169
The Empress would burn herself and become the spark that called the firestorm down upon the Lutinas Empire.
Her existence would deny the history that the Lutinas once drove the demonkin from the continent with the aid of divine power, and to instill fear in those who revere the power of the Swordmasters, she would willingly become the nightmare.
Considering that she can wield the power of the demonkin, it was, in a way, a relief that the extent of her obsession was merely placing her own son on the throne.
"If the relationship between Cherrya and Enoch were to deteriorate here, we might at least be able to prevent the Empress from giving in to despair and trying to ruin the Empire."
"…You're telling me to drive apart the two people we tried so hard to bring together—for the sake of unity between the Emblem and Gray houses—now, of all times?"
"It would be nothing more than a stopgap measure, but it should buy us a little time."
Benedict's gaze turned toward the direction where Cherrya and Enoch had gone.
"From the looks of things, it won't be hard for their relationship to deteriorate."
Are the Emblem and Gray houses fated to be forever separated like this?
***
Kratyn Forest was said to be the worst of the worst, a cursed place where every knight on the continent, including members of the Emblem Order, had to come at least once on a slaying mission.
High-rank monsters would appear not singly but in packs as if they were low-rank beasts, and sometimes creatures would show up that had no measurable rank at all.
The very air near Kratyn Forest was thick with monster-magic, making it hard even to breathe; it was a regular hunting ground for Emblem and Gray knights.
Still, even they only cleaned up the forest's outskirts; approaching what was called the monsters' source was impossible unless you were exceptionally powerful.
In the Lutinas Empire, aside from my grandfather, only my mother, Aunt Diana, and Jade Gray—who has since retired but still stands strong—could get close to Kratyn's depths.
"You made this place into this?"
By the time we reached the heart of Kratyn Forest, I let out an incredulous sigh and looked around.
The ground was gouged and cratered as if a meteor had struck from the sky, and wreckage of felled trees lay strewn in chaos for as far as the eye could see.
This place had once been the source from which monsters burrowed out, like the bogs of the Carmedan jungle. That the one standing before me, my sworn enemy, had shattered that source itself.
I couldn't believe it. Something even my grandfather couldn't do had been done by that bastard.
"How?"
I raised my sword and leveled it at Enoch's face.
Even if my grandfather had broken a monster-source, he'd never destroyed it this completely. Given enough time the monsters would crawl back out and it would return to its previous state.
He used to say there had never been a case where anyone was sucked into a source and trapped in some unknowable space like the way Enoch and I had been.
He told us that, whether or not he knew how we'd done it, whatever we had done would be the way to completely destroy a source.
"Enoch could do it. He's been through what I went through. But Yoon Doyoon, how did you?"
"Ah, so that's where we start the explanation, huh."
Yoon Doyoon gave a short, hollow-sounding sigh and curled one corner of his mouth into a smile.
"I know the inspector is only curious about Enoch's condition..."
He flicked the sword in his hand and continued speaking.
"If you try that blatantly to separate Enoch and me, I'll end up getting jealous of myself, you know."
"Are you claiming you're Enoch right now? In front of me? You dare?"
"What else am I supposed to say when it's true."
Yoon Doyoon swung the sword lightly through the air.
My face hardened on instinct.
The way he moved—his grip, his form, the habits packed into his swing—was unmistakably Enoch's.
"You keep telling me to get out of this body. But how am I supposed to get out of my own body, Cherry?"
Damn him. That sly tone that only Yoon Doyoon had—mixed with Enoch's calm voice—made my insides boil.
It felt wrong. Like that man had taken over Enoch's body, and I had to watch him use it.
My mind could not accept the idea that Enoch and Yoon Doyoon were the same person. It simply refused it.
As if sensing exactly that, he continued.
"I've been me from the beginning. It's just that I couldn't remember. Even when you were right in front of my eyes, I didn't recognize you—and that's what was so damn ridiculous."
Yoon Doyoon laughed quietly, the sound nearly unhinged.
I was the one who felt like going insane, and yet he was laughing.
"Don't you remember, Cherry? You said you saw my dreams after that day."
"You mean after we came back from the Carmedan Jungle?"
"Yes."
He gave a small nod. The gesture was so much like Enoch that my stomach twisted.
"After returning to this world and facing the past between you and me for the first time… I saw my previous life every night in my dreams."
His eyes dimmed. He wasn't looking at me anymore, but through me—at something far away, as if he were wandering in a dream.
"In my dreams, I'm holding you as you're dying. I burst into the ER, screaming that if they don't save you, I'll kill everyone there."
"……"
"You were still warm… still warm in my arms, and they dared to tell me you were dead. So how was I supposed to stay sane?"
I did not know the story he was telling. I could not understand it.
He stepped toward me and reached out as if to hold my face with both hands—just like he did at the engagement ceremony.
I lifted my hand and sharply swatted his away. He curled his lip, smirking as if he expected that reaction. Completely Yoon Doyoon.
"Do you have any idea what I did after you died like that? And yet you stand there and say I killed you? How could you say something so absurd?"
"Yoon Doyoon. I was taken out exactly the way you arranged it, in that place you chose, using the method the hit squads prefer. And you still say you weren't the one who killed me? You really are shameless."
The veins in my hand bulged as I tightened my grip on my sword. Energy wavered along the blade without breaking.
"Just die!"
I could not hold back any longer. I charged toward Yoon Doyoon.
A thunderous clang! rang out as our blades collided again.
"Ha. Hahaha… So that's really what you think? You seriously believed I killed you."
Yoon Doyoon blocked my blade as if it were nothing. Along the edge of his sword shimmered a silver aura.
That was Enoch's color.
"I'll crack your skull if I have to—just forget everything and go back to being Enoch. Then I might let you live."
"Don't be ridiculous, Cherry. You really think we can turn back now?"
His expression hardened again as he swung his sword, widening the distance between us.
"You remembered everything from the beginning. From the moment you told me to call you 'Inspector'—that means you still had your past life's memories. So why!"
This time, Yoon Doyoon rushed at me first. He moved like Enoch, launching a surprise attack, but his strikes, wild and unrestrained, were clumsy and dull, nothing like Enoch's usual precision.
"How many years did you spend hating me? How many years did you live loathing me?"
"So what? Did you expect me to live thanking you for killing me? Like some saint?"
Boom—! BOOOOM!
Each time our auras collided, the entire Kratyn Forest shook. Birds, already displaced by the devastation, burst from every branch and took to the sky at once.
A dark swarm covered the sun, like an omen of the disaster yet to come, turning midday into twilight.
"Do you remember what happened that day? Do you remember what I gave you?"
"What?"
"Before you died! Do you remember what happened!"
"How could I forget? You told me you were going to blow everything wide open—you said you were going to expose them. So I went to the place you chose-!"
My sword stalled, just for an instant.
Yoon Doyoon seized that moment and kicked me hard, hurling me across the forest floor.
I tumbled, crashing against the torn earth, though strangely, I felt no pain.
"Before that…"
My mind was blank.
"Before I met you… I…"
Why couldn't I remember?
The memories of the day I died felt erased, as if someone had wiped everything clean. Not simply old or faded, but deliberately removed.
"I didn't kill you. Damn it, how could I ever kill you?"
"……"
"Because of you—just to save you—I went under that bastard."
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 Comments