Noble Soul

[I want to be happy.]

As if showing her will, a few semi-transparent steps appeared. It was like a set piece being placed on a musical stage.

“………..”

For some reason, I felt like I had to step on them. As I stepped up the stairs, light flashed and a few more steps were added.

The shimmering stairs sparkled, receiving light from somewhere. And the light was above my head.

After climbing a few more steps, more stairs appeared.

“Inho-ssi?”

I turned around. Lee Mina’s eyes were full of anxiety.

Slowly turning my hand over, I showed her my palm.

And I bent it slightly, making a shape that was easy to latch onto.

“Mina-nim.”

I stretched my arm out in front of me, matching her eye level.

“Let’s go, us.”

“Yes?”

“We can’t stay here for ten thousand years.”

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.

The remnants of the souls she had devoured were approaching, weaving a dense web of encirclement.

I didn’t know exactly what would happen if I got caught in that gap, but I had a strong feeling that nothing good would come of it.

“Where… to?”

The place we were heading was clear.

I raised my head and looked at the sky. It was a black space with nothing in it, but now I could see it. A very faint light.

“Are you sure?”

Anxiety was still coiled like a snake in her heart.

“I don’t know if stepping up the stairs will get us out of here.”

I shrugged my shoulders, lightening the serious atmosphere.

“However, this is certain.”

I held out my hand a little further.

“Whatever happens, I’ll be there to help Mina-nim.”

Color began to return to Lee Mina’s eyes.

Her eyes, which had seemed to sink to the bottom of the sea, were dyed with a variety of colors, like light reflected in a prism.

Lee Mina hesitated, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she didn’t say anything.

Instead, she carefully placed her hand on top of mine, which she had been staring at for a long time.

I responded by putting strength into my hand. We held hands, sharing each other’s body temperature.

It was an abstract world created by the unconscious, but the temperature of the soul was warm.

I put a little strength into my hand and pulled her up.

As her small feet, wearing flats, stepped on the stairs, light began to spread from where she stepped.

Like throwing a small pebble into a quiet pond, ripples of light spread where she put her feet.

“Let’s go.”

I whispered to her, showing the smile from before.

Lee Mina expressed her feelings by holding my hand tightly.

[Wh, ere… ar….e…!]

[No….]

[Young master!]

[Dad!!!]

[Kyaooo]

Black shadows began to rise from below. The remnants of souls flooded the stairs from below.

The scene they created was similar to the night sea.

If it weren’t for the bloodshot eyes and angry teeth.

“We don’t have time to go up slowly. Let’s go.”

I put strength in my legs and ran up the stairs.

A meadow groaning with battle.

“When is he coming out….”

The Heavenly Demon was biting her nails with an anxious look on her face.

After Kang In-ho went in, Lee Mina’s body, which had been fluctuating, became calm as if by a lie.

From time to time, it bulged and spat out dark shadows, but compared to when it was restrained and rampaging, it was now as quiet as if it were dead.

“Sitting still and waiting is also a virtue of a woman.”

“Shut up.”

As she watched the Heavenly Demon pacing back and forth, Chunhyang muttered, and Namgung Soyou bared her teeth and reacted.

“Will Ahjussi be okay?”

“Saint will be fine. Saint is moving to save that monster.”

Unlike the two women who couldn’t mix like water and oil, the nun and the Magical Girl sat side by side, waiting for Kang In-ho to return.

A little away from the people waiting for Kang In-ho’s return, Isis was repairing her body.

“Function recovery complete.”

It was a body that had gone to the point of functional shutdown without even having time to repair it with nanomachines.

“Is your body okay now?”

“All major functions are operational.”

Isis judged that the Dimension Management God had the answer to her recovery.

“There’s nothing particularly different. Just because you have a soul doesn’t mean you’ll change.”

“Soul.”

Isis pondered the meaning of the word ‘soul’. She reflexively put her hand on her chest.

Instead of a heartbeat, only the vibration transmitted by the operating machine was felt.

“It’s truly amazing. When you talk about ‘soul’ in front of mortals, they all put their hands on their hearts.”

Gabriel said with a face that showed he wasn’t surprised at all.

“The soul is not an emotion.”

Gabriel said.

“Then what is it?”

“It is a vessel for becoming a higher-dimensional being. It might be easier to understand if you think of it as a vessel for containing experience.”

Isis vaguely understood the meaning of what Gabriel was saying.

“Is a noble soul different from a normal soul?”

“Yes. A noble soul is a soul that can become a Dimension Management God. However, that doesn’t mean it’s superior to a normal soul. It’s just a difference in classification.”

“According to your words, both noble souls and ordinary souls can accumulate experience, but is there a reason why experience is contained in ordinary souls? It is interpreted that those souls do not become Dimension Management Gods even if they accumulate experience.”

“Because God loves them.”

“I know that the God you mentioned is not referring to the Dimension Management God.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What is the love of God that you speak of?”

Isis concluded that the ‘love of God’ that Gabriel spoke of was not the kind of feeling that she and the women there had for Kang In-ho.

“Freedom and development.”

Gabriel indifferently answered, looking at the being with a young soul who was asking sharp questions.

“Huh? Huh?”

A sharp sound came from the front, and Isis and Gabriel turned their heads.

Lee Mina’s body, which had been quiet, began to bubble.

“That foolish disciple. To go into a death trap without my permission!”

Namgung Soyou snorted and stomped her feet.

“Since you’ve been to a dangerous place, I should give you a warm hug.”

Chunhyang muttered.

“Did you see? Saint is coming back.”

Maria got up and smiled.

“Ahjussi!”

Kim Sung-ah jumped up and down, not hiding her happy feelings.

“Master.”

Isis also took a step, wanting to share the moment of reunion.

But the commotion made of joy soon died down.

This was because only Lee Mina had come out through the bulging shadows.

“He, help me.”

Lee Mina’s pale face told them that something bad had happened inside.

“Where is he? My disciple!”

The first to move was the Heavenly Demon. She grabbed Lee Mina by the collar.

Lee Mina, her neck constricted, coughed and struggled in the air.

“Where’s Inho! Where’s Inho!”

Looking at the women surrounding Lee Mina, Gabriel took a step.

“Everything is according to God’s will.”

We continued to head upwards.

It wasn’t easy. This was because the black swamp was constantly rising as if trying to snatch at our heels.

Lee Mina’s rough breathing could be heard from behind.

“But I can see the end.”

It wasn’t a word of comfort. This was because the intensity of the light was getting closer as we climbed the stairs.

Just a little more, just a little more and we’ll be there.

I pulled Lee Mina with my numb arm and stepped on the stairs.

After climbing for a few more minutes, I saw a door made of light.

It was as if it was kindly guiding us, saying [This is the exit.]

“We’re almost there!”

“Fi, nally.”

At the moment when Lee Mina, who was panting, felt relieved, I saw it.

A skeletal arm that had sprung out of the black swamp was trying to snatch her ankle.

So, that’s what happened.

I just, I just had a feeling that if Lee Mina fell into that sea, she would never be able to return, so that’s what happened.

I didn’t think about self-sacrifice or keeping my promise.

I just, my body moved on its own.

I pulled her towards me and threw her forward.

And as a reaction to that, I was pushed back.

Slippery, was it because of my unstable posture?

My heel slipped and my body fell backwards.

“Inho-ssi?”

Lee Mina’s face, entering the door of light, began to distort.

I waved to her as if to say I was okay.

Splash.

When I looked at it from the outside, I thought it was a black swamp, but it wasn’t as viscous as I thought.

That was my impression.