A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 10, Chapter 269: Original Text

The purple line ripped through the fiery flames, and the figure in flames fell down on the bricks while being torn apart. Only the faint moonlight that could be seen from the gap between the clouds illuminated its appearance. The remnants of the flames that wrapped around the tip of the treasure sword disappeared as if a freezing wind took them away.

I didn’t know the true outcome and blinked my eyelids.

There was a certain feeling in my hands that I had cut down something. As expected, I felt that I killed the dead. The characters of the Hero Killer engraved on the treasure sword emerged faintly. I let out a big sigh. Somehow, I managed to almost kill him.

I returned the blade of the treasure sword that had been shaken off, and faced Roseau, who was still lying down on the ground. The state reflected in my eyes made me speechless for a moment.

From the left side to the right abdomen, there was a big wound that looked like it was bitten rather than torn. Its body was almost divided into two parts, and it did not show any movement that meshed with the heat of the flames as seen before.

Its appearance made me think that he was not safe anymore, not as a human but also not as a demon.

However, he was still a deceased person. It was because of this fact that he was not able to die. In fact, even though its body had weakened, there were still flames in the nodes of Roseau’s body. If so, then a clear end was necessary, for me and for him.

The treasure sword made a noise.

「How are you feeling? 」

I said in a casual tone. Even if I said something like, “Don’t resist and don’t move anymore”, he wouldn’t listen. I knew it well.

Roseau replied, lying down on the red bricks, leaking a barking sob. The heat of the flames rising from his body seemed to prove the existence of his strong will.

「…Surprisingly, I’m neither sorry nor happy. I’m sure it’s the same for you. You’ll feel like this when you die too.」

Roseau spoke, distorting his thin-looking lips to ridicule me. His twisting voice was that of a dead man’s. But only his eyes were greedily shining. I could see that there was still a burning heat in his chest.

Perhaps, that was the Original Text that Roseau held in his hands.

Original Text…it was a proof of its existence that demons had, which could not be called magic or curse. It was something far from the human world.

In the past, people were afraid and hated the existence of a demon that suddenly appeared in the world of humans.

After all, the demons easily overrun humans and took their lives as if they were nothing. Wisdom said that such existence could not be the same creature as us. They were devils that crawled out of the bottom of the earth and couldn’t receive the favor of God.

Then, the power that they wielded had been decided since the age of mythology. It was the power that became the roots to prove themselves. Those that were not recognized by God could not make a name for themselves in history. Those who were not loved by God could not write their names in books.

Therefore, such demons…had no choice but to write down their existence and prove such existence on their own. That’s why that power was called the Original Text.

Perhaps, the flames that Roseau wielded were burning even its heart. He ate hatred and grudge. In the end, it burned the body and the flames themselves were painted with only hatred. Was it not a wonderful and worst thing at the same time? If one held such a thing in your hands, there was no way there would be a real end.

I swung the treasure sword once again. I was at a position where the weight of the blade would twist Roseau’s skull just by swinging it down. I found that Roseau’s eyes were looking straight at me. His gaze made it look as if he would bite off my throat immediately.

I put my strength on my left arm and swung down the treasure sword while touching the sky. The sound of the wind bursting in my ears resounded.

In the middle of that moment, a voice echoed.

…It’s over. Withdraw your hands.

I stopped the movement of the treasure sword involuntarily. That voice had such a strong color, as if desperately squeezing out while enduring its pain.

—

Philos Trait lifted her body, which she couldn’t even stand up yet, and stretched out her voice as her feet touched the red bricks.

Her back teeth were clenched to the point of making a noise, and her skin was full of sweat. Clearly, her body conveyed the limits.

With a small step on the red bricks, she endured the discomfort that penetrated her whole body. Beyond her line of sight stood Roseau, whose half body was torn, and Lugis, who swung his sword down. She said, while letting a painful sigh.

「What are you doing? I told you…to withdraw your hands. 」

Sweat fell from her forehead. Although she looked like she was about to faint on the roof, her words did not remove her pride as a ruler. Her white eye was lit with the color of belief.

Lugis spoke out to her. His sword was still looking at Roseau in order to pierce him.

「I can’t do that. He has the right to be comfortable in death. He’s finally given up his obligation to stay alive.」

Although he threw his voice to Philos Trait, Lugis’ line of sight was never away from Roseau.

Even if for a moment, if something happened right now, Lugis would kill the demon in front of him immediately. The ferocity emanating from his body was incomparable to what Philos Trait had seen in the Heraldic tent. Even a wild wolf would be a little gentler.

Gradually raising her crouching position, Philos Trait put her legs on the red bricks. An unpleasant sound echoed from her spine.

Both legs, which should normally support her without difficulty, were unreliable right now. However, the ruler must stand on her own legs at such times. At least, she believed so. Her knees were feeling numb.

Philos Trait shook her lips and said.

「It’s already settled. What good will you bring by continuing to shake your blade? 」

She desperately continued to make her words heard, echoing a tone that seemed to twist from the back of her throat.

「Roseau is one of the citizens I should protect. If he has sinned, then Philos has the right to judge him. I will never allow you to kill him here.」

Those words were spit out as if they were bitten one by one. It was by no means a word play or a word that came out of the momentum of things. Undoubtedly, it was Philos Trait’s true intention and pride in itself.

For her, Roseau was an unmistakable rebel and a grudge that dragged herself out of her leadership. Because of his presence, she saw the end of hell.

She was abandoned by the citizens, struck by violence, and the last strength of her body was destroyed. The humiliation she felt while being the ruler fell on the ground and could not be wiped off.

No one disagreed with the fact that when you grudge and when you hate someone, you would surely want to kill that someone yourself. Rather, doing so should be the correct reaction of human beings.

So, Philos Trait, who Roseau called as the right person, may be somehow wrong.

「…Put down your blade, ally Lugis. His sins will be punished by me as the ruler. If you want to kill him, kill me first.」

Philos Trait echoed her voice in the moonlight. The correctness she believed was swirling in her eyes. She would never let it go. Until that time, her own life and decisions were to be wielded from her fingers.

“Surely, Roseau sinned and committed a crime. He is a rebel and a traitor. What about it?”

“He is a citizen and I am a ruler. Citizens sin because the ruler is not capable. If I could satisfy all of the citizens, this would not have happened.”

“…In other words, I couldn’t save him.”

So, whatever Roseau did, Philos Trait said that the cause ultimately lied in her. In such a body, how could she resent him? Could she blame him with all those sins?

After Philos Trait’s words, there was a moment of void. Lugis and Roseau also stopped evoking a rough breath. The next person to speak was Roseau. He emitted a voice that seemed to be slightly dry.

「Gah, ahaha! …Have you heard? It’s all about having a grudge. You are too good, woman. I’m the only person who was impatient. I couldn’t burn it.」

It was not something that contained anything serious, Roseau was just laughing. The tension in the air was lost as if the waves pulled it away.

Lugis nodded to respond to Roseau, as Philos Trait was unable to keep up with the changes that switched the mood, even her eyes were widening in a trance. On Lugis’ cheeks, there were ripples of a small smile.

「Oh really, I almost fell for you. Please forgive me, but I already have a person whom I think deeply about.」