episode_0349

“…….”

One sunny afternoon, in a farmhouse on the border of the Ubiet Empire.

Eve opened her eyes in bed, with a very familiar sensation.

The world seemed a little bigger, her mind clear and refreshed. Her short, soft limbs felt a little heavy.

They say you don’t remember being a tadpole, but a being that transcends tadpole and frog can’t possibly not know.

This is the sensation of regressing to a younger age. A disquieting feeling she’d experienced so many times it couldn’t be forgotten.

She quietly rose from the bed. The sky was clear, and the view from the room was identical to her memory. It was the same day she’d returned to time and again. Her parents had already left for the ranch, leaving Eve behind.

That’s what regression meant.

“I… died again.”

Wasn’t all the cause and effect of the regression erased? In the end, was Eve Istar nothing more than a doll trapped in an eternal cage, a being that could never truly end her life?

She turned her head. Nari’s face still lingered in her mind. If she reached out, she felt like Nari would take her hand with a smile.

The scene before she’d last opened her eyes. Fighting together in the vastness of space, and finally being caught by Yog-Sothos’ tentacles, dragged into the depths of an endless darkness.

The kindness she had received was immeasurable, yet Eve had failed again, returning to the past. Leaving Nari alone on the other side of time.

She clenched her fists. Her nails dug into her palm, drawing bright red blood. The pain wasn’t registered; the overwhelming torrent of anger, sorrow, and regret consumed her.

‘Eve!’

Eve’s eyes widened. Someone had called her. An unforgettable voice. Nari’s.

She looked around, but there was no one. There couldn’t be anyone. Eve, back at the ‘beginning,’ was always alone.

And then she realized.

Whoaa-

A deep emotion welling up from within her manifested as a stream of pure white light.

Eve’s eyes widened even further than when she heard Nari’s voice.

“This is…”

She opened her hand. The pure white light enveloped the wound on her palm, instantly healing it. It was soft and smooth once more.

She clenched her fist again. The light extended, forming the shape of a sword. She swung it a few times and knew. It was undoubtedly the Muyeong Sword.

…Following her hazy memories, she retraced her steps. Six gates opened in the vacuum of space. Black tentacles. Six people dragged away. Her vision darkening rapidly. Consciousness fading.

Her senses returned. Her heart was beating. She put her hand to her chest. This heart was also beating. But the two were distinctly different.

From the other heart, she sensed an aether that wasn’t hers. It was like a thin, long thread, stretching out to something warm and comforting at its end.

Nari was smiling from behind the gate.

Eve reached a conclusion.

“I… didn’t die.”

This world was an illusion so exquisitely crafted that it was indistinguishable from reality.

. . .

“Eve! Can you come help me for a bit?”

“Yes, Papa!”

Eve, in her small body, lifted a large pile of hay. It was light, but twice as big as she was.

But she didn’t mind; she effortlessly carried it. Eve’s father looked at her with wonder.

“It’s lunchtime, Eve!”

“Yes, Mama!”

Eve ran and deftly took a basket. Watching her efficiently lay out plates and toast under a large tree stump, Eve’s mother smiled warmly.

“I think it’s time to find her a husband.”

“What nonsense, I’m keeping Eve forever.”

Watching the happy family scene, Eve silently chewed her toast.

This warm scene was also an illusion. Her dead parents would never return. They now existed only in Eve’s memories.

Thuk- Tuduk-

Transparent tears fell onto the toasted bread. Eve’s parents were startled and about to comfort her when they hesitated.

“Mama… Papa. Do you know how many days this is for me?”

Dalgrak-

Eve put the toast down on the plate. She placed her clenched fists on her neatly folded knees, her head drooping weakly.

“After the three hundredth time, I lost count. It’s probably been over ten thousand times. During all that time, I’ve seen your corpses countless times… and I’ve become a corpse myself.”

“…Eve.”

“It was so incredibly hard. I actually died. I thought I’d go mad. My mind kept shattering, yet my body kept reviving… I had to destroy my own sanity to find peace.”

She was wounded. The pain persisted. But the wound would never heal, it only festered. There was only one solution.

She had to cut out the wound.

In Eve’s case, it was her memories. Within those memories were warm and happy times, but there was also far more ink than was needed to completely cover those colorful images.

Black, dark, frightening, painful. The hardened ink, no matter how much she scraped, wouldn’t restore its color.

She had to forcibly cut out the memories.

Eve’s mind, once a pristine white canvas, had become a ragged, fragmented mess; tiny, dark fragments.

Then… someone placed a hand on those fragments.

Mending the cut pieces, melting the dried ink, returning the damaged image to its original form.

The blue sky, the vast meadow, the small house. A river flowed, babies played, a happy picture filled with laughter and love.

Eve wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m not the child you knew. By experience, I’m now something beyond an old woman.”

She stood up and brushed her skirt. Since her head was bowed, her parents’ faces were hidden behind her light-blue hair.

That was good. It was time to leave.

Kwaak-

Someone grabbed her hand as she turned to walk away. It was Eve’s mother.

“Don’t… talk like that. Whatever you’ve experienced, whatever time you’ve spent… we are Eve’s parents.”

“…Mama.”

Her other hand was tightly clasped by Eve’s father.

“Have some food before you go. You need a full stomach for a long journey.”

“…Papa.”

“Right? Our adventurer should know that best.”

Eve released one hand, then squeezed her parents’ hands again tightly.

“I won’t… forget. Wherever I am, whenever… I will remember.”

She hugged her parents closely. Although Eve was a small child, for some reason, the two were completely enveloped in her embrace.

“…You’ve grown up so much already.”

“I… am an adult now. I’ll be a bride soon.”

“That’s… wonderful.”

“Please… please come see.”

Eve ate the stacked toast until she was full and spent time talking with her parents until sunset.

She walked, leaving the warm sunset and the shadows of the two behind.

Eve didn’t cry, she didn’t frown.

She laughed instead.

“You… miscalculated. You gravely underestimated me, us, my Creator.”

They probably thought they could appease her with this enticing bait, but that was a grave mistake.

No other choice could replace Nari. This illusion would become Eve and their trial, and after overcoming it, everything would end.

. . .

Chwaak- Pagak-!

“Kuaaah—”

A girl, her black cloak pulled over her head, dashed at unimaginable speeds. In her wake, only blood and corpses remained.

The bandits who lived near the mountain village, upon hearing rumors of the mysterious attacker, fled in a panic. They didn’t succeed.

“Kreuk… why…”

“I ate, bathed, and took a refreshing walk, and I found a beehive on the path.”

“Wh, what…?”

Seogek-

The bandit leader’s head was severed. Eve picked up the head and placed it on the pile of corpses.

“Those bees hadn’t done anything yet… but leaving them alone would make for bad dreams.”

She scattered the blood-stained Muyeong Sword in the air and sat down on the grass.

She reached towards the sky. Her crimson-stained gloves obscured the moonlight.

Pasak-

“My, my… extraordinary.”

At that moment, someone approached. Eve smirked. Her eyes were hidden by her hair.

“You’re late. I intentionally made a scene.”

“…You knew?”

She turned her head to look at the man.

Eve gave a chilling laugh and tapped her temple with her finger. Red blood trickled down her cheek.

“Did you think you were the only one receiving His revelations?”

“… I apologize for my impoliteness. My name is Jeremy Ron Darius. I lead a small group according to His will, called Moriarty.”

“The plan?”

“First… we gather soldiers, then completely seize the imperial palace. War… turn the continent into a sea of blood, then conduct the ritual.”

Seuuk-

Eve stood up. Duke Darius flinched and took a step back.

She walked slowly towards him. Each time Eve’s foot landed on the grass, the Duke’s heart clenched. A single misstep, and he’d be dead in an instant.

“I’ll sit on the throne.”

“What… nonsense-”

“I won’t say it twice.”

His eyes widened. His instincts screamed at him to bow before the emperor right now.

Chwaak—!

His face was buried in the mud. It didn’t take long to realize what had happened.

All the soldiers he brought were dead, their waists cleanly severed by horizontally flying sword energy.

Their upper bodies rolled on the ground first, followed by their lower halves.

Eve walked through the field of corpses.

“I’ll have to re-teach you imperial etiquette.”

“I, I apologize.”

“I’ll finish the work and return to my castle. Make sure it’s clean.”

Having issued her first imperial decree, she left. Only then could Duke Darius breathe again.

He shivered. Half from the terror of death, half from the elation of having acquired the ultimate power.

The Duke’s ambition stirred, reaching further into the distant future.

Regardless of that, Eve completely washed away the blood on her body and dashed towards the Nifrantz Kingdom.

She concealed her presence with aether, using the perception nullification magic that Nari had taught her.

In a single bound, she crossed the night sky, reaching the royal castle. From one end of the castle walls, she nimbly leaped onto a balcony with a large window.

On the bed inside, a delicate black-haired girl slept soundly.

‘Nari…!’

Seeing young Nari, Eve grinned widely. She was so cute and adorable that she couldn’t help but laugh.

Quickly regaining her composure, she headed towards the maid’s private room where Yulia would be.