Ch.326Chapter 326 Epilogue – Unity (1)

With Lillian Shiz’s words to rest comfortably serving as a lullaby, Karl Ranos’s eyes slowly close once again.

He’s about to fall into a peaceful sleep without a single worry.

The light reflected in Karl’s gently closing eyes showed relief.

That relief must be the light that appears when, just before falling asleep, one takes in the sight of a precious person safely beside them.

She had gently dissuaded him as he tried to raise his injured body after barely regaining consciousness and becoming alert to what was happening, and made him comfortable.

How could one not follow the words of a precious person who tells you to rest comfortably with incomparable gentleness?

That’s why Karl entered into rest to recover his body and mind that he had just awakened.

Though his eyes should have closed completely to enter sleep, he was apparently so tired that he fell asleep with his right eyelid not fully closed, but that didn’t matter.

Because Karl’s precious Lillian Shiz gently closed his partially open eye with her palm as he fell asleep.

With a touch so careful and precious that one might wonder if there could be anything more delicate.

Lillian Shiz’s touch toward Karl’s eye was filled with nothing but tenderness.

After carefully completing the process of closing his eyes—something so simple yet, in a way, also difficult.

“Phew…”

Lillian Shiz carefully let out a sigh infused with relief and countless other emotions difficult to express in words.

Such cautious emotional expression might seem a bit frustrating to some people.

But for Lillian Shiz, whose heart was filled only with the desire not to disturb the rest of the precious person in her arms, it was natural that everything required caution.

Hush… hush…

After sighing, Lillian Shiz heard someone’s gentle breathing in her ears.

It was evidence that Karl, whose eyes she had closed with her own hands, had fallen asleep without any worries.

“…”

Looking at Karl with a gaze full of tenderness, Lillian Shiz was finally able to carefully lay him down on the floor from her arms.

Though she wanted to keep him in her embrace forever, surrendering to the slow passage of time that would soon end.

But there were still unfinished matters that prevented her from remaining that way.

After carefully laying Karl on the floor, Lillian Shiz turned her head toward the place where traces of the fierce battle she had just fought remained.

Crumble…

With a sound of something crumbling into nothingness.

The scene unfolded of the evil dragon Desire’s body, which had been mercilessly torn apart by the energy from the holy sword she had wielded, turning to ash not even amounting to a handful and disappearing.

The end of the evil god who had interfered with the flow of the world by repeatedly turning back time to suit his taste in order to fulfill his twisted selfishness was this insignificant.

Lillian Shiz recalled.

Though she hadn’t experienced it directly.

A memory from some era that had flowed into her mind as if seeping in.

The version of her in that memory had also witnessed a similar scene.

Unlike now, when just seeing it gave her a sense of relief from having fulfilled her duty.

There was a difference in that from the moment she faced it, she was gripped by a sense of loss as if she had lost everything in the world.

But one thing was the same: a being she had believed would always remain steadfast had crumbled into pieces too small to fit in one hand and disappeared.

Even the evil dragon’s body, so massive that describing it as covering mountain ranges would not be an exaggeration, turned to ash and disappeared in its final moment that came about through her actions.

Compared to that memory, or rather, in comparison to then, it felt as if there was an even greater resonance now.

How much time had passed while she was lost in thought, watching Desire turn to ash and disappear?

Swish…

The remains of Desire, not even amounting to a handful of ash, collapsed and scattered with the cold wind that blew into the exposed interior of the palace.

Shaa…

Among the scattering ashes, a somewhat murky light revealed its presence and rose high into the sky before Lillian Shiz’s eyes.

Shing-!!

Recognizing immediately what it was, Lillian Shiz’s right hand drew the holy sword she had sheathed after ending everything.

The expression of unparalleled tenderness she had shown when putting Karl to sleep was nowhere to be found.

The expression of Lillian Shiz as she drew her holy sword was imbued with solemnity, duty, and sublimity.

Among those positive expressions, there was also a trace of pure anger toward the one who had caused her precious person such suffering.

But the preceding emotions merely served to fuel even Lillian Shiz’s passion as fuel for achieving sublimity.

Having drawn her sword, what she intended to do was simple.

Though Desire had cast off his divine status, the inertia of having held that status for so long had left traces of divinity that, though mere husks, seemed to have granted him immortality.

She intended to completely eradicate everything that defined the existence of Desire, whose essence remained and was trying to disappear into the cracks between dimensions without facing complete death, using the power of the holy sword in her hand.

It was a simple task.

Grip the sword firmly, raise it high.

Then slash downward toward the murky essence trying to rise into the sky.

Then the golden light emitted from the sword would split that essence in two.

And the evil god who had made this land his playground while committing all sorts of atrocities would finally pay the price for his accumulated evil deeds.

Lillian Shiz’s right hand, understanding everything that would unfold and possessing the power to execute it, would slash downward without any hesitation.

[You don’t need to do that.]

If only a clear voice from somewhere hadn’t stopped her.

“…”

Lillian Shiz’s right arm, holding the holy sword high in the sky, didn’t move at all.

Despite hearing words stopping her from eliminating the source of evil, her expression showed no disturbance, like a lake without a single ripple.

From the moment she learned of the evil deeds this evil god had committed against this world and against the precious person who, though she had heard about it belatedly, was more valuable to her than her own life.

The desire to immediately execute this husk of an evil god despite the restraining voice urged her.

But the momentary wavering of her heart at the urge to ignore the restraining voice was brief.

“…Phew.”

After releasing the hot energy building in her chest with a faint sigh, Lillian Shiz lowered her raised right hand.

Shing-

She sheathed the holy sword at her waist.

Crack-!!

As soon as the holy sword was sheathed, a sound similar to a burst of noise, unsuited to the silence that had fallen over the area, was heard, and the murky essence of Desire vanished without a trace.

And the remains of Desire’s body, which had turned to ash smaller than a handful, soon disappeared without a trace.

“…Ah.”

A sigh flowed from Lillian Shiz’s lips, its emotional source difficult to discern.

It was unclear whether it was an expression of doubled relief from finally defeating the evil god.

Or whether it was an expression of regret at not being able to completely eradicate her existence.

[Sometimes, there are endings more painful than the disappearance of existence itself.]

From the clear voice resonating in Lillian Shiz’s mind, comforting her, it wasn’t difficult to understand that the sigh was closer to regret.

Perhaps the voice’s comfort had been effective.

“…”

After sighing and silently watching the series of events as Desire disappeared, Lillian Shiz’s eyes reflected contrasting emotions.

Relief that felt like unburdening after completing the task given to her.

And an inexplicable loneliness.

It might seem strange at first glance that loneliness would settle in after completely shaking off regret.

But these emotions all had their reasons.

[Thank you….]

A clear voice once again filled Lillian Shiz’s mind as she gazed at the spot where Desire had turned to ash and disappeared without a trace.

Unlike the mature voice that had calmly reasoned with her earlier.

This pure voice, filled only with clarity and cleanliness, was so youthful it seemed somewhat childlike.

It was such a beautiful and delicate voice that anyone hearing it would have turned their head toward its source.

But since there was no one in the area who could make such a voice, one might wonder where this voice was coming from.

“I should be thanking you… I was able to win because of you…”

Lillian Shiz, clearly feeling that the voice was expressing gratitude to her, instead expressed her own gratitude to the owner of the voice with humble words.

It was an extremely respectful and sincere gratitude expressed to the owner of the voice that had stopped her from completely finishing off Desire’s essence.

Apart from the regret of letting Desire escape, the gratitude Lillian Shiz felt toward the owner of this voice was close to unvarnished truth.

Who could it be? Who was the owner of the voice expressing gratitude to Lillian Shiz and in turn receiving gratitude from her?

“…It’s thanks to you.”

As Lillian Shiz continued her words.

“…My other self.”

Thanks to her revealing who she was expressing gratitude to, it wasn’t difficult to know.

In fact, it was something one could have known just from hearing the voice.

Because the voice resonating in Lillian Shiz’s mind and the voice of Lillian Shiz responding to it were essentially the same voice, except for the difference in youthfulness.

[Hehe….]

A faint laugh from the owner of the clear voice—that is, another Lillian Shiz who had crossed over from a different time—calmly resonated in her mind.

Having fallen for Desire’s deception and crossed over to this time period to resolve the lingering attachment she couldn’t fulfill.

She had resolved that attachment the moment she heard Karl apologize to her, saying he was sorry.

Her desire to remain in this land had instantly vanished.

And unable to maintain the physical body created from that lingering attachment, she had disappeared like smoke before Karl Ranos’s eyes, leaving only a farewell.

[No, it’s because of you that we could reach this conclusion.]

How had she come to have such a natural conversation with the Lillian Shiz of this time period?

Although it wasn’t a normal situation where they could talk face to face since her physical body had disappeared.

[Really… thank you….]

Judging by the gratitude felt in the voice of the Lillian Shiz from the other time period as she expressed incomparable thanks to the Lillian Shiz of the current time period.

Despite the unavoidable circumstances for both of them, the hostility with which they had first clashed swords was no longer present.

Because none of the resentment and lingering attachment she had shown when she first set foot on this land was evident, only refreshing clarity.

That included gratitude and respect for her other self who had accomplished what she couldn’t in the previous timeline.