episode_0143

46. Looking at the collapsing tower (3)

I smiled faintly at his question asking if it gave me strength.

” That’s… well… ”

I whispered in his ear and slowly looked at him. He looked so cute, concentrating on what I was saying with a slightly nervous expression, that I wanted to play a little joke, so I stopped talking.

” Sha, Charlotte…? ”

I blew my breath into his ear, saying, “Whew~” as he listened with his tense posture and waited for me to speak.

” Huh…! ”

He slowly turned his head towards me, caressing his ear as if it was quite ticklish. I hugged him and buried his face in my chest, stroking his head as I said, ‘Swish, swish.’

” Actually… that’s right. I shared some of my power. If I hadn’t… you would have died… and… I’m sorry. Because of me… I made her leave… ”

As soon as the word ‘her’ came out, he who had been buried in my chest slowly raised his head and looked at me and asked.

” She… you mean… that person? The goddess Patruna? My sister… who was… ”

” Yeah. Because I was lacking… I made that kid leave. I’m really sorry… ”

He told me about the conversation he had with Patruna while he was lying down, and after hearing the story, he began to look lonely.

The goddess Patruna, who was like a reincarnation of Luna, who was his family to my shortcomings. She left.

It’ll take some time to meet her again.

As I was about to turn my head away, unable to look at his face because I felt sorry, I felt his hand on my cheek.

” Hyun… Seok-ah…? ”

” Don’t be too sorry. I’m satisfied with the fact that we met once before. And both of you just made the best choice to save me. ”

” But… ”

” Luna was always that kind of child. She’s the kind of child who would make that choice at any time for the sake of someone precious to her. You just accepted that child’s choice. ”

” Thank you… for saying that. ”

” What… More than that… What happens to me then? ”

As he was leaving my arms and looking around his body, I held his hand and spoke to him while pouring divine power into him.

” How about this? Does it feel good? Slowly feel the flow of divine power from your hands to your heart. ”

He closed his eyes and began to feel the divine energy flowing from me, and he began to concentrate on the flow, squirming slightly.

” In order for me to revive you as I was born as a new god… I had no choice. I had to make you mine. ‘Apostle of Manienu. ‘ ”

” I see… That’s why, when I was fighting the demons tied with black thread earlier, I saw a bit of a pure white flame in the wind. ”

” It’s still early days for me as an Apostle, so it’ll take some time to learn how to use it properly… but if I just remember the flow of power I felt a little while ago, fighting those guys won’t be difficult. ”

” Then, can you help me practice a little more? ”

Hyunseok held my hand, which was holding his own, and hugged me tightly.

As if responding to the warmth I felt while hugging him, I poured divine power into his body and we spent time warming each other’s bodies.

Well, I got scolded a little bit because Yeonseo came to see me not long after~

*****

” So you have to go to the top? ”

Yeonseo asked me with a tired expression, and I answered while rubbing Hyunseok’s hand.

” That’s right. To finish it… I have to completely finish off the Guardian who was dragged to the tower. Oh! Of course, I’ll go alone. ”

” What? Are you crazy? Are you not afraid now that you’re a god? How many guys are out there right now… ”

He slowly took his hand away from hers and looked at Yeonseo. She was muttering while slightly cowering.

I slowly held her body, which was worried about me, and continued talking.

” It’s not that I’m no longer afraid. Even if I become a god, I’m still ‘me’. I’m still me, with feelings of fear, joy, and even love for someone.

The reason I’m going alone is because as a god… I have to finish it. And in the current situation… even if we all go to the tower together, it’s just dangerous. ”

” That… That’s it! I know that too. Thanks to Arkrich, I can now use magic of other attributes, but it doesn’t work on those guys out there right now… ”

Yeonseo cried and cried in my arms as if she was sorry for being weak, and I slowly patted her back.

” Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it later. But right now… I don’t think I have time. Did you hear from Oppa? Oh Hyuk-jin. About that guy. ”

” Yeah. That guy must be the leader of that cult… It looks like he’s sending his men to other settlements or towers to do some work. Right? ”

” Right. So we can’t just stop here like this, right? We have to finish quickly and go to the others. Me too, and you too. ”

As if realizing what I was trying to say, Yeonseo slowly nodded and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face.

” Then, what should we do? I see… Hyunseok has changed too. ”

” Not only him, but you and Jisung oppa were also close to my power, so you must have changed to the point where you could see the black thread, right? ”

” What? Really…? This isn’t going to be that weird, is it? ”

When Yeonseo, who was surprised as if she had heard something unexpected, looked at her hand or touched her cheek, and told her that there was no problem, she just started to look at it, and she seemed relieved and brushed her chest.

” Well, that’s good… but don’t mess around with something like this next time… ”

” Hehe, I got it. Then first… Hyunseok will take down the guys. Jisung oppa will take care of the rest. You protect your sister with the two of you. It’ll be a little easier to understand the situation if you use a summoner. ”

” So you’re saying I should help from behind and only intervene when there’s danger? Got it. ”

” Yeah, and I’ll leave this here. ”

When I took a sword out of my hand and stuck it into the floor, Yeonseo tilted her head and asked.

” Uh… can I leave it? ”

” Yeah. Anyway, I can now use this sword’s abilities myself, and it was originally intended to protect others, so it’s okay. ”

Guardian sword stuck in the floor. [Kurtana]

I felt relieved as I saw the divine power flowing from the sword create [Sanctuary. Brittany] that encompassed the entire space we were in. I snapped my fingers and created a portal.

” Then, I’ll go. ”

” What, you’re leaving already? ”

When Ji-seong oppa, who was watching my sister’s condition, saw me leaving, he ran over and asked me

” Yeah. You were already listening anyway, right? ”

” Well, that’s true. ”

” Okay, that’s it. Everyone take care and see you later. ”

As I entered the portal, Yeonseo and Jisung waved goodbye and began talking about what to do next.

and…

” Charlotte. Wait a minute…! ”

He was holding my hand as I headed toward the portal, and he was slightly shaking his head to and fro, looking around.

” Why? Do you have something to say? ”

” Hmm… So… ”

I pressed my lips against his, making him fidget.

” Would this work? ”

” Huh? ”

” Or… do you want to talk about the promise from back then? ”

” The promise from back then…? ”

I approached him quietly, as if he didn’t understand what I was saying, and whispered in his ear.

” After finishing the tower… ‘A promise to make me a woman.’ Hehe… ”

” Hey, wait! No, that… ”

I smiled at him and entered the portal.

If I had stayed like that… my face would have turned bright red… and they would have caught me.

*****

As I emerged from the portal, a strangely twisted, pitch-black tower greeted me. The only difference was that it was different from when I first saw it…

The tower door opened and black smoke began to flow out with a ‘whoosh’ sound, and with a ‘thud!’ and ‘kookung!’ sound of something crushing the floor, the guy appeared.

The Demon Wolf has a huge body with black fur and three heads.

We talked about it with everyone and came up with a name for the guy.

The name that everyone thought of through that appearance. [Cerberus]

A watchdog guarding the gates to hell. This guy had a name that suited him well.

” Hmm… It doesn’t really look like anything has changed since we fought earlier…? ”

The moment I said that, another one appeared in front of me again, making the same sound from the tower door. No, several appeared in front of me.

” Indeed… So you’re saying that he reabsorbed it and copied it as is. Well, it was a meaningless effort. ”

As soon as they finished speaking, they started glaring at me and howling at each other, as if they felt that I was mocking them.

” If you’re a dog, you should know how to stand up and down like a dog. ”

As I snapped my fingers, a ring of pure white flames began to fly towards the guys.

A few of them, still tied up in the pure white flame ring, began to lie down on the ground, and those who had avoided the ring continued to move around trying to avoid it, but soon they were tied up and laid down on the ground.

The fur that had turned pitch black began to turn white as the flames from the ring of pure white flames hanging around its neck spread, and soon, except for the one that had fought me, they all burned up and disappeared.

Perhaps, the guys that the top had copied couldn’t hold out and just disappeared.

I approached the guy who had turned pure white and slowly put my hand on him. He put his nose on my hand and then quickly stuck his tongue out and started licking it.

” Yeah, that’s good… I wish it had been like this from the beginning. Right? ”

After patting the guy’s head and ordering him to go where he was, I entered the tower.

A voice in my head as I enter the tower.

[ You took what was mine again… I can’t forgive you…! ]

I couldn’t hear it properly because it felt like it was ‘squeaking’, but I could tell who the voice was.

The evil god, Thanatos.

Sure enough, it was the same voice as the dark figure that had planted the seed in my head.

” You took what was yours. Not mine. And you can’t forgive me? Unfortunately, I can’t forgive you either. Wait. I’ll be there soon. ”