༺ End of the Dream (2) ༻
Miller and Renee from the first round parted ways.
Slowly, feeling her way along the wall, she emerged from the alley and smiled faintly as she sensed Vera and her other self’s presence.
“Let’s go now.”
After saying that, she slowly walked ahead of them.
Vera followed her with a terrible grimace.
This whole situation was utterly puzzling to him.
‘She wants to end this dream.’
It just meant that she had shown them everything she wanted to show.
She meant to say, ‘Now stab me to death and get out of this dream’.
She said that, despite knowing what awaited her.
‘…You.’
What the hell do you want me to do?
Although he found several hints, he was still left with a lot of unanswered questions.
What the hell happened in my previous life?
Why did I die? Why did you resurrect me to stay here with you?
Why did you choose me to undo everything?
…No, there was a question that preceded everything.
Vera looked at her back with burning eyes as they arrived at the shack.
The door opened with a creaking sound before it closed.
Once she seated herself in her usual place, Vera began to talk.
“…Let me ask you one thing.”
“What might that be?”
“Did you take advantage of me? Was everything you showed me fake? Was it all just to make me vow to live for you?”
It was a question he couldn’t help but ask since the end was coming.
He meant to keep it to himself, wanting to ignore it, because he wanted to believe that it was genuine. Yet, he couldn’t hold himself back knowing that the end was near.
“…Were you playing with my feelings for your own benefit?”
His voice was slightly trembling.
He tried to fuel his anger, but he couldn’t.
He couldn’t bring himself to hate her.
It was mainly because he could still feel her kindness shining through even though he now knew that everything was not a coincidence.
Fueled by grief, Vera spat out a question.
“I just want to hear the answer for this, so…”
However, he couldn’t finish his question.
Renee bit her lips strongly and tightened her grip on Vera’s hand. She wanted to act as a pillar who prevented him from collapsing regardless of the answer.
A brief silence passed by.
In the deepest alley of a dark and filthy slum, she leaned against the wall of a run-down shack as her sightless eyes chased after Vera, and she muttered with a weak smile at last.
“…I don’t believe in calculated kindness.”
She said it in a roundabout way since she still had the covenant restricting her.
“…I don’t believe in the sacrifice of the unwilling for a greater cause.”
She struggled to get her point across.
“However, I believe in love.”
The words were spoken with a hint of sadness.
“I believe in faith borne out of love, in the tiny light nestled in the heart of the living, and in the brilliant miracle that is created when these lights come together.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t that difficult to express.
“So I believe in you.”
She smiled.
“I believe in the light that clearly dwells within you. I believe you will use the love that you called ‘foolish’ to uphold righteousness. It is just as I have said.”
Vera’s expression slowly darkened.
“Knowing that there are those in the world who need a spark to ignite the light within them, and understanding that there are those who cannot kindle it themselves, I simply handed you the spark called love.”
The words that she spoke in order to clear up his doubt were very much like her.
“Let me ask you now. Has the spark I handed you become a bright light? Even if it’s not exceptionally bright, has it become a light guiding your path ahead?”
Only then Vera was relieved.
He heard the reassurance in her words, a belief that the kindness conveyed to him was not fake.
Vera was able to erase the doubts that were gnawing at the back of his mind.
…No, there was simply nothing to erase.
None of that mattered in the end.
Even if she approached him with an evil intention, even if she gave him malice instead of a spark. It was enough that she ignited the light through that.
It was enough that he turned into a man who could chase the light, just as she said.
And, wasn’t the road to the truth becoming clearer now?
Vera answered her question with a grim look.
“…The small spark you sent reached me.”
“I see.”
“I was… able to change because of it, so it must have reached me.”
“What a relief.”
“It doesn’t mean I trust you completely. The fact you fooled me still stands.”
In the previous round, she spent her final days in the slums to temporarily resurrect him.
The purpose was to stop the ancient species.
And then there was the ‘crown’, which he had no idea what it was for.
While he could see right through her sincerity, there was an ulterior motive that was hard to dismiss.
“…I won’t move as you intended.”
“Being able to think and act for oneself is a blessing bestowed upon all intelligent beings.”
“I’m sure you have something up your sleeves. It must be the reason why you altered my memories after my death… and my perception to some extent.”
“How impressive.”
“Until I figure it out, I will continue to doubt you.”
“I am pleased to hear that.”
Vera gritted his teeth.
Amidst his words that had struggled to come out, he was naturally drawn to the following words.
“That’s why…”
He was about to add more when the past Renee suddenly asked.
“What drives you to keep going?”
Vera widened his eyes at the words that were uttered with a smile.
“What gives you strength? Where is the light you want to pursue?”
The way her burn marks crinkled as she smiled reached Vera gently in a fashion that was very typical of her.
“What is the color of your light?”
Upon hearing that, Vera’s gaze headed to his side.
Toward the small warmth from the hand that still held his own tightly.
Vera understood what she was saying.
Then he replied with a smile on his lips.
“…I think she’s much better than you.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“She is neither cunning nor scheming. She’s always honest with herself. And she knows how to confront things head-on.”
Listening to that, Renee turned her head.
Caught off guard, she belatedly realized who his words were referring to and stammered as her face began to heat up.
“She has the courage that I don’t have.”
Vera’s smile grew wider as he watched her.
He turned his head back to the other Renee and said.
“So now that I’ve finally found my light…”
He held it in his tongue for a moment before saying it.
“…I must let you go.”
He had to say it in order to get out of this dream.
She must be guiding him to set his oath on the right path.
She smiled.
A smile of satisfaction came out as if saying that he got the answer right.
“This is a bit awkward. I must be getting in your way.”
“…You’re not.”
“Well, if you think so.”
Vera let out a wry smile.
“You are truly an unpredictable person.”
Vera let go of their intertwined hands before he unsheathed the Holy Sword.
Shwiiingg—
A pure white sword came out along with a sharp cry.
He couldn’t help it when the tip of the sword shook a bit.
Vera stared at it bitterly, then looked at Renee from the first round and uttered.
“…Do you know how cruel you are?”
She was too cruel to him, whether it was in the final moments of his past life or when they were reunited just now. Vera conveyed it to her with that in mind.
“There is something that I have vowed to this sword.”
“What is it?”
“I vowed that I would never wield it for an unrighteous cause.”
He chewed his lips, took a breath and continued.
“…I hope it is not wrong for me to stab you with this sword.”
Anyone could easily say that she was just an evil thought, but not to Vera.
Who stood before him right now was the guiding light that led him here and the recipient of the oath he made in his soul.
At the same time, it was a remnant from the past that he needed to cut off now.
At such realization, Vera aimed the tip of the trembling sword at her heart.
His constant trembling caused the sword to rattle.
Tak—
Taking a step forward, Renee wrapped her hands over Vera’s.
Upon feeling the tremor on Vera’s body, Renee muttered.
“…Vera is not alone.”
She said that, knowing fully well what this act meant to Vera.
“I’m on your side. I acknowledge that what Vera is doing is right.”
She said that because she knew he was shaking.
“Your light is telling you that you aren’t wrong, you see. So don’t worry about anything, Vera.”
She said that even though she was also shaking.
Vera’s eyes grew bigger upon seeing that.
The Renee from the previous round, who sat against the wall, laughed even louder.
“…I must say that you put on a good show.”
She made such carefree remarks despite being aware of her impending death.
It made Renee raise her eyebrows.
“You’re enjoying it, huh?”
She said, because she only said she understood Vera, yet never said the same about her.
“I know. You have some history with Vera, right? You have met Vera, right?”
“I wonder?”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t act like you. I wouldn’t be a scheming bitch like you.”
“You never know.”
“Sly bitch.”
“Words are the reflection of one’s character…”
“Looking at you, I wonder if that’s the case?”
When Renee smirked mockingly, Renee from the first round paused.
Then, she burst into laughter.
“You never know, right?”
Renee narrowed her eyes.
‘She’s really getting on my nerves.’
To the point that it was difficult to believe that they were the same person.
Vera noticed that the stress he had been feeling until two days earlier disappeared as he watched the fleeting battle of words, and as a result, he smiled lightly.
“Saint.”
“Let’s stab her quickly and get out of here.”
Flinch—
Vera’s body trembled.
Vera, who quickly stopped Renee from carelessly thrusting the sword forward, took her hands off the grip and said.
“I will do it alone.”
“What?”
“It is something that I need to handle on my own. So can you please allow me to do this?”
Renee, who felt his sincerity, let out a scoff before letting go of the sword.
“Thank you.”
Vera looked at Renee from the first round, feeling his sword getting much heavier.
The way she smiled quietly while stroking the rosary hanging on her neck didn’t seem to be the attitude of someone who would soon vanish.
Vera went on to say his last farewell.
“…I don’t know what your intention is, but if I happen to come across your intentions along the path I am taking, I will remember you just once.”
And she replied to that.
“I will be grateful if you do.”
The pure white sword rattled. The tip of the sword pointed at her again.
Vera pointed his sword at the very place where he intended to stab her, knowing that the more he spoke, the more he would hesitate.
Stab—
An eerie sensation arose.
The sensation of the sword piercing through her bones, organs, and skin crept to his fingertips.
It was a familiar sensation, yet today, it felt especially unfamiliar.
Vera didn’t even notice he was frowning and breathing heavily when he twisted the sword.
Crack—
The space was distorting.
It was a sign that she, the center of hallucination, had fallen.
Vera slowly fell to his knees.
As the ‘thump’ sound ensued following his fall, Renee from the first round reached out her hands.
“Well done.”
As expected, her tone was calm.
The dream shattered.
Along with the space, sensations, and feelings.
Everything returned to nothingness.
The body that formed her vanished.
The body of the enmity faded away.
…And when the Covenant broke, the past Renee left the following words:
“Find Maleus.”
Turn—
Vera raised his head immediately. He traced after her remnants with a bewildered look.
With a deformed face and a disintegrating state, she added.
“…Get the ‘crown’ from him.”
After her final words, the dream ended.
