บท 490: Running Hounds (3)
I close my eyes and listen to the waves.
I can't see the sky, the sea, or anything else in the darkness, but I can feel the gritty sand between my toes.
When the waves hit the sandbank and break, my slender wrists flail.
The waves wash away the little sand I hold in my hand.
I cry and hold on, but I get nothing back.
Not the waves. Not the sand. Not even my tears.
I ask through my stitched mouth.
-God. Can't you hold them tighter?
-Isn't it possible to save even just a handful more from those cruel waves?
-The ones I'm holding now, or maybe I am clutching.
-Is all this simply a dream within a dream?
My beloved looks down on My wailing from the sandbank.
I speak with a sewn mouth.
-Don't sing me a sad song when I'm gone.
-Do not plant red orchids or green marigolds next to my head.
-Just put a sword at my grave to cut through the weather and time.
-And if you have a moment to spare, remember me.
-But even if you forget, I can't do anything about it.
-Because I won't be able to hold your throbbing heart, or listen to your bleeding throat.
-Just follow the cry of an owl screaming in grief.
-Buried in the dawn twilight, dreaming and stirring.
-At some point, out of nowhere, I might remember the face of the person I loved.
-Or perhaps I shall forget.
* * *
"...!"
Vikir snapped out of his daze.
For a moment, his legs gave out and he nearly collapsed.
They say the heaviest thing in the world is an eyelid.
Vikir felt the mana drain from his body like a tide.
A chill ran down his spine. His toes and fingertips were so cold they felt like they were about to fall off.
The magic sword Beelzebub protruding from his wrist had never felt so heavy and sharp.
…Kung!
The vibration transmitted to the floor, this heavy feeling.
Vikir's body did not create it.
Nor could it have been, for Vikir never knelt on the floor, even under these circumstances.
What had fallen to the floor was the head of a demon.
Andras.
First Corpse. Marquis of Discord. The last enemy. The last demon.
With the head of an owl, it fell to the floor in a spray of thick blood.
Vikir's 9th Form was so powerful that the severed part of his neck showed no signs of regeneration.
No.
jjeojeojeog-
The petrified, crumbling cut showed no sign of regeneration.
Andras was really dying.
Neither the soul nor the body can go anywhere, it is eternal death.
"...Did you do it?"
Vikir muttered to himself.
Moment.
[Human! Don't say such ominous things! Survive again!]
Dekarabia shuts Vikir's mouth in a panic.
Vikir laughed, dryly, but with a hint of blood.
The moment you foreshadow the end, what follows is also a story that sells well and is an obvious cliché.
But this time, there was no such predictable event.
Andras poured out all of his strength and, as a result, self-destructed from within.
To add insult to injury, Baskerville's ultimate move struck him, the 9th Form and his soul was torn to shreds.
...Of course, that didn't mean Andras was instantly annihilated.
[Hahahaha- so this is how it ends?]
Andras's two blackened eyes radiated darkness.
His tongue still moved, even though only his severed head remained.
Though it has stiffened considerably.
[You have won, demon hunter. The Gate of Destruction will soon close, and you and the other humans will never meet the rest of the demons.]
"...."
[But is that a good thing, is it the right thing to do, for all of humanity].
Andras smirked.
[In a way, you've blown your chance to atone for the original sin of humanity...]
But Andras didn't get to finish his sentence.
Vikir lifted his foot and stomped on the severed head.
…pulsseog!
Andras' body and head turn into spicy, fine ash and flutter.
Then, in Vikir's ears, Andras's prophecy hovered over Asrai and vanished.
[A life of running and fleeing from chase until the end of time, with words of loneliness and solitude].
[But those who pursue you will find you, and in the end, they will reach where you are.]
[You cannot escape from them. For all time. Forever.]
[I see the furious faces of those who pursue you. Your miserable future, bound and shackled to them forever.]
Trauma lasts a long time.
Vikir, who in the past had to suffer a long chase after being accused of being a traitor and a spy, gritted his teeth and endured the prophecies, or rather curses, left behind by Andras.
[In the end, there shall be five pieces!]
That was the end.
Andras shattered and vanished.
Completely broken and gone, literally gone, even from the world beyond the threshold of death.
At the same time.
kudeudeudeudeudeudeu-
The floor began to shake violently.
The Imperial Palace was collapsing.
The collapse was probably triggered by the raging naval battle outside.
kwakwakwakwang!
The roof and pillars behind him collapsed and a huge tentacle fell down.
Torn and charred pieces of the Kraken's leg flew everywhere.
"Looks like things are starting to clear up outside ...."
Vikir turned his head.
Beyond the crumbling rubble, a portal still stood open.
And standing at the portal was Piggy. A comrade-in-arms through two lives.
"It's been hard, really."
Piggy smiled sadly at Vikir.
Vikir asked.
"...What happens now?"
"Simple, once I close this last portal, it's all over."
The Gate of Destruction closed.
There was only one portal left leading to a world where the Gate to Destruction was open.
"I can only close gates, not open them, so once I close this one, all gates are gone, forever."
"...."
Vikir nodded silently.
An exhausted hound, at the end of a long journey. Can he lay down now, his body crushed in a bloody ball?
...No.
There was still one thing left to do.
No, the biggest one. There is indeed a task to be done.
kkudeug-
Vikir rose to his feet, clutching his knees with his hands.
He turned to face Piggy, his gaze unwavering.
Finally, Piggy turned to Vikir and asked.
"Before I close the last portal, I'm going to give you a choice."
"...."
"Do you want to go back to the world you came from?"
Yes.
The world beyond the portal is a world where Vikir is dead and gone.
With a new body in this world, the Hound is ready to cross over once again.
But deep down, Piggy doesn't want Vikir to go there.
"Once you go back, you can never come back here again. The bond is severed. It's goodbye forever."
The other world has almost returned to peace.
The Rainy Season of Fear had ended as quickly as it had begun, and the great flood would soon be over.
The demons have been annihilated.
Many people have survived, and all demons and monsters will perish.
"Now all you have to do is live a happy life with those who follow you. You don't have to go back to the barren world you came from, do you?"
Piggy is right.
The other world is populated by 62 demons, each more powerful than the last.
A world overflowing with destruction and apocalypse far more terrible than the worst times Vikir has ever experienced.
It must be a hell of unearthly proportions.
Piggy said impatiently.
"Some of them have not yet given up their love for this world, and I can feel them swarming toward this one remaining portal."
The last portal Andras had created before his death.
There's a real malice rushing toward this passage.
If this portal isn't closed quickly, a truly terrifying demon may come through.
Something far stronger and more evil than all ten of them combined.
Vikir was conflicted.
Just then.
-Annihilation! Total annihilation!
-I can't hold out any longer!
-Retreat! Retreat!
-There is nowhere to retreat to!
-God, save my child in danger...
.
.
From beyond the gate, he heard pitiful screams.
It was the death cry of the comrades left behind in the Age of Destruction, the last remaining handful of humanity.
And there were a few familiar voices among them.
-All Morg is powered! Imprisoned here!
-Keep the faith until the end, people!
-Haha... Now neither money nor gold is of any use to me.
Vikir made a decision of either yes or no.
"I can't end it this way, not after hearing the voices of my comrades who are still alive."
Moving on. To the original world. Back to the original world.
He will have to walk the thorny path he has walked once again.
No, it was clear that it would be a much longer and harsher pilgrimage than that time.
But still, the hound goes. Even though he was covered in blood and limping.
At Vikir's words, Piggy closed his eyes as if he knew it was coming.
"I knew it. I knew you'd do the same."
Vikir didn't say anything in response, just nodded once.
And then.
Vikir ascended the stairs.
The shattered throne, the precarious staircase on the verge of collapse.
Finally, the last remaining portal to this world comes into view.
What he sees beyond is a world with a severed head.
A timeline of shame filled with blood and stains.
Vikir turned his head and locked eyes with Piggy.
Piggy nods with a wry smile.
Night Hound. Vikir Van Baskerville returns to his original world.
It was time to move on.
Just then.
"You're not going anywhere!"
There was a voice that grabbed Vikir by the back as he was about to cross the threshold.
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