Chapter 153: How to Write a Proper Ending (5)

[153] 24. How to Write a Proper Ending (5)

There was no need to go out of my way to find the goddess.

The city was already laid bare before her maw.

I climb the city walls and look down at the Goddess’s horde.

It was as if a fragment of a deranged artist’s imagination had been torn off and placed here.

Cultists who are pale even under the sunlight, monsters that should only be hiding in caves or ruins, fantastical creatures only heard of in stories, and things I don’t even want to attempt to describe.

All of it had become one mass, forming a single mass of hostility. It was too repulsive a sight to be placed under the clear autumn sky.

And there, in the middle of it all, she smiles at me.

A snow-white woman reminiscent of a lily.

No, a monster about to devour the world.

Overcome with emotions difficult to put into words, I inadvertently look back. I see my companions looking at me with sunken eyes.

Those who trust me,

No, those who simply cannot let go of me.

Suddenly, feeling like I should say something, I opened my mouth. But words wouldn’t come easily.

Should I ask them to join me in this suicide mission?

Should I ask them to become murderers of a hundred thousand with me?

“You idiot.”

My gaze turns to Shafiq. He rolled his eyes as if to say I was being ridiculous.

“Just ask for help. Since when did you start putting on airs.”

A chuckle, *pfft*, escapes my lips without me realizing it.

Right, pre-victory speeches aren’t really my thing. Sadly, neither does asking for help.

I simply faced the goddess once more. As always, I stepped forward.

Alone.

While deliberately suppressing my guilt.

“Let’s go.”

“[ustb]”

*KABOOM-!*

The battle was begun with eight massive explosions engulfing the goddess’s horde.

Naturally, even for us, directly confronting such a massive army was impossible. So, there was essentially only one tactic available to us.

To become an arrow, and pierce straight through the goddess’s neck.

The explosion magic that Parsley, Marianne, and I had set up wipes out the monsters. It creates a dark red drizzle against the blue sky and covers the earth with smoke.

And that smoke becomes our path

*BOOM-! BOOM-BOOM-!*

“_______!!”

Ignoring the explosions and monstrous screams, I run through the acrid smoke. The few monsters that charge at us are not even obstacles.

“[ees]”

Beyond the acrid smoke, I see the goddess drawing near. Without even a hint of panic, she watches us approach with a smile.

Is it carelessness, or is it a trap.

Doesn’t matter either way.

I grip the red, egg-shaped magic tool in my pocket. Its cold and heavy texture fills my hand.

All I have to do is crush this magic tool near the goddess. Just that alone would put an end to the Goddess’s ambition.

Along with a hundred thousand lives.

…Is this genuinely the right thing to do?

“Rem!!”

Suddenly, my body is yanked back and I tumble backward. I immediately look up at the spot where I had been standing just moments ago.

“Oppaaaaa…”

Irene.

She looks far worse than when I last saw her.

What had been wolf fur was now grotesque tentacles. Black fluid oozed from the wounds all over her body.

And her face, which had been attached to the wolf’s left eye…

“It hurts… It hurts so much…”

…Was so distorted that I could no longer distinguish her features.

“I’ll take care of this.”

Sharik, who had saved me, steps forward. Drawing his sword that resembled moonlight, he calmly added.

“Keep moving forward. Don’t stop.”

What does it mean to face such a monster alone in the middle of enemy territory? I already knew the answer.

But, at the same time, from his firm back, I also realize that he has no intention of bending his stubborn will.

“…Thank you.”

So, I merely leave my gratitude. And I move my legs forward again. Even as the sounds of fierce struggle reach me, I don’t look back.

In the end, isn’t that what life is all about.

Moving forward without looking back as much as possible.

Until we eventually stumble and fall apart.

As always, I run toward my own destruction.

.

.

.

“You’ve come, Rem.”

After that, reaching the Goddess was surprisingly easy. It almost felt like she had been waiting for us.

“You’re much later than I expected. When you ran away, I thought you’d come back right away with some kind of secret weapon to kill me.”

No, maybe it wasn’t just a feeling.

The goddess opens her arms toward me. With a broad smile, she asks in a theatrical tone.

“So, what is it, Rem? What are you planning to stop me with? What do you think will suppress my freedom?”

And then, she does nothing.

This wasn’t some expression for how strong her power is. It’s the literal truth.

The Goddess simply looked at me with open arms, as if waiting for a hug.

Naturally, unease crept into my heart.

What’s contained in the goddess’s face now is certainty. Certainty that whatever I do, I won’t be able to harm her.

Does she believe in something?

Is all of this a trap?

“Hurry up, Rem. Before I chew up your lovers piece by piece.”

“You…!”

The rising anger clarifies my mind.

Right, the die is already cast.

It’s too late to back down now or look for another way.

Gritting my teeth, I take out the red egg from my pocket. I hold it high up to the sky and look down at the ground.

Whether this is a comedy or a tragedy. It’s time to finally see the ending.

With all my might, I…

[Oppa, I did this to save the world.]

With all my might, I…!

[To save the world, a little massacre is unavoidable. The Skulds have always lived that way.]

With all my might…

[We killed countless people to save the world. We tried to justify ourselves, saying there was no other way. But the truth is, there’s always another way. We are murderers. In the end.]

The hand holding the egg goes limp.

Memories, burned into my brain, flow down my cheeks, turning into tears.

‘Them’ from that other world, who went mad after losing me.

The pitiful people killed under the pretext of saving the world.

“A single life isn’t worth less than two lives.”

Humans are ultimately beings defined by relationships.

The value of a person varies from person to person. To some, they might be less than dirt on the road, while to others, they might be more precious than the world itself.

The death of a single person can be more heartbreaking than the destruction of the entire world.

Just like how my death in that other world drove ‘them’ to madness.

…And, just as their deaths weighed heavily on my heart.

“That… That is something I can’t deny, not me of all people.”

I raise my head and look at the goddess. Having lost her smile, she was coldly glaring at me.

“You win, Goddess.”

I raised my sword and pointed it at her.

“But I’m not going down without a fight.”

Because that’s what life is all about. Even if there’s no future, even if it’s excruciatingly painful, you have to keep moving forward.

I prepare to charge at the goddess…

“How long I’ve been looking forward to this moment.”

My body freezes. It feels as if my entire body except for my eyeballs has turned to stone. A sensation so familiar it’s horrifying.

The Goddess walks toward me. It feels as if the others also met the same fate, as there was no one to stop her steps

“To ruin it like this, really, I’m disappointed in you.”

She takes the red egg from my hand. Gripping it in her palm, she sighs.

“Things shouldn’t have gone this way.”

*Crack-*

With a dry sound, the red egg shatters. Its pieces flutter down to the ground.

“See? This ending isn’t pretty at all.”

However, nothing happens.

The goddess is still perfectly fine. If anything, she looks bored.

“What the…”

“Why did Irene’s plague reappear the moment you activated the machine? That machine was only meant to release my seal.”

The Goddess brushes off the remnants of the shattered egg. At the same time, my body is released from its restraints, but I can’t bring myself to move.

“And why did the plague suddenly disappear? After having spread only within Ailleyde. Diseases don’t vanish like that.”

A chilling coldness crawls up my spine.

“There were many clues, actually. But when you’re blinded by your goal, you tend to miss what’s around you.”

The Goddess lightly waves her finger.

“Kuhuk…!!”

My strength drains away, accompanied by an excruciating pain. I involuntarily fall to my knees and look down at my human hand.

My hand was turning black with rot.

When I look back, my companions, too, were turning black.

The plague that spread through Ailleyde,

The factor that ultimately brought down Irene,

And what we had mistakenly thought to be the ‘price of fate’ all along.

“A disease that can lie dormant and then be activated at will. I have to hand it to Alain. His abilities are truly remarkable. After I’ve infected the entire continent, I even felt a bit grateful.”

The goddess sits down in front of me with a smile. Making eye contact with me, she coldly asks.

“For 200 years, I’ve been desperately dreaming of freedom. And you think I wouldn’t have noticed Alain’s arrangements? The marks of sacrifice hidden within the bodies of the Empire’s citizens?”

“Ah…”

“Even the most trivial ritual, like praying for rain, requires a sacrifice without blemish. So how could sick people with bodies rotting black be used as sacrifices for a ritual to defile the world?”

Only then did I realize what the goddess had done, and I couldn’t close my mouth.

“You couldn’t have…”

“Yes, that’s right. I triggered the ‘disease’ lying dormant in the bodies of everyone on the continent.”

The Goddess continued with a wide smile, so bright it was chilling.

“They’re just parasites that will soon be in my stomach anyway, it makes no difference whether they die from disease or are crushed by my teeth.”

Naturally, a horrifying image comes to mind. The sight of refugees gathered in one place, their bodies collectively rotting away.

How many could survive in that pandemonium.

No, would survival even be meaningful in that situation.

“Why, only now…”

“Why didn’t I trigger the disease right after my revival, why only now, you ask?”

The goddess grins. It was a smile so cheerful it’s creepy.

“You always save your trump card for last. See, by just quietly waiting like this, the parasites come running to tell me. *This is our ultimate purpose*, they say. *This is our only hope*, they say.”

The goddess approaches closer and grabs my collar.

“Without me having to search and crush each one individually.”

Only then did I realize why the goddess hadn’t actively stopped us. To her, we were a kind of detector dog.

Gathering potential dangers that might be directed at her.

“Still, don’t worry, Rem. You and your people won’t suffer from the disease.”

The goddess’s mouth opens. However, what’s visible beyond it is not red flesh, but black void.

“Because you’ll be in my belly first.”

The goddess closed her mouth with me inside.