Crunch crunch.
The sound of stepping on snow impressively reaches my ears. Gazing at the pure white snow, I recall the moment I regressed during the entrance ceremony in March.
Now, a year has passed, and it’s February.
I didn’t quite complete a full year, but that didn’t matter at all.
Looking at the thick layer of snow piled on the coniferous trees, I wondered if snow would fall on Daniel’s head, so I placed the hood of my robe on him.
Still, Daniel didn’t say a word and didn’t even look at Rin, but that’s okay now.
“I couldn’t hear your voice until the end. Probably, there will be no more eye contact between us.”
Rin whispered softly. She carefully placed her hand on Daniel’s cheek and smiled.
“But it’s still okay. As long as I can save you.”
Tap.
A small snowflake touches Rin’s nose.
Glancing up at the sky, I see snow falling from the obstructed sky among the coniferous trees.
“It’s snowing…”
I thought it was a good idea to put the hood on in advance, and Rin turned her body, leaving Daniel alone.
Heavy footsteps.
The time has come to mark the end of a world I thought I could never finish.
The only village far away.
A place made by refugees who lost their hometown and families, a place that hasn’t even been properly named yet.
There, people were ready to face death, waiting for Rin to protect humanity’s last stand.
The legs creaked, as if saying they wanted to move no more, pushing through the fierce winter wind.
Now it was time to completely destroy the world.
*
It was a poorly assembled barricade.
Whether it was Sharcarl or Kurika, calling either one would easily crumble this city before a storm, but Rin walked towards the city without summoning her army.
“The end is coming!”
“Revenge for my loved one!”
“Revenge for my friend!”
“Revenge for my country!”
“Revenge for my race!”
The people in the city began to shoot arrows at Rin while chanting pre-arranged slogans.
Whoosh, whoosh—arrows slicing through the air.
An arrow grazed my shoulder, lightly tearing the robe I wore as it passed.
Even in such a close call, Rin showed no resistance or reaction.
Thud! Thud!
Finally, arrows lodged into my shoulder and thigh. It hurt, but it wasn’t severe. I had already endured so much pain to get to this point.
For Rin, this was nothing.
“Isn’t the end calling for an army?”
“Here’s our chance! Shoot! You won’t miss this time!”
“The darkness has abandoned her!”
“You damned girl! I’ll kill you! Today, I’ll avenge all the souls on this continent!”
Arrows continuously pierced into Rin. In another circumstance, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to die, but having acted as the end for so long, Rin had long transcended the boundaries of humanity.
The arrows that had flown intermittently soon stopped abruptly, like a drought. It was only natural for a hastily constructed village to be short on weapons.
Then, people began to rush out with swords and spears.
“Kill! Kill her!”
“We can do it! We are the guardians of the continent!”
“Please die! Please! Please! Please!”
“My parents are dead! My pregnant wife is dead! My firstborn daughter is dead! You pathetic girl! Because of you, I’m all that’s left!”
I understand all their feelings.
Until now, Rin had avoided injury because there were still things to do, but that was no longer the case.
With no resistance, she absorbed their anger entirely.
Thud! Thud!
Swords pierced into Rin’s chest.
Though Rin put up no resistance, the people surrounded her and stabbed her with swords without a hint of hesitation.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Oh, my robe…”
The robe I matched with Daniel became tattered and stained with my filthy blood. In a mix of regret, Rin slowly closed her eyes.
She wanted to apologize to them.
For the ones who had only tried hard to live, she had become an incredibly harsh calamity.
She wished to say “I’m sorry,” to explain this situation, and to make excuses, but—
“I don’t have that right.”
No matter what words she spoke, they wouldn’t provide comfort, and saying such things now would only serve as painfully cruel excuses, that she too had been a victim.
Rin hoped that even the slightest peace would find its way into their hearts as she took every sword and spear being thrust at her.
And in the end, she said:
“In your future lives, I wish for infinite blessings to be with you.”
With the girl’s prayer akin to a wish, the darkness that rose from Rin’s feet swallowed everyone whole.
*
“Daniel…”
The darkness couldn’t quite encompass fully.
Since the weapons that had pierced her would immobilize her if left, she pulled them through the darkness, but apparently, that was the limit, as the darkness no longer obeyed her.
Thinking there was no pain, Rin was struck harder than expected by the execution of the townspeople.
Thanks to that, her abilities weren’t functioning properly. The swords and spears still embedded in her back couldn’t be left alone.
In that state, Rin sought out Daniel.
Honestly, she had intended to end this world alone, but at the very last moment, she wanted to see Daniel one more time, so she forced her immobile body to return here.
Looking at the hood covered in falling snow on Daniel, Rin smiled faintly.
What should I say?
I’d imagined this moment hundreds of times, but now that I’m really here, words escape me.
As I opened my mouth, thick clots of blood threatened to escape, and I swallowed forcefully before trying to speak again. Unsure of what to say, once I began, words spilled out chaotically.
“Now, when you regress, you won’t return to the moment of your expulsion but to a different point, and the curse of the Sun God will be lifted. That’s the promise the Goddess of Time made with me.”
“Actually, I inserted a bit of selfishness into the timeframe. I’m sorry. But I hope you can overlook that.”
“……”
“Hey, Daniel.”
“Did I do well?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if what I did was the best.”
“Even if this world was destined to perish, I killed everyone. Their families, lovers, friends—everyone in this continent suffered the pain of goodbye because of me.”
“I’m so sorry. So, so sorry, but maybe it’s finally time for me to face my punishment.”
My vision becomes blurry.
Thick tears now streamed down Rin’s pale cheeks.
“I don’t want to part with you. Daniel, I… I want to go with you. Back to that time where we had another chance. I want to laugh with you again, talk to you, hold you. I…”
“I too…!”
Without even thinking of wiping away the endless tears, Rin slowly reached out.
Still no response from Daniel.
She wanted to touch him one last time. She wished to feel his skin, even if just a little.
But her hands, stained crimson with blood, never reached Daniel. She thought she shouldn’t touch him, a pure being, being so irredeemably dirty.
In stark contrast to the horrendously tainted Rin, Daniel McLean looked so pure and clean.
But paradoxically enough, for Rin drenched in the continent’s blood, there was one part that remained untouched by blood.
“Daniel, let me ask you for one thing.”
As the darkness surrounded her body, weary from lack of strength, she yet carefully hoped it might reach Daniel.
The darkness finally cloaked Rin’s body to help her. Still, she could only lean forward, barely balancing on her toes.
Their lips touched.
For the girl who had brought ruin to the continent, this was the only part that remained untainted.
After their first kiss, the girl collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Can I get this much leniency?”
Of course, there was no answer.
What if he’s displeased? That thought worried her.
In the fierce cold wind, Rin spoke as if to flee.
“Forget me.”
You’re listening, right?
“Please forget me and live happily.”
Will you grant my last request?
“Forget me, the one who will vanish, becoming a wraith, an existence that never was…”
My vision blurs.
Feeling my consciousness fade, Rin forced a smile through trembling lips.
I can’t express my emotions in words now.
If I do, Daniel would never be able to forget me.
“But still…”
At least I can capture you in my sight one last time, and I’m so thankful for that.
*
On a moonlit night,
The girl huddled under a blanket on the roof felt like time had stopped for a moment.
Was it because she was stargazing with the boy she had a crush on while wrapped in the same blanket?
Rin, who wished that this time could last forever, felt a mix of unease but also found it not so bad.
‘Could it be that time really has stopped?’
The boy next to her had the ability to stop time, so perhaps he thought the same.
‘Sister Diana is probably waiting for her blanket to return, but I feel a little guilty for hogging it.’
Rin suddenly felt sorry for Diana, who would be waiting indoors for her blanket. Additionally, Kurika was said to be waiting, hungry, at Daniel’s house.
‘What a shame.’
Just as Rin thought to smile at Daniel and tell him she was coming down,
“Ah… Ahhh…”
Daniel McLean was shedding tears tinged with grief.
