Ch.57Confession, and the Heart (Part 2 Episode – Complete)

In the midst of the thick darkness, a woman shines brilliantly.

Though her feet were bound by frost, she turned this limitation into an opportunity, firmly anchoring her lower body.

Irefi Justitia. She draws the trajectory of a single sword strike from the center of heaven and earth. Like a miracle dividing the world in two, as if performing the primordial feat of separating sky from earth.

No sound of air being cut reaches my ears. It was the result of her sword draw accelerating far beyond the speed of sound. In my world where light, sound, and everything else vanishes into emptiness, only two people exist.

Irefi, who cleaves the world, and I, desperately trying to reach her from mid-air. Somehow, by any means necessary, I shouted my final words with all my conviction to stop her.

And the result was…

—Pff…huff…!

I finally saw it. The curve of her eyes peeking through the deep shadows on her face. And her sword path, always perfect, trembling slightly.

Heaven and Earth Splitting is Irefi’s ultimate technique. Once activated, the extreme recoil restricts her movement, placing an enormous burden even on her.

For such a technique, her sword path had deviated slightly. The meaning was simple and clear: the target had moved infinitely far away.

SLASH!

A sharper and fiercer roar than any I’d heard before reached my ears belatedly. Then, a phenomenon of heaven-shaking change that the whole world would marvel at descended upon the world far behind me.

WHOOOOSH!

Space split precisely in a straight line, creating a two-dimensional crack in midair. The crack greedily sucked in everything with its powerful gravitational pull, and seven pillars of whirlwinds devoured the clouds due to the sudden updraft.

Zikharun and Bartlant each secured themselves in their own ways to avoid being pulled in by the aftermath of Heaven and Earth Splitting. One drove his Conqueror’s Sword deep into the ground, while the other froze his ankles to the ground with frost.

And I…

Thud.

Simply, I landed safely in front of Irefi. I looked down at her as she stood before me, her entire body trembling.

What expression should I make? Finally, after an impossible journey, I’ve barely reached you.

Now that it’s come to this, I don’t know what to say first.

Because I have nothing to say. Because I have too much to say. Because my heart is confused. Because I want to treat you less awkwardly. Because I want to properly convey what’s deep in my heart.

Even in the brief moment I’m pondering this, you act immediately.

“Holy Memory.”

Zing-!

A blue, translucent cube materializes just large enough to envelop Irefi. Inside the cube, she kneels on one knee and takes labored breaths.

This too is still the same. The pattern of relying on protective abilities until she recovers from the recoil of Heaven and Earth Splitting. Just like a powerless armadillo facing a predator…

But you know, Irefi. I already possess the strength to break Holy Memory, and my stamina is nearly infinite. You’re not one to not know it’s useless. I can easily destroy such a small barrier.

Still, it’s bitter. The fact that you’ve taken defensive measures means you have the will to live. And it means you believe without doubt that I will attack you.

Irefi. What can I do for you? Should I destroy your physical body to give freedom to your soul? If you die by my hand, will you be able to depart with satisfaction?

You’re selfish, infiltrating and disturbing people’s hearts with your meaningful attitude, without considering others’ feelings. I dislike your one-sided request to kill you.

Yes. I really… dislike it.

Then I should act accordingly. I’ll pour out everything I want to tell you in a messy flood, like tipping over a bucket of water.

That’s my spiteful revenge.

“Dark art, Ever-Changing Forms.”

The blackened earth moves sluggishly. Unlike the old man’s version, it followed my command very slowly and meagerly.

The world gradually darkens into complete blackness. Floating earth creates a small dome around us, blocking everything.

The dark art’s earthen structure takes the form of a modest tomb, enclosing us.

A narrow circular space with earthen walls where we can’t see an inch ahead. That’s where we are. A maiden with a dead heart and a young man trying to convey his feelings face each other.

I cannot see Irefi. No matter how much I activate my senses, what can I do without light? I can only hear her rough breathing, unable to even guess what expression she’s making.

That’s why I don’t know your heart. So I decided to be selfish.

I resolved not to give you any choice after you selfishly imposed your unreasonable wishes and feelings on me, then left abruptly.

“Irefi.”

“…”

There was no answer. I carefully took steps to avoid falling. Soon, after just a few steps, I felt a smooth and solid mysterious sensation. It was the Holy Memory cube.

Thump.

I sat down against the cube and leaned my back on it. Sitting face to face would be pointless since I couldn’t see Irefi’s face, and it would only make my back ache.

No, actually, these were all excuses. To be precise, I’m angry. Yet my thoughts jump erratically to strange places.

I wondered how to start speaking without sounding trite. Or what words to choose so she wouldn’t get hurt, making me hesitate.

My determination to be selfish had completely evaporated, replaced by a swarm of useless thoughts.

I have no idea. Even after coming this far, I simply can’t think of what to do.

After all that worrying and deliberation, what I finally blurted out was just a complaint.

“It’s hard, Irefi.”

“…”

“Confronting someone is exhausting. You know? Before I entered the old man’s body, I might have been hit, but I never fought back. Because it was difficult and I was afraid to hit someone. I couldn’t understand how someone could hit another person so casually.”

“…”

“But after entering the old man’s body, I ended up fighting ridiculously strong people one after another. Feita’s soldiers, Zikharun, Bartlant, and finally you… Do you know how difficult it’s been for me? Really, really, really, I was terrified and hated it even though I didn’t show it. I wanted to run away and hide, to live somewhere where no one could find me.”

“…”

“But what could I do? If I didn’t act, everything would fall apart. It was obvious that many people would get hurt and become unhappy. I was just an ordinary, weak human who happened to enter the old man’s body. Yet everything I had to do was impossibly difficult. Then a question suddenly occurred to me: since I’m immortal anyway, couldn’t I just abandon everyone and everything, and live on even if the world ended? But I couldn’t do that.”

“…”

“I had too many people I didn’t want to let go of to just live well on my own. And among them, there was one connection that felt like my ankle was tightly bound with rope, impossible to escape from… no, one I didn’t want to leave behind. At first, it felt like a tightly bound net forced upon me, but now it has become a vast blue lake. Now it feels like I can only live there.”

Just like your blue lake-like eyes, Irefi. They’ve become a peaceful sanctuary.

“It’s you, Irefi. You caught me. By the time I realized it, I was too deeply entangled to escape.”

I took a deep breath and slowly closed my eyes. I needed a reason to organize my thoughts because I was embarrassed by my rambling. But somehow, no matter how much I tried to calm myself, words seemed to force their way out beyond my will.

“Irefi. You called me a savior. You praised me, saying I saved Miren and saved you as a bonus. But that’s wrong.”

I cannot be a great person like a savior. What’s so great about a failed noble nicknamed the NEET noble in high society? Rather, isn’t the truly great person someone else?

“You were the first to welcome me when I was slowly going mad, trapped in the Great Cavern. You were the first to bring light into the dim Great Cavern. You were the first person I talked to in that closed world as narrow as a well. We danced for the first time, held hands in the same bed for the first time. And also… we kissed for the first time.”

At that moment, I heard a startled sound of dirt being scraped. Even as I felt my face heating up, I continued speaking calmly.

“You took all my firsts, Irefi. And I… didn’t dislike it.”

“…!”

“Me, your savior, Irefi? That’s wrong. It’s the opposite. You were the savior who first reached out to me.”

You were my first window to this world where I had no connections.

“That’s why I wanted to save you. I wanted to see you smiling brightly as usual. I wanted to be with you continuously, like our everyday life that always continued.”

Will it reach you? I hope it does. I hope what you want is the same as what I want. Because for me, this is the moment I’m mustering the courage of a lifetime. Because this is my first time conveying such intense and precious feelings.

“I like you, Irefi. From that moment we met in the Great Cavern. Yes, from that worst first meeting, I had already fallen for you at first sight.”

On some day that now seems so distant, I encountered what felt like blinding sunlight. A white knight whose clumsy act I found amusing. I had to forcibly hold back my smile just from watching her adorable behavior.

Once, the old man teasingly asked me in the Great Cavern:

[Have you developed feelings for the white girl?]

Back then, I denied it like an immature teenage boy. I turned away, unable to be honest with my feelings. Now, I’m tired of my own negligence. I admit all my clumsy mistakes.

Ah. Yes. Old man.

I like Irefi. In the most special way in the world.

“So, Irefi. Come out of there. That small, cramped world doesn’t suit you. Take my hand. Live in my everyday world, not in a world reduced to ashes.”

This is my true heart. The strongest desire I’ve ever had in this world.

“I like you. I really, really like you, in the most special way in the world.”

I stood up and knelt on one knee. Facing the cube I had been leaning against, I reached out my hand to Irefi. Hoping to once again hold the hand I held that night when Miren slept between us.

Finally, I poured out my heart with all my might.

“Including the you that you like and the you that you hate, I love all of you. If you feel guilty about living, then live for me. Take my hand for my happiness.

You are saving me. My savior, Irefi.”

……

…………

It’s over.

It was a mess.

I poured out everything I wanted to say and feel until there was nothing left.

What remains is only Irefi’s choice.

She must have recovered considerable strength by now. She could continue fighting, or she could flee.

I am the worst.

After reaching the end, I was swept away by emotions and betrayed everyone’s expectations. I deserve to be called a third-rate gambling scum.

And yet…

Even knowing I’m just a fool who abandoned duty and promises…

I feel at peace.

There’s a part of me that doesn’t regret loving Irefi. Even knowing it’s a greater sin…

Then, from Irefi’s direction, I heard a trembling voice.

“Nepy.”

“Irefi.”

She speaks.

“I… I have too many sins.”

“Yes.”

“After Miren died, do you know what I did first? The Empress and… Charle… Charle… that innocent girl who liked me so much… I put her in a sack and then in front of the Emperor…”

“That’s in the past now.”

“I took many lives on the battlefield.”

“That was Feita’s scheme. Even I, who didn’t expect it, share responsibility.”

“I killed a pickpocket simply because I was in a bad mood.”

“Let’s protect more people than that. At least there’s one person here that you saved. Allow me to walk alongside you, even if your path is thorny.”

Even if the vast future ahead is unstable. Even if the ground we walk on is a gravel path full of flaws.

I just want to be by your side.

You probably don’t realize it at all, but you wouldn’t have been aware.

You were my only salvation in this world.

“Ugh… hic… aaah…!”

Crack, crackle, clang!

Even without light, I can tell. It’s the echo of the cube collapsing.

I followed my heart and took her small, delicate hand that wasn’t coming to me.

“I won’t let go now. So you won’t suddenly disappear like before, I’ll hold on for my sake.”

“Uh… ah… ah… Nepy, Nepy, Nepy…!”

While firmly holding Irefi’s hand, I embraced her thin back. The tears flowing endlessly soaked below my collarbone, making my heart ache.

I reached her completely. My messy confession, my hand, and my body heat, all of it.

The tomb created by the Ever-Changing Forms dark art loses its shape like the Holy Memory cube.

The sky adorned with moon and stars welcomed us. It’s a night sky that suits Irefi.

It wasn’t a sky burning with ash and fire. This Milky Way guiding a brilliant future suits her.

“Nepy. Are you really okay with me?”

“It’s the opposite, Irefi. It has to be you.”

“If you want to cancel, now’s the time.”

“Don’t say such things even as a joke.”

“…”

Irefi’s somewhat small frame fit perfectly in my arms. She buried her face in my chest, leaving clear tear stains on my clothes. I didn’t mind.

I was only worried that my fluttering heart might be pounding so hard it felt like my lungs.

She whispered softly.

“You know I’m very possessive once I set my mind on something, right?”

“I’ve experienced it enough to be sick of it.”

“Mmph.”

She’s undoubtedly recalling what happened in the basement of Marquess Justitia’s manor. Though Malice clouded her judgment, the tragedy fundamentally stemmed from desire.

In contrast, the current Irefi had released Malice to its limit for battle, clearing her mind. That’s probably why she’s belatedly realizing her embarrassment.

“We’ll work on controlling the Malice gradually. I’ll help you.”

“If you’re okay with someone like me… I’ll be in your care, Nepy.”

“Likewise, Irefi.”

I gently placed my hand on Irefi’s cheek as she buried her face against me. She raised her head and welcomed me with blue lake eyes reflected in the moonlight.

Enchanted by those sorrowful eyes, I want to offer my first to Irefi once again.

The kiss I first yearned for, the first I actively approached.

And I make a willful vow. That I will gladly endure a fate firmly bound to Irefi’s everyday life.

As we live, there will be times when things get rocky. We’ll have arguments. We might get angry at each other, and our hearts might point in different directions.

That’s the nature of the paths people walk.

But before tomorrow comes, we’ll laugh, talk, and embrace each other again.

In the end, I’ll have no choice but to return to loving her.

Just as we met by twisting the original story.

Just as a day like this has come.

Just as words accumulate and are released.

We are a metronome.

No matter how twisted we become, in the end, we’ll live by matching our misaligned rhythms.

Irefi’s warm body heat rose moistly over my tongue.

On this long, cold winter night when the starlight is still bright.

As if seeking support for the approaching winter, the distance between us became zero.

“I love you, Irefi.”

“I love you too, Nepy.”

Episode: Wish, and Salvation (End)

◇

On a hill with a clear view of Irefi and Nepy, two men looked down at them.

Bartlant with the Conqueror’s Sword on his back and Zikharun with his gleaming red eyes. They were temporary allies who had fought together.

Twitch-

Just as Zikharun’s finger was about to rise slightly.

Clang!

Bartlant’s Conqueror’s Sword approached Zikharun’s nape with limitless speed.

“Don’t do it.”

“Do what?”

Zikharun feigned innocence while his index finger trembled slightly.

“I said don’t do it!”

“Hmm.”

Bartlant’s battle aura-filled green eyes glared at him menacingly like an axe.

Only then did Zikharun fully open his fingers and shrug his shoulders.

“Do you think that thing should be kept alive? A monster that could have a malicious outbreak at any time? You got lucky this time. But what about next time?”

“We have Marquess Alteon. With him, everything will be fine.”

“Kuk, to think that you of all people would advocate for saving Irefi Justitia! Environment really does matter for people.”

“What are you trying to say…”

“‘Destroyer Irefi, come out and meet death with me.’ Does this line not ring any bells?”

Bartlant’s head tilted sideways at the unfamiliar sentence. He asked with an expression of complete bewilderment.

“…Who would say such a harsh thing?”

At this innocently naive statement, Zikharun lost his words for a while, then burst into laughter.

“Kuh, puhahahahaha! Yes, that’s right? Well, fine. Hmm. I see. This has been completely twisted. This might not be a bad ending for you.”

“Don’t try to make sense of other people’s lives on your own. It doesn’t feel good.”

“I apologize for that.”

“Huh?”

Bartlant raised his eyebrows in surprise at the straightforward apology. This seemed to breed distrust, as his expression became increasingly wary.

The next moment, Zikharun’s statement transformed Bartlant’s wariness into shock.

“Thank you, Bartlant. I received many favors from you in a time you don’t know about. Even though I know it’s a separate story, being Zikharun, I can’t help it. Well, think of it as simply a self-satisfying expression of gratitude.”

“Just who are you…”

Bartlant’s suspicion dissolved into the dry soil beneath Zikharun’s unilateral declaration.

“To repay the favor I received, I’ll respect your wishes and withdraw this time. But there won’t be a next time. The Empire and Feita. Only one side will survive this competition for survival. Until then… I wish you good health.”

With those final words, Zikharun’s pitch-black figure disappeared into the deep, dark forest. Detecting Zikharun, who had completely erased his presence, was no easy task.

After giving up the search due to prolonged effort, Bartlant shouldered his Conqueror’s Sword and looked up at the sky. Though he felt uneasy and considered returning first, he couldn’t do that.

He should take the two marquesses back… take them… back… but…?

Bartlant looked down again. The black and white couple kissing touchingly below was truly heartwarming. Even though Bartlant wasn’t the most perceptive, what he should do was clear.

“Enjoy your private time, Marquess.”

He turned around without hesitation and headed toward Eldrion. The temperature, which hadn’t bothered him before, suddenly felt chilly, evoking a lonely feeling.

“Perhaps I should reconsider those marriage proposals sent to the family…?”

As the young marquess of one of the four great ducal families, he was a top-tier eligible bachelor in the marriage market. If he sought a woman, he could have them lining up around the imperial palace.

There was only one problem.

“Still, I prefer natural encounters…”

He sought natural meetings.

For someone, it was truly a troubling starry night.