Chapter 26 Part 2: Blue Flame Swordsman

Jeon Chung-Woon pointed his blue flame-encrusted sword at the remaining paladins behind me and asked.

“None of you are stronger than me. Are you still going to come at me?”

Even the tone of his voice was so identical that I wondered if he had a name for himself here too.

“Ugh!”

The paladins glanced at the severed head of their Captain, then fled.

“God will not spare you, you heretic!”

They shouted as they ran through the door. It was a graceful exit. Ha, finally, it’s all over.

“But what’s that behind her?”

I turned around and saw the 「Holy Grail 」 still floating in the sky, but its appearance was a little strange.

“……Is she getting old?”

In an instant, I could see her aging. Dahlia, who was in her late teens, looked like she was already in her mid-30s, and then she passed that stage and headed into her 40s and 50s. Her blonde hair had turned gray at the roots. It was a drastic change.

I suddenly remembered the saintess in her old age. The 「Holy Grail 」 was still shining brightly. It was sucking the life out of Dahlia in all its splendor.

“No…” I muttered no, but nothing changed. In an instant, Dahlia was as old as the saintess from earlier. Her hair was graying and she had shrunk in stature. Her waist curved, her skin turned pale, and we were all mesmerized by the overwhelming sight.

The brilliance of the 「Holy Grail 」 filling our vision was eerily beautiful. I wondered if this is what it must be like to be face-to-face with a God, and the 「Holy Grail 」 floating in the sky seemed to be looking down on us. As soon as Dahlia turned into an old woman, like a skinny twig, the 「Holy Grail 」finally faded into a blur.

“Ah!”

At the same time as the 「Holy Grail 」 disappeared, Dahlia fell out of thin air. If she hit the ground like that, she would die instantly. Even if she was healthy, there was no way she could still be alive with her entire body weakened! I squeezed out the last of my strength and activated my skill. The empty mana screams out in pain inside my body, as if telling me it’s not enough. A pain that felt like my intestines were twisting followed. But I had to do it.

Please. I begged like I was begging my old friend and colleague.

Please help me. Please trigger it just this once.

I gritted my teeth and activated the skill, ignoring the organ-squeezing pain. I managed to catch Dahlia, but it was almost as if I’d thrown myself at her. One of her arms or legs appears to be broken.

Maybe both. I was shaking too much because of excessive skill use. I felt like I was going to throw up any minute. No, I hadn’t eaten today, so it must be gastric juices. I was in terrible shape. Even if an unranked ferret comes, I wouldn’t be able to fight it with my current conditions. But thanks to that, I had Dahlia in my arms. An old Dahlia.

” Ah…ha”

Dahlia squinted her eyes and let out a breath that sounded like it could stop at any moment. I shuddered and grasped her hand tightly. I could feel her rough palm against mine. Her breathing was so thin. I was afraid she would leave me alone like this.

“Ritch..I… I’m in so much pain…”

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I’m sure she does. My speed is so bad because I used my skill too much. Imagine her pain when she drained all her blood.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. The pain was so intense she could barely speak. Her breathing calmed down, and Dahlia struggled to get the words out,

“I…. need a favor….”

I had a very ominous feeling again. I hoped it wasn’t that, not such a cruel fate.

“Kill me, please… Ritch… Please… God will take me… Please”

I wanted to tell her that, ‘There is no God. There is no God, Dahlia, and if there were, he couldn’t be this harsh with me.’ But the words that came out of my mouth were different.

“Why…?”

“I’m going to die anyway…… I’m going to die… I can… I can… I can…”

Her breathing was fading now. “Let me go… without pain… Please…”

She whimpered once more, and a tear rolled down Dahlia’s cheek. But this time, it wasn’t hers. A single, unrecognizable tear slid down my cheek and found its way to Dahlia’s. A split second later. I wiped the tear away. I wordlessly pulled out the karambit. Horrible pain shot through me as I tried to force my non-functional arm to move. My fingertips were numb and I could barely feel them. My arm had long since exceeded its permitted usage. Besides, karambits are meant to slash, not stab.

But… Like I said, there are times when it has to be done.

Swish! I slit her throat as quickly as I could with my own calloused fingers. The pain would have been minimized. Probably. It should be. For some reason, no tears came out of my eyes. Yeah. She’s just an entity inside this gate. She doesn’t really exist. It’s just a piece of data, a bunch of 0’s and 1’s, an empty thing. Just like I’m not ‘Ritch‘, I’m ‘Han Seo-ha’.

The Dahlia I knew is also just such an easily dismissed entity. A puppet in a story created by a staged game. I know that. I know that… I know it, really well.. But why does the crisp pain in my limbs seem to tell me that this too is real. I sat there for quite a while. Clutching Dahlia’s cold, and cooling body.

“Seoha-ya… We have to go back.”

Hye-won said, holding my shoulder. She smiled weakly, her exhaustion evident on her face.

“We have a place to go back to.”

Well. Do we? I suddenly realized. I had no parents, no relatives, and no real friends. What the hell was waiting for me after I finished this gate? But I didn’t say it out loud. I just rose from my seat. Leaving behind Dahlia’s body lying there.

“Let’s go.”

I brushed past Hye-won and headed for the door first. It’s always been like this. There are things that must be done ‘in spite of everything’.

To kill Beelzebub, to find Theo’s arrangements, to find this hidden gate, and eventually to clear it.

These were all my choices, and I can’t blame anyone else. In the end, it’s just a result of my own decisions, so there’s only one thing I can do. That’s to walk through this stupid gate unbroken.

Hye-won and I walked out of the dreary new school. The smell of earth and the whine of grasshoppers hadn’t been heard in a long time. Kim Ki-taek was waiting for us, and Jeon Chung-Woon was staring at us in his paladin armor. Sun Ha-Rang’s face was hidden behind a cotton cloth. Not long afterward, an alert sounded and everything collapsed.

It oxidized into a white light. everything was scattered into the air. I slowly closed my eyes, staring at my fingertips as they turned into powder. When I open them again, everything will be back to normal…

Notice: Objective achieved (Objective: Escape with fewer than 5 deaths)] 」

「Distributing rewards… 」

「Checking items…」

Name: Holy Grail

Rank: S 

Description: 

A holy relic imbued with the soul of a saintess. Produces an infinite supply of superlative holy water. For unknown reasons, certain types of holy water have more powerful effects when used. 

Additional effects: 

Being within 5 meters of the holy grail restores 400 health per second. Items placed inside the holy grail are imbued with holy power for a proportional amount of time. You will be temporarily labeled with a ‘holy’ water modifier.

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