93 – Tribute (2)

Iva caught her breath again, engraving the correct image of the world on her retinas. The smell of grass and dirt wafted through her nose, and the faint smell of blood seeped into it. Subtle tang. They vividly reminded me of the mess that had been here a few days ago.

A chill shivered down his spine as he recalled the pain lingering in that memory, a pain so long and terrible that even a moment felt like an eternity.

“Uh…”

His body trembled. When he thought of the pain he did not want to go through again, his heart naturally grew cold. I can still feel the discomfort in his arms and neck. It was a memory that was hotter than fire, so he was tormented by memories he did not want to talk about.

“Iva…!”

Stella ran to Eva, who was trembling while holding her arm. Her outstretched arms were like a mother bird holding her young with her wings open. With that arm, I hugged his body in a handful and stopped the feet that were teasing vigorously.

She was almost knocked over by her rush, but Eva didn’t fall because she wasn’t paying attention.

“Iva…”

She buried her face in the nape of her neck and rubbed it. She put her leg between his legs and crossed them. Stella filled his cold body with warmth by placing a piece of paper between her body and his body.

Her body temperature was also on the cold side, but to her now, it was the sun that was warmer than any flame.

“No, why? Did you miss me that much?”

“Yeah… I really… Missed you.”

“I didn’t mean to agree. It’s burdensome.”

Even though he was shivering, he patted Stella on the back and rejoiced at the reunion. The loose corners of his mouth signaled his joy.

“How are you…”

Lilia watched their touching reunion with displeasure. She exercised her patience by tapping her fingers on her crossed arms. She glared at Eva as best she could, but he showed no sign of paying attention to her gaze.

Gradually, the strength and speed of her fingers increased. The beat of her fingers, as quick as a woodpecker pecking at wood, told her that her patience was running out.

“Very worn out.”

As soon as the words came out, Iva patted her on the back in a different way than before, telling Stella implicitly to fall.

“Ugh… Just a little more.”

Eva laughed when she saw Stella rubbing her body even more while acting on her side.

“Yeah… No way.”

He grabbed Stella by the shoulder and pushed her away. With her slender arms exuding overwhelming muscle strength than others, Stella helplessly retreated.

“Oh why~”

“Why, why?”

Lilia looked at him and smiled contentedly.

As expected, you listen to me well. I don’t know what’s going on with that warrior candidate, but Iva is on my side.

Such pride filled her head sweetly.

He said that the past half a year has tipped the pendulum toward himself.

“Hey, you should be the guest.”

Eva raised his finger and pointed to the path where the darkness had arrived. The wind blew there. It was the wind of fallen leaves in autumn.

The seal collapsed and shook the ground. Even if you are not involved, you will be surprised by the vibration alone. Even outsiders were like that, but how many people were involved?

The person who sealed Iva, the Prophet, reached in front of him with silent steps.

At some point, he was standing right in front of Iva.

“It’s fast…”

Stella showed her surprise when a person appeared on the street where only him and herself had been present until now. She was confident in how to hide her presence and how to move quickly, but her bizarre body movements, like jumping on the ground, were nothing to imitate.

The Prophet moved closer to Eva. It was a distance where breathing could be felt relentlessly. She pressed her face in the shadows hidden by her hood to him, she was pure admiration.

“That’s great.”

Eva met her own eyes with the eyes under the hood, which made it difficult to recognize her features, and did not turn them away.

“I thought you would break it, but I never thought I’d break it in such a short period of time. It’s even a seal made with a holy spear and a holy sword…”

He looked at Eva and paused to see if she was suddenly bothered by something.

“Ah, did you wake up more easily because it was you? Did the holy sword and holy spear, which are orders of reverse heaven, contradict each other?”

“How would I know that. Didn’t you expect my actions as a prophet?”

“Yes, I can’t.”

The Prophet immediately affirmed.

“Because prophecy and prediction are different. Even if you are a prophet, you cannot prophesy everything, and you have to fill in the rest of what you couldn’t prophesy with reasoning. But since I’m a human too, there are many times when my reasoning is wrong.”

He pointed at Eva with her finger. The distance was so close that she was afraid that her fingers might inadvertently poke her in the eye.

“Like now, you’re not sure when you’ll break the seal.”

Then he brought her fingers to her temples and twirled them around.

“I’m not sure how crazy you are or how crazy you will be.”

“Ah, are you going crazy and going crazy?”

“Yes, because I saw it.”

“Oh, that’s scary.”

Eva laughed at him. To that extent, a dog or a cow can be predicted. That he is going crazy, and it’s not strange when he goes crazy. If you hang out with him for a little while, you’ll know right away.

Slices of madness always come from everyday life.

If you look at his eyes and match his words and actions a little bit, anyone can notice it right away.

But Eva enjoys betraying other people’s expectations, so he wasn’t about to go mad as easily as he is now. He looked at the Prophet crookedly, vowing to return to normal.

“…It’s burdensome.”

“Your breath bothers me too. What did you eat? You don’t even smell it.”

Eva continued to glare at him, not backing down on his fun and half his pride issues. The Prophet paid no attention to his eccentricity and went on with his words.

“I don’t know what you will become. I mean, I don’t know everything either. I’m not an omniscient, I’m a prophet. If it’s not the end of the world, I don’t know much either.”

“I see.”

As the childish yet serious snowball fight continued, a straight line was drawn between them.

Iva avoids it by casually stepping back. But the Prophet did not back down a bit. I felt a subtle sense of defeat. He closed his eyes, vowing to repay this humiliation someday.

Tiredness crept between his dry eyes.

“Do I really have to torment a child who has just broken the seal like that?”

It was Lilia who separated them. The line was drawn with a cane. There was no cluster of light at the end of her wand, but she did look sharp.

“He’s a demon that regenerates infinitely, so he shouldn’t be fatigued.”

“What bullsh*t. Everyone is tired. Don’t jump to conclusions. You said you can’t predict everything.”

“Hmm… Is the body’s regeneration and fatigue different? That’s interesting. I see. I apologize.”

He replied coolly.

“Anyway, did you prove it with this?”

“Why does this happen?”

“…Proof?”

Eva questioned questioningly. What do you mean by sudden proof? He ran his head over what had been said while he was away, predicting the meaning contained in the word proof.

“Look at Eva’s condition now. It’s normal!”

“Yeah? Did you go crazy as well?”

At that time, footsteps were heard again on the other side of the trail. This time it was with a lantern that cuts through the shadows.

“Lilia~ What’s wrong? Why aren’t you here? What was that sound like… What?”

It was Monia who came to visit because she was startled by the roar and worried about Lilia. When she saw Eva, her head stopped looking around.

“Oh my! Are you freed already? Did Mr. Prophet free you?”

She ran over to Eva, and she hugged him tightly.

In an instant, Iva, who was out of breath, patted her on the back a few times and told her to leave, but her chest only squeezed his breath and did not fall.

“That’s why I told you to be careful! Other people’s eyes aren’t nice, so what if you get into an accident like that!”

“You didn’t say that…”

“Hey! You should know how to understand ten when you talk about things!”

Still unable to push away her mother, Eva resignedly accepted her choking breath. She’s tickled compared to the pain she’s been through before.

“Oh, Mom! You’re choking!”

“Oh, did you?”

Lilia whined and only then did Monia let go of Iva. Rubbing her rough pressed nose and mouth, Eva drew the air outside her into her body again and again. She picked her breath, pu-ha-pu-ha, taking air into her lungs like a person on water.

I was worried about words such as proof and summit, but now I had to deal with Monia first.

“Let’s eat first. You must be very hungry.”

Above all, her rice is delicious, and she is perfect for replenishing her stamina that has been stolen from her. I think I should take a break from her body first.

**

“So, after I was sealed, there was talk about what to do with me, right?”

Eva put a tomato from her stew in front of her and put it into her mouth, recounting her story while she was gone.

“To deal with it or to leave it alone.”

Of course, this is a story that has come and gone.

Eva nodded her head in agreement. Rather, she would have made that fuss and if she hadn’t had that much discussion, she would have been suspicious of them all the more.

“Okay, eat this too.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Stella forked her own meat from beside her and pushed her to him. Eva, who was not good at her original specifications, this time, she passed it into her mouth without the slightest reservation.

“Very damn… My star friend, if you don’t want to eat, just say you don’t want to eat. Don’t bother leaving someone else to handle it.”

“That’s right, star. Just eat yours. I’ll take care of mine. You like meat too, don’t you?”

Eva didn’t care about her other people now. Even though she lost consciousness once and woke up, the accumulated fatigue in her body did not go away, and there were many other complicated internal conflicts that made her head dizzy.

He put the spoon down and placed her hand on her throbbing forehead. The lukewarm temperature did nothing to lower his fever. Fixing his eyes on the Prophet, he put an end to the story from earlier.

“Regarding the story… Personally, I recommend leaving it alone. If you try to deal with it, I will rebel against it.”

“Sure, I see. But let’s think about it a little more.”

And that period was quickly rejected.

“Everyone here will help you kill you. Even if you resist, the damage will be minimal and you can finish it.”

“What can I help you with?”

“This f*cking crazy bastard… Who helps kill who?”

Stella and Lilia, who were in front of and beside him, glared at him with their eyes wide open in an instant. The chilly intent to kill was so thrilling that it extinguished the bonfire. But the Prophet didn’t budge, and cast his gaze on Eva.

“I’ll help you. By the way, Mr. Iva, did you find anything unusual inside the seal? Exterior or interior, it doesn’t matter.”

“You mean Morbe?”

“Yes.”

He answered, poking the meat with a fork.

“I killed them all?”

“Aha.”

The Prophet nodded his head.

“It’s a big deal.”

“I think so too.”

Eva also nodded in affirmation of his words.

“You were still a demon of reverse and a candidate for the Demon King, running the highest risk level… To accept even the demon of chaos there.”

Once again the Prophet put his hands on his temples and whirled them around.

“Do you really want to go crazy? Spit it out quickly.”

“I want to spit too.”

Iva laughed and chewed on the meat. The meat was tough and seemed to be difficult to digest.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like