〈 Episode 338 〉 Given time (7)
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The rain poured down.
The rain pouring day and night has no intention of stopping.
If you listen carefully, you can hear many sounds.
The sound of pouring rain hitting the leaves, puddles on the floor, and the sound of hitting the church windows.
And, the sound of Sarah’s prayer.
Kyle continues to meditate, listening to numerous noises with one ear and sending them out with the other. The only thing that changed in one night was that she picked up the holy sword that she had put down.
“······.”
Kyle thinks while holding the holy sword in his hand.
What comes to mind is the inner wall.
···The original warrior does not recognize the inner wall. It’s natural. Awakening as a warrior meant tearing down walls with starlight and breaking the limits of growth by using expedient methods.
Originally, it would not be recognized.
A wall that doesn’t even exist.
However, upon reuniting with the sword of death, Kyle recognized an inner wall. That is not Kyle Torben as a warrior, but the wall that Kyle Torben as a person had. A strong wall that existed inside the cowardly self who thought he could do nothing without the stars.
I saw it.
I cut it down.
The day he cut down the wall, Kyle became a superman.
Kyle is now standing on the other side of the wall. In front of me is a vast plain. Above the plain, Kyle recalls the scene she saw in her dream.
The first warrior, Ganicalt Van Galatric.
Where is he located?
How far must you walk to reach that level?
At one time, I thought that that state was a delusion and an illusion that I had created. Since he didn’t think he could reach it, he decided to take a shortcut.
But, for now.
I can see that level now.
A man stands on a plain where the wind blows. The scarred, one-armed man stands there, waiting for Kyle. Kyle measured the distance between the man and himself.
‘···far.’
It is far and difficult.
It still feels like there is a long way to go.
‘but.’
see.
You can see it with your own two eyes.
Because it is visible, it exists.
Since it exists, it is clearly a level that can be reached.
“······.”
Kyle opened his closed eyes.
The inner wall disappears and time returns to reality. In reality, Kyle looked at the sword in her hand. A sword. With this one sword, he will have to accomplish a great feat.
My mind is quieter than ever.
My body is lighter than ever.
However, there is only one catch: this is a contract that does not take Raniel’s wishes into consideration at all. Kyle knows. There is no way Raniel would agree to a plan like this.
Something she neither agrees with nor wants.
Kyle will forcefully pass it on to Raniel. He will save her as he pleases. It is a selfish choice made under the pretext of paying off debt. That’s why Kyle hesitates, even if just a little.
Hesitation, and wavering.
Kyle is in the middle of meditating to get rid of it. I felt someone’s presence outside in the pouring rain. It’s so light, but at the same time, it’s such a huge presence that you can never ignore it.
The presence knocked on the door of the church.
Kyle opened the church door with narrowed eyes. The moment he opened the door and faced the person standing in front of the door, Kyle’s body stiffened.
“···you?”
She opened her mouth in response to Kyle’s question.
“long time no see.”
Raniel van Dragonig laughed.
“long time no see. “Kyle.”
She laughed painfully.
2.
Kyle looked at the woman in front of him.
She introduced herself as Raniel, who came from 13 years in the future. She may be outrageous, but her presence is so great that it makes you believe her outrageous words.
Not human.
He is also not the one chosen by the stars.
A being that transcends everything.
Humans often call it God (?) out of respect. An old church meant to worship the stars. There, sitting there, is another god who is neither a star nor a shadow.
“you···.”
Kyle asked.
“Is it like a star?”
“If you look at the lineage of existence, they are similar. “It’s fundamentally different, but… well.”
It’s hard to explain.
Raniel grinned while muttering that. What was so fun was that she was smiling the whole time she was talking to Kyle. As if the conversation itself was enjoyable.
“Actually, it’s not that difficult to find.”
Future Raniel said, still smiling.
“I am just a superficial god. “Because there is not a single believer who prays to me in the first place.”
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“···What does that mean?”
“It’s just that no one believes in me. I guess I’m a little ugly. “No one prays to me?”
She laughed lightly.
Kyle felt a sense of discomfort in that laugh. It was the smile she often made when Ran El put her lies into her mouth, or when she showed off her bravado.
However, it is difficult to be sure.
Because it was a slightly different laugh from Raniel.
In the first place, the woman sitting in front of him was not the Raniel that Kyle knew. She is quite different from Rania.
Sarah.
The short hair that sways on her shoulders is no longer gray. It’s closer to white hair. The eyes revealed between thin eyelashes have also long since lost their shiny blue color.
Empty blue eyes.
Kyle remained silent as he faced those seemingly empty gazes. Compared to Rania, the woman in front of her does not look that old. She just feels that there is a big difference because of her surroundings.
‘···That’s strange.’
Kyle’s eyes narrowed a little more.
No matter how you look at it, this is not the Raniel you know. Kylo doesn’t know what happened over the past 13 years or what he experienced to change Raniel like that. I can’t even guess.
“…Did you say you came from 13 years in the future?”
“It looks like you want to ask if that is possible.”
“I guess something like that is possible if you become a god-like being.”
“no?”
Raniel tilted his head.
“Just because it’s God doesn’t mean it’s that grand. Just like you, I am bound by providence. Rather stronger. So… isn’t this what my body is like?”
Raniel spread both his hands towards Kyle. The palm was blurry. As if it would scatter at any moment.
“It went against a taboo. The biggest taboo. “This is the price.”
You can’t interfere in the world.
The body is falling apart.
Raniel smiled bitterly and hid his hand. Going back against the established providence naturally demands a huge price.
“···If it’s as you said.”
And then Kyle asked a question.
“Why return to the past at such a high cost?”
Was there a reason for that?
Why did we return to this time period?
When Kyle asked that question, future Raniel was unable to give a straight answer. She let out a thin breath and slowly, very slowly, opened her mouth.
“Because it started from here.”
She said.
“Because everything went wrong from here.”
Her hair shook.
“Because everything is ruined.”
Blue eyes were revealed between the shaking gray hair. The empty eyes were no longer smiling.
“You know what, Kyle?”
She lowered her head as if she couldn’t bear to look at Kyle. She said to Kyle with her head down.
“···You said I was better suited to be a warrior than you. “On that day 13 years ago, you said that while handing me the star.”
If there is someone worthy of being a hero.
If there is someone who can save the world.
It’s definitely you, Raniel.
“But that’s wrong.”
A dry laugh leaked from the corner of Raniel’s mouth.
“I failed, Kyle. Miserably. It failed miserably. “I couldn’t protect what I wanted to protect, and I couldn’t achieve anything I wanted to achieve.”
Kyle looked at her as she lowered her head.
“Do you know what happened to my world? Okay, sorry. I lied earlier. My world is destroyed Kyle. “It’s not that I don’t have believers praying, but there is nothing alive.”
Because I failed.
Raniel said while mumbling.
“My world has become ashes.”
Kyle looked at Raniel in silence.
Although he was the one sitting in front of her, Kyle sensed that she was not speaking to him.
“I am not a hero.”
she is talking
She was confessing not to herself, who was sitting here, but to Kyle of the time period she had experienced.
“I am not the perfect being you wish for. “I tried to become a god like you wanted, but in the end, I couldn’t become perfect.”
Raniel raised his head.
“Look at me Kyle.”
She spread her arms wide.
Only then did Kyle notice. That the clothes she is wearing now are her warrior’s livery. And, she realizes that she is wearing exactly the same clothes she is wearing now.
“Do I look like a hero?”
Do you seem like the perfect human being you hoped for?
Kyle couldn’t answer that question.
“I am a failure. “An ugly failure.”
Kyle can’t deny that either.
“I asked why you came back to the past? I came here to ask you a favor. “To persuade you.”
She said.
He said it as if he was pleading.
“Don’t hand me the stars, Kyle Torben.”
Tears flowed from empty eyes.
The tears flowing from empty eyes fell to the ground, but could not wet the ground. It just crumbles without shape. As if leaving even a small trace was not allowed.
“Just leave me here to die.”
she pleaded.
And, Kyle…
3.
Cardi sat on a chair and looked out the window. The night was deep. While listening to the sound of pouring rain, Cardi thought of the person she had encountered a few days ago.
Raniel comes from 13 years in the future.
A human who has become a god.
She committed a taboo that went against time, but that doesn’t mean she can achieve everything. she said She says the only time she can interfere is when Kyle’s contract is being carried out.
An encounter with Ganicalt, the sword of death.
And now we are about to pass the final ordeal.
Raniel arrived in the latter timeline via the former, and is about to carry out his plan at this moment. Cardi recalled her plans as she spoke.
“Kyle made a contract to save me.”
“I will block that contract.”
“I must die here. It definitely has to be that way. Even if I live, I can’t achieve anything. “You just keep failing.”
She spoke in a hollow voice.
“The future we face at the end is destruction.”
“My world has become ashes. That future cannot be repeated. So, I guess I should change it.”
Are you asking me to kill Raniel?
Or are you?
Raniel shook his head at Cardi who asked that question. she said He said he had no intention of making such a harsh request… and that he could not interfere too much during this time.
“This is only possible if Kyle cancels the contract in the first place. So, I have to convince Kyle.”
persuade.
“I will persuade Kyle.”
“This is the end of the contract you made. I failed, and there was no point in trying to save me. “I am not as great as you thought.”
I will say so and show you.
“I failed.”
“After seeing me so horribly broken.”
“Then, won’t something change your mind?”
That’s the only answer.
Cardi looked at the future Raniel who said that with mixed eyes. Because she had a face that looked like she was going to collapse at any moment.
···If persuasion fails, what do you plan to do?
Cardi asked that question.
In response to that question, Raniel told the second plan. Even though he hoped it wouldn’t go that far, he made a second plan. After hearing the plan, Cardi promised Raniel cooperation.
Because I was sure.
Because I was sure that the plan would be used.
“…Is there any way I can persuade you?”
Now time has passed.
Cardi muttered as she looked out the window.
“It won’t work. “Raniel.”
Cardi recalled Kyle’s face.
That was the face of someone who was determined.
Also, it is a face I saw on an old colleague a long time ago. Ganicalt, who was asking for help at the last moment, also had the same expression on his face.
“Do it, Cardi.”
“This is the only way.”
Damn you knife fighting bastards.
Cardi muttered and laughed bitterly.
“···Because he didn’t speak dirty either.”
* * *
Kyle looked at Raniel.
With tears in her eyes, she slowly got off the chair and knelt in front of Kyle. As if confessing. As if to make her own sin known, she begged Kyle.
Let yourself die.
I just failed.
In the end, I will break down.
“Just leave me here to die.”
Raniel pleaded.
And Kyle opened his mouth.
“Stand up.”
Kyle pulled Raniel’s arm.
He forced her up from her knees.
“I know you don’t talk like this. Do not kneel in front of anyone. Stand up, Raniel van Trias.”
Trias, not Dragonic.
Raniel’s expression fell.
It has to be that way.
『Stand up.』
Because that was something Raniel had said to Kyle several times. Now that it has been returned, Raniel, who came from the future, loses his sense of reason.
“you.”
Raniel said.
“What do you know about me?”
Kyle smiled bitterly as he watched Raniel say that.
Kyle muttered to himself.
Now the roles are reversed.
* * *
fantasy,
