Chapter 154

Chapter 154

My current state was different from the time of the saintess attack; I had fully awakened.

At that time, I had only recalled one of my past four lives, but now I remembered all my abilities.

I had clearly realized the power of a hero, and thanks to that, I was able to defeat Eden. Of course, it was possible not just by my own power, but with Celian.

Furthermore, my past lives were synergizing and leading me higher.

But because of that, I realized a fact I didn’t want to know, but had to.

It wasn’t the past story I discovered after my brainwashing magic broke upon awakening as a hero. It was a different past story.

“Why…! I’m fine! Since that day, my heart has only been for El. Only El can stop my heart from beating and make it beat!”

Celian was looking at me, shouting frantically, unlike her usual self.

When I first entered the academy, I had intended to assassinate her, and after the assassin guild was destroyed, I sought to gain her trust to survive.

And now, I could say I had gained her complete trust. It was truly a deeply moving event.

She was probably referring to the day in my first life when I took the guild master’s sword in her stead.

I sacrificed myself for her, but even that action was ultimately hypocritical. If I hadn’t become close to her, I would have ended up stabbing her heart instead of sacrificing myself. In fact, my second and third lives were like that.

Of course, in my second and third lives, I hesitated to stab her. If not, I wouldn’t have dragged out the assassination deadline for so long.

Come to think of it, I was truly unfit to be an assassin. After growing up as an assassin for 10 years, I felt pity for my assassination target. I should have been pitying my own situation.

But in the end, I stabbed her. Even if coercion through the master-servant contract was involved, the action was taken by myself.

If I truly didn’t want to stab her, I would have resisted with a willpower that transcended even the contract magic, like in my first life. Since I already knew it was possible, there was no room for excuses.

Yes. This is the first reason why I cannot forgive myself, even if Celian forgives me.

“If… if you’re going to leave… I’ll stop you by force…!”

Celian raised the sword she was still holding and pointed it at me.

But despite her words of stopping me by force, her arms holding the sword were trembling from the strain of trying to keep up with me, who had recovered my full power.

With swift steps that her tired gaze couldn’t follow, I lightly approached her.

Clang!

I deflected it without much effort, and Celian’s sword lightly slipped from her hand, flying far away and embedding itself in the ground.

Celian’s exhausted state contributed, but even if her physical condition were perfect, her current strength couldn’t stop me.

The level of cultivation her body had achieved was merely the beginning stage of a Sword Master, unlike her true attained level.

Of course, even that was a considerable level on the continent, but it was far from what it was when she defeated the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army.

She had no support from the holy sword, her body was not yet at its peak, and furthermore, by forcibly raising her cultivation level in that state, the recovery of her original strength was further delayed.

If she hadn’t pushed herself, her body would likely reach its optimal state within two to three years, and she would be able to recover her strength from her previous life around that time.

But now that she had pushed herself, there was no guarantee that she could recover her strength in a short period of two to three years.

She probably pushed herself relying on the holy sword she would regain. Of course, it was a natural thought for her. I myself never imagined I would be chosen as a hero.

However, contrary to expectations, the holy sword came to me, and her choice ultimately turned out to be the wrong one.

I couldn’t take her, weakened as she was, on the dangerous path to subjugate the Demon King. In my previous life, when I was stronger, I still failed, so it was a natural choice if I wanted to save Celian’s life.

This is the second reason why I cannot be with her.

“Ugh….”

Seeing Celian looking down with tears streaming down her face, as if frustrated, made my heart weaken. The urge to support and comfort her was shaking my heart.

So, I gritted my teeth and turned my back. I thought it might get better if I didn’t look at her, even for a moment.

“Don’t go!”

As soon as I turned my back, her desperate voice called out.

Along with her cry, I felt a flow of magic tickling my body.

Using my senses, which had become sharper after becoming a Sword Master, I naturally traced the flow of magic and realized that it was emanating from Celian, who was sitting behind me.

In the end, I turned back from my turned-away state and looked at her again.

She was looking at me, gritting her teeth, shedding tears, and sobbing while holding something in her hand.

“Don’t… don’t go… please…”

“…As expected, Celian had it.”

In her hand was the master-servant contract scroll.

Recalling my fourth life, at some point, the master-servant contract etched onto my body had cleanly disappeared. It was probably because Celian, to save me, had annihilated the assassin guild and, along with it, burned the master-servant contract scroll.

However, in this life, even though the assassin guild had been subjugated, the master-servant contract was still etched on my body. That meant the master-servant contract scroll was still in existence.

Since she hadn’t burned it, it was naturally in her hand.

I don’t ask her why she hid the scroll. She probably kept it because she was worried about my life, remembering how I acted on my own in my fourth life without listening to her.

As you can see, I am acting on my own again without listening to her. Her choice was not wrong.

I don’t resent her for not burning the master-servant contract scroll. She did it because she was worried about my life.

I also don’t resent her for keeping it a secret, even when I was worried about the master-servant contract. At that time, neither I nor she expected me to awaken as a hero.

Rather, I should be grateful to her, so how could I resent her?

“Celie….”

Looking at Celian, who was pleading with me while holding the scroll, which was already half-scorched black, I softly called her name.

She had probably taken out the master-servant contract scroll she had hidden as a last resort.

But….

“Celie, you were a hero too, so you know. That kind of mind-control magic is useless against a hero…”

Ultimately, her choice was a meaningless act.

If I hadn’t properly awakened as a hero back then, perhaps. But how could a warrior wielding the sword of a goddess be swayed by mere mind-control magic?

The scroll, which had burn marks from when she took it out, flared up again and turned completely to ash.

At the same time, I could feel, without seeing, that the master-servant contract remaining on my body had completely disappeared at this very moment.

Just as the brainwashing magic was naturally broken when I awakened the true power of a hero, the master-servant contract was already meaningless.

Celian, who had been a hero herself, would know that fact.

Yet, the fact that she took out the scroll like that means she was desperate enough to do so, even if it meant being hated by me, though that would never happen.

Yes. The master-servant contract scroll that tormented me so much. This is the third, and the biggest, reason why I cannot be with them.

“Celie. Do you perhaps remember? Me from my second and third lives…”

It seemed that the barrier that was shattering as Eden fell would still take some time to completely disappear. At least, there was enough time for a brief conversation.

Originally, I wanted to keep it a secret, but since she was the only one who shared past lives with me, it would be fine to confess.

“In those lives… even though it was forced by the master-servant contract, I ended up stabbing Celie’s heart…”

“That’s why I said it’s okay…!”

“But you know… I didn’t just stab Celie.”

A story she didn’t know, and couldn’t have known. I intend to confess that story now.