Chapter 855: The Last (88)

“Now… what, unnie?”

“W-Well…”

“You know that we’re not in a situation that can just be glossed over like that, right? Shouldn’t we at least be withdrawing now? It’s a little late, but if I report the situation to the superiors, there might be room to fix it somehow.”

“I trust junior Lee Kiyoung.”

“That bastard is a psychopath! He’s out of his mind! It will be most reasonable to fix it now and contact the god of sunset separately. If it goes on like this, the continent will truly be over. Can you see the face of the god of sunset now? He’s clearly going to be hostile to us. First of all, we have to explain the situation to the higher-ups. We have to let them know it’s not our fault.”

“…”

“We have to move before he finishes the continent, comes up here and destroys us!”

“You should listen to me, Lauren!”

“I mean… unnie…”

I had no choice but to close my eyes.

When I opened them again, I saw the man’s smile.

‘Psychopath…’

I didn’t know what she was thinking. The thought of betraying the innocent unnie made me furious.

‘It’s really going to end.’

I really didn’t think it would be strange for it to be this dimension’s destruction.

‘We can’t intervene anyway, can we? Isn’t it over and done with?‘

The transformation of the continent into a dungeon was already in progress. Since the system had already made a decision, there might be limits to external interference.

The foreign light continued to spread through the sky. The penalty of event failure was the reproduction of the day of destruction, but that wasn’t the same light as before.

Since the system imposed a penalty, it was virtually impossible to block it using outside intervention.

“I haven’t been watching this continent for that long, but… there’s one thing I can be sure of. I’ve never seen a place in as much of a mess as this. The great wars, the wars for the liberation of different races, and the wars caused by great famines were better than this.”

‘It’s completely a mess.’

I had seen many wars fought because of human selfishness, fought because of interests, and many other reasons.

I had watched the struggle of the continent to prevent monsters, demons, or creatures from the void, but I thought that all those crises were nothing compared to what was happening now.

‘This is insane…’

There was no other word that could better describe the present situation.

Monsters were rampaging all over the place, and the war in the area where the event had fallen wasn’t even over yet.

The god of sunset, whom I believed in, was rampaging, and the guy who had gone down to fix all of this was adding fuel to the fire.

“How could I not be worried? It’s over. I came all the way here after trusting you… of course, I’m not blaming unnie, but… t-this is… if this doesn’t end well, how will we live?”

“I… I’m telling you to believe in junior Lee Kiyoung.”

“That bastard is a psycho! He has a self-harm addiction and probably doesn’t even know what he’s doing. I don’t know what caused him to get mad, but… I mean, I don’t know what he didn’t like, but he seemed to only want to mess with the continent.”

“…”

“He’s just doing whatever he can simply because he doesn’t want to yield. That crazy control freak must think it’s better to destroy the continent with his own hands than with someone else’s. I bet he’s already thinking like that.”

“W-We’re bound by a contract anyway, so he can’t turn his back on me right now. A-And Lee Kiyoung doesn’t act without thinking.”

Her voice was trembling.

Even Benignore wasn’t sure. No, she seemed to have some faith in him, but she looked shaken.

She had seen Lee Kiyoung the most up-close, so maybe she knew what he was thinking.

Perhaps she even agreed with me.

‘Because I’m not wrong.’

“Shall we take a closer look at the contract together? We don’t even know if there’s been a breach somewhere… Oh. We should call Elune too…”

“I mean, Kiyoung and I are going to sell and buy together at the same time. Well, that was our oath…”

“This is a ship that is already sinking. Look at that. How can he fix that? Is there anyone out there who thinks they need to save the continent right now? The god of sunset is already beyond salvation… That place has been destroyed by the hands of a newly-born god, so other gods will think it’s a lie when they hear this. It will remain the laughing stock of their lives.”

“We have junior Lee Kiyoung on our side.”

‘Wrong. She must have been completely brainwashed already.’

Now that this had been done, I felt like I had no other choice but to use force. I unthinkingly grabbed her hand and looked at her.

“He’s not that stupid.”

I heard an eerie voice. As I turned my gaze, I saw Belial smiling happily, raising his glasses with his fingers.

I wanted to smack his shining face with my halberd. It was a pity that I couldn’t.

“Aren’t you already on the same boat? I would recommend having a little fun.”

“Who said you could talk to us? Unnie, stand behind me. I’ll deal with that stinky, disgusting demon.”

“If the Son of Light and Darkness were stupid, he wouldn’t have been able to come this far. Looking at him now, it doesn’t seem like your words are wrong, but all will have a meaning.”

“…”

“It’s not enough.”

“What?”

“L-Lauren… we have to earn more. You understand me, right?”

“Even you…”

“This is too little. There are two conditions for clearing the dungeon anyway. The events that are taking place now are the means to meet those conditions, not the purpose. I know things aren’t going well, but it’s enough for us to meet one of two conditions. There is no need to be nervous.”

“We just need to fulfill the requirements for the end of all life or the resurrection of junior Lee Kiyoung, Lauren.”

“I know, but I don’t know what that has to do with what that psycho is doing right now. In the former case, it is impossible anyway. Unnie, you’re… y-you’re not really trying to change Elune, are you?”

“…”

‘Why are you avoiding my gaze, unnie?’

“N-No way. Do you think I would? Elune is our precious friend and colleague, which is why I want the end to happen in this round. Perhaps the same goes for Lee Kiyoung. There won’t be a third timeline. Reviving him is one of the conditions for clearing the dungeon, after all.”

“I know, but is that really possible?”

“If it weren’t possible, we wouldn’t have gathered like this, would we, Benignore?”

I had heard about them: the contract with Lucifer, the human named Lee Jihye, and… Lee Kiyoung, that psychopath, who wanted to go down.

‘She said that Lucifer and Lee Jihye hold the keys.’

I definitely heard that they needed insurance.

“Is the insurance divinity?”

“Yes, Lauren. Lee Kiyoung wants to be completely independent. Not only from up here but also from Lucifer. We spent more than we expected to solve the event or solve the problem Lee Kiyoung is having. Perhaps he is feeling it too.”

“Is that why he’s doing it?”

“We need to show what the public wants to see. The stage is set, and the roles have been decided, but there is no impact.”

“What impact?”

“Where is the evil, the darkness that has made all these things happen?”

‘There is darkness. You said it was the human Lee Jihye.’

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Where is the darkness that will cover everything that is happening right now? Shouldn’t we create a figure who will stand against the Sunset Swordsman and the Son of Light? It’s a simple story, but people get so excited about it they produce divinity for us. Although it’s an obvious cliché, the royal road never fails, and a great crisis creates a great narrative. Of course, justification is also needed.”

“…”

“We need to provide the need for the Son of Light and Darkness to descend again. That’s necessary for his resurrection since it would allow the mortals to understand. I can’t say things haven’t become complicated, but the story is running toward the end. What we’re lacking is an enemy, which is why he’s creating one.”

“…”

“That’s why he cultivated the human named Song Sookyung.”

‘Crazy garbage demon. What a piece of sh*t excuse for a human.’

I saw unnie slipping to the side, sneaking away from our gaze.

‘S-She’s not guilty. She’s only been swayed for a moment.’

For a moment, I was furious, but if that was what he was really looking for, I thought what was happening was justified.

He’d made enemies for the cause. That was believable, to say the least. I didn’t know when it was, but he might have needed someone suitable to sacrifice.

He would have needed a reasonably smart yet easy-to-manipulate actor who could play the right role.

Through a pact with a demon, he’d worn away his personality and granted him divinity by handing over the legacy of the Son of Light.

Perhaps this was not the end. I was pretty sure there was something I didn’t know.

“I want to tell you that making it isn’t an easy process.”

That man was found to be lacking, after all.

He lacked the skills to stand against the God of Sunset and the Son of Light.

He wasn’t superhuman, nor was he an extraordinary genius. He could be classified as competent, but he was completely different from the Red Beast or the Goddess of Magic.

He didn’t even deserve divinity in the first place, and even if he wrote his own myth, he’d sooner or later hit his limit.

It would be unreasonable to say that he was similar to Lee Kiyoung.

His mental strength was rather weak. He was weak, easily shaken, and dependent on others.

He’d wanted to find a place to put his heart into and had consequently created his own Messiah.

He wanted to rise, stand by his side, but he’d become frustrated with himself and felt shameful jealousy. He’d then shifted the blame onto others…

“Why go that far?”

“Isn’t the Son of Light and Darkness reluctant to have someone touch what he owns? It’s surprising that you can say things like that, Lauren. There are a lot of beings who have met a terrible fate because they incurred the wrath of gods, demons, or other transcendents.”

“…”

“There is no point in looking for a reason. Anyway, the important thing is that it is still not enough. The seeds will probably germinate soon, but that’s also not enough.”

‘So that’s why he’s giving a show right now? To show it to the public?’

“You mean that he didn’t just do it to screw with the god of sunset after he left him alone? Are you sure about that?”

“…”

“…”

‘Why is everyone avoiding my gaze?’

“It could be… w-we’re a support team, so we just have to do what we’ve been tasked to do. How did it go when I told you to bring some divinity from Elune?”

“I received it, but unnie…”

“Maybe there is not much time left, but first look elsewhere. After all, you won’t be able to meet the superiors anymore. Convince the people you usually hang out with…”

“I… I’ll take care of it, unnie.”

“L-Lauren, you know I trust you a lot, right?”

“Yeah. Of… course.”

“It’s real this time, Lauren. There must be no mistakes. Lee Kiyoung is the smartest when it comes to emotions.”

She wasn’t wrong. That human had become the Son of Light with that garbage soul, after all. Hence, I understood what she said.

Even if I hadn’t, the question would’ve still remained. It might not matter much, but it seemed to be a story that had been decided not to be told tacitly.

I had no choice but to speak quietly. Since we’d decided to do it together, I had to get answers to these kinds of questions.

“Unnie, can I ask you something then?”

“Yes?”

“What the hell is that pendant hanging from the god of sunset?”

“…”

“And…”

“…”

“Why don’t the god of sunset and the son of light also know?”

“…”

“Who… erased their memories?”

Benignore’s eyes opened wide, and Belial started stroking his chin.