Chapter 218 – Lucia (1)

Read ​on KatRea​dingCafe

Super Regeneration.

A recovery-type supernatural ability.

Though rare, there are occasionally individuals born with regenerative abilities.

No matter the injury, damage, or fatal wound.

As long as life remains, they can recover perfectly without any aftereffects.

It’s an ability that could be called the strongest in terms of survival, but even so, as a human ability, it has its limits. 

Normally, if your head is cut off, you die.
If more than half your body is torn apart, you die.
If your upper and lower body are separated and left unattended for too long, you die. 

No matter how tenacious your survival instincts are, you’re far from invincible.

Of course, the range of recovery varies depending on the level of mastery.

A fully awakened regenerator could recover even if only a part of their body remained.

There were cases where even if their entire body was torn to shreds, they could survive as long as a piece of flesh remained.

But even this had its unavoidable limits.

If there was no fragment of the body left to regenerate from, death was inevitable.

Regeneration, as the name suggests, is about regenerating, not creating something from nothing.

However,

If it’s an ability higher than super regeneration, the story changes.

An ability that goes beyond simple regeneration.

An ability that can create something from nothing, beyond the normal scope.

The gods of the Four Seasons bestowed many blessings upon Saintess Lucille.

A beloved girl. A girl who received the gods’ favor in abundance.

They imbued her supernatural ability, Blessing, with infinite potential.

Because of this, Lucille displayed a godlike omnipotence on Earth.

She could heal wounds.
Reverse aging.
Grant abilities.
Strengthen others.
Purify corruption.
Create life.
Foresee the future.
Manipulate causality. 

Under the name of Blessing, she could replicate most supernatural abilities. Naturally, among the blessings she could use was self-regeneration.

Among all the blessings, the gods of the Four Seasons paid special attention to one.

A blessing that granted the saintess eternal time.

【Immortality】

She cannot die.

Even if not a single cell remains.

Even if everything returns to nothingness, reduced to zero.

She can create something from nothing and be reborn anew.

“I didn’t expect this either…”

This was the reason Lucille could return to the world.

She had returned all her blessings to the world. Her body had turned to dust and disappeared, and her soul had ascended to a higher dimension, becoming a system to create supernaturals.

She was alive, yet dead. You couldn’t call it living when only her soul remained, devoid of self. Lucille’s personality had fallen asleep, never to awaken again.

“O gods, is this your answer?”

Lucille stared blankly at herself.

The overflowing power she once felt was gone.

The sense of omnipotence, that she could do anything, had vanished.

Having sacrificed most of her blessings, only one remained.

The blessing of immortality.

“How much time has passed?”

Lucille looked around. Skyscrapers she had never seen before filled her vision. Crowds of people walked below the buildings. Cars raced down the roads. Blinking traffic lights. Everything was unfamiliar to her.

Such things couldn’t have been built in just a year or two. Humanity, which had been on the brink of extinction due to the monsters’ invasion, had built such a civilization. Lucille let out a dry laugh.

“My sacrifice… wasn’t in vain.”

Had the war with the monsters ended? Had humanity won? Or had they made a peace treaty with the devil gods?

Lucille staggered forward. There were too many questions. She wanted to know what had happened while she was asleep. 

But something else weighed on her heart even more. She recalled the face of the boy she had last seen on that hill.

“Yoo-seong…”

You’ve done well, my hero.

No matter how much time has passed, you wouldn’t have fallen, would you?

Even without my powers as a saintess, I can somehow tell.

That you’re still alive.

That you’re still out there, somewhere.

“After all I’ve done, it might be shameless of me to say this now…”

I hurt you.

I did something terrible to leave a scar on you.

I ran away because I couldn’t bear to see the two of you in love.

But still.

“Can I go to meet you?”

Well, I worked really hard too.

I think I deserve a little reward, don’t I?

◈

Upon returning to the world, Lucille learned many things.

Unfortunately, the war with the monsters was not yet over.

Humanity was still fighting a war with no end in sight.

The United Nations, humanity’s final nation, had been established around the land where the World Tree once stood.

The Celestial Corps, a military organization of supernaturals led by the God of War, had become humanity’s sword and shield.

140 years.

The time Lucille had been asleep.

The time Yoo-seong had become known as Mars, the God of War.

Because of this, finding him proved to be quite difficult. 

In the past, she could have easily located him with her blessings, but now, the only blessing she had left was immortality. 

She had to search for him step by step. But no matter how much she searched using the name “Yoo-seong”, she couldn’t find him. 

Of course not. The name known to the world was Mars. The name Yoo-seong had long been forgotten.

Fortunately, Lucille quickly realized that the leader of the Celestial Corps was Yoo-seong.

There was no one else who could have established the Celestial Corps and maintained the position of leader for over 100 years.

But even knowing Yoo-seong was the leader, meeting him was another matter.

The current Lucille was not Yoo-seong’s companion, the blessed saintess.

She was just an unidentified regenerator.

She had naively gone to the Celestial Corps to find him, only to be detained as a suspicious supernatural. Lucille reflected on her shortsightedness. I acted too much like it was the past. 

Back then, I was welcomed wherever I went. With my blessings, proving my identity was easy. But now, I don’t have that power anymore.

All supernaturals are registered in the government’s database. If you’re unregistered, you’re classified as an unregistered supernatural, which is treated as a crime in itself. And Lucille was an unregistered ability user.

Locked in the Celestial Corps’ detention room, Lucille smiled bitterly.

There were so many supernaturals.

Back in her time, there were only about 20.

The circulation system had taken root, planting seeds in humanity.

Whether those seeds sprouted or not depended on the individual’s talent.

While she felt a sense of pride, she also felt helpless about her current situation. What should I do now? Escape was out of the question. The current Lucille was far weaker than even a fraction of her past self. Her body had been reconstructed, but her soul was unstable. She couldn’t even fully use the one blessing she had left.

After much deliberation, she decided to go with the flow.

There was no need to worry.

She just had to trust and wait.

That person would surely come find her.

“Lucille?!”

As she had expected, the door to the detention room burst open, and the boy rushed in.

Hair as black as obsidian.

Streaks of gold shining like starlight within.

A boy like the night sky, his eyes wide with shock.

“Long time no see, my hero.”

“Lu, Lucille… how, how…?”

“Huh, aren’t you going to respond to my greeting?”

It was their secret promise. My hero. In the past, Lucille had playfully called him that, and Yoo-seong had playfully responded. My saintess. 

A title filled with affection. From then on, it became their nickname for each other. When one called the other that, the other would respond in kind.

Yoo-seong hesitated for a moment.

As if hesitating to say the word “my”.

Lucille guessed the reason but didn’t show it.

She simply smiled gently, urging him on.

“Long time no see, my saintess.”

Yoo-seong responded with a bitter smile.

Tears welled up in his blue eyes.

The hero who had supported humanity for so long spoke in a choked voice.

“I missed you.”

140 years. More than enough time for a person to change.

Yoo-seong had changed. The confident, kind-hearted hero was gone.

Mars, the God of War. A leader who could be as cold as necessary.

Reality had changed him. It had worn him down, forcing him to compromise with the world.

The world isn’t beautiful. And because it isn’t, living beautifully is hard.

“I really, really missed you.”

But the Yoo-seon standing before Lucille had regressed to that time.

Not Mars, the God of War, but Yoo-seong, the hero.

The boy from that time, who burned with passion for his ideals.

Because the girl who symbolized his dreams had returned.

Because the dreams he had lost had come back.

“I missed you too.”

Lucille answered with a bright smile.

The hero and the saintess.

A reunion after 140 years.

◈

Yoo-seong and Lucille talked about many things.

Lucille learned about the fate of her other companions.

Iris and Michael.

Comrades who had fought against the King of Devil Gods together.

They were supernaturals who had reached the pinnacle of their abilities.

140 years was more than enough for them to live through.

They could have endured even longer.

But the two had long since passed away.

They died less than 10 years after Lucille sacrificed herself.

The fight with Bael was the cause. In that battle, the two had sacrificed something they shouldn’t have—their souls. The foundation of life. The erosion of their souls, something even Lucille’s blessings couldn’t fix. 

Even if their bodies recovered, if their souls were damaged, their lifespans would drastically shorten. 

The two must have known, but they had no choice. To reach Bael, sacrifices were necessary. To face an omnipotent god, sacrifices were inevitable.

Surprisingly, Lucille didn’t break down in tears.

She simply said, “I see.”

A single tear from her body was enough.

Thanks to Yoo-seong’s care, Lucille naturally integrated into the new era.

She wanted to join the Celestial Corps that Yoo-seong had founded, but Yoo-seong opposed it.

The current Lucille was weakened. She was no longer the blessed saintess. She had lost most of her blessings, and above all, her soul was unstable. 

Yoo-seong, who had lost two comrades due to soul-related issues, didn’t want to lose her again after she had miraculously returned. Lucille was effectively barred from the battlefield.

Unable to join the Celestial Corps due to Yoo-seong’s strong opposition, Lucille sought refuge in the Church of the Four Seasons.

Though she felt uneasy due to past grievances, she knew it was thanks to the Four Seasons that she had been able to return. 

Even with the blessing of immortality, reconstructing her body and returning to the world were separate matters. 

She could have ended up drifting in a higher dimension. Clearly, the Four Seasons had intervened to send her back.

To repay that debt, Lucille began a second life as a nun.

She wasn’t given any special responsibilities, but she was put in charge of managing an orphanage run by the church.

Though Yoo-seong had drawn a line against politics, his influence was absolute.

If he wanted, he could have become the king of the United Nations.

With Yoo-seong backing her, Lucille could have aimed for higher positions, but she didn’t desire much. She only wanted something to keep her occupied until her unstable soul stabilized. Managing the orphanage was one such task.

Though it was a temporary role until her soul issues were resolved, Lucille gave her all to the task. The church’s orphanage was mostly filled with children who had lost their guardians to monster attacks. She worked tirelessly to heal their emotional wounds and help them grow without scars.

Caring for the children was exhausting but also fulfilling.

Her heart swelled with pride when a child who had grown up and left the orphanage returned to express their gratitude.

“I heard the news, Johan. You joined the Sacred Knight order, right?”

“Thanks to the God of War’s strong recommendation.”

Johan, who still had a boyish face, smiled awkwardly.

Johan was a child Lucille had taken in not long after she started managing the orphanage. She had found him wandering the streets after losing his family to monsters and brought him to the orphanage. Once a child filled with resentment, he had grown into an adult who could smile like that. Lucille couldn’t help but smile proudly.

Johan was a talented supernatural.

A promising child who reminded her of Michael.

Michael, who controlled light, and Johan, who wielded a holy sword.

Both were figures who radiated a brilliant golden light.

That was likely why Yoo-seong had recommended Johan to the knight order instead of the Celestial Corps.

The church had been allowed to establish the Holy Knight Order to honor Michael, who had been a devout follower of the Four Seasons.

Time flowed like water after her return to the world.

Her unstable soul gradually regained stability.

Even as her soul stabilized, her lost powers didn’t return.

But the one remaining ability, regeneration, would soon be fully under her control.

Protecting the children at the orphanage was a rewarding task.

But what Lucille desired most was to stand by Yoo-seong’s side.

It was a personal desire. She wanted to be by his side. Was it too much to ask for? 

She had worked hard enough to deserve it. 

She had worked hard enough to earn the recognition of the Four Seasons, so wasn’t she entitled to a reward? 

She was, wasn’t she? 

Lucille looked forward to the day she could stand by Yoo-seong’s side again.

Five years had passed since her return to the world.

Just as her soul issues were nearly resolved.

That day arrived without warning.

The day the sky shattered like glass.

The day of destruction, when monsters rained down like a storm.

The Great Catastrophe.

Another turning point in Lucille’s life.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Lucille can’t die.

Even if she wants to.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Imagine being Jesus and could only hear your creators’ sweet whispers because you are still useful.