episode_0162

Iris’s unexpected actions caused a stir in the surroundings.

People who had been running wild with fear until just now. But none of them opened their mouths.

The sight before my eyes was so shocking that it was more than enough.

“…..”

Iris shouted loudly as Athena blinked blankly.

“Is human life a joke to you? How could you do such a thing..!”

Iris hit someone for the first time and raised her voice.

The feelings that had been building up towards Athena finally burst out.

But unfortunately, the opponent was not good.

Athena’s eyes, which had been full of playfulness until just now.

Now he was just looking at Iris with a cold, calm demeanor.

Athena, who had been touching her own cheek a few times, slowly approached Iris.

“Iris.”

Crack-!!!!

It was clearly different from before. The sound of flesh being torn spread ominously throughout the surroundings.

Iris was unable to overcome the intense impact that hit her face and eventually fell to the ground.

“Ahh…!”

Athena looked down at Iris, whose cheek was red and bruised from a rupture, and spoke calmly.

“Don’t ever touch me again. I’m only letting you live because you’re my friend.”

Athena’s words were infinitely cold. If it had been the usual Iris, she would have been overwhelmed by her pressure and would not have been able to respond.

But now, far from being discouraged, Iris stood up on her wobbly legs and looked at Athena.

“….You said that if you fought bravely, you would uphold that person’s will, right?”

Iris grabs the golden sword that Athena was holding. Athena lets go of the sword in response to the unexpected action. The sword is now completely in Iris’ arms.

Iris opened her mouth, looking confidently at Athena while still holding her sword.

“I will fight the dragon. To protect everyone in the empire.”

Athena’s eyes widened at her words.

“So even if I die fighting, you must carry out my will.”

Iris’s remarks that will shock everyone.

But no one dared to step forward, so only a quiet silence reigned around.

The cold atmosphere continued for a while.

After a while, it was none other than Athena who broke the silence.

And that too with a big laugh.

Athena starts to laugh out loud, as if she finds Iris’s serious determination amusing.

Iris frowned, perhaps finding her laughter unpleasant.

“….Why are you laughing?”

“Phehehe..Iris. Do you think I don’t know?”

Iris looks confused, as if she has no idea what Athena means.

Athena opened her mouth, looking at her with intense eyes.

“You. You want to die.”

“…….Huh?”

Iris’s heart sank at Athena’s calm words.

“Look at your face. Are you so desperate to die right now?”

“What…what the heck is that..”

Iris hurriedly stepped back from Athena.

And as she felt something strange and touched her face with both hands, Iris couldn’t help but be shocked.

This feeling at the corner of my mouth.

A clear feeling that I wanted to deny, but couldn’t.

In this tragic situation, his own mouth.

He was smiling as if he was really happy.

“Can you please stop telling me what you want using sacrifice as an excuse?”

“Ah..no…that..can’t be..”

Iris’s breathing became more labored.

My body trembled at the unbelievable duality of my own appearance, and tears began to form in my eyes.

“Iris. You said you felt sorry for me, who didn’t know love before?”

Athena looked down at Iris, who was sitting on the floor, breathing heavily, and smiled mischievously.

“I pity you, Iris, who doesn’t know the wickedness of humans.”

Iris’s eyes, looking at Athena, began to shake violently.

Unfortunately, no further conversation took place.

Athena tried to speak to Iris more.

As the blue dragon in front of her let out a loud roar, the earth around Athena began to shake violently.

A large-scale magic that was activated immediately without any warning. Even those around Athena. Could not escape the aftereffects of the magic.

“Eww!!”

People fell through the cracking ground.

It was a sight as if a great natural disaster had swept across the land.

People who start running away in a hurry to survive.

Should I say I was lucky?

It would be impossible for a normal person to escape from a dragon.

But the dragon paid no attention to the people running away, and only looked at Athena.

“Do you want to cut off the remaining horns too?”

Athena smiles calmly even in the midst of the dragon’s raging murder.

As if hearing Athena’s words, the dragon began to grind its teeth more fiercely.

Athena glanced at Iris and lifted her feet off the ground, holding the sword that had returned to her.

“If you want to die, die alone.”

Athena then charged at the dragon.

The energies of two untouchable beings clashed violently.

* * *

The demon king is dead.

Lily is dead.

Ariel is dead.

Princess Charlotte, Hayley, Catherine, and Robin were all killed.

The empire burned. The emperor’s head fell to the ground.

Even the precious people of the empire who had no power were swept away by the disaster and lost their lives.

Even the mighty knights in black armor and the dragons known as the rulers of the skies all ended up closing their eyes.

Equator. Friendly too.

It was a huge sacrifice.

The peace that was finally found through their sacrifice.

A month passed since then.

Time passed terribly slowly, but at the same time quickly.

“Now….it’ll be okay..”

Iris muttered to herself in her room with an extremely dry voice.

A month later.

The world has been completely turned upside down.

Iris poured out her divine power so much that she had long since forgotten how many people she had cured.

In this way, humans were barely able to survive the disaster.

Although the number of survivors was less than half.

Athena disappeared without a trace, and the remaining survivors began to join forces and dream of a new beginning.

Now that the public enemy, the Demons, has disappeared.

The elves lowered the barrier and came out of the forest again. The water people also helped the humans, looking much more relaxed than before.

A situation where all wars are over.

But can this really be called peace?

Iris looked at the object in her hand for a moment.

A small sword with a sharp edge. It had a blade that could easily cut through most objects.

Iris slowly brought the sword to her wrist and moved it sideways.

A large amount of blood began to spurt out from his wrist, accompanied by a stinging pain.

A wound that should have been healed immediately with the protection of the goddess.

But Iris’s wrist continued to spurt blood.

“Now…Is it okay to rest, Goddess..?”

With dry lips and empty eyes, Iris muttered.

The saint’s divine power is so vast that it can be said to be infinite. However, over the past month, Iris has been using up all of that enormous divine power without stopping.

Even when she collapsed from overwork or vomited blood as a side effect of using too much force, Iris stubbornly continued to treat people.

Should we say it was thanks to that? Although she was able to save countless people, Iris now no longer had the strength to heal herself.

But ironically, Iris was completely at peace with this situation.

In the end, Athena was right.

He himself wanted to die.

“Sorry everyone…”

Iris muttered softly as she thought of her colleagues.

Everyone sacrificed their lives for me. I’m sorry for running away like this.

I don’t have the courage to overcome this suffering and move forward.

Right now, I just want to…rest.

I want to go back to the embrace of the goddess and just sit still and do nothing.

…I’m really sorry for being such a useless saint.

Iris closed her eyes as her consciousness gradually became more and more blurred.

As my mind was sinking, I heard a sound.

Could it be an auditory hallucination?

As I concentrated my remaining consciousness, I was able to make out the shape of the voice.

The voice I heard was a woman’s.

That too, crying very sadly.

“Thank you…”

Although she didn’t know who she was or why she was crying, Iris thanked her.

Iris found great comfort in the sound of her crying sadly, as if she was mourning her own death.

It was a bitter death with no one around, but the woman’s cries made me feel not lonely at all.

‘I don’t know who it is, but… I’m sure… it’s definitely a very kind person.’

There is no way a person who cries like this for others could not be kind.

The unidentified woman who stayed by his side until the end.

Her aura was so warm and cozy.

Iris fell into a quiet sleep with a faint smile on her face.

So Iris.

I finally found the peace I had been longing for.