“Hana, two, three… four.”
“That’s right. Step forward. Keep your shoulders still, twist your waist…”
Shia’s physical abilities and miracles were overwhelmingly powerful enough not to fall short of the title of Mangja Seongnyeo (Holy Woman of the Dead).
Even clumsy movements or lack of experience could be compensated by the immense strength she possessed, leaving nothing to be desired.
Shia and Menelapie had always lived together like this, frequently and closely.
Teaching each other the things they lacked. Guiding each other through the unknown.
They were the closest beings to one another.
Of course, now…
KYAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Could they no longer return to the same relationship?
Was it impossible to go back to how things were before?
Every time Menelapie saw Shia, who was now howling like a beast in agony from hunger and thirst, her heart felt like it was being shredded.
The beast, howling and searching for flesh and a Malicious Entity while shedding black tears of blood, used to be Menelapie’s most precious friend and her only family, the great and sacred Mangja Seongnyeo who saved this world together.
Now, she had fallen into an unrecognizable monster shrieking in pain. Menelapie wanted to scream just as much at that shriek.
The battle, which started early in the morning, dragged on from the setting sun, when the stars illuminated the world, until a new day dawned.
At first, Menelapie cried, hoping against hope for a miracle.
Someday, if she could just hold on, Shia might return to her senses again.
Maybe they could meet again.
“Shia, we said we would meet often before we die.”
“Shia, we promised not to leave first…”
CRACK!
“Ugh…!”
KUH, KUGAAAAAH!!
Menelapie grimaced at Shia’s attempt to bite her shoulder, the same spot where she had been bitten before.
Pain?
Nope.
The pain in her body would heal quickly.
However, the pain in her heart remained unhealed.
Shia wouldn’t act this way. If she returned… this wouldn’t even happen. Shia, Shia, can you really not hear me anymore?
—
SLICE-ROSE CUTTING
“KYAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!”
“S-Shia…!!”
With a graceful swing of the golden rose, Shia’s body was sliced.
From the wound, darkened blood gushed out like a waterfall, and her once pure skin cracked like a doll’s shell.
It wasn’t the face of the Mangja Seongnyeo anymore; it was one torn apart by pain and resentment against the world, letting out a scream that made Menelapie bite her lip.
That wasn’t Shia.
Shia had asked her.
“Don’t hesitate anymore.”
“Please don’t hesitate.”
“I’ve always kept the promises I made to Shia.”
“I’ve always been the hero protecting Shia.”
But what on earth is happening now…?
GLURK!
But you promised.
I promised, to you.
I said I would grant your request.
Menelapie gritted her teeth and held her sword tightly.
The blade didn’t stop at just one swing.
The physical body of Mangja Seongnyeo was indeed powerful.
If that body, with its monstrous strength and hungry, gnashing teeth, were to fall into any nation, it would devour every human without mercy.
Even if thousands of soldiers and mages attacked Shia all at once, they wouldn’t be able to stop her.
However, that didn’t mean she was stronger than the original Shia.
Shia was kind and merciful and had her own ethics and goodness regarding her actions.
Menelapie knew better than anyone how terrifying and formidable Shia would be using that powerful body alongside her crazy, boundless miracles.
The current Shia was nothing more than a beast, having lost her sanity and unable to use miracles.
Of course, since a beast devoid of ethics and goodness would be terrifically frightening to other humans, it wasn’t so for Menelapie.
For the hero who saved the world, subduing the Shia who had lost her sanity was much easier.
SHARG!
KUH, A… aah…!
“…..”
She severed the tendons in her arm.
Cut through the ligaments of her fist. Slash and tear through the incoming tentacles.
Unpleasant, grotesque, sad, wanting to vomit.
This nightmare-like experience was impossible to describe in words; she didn’t know when it would end.
Whether what she was doing was right or wrong was uncertain.
‘Shia, there’s an opening…’
KYAAAHHHHHH!!
Menelapie intentionally made gaps in her defense.
If Shia had returned to her senses, she would certainly break through and knock her down.
But this beast only acted as if it were a simple beast, no longer the Mangja Seongnyeo or the Shia that Menelapie knew.
HUH!
SHING!
Predicting its movements was easy since its movements were straightforward.
Cut it. Slice it. Sever the Achilles tendons at its ankles, and cut further.
Menelapie, cutting up the body of her dearest friend, felt as if she were shredding her own heart.
GRRR, HUM…
All limbs were cut.
Even the powerful body of Mangja Seongnyeo was quickly incapacitated as the hero’s sword severed her arms and legs.
Now, it’s over.
Drip, drip…
As Shia said, now, now… to the heart…
“I can’t.”
Why can’t I?
Don’t stop.
If you leave her be, she will be reborn.
Drip… drip…
Even though the body of Mangja Seongnyeo, having undergone horrific injuries from hunger and monstrous impulses, quickly regenerates, no matter how shredded, it would heal immediately.
If she missed this chance, who knows when this monster will start rampaging again?
‘Get up.’
Didn’t Shia ask?
Didn’t she ask me… for the last time…?
But now, what… what are you doing now…!
“I absolutely cannot…”
Drip, plop…
—
—
Drip, drip…
“Shia.”
Do you remember?
The day we first met.
The day we won together.
The day we played together.
The day we slept together.
The day we hugged together.
The day we ventured out together.
All the days we spent together…
I remember them all……. All.
So… because of that… I…
—
“No way….”
I absolutely can’t do it…
The body of the deceased began to bubble and boil once more.
The severed tentacles revealed their teeth and reconstructed flesh.
The black liquid bubbled up, transforming into the body of Mangja Seongnyeo once again.
The opportunity, as valuable as gold, to kill Mangja Seongnyeo vanished like the wind the moment the Emperor gave up.
If this continued, Menelapie would be devoured by the beast.
And next would be the humans somewhere else.
Yet still, Menelapie couldn’t move.
She couldn’t grasp the sword she had let go.
“I absolutely cannot…”
Drip, drip…
—
—
“I absolutely cannot. How could I ever let go of your hand… Even if I have to be consumed by you…”
Menelapie, kneeling weakly, stared at the beast before her.
Even having lost her sanity and her light, it still retained the form of her one and only Holy Woman.
“My Holy Woman.”
“My Isia.”
How could I abandon her?
How could I…?
—
—
“I absolutely cannot…”
No matter how much you plead, even if it’s your last request.
You who have cruelly vanished.
It’s too much.
I absolutely cannot do it…
I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry…
—
—
It’s okay.
—
—
“Uh…?”
“Sh…Shia?”
The touch she felt again was warm.
It was not the hand of a cold beast.
However, it trembled greatly.
Menelapie, having regained a glimmer of hope at the edge of a cliff, soon realized that hope might be in vain.
The tentacles, spewing hunger and thirst, were still there.
Shia’s shivering hand, suffering from hunger, remained unresolved.
Yet it was still warm.
—
—
“It’s… okay…”
The weak voice whispered those words, leaving Menelapie staring dazedly at Shia.
She could do nothing.
She had no response.
Just like her fading sun, her light, it felt precariously thin.
Yet still, Shia spoke.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s okay.”
—
—
Tears, not dark blood but clear and white ones just like Menelapie’s fell from Shia’s eyes as they slowly faded away.
—
—
“Everything will be alright.”
The warmth of the hands clasped tightly was so comforting.
I don’t want to let go; I want to hold on to this forever.
“Shia.”
“Shia…?”
—
—
Oh, no…
NOOOO!
DONT GO… YOU CAN’T GO….
WHY, why, why…?
“Shia, why did you let go of my hand? Why… why….?”
WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME…..?
—
—
—
Farewell, my hero.
—
—
…Yeah.
You finally went.
Why?
Why did you?
“Shia.”
“Shia…”
You’ve left…
We can no longer… meet again.
Shia, Shia.
My light.
My Holy Woman.
My Shia…
I’m sorry.
No, I won’t apologize anymore.
I’m… I’m… unworthy of apologizing to you. Just pathetic… Just pathetic…
But don’t worry.
Wait for me. Wait for me, Shia…
—
—
I will follow soon, my light…
