Ch.5418. Among All Those Countless Stars (2)

At some point.

I began to see strange things.

“Fall down! Just die already!”

“What kind of trick are you using?!”

“You devil bastard!”

They’re not living up to their size.

Earlier they were charging in eagerly.

Now they’re keeping their distance, hurling nothing but curses and insults.

They act like they’ll rush in at the first opportunity, but.

…In the midst of all this.

For some reason.

A small child was moving like an acrobat, taking down those worthless brutes.

Thinking I might be seeing things, I keep watching.

With a body much smaller and frailer than mine.

Like a leaf fluttering in the wind amid the brutal onslaught.

…Slicing, stabbing, and grazing the enemies’ vital points.

Those movements and attack intentions seemed similar to what I had instinctively shown just moments ago.

I simply couldn’t look away.

As if teaching me, awakening something in me.

“Aaaaargh!”

The illusion shatters.

A barbarian warrior swings his greatsword at me.

“…Like this.”

I block the sword.

Holding my blade at an angle,

I deflect it.

It’s nothing particularly impressive.

Yet strangely, it sinks deep into my heart.

As if this movement had always been mine.

Using the deflected force against him, I strike.

Surprisingly, my counterattack flows more smoothly than before.

“Kuhek!”

His chest splits open.

Piercing through skin, breaking even ribs.

The opponent’s chest is brutally torn apart.

“……”

The illusion continues to move acrobatically.

Stepping on enemies’ legs and chests to flip behind their heads.

Running toward attackers to make it difficult for them to strike, slipping between their legs, climbing over their backs.

When hands reach to grab, using a small frame to advantage, gripping their fingers and breaking joints just as I had done, and using that instinctive moment of self-protection to disrupt their center of gravity.

Some try to crush the boy regardless of broken finger joints, howling as they attack.

But the boy uses their excitement-stiffened shoulders and momentary rigidity against them, swinging his sword to cut their eyes, or lightly piercing and slicing their necks.

With the slightest lapse in attention, he severs ankles, slashes thighs to cause bleeding.

‘How skilled.’

Yet something feels off.

What could have made a child so young capable of such things?

Suddenly.

The illusion looks directly at me.

Just as I was watching him, he was staring right back at me.

Though faint, I see a clear flash of gold.

Those eyes gleaming like gold.

…I sensed something inexplicable.

Is it a premonition?

Or simply a longing to interpret it that way?

…I don’t know.

Only.

That memory suddenly surfaced.

What the old woman said while clearing her throat with a cough.

[One of the many stars will come to you. I only tell what I’ve seen, so the rest is for you to interpret.]

One of many stars.

What does it mean?

I don’t know.

I don’t have the strength to think.

Even as I struggle to breathe in this moment, I might collapse at any time.

My consciousness has already plummeted to the bottom.

Everything I see is nothing but a blur.

And yet.

Those eyes alone remained clear.

‘I see.’

Ruel.

You survived.

You survived, and kept on surviving.

…You’ve made it this far.

I don’t know who this boy is.

But those eyes are the spitting image of Ruel’s.

“…So that’s it.”

I unconsciously look up at the sky.

“If this is the ending. That would be… fine too.”

Have I fulfilled my role?

I don’t know.

…Only.

“…?”

Suddenly.

Through his eyes.

The world is reflected.

The once small village has grown enormously compared to before.

Inside the church, a stonemason is laboriously focused on a sculpture.

What is he working so hard to create?

The completed statue has something that makes even my heart swell.

A man sitting with his sword thrust into the ground.

Unable to collapse completely, he grips it for support, resting his head against it.

Countless people gathered behind him, as if clinging to him.

Each of their faces belonged to strangers I didn’t know.

Yet strangely, each face transforms into someone familiar.

-Why must you leave like this?

-We’re sorry! If only we could have been of some help…

-You must get up! You can’t be like this here!

-Mister! Mister!

-…What kind of departure is this?

Father.

“……”

The black-haired boy.

With eyes like Ruel’s, he looks up at me.

“Boy. Can you tell me your name?”

“……”

With eyes that seem about to close.

Yet with vivid golden, sulfurous eyes raised.

He answered.

“I am Kariel.”

“……”

A child with Ruel’s eyes, mentioning the same name as mine.

“I see.”

So that’s what was meant by one of many stars.

And among those many stars.

You have arrived before me.

A boy with Ruel’s eyes.

Demonstrating sword techniques and skills known only to me and my master.

Facing the same trials as I did.

Yet refusing to surrender.

……

“Thank you,” the boy said, bowing his head.

“No. It’s the opposite.”

It is I who.

“Thank you.”

In my fading consciousness.

Suddenly, a pure white radiance pours down from the sky.

From somewhere, in a voice I’ve heard before,

the boy calls out.

-Kariel! How long are you going to keep us waiting!

Following that, a girl with a familiar voice

puffs her cheeks and scolds him angrily.

-I almost died of boredom!

There they are.

As if enchanted, the man walks toward the light.

His once-heavy body now feels light as a feather.

Naturally releasing the sword from his hand.

As if setting down the heavy duties and responsibilities,

the man slowly moves toward that place.

Now a young boy again, the man

runs lightly with a smiling face toward the boy and girl.

The boy and girl standing with their backs to the light.

Behind them.

A man who looks exactly like the former man and.

Beside him, leaning deeply against him, showing a full-bloomed smile toward the approaching boy.

A woman.

There for a moment.

The boy stopped running and unconsciously turned around.

“……”

The boy who had grown larger than himself.

The boy, toward the boy with the same name as his.

The boy, Kariel, waved his arm widely.

As the clear sound of a horn echoed throughout the world.

Eventually the world.

Was wrapped in pure white.

And the jet-black boy who remained in it.

With his eyes closed, held his breath and turned away from the scene for a while.

“……”

The world is collapsing.

Yet in the process, the giant warriors burst into hearty laughter.

“Kahahaha! Yes! It’s finally over!”

“See! What did I tell you?”

“A man like that! Even the gods would covet him!”

“Truly, a life full of sorrows.”

“Even so, without witnessing his end, how could we rest in peace?”

Opening my eyes, the warriors who had become whitish forms again.

They looked at Kariel with indescribable expressions.

“Weren’t you resentful of him?”

“We were!”

“Very much so!”

“But our resentment wasn’t directed at him. It was toward our tribe that abandoned us stragglers, our brothers and families.”

“What do you think we did, obsessed with the vain honor of being warriors?”

“Ah, but it felt good to show off our strength.”

“So we deserved what we got!”

…Completely different from before.

“It’s true we drifted here out of resentment. But watching his life and his determination, we changed too.”

Normally, they might have become vengeful spirits or evil spirits.

But in the end, he upheld his beliefs even in death.

“He moved even us.”

His life had not a single point of shame.

“We, full of shame, began to envy him.”

So they roughly looked after the domain he tried to protect.

“Those who remain will stay, but that too ends now.”

“Because we don’t have that strength.”

“……”

Even in death, he protected the domain as a holy spirit.

…Is that the story?

Just how remarkable a person was he?

A hollow laugh escapes me.

I don’t know why, but sadness wells up.

A life full of sorrows.

Though the ending seemed to resolve well.

Doesn’t it mean he endured all that time, a life neither living nor dead, holding his breath until the very end?

Kariel couldn’t help but ask.

“Did I… arrive too late?”

“Of course not.”

The warriors immediately declared.

“Everything has its time, boy.”

“……”

The white sky breaks into tiny pieces.

As if snow made of gold and pure white were falling.

Splendid yet bright.

Sacred and sublime.

It felt truly ephemeral.

Like flower petals blooming and scattering on a spring day.

Suddenly.

I felt as if the scent of lavender was strongly wafting.

I see.

This place was originally full of lavender fragrance.

Especially during festival periods.

They say they throw flower petals during festival ceremonies.

With blessings.

With sincerity.

Wishing the other well.

Hoping things go well for them.

Filled with joy.

Filled with happiness.

That was what this village, which he had risked his life to protect…

“……”

And so the world before my eyes.

Like a momentary dream.

Scattered away.

All that remained was.

Saint Kariel’s straight sword, emitting a soft light.

In that moment.

Crack!

The cracked sword broke in half.

As if putting down all its burdens.

Even the sword, as if announcing it had completed its role.

====

-This confirms it.

The Demon King gained undeniable certainty.

That is not the vessel of a hero or brave warrior.

No, perhaps it once was.

But at this very moment.

She was certain it was something completely different from such things.

…A saint (聖人).

What one would call a holy child (聖子).

Or a being called divine human (神人).

That is precisely the vessel he is.

The Demon King, watching Saint Kariel’s ascension, became increasingly certain.

-So that’s why those old men were circling around him.

She was more than 90% certain.

But she couldn’t be absolutely sure.

What isn’t perfect isn’t complete.

Therefore, until she was perfectly certain.

She wouldn’t guarantee anything.

But once she was convinced, it became a certainty.

-That little pope always had good intuition.

At first, she thought he was just using his fame and moderately high reputation.

Even when he was elevated to Pope thanks to Ermina, he didn’t seem that threatening.

…That all of it was a mask to deceive the world, even she, the Demon King, didn’t know.

Perhaps he had received divine revelation.

To never reveal himself until the end.

-Such a person, even as he was dying, poured oil and baptized him?

That’s impressive.

Perhaps he too received revelation, or had the ability to see or know something others couldn’t.

-But why appear at this particular time?

Truly.

Truly.

Truly.

-There won’t be a dull moment.

Golden smiled.

Unlike a blooming flower.

Like a withering flower desperately clinging to life at the end.

Such a smile viciously settled on her face.

It wasn’t envy, jealousy, inferiority, or even frustration.

The emotion lingering there was.

…Regret.

Or irritation.

Or…

Anger.