Chapter 240 – Ep.17 – Nightmare (2)
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It must have been really foolish and dangerous for someone who couldn’t even walk properly to run, but Delin’s feet didn’t stop and ran as if she was pushing herself mercilessly across the asphalt.
She stumbled, and her mouth tasted like blood,
She fell on the street twice because she couldn’t keep her balance,
Delrin kept running without stopping until she reached the garden of her god.
The quiet park, no different from before, was filled with silence.
Late at night when you can’t even see anyone walking.
There, perhaps because it had been too long since he had run, there was only one human man, clutching the bench and retching on the ground, struggling through the serene atmosphere of the park.
There is only one thing that fills his mind.
The content of the nightmare was so clear and vivid that it was completely different from before.
In a nightmare that progressed dizzyingly quickly, he saw his family and friends once again.
Everything he had been going through since he disappeared flashed through his dreams very quickly and intensely. Delrin is now embracing the pain and agony of dozens of people at the same time.
But of course,
Among the dozens of people, the stories of two people are so powerful that it breaks his heart.
What parents are feeling is,
It was as painful as all the tragedies in the world combined.
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As his breathing returned little by little, a familiar forest of grass began to appear beyond his vision. Before he knew it, he was at the playground where children were humming songs.
Inside the grass that filled the outskirts with the playground, there was a mountain that was nothing special, but it was clearly visible to his eyes.
You can meet God there.
Delrin slumped down on his bench, trying to gather his thoughts one last time. Of course, no matter how hard he tried, unexpected memories and regrets kept leaking out of a corner of his mind and tormenting him, but he had to harden his heart somehow.
There is no turning back now. He could feel it instinctively.
The moment you step into that place, you have to end it yourself.
No one will do it for you.
“You idiot, what are you trying to do by coming all the way here alone?”
Even Riko, who followed him, and her worried swearing, couldn’t solve anything.
“Ha, really… “
Other family members may also come running after Rico,
There are only two people in the playground.
“Can you do anything? Can you solve it all by yourself? Ah, yes. Even with the Demon King, Shobuchi is a good man, so I can leave everything to you, right?”
Even though she has run quite a distance, Riko does not take a single breath. Unlike Delrin, who is in so much agony as to die as she clutches her bench, her strong body doesn’t even break out in sweat, as if no message had come.
“Please come to your senses! “Don’t act like a brat!”
Rico grabs Delin by the collar and pushes him against the back of the bench. Delrin, whose weight was so light to her, couldn’t even resist, and she was just writhing under Rico.
He is as precarious and unstable as a candle that will go out at any moment. A small and fragile body compared to Rico’s well-trained body. The fact that he cannot protect a man like that boy inevitably makes his heart flutter.
“What’s going on, huh? Talk to me… “
Finally,
The two have a conversation.
“You don’t have to take on everything alone… “
All the lies that have been contained so far will now end.
“… In my dream, my old house appears. With family, friends… “
Now.
On the bench in front of the border dividing the park and the forest,
Delrin spoke as if pleading while carefully holding Rico’s hand, which was holding her collar.
“I am not from this world. I came from a completely different place… “
She is Delrin, who has overcome many things so far,
As family affairs become intertwined, I become a child, if only for a moment.
“I wasn’t trying to hide it… I just didn’t have a chance to talk… But, I have to go now.”
He had a dream.
He saw what was happening on Earth now that he had disappeared.
“No, I don’t know. I don’t know! I don’t know what to say, and I don’t know what to do! But please just send it to me… Otherwise, really, my mom might die… “
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A little of her strength drains from Riko’s fist. Even though she has sharp eyes, she has to make a complicated expression due to Delrin’s crying confession.
“… “
She opens her mouth for a moment as if thinking about what to say, but eventually lets go of Delrin without saying anything.
The two look at each other for a while without saying anything. One side has tears in her eyes, and the other side closes her eyes tightly and pulls out her hair.
“… Even though I was from Seongguk, I didn’t know anything about the world. That’s right. “I finally understand.”
Now she is worried.
Should she just let Delrin go, or should she follow through to the end and get involved somehow?
“… “
There is a reason why other wives did not follow.
Everyone realized that Delrin’s serious attitude was unusual and listened to him,
It’s also because I trust him that much now,
Also, it is because I know the personality of Rico who followed Dellin.
If something were to happen, Rico would protect Delrin at all costs, and even if she had to use her military power, she would eventually defeat him. Because she is the woman who can boldly overcome his foolish choices.
But now,
Rico is still worried.
“… “
Her inner heart is screaming.
Don’t let me go.
You know it too.
People change when they get a chance.
I know because I’ve already experienced it a lot.
He’s the same too.
They say you can go to God and solve all your problems,
Now you say you’re from another world, and you have to go see your family?
Love and this are separate issues.
You’re going to meet a guy called God.
Will he really think of you in front of him too?
They say anything can come true.
Then all you have to do is forget everything and run away.
Look at it now.
I’m already thinking about my old family.
No, maybe even that is a lie.
Does he really love you?
Wasn’t he just captured and living there?
Nevertheless, she says.
“… Okay. Then go and save your family too. It’s strange to hold on to a body that has already saved the world once. Do whatever you want.”
He then sits down on her bench and crosses her legs. Her arms rest quietly over the back of her bench, as if to show her determination to do nothing.
“Don’t worry about this matter. It’ll work out anyway. Forget about being a queen and all. First, save your mother.”
Delrin blinks as she looks at Rico like that. Her moist, moist eyes trembled.
He seems to be hesitating for a moment whether to apologize or thank you to Rico.
His answer was
“… Thank you.”
It’s really hard for Rico to understand why he’s so grateful. A man who even looks like that is extremely docile and weak.
“I’ll be right back. Really… “
Delrin reassures Rico that she will return soon. When I see him like that, I think he is really kind. A man who knows what Rico is worried about and is good at understanding other people’s feelings.
Looking at that man, Riko is recalling short fairy tales and stories she heard somewhere long ago.
“Is it okay to go alone?”
“It’ll be okay… No, because in my dream, I was alone… “
When the man who came down from the sky happened to see her bathing, he stole the clothes, took them home, and married her.
Then, as soon as the woman, relieved to have had two children, returned her angel clothes, she ran away with her children.
“… I don’t know about that, but there doesn’t seem to be anything dangerous in there. Anyway, if something happens, scream right away.”
“Oh, okay.”
And countless stories about men.
This is a story about a man who ran away from a woman who beat him every day he drank. Did you say he took all the money and valuables from the house and ran away?
“And keep your promise.”
“Yes.”
“Come back soon. Soon.”
“Yes… “
Delrin walks with difficulty to her other side.
The warrior’s wrist that has lost her light feels completely empty.
Is that man, who has lost even the ability to protect himself, really going to save the world by confronting gods and all?
That’s why Rico becomes afraid.
I feel like I’m going crazy because I’m afraid that this little companion’s light hand will be pushed away somewhere at any moment.
“… “Wait a minute.”
Rico last,
I was really trying to get her words out for the last time,
“… No. That’s enough.”
It stops again.
Her hand never touches Delrin.
A tremor in space begins right in front of Delrin. From beyond, Rico feels an alien air.
Something that surpasses human cognition.
“
Wait!”
Finally, Rico shouts. Rico says, her hands shaking as she struggles to sleep without moving. It’s closer to a crying voice, but it’s closer to a plea.
“Are you really coming soon? “It’s not a lie, right?”
Delrin nods her head slowly in response.
Rico must let Delrin go.
What closes the last chapter of this story is,
She is she is not herself
Because I already know that he is more precious and important than myself.
Because she learned that there are things that cannot be solved by force alone.
So sometimes,
Because you have to trust those you love.
Even if you are betrayed and despair.
“I’ll be waiting with the kids. Okay? Huh… ?”
Rico knows. If there really is such a thing as a hero, it’s clear that she is Delrin herself, not herself or the other wives.
The only person welcomed by the alien energy flowing from the other side is Delrin, who came from far away.
Delrin has power. The divine power that allowed her to turn back time and start over from scratch has disappeared, but she has the natural talent to crush such powers.
He makes those around him change themselves.
In all times, to all beings,
Delrin gives you one more chance.
Is Delrin himself aware of that ability?
“… After I come back, we all go to my house together. It’s a nice place. I’m sure everyone will like it. Our kids too.”
Like that, Delrin disappears into the forest.
God’s garden surrounds him.
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For a man who couldn’t even walk properly to climb a mountain path is no different from torture. Since Delrin is already exhausted from running for a long time, he sits down and nauseas several times while walking out of breath.
Since he has already swallowed everything, he doesn’t even have gastric juice for a long time to come out. All that comes out is a groan of difficulty.
Because the sky has become quite dark, it is difficult to see clearly ahead. Night in the forest always comes early.
He can’t even hear the sound of grasshoppers in his ears anymore. Just the sound of leaves touching the cloak and skin can be heard occasionally.
A mountain path that relies on moonlight.
There is only sad agony.
At the end of the decision, there is a spacious field.
A field with an open view, away from the trees that made it difficult to see ahead.
That place receives a lot of moonlight and is vivid and clear.
Delrin catches her breath and approaches the crude statue placed in the center of the field.
In the statue, which looks like a blunt rock that has been weathered by the ravages of time, there is a faint trace of the waves at the hem of the skirt that someone would have carefully carved in the past.
A statue that completely disappears above her shoulder, making it impossible to even guess the goddess’s face.
At the feet of a statue standing tall in the field with its back turned, a woman is sleeping soundly.
Delrin can guess who the woman is without even looking at her face closely.
The woman sleeping on the statue’s lap, as if pampered by her mother,
Very slowly, in a state as haggard as Delrin,
Really slowly,
Breathing so slowly that it is imperceptible.
Helen.
If you don’t look closely, you might think she’s already dead.
Her scarlet hair falls unkempt and follows the curves of her body,
Her black makeup has already spread down her cheeks and down to her heart.
