The Collapse of Everything (1)

The knights’ quarters on the outskirts of the Celestine Church headquarters had an infirmary attached.

Befitting its name as the headquarters in church territory, the scale and facilities of the infirmary were comparable to a first-class hospital, and it even had a garden decorated with flowering trees all around for the emotional stability of patients.

Night had fallen without fail on the infirmary, which was already nearly full with inpatients. A winter night, and winter wind. Branches swayed aimlessly in the desolate winter wind— such a lonely, lonely night.

On this night, Scarlet lay with her eyes closed in the special room located on the top floor of the infirmary. The bandages wrapped around her entire body were tightly bound with splints to prevent movement of her limb joints.

The bones broken by Yona were a severe injury. Her arm bones were broken into several pieces, and it was a critical injury with not only her legs but even her pelvic bone shattered. It was clear that an ordinary person would have died instantly from the pain, but being Scarlet, she didn’t die instantly.

Moreover, she had gritted her teeth so hard from the pain that she hardly had any unbroken teeth left.

Even when priests gathered and poured all their healing power, only the black snake pattern flickered on her injuries, which stubbornly refused to heal.

Thus, Scarlet survived thanks to Bigrind, the saint, who barely gathered the Celestial God’s holy power to perform a great healing miracle.

Still, her injuries were severe. Although the bones had properly reconnected and healed, the joints had not, so they were fixed with splints and bandages to prevent movement. From now on, it depended on Scarlet’s own healing ability. But it was fortunate in that she had at least saved her life.

Scarlet was in a deep sleep. The intense battle had brought that much fatigue, and Scarlet needed sufficient recovery because of it.

“Sekti.”

A voice was heard.

At this unexpected voice, Scarlet’s eyes flew open. Her body, which had always maintained a state of combat readiness, was naturally sensitive to approaching presences even in this injured state, so it was natural for her to react keenly to a presence approaching at any moment.

Scarlet’s gaze turned towards the voice.

And the moment she recognized the owner of that voice, Scarlet’s eyes widened.

Johannes Spielvan— his figure was standing there.

“Se-Senior.”

“Now you call me senior? After torturing me like you wanted to kill me, now you call me senior?”

“Th-that’s not— no, Senior…!”

Scarlet hurriedly swallowed her excuses. However, a deep sneer lingered on Johannes’ lips as he looked at her. The moment she saw that sneer, her breath caught. Her body, her body started trembling uncontrollably. A pain as if her chest was being torn apart. Although only her limbs were injured, for Scarlet now, rather than those things, Johannes’ words piercing her chest felt more like it was being torn apart.

Johannes, with a sneer deeply etched on his face, bit his lip. A snort. It was clearly mockery, and utterly cold cynicism.

“Senior, Senior…”

Scarlet struggled to raise her body that had been lying down. But her body, firmly fixed in place, wouldn’t move as she wished, and her struggling appearance was unsightly beyond compare.

“Why, did I say something wrong? Sekti, you clearly told me.”

“‘You’re going to die anyway. In the upcoming trial, you will die without a shred of doubt.’ — That’s what you said.”

“Th-that…!”

Johannes’ gaze was desolate beyond compare. Nevertheless, Scarlet struggled with her whole body, trying to get up. The fixation bandages restraining her limbs made creaking sounds as if about to tear, screaming, and Scarlet’s broken elbows, knees, and pelvis were also screaming that they were dying.

Still, she didn’t give up. She was so desperate that she should hurry to kneel before Johannes and bury her head, apologizing. For that, this body, this damned body just wouldn’t listen—

Crack!

The fixation bandages not only broke, but the bed itself shook and tipped over sideways. Scarlet, who had been writhing on top of it, was thrown to the floor as the bed collapsed, and her joints, which had been healing relatively well, made an ominous cracking sound again.

“Why, are you thinking of making excuses? I remember clearly.”

“No, that’s not it! Senior, it’s not, it’s not!”

Scarlet screamed as if having a seizure. Johannes’ gaze, looking down at her like this, remained unchanged, looking at her as if she were a bug on the street. The cold killing intent condensed in that gaze was like icy daggers, repeatedly slashing at Scarlet.

“Th-that… that, I, I didn’t know… I didn’t know it was you, Senior…! How could I do that to you, Senior—!”

“…You didn’t know? You did it because you didn’t know?”

Johannes glared at Scarlet with contempt, as if she were detestable. Johannes quietly looked down at Scarlet, who was forcibly bending her elbows that wouldn’t bend properly, covering her ears and shaking her head.

“It seems you think you can get away with saying you didn’t know, Scarlet. You were always like that. Yes, you were always like that. You didn’t know, you didn’t know, you didn’t know. So, so you healed that heretic too? And then you hid behind me saying you didn’t know. And because of that, I ended up receiving a ban.”

“Se-Senior…!”

Scarlet’s face turned pale white. Johannes slowly approached her, who was trembling violently, and looked closely at her face.

“So, what do you want me to do? Sekti, for you it might end with saying you didn’t know, but I’ve really become an apostate now.”

“I, I… I, hu, huuk… huk, huk, huuk…”

It was hyperventilation. While directly receiving Johannes’ gaze, Scarlet gasped for breath, choking and even coughing violently.

“Yes, someone like you. Because I saved someone like you, I ended up like this. Yes, that’s what happened. Sekti, but it’s okay. I’ve been rescued, and now I’m leaving far away. Yes, that’s right. With someone much more beautiful than you— with Yona.”

“Bu-but—! Apo-apostate…”

“—Am I not an apostate too?”

Scarlet tried to make excuses with a dying voice, but couldn’t continue. Shaking her head violently, Scarlet ended up closing her eyes to hide the confusion coming over her.

“That’s enough now, Sekti. You were already too sickening. This is truly the end now. The end of our connection, it has finally come. So I feel relieved.”

“Senior, Senior—! It’s not, it’s not, it’s not—!”

Scarlet, who had been shaking her head violently, screamed and slammed her head on the floor. The pain as if her head was breaking didn’t matter at all. Hoping that Johannes would take back those words, Scarlet repeatedly slammed her head on the ground.

But no sound came. When Scarlet raised her head again, there was nothing in front of her eyes. The door wasn’t open, and neither was the window.

Johannes had vanished suddenly, as if there had been nothing there from the start. But even if it had been an illusion, even if it was an illusion Scarlet created herself, Scarlet was creating the thought that Johannes would really think that way.

“Senior… Senior…! Where, where did you go…? You, you were here just a moment ago, Senior, Senior, Senior!”

At that moment, the door opened and several nurse priests rushed in. When they entered the room, alarmed by the sudden commotion and Scarlet’s rampage, what they saw was a collapsed bed, and Scarlet wrapped in bandages dyed red from reopened wounds. And Scarlet with blood streaming from her forehead.

They couldn’t help but be stunned by the sight of Scarlet desperately searching for someone while looking around.

“Sir Scarlet, calm down! Sir Scarlet!”

“N-no… Senior, I’m telling you Senior came!”

“No one came! No one came at all!”

“No, no! That’s not true! I’m telling you Senior came! There’s no way Senior would leave me like this!”

“Sir Scarlet!”

“Y-yes! Se-Senior… I just, I was just distracted for a moment… Ah, aah… Aah!”

Scarlet suddenly stopped. There was someone who came to her mind. The woman who had so miserably crushed her, that very woman. That damned woman. Yona was her name, wasn’t it? That filthy apostate bitch. A lowly adventurer, a half-wit idiot healer who couldn’t even become a priest. That damned woman who surely dragged Senior down to ruin by carelessly rolling her filthy body. That cursed woman. That cheap woman. That dirty and vile whore who seduced even Senior using demonic power.

“…Yes, yes. It’s all because of that bitch. It’s because of that bitch that Senior became like that. It’s because of that whore. It must be that that whore seduced Senior and made this happen.”

“S-Sir Scarlet…?”

The nurse priests and healing priests retreated, startled by an inexplicable aura. Scarlet’s appearance with her gaze twisted somewhere was nothing short of a madman itself, and their instinct not to get close made them step back.

“Yes… because of that bitch, that whore… Because of that filthy apostate, Senior…”

Scarlet started laughing. That empty laughter, as if dazed but out of her mind, as if even her soul had flown away somewhere, began to fill the hospital room.

“Sir Scarlet…? Are you alright?”

One of the nurse priests who had been watching this scene approached Scarlet, hesitating.

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t normal, but still, as a nurse priest, it was their duty to check the patient’s condition.

“I’m— fine. There’s no problem. No problem at all… But Senior, Senior… Senior being bewitched by that filthy whore is the problem…”

“Pardon? Senior…?”

“This wasn’t the time to be like this. I shouldn’t have been like this. Senior… Senior.”

A smile tinged with madness appeared on Scarlet’s face.

The corners of her lips twisted mercilessly, and that smile she wore even made those who saw it feel chilled.

“Bring me my armor. We need to leave immediately.”

“What? Sir Scarlet, that’s nonsense…”

“Immediately, bring me my armor right now!”

Paaaah!

Golden radiance filled the hospital room as if it were broad daylight at an unexpected time.