Chapter 25 - The Silver Mirror

Chapter 25: The Silver Mirror

The world turned white.

The ghouls that were climbing the wall fell over and became engulfed in dark blue flames. The orge zombies, who were knocking on the gate, crumbled with a groan, and all other unclean beings burned into ashes.

“It’s the saint! The saint has arrived!”

“Whoaaaaaa!”

The soldiers cheered. They pushed down all the ghouls that were burning on the wall. The battlefield that was disadvantageous earlier was reversed with the appearance of only one person.

The old knight breathes a sigh of relief. Encouraging the soldiers with all his might, he approached the saint. Then he opened his eyes with surprise as he ran to her.

The saint collapsed.

“Saint!”

The old knight caught her. The white girl spoke with a blurry smile.

“It’s okay, Grandpa.”

“Still… … .”

“You already know this.”

The reason she was a saint was because her ‘vessel’ for accepting God’s divine power was much larger than the others.

However, the power to wipe out thousands of ghouls puts a great burden on the body.

“Didn’t I always tell you to be careful!”

“It looked urgent.”

“If you, the saint, falls down then no one can do it.”

Feeling the bitter taste lingering in his mouth, the old knight spoke. They were resentful of their situation of having to bear all the burdens on such a young child.

But they couldn’t help it. While the entire continent was falling, it was all thanks to her that they were able to survive.

“What happened to the war?”

“Yes, thanks to you…….”

He doesn’t know how her heart felt.

“We won.”

She always smiled broadly.

* * *

Time flew by quickly. Do-joon’s view also became as fast as a video of fast forwarding.

The war was won, and restoration work was in full swing after that.

‘Their expressions are bright.’

Soldiers repairing the collapsed walls, the wives making and carrying snacks to them, and children playing with a bright smile in between them.

While they were working, they gathered periodically and prayed to the sun in the sky. It was the priests of the temple and the temple hall that organized it.

And

“Saint! I made a necklace with Amaphora! I’ll give it to you!”

“Thank you, Leila.”

She was the saint.

The saint gently patted the child who was handing over a flower petal necklace with a bracken-like hand. She has white hair and wears a white robe as well, she was white from head to toe.

‘If it were Korea… … I wonder if she would have became a college student instead?’’

By this world’s standard, the saint had already been an adult for several years. However, to Do-joon, she was still a mere child.

Such a child, despite the power borrowed from the gods, was able to repel thousands of undead legions.

“Sa-, saint! This… … .”

For a while, peaceful days continued in the temple surrounded by walls.

“What’s this?”

A young knight wearing a breastplate engraved with the sun pattern handed the saint a paper bag with a bright red face.

“It’s a fruit. My father told me to give it to you, saint.”

“Oh my, thank you.”

She smiled as wide as always.

She was loved by all the villagers.

However, just as parents’ love for their children and a brother’s love for their sister are different, the young knight’s love for her is also different.

On the other hand, she cared for everyone without discrimination, so it must have been very unfortunate for the young knight.

‘It’s a good time.’

As the peaceful scene continued, Do-joon also became a little relaxed. Seeing the young knight, he too suddenly remembered the youth of the past.

There were many things that he regretted, but there were also many memories that could not be changed anywhere.

‘So-eun… … .’

The biggest of them was the day So-eun was born.

It was a memory that made him smile whenever he thought of it.

“Then I’ll get going.”

“Oh, yes! I’m sorry for holding you back.”

“No, it’s alright.”

The saint headed to the temple building with the paper bag. Do-joon’s point of view naturally followed her. Forced movement beyond his control.

It wasn’t clear why it was happening, and Do-joon didn’t know what this meant.

For a while, the scenery of everyday life continued. A peaceful daily life that could make anyone think if there was really a war.

What turned that upside down was the day when the first snow began to fall from the sky as time passed.

* * *

“Gasp! Retreat! Retreat! Fall back to the temple! We’ll set up a new line of defense there!”

This time, the war was harsher than before. An even greater force than before was poured in from all directions.

The snowy cold season could freeze the hands and feet of the living, but the cold and corrupt ones were unaffected from the beginning.

Eventually, the gate was crossed and the land was taken… … . In the end, they even entered the temple and staged a sit-in.

“Lord Paulman! They are coming!”

“Stop them! If they break through here inside, it’s over! Do something to stop them!”

The fierce shouts of the men resounded. Even in a desperate situation where there was no hope, they fought hard.

Behind them was the saint who was working harder than anyone else to purge the undeads and heal her allies.

Then at some point.

Whoooosh!

“Argh!”

An arrow sprouted from her right eye.

No, an arrow that could not be shot in front of her flew and hit her.

“The saint has fallen!”

“Saint!”

The arrow that penetrated exactly through the right eyeball. The arrow began to pour out an ominous black energy.

Several soldiers managed to catch her falling down, but it was already fatal.

The faces of soldiers who were distorted. The sky shone beyond the saint’s eyes.

In the sky, the curtains of light she had unfolded were seen blurring.

“Oh… … .”

Her eyes trembled with only the left one. Holding onto the fading consciousness, she inadvertently reached out her hand.

For the light vanishing into the sky seemed as if God had turned his back on them.

“Saint!”

“No!”

However, there was nothing that the hand could reach.

* * *

Blackout.

As if all the memories were shut off, the scenery turned black.

And the scene unfolded again after a considerable amount of time had passed.

‘… … They’re all dead.’

Scenery of the ruined temple. Inside the collapsed temple. It looked exactly like a labyrinthic landscape which was familiar to Do-joon.

Then, at that moment, something squirmed inside the piled-up corpses.

It was a woman with an arrow in her right eye that woke up soon.

Blankly staring up at the ceiling, she flinched at some point. Then she shivered and looked around.

“Ah… … .”

What reflected in her eyes was the family who cried and laughed together with her.

She, who was an orphan, was a family member of the temple who could not be replaced with anyone.

Her pupils trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.

There were bodies everywhere, and all of them were people she knew.

“Su-!”

Then, what she found was the corpse of someone closest to her. Sue, a close friend who was almost a sister that always served her.

Sue was buried in the withered fountain with half of her neck bitten off.

Tears flowed like a waterfall, as she hugged Sue’s body one last time.

Sue’s hand, which had always patted her back, was now just cold and detached.

The saint’s lips trembled. As a habit, she put the name of God in her mouth.

She prayed that, by all means, Sue wouldn’t go with only painful memories. So when she gets to her side… … .

Just then.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Her body was bathed in the dark blue fire of before.

Her skin was burning and her blood boiled in her veins. An extreme pain that she had never felt before.

She rolled along the ground like a dog. The sharp stones and metal fragments in the ground tore her skin, but they were nothing in the face of the agony.

Eventually, the flames died down and the pain went away.

She turned blue at the fact that she had become similar to those of the immoral group.

It wasn’t supposed to happen.

She was a saint, a person who was obliged to carry out the will of God and deliver that grace to the people of this land.

However,

“Su…”

What was the point of it now?

There was nothing left for her.

Thud.

She sat down in despair, glancing to the sky.

Snow still fell from the skies along the bodies.

The ice flowers piled up in the collapsed ruins were mercilessly beautiful.

‘…….’

She sat for several days and looked up only at the sky. Do-joon, who was translucent, watched her with a stiff expression.

His words could not be heard by her, and her eyes could not see him.

Days later.

A light began to flash in her eyes for an instant.

“… … I have to bury her.”

It was the lifeblood of someone who had found something to do.

She brought two wooden sticks from somewhere. And she made something to wrap a cloth around it and made a stretcher.

When the stretcher was completed, Sue’s body was placed on it.

“Ah.”

Immediately after, she realized.

Even if she made a stretcher, there was no one to listen to her anymore.

Eventually, she moved the body alone.

Not only Sue but also other people’s bodies were moved and repeated the process.

The destination was a cremation facility in the temple.

In the doctrine of Laoha, the god of the sun and life, there was a custom of cremating the dead and burying them in the ground.

In order for the soul of the dead to go to the side of God who resides in the Sun Palace, it was necessary to burn the body.

So she burned them.

One by one, respectfully.

After burning it like that, she put the remaining ash powder in the ham. And an inscription was written on a palm-sized wooden tablet.

Looking at the completed box and small tombstone, she joined hands.

From now on, her slender body has lost control and has been trembling. Tears welled up already.

“Hey, don’t be afraid! It’s something you have always done, right? Just do what you’ve been doing!”

She clenched her teeth.

She was the only one left in this world.

She was also the only one who would comfort and lead the souls of the dead and send them to the Sun Palace.

She opened her chapped lips and began to perform ancestral rites. Without a single word of prayer, a blue flame arose and began to burn her.

The pain continued to cut off prayer.

Still, she repeated it again several times. In the hope that their souls will ascend to heaven without wandering around in the present world.

“Aaaaaah! Aaahh… … ! It hurts… … . It hurts… … !”

After barely finishing one, she sobbed and collapsed.

Hundreds of bodies were still left behind her, crouching on the floor and shivering.

* * *

Memories continued endlessly.

At some point, the light in her eyes began to disappear.

The whole body was already covered with all kinds of burn marks, and the hair that reflected the sun’s light had long been burned out.

From some point on, she became a being that simply moves mechanically.

“…….”

Before he knew it, Do-joon returned to the chapel.

It felt like something that was precariously chosen was getting calm again. Do-joon exhaled quietly.

Meanwhile, after praying, the ghoul lifted the bell from the altar. It was no longer an ordinary species.

【???? ??? ???】

An item crafted by prayer, made of stones, bones, and branches. It was a ritual tool for performing ancestral rites.

The second task she started after cremating all the people whose bodies were in the temple was to make this altar.

For some reason, it only said ???, but Do-joon could guess the effect.

Putting it simply, amplification of divine power.

And the meaning of it was…….

‘You’re asking for help.’

A message to God, asking him to free her from any more pain. It was her desperate SOS message.

However, even though dozens of control bells have been made so far, her will has never reached the sky.

No matter how many things were made, each one was too weak.

‘…….’

[You can copy one of the options of “Cloak of Corrupted Faith” to “???”.]

[Copyable options]

Unrepairable.

A window for copying was floating in front of him.

Put the non-repairable option into her and that’s it. She would die without being able to regenerate due to her own prayer.

But

Tuk.

Do-joon put down the cloak.

Then he approached the altar and began to search the area. Ghoul watched his actions with wide eyes.

After taking out all the tools stored here and there, Do-joon picked up two of them. Both were hideous in appearances made of bone and stone.

However, contrary to its appearance, there was a warm energy permeated inside.

[You can copy one of the options of “????” to “???”.]

[Copyable options]

????????

All he could still see was a question mark. Was it not an item made officially or was it just a question mark for that reason? Like a broken file on a computer?

Well, he doesn’t know. He might find out someday, but at least he couldn’t find out the reason now.

And that wasn’t what was important here.

[Copied successfully.]

[The ingredient “?????” has been destroyed.]

The tool he was holding on one side was broken. She endured all kinds of pain, and in order to increase their divine power even a little, she chewed and swallowed up the regium.

“Kyaaaah?! Kyaaaah!”

No matter how indifferent he was, the ghoul rushed at him, who was angry at this. Do-joon calmly put down the remaining tool in front of her.

“kyaa?”

She paused. She seemed to feel it right away. The fact that the aura of this ritual item was getting stronger.

Leaving her confused and puzzled, Do-joon broke the other ritual items one after another. Some of them were made by her own, and some of them were intact objects that had been used since the past.

He broke everything regardless.

Each time, there was a stronger energy permeated from the remaining items.

Her prayers were properly leading to the next object and then the next object.

“…….”

Perhaps aware of that fact, Ghoul quietly watched what Do-joon was doing.

Soon, dozens of ritual items were all broken, and the last one was left.

A silver mirror that has turned black with the passage of time.

In the past, what she liked and cherished the most when she was still a human being.

The black mirror was now scattering bright light from Do-joon’s hand.

The Ghoul stretched out her hand towards Do-joon.

The energy sprayed from the mirror alone gave her hand a blue flame. But without a care at all, she grabbed the mirror.

Then she put her hands together again.

Hoping her voice would reach the skies this time.

Soon.

The whole chapel was bombarded with light.