Ch.58Miracle

# 1.

A journey embarked upon with dreams of happiness.

At the end of the long journey lay the unbearably cruel request from the person I loved most:

“Could you kill me?”

It was too harsh a favor to ask.

That’s why the warrior shook his head.

“There might still be a way!! According to my master, those under a curse cannot regain their senses.”

“But you’ve returned to us like this, my lady! Surely there must be a way!!”

Just as a glimmer of hope began to shine on the warrior’s distorted face—

“…No.”

CRASH!!

A force far stronger than before struck the warrior, throwing him back.

“I can feel it. The future where I’m completely dominated by this thing that’s consuming my life, where I commit greater slaughter before self-destructing.”

“No…!! You’re still my lady!! This isn’t like you at all!!”

His thick hands trembled violently.

Ilhong barely managed to ignore them as she walked toward the wounded, saying:

“Even now I want to kill. I want to slaughter everything alive, and it’s drawing me toward places with more people.”

She looked nothing like the lady he knew, as if her consciousness had been invaded by the curse.

SWISH.

Ilhong spread countless shadows around her and calmly added while looking directly at the warrior:

“So, warrior. This is the last chance I’m offering you. If you don’t kill me, I’ll kill everyone in the village, then kill you when you’re too late to regret it… and I’ll continue this massacre until this wretched life of mine ends.”

Her words seemed true.

At the sharp tips of the shadows was even the child she had saved earlier.

The warrior thought.

He thought, and thought again.

How could he save his lady? How could he possibly salvage this situation?

But the conclusion he reached after much deliberation was:

‘…There is no way.’

By no means could he stop his lady’s predetermined death.

So, realizing the desperate end was approaching, memories surfaced:

-“You offered me your life, so I accepted it with my lips.”

-“You can even say such sweet things?”

-“Haha! How cute. Alright. I won’t tease you anymore, so come closer.”

Memories of times that were so blissful.

The warrior, tears streaming down his face, asked Ilhong as if lamenting:

“…Why? Why has such tragedy befallen us?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Just when I was finally ready to be happy, why did you go so far away?”

“…Similarly, I don’t know.”

“Ahhh… Just when I could finally return everything you’ve given me, just when… just when I could finally do that….”

As the warrior let out a sigh, Ilhong’s fingers twitched, but he didn’t notice and continued through his tears:

“On the day we’d meet again. First I wanted to call you ‘my lady,’ then whisper your name late at night.”

“……”

“I thought about when we should have children, five or six would be fine.”

“……”

“But more than anything else…”

Suppressing the sobs that threatened to burst forth, the warrior, who had somehow approached Ilhong, embraced her.

“Ilhong… I wanted to stay by your side, my most beloved, for the rest of my life.”

Tears of blood streamed down.

CRUNCH.

The warrior, grinding his molars to swallow his sobs, stammered:

“So rather… I’d prefer to die with you… that would be much better.”

Despite the warrior’s tearful laments, she showed no reaction, only staring at the writhing people.

“……”

Being embraced by the massive man, her trembling lips would not have been visible.

…CLENCH.

Ilhong, also clenching her fist, put on a cold expression again and whispered:

“You’ve rejected your last chance.”

Immediately after.

Countless shadows shot up in straight lines toward the wounded,

“Swept up in emotions, you’re making me kill those I tried to protect with my own hands.”

Behind her cold murmur.

CRACK!!

A terrible sound of rupture echoed.

In the cruel silence as if the world had stopped, it was the warrior who spoke again.

Still embracing Ilhong, he whispered in her ear:

“…I’m sorry, my lady. Never… never forgive me.”

His thick hand had pierced through her delicate body,

“…You knew.”

She had briefly regained consciousness, but realizing it would only be momentary, she had asked to be killed.

But when the warrior didn’t move, she pretended to be possessed, yet,

“Didn’t I tell you… that you have no talent for acting, my lady….”

The warrior, realizing her true intentions, had no choice but to grant her request.

“Haha….. And I practiced so hard.”

The shadows losing their form and disappearing.

Even the few shadows that had already struck had been aimed at the ground, not at people.

Ilhong’s body collapsing,

Her eyes losing their vitality once more,

Her breathing becoming labored.

Though she could still see, Ilhong habitually reached out and caressed the warrior’s face.

“You’ve finally become a guardian deity. I heard it was extremely difficult; I’m proud of you.”

“…Thank you.”

Swish,

Swish.

As the demonic energy disappeared, her vision began to blur again.

Realizing she had little time left, Ilhong forced her closing eyes open.

“I wanted to call your name too, warrior. And if you called mine, I was going to tease you, saying ‘How dare you address your lady so…'”

“……”

“Of course we would have had at least eight children. Strong like you and pretty like me, they would have been such bright children.”

“…My lady…”

“But more than anything else…”

Behind her unstable breath, tears flowed from her pink pupils.

“I wanted to spend my entire life with you, warrior… with you, my most beloved.”

As soon as she spoke, her vision went dark.

In the pitch-black darkness that returned, a frightened Ilhong frantically reached out.

“Warrior, are you there?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“…Yes, of course you’re there.”

Ilhong was afraid.

She had lost her sight again, and death was so clearly approaching.

And death without form was more terrifying than anything else.

Ilhong wanted to cling to the warrior and whine about being scared.

But,

‘…If I do that, the warrior will live with guilt for the rest of his life.’

Ilhong swallowed her fear and began to whisper to the warrior:

“…Listen, and remember this well.”

# 2.

Unfortunately, the warrior could not recall Ilhong’s last words.

As if someone had carved out only that memory, he tried desperately to remember but failed.

Then it was revealed:

-[The current Emperor of the Babylonian Empire. It appears to be an attack by a secret unit directly under Renia Babylonia, but there’s no evidence.]

The warrior thought:

‘If I take revenge, perhaps I’ll remember.’

After that, it was easy.

Resigning as a guardian deity, infiltrating Babylonia under a false identity, learning the imperial language.

Whenever he recalled his awkward speech pattern with “eumnida” and “eumnikka,” he wondered how much his lady would have teased him had she been there.

That’s when he met the Black Wolf.

-Your accent is peculiar. Are you from the East?

-…Who, are—eumnikka?

-The person who came to save you.

-I didn’t, hear you—eumnida?

That day was the day before the emperor assassination attempt.

A battle suddenly broke out, but Black Wolf subdued the warrior in seconds and added:

-With skills like that, you’ll never kill him.

-Ugh—!! I’ll, manage—eumnida!!

-If you say so. Your lady would be so pleased with you.

-…? How, do you know—?

-[I’m also from the East. The tragedy that befell the Cheon family is famous enough that everyone knows about it.]

-[…I see.]

He explained his plan.

His goal was to remove the tyrant corrupting the empire and restore it properly.

Black Wolf promised the warrior:

-Someday, when everything goes according to my plan and I gain power. Those last words of your lady that you’ve forgotten. I’ll definitely help you recover them.

The warrior smirked.

-[Foolish bastard. You bark well.]

-[…I can understand Eastern language too. I told you I’m from the East as well.]

-[……] —eumnida.

-[I heard everything already.]

An incredibly sharp yet paradoxically warm man, like a healing blade.

After being pursued by him for days, the warrior finally decided to trust him.

For some reason he couldn’t quite explain, this man standing before him surely.

Could help him find the last words of his lady that he had forgotten.

Of course, he didn’t have high expectations.

Even if he recalled his lady’s words, his objective would remain the same.

But if there was one thing he wished for,

‘If only I could see you again, Ilhong, even for just a moment…’

Similarly, his lingering attachment swirled in the void before dissipating futilely.

.

.

.

And someone.

‘…I think I can grant that wish.’

Gathering up someone’s dissipating attachment without missing a piece,

【Due to the contract between <Black Wolf(Ex)> and <Aria(???)>, the lingering attachment of the third member – <Warrior(S)> is materialized here.】

【The Unsaved One – <Cheon Ilhong(E)> manifests in the current world for a brief moment.】

Created a miracle.