Ch.239Chapter 239. Miracles Come to Those Who Act

-CRASH, BOOM!

The ceremonial hall shook violently as the collapse of the sky accelerated.

What had begun as mere fragments rising upward gradually transformed into objects with mass, pulling up all the remains of crumbling buildings and erasing even the grand traces of the city.

Even the survivors standing upon those remains were not exempt from this chaos.

Angels, demons, magical beasts, other calamities, and humans struggling to survive in this teeming world—none were spared.

“Please…”

At the center of this scene, all the prophet could do was cry out.

Clutching her crystal ball tightly, she desperately prayed toward the sky.

“Please, answer me. Please, anyone…”

But no answer came, and the fighting showed no signs of stopping.

Her companion pushed forward with even greater determination.

His desperate resistance had now turned into retreat.

How had it come to this?

She had been willing to sacrifice herself to protect him.

Was this cruel world refusing even that, pushing her into an even deeper pit of despair?

‘This… isn’t right.’

With each explosion, she could feel his life being chipped away.

Each time she felt it, her chest ached and her heart constricted.

Could being alive be this painful?

If she were to fall from this high castle… if her body shattered and became one with the rising fragments, disappearing to the other side of dimensions—would this despair fade away?

-CRASH!!!

He must feel the same desperation, to the point where even death might seem like happiness.

Yet still he fought.

Despite having the option to give up and disappear, he chose to fight, trying to delay the moment of destruction.

-BOOM!

She loved that about him.

She had developed feelings for him because he was a man who knew how to sacrifice for others, and she had wanted to make him a savior.

But at the end of that mission, he was being tested to his limits, walking a tightrope against what might be his end in mere seconds.

Because of her.

Because she had chosen the person she loved for a position that could have been filled by anyone.

“…No.”

She wished such a future would not come to pass.

When that feeling overcame even her longing for death, her reason was restored, and the crystal ball she had been about to throw away was once again gripped in her hand, beginning to emit light.

“Revelation…”

To resist, no matter what.

Because her companion was fighting so desperately, she who had wanted to protect him couldn’t just sit still.

“This isn’t… a revelation.”

Yes, communication with the god of destruction had been cut off, and the passage for his avatar to cross over had closed.

The dimensional rift occurring at this moment was simply the result of the Demon Lord indiscriminately exerting power in an attempt to cross to another dimension.

In this situation where only destruction existed, one couldn’t hope for a miracle to occur through an astronomical series of probabilities.

“I… must do it…”

So the prophet sought to resist with her own power.

Not as one borrowing the power of a god, but as a human.

Like her companion who fought as a human, to do what she could with her limited human abilities.

‘Anything will do, somehow, something I can do…’

In her attempt to help him, a massive wave of information swirled in the crystal ball.

Just accepting it herself made her feel like her head would split open.

This was natural. Astrology involved reading the movements of celestial bodies and records of the past to predict the future.

It was a technique that allowed one to predict the future only by interpreting the movements of stars around a planet and the vast history that planet had traversed.

This was a realm possible only for those great enough to adjust the balance of the universe.

What was permitted to a demigod who inherited that blood was merely to grasp the immediate future based on visible information.

‘Even that is fine, as long as it’s something…’

The prophet exerted her power, hoping for even a faint hope, and began to stare wide-eyed at the scene revealed in the crystal ball.

What appeared there was a battle scene like the one unfolding right before her.

The end that her companion and the Demon Lord would meet after their fight.

-SPLAT!!!

The Demon Lord’s hand piercing straight through his chest.

The sight of him pulling out the heart and crushing it.

“Uh… huh?”

That future was approaching rapidly.

Just a few seconds away.

After that fleeting moment when she would look back at him, the future she had seen would unfold.

“Ah…”

By the time she realized this and took her eyes off the crystal ball, his posture had already faltered from the successive impacts.

What approached his outstretched arms was the Demon Lord’s right hand, filled with fierce power.

“No, don’t…”

It would soon pierce through his chest.

Despite foreseeing it, there was nothing she could do.

She could only sit there, opening her mouth and desperately reaching out toward where he was.

-SPLAT!!!!

But in this cruel world, individual wishes are more insignificant than anything.

When blood finally burst between the two colliding people, the prophet’s face instantly turned ashen.

That was the end. Her lover had failed to stop the Demon Lord, and his heart had been ripped out.

After that, everyone would disappear. That would surely be the future following the one she had prophesied.

-CRACK!

But why?

His body, which should have had its heart ripped out, was still moving.

In that split second, he twisted his body to avoid the attack, and thrust two daggers into the empty space.

-CRACK, CRUNCH!

As blood splattered from the wound, dirtying the ground below, the Demon Lord’s expression, which had been gaining the upper hand, crumpled as he began to glare at him.

“You, what did you just…”

-WHOOSH!!

The Demon Lord was struck in the head by a thrown dagger and retreated backward.

Following that, her companion generated new weapons and began to push back, overwhelming the Demon Lord’s body.

“What…”

Irie was watching all of this.

Though it was merely a temporary disruption achieved by catching him off guard, even that surprise could only be sprung by twisting the future she had prophesied.

Just like when a Transcendent causes a future to twist by acting on a whim.

“How on earth…?”

Could it be that he had risen to the ranks of the Transcendents?

No, it’s not that simple.

A Transcendent capable of twisting prophecies must either affect the vast scope that serves as the medium for prophecy, or have whims that reach an unpredictable level.

It is absolutely, definitely impossible for a mere human with special abilities to twist prophecies.

-BOOM!!

Yet he continued to fight.

Even though he faced death in subsequent prophecies, he twisted them again and again.

“Could it be…”

She soon guessed the reason.

Each time she attempted a prophecy, his actions changed, and his attempts to avoid the death that would come in a few seconds became increasingly noticeable.

“Can you… see it?”

Moreover, she could feel her power, which constantly wished for his survival, vaguely connecting with him.

“What I’m seeing…”

Yes, that in itself was worthy of being called a miracle.

Something that could never be grasped by simply giving up.

“Is it being transmitted to you right now?”

A miracle crafted by human hands, which only those who take action can grasp.

****

“…What are you, bastard.”

Was it something he hadn’t expected to happen?

The Demon Lord, who had been confident he could rip out my heart, began shouting at me with trembling hands.

“You’re so weak… you should have died long ago, so stop bothering me any further!!!”

CRASH!

A wave of power came rushing with his fighting spirit.

The moment I faced it, I began to see the same future as before.

The sight of him reaching me, stomping on the ground, and the debris shooting upward, inverting my field of vision.

And the hand that tore through the spreading dust, grabbing my head and crushing it.

-SWISH!

No sooner had I taken a step back with that in mind than another vision appeared.

But this time, it wasn’t just one.

As I caught my breath and prepared to counterattack, a downward strike came from above.

Reading that future, I moved my left foot backward, but a hand stretched out in front. When I tilted my body to the side, a kick came…

And beyond that, the consequences of actions I was about to take filled my vision in that split second.

Which path should I choose among them?

Where should I go to preserve my life and survive?

-BOOM!!!

The answer is in the direction where those afterimages aren’t visible.

Realizing this unconsciously, I dodged and swung my axe, striking the Demon Lord’s face, followed by a hammer blow that successfully pushed his body back.

“A dying brat like you…!!!”

-BOOM!

A spear followed the Demon Lord who was ranting as if he couldn’t understand.

That action was performed reflexively, beyond mere swiftness.

If I hadn’t thrown the spear here to stop his movement, my upper body would have been torn apart by his strike as he charged with expanding power.

“…Haa, haa.”

But was it because I had seen a series of futures that hadn’t yet occurred?

Dizziness swept over my chaotic mind, and my vision repeatedly blurred hopelessly.

There was no way I could keep my wits about me.

Knowing that even the slightest mistake meant death, facing such scenes countless times—no human could shake off the tension of such a situation.

“Ugh, haa…”

Am I even alive right now?

What guarantee is there that I haven’t already reached one of the futures I saw in those afterimages, and that this moment isn’t just a hallucination I’m facing right before death?

-SPLAT!

No, this is reality.

The pain seeping from the wound that just burst open proves it.

The agony of my body creaking just from receiving that force ironically served as evidence that I was still alive in this moment.

-Why are you going this far?

A voice reached my ears as I tried to control my magical power through that pain.

It conveyed a sense of sobbing, showing that she too was capable of feeling despair.

-I can tell for sure because I’m in sync with you. Right now, neither your body nor your mind is normal… If you keep enduring this, your brain will melt first.

That’s right. If I endured everything like this, I would either die or become a vegetable.

I was feeling that even my ability to remember myself was being tested by directly facing countless deaths.

Doubting whether I was truly a human named Hyoseong Woo, whether Hyoseong Woo was truly alive…

Continuing such a precarious tightrope walk might be considered foolish for someone who wants to live as a human.

-…Do you have a reason to live that’s worth going this far?

The current question was accompanied by such skepticism.

To that question, I took a deep breath and prepared to channel magical power into the weapons I had deployed around me.

“Nothing happens if you don’t act.”

Steeling my resolve, gathering my fighting spirit.

Reminding myself of the reason I could stand here now.

“The fact that I’m alive, that I can land a hit on that cursed monster… it’s all because I’ve endured until now.”

Yes, hasn’t life always been like that?

Despair existed everywhere I went, and after enduring that despair, even greater despair would strike…

Yet in between, there were things, however feeble, that I could grasp.

I had moved forward using those as stepping stones.

This miracle I’m experiencing now is something I can enjoy after overcoming the sadistic nature of the world that torments me.

“So, I won’t give up.”

Just as I’ve learned despair.

Because I know there are also things that can only be grasped through action.

“I will never, ever give up…!!”

That belief eventually became a battle cry that lifted the weapons into the air, then launched them forward.

The Demon Lord, pierced all over his body by the barrage of weapons, spewed blood in all directions and let out a pain-filled howl.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! You worthless piece of trash!!!”

-RUMBLE!!!!

A torrent of power surged from his body.

In response, the sky right above the imperial palace split violently, and everything began to be sucked up through that rift.

The ceremonial hall began to break apart, unable to withstand the power, and beyond that, the entire imperial palace rose upward as if defying gravity.

The familiar environment changed from the rooftop of a building to mid-air. And the moment places to stand became scattered fragments all around.

-SWISH!!!

When the Demon Lord’s fist aimed at me after he stomped on those fragments and leaped, I saw afterimages again, but it was difficult to respond with such unstable footing.

In the end, all I could choose in that split second was to deploy a guard.

-BOOM!

The guard I deployed wasn’t broken, but the impact wasn’t absorbed either, and my body was flung far away from the fragment.

If I hadn’t barely managed to hit another fragment with my back, I would have fallen below.

This precarious scene is where I must fight now, but conversely, the opponent’s posture is also unstable, so his punches don’t have the same power as before.

Did he make a poor move in his excitement?

If that’s really the case, there might be hope in this cursed fight, but the problem is that I’m not used to fighting in a place like this either.

-…Can you really handle this?

Yes, the countless afterimages visible in my sight at this moment…

The scenes of death waiting wherever I go were overwhelming me as I tried to chase even a thread of hope.

They make me anticipate a future where countless crossroads of death will strike again even after passing this moment, forcing me to give up.

“I have to try.”

Nevertheless, I straightened my posture and prepared to aim my spear at the fierce calamity rushing toward me again.

Such collisions with this calamity would continue to repeat until one side fell.

If I don’t give up.

-Ring ring~♩

If I don’t give up as long as I’m alive.

I might someday be able to grasp the miracle that will come.

****

“…Merilyn.”

Fragments of the imperial palace shot into the air.

Observing the situation from the lowest position among them, Irie gasped in shock at the person who had risen beside her.

“How on earth…?”

Even though the magical core, which is equivalent to the heart for members of the Demon Tribe, had been ripped out while she was still alive, how…

“…Well, I’m not sure myself.”

Merilyn also wanted to find the answer to that question.

Her heart had clearly been ripped out.

The source of her power, which proved she was a member of the Demon Tribe, had not only been ripped out alive but also shattered.

“I don’t know what’s beating in my chest right now…”

Yet somehow, why did she feel such a clear throbbing in her chest?

“…Merilyn.”

“Irie.”

There was only one reason she could think of.

The awakened desire she possessed as a demon had caused some kind of change in her physical body.

Although she could no longer claim to be a demon since her magical core had been ripped out…

If she had unknowingly created something to replace it.

“May I ask you one thing?”

Yes, that might be the driving force making her heart beat at this moment.

In the heart of the demon feeling this, there existed something that could be called a modest expectation.

“To you, what do I look like now…?”

“…What do I look like to you now?”

Perhaps she could be faithful to the throbbing of her second heart.

The expectation that she might have been reborn as the same kind of being as the one she loved so much.