‘…He was a good guy.’
As I used the spirits to dissolve the power of the crystal, mories of a conversation we had before entering this place ca to mind.
The story told by another companion who had worked with him, soone I would never see again.
‘He always kept quiet, so I never knew what he was thinking, but whenever the kid or I needed help, he was always there to lend a hand.’
His feelings weren’t much different from mine.
Despite his eccentric appearance and constant silence, he always took care of those around him.
He always led the group and silently offered a hand when things got tough…
Now, I knew that throughout the journey, he had piled up countless corpses with his own hands.
‘He never said anything, but you could always feel how tired he was, like he could collapse at any mont…’
Even if he had resolved himself, as a human, there were limits to his ntal strength.
Just as he reached his limit in our fight, in life, he must have tested his limits every ti he used his power.
‘…Maybe saving Ga-ram was for that sa reason.’
Of course, that was just a guess.
He never said anything and never shared his pain with anyone.
Now that he had left this world, there would no longer be any opportunity to understand what was in his heart.
‘Maybe he thought the kid, who took on a leadership role at such a young age, could take his place when he was too tired.’
But upon entering the afterlife, I learned how strong his lingering regret was.
Even with his mind shattered, I could feel how desperately he wanted to protect the child from the dangers that threatened her.
Endlessly earnest and endlessly desperate…
“…Ga-ram.”
Surely, the reason he saved the child now cradled in my arms must exist sowhere in this world.
“Now’s not the ti to get lost in sentintality.”
Annabel’s voice interrupted just as I was steeped in that bitter reflection.
When I turned my gaze toward her, I saw her staring at the void with a tense expression.
“The world moved by rewinding ti. You can feel the cracks that ford from that still growing, right?”
“…So you’re saying this space will collapse from the aftermath of the final rampage?”
“That’s not the issue. This much change is happening even in the supposedly safe part of this damned stomach.”
The dark space twisted violently, with cracks spreading rapidly to match her grim expression.
The speed of it was too radical and erratic to be considered natural.
Surely, the master of this space had noticed what was happening.
So external force was accelerating the collapse of this space.
Realizing this, I pulled Ga-ram’s body close and prepared to step into one of the cracks in the darkness.
-Craaack!!!
Getting out wouldn’t be difficult.
As long as my body and mind stay connected, I could follow that trail and return to reality.
And that remained true, even here, inside the Devourer’s stomach, beyond the afterlife.
As long as we wouldn’t lose ourselves in the storm that followed, Ga-ram and I would surely return to reality. Wait…
“Ga-ram.”
It hit a mont too late.
It wasn’t just Annabel and who needed to get out of here.
When we entered, Ga-ram was protected by his wraith, but now, there was no way she could withstand the sa chaos I experienced.
“Ga-ram won’t make it through this.”
I was only able to reach this place because Annabel shielded .
I had hoped Ga-ram could share in that protection, but Annabel had already acknowledged her limits.
“…I can only protect one person.”
Soone would have to face the raw force of the chaotic storm unprotected.
Realizing this, I took a deep breath and, after so hesitation, spoke my decision aloud.
“Then protect Ga-ram.”
“Are you out of your mind!? You nearly lost yourself just monts ago, and you’re saying this seriously?!”
“I’ve already been through it once. I’m ready.”
“Being ready doesn’t an you can handle it…!”
“If you’re a part of , you know—without endurance, I’m just a corpse.”
Hadn’t I always prided myself on my ability to adapt and survive, no matter where I landed?
To soone like , having already gone through this catastrophe, it wasn’t entirely hopeless.
I might not win, but overcoming it would be possible…
“…I didn’t inherit your entire personality, you fool.”
Shaking her head as if tired of my stubbornness, Annabel separated from and began to shield Ga-ram with her own body.
Despite my unreasonable request, she created a protective barrier, ensuring Ga-ram’s frail body would withstand the upcoming shock.
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t misunderstand. I just don’t want all the effort it took to get here to go to waste.”
Still curt, but Annabel’s reluctance showed she was willing to fulfill my unreasonable request.
I could feel her trust in .
With her independent will, she could have refused, but she acknowledged enough to support my decision.
“So don’t fall. If you really think you’re that great.”
Feeling the sentint behind her words, I silently nodded and stepped toward the crack.
And then—Boom!
With the collapse beginning, a surge of mories flooded toward , violently crashing into my body.
My skin peeled away, and my muscles twisted painfully.
The sensations hitting the deeply buried nerves in my mind showed just how precarious my situation was.
“…I can make it.”
As I willed myself to resist, I could feel my torn body slowly starting to heal.
It was excruciating, but since I had already prepared myself for this, I didn’t think I couldn’t endure it.
“I can… get out…”
Because there were still spirits drawn to , even apart from Annabel.
Even in this chaotic vortex ford by countless remnants, it was still possible to preserve my body.
-No oneeeee…
As I endured the torrent, taking one step at a ti, a rough voice ca through the crashing waves of power.
-No one can take what is mineeee…!!!
At the mont that shout echoed, I felt the wave of power crashing over grow even more intense than before.
Gorgon Zola.
The true owner of this space, enraged by the presence that had invaded its body.
-No more, I won’t lose anything again… No one can take anything from eee…!
The obsession of an old farr who died clinging to a single book.
Yet that desire was so clear, so vivid, and the power emitted was stronger than any undead I had encountered so far.
-Don’t take anything from ee…!!
The space was shaking under that force.
An iron will, unwilling to allow even a single cell to be stolen, was breaking its own body to block my path.
I could feel the violent hatred shaking the entire space, strong enough to crush if I let my guard down.
“…What are you saying I shouldn’t take?”
But I could endure.
The power might have grown stronger, but it wasn’t directly targeting .
In fact, wasn’t the torrent pushing forward, helping reach my destination?
“You’ve eaten too much. You don’t even know where to aim. You damned pig…”
In a way, it was an obvious outco.
This thing was a monstrous predator, growing by devouring everything in its path.
With everything in disarray, it was no wonder it couldn’t even grasp its own body properly.
It was like a human trying to catch a bug that had crawled into their body.
The bigger the disaster, the harder it was to target the intruder within.
“And the one who should be saying ‘don’t take’ is . Who are you to take this child?”
Realizing that made my determination grow stronger.
Even this monstrous bastard that once only seed terrifying, was not the perfect despair to humans. I felt hope welling up.
“Who are you to take my little sister…?!”
Seizing that mont, I took one step, then another, advancing forward until I faced a single beam of light.
I instantly knew that place was the passage to the real world.
If we can make it through there, both I and Ga-ram can safely escape from this darkness.
-Whooooong!!!
So endure it.
Don’t let the wave of power push you back. Hold on until the end, and we’ll make it out alive together.
“You are…”
As I felt the force of the will testing , I faintly heard a young girl’s voice.
“Who… are you?”
The small girl, protected by Annabel, turned her unfocused gaze toward and whispered.
Compared to the mature body she had in the real world, this girl was small enough to fit in my arms.
It showed that this child was still just a young girl. No matter how quickly she had matured, her essence was still that of a child who needed protection from adults.
“Ga-ram.”
“Wh-why are you…?”
Did my call to her not reach her heart?
Her gaze turned away from again, and her mouth opened slightly, letting out a voice filled with resignation.
“Why are you resisting so desperately?”
As if she were rejecting everything I was doing.
As if she believed that resisting in this mont, with my mind tearing apart, was pointless and that my effort to save her was unnecessary.
“Aren’t you scared?”
But that was nothing more than an expression of her own fear.
The faint trembling I felt in the hands gripping clearly showed this girl’s vulnerability.
“…Ga-ram.”
“I’m scared. Of what’s ahead… how terrifying it will be… what’s waiting.”
I pity her.
And I empathize.
“…Everyone feels the sa.”
I’m no different, just more experienced than a child. I’m still a weak person crushed by reality.
“But people live on regardless. No matter how scared they are, they have reasons to go on…”
“But I don’t want to.”
Even my heartfelt advice seed to fall short as the girl buried her face in my chest and began to weep.
“People… because of , people are dying…”
“No, you did nothing wrong…”
“I don’t want to see anyone die because of anymore…”
-Whooooong!!!
A wave of power crashed down from above, as if to crush us.
I tried to shield Ga-ram with my back, fearing she would be crushed, but when she realized what I was doing, the despair in her eyes deepened.
“That’s why… leave behind.”
She was saying that my actions were making her suffer even more.
Because she had co here willingly, she didn’t want anyone else to suffer any longer because of her.
“Just… leave here, as I am.”
How did it co to this?
What sin did this child commit to be dragged into this strange world, forced to bear a burden no child should ever have to bear?
“…It’s not your fault.”
That cursed fate, and the trials I encountered to et this child, felt overwhelming.
Yet, the grip of my arms around the child only tightened.
Understanding her pain only made my resolve to stay with her grow stronger.
“No one forced anyone to sacrifice for you. Not , not him either…”
Even though he understood this girl’s pain long before I did.
Despite that, he had a reason to risk his life to save this girl.
“Everyone chose to save you of their own will.”
I didn’t know the details.
Now, there was no chance to hear what was in his heart. All I could do was make guesses based on what I’d seen so far.
Fighting danger without a word, saving people without a word…
To the point of obsessing over whether he truly saved a girl in the end, the man who sacrificed himself must have had a reason.
“Because he wanted you to live in this world. Because he wanted you to survive, even in this world…!!”
Whether out of selflessness or selfishness, in the end, he wanted to save this child.
Because he believed that, even in this world, there was a reason for this girl to live.
“So don’t tell to leave you.”
How could I abandon this child when I’d inherited such desperate resolve?
With the child in my arms right now, feeling her presence so clearly, how could I give up this mont and leave her behind?
“I will never abandon you, Ga-ram, so you mustn’t either…!”
With that determination, I took one step at a ti.
Moving step by step toward the light ahead of .
-Whooooong!!!
The fear I had been holding inside burst out, and the storm that swept in from all sides nearly knocked off balance.
The direction I was being pushed in was toward the exit.
But the unexpected storm tore the child from my arms.
The girl I had been trying to save was being swept away by the raging torrent of power, her limp body pulled into the current.
“Please…”
This might be the final mont.
All I could do was reach out my hand.
I could only hope that the departing girl would take my hand by her own will.
“Please, don’t leave behind.”
As those desperate words spilled out, her eyes snapped open.
At the sa ti, her once limp legs kicked off the ground, and her hand stretched out toward with all her strength.
And then…
“Stupid oppa.”
A quiet whisper reached as my mind finally cleared.
I turned my stiffened head to the side, and through my blurred vision, I saw soone’s figure.
A girl with a mature appearance but a fragile inner self, facing .
“You even have a wife… If sothing had happened to you while taking care of , what would the people left behind have done…?”
Were those words of resentnt directed at ? Or was it self-bla for putting in danger?
Either way, what I did for this child might be considered a sin.
Living in this reality, which was filled with horrors worse than the underworld, forced nothing but despair and suffering upon you.
“If you want to hate , you can.”
Even if she resented , I would accept it.
If that was the price for forcing this child to live.
If I must bear the responsibility for forcing her to take my hand when it could have been her last mont.
“Why would I hate you?”
But despite my selfishness, the girl was smiling.
So brightly, so clearly…
She showed the kind of honest smile a girl her age would naturally have, without hesitation, right in front of .
“You didn’t abandon , oppa, so how could I ever abandon you?”
Yes, the girl wanted to live.
Even though the world remained cruel, and there was no way to undo what had happened…
Still, the girl stood before , expressing her will to survive.
“…Thank you, oppa.”
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