Chapter 353: Everyone's Last (7)

...It was the purest magic, the simplest but the closest to the root. The truth that drove it was engraved on the body of an Iron Man, sacrificing my heart as it used this lighthouse and Sophien's mana as a catalyst.

—This was how my Psychokinesis worked.

"..."

I looked at Sophien as this miracle unfolded. She was staring back with unwavering determination.

"...Your Majesty."

I called to her. The last words, 'I want you to be happy,' felt somehow unsettling.

"..."

But Sophien didn't answer. Rather, as if trying to block my words, she flooded the sword she was holding with mana.

Swoooosh...

Sophien's impeccable mana ran through my body and completed the magic. It realized a beautiful miracle.

—————!

A resonance originated within me. At that moment, the world turned dark as my eyes and ears lost their functioning. It was as if the whole world was moving away from me to swim in a far-off universe. Over that darkness, a very small voice reached out to me.

"...Deculein. And Kim Woojin."

Sophien called out my name through a haze.

"...I still have one question."

The sensation of a hand caressing my cheeks was faint. At this point, was I still alive or dead? If alive, was I standing, or was I sitting awkwardly?

"...What does your name mean?"

The meaning of my name. It didn't have superb meaning, but I had to answer if she asked.

"...Woo (宇) is home, and Jin (眞) means true."

Kim Woojin. Then she mumbled, nodding as if satisfied.

"...Yes. That's very true, and it's very warm."

What did she mean? Before I could ask about it, Sophien spoke first.

"...You have been my true home."

Her voice mixed with laughter. I smiled too. I could be satisfied since she seemed to be at peace.

"...Rest in peace now."

Her words seemed to hug me softly and warmly. It was like an excuse for my lack of rest as if telling me I could take a little break. Until this end had arrived, peacefully...

...

Silence. Sophien looked down at Deculein, who was lying back in his chair.

"It's the first time."

It was the first time.

"I've seen you so comfortable."

Without tidying up his messy clothes or hair, he was just lying there and looked lovely...

"Deculein."

Sophien let out a low laugh.

"Thanks to you, I have learned so much."

She drew the sword back from his heart. However, the Iron Man's body held up even against bleeding. Deculein refused until the end to get dirty, even with his own willingly shed blood.

"..."

Sophien sheathed her sword without saying another word. She stood and looked out the lighthouse window.

...Drip, drip.

...Drip, drip.

Rain was falling across Annihilation. Letting the rain strike their head and drip down their form, a doll stood there and stared back. His blatant gaze, and the way his eyes burned with passion and fluctuating emotions, were enough to let her guess his true identity.

"...Are you Quay?"

Sophien asked. He nodded slightly.

—I've been waiting for you here.

Sophien's heart burned with mana. It was full of anger, sorrow, and, most importantly, remorse.

"My last...."

Sophien paused for a moment and looked at Deculein one last time, and after taking in all of his lovely appearances... she turned her gaze back to Quay. Now, she let her desire to kill leak out.

"...There you are."

She took a step closer.

* * *

...On the top floor of the lighthouse where Sophien had just left and Deculein was sleeping... in this quiet place with no sound-

Rustle-

There was a slight movement.

Rustle-

At first, it was just a rustling, but then suddenly, it evolved into the thump-thump- of footsteps.

"Whew!"

The figure of a dark-haired woman appeared through the eternally frozen passageway. She looked around, exhaling hot breath. Yeriel, Deculein's little sister, had finally arrived.

"...Brother!"

Noticing Deculein at once, she ran to him. She looked, confused, at the hole in his heart, only to find his clothing was still immaculate. Not a drop of blood on them.

"This...."

Creak-

Then, a door creaked open from behind her. Yeriel startled and looked back in the direction the sound came from, readying her mana.

"...Huh?"

However, the person who appeared wasn't an enemy. Rather, it was someone that could be considered an ally, but she couldn't be here.

"Sylvia?"

Yeriel frowned and asked.

"Aren't you imprisoned?"

"...I am. This is a doll."

Sylvia politely replied. Then she looked to Deculein, who was lying peacefully in his chair.

"Professor...."

"He's still alive."

Yeriel said with excitement. Sylvia quietly raised her hand and pointed to the door Yeriel had passed through moments ago.

"...?"

Yeriel tilted her head, then realized her meaning.

Crackling—!

Julie's chill was spreading beyond the door she had just crossed. Sylvia asked.

"How did you get through?"

"Huh? Um... I just did."

Yeriel shook her head as if she didn't know either. Sylvia's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"..."

She thought for a moment. As if she were a little suspicious, she glanced back and forth between Julie's passage and Yeriel.

"...Yeah."

She smiled a little as she walked up to Deculein again and sat down on her knees next to him.

"Professor, are you listening?"

Of course, Deculein didn't answer, but Yeriel also sat beside Sylvia.

"Professor, you must keep your promise."

Sylvia continued after waiting another moment. Yeriel didn't know what kind of promise it was, but she felt like her heart was burning.

Sylvia spoke a bit slower.

"You told Julie. You said you wouldn't die before her. So...."

Sylvia turned to Yeriel.

"I have a request."

Crack—

In the meantime, Julie's chill was slowly approaching and freezing this space this time.

"Yeriel, please stay with the professor."

"..."

Crack...

Sylvia's hair froze in the spreading chill. However, Yeriel couldn't feel even the slightest chill.

"Take the professor to the center of this cold... and freeze him."

Sylvia, already half-frozen, smiled.

"So that the professor can keep his promise... Yeriel, please help him."

* * *

...Drip, drip.

...Drip, drip.

Quay looked up at the sky through the pouring rain. He stared at the water drops hitting his eyes, then wetting his face and shaking down his shoulders, seeking some answer.

...Drip, drip.

...Drip, drip.

"It's raining."

Quay said.

Stomp—

Someone stopped next to him.

"As Deculein said... will God come to me?"

Quay slowly lowered his eyes.

"...Sophien."

This woman with long red hair burns like a flame. The rainwater evaporated from the mana she radiated before it could touch her, and the sword hanging from her hand was filled with a thick killing aura.

"Sophien. Have you ever seen the Holy Age?"

Quay asked.

"I've experienced it in a dream."

Sophien answered. The whitish memories and the unusual scenery of the temple reflected in her dreams played in her head. It was a place of revelation and worship that recorded the language of God.

"Yes. That's right."

Quay smiled.

"I showed it to you on purpose. Because you, your body, was originally mine."

...Drip, drip.

...Drip, drip.

In the still falling rain, the two were opposites. Quay was dripping wet, and Sophien was burning away the water.

"Sophien, you are my creation."

At Quay's words, Sophien nodded. To him who dared to call the emperor a creation, she accepted it without being shaken or denying its truth.

"I know."

"...Yes. I guess that's what a creature's life is like."

Quay grinned. Water ran down the corners of his twisted lips.

"Trying to kill the one who created you. How insolent and ungrateful."

Quay's expression tightened.

"Like the humans who are glued to this continent right now."

"..."

Sophien silently watched Quay.

"Even the believers in the Holy Age killed God without knowing His grace. They committed an unforgivable sin by killing the one who created them."

At that moment, the emperor's mana faded away. Rain seeped down Sophien's body.

"Sophien. Now you are trying to kill me just like they did."

"..."

...Drip, drip.

...Drip, drip.

Sophien's lips slowly rose into a smile.

"No. God died by himself."

"..."

That was the revelation she interpreted with Deculein one day to Quay.

"For the sake of human freedom."

Quay quietly shook his head.

"That's the wrong interpretation. You humans always-"

"No."

Sophien interrupted him. She took a step forward and lowered her sword.

"...You don't know."

Drip- Drip-

"When you care too much about someone."

Drip-drip, drip-drip.

The clouds above gradually thickened, and the celestial body was already larger than the moon. Soon, it would destroy this continent. But Sophien disregarded it as she focused on Quay.

"When you love someone so much."

She spoke with the emperor's voice, thinking of him now full in her heart.

"You could die for them."

Whoooosh...

A wind full of mana blew past, and it took Deculein's magic, Psychokinesis.

"To be able to accept that fact so willingly."

Before this continent was destroyed, Deculein's spell would preserve all of the continent's life.

"Your death."

Sophien said so and glared at Quay.

"Even mere, imperfect humans can do it."

For some reason, it made her feel better to say it aloud. Even though he was the ultimate enemy, the experience of confessing all of her feelings and confiding all of them to another was precious.

"If it's a perfect God, of course, he will love his creatures exceedingly."

However, Quay seemed a little different. Now his face was as evil as a demon's. There was a clear malicious intent in the way he carried himself as if he wanted to tear Sophien's tongue out right away.

"It is enough to die for his creation... no, it's more than enough."

Quay's mana rose viciously, enough to make the doll's body violently shake. Sophien didn't seem to notice as she raised her blade.

"It must have been an extremely easy decision."

"Shut up."

Quay growled. His expression was more distorted than ever, and his teeth were gritting so much that they might tear themselves apart.

...The reason was simple.

"No. I will not shut up."

Sophien's realization, this nonsensical insight, seemed to be the truth. Sophien was the body and soul he sent down. Because she was a creature, he created himself...

"You created me, so you should know, right?"

...Sophien resembled him more than anyone else.

"You created me, so you should know, right?"

Sophien smiled brightly.

Swoooosh-!

At that moment, the air distorted, and a magical spark flashed in the sky.

"...Now. I'm the emperor of this continent."

So, Sophien leaned forward, clutching her sword. Like a rhinoceros trying to advance, like a warhorse trying to break through, crouching her body in a wedge to face the enemy ahead.

The enemy Quay, who created her...

"For the sake of the one I love, I will kill you."

She unleashed a wave of red mana.