Ch.235The Gospel by the Cursed (Complete)

Laios turned his head to look at Kain. The boy’s face looked utterly exhausted.

“Kain. I’m… not a hero… am I?”

No one had told the despised boy that heroes didn’t exist, that they were just illusions. Instead, they encouraged him to leave this village and become a glorious hero. They urged him to follow false hope.

Kain remained silent. Laios smiled weakly.

“But… but… in the end, you came.”

The final two fragments flowed into Ismene’s body. The chains broke and the shackles fell away. Ismene clutched her face. When she opened her eyes again, beautiful emerald eyes sparkled there.

“Laios! Ah, aaaah!”

Ismene grabbed the bloody stake, then immediately let go. She feared accidentally hurting Laios’s body further.

“Ismene.”

Laios murmured happily. His hand seemed to lose strength as the demon sword Hope fell to the dirt with a thud.

“I missed you.”

“No. No! NO!”

Ismene grabbed Laios’s collapsing arm. The stakes protruding from the cross broke.

The girl wailed as she caressed the boy’s body. She tried to pull out the stakes and stop the flowing blood with her hands.

But the wounds were too deep.

The exhausted boy seemed to lack even the strength to reach out and caress his lover’s cheek. Ismene took Laios’s wounded hand and pressed it against her face.

Beasts gathered again, targeting the bleeding Laios. Their faces were filled with rage because Laios had dropped the demon sword. Because their hope had been so easily discarded, they opened their mouths, scratched the ground with their front paws, and growled.

Kain raised his sword and staff. He stood blocking the path to Laios and Ismene. At least behind them, countless thorns extended from both sides of the cross, making it difficult for the beasts to approach. For now, he just needed to defend this position.

The fiends leaped forward. Kain swung his sword.

“That person… follow him, good. Friend. Good…”

Foam mixed with blood formed at Laios’s mouth. Ismene shook her head violently.

“No.”

Ismene’s eyes blazed. Black energy swirled around her outstretched hand. Having regained her complete soul, she also possessed the Demon King’s power.

Sharp blades rose from the ground, extending toward Ismene. Laios grasped one of the blades. He tried to bend it sideways with force.

But the next moment, the blade stopped. Ismene’s small hand firmly gripped Laios’s large one, pressing it firmly against the blade so it wouldn’t fall away.

“I’ll never lose you again.”

She raised the blade sharply and threw her fragile body onto it. The blade pierced through her body.

A curse flowed from her body, attempting to enter the body of the one who killed her.

However, since Ismene killed Laios and Laios killed Ismene, the curse endlessly circulated between their bodies.

The cycle was complete.

In the end, the two sealed the curse.

The prophecy was fulfilled.

Two heroes imprisoned the Demon King.

* * * * *

Kain threw the Imperial Sword. The flying blade pierced the neck of an approaching angel.

Two wild dogs charged from below. He struck their jaws with his staff. But Kain was gradually retreating.

The fiends who had been fighting each other now united and swarmed toward them. To these betrayed creatures, Laios and Ismene were beings who deserved to be captured and killed. The same applied to Kain who stood in their way.

A creature with a snout as long as an alligator’s bit down hard on the staff. Kain had no choice but to release it and kick the creature’s jaw.

He needed a weapon. He had to fight. He still hadn’t found the answer. His wandering eyes spotted an intact sword—the demon sword Hope in its scabbard, rolling on the ground.

Backing away, Kain picked up the sword. Nothing much changed. As he held the sword, the beasts with hope growled.

‘I could use at least half of these beasts. Even if it’s a bit less than half…’

He adjusted his grip on the handle. The sensation unique to Imperial Swords remained the same—a handle slightly too large for one hand but not quite enough for two.

Now he just needed to swing the sword. Like Laios did, he just needed to give commands.

He saw one beast. It looked as filthy as the others.

The difference was its eyes. They were huge, about the size of another beast’s head, large enough to see Kain holding the sword and the two lovers collapsed behind him.

Its eyes showed resignation. Yet they also coveted the demon sword. Something boiled up from deep within Kain.

This thing.

What is this thing?

What is this mere sword!

Kain raised the sword. He intended to strike it against the ground. He didn’t need this hope. He didn’t need this falsehood that controlled, manipulated, and exploited people rather than saving them.

However.

While it might be worthless to Kain himself, it wasn’t to them. At least for the two lovers behind him, this was still hope.

The girl wanted to give this sword to the boy. She thought the reason he was expelled from the knighthood was because he lacked a proper weapon.

The boy held this sword and searched for the girl. Only this sword opened the path for him.

Only these two recognized the value of hope. Then it should be returned to those who knew its worth.

Kain turned around. He placed Hope between the two lovers collapsed on the ground. Now he was completely empty-handed.

Looking up at the sky, breathing, he turned around feeling unburdened. He wouldn’t be able to escape. But at least he wanted to buy time for the two lovers who had crossed hell to meet each other, to express their unfulfilled longing.

“Come.”

Kain glared at the beasts as he spoke. But the beasts retreated instead. Kain wondered if some monster he wasn’t aware of was approaching from behind, so he turned around.

There was nothing. Except for the sword stuck upside down. He had definitely placed it between the two people. The sword was now stuck upside down.

– You have put down hope yourself.

A voice that was neither male nor female, neither child nor elder, was heard.

Kain answered.

“That’s not my hope. The hope contained in the sword belongs to these two lovers lying here and the beasts behind me, not to me.”

– Where is your hope?

He placed his fist against his heart.

“Mine is here. I don’t need someone else’s.”

– Then return it to where it should go.

A faint light flowed from between the scabbard and the guard.

‘Where it should go. Where hope should return to.’

Kain understood.

The Black Fire priests shouted: ‘We will take back what isn’t yours.’ The beasts also shouted in unison: ‘Give it back.’ Even Laios uttered it: ‘Give it back.’

Hope that had been handled arbitrarily.

Hope that someone forcibly took and held hostage.

Hope forcibly bound to the sword.

So this had to be returned to its owner.

Kain grabbed the handle.

– What makes a person human?

That question echoed in Kain’s heart again. Back then, Kain had answered hope. Now he knew that was the wrong answer. Hope can be held by anyone, whether human or beast.

– What made you who you are? What virtue does a person need most to be human?

Kain closed his eyes. He recalled the seven heroes, the virtues named after them, and everything he experienced while tracking them.

What prevents one from losing chastity in a moment of lust.

What prevents humility from becoming self-deprecation.

The source of strength to always treat others kindly as fellow humans.

What makes one work diligently rather than stabbing others in the back, to know the joy of sweet harvest.

The power to take only what is needed, not as much as one desires, allowing others to take what they need as well.

The strength that builds patience to endure trials and overcome hardships.

The virtue that precedes the other six.

“Temperance.”

Kain answered.

“Humans can choose not to do what they are capable of doing. If something goes against human principles or self-imposed laws and rules, they know to exercise restraint. That’s the difference between humans and beasts.

Being your own master. The virtue that helps you become the better person you want to be. Breaking the desire to go down the wrong path. That is temperance.”

– Are you your own master?

“Yes.”

– How do you prove it?

“No proof is needed. I am simply me. I will do what I must do. So, you return to your place. Your place is not this narrow scabbard. If you won’t, then disappear without interfering. I no longer need anything futile.”

– Then, Temperate One.

Night descended. Kairos allowed it to approach. Darkness best reveals light. The sun is most brilliant at night.

But night is the time for rest. All things in the world finally fall asleep in dark, comfortable places. It cools overheating and restores composure.

Darkness clothed Kairos’s body in black armor. Unlike Laios’s, this had no patterns. No decorations to instill fear. Just serene and peaceful blackness.

A helmet was placed on his head. Shadows draped like a cape. Countless shadows that couldn’t deceive their source whispered dark promises, but Kairos took none of them to heart.

Because they weren’t his.

– Draw the sword!

Kairos of Temperance drew Hope from its scabbard.