Ch.329Chapter 329 Epilogue – Unity (4)

In this chasm of matter and spirit, she who had once spoken into someone’s mind.

Now recognized the voice echoing inside her own head.

Wait–!!

It was a voice filled with urgency and sorrow.

There was no need to wonder whose voice it was.

Its deep persuasiveness was unmistakable.

Unlike her own voice—worn down by the harsh winds of life, unable to carry bright energy no matter how hard she tried—this one was bright and overflowing with vitality.

Only one being could produce all these qualities with a voice identical to her own.

The moment she heard that voice—her own voice calling desperately to Lilianshiz from another timeline.

Lilianshiz’s light footsteps, which had seemed unstoppable, faltered.

Her firm resolve to move only toward that mass of light suddenly seemed meaningless.

She recognized that her unwavering steps toward the light had momentarily stopped because the call from her other self with the identical voice was incredibly compelling.

Her mind urged her to listen to the forthcoming plea from her other self.

“…Hah.”

Lilianshiz let out a small, light sigh that no one could hear, then resumed her steps toward the light.

She had kept the sigh quiet and soft, fearing that the child beyond might react if they heard it.

The moment she sighed, Lilianshiz realized something.

She couldn’t remember when it had started, but whenever she sighed, hot breath mixed with regret and resentment would inevitably follow.

Yet now, her sigh carried nothing but relief.

This brought her a small measure of comfort—knowing she could remain unmoved by her other self’s words and expel only relief from her heart.

But she also felt that along with pure relief, her sigh contained something that could be defined as greed, albeit in a very small amount.

She realized she shouldn’t linger here any longer.

The greed, if it could be called that, might seem trivial to some.

The desire to see, even for just a moment, what kind of life these two people—who unlike her would find happiness together—would lead.

It was merely a modest wish, almost too humble to be called greed: wanting to watch them and gain a small satisfaction from it.

But knowing this was wrong, Lilianshiz continued her unwavering steps after her sigh.

She instinctively knew that if she stopped, captivated by that compelling voice, she would become entangled with the other self who would beg her to stay, and she would never leave this place.

Everything had returned to normal, and only happiness remained in this world.

And there were people who should live in this happy world and enjoy even greater happiness.

She knew better than anyone that there was no place for her among them.

‘Take care.’

Turning her back on the voice trying to stop her, Lilianshiz silently mouthed her farewell where no one could hear it.

If she had voiced her goodbye, her other self who had called out to her would surely try more desperately to stop her.

And just as her past self would have done, that kind-hearted other self—who had already called out to her—would obviously try to make her stay here.

With the greed now making itself known within her, she would likely give in to such pleas and remain here.

And the longer she stayed to fulfill that greed.

The more certain it was that she would lose control of the growing desire within her, allowing it to expand its presence.

The forbidden, wicked desire to be there herself—not her other self—happily by Kal’s side.

Perhaps it was because she had already fallen for the temptation of the demon god of desire and crossed over to this place.

As Lilianshiz felt her inner wish transforming into concrete desire.

Grind–!!

She gritted her teeth and continued her steps more resolutely.

No. This absolutely must not happen.

She must not let the greed—no, desire—that had manifested in her heart interfere with the path that those who deserved happiness should walk.

Crunch-

Gritting her teeth again as she steeled her resolve, Lilianshiz’s footsteps became increasingly light.

She thought that perhaps—though it seemed unlikely—her other self might come to stop her from disappearing through the light, which made her steps quicker and lighter with urgency.

But had even those footsteps been consumed by desire?

‘Getting… slower.’

As Lilianshiz felt her steps toward the light that would separate her completely from this world becoming heavier with time, her heart grew urgent unlike her sluggish feet. Just then.

She realized why her footsteps had slowed.

It wasn’t because she had succumbed to the desire sprouting in her heart.

Grip-

Something firmly grasped one of her arms that should have been swinging vigorously with her steps.

“Please don’t go…”

It was a voice so desperate that just hearing it colored a corner of her heart with sorrow, stopping her in her tracks.

Despite having grabbed her hand, the touch conveyed no roughness, only desperation, and Lilianshiz reflexively turned her head toward it.

And…

“Stay with me…”

As her head turned, her gaze met with the owner of that sorrowful voice.

An appearance so identical it would be hard to find any differences.

However, compared to her who was in the midst of walking away, this one had a somewhat more youthful impression.

Worn down by the harsh winds of life.

And marinated in the loss of someone precious.

Unlike herself, whose blue eyes—once said to evoke the sea—could no longer hold light.

This one had clear, clean, shining blue eyes that evoked nostalgia for those times…

“You… can stay.”

She urged Lilianshiz to remain here.

“…You.”

Seeing this, a single word escaped Lilianshiz’s lips, containing the maximum amount of emotion that could be expressed with one word of surprise.

Since stepping onto this land after falling for the sweet temptation of the incarnation of desire.

She had witnessed and felt so many miraculous experiences with her own eyes and skin.

She believed nothing could surprise her anymore.

Yet this world, and this other self standing before her, stood in her line of sight as if to show her there were still more surprises to come.

#

Seeing Lilianshiz who had forgotten to continue walking due to the shock of her other self’s sudden appearance.

The Lilianshiz of this timeline—who should now be called Shiz for brevity—was equally surprised.

While she had been stroking the head of Kal, who had fallen asleep exhausted after everything ended, comforting her own tired body and mind.

She sensed her other self trying to disappear without a word.

Despite her desperate cry for her not to leave.

Realizing that her other self was moving away from her, ignoring her pleas.

She had wished with desperation that she wouldn’t leave.

Though they had started from the same point and walked carefully.

The accumulated differences in unintended choices.

Had led her other self to walk a path she couldn’t take herself, resulting in a completely different ending in a timeline where she had clearly lived wishing only for oblivion.

It was uncertain whether her other self, who was about to leave now that everything here was over, could even return to her own place.

And even if she did return safely, the conclusion awaiting her seemed all too obvious.

So she had wished with all her heart that her other self wouldn’t live unhappily there.

When she came to her senses, not only had she found herself in a strange space she couldn’t identify.

But she was now face to face with her other self whom she had only heard in voice, so her surprise was understandable.

It was no exaggeration to call her another self—she was identical to Shiz.

Even concentrating all her visual power to examine her, the only difference was that she looked slightly older, with no other distinctions from her current self.

But despite such resemblance, unlike herself, she had cloudy eyes that couldn’t hold hope, and a somewhat pitiful appearance marked by loss and the harshness of life.

To think that beneath that black armor covering her entire body and the helmet that revealed nothing but her mouth, such a pitiful figure existed.

Just seeing her made Shiz’s lips move involuntarily, wanting to say something more to Lilianshiz beyond asking her not to leave.

“…You.”

With an expression that was, in some ways, more surprised than her own, Lilianshiz’s mouth opened first.

“…I must go.”

Uttering these words that showed her unwillingness to bend her will even after coming this far.

She roughly shook off Shiz’s hand that had grasped her arm.

“…Ah!”

Startled by the sudden rejection, a faint groan of surprise escaped Shiz’s lips as her body tilted.

Though Shiz’s body was trained enough not to lose balance and fall from such a small thing.

The disrupted balance resulted in widening the gap between her and Lilianshiz whom she had tried to approach.

Shiz easily regained her balance and tried to step toward Lilianshiz again.

“…I am an impurity.”

Her steps couldn’t continue due to Lilianshiz, who began her farewell with quiet but incomparably solemn words.

Lilianshiz’s expression, unlike her solemn tone, looked incredibly lonely.

Seeing this made Shiz want to approach her, despite herself.