Chapter 101
[Skill Body Modification and Time Stop are unavailable!]
[Skill Body Modification and...]
The dizzying warning sounds stopped as if by magic the moment I opened my eyes.
*Where am I, and who am I?*
I rubbed my eyes and slowly sat up.
I saw Kanya collapse before me.
Her body was clean.
And my body was clean too.
It was a clean feeling, even refreshing.
*'Clean?'*
Something felt off.
*Shouldn't I be a mess?*
My last memory was clearly getting beaten senseless by the Followers and losing consciousness, so why am I clean?
*Where did all the Followers go?*
Questions piled up, but there seemed to be no way to answer them right now.
I got up, picked up Kanya, and was about to move, but then my feet suddenly felt heavy, and I stopped.
Body Modification.
It said, Unavailable.
I sighed.
I slowly hoisted Kanya onto my back and began to climb the Rocky Mountains laboriously.
Seeing my abilities disappear one by one, I felt certain that the Demon Kings were up to something.
If I were a Demon King, I'd be angry too.
So, I guess they might come down themselves next time.
Then my soul would definitely be shattered.
It's really hard to die just once.
How easy and nice it would be if I could just put a pistol to my head and pull the trigger.
What can I do? I'll just have to try.
I struggled, carrying Kanya on my back, and climbed the Rocky Mountain again and again.
As the altitude increased, the air grew quite chilly, but with the two of us pressed together, our body heat kept us from getting too cold.
After a long while.
Kanya woke up.
“Jericho?”
“Are you awake?”
“Where are we right now...? The Followers?”
“They're gone.”
“How?”
“I don't know either.”
My memory was completely gone, so I couldn't recall anything.
My guess was...
Asmodeus.
I thought Asmodeus, the being I last cried out to before I fainted, might have pulled some strings.
In the end, I summoned Asmodeus.
I ended up using a power I shouldn't have.
Fear and terror.
Along with that, there was a sense of frustration that I had been swept away by something immense that I couldn't handle.
*What will become of me?*
*Asmodeus...
*Will she eventually consume enough faith and become a Monster?*
*What on earth should I have done?*
I wish someone would just tell me.
It was an utterly frustrating feeling, groping my way forward into a future I couldn't see an inch of.
“Jericho. Can't we rest for a bit?”
“Rest?”
“I'm... so hungry.”
Kanya said, hunching her body.
Now that I thought about it, we hadn't had a proper meal since leaving the shabby inn.
I nodded.
With Time Stop and Body Modification gone, the difficulties were endless.
After laboriously crawling into a small crevice in the rocks, Kanya pulled out a few pieces of jerky from a small pouch at her waist and handed them to me.
“Where did you get this?”
“I picked it up during the first battle. My backpack was full of bullets, so this was the only place to put it.”
Kanya said with a shy smile.
I chuckled, took the jerky Kanya offered, and put it in my mouth.
It was hard and tough, but as I chewed it slowly, it was quite edible.
Silence fell for a moment.
Con said nothing.
Even though the Psychic Amplifier's lid was open, it was silent.
A slight worry crept in.
*He didn't die, did he?*
That would be a problem.
This guy was an excellent supporter.
He was incredibly vulgar, but it would still be troublesome if he disappeared right now.
It was true that I was worried now that Con, who was always chattering about something, was gone.
I carefully touched the Psychic Amplifier, but...
Of course, there was no way I could fix it.
As I chewed the jerky, leaving the locket alone, fear suddenly washed over me again.
*What would be the end of this journey?*
The Demon Kings were calmly and systematically tightening their grip around my neck.
My skills were becoming unusable or disabled one by one, and the Followers were also appearing with perfect countermeasures against my skills.
Con was also in a dormant state, though I didn't know for how long.
*What about me, on the other hand?*
My goal was vague, and my means were unclear.
I was a Human who, despite having an unnecessarily strong sense of justice and starting things, couldn't properly clean up my own messes.
*Could I really...*
*...achieve my goal?*
*Could I truly reach the ending where I save Kanya and then die?*
It seemed I had unconsciously pulled at my hair out of worry.
I felt Kanya gently take my hand.
“Jericho.”
“Yes, Kanya.”
“You said you were trying to save me according to God's Will, didn't you?”
I had answered Kanya that way when she persistently asked why I was trying to save her back at the inn.
God's Will, I said.
Just understand it that way.
“That's right. I did.”
“Who exactly is the God you believe in?”
At her words, I felt awkward.
Despite being called a Saint, I had no faith.
I didn't believe in God.
That is still true now.
In Korea, and here too.
God had always closed his eyes to me.
If it were Korea, I'd understand.
*Because that was a normal world without divine power or divine speech.*
But even here, where God clearly existed, it was the same.
The Pantheon had never once given me a proper answer.
They had only ever threatened and persecuted me.
I hated them.
I hated Lilia, who said she would cast me into Hell, and I hated Rufiel, who prophesied that I would die by the hands of those I loved.
Even if I hated them, they had never been the object of my faith.
“I don't know either, Kanya. I'm not doing this because I want to. Still...”
So I answered that way.
It was the truth.
I don't know either.
*How I ended up like this.*
*Why I'm in this state.*
But one thing was certain.
“I want you to be happy, Kanya.”
This was the truth.
I replaced Kanya in the vision I saw.
*I die.*
Kanya's soul isn't torn, and she can live a normal life.
That's what I want.
It was a terribly selfish act with ulterior motives, but Kanya didn't seem to interpret my words that way.
“You could die. And I don't just mean your body being destroyed and your soul departing. Your soul itself could be destroyed, permanently annihilated. The Demon Kings are beings with enough power to do that.”
At her words, I laughed.
A normal person would surely tremble at those words and take time to think it over.
*But not me.*
That's exactly what I want.
“It doesn't matter, Kanya.”
At my words, Kanya stopped chewing her jerky.
She stared at me intently.
“You're a really strange person, you know that? You seem like an Enlightened One who has let go of life itself, yet at the same time, you give off a terribly worldly vibe. You seem to believe in God more faithfully than anyone, but I guess that's not it.”
She's right.
Kanya opened her mouth to speak to me, then stopped.
“I won't ask who you are. I won't ask why you're helping me. I don't know who you are or why you're doing this, but you've already shown me through your actions that you genuinely want to help me. But I will tell you one thing, Jericho.”
Kanya firmly grasped my hand.
“The Goddess of War always repays her debts. And I will too. As much as you've sacrificed for me, I will sacrifice for you.”
Kanya's resolute expression made me chuckle unconsciously.
Perhaps it was because Kanya's back was hunched.
She was quite short.
When a woman with emaciated limbs from lack of food and a small stature said such things in a solemn voice, my first thought was that she was cute.
I stroked her head.
“You've suffered enough, Kanya. I'm helping you for my own sake. You don't need to feel burdened. It's enough for me if you can live happily.”
Kanya kept her head bowed for a long time at my words.
Suddenly, something hot seemed to fall on the back of my hand, and when I turned my head, I saw Kanya was crying.
I was flustered and looked at her hastily, and she wiped away her tears, giggling.
“I'm scared, Jericho. My life has never once gone the way I wanted it to. The closer we get to the Rocky Mountains, the more scared I become. It feels like sweet hope will come right before my eyes and then be crushed.”
Kanya buried her face in her knees and began to cry.
The crying, which started with a few tears, soon turned into a wail.
“I didn't accept Lady Velia because I wanted to. I never... not once did I want this kind of life. But because Lady Velia was forced into my soul, I...”
*Why?*
*Why did her wailing feel strangely similar to mine?*
It's the same for me, Kanya.
I never once wanted this kind of life.
Asmodeus never asked to enter my soul, and I never knew I'd end up wandering around, trying to die with my soul destroyed.
I couldn't bear it.
I quietly hugged her, her shoulders shaking.
“I wish my arms and legs were normal, Jericho. I wish my back wasn't hunched. I wish I could be pretty, just once. I wish people wouldn't look at me with disgust. I want to live without fearing tomorrow, Jericho...”
Kanya listed her wishes one after another.
“I wish the people I loved were by my side. Everyone died! Everyone! I, I didn't do anything...I...I...I hate Lady Velia! I understand Lady Velia more than anyone, but at the same time, I hate her! I wish she had never entered my life!”
My shirt began to get damp with tears.
Kanya cried and cried in my arms for a long time.
I silently stroked her for a long time.
“It's healthy to hate sometimes, Kanya. A true understanding person doesn't just have good feelings. There are shitty parts, but being able to understand and embrace them is what makes a true understanding person, isn't it?”
Kanya burst out laughing at my profanity.
“You can say things like that?”
“Of course. So, Kanya. Accept that hating Lady Velia, and loving her, are both parts of yourself. That's all. And try to look at the good things, not the negative ones. Okay?”
I offered her my back.
The jerky I had shared was already long gone.
Kanya climbed onto my back.
I slowly began to walk towards the Rocky Mountains.
“Let's say you became pretty, Kanya. Then tell me what you'd want to do.”
Kanya didn't answer my words for a long time.
Then.
As if embarrassed, she tightened her grip on my clothes.
“I want to eat delicious food all day long.”
“That's good. You can do that. And then?”
“I want to wear pretty clothes. I want to wear pretty clothes and dance.”
“That's possible too. And then?”
Kanya was silent for a moment.
“I want to experience love with a man who knows both my current ugly self and my future pretty self. , a love so wonderful it would bring tears to my eyes.”
At her words, I burst out laughing unconsciously.
If Con had been conscious, he probably would have gone ballistic, claiming her 'heart' wasn't a virgin.
“You can do it, Kanya. There's definitely a man like that out there. So don't worry, okay?”
Kanya didn't answer.
The conversation continued for a while.
We were discussing what kind of food to eat.
Kanya slumped against my back and began to sleep soundly.
I carried her on my back and quietly climbed the mountain again and again.
Around that evening, our destination began to appear.