episode_0696

When Kim Do-jin was wandering around the world using Merlin as a means of transportation.

Saint Sophia Saintes encountered one long-standing relationship after another.

“It’s already been over 20 years since we’ve been together, right?”

“… Yes, that’s right.”

A dedicated maid who has been by my side ever since I was still a candidate for sainthood.

“Thank you for your dedication as always.”

“Don’t say that, Saint.”

“We should be the ones thanking the saint.”

“Haha, instead of this, how about we pray together for the first time in a while?”

“Oh, that’s good.”

High-ranking priests who have been in charge of the affairs of the church and outside of it for decades.

“Angela…, I’m so happy you’re my friend.”

“Why are you suddenly like this? It gives me goosebumps.”

“The same goes for others. Thank you always.”

“We are the ones who should be grateful, Your Lady.”

Including Angela, key figures of the Guardians.

They were people she trusted without a doubt and who were essential to her life.

After calmly observing them, she became even more confused.

“… Not all of them.”

Their intentions were clear and transparent.

There wasn’t a single lie in front of me, and there wasn’t a single hint of dark intention.

What are the chances that you fooled your own eyes?

So I watched it again.

I thought maybe my excessive trust in them had blinded me.

If not that, nothing could fool her eyes.

Because what she sees in her eyes is not their bodies or their emotions, but their souls themselves.

Words and actions?

You can decorate and pretend as much as you want.

Moreover, if one’s emotions are highly trained, one can even reach the point of deceiving oneself.

But for the soul, that is impossible.

Because there is no means by which humans can intervene in the soul.

Because of this, doubts grew even more.

If they didn’t betray me.

‘Then how on earth did that person know?’

How did Chris Emir know that Francis Meyer was sleeping in the forbidden zone?

The more I thought about it, the more I thought about it.

‘Am I missing something…?’

The starting point of such doubts was when Kim Do-jin learned of the existence of the Black Stone and came looking for it.

The Black Stone was an object that the previous saint had brought to life and kept hidden until now without anyone knowing about it.

Chris Emir knew of the existence of the stone that everyone thought was lost.

‘How on earth?’

There are four people who know that the Black Stone is hidden in the Vatican.

The saints of the past, the popes of the present, himself as a saint of the present, and Francis Meyer.

Among them, the previous saint had already passed away ten years ago.

So, there are three living people who know of the existence of the Black Stone.

‘Since the Pope won’t bring this up, it’s just me and Mr. Francis left… .’

There was only one person who confessed to the existence of the Black Stone.

Francis Meyer.

It was a preventive measure.

Now that the next candidate for the saint has not even appeared yet, in case something happens to me.

Because even if I die, peace and the secrets of the world must continue to be protected.

That’s how trustworthy he was.

If the previous saint was his mother and the current pope was his father, he was his uncle.

A cheerful and dependable person who always cheers on my dreams and supports me silently from behind.

She thought, folding her fingers one by one.

‘If it’s not the Holy Virgin, if it’s not the Pope, and if it’s not me… .’

At the end of the elimination process, only Francis Meyer remained.

That won’t be it either.

It was closer to something I wanted to believe was not true, but it was not an unfounded belief.

This is someone I’ve been seeing for over 10 years.

Because I have watched so closely the changes his soul has gone through over the years.

Surprisingly, he didn’t change.

Because he was always so white without any change, I even thought that I could tell him such a secret.

“No… , but.”

But if that wasn’t the case, it would be even less understandable.

Neither the black stone was hidden nor the forbidden area.

How on earth did Chris Emir know so much about the Vatican?

There keeps being a small gap in my head.

If I could just fill this in, all the pictures would be perfectly complete.

Wrong.

Rather than filling the gap, the more I thought about it, the bigger it became.

A feeling of anxiety rose between the gaps.

“Mr. Dojin… .”

She put her hands together and prayed.

I hope this anxiety is just a worry.

I hope nothing happens.

* * *

Because I was so nervous, Gwan-Ryu’s magical eyes were moving around wildly.

As the flow that I had suppressed began to fully show, my head felt hot as if it would melt at any moment.

I could do nothing but try to straighten out my blurry vision.

Because the flow of life that the being before my eyes radiates is so strange.

“You must be really surprised?”

Francis Meyer spoke to me so friendly, as if I had not seen him in a few days.

I felt two conflicting currents coming from him.

Breathing, heartbeat, muscle movement, flow of magical power.

All of that is leaking out, split into two instead of one.

…as if two different people were forcibly placed in the same space.

In fact, his words and actions changed from moment to moment.

“You really broke a lot in a short period of time. So much so that I couldn’t learn it without showing up.”

I am constantly being spoken to by a combination of the friendly, warm, and dignified Francis Meyer and the secretive, sly Chris Emir.

I don’t know.

What made them like that?

But one thing is clear.

In some way, Chris took over Mr. Francis’ body.

That was enough.

“Get out of that body right now.”

Reasons for refusing to talk:

“You son of a bitch.”

As I swing my sword with all my might, the surrounding flow trembles and the segmented sword strikes slash in all directions.

A perfect strike with no escape route.

Francis sees this and laughs bitterly.

“You’ve gotten a lot stronger since I last saw you, buddy.”

“Shut up.”

“But it’s too rough.”

A powerful wave of energy pours out from his body.

Sharp, sharp currents cut off the black energy that was slicing through the surroundings one by one.

“… … !”

When I saw this, I was shocked.

That’s ridiculous.

The blow just now should have been unstoppable by Francis’ power, but how?

“You’ve gotten stronger.”

Chris Emir is impressed.

Grit your teeth.

He swings his sword again and intercepts the flow coming from his opponent.

A flow that comes from Chris, not Francis.

But it was Francis who stopped it.

“This is really tricky.”

As he said this, Francis easily blocked the barrage of sword strikes.

Of course, the power used there was not entirely his own.

The power of Francis and the power of Chris.

He held the explosive power created by the collision of two forces in his hand and deflected all sword strikes.

“… … .”

It was amazing.

How could he so perfectly handle the raging chaos that never stays still for a moment?

He speaks as if he is still showing off his amazing skills that are not rusty, no, even more amazing.

“Friend. I understand you’re upset, but… Could you sit down for a moment, at least to see my face?”

“… … .”

It was definitely Francis Meyer, not Chris Emir, who said that.

This makes it certain.

I don’t know what trick they used, but their bodies became one.

Even in the form of Chris and Francis’ personalities coexisting.

While I was hesitating, the voice that had changed again piqued my interest.

“Aren’t you curious? How did he and I become like this?”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.

I have also experienced some extraordinary things regarding my body, and the situation before my eyes seems, in some ways, even more absurd than what I have experienced.

If it were normal, I would have suppressed my curiosity and just swung my sword at my opponent.

Never compromise with the enemy.

Because that was my creed.

nevertheless.

“Okay. Let’s hear it.”

I relaxed and sat down at his, no, their request.

There was no particular reason for changing my mind.

Because Francis Meyer has awakened, even though his form is grim.

He was someone who could not be woken up by anything.

That’s why a glimmer of hope emerged.

Maybe if we just keep the two people well separated in that state, we can maintain that state.

“Mr. Francis, please tell me. What on earth happened?”

“Umm… .”

Francis is in a difficult position.

Soon he opened his mouth.

“I don’t know where to start.”

Francis strokes his beard, which looks like it hasn’t been shaved in several days, with his hand, absorbed in his thoughts.

“Let’s get to the conclusion first.”

Finally, after thinking it over, he opened his mouth with an extremely heavy expression.

“Chris Emir and Francis Meyer are the same person.”

When I hear those words, my face distorts in a horrible way.

Two people are the same person.

“What is that…?”

He smiled bitterly and continued speaking in a weak tone.

“To be exact…, Chris Emir is an incarnation of Francis Meyer, or rather, an alter ego, separated from his human body.”

“… … !”

For a moment, my mind went blank.