Chapter: 370
“…Kuh.”
The moment I entered deep into the miasma with Ari, the first thought that came to my mind was how dreadful it was.
An energy that allowed nothing else.
In that pitch-black darkness created solely to end the world, I could feel a terrifying evil.
So I shouted, recalling the faces of my precious people.
“I will never let it reach them…!!”
Flames that burned the miasma erupted from the center of that darkness with a whoosh.
“I will protect them…!”
The flames that rose with the desire to protect began to incinerate the darkness that sought to harm my cherished ones.
“I will protect them! I will definitely…!!”
But,
“Cough…!!”
The cost to ignite flames within the miasma was no small matter.
The fuel needed to ignite the flames was myself.
The sensations I had recovered with the strength sent by the demonic beasts were quickly ruined again.
As I continued to emit flames in this state, my already overexerted body from the battle with the Witch of Gluttony began to scream at me once more.
If I continued to use my abilities here, I would die.
But,
“I don’t care…!!!”
I lightly ignored that warning.
I had long since prepared for death before jumping into this.
Therefore, I urged the flames that burned my body with the miasma even more.
“It’s okay to burn everything, everything…!!”
In response to that will, the flames continued to blaze without stopping.
Just as I had used my tongue, nose, eyes, and legs as fuel before.
This time, I ignited the remaining pieces of myself as fuel for the flames.
However, however….
“…Cough!”
While my body was already at its limit, the remaining miasma was heartbreakingly abundant.
Even if I sacrificed my entire body, it had always been utterly insufficient to burn all this miasma from the start.
“Ugh, huff…!!”
I forced strength out to bring forth the flames.
But it was unsatisfactory.
And no wonder.
What I was doing now was akin to forcing a fire to ignite using wood that had already been burned to ashes once.
The fact that flames were blazing despite having nothing to burn was miraculous.
The miasma I had burned was only about 10 percent of the whole.
Such a weak achievement.
If it weren’t for the strength the demonic beasts contributed, even this would have been impossible.
But I couldn’t be satisfied with just that.
I had to push myself a bit harder, I had to endure just a little longer.
I could protect their smiles.
With that sole determination, I conveyed my will to the flames.
“…I said it’s everything!”
Wasn’t there still something left to burn here?
My heart still beats.
I am still alive.
Take everything and burn it.
If that’s not enough, I’ll offer my soul as fuel.
Please, let me ignite flames so that I can protect at least one more person.
I prayed desperately to the flames.
Then the flames began to burn according to my wishes.
Beyond my body, even to my soul.
Whoosh─!
Then the flames ignited.
A flame more powerful and radiant than ever before.
Not my body, not my heart, but my soul.
Was that where the greatest strength resided?
Using my identity as the witch as fuel.
The flames emitted the most magnificent and bright light, just before they extinguished.
“…It seems like this is as far as I can go.”
However, even that flame fueled by my soul was insufficient to completely burn the miasma.
At best, about one-third, perhaps.
I felt it was an unsatisfactory result, but in the end, it seemed like that was the best I could do.
From then on, I could only hope that Yoon Si-woo would do well.
I could feel the once brilliant light of the flame gradually diminishing.
The moment that flame extinguished would be my end.
So I quietly closed my eyes and awaited the end.
But at that moment,
Whoosh─!
“What, is this…?”
A miracle happened.
The flame, which had clearly been losing power and about to extinguish, began to blaze vigorously again.
As if someone had fed new fuel to the dying flame.
But who on earth could it be…?
[Long time no see. Scarlet Evande.]
It was then that I heard a voice.
I murmured, captivated by the voice I hadn’t heard in a long time.
“…Evangeline?”
It was the voice of Evan, the former Witch of Wrath.
Startled that I hadn’t heard from her in a while, I cautiously asked her.
“So this flame….”
[That’s right. You looked like you were in trouble, so I lent you some strength.]
Indeed, it seemed the reignition of the dying flame was due to her.
But how?
The flames that burn the miasma were my ability…
As I pondered this, Evangeline chuckled and said.
[You’ve been using my abilities quite a bit until now, haven’t you? Just like how you’ve used my abilities before, this time I simply used yours.]
At that moment, I felt a realization dawn on me.
And simultaneously, I understood something.
The power to burn the miasma requires a price.
However, for her, who shares a body with me, there was only one price she could pay to use that power.
Just as I was about to say something to her, Evangeline spoke first.
[There’s no need to feel unnecessarily sorry. I’m just repaying a debt.]
“…Debt?”
[Yeah. It seems I’ve been influenced by someone who can’t help but pay off debts, so I’ve been feeling this need to repay a debt too.]
Jokingly said Evangeline, then spoke to me in a serious voice.
[…You freed me from a long curse. For you, I will gladly give my soul.]
“…Evangeline.”
She was once someone I felt a deep resentment for, but I now felt immense gratitude to the point of forgetting the hardships I went through because of her.
I could feel the flames consuming the miasma using both our souls as fuel.
Surely more than half of that terrible miasma must have been burned away.
I still wasn’t completely at ease, but with this much…
As I was thinking that, I heard Evangeline mutter.
[…And there’s one more person who is as grateful to you as I am.]
Simultaneously with that muttering, I felt the flames intensifying again.
What was happening now? I thought to myself, when suddenly, from somewhere, a small voice spoke up.
[…Hello.]
Upon hearing that voice, I instinctively flinched and trembled.
It was a voice I had definitely heard somewhere before.
I knew that voice.
It was, it was….
“Scarlet Evande…?”
It was the voice of Scarlet Evande.
Not me, but the girl who originally bore the name Scarlet Evande.
I had occasionally sensed her existence in the past, but it had faded at some point, so I thought she had disappeared.
But she had been with me all along….
Lost in a strange sentiment at her appearance, I realized that she was the one who reignited the flames this time.
Though she was an artificial homunculus, she still possessed the limited ability to use witchcraft.
So it seemed she was able to use abilities just like Edo or Evangeline.
However, setting aside the possibilities, I wondered why she had offered her soul to wield her powers.
She probably hadn’t thought of being in debt to me like Evangeline did.
As I pondered, Scarlet spoke to me.
[…No. I do have a debt.]
Scarlet said that she too had a debt to me.
Not knowing what it was, I tilted my head, and Scarlet explained.
[You kept your promise.]
“…Promise?”
[The promise with Uncle, to become Scarlet Evande who protects people.]
At the mention of “Uncle,” I swallowed hard.
Uncle, Luke Aegis.
The man who created Scarlet Evande and ultimately died for her.
I had called him that way.
Remembering that man who wished for Scarlet Evande’s happiness until the very end, I couldn’t help but feel choked up.
Realizing that Scarlet had witnessed everything that had happened, I was left speechless.
Scarlet spoke to me in a warm voice.
[You went through a lot, yet you kept your promise. So I was very, very thankful.]
“…So, that’s why you helped me?”
I asked, and Scarlet smiled softly in response.
[That’s true, but not really.]
“…What do you mean?”
And then came the answer that made me grin.
[Scarlet Evande protects people. That was always the case.]
“…Yeah. That’s right. Hahaha.”
As I laughed at her heartwarming answer, Scarlet then asked me a question.
[On the contrary, I’m curious. Are you okay?]
I immediately understood what she meant.
Even though it was to protect people, I wound up dying like this—was I really okay with that?
I smiled slyly and answered her.
“I’m okay.”
[You struggled a lot at first. And yet?]
“…Well, at first, it was rough.”
Certainly, just as she said, when I first came to this world, it was very challenging.
Why did this happen to me?
Why did I have to go through such tough times when I was living just fine?
“But not anymore. Now, this world and everyone I met here have become very precious to me.”
So much so that I wanted to protect their smiles, even if it meant my own death.
“So now, I think it was fortunate that I came here. Because I was able to protect everyone this way.”
As I said that, Scarlet asked me.
[…Really?]
I quietly ignited the flames in response to that question.
That was my answer.
She, being Scarlet Evande, would surely understand it.
Because those flames were born only from true happiness.
A warm flame that wasn’t too hot filled the surroundings.
I could feel my body slowly turning to ash within that flame.
But now that the flame had enough firepower to burn away all the miasma, it blazed brighter than ever with the joy of that realization.
And amidst the blazing flames, I suddenly recalled.
The very first question that had sent me to this world.
[Can you save them?]
Now, I can answer that question.
Look, I’ve saved them.
*
Those who were in the middle of escaping from the falling miasma saw it.
From within the black sun that fell to end the world, red flames blossomed.
The flames that burst forth from the black sun shone warmly upon the entire world, just like the sun, before disappearing along with the black sun shortly after.
Some realized upon witnessing it.
That flame, that girl who embodied that flame, had saved the world.
However, in the world that the girl saved, her figure could no longer be found.
370th Chapter – Happy Ending…?
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