17. Goddess Aria – 07
“…..”
Thus, the battle was decided. Those who were sure of their victory, and those who entrusted themselves to the possibility that seemed like a thread. The difference that existed between them was only that much, but it has now become a watershed in their destiny.
…there is no exchange of words between them. It’s just that the bleak sound of the wind ringing around them serves as an indicator that time has not stopped.
“…Cain.”
Finally, a name, not breath, escapes from her mouth. Ironically, the first name she uttered was none other than the name of a man with a sword thrust into her chest.
She gently lifted her arm, which had been stretching down until now, and gently caressed the hand that was holding the sword in her chest.
“Why didn’t you put the sword through my heart?”
She looked resentfully at his sword, which was pierced to her right rather than her left. she saw One second before he reached this place after Cain cut off the sniper he had sent, he was clearly prepared to kill himself. He was determined to pierce his heart with a sword.
I was already prepared to be hated by him, but I couldn’t help but feel that a corner of my heart was cold and painful somewhere in the face of the murder he was pointing at me. In order to fulfill her own ‘wish’, she was blocking him right now, but she came to think that maybe she was hoping for an ending in which he would block her.
Because of that, I was able to make up my mind to accept his sword obediently. It was because he thought that if the person who blocked him, stopped him, and scolded him was none other than him, that would be the best thing.
…but he couldn’t put his sword through her. He was hesitant about something until the moment right before he stabbed her heart with a sword, and he couldn’t erase his anguish until the last moment.
The result is this. In the end, he thrust his sword through her right breast rather than through her heart. Even knowing that I couldn’t stop her just like this. Even though he knew full well that if he was at least as skilled as Kirie, even if his chest was pierced, he would be able to counterattack sufficiently.
In the end, it seems that he failed to shake off the woman named Kyrie from his heart.
“…that’s stupid. It’s so stupid. Where the hell is anyone who shows compassion in the face of an enemy? This place where we stand is a battlefield. Have you forgotten even the simple fact that worthless and cheap sympathy for your enemies can always return as a dagger capable of harming you?”
Saying that, Kirie tightly gripped the blade of the sword stuck in her right chest, and then slowly pulled out the sword stuck in her own chest. Her hands touching the blade with her bare hands and her chest, where the sword had just been stuck, were covered in red blood in the blink of an eye.
…Of course, to a woman named Kyrie, that kind of pain was nothing more than something worth caring about.
“…look at this. This is the ending you should have given me.”
There was no room to dry. Kirie, who was holding the blade with both hands, ignoring the blood that was oozing out, stabbed the sword as hard as she could into her left heart.
Pook-
The sound of blades being stabbed in the chest echoes. The sword she aimed at and thrust through her own heart pierced her heart too easily. As if a single red flower were fluttering, red blood splattered here and there.
“…Ugh-!”
Even Kyrie couldn’t easily endure the pain of being pierced through her chest, so a pitiful moan escaped from her mouth. But at the same time, that’s all. Even with the piercing wound in front of him, which would have been an instant death for an ordinary person, Kyrie’s appearance was just looking so normal.
…Of course, with the exception of the existence of a single sword piercing her heart at this moment.
“look at this. I am an immortal monster who cannot face death as long as the World Tree is built in this world. Even if my heart is stabbed like this, even if my throat is cut, even if my whole body is engulfed in flames, even if any death in the world comes, I will only suffer at that time, and I will never be able to face death. Because this is the very karma I am carrying.”
The fact that she was immortal was a fact that Cain was well aware of. Before the return, during the battle with the Winter Witch, Kyrie died several times. After that, I had the experience of witnessing the scene come back to life again and again.
“…it broke down. I am your enemy now. Only to achieve my purpose, I forcibly brought Arya here, and instigated Ariel, and not enough to do that, I even tried to block your path and try to kill you. It is a story that you have shown sympathy for your enemy now.”
“You shouldn’t have acted like that. Neutralizing me without giving me any acknowledgment would have been the best response you could have made. If I had thought of continuing my worthless resistance without yielding to you until the end, what would you have been thinking…!”
At Kyrie’s remarks, which seemed to be misleading him, Cain, as if feeling something, twitched between his brows and looked down at her with indifferent eyes.
“…they backed off and exploded? I?”
He took a step in front of Kyrie, grabbed hold of the handle of the sword stuck in Kyrie’s heart, and then, without any warning, suddenly pulled out the sword.
“Ugh…!”
In that moment, Kirie knelt down on one knee as if she couldn’t stand the pain she felt in her heart.
“That’s what I wanted to say on this side. Wasn’t it you who left room here and there, not knowing what to do, Kyrie?”
Was it because of the intense pain in his heart, or was it because he had been stabbed to the point. The composure that always overflowed his body had already disappeared without a trace. Now, the only person left here is a helpless woman on her knees on the floor, looking up at him.
“From the beginning, I thought something was strange. There was no coherence in your actions on the subject of talking so much that you would be hostile to me with your mouth. At first, I thought it was your usual bad taste, so I dismissed it, but after thinking it over, I realized that it wasn’t.”
“You said this to me the very last time we saw each other. This happened because I gave Arya a name. At first, I didn’t understand what it meant, so I didn’t think much of it, but after talking with Bianca, I was able to confirm once again that it wasn’t such a simple matter to think about.”
As he said that, Cain recalled part of the dialogue he had shared with Bianca before arriving here.
– It’s a name. There are a few things that come to mind even if you think about it roughly, but what she says to Kirie is a ‘name’ on a more essential level than that.
– …Essence?
– okay. If our guess is correct, Arya’s true identity is none other than one of the noble goddesses that make up this world, right? A name is not simply a designation of existence, but a way to prove the essence of existence itself. In other words, at the level of Arya, the name is not just a name, but a symbol that represents her divinity.
– But what the hell does that have to do with my name?
– I told you. Names testify to the nature of an object. Arya’s original name is Goddess Arya. However, as the thousand years passed since she was sealed away, those who know her name have become extremely rare. Besides, we defined her as just a witch and didn’t try to properly identify her, did we? In other words, she lost the essence of her existence, and had no choice but to fight against us while her powers were not properly restored.
– But things changed when she returned to the past with you and you named her ‘Arya’. She must have regained a part of her essence and divinity the moment she received the name ‘Arya’ from you. In other words, the existence that stayed by your side was not the Winter Witch from the beginning, but the Winter Goddess.
– …To put it simply, in the original history, she should have regained her strength over the course of 10 years, but since I gave her a name, she has almost regained her original strength in only 2 years?
– okay. And if this trend had followed, she would probably have been able to awaken as a full-fledged goddess within a year. Of course, it’s not something I can arbitrarily discuss what would have happened to this world at the end.
“The biggest question was the timing itself when you visited the Duke of Estelle to meet me. If you’ve been thinking of turning your back on me and using Arya for your own wishes from the beginning, it would have been best if you contacted me as soon as you returned to the past. At the time, I didn’t know anything because I was adjusting to the fact that I had returned 10 years ago, and Arya was just a helpless girl without any power.”
“But you didn’t. The time you left the World Tree and visited Estelle’s family was none other than the time I returned from the Dekaraznan duchy. Of course, by the time you arrived here, I was on my way to Jedo, so I crossed paths with you.”
“…..”
There is no objection. Facing Cain who was looking down at her and talking, Kyrie was unable to express any objection.
“This is just my guess, but didn’t you decide to move after seeing a middle-aged man using the divine power of the goddess in the forest of Dekaraznan? Because the Divine Power of a different kind, not the Divine Power of the Goddess that is widespread in the world, must be the strongest proof that the Goddess will soon return to this world.”
“…And you knew from the very beginning what would happen if the Goddess of Winter resurrected in this world. In other words, I think you, Kirie, were also moving in your own way to prevent the destruction of the world.”
“…under.”
Kirie, who quietly listened to Cain’s words, looked at his face as if it was genuinely funny and snorted.
“…This is a really interesting story. But at the same time, it’s nothing more than a fictional story. I’m not that nice and good woman as you guessed. Rather, she is nothing more than a selfish woman who only thinks of herself. Did you already forget? I must have said that I resurrected the goddess Arya to fulfill my personal wish.”
“okay? If so, do you intend to tell me what the wish of Kyrie El Denaris, who has immortality, which is the wish of all humans, and who lacks nothing, is so pursuing?”
“…..”
In an instant, the sarcastic smile on her face disappeared.
“If you can’t say it yourself, I’ll try to guess. FYI, it wasn’t that difficult. Above all, hints were scattered all over the place.”
“…pretend you know, don’t talk. What do you know about me.”
While listening to her words that sounded like a growl, Cain only smiled and sighed.
“I’m sorry, but I pride myself on knowing you better than most people. You know that too. The ‘string’ you used to track my actions is not a one-way factor. Just as you have looked into my past, I have been able to see quite a bit of your past.”
“The wish of a woman named Kyrie el Denaris, who has lived for over a thousand years, enjoys looking at the anguish and anguish of others, and has a bad temper, is nothing but—”
“Isn’t it the complete death of oneself beyond immortality?”
