Chapter 88: The End of an Idolized Ideal

“Ugh…”

The backlash from mana Explosion surged through my entire body. I couldn’t even stay standing and slammed my face into the ground.

This backlash was nothing like when my Mana Shield was erased. I wasn’t bleeding, but the fatigue wracking my body was no joke. I didn’t think I could get up anymore.

‘Moonlight…’

I squeezed out every ounce of strength and lifted my head. The spot where the mana Explosion had occurred was devastated, as if a meteor had struck.

And there.

I could see it.

‘…!’

Moonlight, Ludwig Light, was staggering to his feet.

‘Did I fail…?’

*Thud, thud.* With his head bowed, he walked toward me one step at a time, looking no different from a zombie.

‘Damn it…!’

I had to get up. If I didn’t, I’d be erased by that bastard’s sword.

*Ba-dump.*

My heart began to race.

With every step he took, chills and cold sweat poured down my skin, making me flinch.

Death approaching. That was what I saw in his figure before my eyes.

“M-Mr. Mateo…!”

I called out the name of the only ally left here, but I couldn’t hear his voice.

Karelin… I couldn’t see Karelin either. That was at least some comfort. But even with her gone, the footsteps of Moonlight, called a masterpiece, didn’t stop.

*Click.*

At last, the moment Moonlight’s steps halted right in front of me.

I felt my breath catch in my throat. Then his hand moved slowly.

‘Is this how I die…’

I closed my eyes. I’d sent Jihyeok away. I’d refused help with my own hands.

No one was coming to save me now.

I’d lost the moment I couldn’t finish him with mana Explosion. I’d have to pay the price.

‘…No regrets.’

But unlike before, my heart felt lighter.

I knew now that Jihyeok was still my comrade and my friend.

I’d saved Mr. Luca. I’d saved Claire. I hadn’t paid off all my debts… but this should be enough.

‘Hoo.’

A life filled with pointless enemies, arrogance, and showing off — compared to that, this life now.

Having friends, having comrades, not being hated — I realized this life now was far more satisfying.

If I hadn’t become a girl’s body in the first place, this was an opportunity I’d never have had. I was satisfied enough now.

So I tried to close my eyes, ready to accept it peacefully.

But then.

‘…?’

I realized belatedly that Moonlight’s hand held no sword. And at the same time.

*Click.*

Moonlight’s hand patted my shoulder.

Moonlight slowly turned his head toward me.

And then, the moment our eyes met.

“…Thank you.”

I could see Ludwig’s smiling face.

My confusion at those words lasted only a moment. Ludwig’s body began to crumble into dust and scatter, as if vanishing from this world entirely.

“Verdiol.”

“…!”

When Ludwig called my name — my real name — I felt an indescribable chill run down my entire body.

I never dreamed that Ludwig would remember my name.

“I have a request for you.”

“A… request?”

“Yes. It’s something only you can do.”

I didn’t quite understand this situation, but I nodded anyway.

“Iris isn’t dead yet.”

“…What?”

Iris isn’t dead?

The reason I was branded a murderer in the first place was because of her death in End Cave. If not for her sacrifice, Jihyeok and I would have died.

“The Demon God.”

Ludwig didn’t stop speaking, even as his body continued to turn to dust.

“He has her captive. Please save her from the Demon God.”

“What’s a Demon God?”

“The boss of this Gate. The god that the Demon Beasts serve.”

“…”

A Demon God, huh. So there are Demon Beasts with such grandiose names. Thinking about it, considering this was an S-Rank Gate and how strong the boss was, it made sense. After all, that bastard was so strong that Jihyeok and I, who had cleared an S-Rank Gate just the two of us, couldn’t even stand a chance against him.

“The Demon God is currently sealed by Iris. To save Iris, you need to break that seal first.”

“How do I break the seal?”

“The egg.”

“The egg? Ah…!”

I remembered what Ludwig meant by the egg. The one the Earth Dragon had, the one Karelin had tried to take from us. No doubt about it.

“That egg is needed to open the room where the Demon God she sealed is.”

“…I have it.”

“Open the path with that egg, subjugate the Demon God, and save Iris.”

“…”

Only Ludwig’s face remained now. Even that face was gradually crumbling into dust and scattering.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

At my words, Ludwig tilted his head with a questioning look.

“Are you… satisfied with this? Dying so meaninglessly like this… you’re fine with that?”

I didn’t want the strongest’s end to be like this — dying while being used by someone, such a hollow death.

Ludwig.

To my question, he just smiled silently.

An instant later, even that face crumbled into dust and vanished without a trace.

Did he just smile because he didn’t have enough time to answer?

‘…No.’

I don’t think so.

That alone was probably answer enough.

Maybe Ludwig truly loved Iris.

So much so that he would give his life for her.

In the end, he didn’t even care about his own death, only asking me to save her.

‘Well, damn.’

When you put it that way, I have no choice but to do it.

“Uwaaah…!”

That was when I heard a woman’s scream. I didn’t need to think to figure out who it was.

Karelin was staggering toward me.

“How dare you, how dare you ruin my masterpiece…!”

“…Karelin.”

“…You!”

Thanks to some time having passed, I could at least get up. Maybe she hadn’t expected me to be able to stand, because her face twisted. To me, it looked close to desperation.

“Let me ask you one thing. Why did you do all this?”

“…Heh heh.”

At my question, Karelin let out a sneer.

“For revenge, of course.”

“Revenge?”

“I wasn’t an Awakened One originally.”

“…A late-stage Awakened, something like that?”

“No.”

Her gaze shifted away from me.

“I had no abilities at all. An orphan abandoned even by my family, who had nothing good or worthwhile. The only way I could survive was to become a Porter for Hunters.”

Karelin’s gaze returned to me.

“But…”

Her face darkened.

“Something terrible happened.”

She said the party she joined as a Porter encountered Bandits and was wiped out. She survived alone and barely escaped from the Bandits. With her skill as a Porter, she couldn’t subdue Demon Beasts or defeat the group chasing her.

So for a while, she hid in the dungeon to avoid their notice, barely clinging to life… but then something changed.

“The Gate closed.”

The boss had been subjugated. She didn’t know until just before the Gate closed, and she rushed toward the exit, but it was already too late.

The Gate closed, and she was trapped inside the dungeon.

“…”

It didn’t seem like a lie. Her attitude and expression as she spoke seemed to tell me what that scene was like.

“When frustration turned into despair, and I was about to give up everything and face death, I heard a voice.”

A voice that suddenly reached Karelin’s ears.

—Do you want to live?

—P-please, save me! I’ll do anything, please!

—Then I shall grant that wish.

“…The Demon God.”

I muttered the name Ludwig had mentioned under my breath.

I thought I knew who the owner of that voice was.

‘It has to be the one Ludwig talked about.’

If Ludwig asked me to take care of it in his place.

And if Iris sacrificed herself to seal him.

Turning a non-Awakened like Karelin into an Awakened One probably wasn’t that hard for him.

“Give up now.”

“…What?”

“Revenge.”

“Do you have any idea how many people have died because of your personal grudges, and how many have grieved because of it?”

…That was what I wanted to say, at least.

“…Revenge leaves you with nothing.”

I held back. Of course, that didn’t mean I was condoning Karelin’s crimes.

It was just that she, too, was a victim who had become a perpetrator, created by the Bandits.

“What you’ve done is unforgivable. If I’m being honest, thinking about what you did to Mr. Luca, I have no intention of forgiving you. But hearing about your past… it makes me feel a certain way. So if you turn yourself in to the Association quietly, I’ll let it slide.”

“Ha…! After coming all this way? And it’s not over yet. My comrades…”

“They won’t be coming.”

Before Karelin could even finish her sentence, a familiar voice cut her off.

“Kim Jihyeok?”

I turned my head toward the voice and saw Jihyeok walking over, supporting Mateo.

“What a relief.”

“You—what about Mr. Luca?!”

“I tried to see him all the way, but he didn’t want that.”

“Hey, you bastard, how could you just send him off alone?!”

“I received word through an Artifact. He’s safe.”

“For real?!”

Jihyeok smiled and nodded.

“What about the others?”

“They all ran off long ago. Especially that Vasquez bastard—he bolted the moment he saw me.”

“That can’t be…”

The moment she heard Jihyeok’s words, Karelin let out a sigh.

“You know that too, don’t you? From the start, everyone you gathered was only after their own gain.”

“Heh heh, I was hoping you’d say I was an exception.”

At Jihyeok’s words, Mateo chuckled lightly, then turned his gaze to me and spoke.

“…”

There was something strangely ominous in that gaze. Still, since I wouldn’t have won without Mateo, I didn’t scowl like before.

“It’s all over now, Karelin.”

“…”

“If you surrender quietly, you might be able to save your life. I suggest you don’t defy the Saintess’s mercy.”

“Ha, hahaha…”

Karelin took a step back.

Then she reached a hand behind her.

“A body that should have died long ago anyway… I’ll choose my own grave.”

Ziiing—

A crack opened behind her.

“A Gate…!”

“No way!”

I thought I knew what she was about to do.

‘She’s going to throw herself in!’

Only she would know where that crack led.

“Haha…”

Laughing, Karelin turned around and hurled herself toward the crack.

…Or rather, she tried to.

“I can’t let you do that.”

The moment a woman’s voice rang out—

“Aaaagh!”

Chains flew in from somewhere and bound Karelin’s body. She screamed and struggled to break free, but it was useless.

“What the hell is this?”

Just as I voiced my confusion, the owner of the voice emerged from the darkness.

“A pleasure to meet you.”

A black-haired woman in a black uniform. A face I’d never seen before. She glanced at Karelin, then approached me.

“No, I suppose I should say it’s been a while. Yoschuko Verdiol.”

“…Who are you?”

Who the hell is this woman, and how does she know my name?