Chapter 182: The End of Tragedy (2)
*
Swish
Swish…
The sound of waves rolling in and out.
She was lying on the beach, basking in the sun that day too.
Crashing
At that moment, the sound of waves breaking echoed.
Simultaneously, someone’s voice came from beside her.
“Hey, sis, what do you want to do when you grow up?”
It was the carefree voice of her younger sibling.
She replied, gazing at the blue sky, or rather, the barrier.
“Well, I haven’t really thought about it yet.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I still have a long way to go before becoming an adult.”
Of course, she seemed to belong to a special clan born with Blood Magic, like her younger sibling.
Naturally, the adults hoped she would train her Blood Magic and become a Hero.
‘But being a Hero is way too dangerous…’
She was born in the Central Sea System and had spent her entire life safely inside the barrier.
So, the outside of the barrier was naturally a source of fear for her.
‘But bringing that up in front of the adults feels a bit awkward.’
Moreover, even though she was a twin, she still wanted to appear cool in front of her younger sibling.
“Well, if it comes to that, I’ll just become a Hero.”
“If it comes to that, a Hero? Wow, sis, you’re amazing…”
Of course, she was actively searching for excuses not to become a Hero.
By the way, she suddenly became curious.
“What do you want to do?”
Though she too possessed Blood Magic, her younger sibling couldn’t properly learn martial arts due to her illness.
Thinking back, she realized she had never asked what her younger sibling wanted to do.
“Me? I….”
Suddenly, her younger sibling sat up beside her.
She was looking out over the sea.
“Luel?”
“Oh, sorry! I thought I saw something beyond the fog.”
“Beyond the fog? I can’t see anything.”
The area beyond the fog was said to be so dangerous that even adults wouldn’t approach it.
However, she had heard that a great person called the Water Sage lived in a library hidden there.
“Maybe it was just my imagination.”
She smiled awkwardly.
Then she pointed towards the sea.
No, it was somewhere beyond the sea.
“I want to go on an adventure when I grow up.”
An adventure.
But that seemed like a vague dream.
“An adventure? Where to?”
“Anywhere is fine! I want to see a lot outside this island.”
Her younger sibling began excitedly talking about stories from beyond the island.
“I want to visit the Leim Kingdom, where the sun never sets. They say there are still kings, knights, and huge castles left. It must be amazing.”
“I also want to visit Sakh, where the sun never rises. They have developed technology to the extent that trains are running, and the night streets shine like the starlit sea.”
“Right. Saint City Hailen cannot be left out. It’s the capital of all humanity and the city of Heroes! I’ve heard the tower where the High Priest resides is so tall, it’s unimaginable…”
“And lastly, I want to go to Basilium. They say the endless open plains touch the sky painted in sunset colors. Yes, the end of adventure must be a sunset.”
Her younger sibling’s expression was filled with anticipation for adventure.
‘Luel…’
But she knew.
With her illness, Luel likely wouldn’t be able to travel much.
She didn’t particularly want to tell her that fact.
Thus, she lied to Luel.
“If you go on an adventure, I’ll become a Hero and join you.”
After all, Luel wouldn’t be able to leave this island anyway.
“I’ve heard that Sakh has pretty bad security, and Basilium has many thieves, so I can’t just let you go on an adventure alone.”
“Really? Well, I’d love that, but if you don’t want to…”
“Not at all. Letting it sink in, it sounds fun to me too. An adventure.”
At her words, Luel’s mouth fell open in surprise.
“Hehe. Then it’s a promise?”
“Hmm? Yes, of course.”
At that moment, she didn’t know.
What kind of consequences that promise would bring.
In her eyes, all there was…
Was Luel’s blue eyes resembling the sea.
*
“Lucy?”
Lucy, leaning against the bookshelf, had been staring blankly into space.
When I called her, her eyes finally returned to focus.
I asked her, “What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
She shook her head and replied, “No, just remembered a moment from the past for a bit.”
For a moment, it seemed quite a long silence she had kept for recalling those past times.
Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.
“You heard everything we just talked about, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“About the current situation. But your reaction seems…”
Could it be she wasn’t listening?
Just as I was about to explain again, she interjected.
“Oh, so the destruction is confirmed, and we have just 1 year and 9 months left until it happens?”
No, she had listened to everything.
“Yeah, that’s all I’m going to say about the current situation.”
Of course, unlike Luel, Lucy had been facing the destruction from the beginning.
However, she wanted to understand why Luel wanted to destroy this world, and in the end, I had no choice but to reveal it to her after discussing it with Luel.
“So, Luel, you were going to keep this to yourself?”
Luel averted her gaze and said, “Well, I could handle destroying the world all by myself…”
She had the demeanor of someone who believed she had made a terrible mistake.
Maybe she had been feeling quite a bit of guilt for hiding the secrets she learned from her sister.
But Lucy sighed and said, “That’s a relief. In the end, you’re just like the little sister I knew.”
“Hmm?”
Luel’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re still just as naïve.”
Lucy declared outright.
“That’s right, you were right about that. If you had told me the truth beforehand, I would have cooperated with you in destroying the world.”
If that had happened, Luel’s plan would have gone much smoother.
That crisis just now wouldn’t have approached at all.
“But you never said a word. Even when I…was trying to kill you.”
So Lucy was right.
Even though Luel wanted to destroy the world, her intention of keeping it to herself came from her caring nature.
For some reason, Luel continued to deny this until the end.
“No, that’s not true. It was merely a rational decision that it was better for one person to suffer than for two.”
She still believed she was wrong.
I was about to tell her otherwise when…
“Right, it is your fault.”
Lucy suddenly changed her attitude.
“Lucy?”
“If you want to hear it that way, I’ll say it. Anyway, you didn’t consider how I would feel when you died. That’s your fault.”
Those words echoed what Schurz had once told me.
“Have you thought about how I would feel being left behind if you die? Even if it’s a short time of not even two years, in that hell, each day would feel like a year.”
Having experienced nurturing her indirectly, I had felt that pain at least once.
Until the destruction occurred when her training was complete, Lucy would plunge into chaos, heedless of guilt for killing her sister.
Ignoring the Player’s commands, day and night, she would massacre the Demon King and the Chaos Beasts.
“That’s…true. I messed up.”
Luel seemed to have finally understood her real mistake.
Her true mistake was not that she intended to destroy the world, but rather that she did not consider her sister’s feelings.
“I thought this would make you happier. In the end, it was just my selfish thinking.”
Her head drooped.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
At that moment.
Lucy started striding toward her.
Her expression appeared a mix of anger and sadness.
“Luel.”
She pulled Lucy into an embrace.
“I’m sorry. I’ve felt sorry all along.”
“Sis?”
“So let’s make up now. I promise to forgive your mistake, so you forgive mine too.”
The blue-haired sisters cried, burying their heads in each other’s shoulders.
Their scene was beautiful, yet it also tugged at my heart.
‘Perhaps it’s best to step away for a bit.’
I said to Yusera, who was standing next to me.
“Let’s step out for a moment.”
She ran over after hearing the noise Lucy made.
However, by then, the situation was already over, and now I was just listening to the explanation alongside Lucy.
“But Allen, the plan…”
Like she said, we planned to organize a strategy after the explanation, but it seemed a bit challenging at the moment.
“Since Luel has cleared her mind, things should feel a bit easier, and when the two of them stabilize their emotions, we’ll start again. Luel’s help will be absolutely necessary, after all.”
“Got it.”
Yusera nodded and headed toward the study’s door.
I followed her, thinking to myself.
‘Thank goodness.’
Somehow, we managed to prevent the tragedy.
However…
“Phew…”
I exhaled a breath I had been holding back.
Then, as soon as I left the study, I said to Yusera.
“Can you lend me your shoulder?”
“Allen?”
“Let’s go to my room for now.”
Honestly, I felt like I could collapse at any moment.
*
Cough.
I spat blood into the bucket.
“Allen, are you okay?”
Yusera looked at me with a worried expression.
“I’m fine. At least not in a deadly state…”
But I felt really exhausted.
At the last moment when Lucy was about to swing the greatsword at me, I had drawn upon the Blood Magic I hadn’t fully mastered as much as I could.
“Yusera, can you overload one potion for me?”
Then Yusera pulled out a potion from her Inventory and overloaded it.
I grabbed it and started gulping it down.
Normally, it would be more effective to receive healing from Luel, but just drinking this was more than enough to get some healing benefits.
‘I really don’t want to disturb Luel right now.’
Repairing the relationship between the siblings was a very crucial element for the operation.
Thus, I wanted to give them ample time to fully mend their relationship.
“Guh.”
It seemed the potion was starting to take effect in my body.
I lay down on the bed before losing consciousness.
‘There’s no helping it.’
My vision gradually blurred.
Somehow, it felt similar to the situation in the Leim Kingdom.
But this time, my injuries were far lighter compared to before, so I would be able to get up again quickly.
‘Speaking of which…’
In my dimming vision, I could see Yusera.
I recalled that she had been by my side when I collapsed last time too.
“Yusera.”
“Allen?”
“Stay by my side, okay?”
She might have her shortcomings at times, but there was nobody I could trust more than her.
If she was there, it wouldn’t be a problem to take a short rest.
“What do you…”
Hearing her voice, which was unexpectedly flustered, I closed my eyes.
