Blink, blink…

‘Is this real…? Is it really?’
Is it not an illusion?
Is this not fake?
Is this really real..?

Shia repeatedly closed and opened her eyes.

She even pinched her cheeks.
Since it hurt, it must not be a dream.

“Hehe, what kind of expression is that?”
Ah, ah…
I don’t understand.
What is this feeling?
Excitement?
Sadness?
Joy?
Thrill?
Exhilaration?

Ah, I don’t know.
It feels good… but…
Something is really happy, but…
I just can’t express it in words.

I want to bounce around.
I want to cry and wail.
I just want to sob uncontrollably.
I want to close my eyes and stay this way.
I just can’t.
I can’t understand this feeling…

Can I be happy?
Can I be sad?
No… I still don’t know.
My heart hurts so much.
I don’t know why it hurts…

“Hehe.”

Menelapie gently stroked my face.
There was fat beneath her touch, but still, it felt soft.
The hand I loved the most.
The one I used to intertwine fingers with saying it felt nice.
That hand we held so often… that hand…
The one I couldn’t forget touched me again.

“It’s been a while, but I can’t help but ask.”
“…Ah…”
“Who dared to make you cry?”

The seemingly angry touch withdrew for a moment.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”
It won’t take long…
My brave warrior.
How can you remain unchanged like this?

○○○○○○○○

A saint is a being that accomplishes miracles.
I know that.
Very well.
I’ve performed countless miracles myself.
Once upon a time, I, too, was a saint.
At one time, I, too, grasped the lifeline called hope…
Yet, this is too enviable.

“……..This is absurd….”
Ah, this is a bad joke.
No, it’s not a joke but a punishment.
Lirisia twisted her lips into a smile.
Her tentacles seemed to laugh too.
Is it mocking herself?
Ah, right. That must be it.
This situation is so miserable that she unknowingly mocks herself.

That’s the only explanation.
My Menelapie is dead.
Teresa is dead.
Those who knew my name are dead.
All those who don’t know my name are dead, too.
All that remains for me is evil.
So I fought. I killed. I devoured.
Hoping that killing the vile demon lord would return everything to normal.

I shoveled the blood and corpses of the dead into my mouth to punish evil.
I stuffed the malice that felt like it would burst inside me and devoured it…
Yet it was I who became the demon lord.
At some point, I became the one the humans I should have protected feared the most.
Yes, the foreign substance was me.
How sad. So very sad.

But Isia.
This world’s Shia.
There are still many left by your side.
There are still many who believe in you.
There are still those who won’t leave you alone.
You are no longer lonely.

So.
Are you happy?
You’re happy!
You still have tears left to shed!
I envy that so much.
I’m so jealous I feel like I might go insane.
Ah… no, I was probably already insane.
I don’t even know…

“…….A warrior, appears…”
It is an unforgettable light.
Golden roses that once existed for me.
“Heh, heh…”

The owner of the golden roses, who smiled at Shia, slowly walked toward Lirisia from beyond the crevice.
She probably sensed it.
That even though we had the same face, we were different beings.

Menelapie Hairlum.
A hero of one world.
An emperor,
A savior of the world and… the only warrior of the deceased saint Isia.

Such a person takes a step forward.
Clearing away the darkness that grips her ankles, she stands here in radiant golden light.

“……..Ah, I envy you.”
I’ve lost everything.
I’ve let everything go…
What good is lamenting?
What good is sighing?
All that remains for me is evil.
Only the terrible name of the witch of the dark star remains.

“…Hello?”
“Shut that mouth.”
Ah, that’s too harsh.
I was happy to see you.

“Hey, I’m Shia too. I’m the saint of the dead as well. Can’t we share a warm hug? I’m getting jealous here…”
The witch of the dark star smiled while shedding tears of black blood.
Menelapie, who gazed at that scene for a moment, quietly closed her eyes.

The malice rises again.
The malice filled with jealousy, anger, and murderous intent opened its hungry mouth wide.
Jealousy.
So much jealousy.
So envious.
I want to die from envy.
I want to steal everything because I’m so envious.

Menelapie.
Menelapie?
Can’t you come to me?
Me. Me…
Can’t I have you back?

However, Menelapie pulled out her sword without hesitation.

Swish…

The slowly drawn sword gleamed with golden light.
Her sword, which shone even brighter in the darkness, was the light that cuts through the world filled with jealousy.
I’m jealous.
I’m jealous.
So jealous.

“You seem to hate the pieces of the demon lord.”
Ah, how did you know that?
“In the end, feeding on others’ despair and robbing them of their lives is no different.”
“Ah, I see… it looks that way….?”

Yes… indeed, it’s Menelapie.
You understand too well.
You know me too well…
So.

There’s no need for more words.
You won’t come to me.
Then what I must do is…

Steal.

[Flesh Miracle – Divine Descent]

Tentacles blossom like flowers.
The great mouth filled with malice and hunger gaped wide to devour the golden aura.
Let me eat.
Let me have it.
To take you back…
You…!

Boom!

In that moment, the golden aura rose.
The air grew heavy.
The hundreds, thousands of dark tentacles that were aimed at Menelapie froze.
It was merely a blink of an eye, a moment shorter than that, but for Menelapie, it was sufficient.

Because she was…
The only warrior of the deceased saint.

“The saint I know is dead in body, but her heart remains human.”
You, a fake who has compromised with evil.
“May you know how ridiculous it is for a fallen person like you to call yourself a saint.”
Do not dare mimic my dear friend.

“This is a reunion with my beloved friend.”
[Great Severance…]
“Not even a mere fragment shall interrupt.”

A line of light cutting through the darkness is drawn.
It was neither violent nor quiet.
The brilliant golden blade that belonged there cleaved through the world beyond the crack and the darkness.
At the end of that blade stood the witch of the dark star.

“Get lost.”
[…Bloom of the Golden Rose]

CRASHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, I knew this would happen…
Flowers bloom.
As the enormous golden buds unfold their petals with all their might, they become flames of those who harbor darkness.
Golden aura.
Burn brightly.
To those you wish to protect, you will be a flower and the petals that guard them. To those who fear you, you will become a sword and a fire of destruction…

“Do not harbor other thoughts, just sleep.”
Lirisia, no, the witch of the dark star looked at the petals enveloping her.
Even if she wanted to grasp it again with this hand.
The radiant golden rose that she wished to hold even just one bloom… has now become the flames of judgment that will burn her.

No longer could she grasp it.
No longer could she touch it.
Now she could no longer be with it.
Ah, ah…
She reached out.
A hand that would not touch…
Felt, somehow, like it touched Menelapie’s face.

“….Ah, this is how it should be.”
One last time, just once…
“I’ve cut the evil within you.”
Just let me touch you one more time…

“You are neither a dead person nor a saint anymore.”
Though I couldn’t live as a human,
“You can still die as a human.”

Ah…
Thank you…
My warrior….

○○○○○

It was a single strike.
It was a single bloom of the golden rose.
Yet with that alone, the world was cleaved apart.
With that single bloom, the malice embraced by darkness was wiped away, and the owner of the golden rose, fluttering her red cloak, looked at her saint.

“It was darkness.”
Endless darkness.
It was somewhat different from the abyss.
The abyss devours me, but this darkness simply watches over me.
Why is that?
I felt neither fear nor unfamiliarity.
Facing the darkness, I felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

“So, I wandered through dimensions as the darkness watched over me.”
I moved forward.
I passed through countless worlds.

Of course, it wasn’t all that comfortable.
There were moments I nearly lost myself, buried in darkness.
Yet just remembering you, just reminiscing about you, gave me an unexpected strength.

“And then I heard a voice.”
A very nostalgic voice.
“The voice I wished to hear at least once more, the one that called for me….”

It called to me with such earnestness.
Even if it wasn’t your voice, I could tell.
You need me.
You need me by your side.

“There’s a need for me to be there for you.”
“Among the countless voices… even in the darkness, at the moment I heard the voice, I knew.”
Yes, how could I not know?
“No matter how pressed, twisted, or echoed that voice was, it belonged to you.”
How could I ignore your wailing voice?
How could I not hear it?

“So, I reached out my hand to the darkness for the first time.”
I tried to push it away, but it wouldn’t go as I wished.
The darkness lingered near me, as if wanting to join me.

“But at that moment… I saw a light. Very small and faint… yet, it was a light I knew well. A light I had definitely seen before.”
The unforgettable light of mine.
“The light of the saint who erased the demon lord and his castle.”

As I regained my senses, I found I was holding a sword as if it were familiar.
Realizing this, I was already swinging it.
Tearing something apart, the first thing I saw was you.

So it had come to this.
Tap, tap.

“Heh heh heh, by the way……. you are truly a diabolical flirt. You couldn’t stand it and made a new friend.”
With a playful glance at Yeonhwa, Menelapie’s face carried a gentle smile.
Just like before, that smile was as bright as a masterpiece painted by the greatest artist.

So very welcoming.
I was so glad.
Shia couldn’t fully grasp the reality, and I could hardly breathe.
Is it real that I’m standing here?
Could this be a dream?
Could it be some mischief from a wicked god wanting to torment me with hope…?

Such thoughts crossed my mind.

“Hehe, I wanted to see you. What about you?”
But what’s before my eyes is indeed the truth.
The only warrior of mine standing before me is no lie.

I should say I’m glad to see you,
I should say I wanted to see you so much…
“Hehe heh… I have missed you dearly.”

I missed you too.
“Really, so much… I’ve never not missed you even for a moment.”
I too, I too…
I really wanted to see you…!

Words wouldn’t come out.
I want to say it.
Hic, hic I want to say it.
I wanted to say I missed you so much…!

“You were there in every moment of walking, breathing, and swallowing.”
Hic, hic…huh…hic!
“You who kindly held me tight, you who smiled at me gently, and finally, the heartless you who left me.”

No, no.
You didn’t abandon me…
I missed you so much too.

“You’re everywhere. That’s why I missed you all the more.”
On the day we parted… you said.
On the day the golden rose faded.
On the day that brilliant light shattered.

[It’s okay. Everything will be okay.]

Crying, sorrowful while smiling, you had said those words.
“But in truth… I…”

From Menelapie’s smiling eyes, a small shine emerged.
“I… I was not okay at all.”

In truth, I was not okay at all, not even a little.
I wanted to be okay, just like you said.
And yet I wasn’t okay.

“So… so… not being okay made me want to find you, wanting to be okay now.”
So Shia.
My Shia.
My saint and…
My light.

“Please, answer me.”
Hic, hic… Huh… Ah…
Please do respond to me.

“There in your memories… am I still there?”

No more words were needed.
What need is there for the words?
No multitude of words, no flowery rhetoric of a bard could express our joy and happiness now.
I, too, I too.
I remember you.
I recall you.
I have not forgotten you.
You, you…

So, I walked.
To the one I had missed more than any other, the one who brought me joy every time we met.
To you who was so very welcoming.
To you whom I couldn’t help but miss at every turn,
To you I haven’t forgotten even for a moment,
I now go to embrace you,
You who shine far too brilliantly to weep.

Hello,
My warrior.

Hello,
My saint.