Chapter 173: Resolve to Die, Reason to Live (10)
-Ah… huu…haa…
Gaionia showed himself before Ignis who was crying painfully.
-Why are you crying, my son?
-Fa-father…
Ignis stuck his head by Gaionia’s feet, apologizing.
-I-I have killed-killed her. It was me-me…
-Yes, but why are you in agony? Your lover has told you that she doesn’t love you anymore.
Ignis shot up at once and pleaded.
-Father, my father who can do anything, please, please save her. Bring her back. Please…
-What?
What a consistently foolish sentiment.
Gaionia could not understand Ignis, at all.
-You asked me to create you a lover who can love you. But what would you after bringing back a lover who doesn’t love you anymore?
-Please…
Driven to madness, Ignis no longer seemed to hear his voice.
In the end, Gaionia had to give in to his child once again.
-Would bringing her back to life make your heart no longer be sad? If so, let us do that. But instead, it would be for the best if we take away her free will. I will make her love you forever.
But Ignis, who he thought would react happily, shook his head without a moment’s hesitation.
-That is not what I want. I am fine if she doesn’t love me. Because I love her.
-What?
-Just bring her back to life. Let that poor being live, please, father…
Again, rage rose within Gaionia. The first children he had created were these beautiful and perfect beings. Whether it was Procreathor, who said he wanted siblings, Genus, who said she wanted a child, or Ignis, who said he wanted a lover.
Unlike numerous other humans who have been created with free will, they were faithful to their pure affection. They never changed. And that was why Gaionia had loved them above all else.
Because they were beings who would eternally love and follow him, their father.
For the first time, Gaionia turned down his children’s request.
-I have no intention of bringing back to life an ungrateful human who wouldn’t love you. I’d rather create you a new lover instead.
Ignis, who was wallowing in tears up until then stopped crying and stared at Gaionia with hollow eyes.
His eyes showed that he could not understand Gaionia.
-Father.
-…
-That, is not it. Though you have created us by sculpting mud, we, humans, are no longer doll-like beings ever since you have… bestowed us with free will.
-…
-Creating another when one is gone, loving a newly made lover, that, that’s not something I can do. Father.
Ignis could not understand Gaionia, and Gaionia could not understand Ignis.
Because Gaionia was god and Ignis was human,
-I want to meet her again.
Ignis realized that Gaionia would not grant his request.
-Please forgive your unworthy child.
Ignis stood at the cliff where his lover fell. He smiled and lay back.
Ignis fell down relentlessly. Gaionia drew up Ignis’ body, roaring in rage.
The sky cracked and the earth trembled.
-Ignis!
-You foolish child!
-How could you step over my affectionate heart for you?!
-How could you easily throw away the life I have given you, for the sake of such a lowly being?!
-Why!
Gaionia cried for the first time.
Anguish, and rage — His emotion stuck between the two, Gaionia spoke.
-You shall never be able to die. And be entrapped in the fetters of punishment for all eternity.
To be precise, it wasn’t a punishment for Ignis, it was a punishment for Ignis’ lover.
Ignis, who loved his lover more than father Gaionia, or even his own life.
The soul of a being who dared to take such affection for herself yet betrayed him.
She would never be free in never ending samsara.
***
It was uncertain what ‘first memory of murder’ Michael had regained while his mind was connected to Somnifer, but one thing was for sure.
Though it was already there to begin with, his will to kill Gaionia had become even thicker.
And his firm attitude in saying ‘we have not committed sin.’
There must have been some secret we didn’t know about in the first murder that he had committed out of being unable to bear the change in his lover’s sentiment.
I’d asked Michael a few times, but he did not answer.
Also, he jumped into the portal without even minding that the rest of us were hesitant, seemingly wanting to meet Gaionia as soon as possible.
“So ye saying dat this firehog didn’t manage to finish things up properly and the spider monster was still alive, and all of ye almost died because of dat?!”
“You punk, how would I have known?”
We followed Michael all tense, but this trial was different from the one before for some reason.
The view beyond the portal was the same and we walked on straight for a while, talking about what we experienced in Somnifer’s forest.
Roxa almost got killed by Somnifer and it seemed that Azar barely managed to save him. For some reason there seemed like a certain bond was created between the two that wasn’t there before.
Though, they were fighting with each other.
“But about that magical beast, though it was large in size, it wasn’t quite powerful.”
Azar spoke as he walked on briskly.
“Yes, it’s a magical beast that can’t do anything on its own if there is no one to mind control. The reason why Azar and Roxa left the illusion of the forest even when the core wasn’t broken, is probably because Somnifer deemed that it had no more chances.”
“Ah, because it failed to mind control this blabbermouth?”
“That’s right. The reason why it didn’t try on Azar was because it assumed that it wouldn’t be able to make any cracks in your mind because you are strong willed.”
“Heh! As expected. Only feeble minded lots get swindled by such creatures!”
Azar shrugged, feeling proud. We all fell silent peeping at Michael who was walking ahead.
“Khem, you witless punk. Ye canna read the air and all ye can do is use yer brute strength.”
“What now?!”
“But ye said Grand priest had his mind totally devoured, how did he survive? According ter wot da firehog said, killing da monster would take down da human tied ter da web as well. So it wos a lie after all, eh? An’ dat stupid firehog fell fer it…”
“This punk, and after all I’ve done to save him…”
Holding back the two of them about to fight once more, I spoke.
“No, that’s not wrong. But…”
Since the two of them did not know what kind of punishment we were suffering and how it worked, they would be puzzled as to how Michael survived.
I equivocated as I shoved the two people on their backs.
“He somehow ended up alive. Anyways, great work Azar. If the two of you didn’t go in together, Roxa would have died without a doubt. Roxa, did you say thank you to him?”
“Ah o’ course. An’ I am da kind ter always pay me debts. Dis firehog wos tearing up after chopping off his arm…”
“When did I ever?!”
It was about the 29th time where Roxa spoke of his heroic deed of putting back a new arm on Azar the moment he escaped the illusion of the forest.
Getting slightly bored, I smiled and I mimicked enthusiasm and led the chatty pair.
“Ack!”
Walking as I looked behind me, I bumped into Michael’s back as he came to a halt with Deborah in his arms.
“What, why…”
Looking beyond his shoulders, I was surprised.
“M-mother. Come this way.”
Abel, who was following right behind closely, took heed and pulled my body behind him.
From afar, it merely looked like one big black lump.
We were heading towards it since its color resembled the portal, but looking up close, that was not it.
“W-wot is dat really?”
Long limbs of a human, black skin covering the whole body. There were no eyes, nose and mouth on its face.
‘Those things,’ with a giant height of roughly 3 meters high, were stumbling around, not walking straight.
“Huu…”
Deborah dug into Michael’s arms and cried in fear.
It wasn’t just Deborah. Those things looked frightening enough to scare all of us.
Though its body was certainly humanoid, it was too big and had no face. And most of all, the way it was pitch black from head to toe made one feel uneasy.
And since they were gathered around here as they walked around, we didn’t realize from the distance.
It wasn’t just one or two of them. There were at least a few hundred.
Startled by their features that would only make an appearance in horror movies, I was startled to hide behind Abel.
That moment, one of them stumbled towards us. Azar lunged forth like lightning and swung his sword.
Slice-
The thing oddly looked like it had no aggression and was cut off at the waist by Azar’s sword into two.
But…
“Ohh, me god.”
Roxa let out a helpless voice looking at the scene.
The thing’s cross section had nothing. Though it had its waist chopped off, it didn’t seem to feel pain, or even bleed.
The thing that chopped in half like a clay doll slowly wiggled and reformed its original form.
It seemed to be a magical beast in human form that could regenerate nonstop…
but that wasn’t the problem here.
“My days.”
The voice escaping my voice without my knowing was quite devastating.
Roxa muttered beside me.
“Jus’ at a glance, there is about few hundreds of ‘em, ye jus’ had ter increase one more? Ye really have a knack fer making trouble.”
Despite his accusing words, Azar couldn’t even reply and mouthed few times with his mouth open helplessly.
The two halves of the body each regenerated by itself.
The thing rose totteringly without even being dead, had become two.