Ch.317EP.67 – Parting Does Not Mean Farewell (3)

Indeed, it wasn’t my imagination….

Ihan knew that something unusual was happening to the elderly woman on his back.

Ah, don’t misunderstand—it wasn’t a negative change.

“Am I not too heavy for you?”

“If anything, you should put on more weight.”

“Hoho, seeing how happy that makes me feel despite my age, I suppose I’m still a woman at heart.”

“You’re still in your prime, you know.”

“You’re quite good at flattery. Ah, could you turn left here?”

“This way?”

…She was getting younger.

It wasn’t simply that she was becoming healthier—the life force (生氣) emanating from her was fundamentally changing.

Ihan had always been able to gauge someone’s age through smell and touch alone.

In that sense, the elderly woman behind him was no longer in her seventies.

Early fifties at most.

But even this was still in progress.

‘She seems to be getting younger by the minute.’

The vitality surrounding her body was becoming increasingly abundant, and Ihan couldn’t help but chuckle.

Could this be the legendary [Rejuvenation Holy Art]?

A holy art that could be used from one’s fifties onward. From what he’d heard, it was a special holy art bestowed by the Light of Radiance for priests who sacrificed their youth.

However, the Rejuvenation Holy Art he’d heard about wasn’t quite like this.

‘I heard it depletes about half of one’s holy power, and completely rejuvenates the person….’

The only drawback of the Rejuvenation Holy Art was that age control was impossible.

It would unconditionally fix the user at around ten years old, like a small child, and most of the holy power cultivated throughout one’s lifetime would be lost.

In reality, it was the Light of Radiance’s mercy saying, “You’ve worked hard, so forget about being a priest and live a new life,” but from a priest’s perspective, it must be an utterly disappointing holy art.

That’s why truly devout priests would save the Rejuvenation Holy Art until the very end of their lifespan, or use it to start a new life.

In that sense….

‘The elderly maid’s holy power seems unchanged?’

Perhaps because he had unintentionally met many priests, Ihan could gauge the total amount of holy power, and he felt that her holy power wasn’t just unchanged—it was growing stronger.

Yet, as if rejuvenating, her white hair was turning black, and flesh was beginning to form on her arms and legs that had once resembled withered trees.

Is this really rejuvenation?

It was as if…

‘Time is being rewound.’

It seemed like the time of her physical body was being rewound.

And moreover…

“My goodness? What’s happening to my hair?”

“…Huh.”

It was happening regardless of the body owner’s will.

The elderly maid could only blink in surprise as she watched her body grow younger.

It was a sight worthy of admiration, and Ihan could only laugh awkwardly at what could only be described as a [miracle].

A miracle happening right on his back.

* * *

Whoosh!

Ihan traversed the air like a bird soaring through the sky.

Air-walking. But Ihan’s air-walking, which now incorporated various techniques including Bow God’s Elastic Step, was practically indistinguishable from flight.

Thanks to this, no matter how far the distance, Ihan could cover it in one go, and it took him less than 15 minutes to reach a location approximately 50km away from the campsite.

…For reference, he could have gone faster, but he adjusted his speed to 15 minutes out of concern for the elderly woman’s comfort.

“Oh my, thank you. Really. Thanks to you, I could get here so quickly.”

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing. You were just an incredible beauty, ma’am.”

“Oh my, hohoho! Young people shouldn’t tease old folks. Such compliments should be reserved for young ladies.”

“…That’s what I mean.”

You are that young lady now.

Ihan held back these words as his mouth fell slightly open.

The once abundant white hair had disappeared, and the nun with flowing black hair—who could no longer appropriately be called “elderly”—had transformed into a woman in her early twenties, brimming with youthful freshness.

Only her manner of speech remained the same; if she changed that, she could easily pass for a student.

Just as Ihan was struggling to understand what miracle had occurred with the nun…

“Fortunately, we’ve found the right place.”

“?”

“This place, you see, is where that ominous being was sealed.”

“……”

At the nun’s sudden words, Ihan’s eyes widened slightly.

He understood that she was referring to where Inanna had been sealed.

But his surprise was only momentary.

“Is that so?”

Ihan simply accepted it.

He had no interest in dwelling on someone he had already defeated.

“Huhu.”

The nun laughed brightly at Ihan’s reaction.

Her gaze was as affectionate as a grandmother looking at her grandson, but coming from her rejuvenated form, it felt somewhat awkward.

As Ihan was feeling this discomfort,

“Then let’s begin.”

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a bright light began to spread from her body like a thick mist.

“!!?”

Ihan was surprised for two major reasons.

First, because the nun suddenly emitted an enormous amount of holy power without any explanation, and second, because he felt he might be blown backward by the holy power she was releasing.

What…

‘Can a human body contain such energy?’

If a person were a ceramic vessel, then the energy being released now was like an ocean.

It was an unbelievable sight, as if an ocean were contained within a ceramic vessel, and his astonishment was only natural.

During this,

“That ominous being left behind a gate to hell, what they call a [Hell Gate], at the place where it was sealed.”

The nun’s voice reached him.

“Hell Gate?”

“It’s one of the five gates to the netherworld, and it leads to hell where demons live. It may not matter now, but in just ten years, this gate would open, releasing all the demons of hell to turn this world into hell itself.”

“!?”

“What a truly wicked being. To create something like this before leaving…”

Rarely showing no trace of her usual smile, the nun stared expressionlessly at the space filled with darkness.

“…Ah.”

Only then did Ihan realize that this seemingly empty space was not empty at all.

‘Darkness…’

There was an unpleasant darkness.

But it was also a cowardly darkness with no presence.

It never revealed itself, hiding its form until the end.

If not for the nun, that darkness would have remained hidden from everyone, and eventually fulfilled its role as she had described.

It would have opened the entrance to hell.

Whoosh!

As if reading Ihan’s thoughts, the ocean-like holy power emanating from the nun’s body scattered throughout this place—no, throughout hundreds of kilometers of space.

As if determined to thoroughly eliminate all ‘ominous traces’ existing in this place.

“…I see, so this is…!”

The nun’s murmur followed, and Ihan, struggling against the waves of holy power, forced his eyes open and saw it.

“E-Elder…”

…The sight of the nun’s body becoming translucent.

* * *

‘Everyone’ saw it.

The surging, ocean-like holy power.

The sight of it swirling like waves.

Even the lords who had been in deep conversation at the campsite couldn’t hide their surprise as they witnessed the waves of holy power, and when the surging holy power finally became a fountain of light shooting up into the sky, even those living in Wales witnessed it.

A truly brilliant beam of light.

It was like a beam of light announcing the descent of a god, and as this beam subsided, the particles of light it left behind gradually seeped into the ground.

Tok.

Tok!

Toook!

Adorably small sprouts began to emerge through the soil where the particles of light had seeped in.

It would enrich the land’s fertility, and for hundreds of years to come, no demon would be able to appear on this land.

Evil beings would not dare to covet the land imbued with light and the life of a saint.

And this was,

“…Why did you do it?”

“What do you mean?”

“All of this.”

“Huhu.”

“Don’t just laugh. I’m angry right now, Elder.”

“I’m sorry for making you angry.”

“…When you say it like that, I feel like I’m the bad guy.”

“No, absolutely not. You are truly a good person…”

People needed to know that this blessing was achieved through ‘sacrifice’.

Without fail.

“……”

Ihan held the nun protectively in his arms, his expression unable to hide his despair.

Though she still looked young and vibrant, Ihan could sense it.

The nun had already sacrificed everything.

“The holy art, [Self-Sacrifice].”

“You’re quite knowledgeable.”

“I just happened to learn about it somehow.”

A holy art so rare that few could use it, and even fewer would.

If used, it could definitely realize a miracle, but in exchange, the user would certainly die.

That’s why no one uses this holy art.

After all, no one wants to die.

But why!

“Why do you keep sacrificing yourself like this? Like a fool…”

Why had the nun made such a choice?

Ihan couldn’t understand it at all.

Hadn’t she already wasted 50 years of her life?

“Since you’ve become young again, you could have lived a new life. Why did you do this… Why didn’t you just leave it to others!”

Ihan’s voice rose without him realizing it.

Yes, he understood that this Hell Gate or whatever posed a future danger.

But that didn’t mean the nun had to sacrifice herself.

They could have found a way to stop it in the future…

“No. No one but me could have stopped it. In the future, this gate would have eventually opened.”

“……”

“I’m not lying. I can see many things.”

“……”

“For example, that you’re someone who has made a noble sacrifice before, that you’ve lived through harsh trials despite that sacrifice. Yet you don’t resent the world and continue to live proudly.”

“……”

“You’re amazing, and pitiful. You could have been loved more, why did you have to live such a difficult life…”

“My life wasn’t all bad. What does the past matter when I’m busy living in the present and looking toward the future?”

“…Huhu, you really are a strong person, truly strong.”

The light in the saint’s eyes shone more intensely than ever.

Her frail voice was regaining strength, and Ihan knew this was not a positive sign.

The final radiance before death.

He knew this was the stage where a dying person temporarily regains vitality.

And with her final strength, the nun looked up at him and…

“Do you know? If it weren’t for you, what would have happened to Louise, that poor child?”

“…What would have happened?”

Ihan honestly had a good guess.

He had already received something of a spoiler from a certain gray-haired fellow.

But what the nun told him was…

“…Louise would have done exactly what I did.”

“……”

“Self-sacrifice. Through that, she would have stopped the evil spirit and saved the world.”

…Without anyone knowing.

“……”

She was describing an outcome even more devastating than the spoiler he had received.