation as she held me.

I could clearly feel that she had crossed a line.

Well, bringing someone back from the dead couldn’t possibly be done without crossing lines.

I asked with a trembling voice:

“…What have you done?”

“You said you wouldn’t get angry.”

Sylvia said while still embracing me.

Suddenly, her arms holding me felt as constricting as thick ropes.

“I’m not angry… I just… want to know what Sylvia did.”

“…Why?”

Sylvia slowly unwrapped her arms from me and moved away.

Her face, now clearly visible to my fully adjusted eyes, showed a chilling smile.

It was an expression where her eyes weren’t smiling at all, but her mouth was smiling as widely as possible.

“…Why? What are you so curious about?”

“…If something’s wrong, we need to fix it. It’s, it’s okay. Whatever mistake Sylvia made, whatever wrong you did, I’ll…”

“There’s no need for that.”

“…”

Sylvia cut off my words abruptly.

What does that mean?

Does it mean she didn’t do anything wrong?

Is there a case where bringing someone back to life arbitrarily isn’t wrong?

“Sylvia… I was already dead… that’s correct, right?”

“…”

Sylvia didn’t answer.

My mind was slowly starting to work now.

Something was seriously wrong.

I don’t know what Sylvia did, but she clearly crossed a line.

And by quite a lot.

“This isn’t right… we need to fix this.”

“I told you there’s no need.”

“Why? Because I’m the person you love?”

“No, because it can’t be fixed.”

“…What?”

Sylvia grabbed my hand firmly and said:

“Ash. I really had a hard time.”

“…”

“So much… has happened…”

“…”

“But I endured… because Ash was wrong, I couldn’t live without Ash. I tried to follow you in death as soon as you died. Without Ash, I couldn’t do anything, I didn’t want to live in a world without Ash, I didn’t want to give birth to a child that would replace Ash. The mere thought of meeting a man to replace Ash disgusts me. I can’t be without Ash, I can’t live without Ash. I need Ash. I missed you. I missed you so much.”

Sylvia poured out words in an eerily irregular voice like a broken phonograph.

I was so overwhelmed by the ominous atmosphere emanating from her that I couldn’t say anything.

No, it was for a physical reason.

My mouth wouldn’t open.

“Don’t deny it. Listen. To what lengths I went to meet Ash again.”

Sylvia continued her explanation.

“I persuaded Pia, and she was easily convinced. She wouldn’t let me kill the baby, but she agreed to help me see Ash again.”

“…”

“With Pia’s power, we moved to the Demon King’s castle. Remember that demon boy? I asked that boy for cooperation.”

That demon boy must be the son of the former Demon King?

“I asked him to let me take out the corpse for reference in magic, but he refused. So ungrateful.”

Corpse.

At that moment, I vaguely realized what she had done.

No, actually, I could clearly understand.

I was just desperately hoping my guess was wrong.

“He kept refusing, then suddenly said something strange. That he would allow it if I became an ally of the demons.”

My goodness.

No.

“Hey, why are you looking at me like that? Did you think I would fall for such an offer? Don’t worry. I’m properly human.”

Sylvia continued with a smile.

“I was so outraged by his audacity to try to bargain with Ash that I shattered all his horns. Then he started listening.”

Her smile is so chilling.

Looking closely at her eyes that didn’t smile at all despite her brightly showing teeth, I could see emotions more ferocious and terrible than during the days when her eyes were red from the curse.

It was a blue darker and murkier than any black I had seen in my life.

“But, I can’t use magic, right? So I went to ask Maria. But she refused. She even got angry. Saying how could she use on her brother the same magic that was used on her.”

Of course, Sister Maria would have reacted that way.

Having become a puppet through this magic herself, she wouldn’t want to make her brother suffer the same fate.

“So I burned half the forest. Then she listened. There was a condition that neither Ash nor I would ever appear before her again, but since Maria is a friend, I agreed to those terms.”

My goodness.

I couldn’t believe the words coming from Sylvia’s mouth.

“Well… I guess Maria and I can’t be called friends anymore… but that’s okay. As long as I have Ash.”

Sylvia embraced me again.

This time it was a gentle embrace with controlled strength, like before.

At the same time, I felt my lips finally opening.

“Syl… via…”

“Don’t be angry… please… just hold me without saying anything… okay?”

“…”

I wrapped my trembling hands around Sylvia’s back.

This is my fault.

I should have anticipated this.

I went through so many changes in just one year, while Sylvia had spent at least four years alone in that forest.

That strange obsession and personality formed during her long time in the forest couldn’t simply disappear just because the curse was gone.

I was naive.

It was my mistake.

That’s why I couldn’t reproach Sylvia.

Sylvia rested her chin on my shoulder and spoke in a soft voice.

Soft, but still with that irregularly jumping, ominous tone.

“This must have been something I shouldn’t have done either. As soon as I cast the magic on Ash, all the holy power drained from my body. Divine punishment… something like that? It’s really absurd…”

“…You lost your holy power?”

“Yes, but I don’t care.”

“…”

“It’s just a useless goddess taking back her useless holy power. I don’t have any problem without that holy power that couldn’t even save the dying Ash. No, it’s better without such a thing.”

Hero Sylvia casually insulted the goddess in a completely nonchalant tone.

The great deity who violated rules to save humanity, directly from the mouth of the one who slew the Demon King with the holy sword.

In this unbelievable reality, I felt my mind growing distant.

“Wait…”

I know what magic she used to resurrect me.

As far as I know, that magic traps a person’s soul in their corpse, making them like a puppet.

Sister Maria and many of Sylvia’s comrades had been resurrected from death by this magic.

The price for using this magic is one life.

Life.

“…Sylvia.”

“Yes?”

I asked with a trembling voice.

Though I know the goddess who is disappointed in Sylvia will no longer look our way, I still prayed desperately.

Please let this terrible imagination of mine be just imagination.

“…Where is our child…?”

“…”

Sylvia’s belly had become as slim as before her pregnancy.

“Hey…”

“…”

“That’s not it…right? Where… is the baby?”

“…I”

“Sylvia!”

“I don’t need anything but Ash.”

I pushed Sylvia away.

Looking around, I was thankfully in the mansion of the Goldfield domain.

Knowing the layout of our home well, I quickly ran down the stairs toward the main entrance.

I could hear footsteps behind me.

I hastily grabbed the doorknob.

“Eeek…”

No matter how hard I pulled the doorknob, the door only rattled but wouldn’t open.

It was as if something large was blocking the door from opening.

My hair fluttered in a strange direction.

I realized that what was blocking this door was the wind.

“…Pia?”

“I’m sorry, Ash.”

I heard the familiar voice of the spirit from behind me.

There stood Pia, avoiding my gaze.

“…Pia, open this door.”

“I exist to grant what Ash wants.”

“Pia! Quickly…”

My guardian spirit who used to grant any of my requests.

The cute spirit girl who couldn’t refuse even impossible wishes like taking me home or approaching the Demon King.

But now she wouldn’t even grant the simple request of opening a door.

“I’m sorry, but… I missed Ash too much…”

“Pia… right now, this door…”

My mouth was sealed shut.

“Ash. Come here.”

My body turned around involuntarily.

I could see Sylvia looking down at me from the top of the stairs.

Sylvia tapped the stair railing with her fingertips and smiled seductively.

This time it was a beautiful smile with both her mouth and eyes participating.

The kind of smile that exudes complete confidence in victory.

“I said come here.”

Sylvia wiggled her fingers.

Magical threads were emanating from her fingertips.

And the ends of those threads were connected to my body.

My body began climbing the stairs regardless of my will.

Sylvia watched me slowly ascending from the top of the stairs and began lowering the shoulders of her flowing dress.

After lowering the dress to just below her ample bosom with her hands, it fell to the floor with no resistance.

Standing naked, Sylvia stretched her leg forward to step out of the dress.

I had already reached her.

Sylvia lightly kissed my lips and said:

“Do you want to see our child that badly?”

“…Ugh,”

“Let’s go make one now.”

Ah,

I see.

I cannot resist.

I cannot fix this.

We were able to kill the Demon King because he hadn’t completed his resurrection.

But Sylvia had already finished everything.

She elegantly led me by the hand back to the bedroom with graceful steps.

With each step,

Walking down the corridor toward the bedroom felt like having shackles placed on my ankles one by one.

If my freedom could be taken away with just a gesture from her, it’s quite accurate to say that each step inward makes escape more difficult.

“Now… we’ll never be apart again.”

As the bedroom door closed, Sylvia embraced me tightly and said so.

At the same time, my body, which had been stiff, was freed.

Sylvia, still holding me, lifted her head to stare at my face.

Her face, puffing her cheeks as if wanting something, acting cute.

I gently placed my hands on her shoulders and softly kissed her lips.

“Mmm… Ash.”

“Yes…”

“Do you love me?”

“…I love you. That’s for certain.”

“Then there’s no problem, right?”

“…”

“Is there a problem?”

“…Many.”

Sylvia laughed brightly.

She smiled radiantly, saying she knew Ash would say that, and it terrified me.

Sylvia, with a beaming smile, said in a coquettish voice:

“Then forgive me.”

“Sylvia…”

“If you’re thinking of forgiving me, kiss me again right now.”

“…”

“Now.”

I slowly lowered my head to kiss her lips.

Even if I didn’t kiss her, she would force me to do it anyway.

Sylvia’s hands tightly gripped my back, and her lips moved aggressively, her tongue thrusting roughly from the center.

I docilely accepted her sticky tongue.

Although she had committed a terrible act, I still loved Sylvia,

And also because I knew I could never escape anyway.

Sylvia lay down on the bed while still embracing me.

I nodded and climbed on top of her.

Sylvia whispered with an ecstatic expression:

“Ash… I love you…”

“I… love you too, Sylvia.”

Yes.

As I thought before.

I cannot escape from her who saved my life.

Forever.