episode_0121

The warrior Kariel, now a criminal, was dragged in a carriage to the place of execution with restraints attached.

‘… ‘

What caught Kariel’s attention in the rickety carriage was a hand with calluses that had formed from holding a sword for a long time.

His hands were so rough that it was safe to say that he had been holding a sword for over 50 years, showing a lot of effort.

Kariel slowly lifted her gaze from her palm and looked outside through the carriage window.

Because it hadn’t been long since the carriage left, I heard many people booing and cursing.

Looking at them, Kariel smiled self-mockingly, as if laughing at herself with the cold air outside the window.

How futile all this was, there was a heavy sigh in his smile, reminiscent of the sacrifices and sacrifices of countless battles.

Numerous sounds softly reached Kariel’s ears.

Only then did Kariel realize the reality of his situation.

‘I’m really dying now.’

There were no regrets.

There was no fear either.

Kariel has already been through too much to feel those things.

Those two emotions weren’t scary.

While working as Kael, he eliminated many demons.

A new hero appeared just then, so the end of this play was just approaching.

‘It was long.’

In terms of time, about 20 years.

I have been running since I was 5 years old.

Kariel was too tired to do anything more.

I just wanted to go into rest now.

A situation where he saved the saint he wanted so much, and even a hero to replace him appeared.

It was right to leave out the extras.

Although he is concerned about the saint who is waiting for him…

‘As always, you stand up beautifully.’

If you know her.

I’m sure you can overcome it.

There was a possibility that he would hate me again if he found out the truth later.

Rather, Kariel was willing to do it.

If she can be ok with that.

If you can get through it.

I would rather hate it than miss it.

It is a payment for his sin of making vain promises to her while risking an already preordained ending.

It would be quite painful to receive her resentment and hatred, but I would rather be like that.

Kariel thought so.

A smile slowly spread across his lips, and his eyes calmed down.

And in that smile, bitterness and anticipation were mixed.

‘Still, there are people who will mourn my death.’

Those who know the truth about themselves are the paladins and the emperor of the empire.

If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have lasted this long.

Thanks to them, I was able to hold out until a new hero appeared.

Thanks to this, he was able to exit as a perfect villain.

Could there be a cleaner ending than this?

Kariel recalled the past before reaching the current conclusion along with the ridicule that leaked out.

‘What was it like at first… ‘

Since it was such an old incident, he continued to search through his memories and remembered the first incident.

At first it was purely a coincidence.

When Kariel was young, she realized that she was smarter than others and that she matured faster than other children.

Therefore, instead of going out and playing like children, I often read books.

Not only did I not like using my body, I really enjoyed reading books.

So, I continued my life of looking at books every day.

He found a book.

A book dropped on the street where no one passes by.

Kariel stretched out the book as if fascinated, and when she opened it, what was revealed was a world.

Although it was clearly written in print, Kariel felt as if she was actually encountering a story in the book.

I could feel the emotions of those written in each article.

I felt their lives.

When Kariel read the end of the book, she realized one thing.

The book of today is the future that will happen in the future.

At the same time, a pattern appeared on the back of Kariel’s hand.

A pattern that Kariel also knows well.

It was a sign of being chosen by the goddess and a sign of being the only warrior in this world.

According to the prophecy he originally read, there was nothing like this.

That’s why Kariel knew.

The goddess hopes that after reading this prophecy, she will change something.

Many people’s faces passed through his mind, but in the end, only one person filled his mind.

‘Saint.’

A more affectionate being than the protagonist, the hero.

The saint in the prophecy was not normal.

The high-ranking priests had planned to suppress the saint, break her spirit, and brainwash her, making her a complete puppet.

As a result, she had no choice but to clash with the warrior party that came to fight the corrupt priests.

The priests made the saint fight with the party members of the warrior who came to capture them.

The result of the fight was, of course, the victory of the warrior party.

Thanks to this, the saint’s brainwashing was lifted, but her mind was already broken and she was on the verge of death after suffering serious injuries while fighting the warrior party.

And Kariel felt her dying emotions keenly.

Just an ordinary wish to live an ordinary life and a pure desire to help people.

It all mixed together and struck Kariel.

He sympathized with her life and felt sorry for her.

After reading all the stories and thinking about them over and over again, Kariel was able to understand why the goddess gave her the power of a warrior.

The goddess wanted to save her.

A saint who will live as a puppet.

‘… ‘

However, there was no compulsion to do as intended.

The choice was ultimately up to Kariel.

Whether to save her with this power or not.

In fact, he has no obligation to save the saint.

Is there any reason to save her for benefits that cannot be gained?

In the end, the world is saved from the devil.

Anyone in Kariel’s situation would think so, but Kariel did not consider any other possibilities from the beginning.

Because I felt, understood, and sympathized with the pain of her life.

Among the many paths before her, Kariel chose only one path to save her.

Some people might.

Are you making such a choice simply out of sympathy?

Kariel would have shook his head at this.

Of course, it cannot be said that there are no feelings of sympathy at all.

As someone who saw, felt, and understood her life, I just wanted her to live a happy life.

I hope she is happy because she is a good person who cares for others more than herself.

It was just a small wind.

And Kariel began to live a life for herself in order to achieve that wish.

First of all, she quickly became stronger through the warrior’s emblem over the five years until she was chosen as a saint.

Thanks to this, he could have saved her right away if he wanted to, but Kariel thought carefully.

What kind of life does she really want?

Thus, Kariel recalled the feelings she felt while reading the prophetic book.

The saint was earnestly wishing for two wishes before she died.

The life of a true saint and the life of an ordinary person who wanted to live a normal life.

Since this was the life they both wanted, Kariel had no choice but to postpone the option of rescuing her right away.

Because he couldn’t decide the life she truly wanted.

At least it was up to her to choose something.

Kariel decided to save her the day she attempted to escape two years later.

So let’s help her as she chooses at that time.

In fact, even as she thought that, Kariel knew deep down what choice she would make.

‘The original fate does not go to those who do not deserve it.’

Her wish to help someone even when she is dying after being brainwashed while living as a puppet.

Because she is truly worthy of the name saint.

In fact, it was safe to say that the choice of life was a predetermined outcome.

And as Kariel expected, two years later, the saint chose to live the life of a saint.

That could actually be seen as a true first step.

At that time, Kariel spoke as if they were going to separate for a while, but in fact, he continued to watch her nearby.

Although her location was inside the church, she went to the paladins separately and revealed her identity. I was able to easily enter the church and observe her.

The image of her working hard to become a saint to save others, even though she was tired and tired at times, was still etched in her mind.

Maybe it was from then on.

That I had her in my heart.

Obviously, at first, I just wanted to sympathize with her life and let her live the life she wanted.

The more Kariel saw her, the more interested he became in the saint, and only later did he realize that he truly cared for her.

Her smile, her tears, everything about her shook Kariel’s heart. He looked at her in a wave of not so simple emotions.

Feelings too complex to simply say I like you.

The moment three years have passed since I felt those emotions.

Kariel decided.

Originally, I had planned to help her and get out of the way.

Anyway, one more hero appears.

However, seeing her working hard for people made me think differently.

If she works hard for people, he will work hard for her.

However, not as a hero, but under the pseudonym Kael.

‘I couldn’t help it.’

Kariel originally had no intention of working under a pseudonym.

But the fate of the warrior that hung upon him did not leave him alone.

Each hero has different characteristics, but Kariel’s hero’s characteristics were particularly difficult.

Kariel’s hero’s emblem characteristic is a hero of wickedness.

On the outside, it had to be evil itself, and the more people recognized it, the more powerful it gained.

It was a truly cruel fate.

In order to save someone and gain power, you have to do evil deeds instead of promoting good deeds.

The paladins were also indignant and saddened by his characteristics.

Kariel didn’t care.

Whatever the characteristic, what is its importance?

In the end, he was given the destiny of a warrior.

I thought that if I couldn’t outwardly reveal my actions out of good intentions under the name of a warrior, I could just be given an assumed name.

So, over the course of five years, he helped many people and grew.

Although he had the basic strength of a hero and worked hard to raise his level, Kariel realized that he had reached his limit.

He is a hero of great evil, and the more his evil deeds become known, the stronger he becomes, so there are limitations to his ability to become strong without any special characteristics.

It’s not just that there are limits to becoming stronger, it’s the feeling that the world is blocking you from becoming stronger.

Kariel felt that the time had come to finally reveal herself to the world.

The characteristics of a hero that I had been putting off for so long.

It was time to activate it in earnest.

Although, it was not possible to reveal his identity to the saintly woman Lewen.

It could be said that he could not reveal it to the paladins in a situation where he was exposed, but this was related to his characteristics.

Since it was possible to gain a lot of power by publicizing evil deeds, naturally there were also opposite side effects.

The side effect is that if you let someone know your characteristics or notice the good deeds you have done, a big disaster will happen.

The good news is that paladins do not have such side effects.

What’s even more problematic is that if a saint who received the power of the same god found out, the price would be incomparably greater.

Kariel pretends to play the role of a villain without even informing her of his identity, and at the same time spreads the word.

While working as Kael, he led a double life of killing demons.

Naturally, as he continued his role as a villain, his power grew stronger.

No, to be precise, it felt like a barrier had been cleared.

With each passing day, Kariel became stronger, but on the contrary, his spirit became more exhausted.

At first, I was able to endure it, but as I went on, I felt heartbroken as the saintly woman’s hostility grew stronger.

Her cold gaze kept getting stuck in my heart, and I couldn’t even sleep properly because it came to mind every day.

Especially the moment when she continues to work to bring herself down.

It was an unforgettably heartbreaking moment for Kariel.

Due to the actions of Saint Llewen, the power has clearly become stronger.

In fact, that act was a shocking moment that Kariel could never forget.

But even so, Kariel held on with only one thought in mind: to help her.

At least until a new hero appears.

Let’s hold on for her.

He held on and held on with just those thoughts.

There was a time in the process when the emperor found out the truth about himself and a major crisis arose.

Thanks to overcoming that crisis well, I was able to maintain my current life.

After that, as Kael, I encountered and fought countless demons.

After surviving a situation where he almost lost his life with her help, he made a promise he couldn’t keep.

A year passed until a new hero appeared and was evacuated as a criminal.

A lot of things happened.

‘Looking back, a lot has happened.’

They say people start thinking more when it’s time to die.

Perhaps that was true, but I fell asleep reminiscing about the past, which I normally wouldn’t have done.

A smile appeared on Kariel’s lips.

The smile that appeared on his lips was a mixture of sorrow and self-deprecation.

Now, it was absurd to see myself having idle thoughts and thinking about it like a memory.

Doesn’t this make you regret the past days?

Although the days were exhausting and exhausting, Kariel did not regret those times.

Knowing that all those moments made me who I am today.

This is because we are also aware of the fact that regretting the past days is no different from denying everything about ourselves.

‘I can feel more comfortable now.’

It wouldn’t take long to get to the execution site.

In fact, it can be said that this is the first time I can truly relax.

It was a time when I quietly closed my eyes and tried to sleep comfortably until we arrived.

Quagwang!

The carriage shook with a sudden explosion.

As a result, Kariel’s body shook and the outside was filled with commotion.

What’s going on?

It was the moment when Kariel was wondering about that strange incident.

The carriage door burst open. Through the dust and smoke filling the carriage, a silhouette quickly approached Kariel.

Inyoung came up in an instant, took Kariel in her arms, and pulled her out of the carriage.

A space that began to change in an instant.

Kariel realized that it was a teleportation.

“After… ”

Soon a sigh of relief was heard.

“Really… ”

At the sound of crying heard at the same time, Kariel’s eyes turned to the person holding her in his arms.

As soon as Kariel saw the face of her captor, she couldn’t help but be surprised.

That’s right too.

“Saint… ”

This is because the person who kidnapped him was the saint, Llewen.