Chapter 827 – #172_Purple Rose (7)

#821

One.
Eloah, who broke through the huge power vortex head-on and finally achieved the contract of ‘slashing’.
Siwoo created and threw a singularity.

It was a great clash that would not be strange no matter which side won.

-Pajik

The sound of elaborate metal devices breaking apart echoes.
It was the sound of the ring of an angel spinning fiercely above Siwoo’s head being cut off belatedly after the clash.

It was truly a terrifying blow.
A slash that only draws results by ignoring the process.

Elroa slashed everything in the path of the sword.

The singularity, where unprecedented mana was condensed and emitted attraction.
The angel’s ring, which emitted as much magical power as fire water.
Even the cumulonimbus clouds swirling round in the high sky.

And even the space where it’s all located.

Watching the scene where the strangely shimmering space was being restored like a torn curtain, Siwoo felt a few fluffy hairs in his ears.

The blow just now was obviously strange.
It’s not just power.

In a fighting game, it is a slashing attack that is invincible in all motions.
Even though I tried to stop it with the best output, it was impossible.

Moreover, even though I was looking at her with such concentration, when I recognized her, it was after the ‘cutting motion’ was over.

-Shuuuuu!

When the angel’s link was broken, the output of the magical power that had boiled violently fell to the floor.

I didn’t have the energy to amplify my mana again.
Well, even in a dream, it would be a strange thing if there was power left over after using that kind of magic.

But that would be the same for Master, who just devoted one final contract to the blow.

In other words.
It’s Siu’s victory.

“Siwoo, you did well.”

Eloah grinned at the red branch that stopped right in front of Mokwooldae.

There was a lot of dust and her hair was messy and tousled, but nonetheless, Master.
Your beauty when you smile is still the same.

“No, this is… In other words, I cheated.”
“I guess so. I get it now.”

Seeing Master smile bitterly, Siwoo removed the window.

The paranoid obsession they faced when they met at the spire was unobtainable.
He is the master I have always seen.

“By the way, didn’t you become stronger?”
“How can a disciple whom you love only take risks, so how can you become a teacher and just sit there?”

While having a conversation full of affection, Siwoo was chewing on the battle.
He could not shake off the afterglow of adrenaline that had filled his blood with thick concentration during the battle.

If Master had just targeted the angel’s neck, not the ring, in the previous blow.
Was it right on time?

I wasn’t used to this new power, but when I saw that the fight ended even with such a scam, I thought it was amazing.

And when I naturally recall the reason why I gained that strength, my heart becomes heavy again.

“You saved me this time.”
“My dear Master, how hard you worked to save me. At least once, I have to try.”
“Words are liquidated water.”

Eloa cautiously approached Siwoo and leaned his forehead on his chest.
Siu hugged her shoulder tightly.

“You have no face.”

Master’s shoulders and voice were trembling slightly.

“Please stay like this for a while…”

If this is really a dream, it is because I had to accept the truth that I wanted to deny.

The two walked slowly to the mansion, matching their feet.
The lavender forest that stretched out to the end of the horizon, little by little from the edge.
It was falling apart beautifully.

2.
When he removed the barrier and returned to the duchy.

Raffy was waiting outside the garden.
He had a warm towel in his hand.

“Ugh, anyway, I really can’t live because of you two.”
“Rafi.”
“What is night? He said he couldn’t sleep and waited.”

Raffy grumbled, but meticulously wiped Eloa and Siu’s faces with a wet towel.

This is a dream.
A dream condensed with regret and stupidity.

Memories from outside also came back.
Eloa thought he had now accepted reality.

But when Raffy’s lovely pupil, whom he would never see again, gently caressed his cheek, he felt something rise in his stomach.

When I felt the sticky heat from my stomach warming my throat.
Raffy was wiping it off, and he was making a mess of his face with tears again.

We must part now.
If this slowly crumbling world disappears, you will never see this voice, your touch, or your lovely eyes again.

Haven’t you always wanted to?

I wish I could see Raffy just one more time.
I wish I could hug her again and tell her I love her.
I wish I could apologize for the mistake I made that day, for the witch’s arrogance.

The wish came true.
Even though it was just an imagination, Eloah met Raffy again in a magical dream that was more elaborately embodied than any other imagination.

But when I met him like this, I became more greedy.

I want to stay a little longer.
I want to be buried in my dreams forever like this.
I hope endlessly.

“Master.”

I wiped my blurry vision with my sleeve and looked ahead.

“What about Raffy? I consider myself very fortunate.”

The moment the owner of the dream realizes the dream, other characters in it also realize the false identity.

Just like Siwoo’s father and Malika Marigold did.
It is only natural that Raffi here is a fake that is infinitely close to the real thing created by Eloa’s unconscious.

“You didn’t do anything bad because of me.”

Raffy was laughing.
In reality, the red lotus is broken.
Raffy was not resurrected as a price for his sins.

He was smiling warmly as if he was more relieved than anything else.

“I believed that Master would always choose the right path.”

The moment he heard Raffy’s straightforward words, Elroa felt a dissonance tangled in her heart.
Sorry, thankfulness, regret, relief, pity, shame, and shame are entangled all at once.

Everything was so messed up that I couldn’t tell what kind of face I was making.

I wanted to hide, I wanted to run away.

However, I didn’t want to waste the last time with my student who had not much time left like that.
Eloah bitten off and confessed her true feelings.

“I am not right… I just wandered around, drowning in regret and mad for revenge. Where is the right path?”

Because he couldn’t forgive himself, he turned his anger on his exploits.
Since Raffy’s will was ‘I want to protect humans’, he established a location point and subdued the homunculus.

When I was doing nothing, every moment of my life was like torture, but I was able to forget the remorse and pain when I cried out for justice and swung my sword.

Sometimes, I even felt a pitch-black joy.

Therefore, there was no justice there.
There is only clumsy self-satisfaction wrapped in a plausible shell.

“Master.”

Raffy hugged Eloa.

“No, the Master I know is not like that. Yes?”

A question suddenly flew to Siwoo.
But Siu was not taken aback.
Without thinking, he nodded his head.

Eloa, whom Siwoo had been watching for, was more upright and noble than anyone else.

People who have suffered do not always make the same choices.
Eloa had countless options.

Among them, there must have been a way to become a public figure like this dream, a way to prepare for the next succession in desperation, and a way to do nothing.

However, Elroa chose to move forward with a difficult and painful past in front of many crossroads.

It saved countless lives and eliminated countless evils.
No matter what anyone says, it must be the ‘right way’.

However, the reason she can’t let go of self-blame is probably because she can’t focus only on those ‘results’.
Human beings who only stay in the past cannot look at the present.

“Master, I want you to be happy rather than suffering.”
“…”
“So when I saw Siwoo oppa, I was happy. I feel like I’m trying to move forward now. That’s why, remembering it and suffering forever are two different things.”

Raffy’s voice was quiet and quiet as if to appease a tactless master.

“You’ve got a great boyfriend, right?”
“…”

Eloa lowered her head.
In the smell of Raffy she longed for, her chest got wet drop by drop.

“Then… Now me…”

Those words that I tried to bury forever because they seemed stuck in my throat, it was shameless to say them, and it was painful just to think about them.
He barely licks his lips and comes out.

“… Can you forgive me… Will there be?”

Are these words the forgiveness of asking for Raffi?
Or is it an empty recitation directed towards Eloa himself?

If this is a dream, wouldn’t even this stop at empty self-satisfaction?

The crumbling world has now tightened its scope to the vicinity of the mansion.
The moment of separation approaches.

“Aww, poor master. You know.”

Raffy took Elroa out of her arms for a moment.
Then he says with a mischievous smile.

“I’ve never been resentful.”

Elroa’s mouth opened slightly, and it was all bitten.
A strange wriggling sound, neither laughter nor cry, flowed between her tightly bitten lips.

Actually I knew.

If it was Raffy, it would definitely be.
Rather than wishing for resentment or apology, it was a child who wished only for Eloa’s happiness.

The truth Eloah faced after punishing herself for a hundred years was not particularly surprising or novel.
It was only belatedly revealing the answer that he could have come up with, of course.

I could only accept it now.

Eloah wiped away her tears.

“Rafi, I promise you. I will continue to fight for justice, to walk the right path.”

It was a promise, but it was a resolution to be heard by the self who was shaken by delusion even in a dream.

The contract sword in my hand glows.
Sign a contract here and now.
This sword will continue to be wielded to protect the weak and the good.

“I heard you wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”

Raffy grunted, but smiled bitterly.

“Can you kiss me one last time?”
“Of course.”

As he kissed Raffy’s forehead, the remnants of the dream that were still in shape collapsed.

“I love you so much, mother.”
“Me too. Raffy.”

The mother who lost her cub forgave herself after a long wandering.