But Annan grew quiet instead.
He understood everything.
Like "Ingrid the Spare Chariot"...
Gerenz Nuha was the "spare savior."
He looked at Gerenz Nuha, his gaze turning complicated.
That look made Gerenz Nuha sensitive.
He furrowed his brows but refrained from saying pointless words like "Don’t look at that way."
Gerenz Nuha simply returned the sharp gaze toward Annan, waiting to see what he would say—
Annan spoke, slowly reciting:
"’But when I gaze upon the sun, all that falls are tears... I know in my heart that I am but mortal.’"
Upon hearing this, Gerenz Nuha froze, his body trembling.
Of course, he knew where these words ca from.
From the "Odes to the Celestial Chariot," the most famous lines.
But he had never thought that at this mont, these words could be so fitting...
Was he not soone who gazed at the sun and wept... a man driven mad by his insignificance?
"’In the furnace of the realm of light, my body was finally burnt to ashes, teeth rotting, flesh lting—’
"’I cried for this pain... knowing I am but mortal.’"
Annan said slowly, "Now I understand this despair—even you have long forgotten it.
"You’ve known all along, haven’t you?"
Speaking these words, he stepped forward and reached out to touch Gerenz Nuha’s forehead.
Gerenz Nuha remained silent, offering no resistance.
At this mont, Annan could kill him outright.
But he didn’t.
Through this touch, Annan’s consciousness delved into Gerenz Nuha’s mind.
Gerenz Nuha clearly felt Annan’s thoughts:
But to his astonishnt,
The thoughts hidden within Annan’s mind...
Were neither pity nor anger, nor forgiveness.
He felt no fear toward The Worm, nor any arrogance or pride.
Instead, there was only a calm—hope.
"O savior who has forgotten your original purpose, lost to desire, abandoned by destiny..."
Standing before his forr enemy,
Before this villain who had forsaken his honor and mission, wallowing in despair,
Annan touched his forehead, solemnly and earnestly swearing:
"—I will inherit your path.
"I shall not fail. I shall not concede. I shall not yield.
"I shall never—fall as you have fallen."
A sharp crack echoed.
Gerenz Nuha’s left arm suddenly lost all of its luster, breaking off from the upper arm to the ground.
His now youthful face shifted, as he stumbled back two steps, aging visibly at a grotesque speed, left arm gushing blood like a spring.
He awkwardly pressed a hand to his left arm, staunching the bleeding.
He cast a complicated glance at Annan, then at the "Hand of Hope" lying on the ground, and sighed deeply.
But he didn’t know what to say, or what he could say.
He had assud that Annan carried the sa selfish motives as him—after all, Annan wasn’t even of this world.
This would an he sought fa or fortune... greater power, or control over the world, wouldn’t it? Wasn’t that reasonable?
How could there truly be anyone willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of those unrelated to them?
This world—mortals are shortsighted and foolish, nobility greedy and selfish, churches arrogant, gods indifferent, villains steeped in innate malice... dragons once invaded other realms, elves used forbidden spells, giants are more foolish than mortals, dwarves greedier than nobles.
There is nothing in this world clean. Nothing is pure or beautiful.
He carried the noblest bloodline yet lived in the downtrodden corners of society. He increasingly felt how chaotic and dark this world was—Gerenz Nuha didn’t even know why this world needed saving.
Why had he accepted such a task back then?
He had long forgotten.
After all, he was but mortal, lacking the eternal mory of gods and incapable of remaining immutable through the passage of ti.
Gerenz Nuha only knew—he was this world’s final [hope].
If Annan failed too, it would finally be his turn to rise!
Only he could save this world... he was the ultimate safeguard!
Like an aging employee in a company, hoping the promising young newcor poised to replace them would make an embarrassing blunder, stumble tragically.
Then, people will respect again, trust , depend on , won’t they?
Gerenz Nuha wished for this.
So no matter what—no matter how, he clung to hope—everlasting, unyielding hope.
The brighter Annan shone, the more eternal and resolute this hope beca.
—To replace Annan’s fate and beco the true savior!
This hope, without a doubt, was built on the possibility of Annan’s failure.
...Yet today, Gerenz Nuha truly saw Annan, truly touched his soul.
He realized it was not "pure virtue."
But "nobility."
Not a weak do-gooder, not a repellent hypocrite, but a "maniac" untouched by coercion, purely following his innate desires, doing as he wished.
—An innate force for good, a maniac driven to eradicate all evil of this world without reason!
If the roles reversed, he’d beco a catastrophic demon king, far more perilous than The Worm... precisely for this reason, he was chosen by Haoyun as the chariot to oppose The Worm.
"I see now..."
Gerenz Nuha murmured.
Why this world favored Annan so dearly was entirely clear to him now.
...In that instant, he finally rembered.
Why he had once wanted to save the world.
He had been an unusually precocious youth.
He had realized, long ago, the pain, darkness, hatred, envy, sorrow, and greed in people’s hearts... and he could not accept it.
—Why is this world like this?
—If given the chance, I want to change everything.
And when he set foot upon this path, he imdiately perceived his own powerlessness.
He lacked the talent.
But his determination only grew firr.
—No matter the cost, I will save this world.
But it was all in vain.
No matter how hard he tried, his talents could only go so far.
Because he lacked the talent.
But could he turn back?
He walked the path of nobility!
This path led to the radiant position of savior!
Then, even if it ant sacrificing others—
"...Did it start from then?"
Gerenz Nuha murmured, "Because of my... lack of talent?"
Just that?
Just this?
...But why?
He still felt sothing amiss, but he was already powerless to continue fighting Annan.
Annan hadn’t attacked him, nor had he cast any spells.
He rely lifted his guard, using his soul’s essence to touch the very core of Gerenz Nuha’s soul.
It was the contact of two solid souls.
In that instant, Gerenz Nuha realized... even if both stood in the sa [golden tier], the essence of a person varied in quality.
This realization caused Gerenz Nuha’s once unshakable worldview to collapse completely.
Because upon exposing himself to Annan’s unabashed soul, so open and radiant, he could no longer sincerely hope... he felt ashad of his previous wish. He could no longer genuinely produce the thought "Let Annan fail, and let save the world."
—[Hope] had ended.
Even as a villain, he now found himself incapable of gleefully destroying sothing truly beautiful.
Indeed, he was evil... but even as an evil man, he lacked purity.
"A half-baked savior, a half-baked villain, a half-baked hero, a half-baked scher..."
I can do nothing.
Just because I lack... [talent].
Then, what remains for ?
The severed-ard Gerenz Nuha didn’t spare another glance at the [Hand of Hope] lying on the ground.
His expression reverted to the sa aging visage as before, but the hunched curve of his back made him seem older by another ten years.
Gerenz Nuha staggered, weary and lost, leaving the snowy tundra.
His figure disappeared into the storm that churned once again.
Like a stray dog with broken legs.
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