84 – And the World Was Destroyed?
Noah watched Jelmi’s figure being moved to the infirmary and then followed behind her, leaving the meeting room.
“Just a moment, I’ll go check on Jelmi’s condition. Everyone, please continue with your greetings.”
As Noah left, the people remaining in the meeting room exchanged greetings and then scattered to attend to their respective tasks.
“Come to think of it, where’s Pia?”
As she walked down the windowless corridor, Noah thought about Pia’s absence and the scene from earlier came to mind.
“Ugh… I feel so embarrassed. I should apologize when we meet next. Wait, could it be that she’s avoiding me because of that incident?”
While thinking about the incident where Pia had apologized in the corridor, Lian was lost in her thoughts. Meanwhile, Pia, the subject of her worries, was in a dark room where all the lights had been extinguished.
“Lian, Lian has returned. It’s true, Lian has returned.”
She was kneeling, hands clasped as if in prayer. In a voice filled with joy, she murmured the name “Lian.”
Her eyes flashed dangerously.
“Ah, finally, my salvation…”
Due to past traumas and the cruel magic of the dark sorcerer, her shattered mind had attached itself to the existence known as “Lian.” As a result, Pia harbored a blind devotion towards Lian.
An emotion that transcended the typical realms of affection and love.
“Worship”
“Dedication”
“Adoration”
Lian had become a divine presence to Pia. The belief, which could be called madness, exerted a direct influence on Lian.
Lian’s half-forgotten insignia on his left hand began to shimmer, slowly etching geometric patterns, much like roots spreading through soil. It was a subtle but definite change.
However, Lian remained oblivious to it.
“Lian, Lian…”
As Pia’s fanaticism grew stronger, it became a problem that would eventually be noticed. But for now, no one could perceive it. It was tantamount to saying that there was no one who could stop Pia’s fanaticism.
And so, without Lian’s knowledge, the seed of “religion” was planted.
From Noble mtl dot com
***
“Wow, a traitor!”
Could things really be this calm? The day passed so peacefully that it felt unsettling. But the next day, it was revealed that the man who had slipped on a banana peel and fallen was a “traitor.”
Nest was turned upside down. It was a shocking revelation that a traitor occupied a position that only trustworthy individuals could hold.
Afterward, there were mass purges within the organization.
It wasn’t difficult to identify ordinary members of the organization, but it was challenging to find a traitor among the officers.
I was asked to help find the traitor because I had a hunch about their identity. Fortunately, we couldn’t find any more traitors among the officers.
“But this power isn’t omnipotent.”
If the other person doesn’t pose a threat, the power won’t activate, so there could still be a hidden traitor. Noah said that it was enough, but there was still a lingering unease.
“If it’s a threat that could destroy the organization, then the power will work.”
I pushed aside the anxiety, recalling the devil-like Debatan who was no different from hell.
After dealing with the traitor, a peaceful everyday life awaited me. Everyone seemed busy going somewhere, but there were no injured people coming back.
“If we ever have to go to the temple, let’s save the holy water first.”
While I was rolling around in the arena, the children ended up with small and big wounds. Someone lost a finger, and someone else got a lifelong limp.
Fortunately, the wounds weren’t irreparable, so if we used the holy water known as the miracle, they would recover as before. I started saving money for that day.
…Actually, I rarely left the headquarters building, so there was nowhere to spend money.
I could go out, but I could only get permission if I took at least 10 members of the organization with me.
It was uncomfortable for anyone, even me, to walk around with 10 Nest organization members who had taken control of the western region, so I didn’t leave the headquarters.
In other words…I was bored!
“Ugh… It’s still far from the time the knight who will bring Iris arrives in Cardishan.”
But I couldn’t just shout out to escape Cardishan. Nest was settling down in Cardishan diligently. Maybe this was the safest state right now. That was the evidence of my boredom.
Jesse was absent to receive education similar to other children of the same age, and Iris was absent to learn swordsmanship from Noah.
There was no one to play with!
“What should I do… Huh?”
As I lay sprawled on the sofa, absentmindedly looking around the room, something sparkling caught my eye. I got up from the sofa and approached the sparkling object, which turned out to be a fragment of a black gem on the floor.
“Huh? What’s this…”
It was a jewel fragment that I had seen in the basement storeroom of the Nest restaurant.
“It must have been in my bag…”
Curious, I picked up the jewel and turned it around in my hands.
Ouch.
“Oops.”
My finger was pricked by the edge of the jewel, and blood began to trickle down. As the blood touched the jewel…
“…Huh?”
My vision quickly blurred, and a ringing sound filled my ears. As I felt my body sway, everything in front of me turned black.
***
“Ugh…”
I groaned and held onto my throbbing head as I opened my eyes.
“Where am I…”
A hazy white fog surrounded me, and I found myself lying alone in a place with a completely unfamiliar, smooth floor. I couldn’t see anything in this place where not even an inch ahead was visible.
Staggering to my feet, I looked around. But due to the fog, I couldn’t see anything.
“Noah? Iris? Jess?”
I called out the names of the children, but there was no answer.
“Is this because of that jewel?”
I scratched the back of my head as I thought.
“Well then… Gar Gandoa.”
In his mind, he muttered, and from the back of his hand, a surge of blood-red liquid shot up, summoning a magnificent impact as the dark sword appeared.
[Where are the enemies!?]
“Oh, there are no enemies, but it seemed like a dangerous place, so I called you.”
[A dangerous place… a place suitable for me!]
He babbled about how the term “dangerous place” meant that formidable enemies could appear. Listening to the sword’s chatter with one ear and letting it flow out of the other, he began to move forward.
***
There was someone quietly observing Rian. It seemed as though darkness was gathering, and a thin female voice spoke.
“hehehe, foolish Asterias. You probably didn’t expect to lose your only lion like this.”
Asterias was the name of a sparrow that existed in the world of dark fantasy, as well as in the world of comedy. The black mass believed that Rian was the only remaining lion in the world that was destroying them.
This was because of the mark of the god engraved on Rian’s left hand. The trace of the god, carved to ask for help at the temple, ironically attracted foreign gods, and they naturally regarded Rian as a saint or a messenger of the gods.
“Wandering in the infinite mist, and eventually going mad. hehehe!”
Thinking of Rian, stabbing himself in the neck with the sword he was holding and committing suicide, Asterias couldn’t help but tremble with ecstasy.
And so, a day passed.
“…As expected, a messenger of the gods. There must be others who have already gone mad. “
Seeing Rian’s appearance with no apparent abnormalities in his mental state, Asterias let out a small sigh of admiration.
And so, another day passed.
“Ha, if there was someone with such a strong mental strength, I would have taken them over. Tsk, what a waste.”
Seeing Rian, who had been walking for a staggering two days, Asterias let out a great sigh of admiration.
And so, another day passed.
“…Could it be a dragon? Is it a dragon that has polymorphed? No, no way. Dragons wouldn’t carry a sword like that…”
As I watched Lian walking in the same space for three days, it began to deny reality.
And so, another day passed.
“What on earth is that? Why, why isn’t it going insane yet? Why?”
It started to feel confused by this unbelievable reality.
And so, another day passed.
“….”
As I watched the same scene repeating endlessly, it remained silent with a vacant expression.
And so, another day passed.
“….? ….? …?”
Countless hooks came to mind. From this point on, I began to refer to Lian as something other than human.
And so, “another” day passed.
“….uh, ah..?”
It stared blankly at Lian, then finally realized that its vision was warping. Its existence was distorting.
This place was a tomb of fog that destroys the minds of intellectual beings. No ordinary intellectual being could withstand even a day here without going insane. And yet, it had stayed here for so long without losing its mind, not even once.
“Ah, I… can’t… take it…”
Being an intellectual being itself, it was susceptible to mental breakdowns, and that fact was proven.
It desperately tried to escape from this dreadful place and close off the space, but it didn’t go as planned.
“Twenty-six?”
It finally realized that the control over this space had been passed to someone else.
“Ah.”
In this misty world, it became clear that there could be no tyrannosaurus or elephants walking on two legs, nor a lady handing out leaflets.
Since Lian entered this space, the tomb of mist began to erode with a comedy filter, and now it has become Lian’s world.
Because of that, he started to think that the strange things (the lady handing out leaflets) that appeared were originally part of the tomb of mist. The world itself was twisted.
“Ah, aandaeak!”
Feeling the sense of crisis, it started flying towards where Lian was. Lian looked up and saw “it.”
The dark, ominous mass that was wriggling wildly suddenly turned into… a meteor shower crashing down to the ground.
Kwaah!
And the world was destroyed? It was a perfect comedy world ending.
And Lian woke up from the dream.
***
“…It’s been a long time since I had a dream… Ahem.”
Today, as he raised his heavy eyelids, he murmured, and his throat felt sore. He cleared his throat and looked around, realizing he was on the bed.
