NOVEL NEXT chapter 117
117 – 9. The Way to Win Against the Monster (45) – Back then, Diarga was about to kill me.
A ghost with a terrifying beard, smiling with a kind face, laughed.
“Sieg…?”
A friend I thought I’d never see again is here.
A colleague who was betrayed because of me, had their limbs torn apart, and was hung on the gallows is here.
[It’s been a long time, Surta.]
“I, am I seeing things? Why are you here?! Sieg, you clearly…!”
[You died.]
“That’s right, you died. Ah, ah, is this my delusion? Or is it the last mercy of God before I die, showing me this illusion..?”
Surta shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe it.
Even though Sieg’s existence was being denied, he just smiled kindly.
Seeing that smile, Surta’s emotions surged. With a choked voice, Surta continued.
“I, I have something to say to you, Sieg.”
The flames were slowly dying out.
Even as he was dying, Surta mustered up all his strength to speak.
[Don’t interrupt, let me speak.]
Sieg listened to his dying friend’s words. He thought Surta was going to express his gratitude for their reunion.
Even after waiting for an incredibly long time, Sieg couldn’t predict what his friend would say.
“Did it hurt…?”
As soon as Surta finished speaking, Sieg’s movements stopped.
[…..]
“When my body was torn apart… wasn’t it agonizing? Didn’t the thought of impending death terrify you?”
Tears and blood, which seemed like they would never appear, flowed from the eyes of the King of Beasts.
“Don’t I… don’t I deserve your resentment?”
[……]
“I couldn’t trust you… I, I should have been the one to trust you.”
[Surta. Stop self-blaming and listen to my story…]
“Ah, I understand now. This isn’t divine mercy, but punishment. You couldn’t have still considered me a friend, could you…”]
As Surta continued to self-blame, a fist flew in and struck his forehead.
“Ugh!”
[You’ve become even more arrogant in the time we haven’t seen each other.]
“What’s with the sudden punch in the middle of an important conversation?! You’re still as reckless with your fists as ever!”
Surta, who had been hit on the head, let out a pained cry. Even as he was dying, the punch still hurt too much.
Sig responded with a tone that suggested he was exasperated by Surta’s behavior.
[I hit you because you were too caught up in self-blame; you needed to snap out of it.]
“It’s just…”
Surta couldn’t think of anything to say and kept his mouth shut. Sig smiled kindly and continued.
[I’ve never resented you. Instead, I’ve only felt apologetic.]
Although he had been betrayed by the Emperor, Sig had ultimately created the meeting place.
Surta shook his head.
“Don’t say that… didn’t you, Sig, risk your life to help me?”
[It’s undeniable that everything that happened was because of me.]
“…..”
Surta tried to deny Sig’s words again, but Sig was quicker.
After waiting for over a hundred years, Sig finally got to say the last words he wanted to convey to his friend.
[I’m sorry, Surta.]
Ghosts don’t cry.
They only leave behind lingering emotions.
“….”
[Didn’t you find it harder? Didn’t you suffer? Didn’t you feel lonely, hiding behind your own skin, trying to conceal yourself? Don’t you resent me?]
Surta no longer shed tears.
He simply smiled at his old friend and left behind his last words.
“I’ve never, ever resented my friend.”
Surta died.
The souls of the beast and human walked side by side, heading in different directions before disappearing.
“I have committed a sin, so I cannot go to the same place.”
The penitent Surta apologized to me one last time before returning to nothingness, having apologized to all the spirits he had killed.
Jena’s large eyes welled up with tears at the sight. Suddenly, they poured down like a spring shower.
I didn’t cry. To me, Surta wasn’t a subject of sympathy.
“Why are you crying?”
“It’s just… it’s too sad… and you brought back Grandfather’s spirit, so it’s heartbreaking…”
“It’s not because I pitied you that I brought you here. I brought you because you seemed like you’d be useful in battle.”
“Huh, huh, huh…! Senior, your lies are really bad. If you’re going to do that, you should’ve shown me your true self from the start and won me over…!”
Jena’s words pierced my heart even as she cried. I coughed awkwardly and ignored her. She’s sometimes sharp-tongued, that one.
I understood Surta’s feelings, but I didn’t sympathize with him.
If I sympathized with Surta, who would sympathize with the ones Surta had killed?
I just lit a cigarette and handed it to the others, trying to wash away my lingering emotions.
This was all that was left.
There’s a famous saying: “When fighting monsters, beware of becoming one yourself.”
“When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you.”
As the effects of the potion given by Count Adrian were wearing off, I gave myself some basic first aid and opened the final gate.
Finally, I entered the last stage, the “Monster” level.
A massive temple welcomed us, and I used the ghostly sense to search for President Vivian’s soul.
Luna also held her breath, tense, wondering if she might see her deceased sister.
Before long, the results came out.
“President Vivian’s soul cannot be detected at all.”
Our plan was already going awry.
Had she already become a saint?
Did she have no lingering emotions?
Or…
Thud.
Thud.
As we were taken aback, the monster slowly revealed its form.
Including what was behind it.
“…You are…”
The memory of the past flashed in my mind, bewildered.
It was a story from when President Vivian was still alive.
“If you enter the 13th floor, you might die.”
“Our magpie… are you worried about me? I’m already dead, so I don’t have any regrets…”
“Don’t think you can just get away with it this time either. I’ll adjust everything to your pace, but challenging the 13th floor is dangerous. Are you worried? You’re not worried now, are you?”
“Hey, why are you getting angry?”
“…I’m worried because I care. I don’t want you, or rather the President, to get hurt.”
For the first time, I expressed my true feelings without hiding anything. President Vivian also stopped her usual jokes and gently stroked my black hair with a soft hand.
“Thank you. The fact that there’s someone who worries about me like this gives me so much strength. I’m really… a blessed student council president, thanks to you, Dias.”
“…If I had known that, I would’ve prepared more thoroughly.”
Despite her gentle touch, I remained stubborn. I already knew. Vivian may be a playful person, but when it comes to her duties, she prepares more thoroughly than anyone else.
It was already too late to prepare any further.
“I’ll never die.”
“…..”
“If I could, I’d promise to never get hurt either… but that seems a bit difficult.”
Vivian responded with sincerity to Diarus’s genuine sentiment.
He finally surrendered, feeling the student council president’s hand.
“I might… still be protecting our kids even in death? Like a guardian deity!”
“More nonsense.”
But he didn’t leave out the last bit of playfulness.
Why is this memory coming to me now…
The living grieve for the dead because they can no longer see them.
The dead yearn for the living because they can no longer convey their words.
“You’re….”
She, who couldn’t die or live, had become a monster in the cold dungeon…
What would she think, seeing me alive?
Somehow, I feel a sense of unease.
Even if I’ve never seen the enemy in front of me, I instinctively know.
My whole body is covered in goosebumps.
Diarus couldn’t even breathe properly, his mind filled with the desire to deny the reality in front of him.
“Intruder…”
“Vivian..?”
“I have to protect…”
“Why are you here..?”
“I’ll endure, I’ll do it.”
The one fighting the monster,
“Don’t come, don’t come…”
Be careful not to become a monster yourself.
A new scene unfolded in Diarus’s mind, like a tangled thread.
One day, Diarus seriously asked Vivian,
“You’re from the Rootwieg family, and I’m from the Howlan family.”
“….”
“If we have to risk our lives and fight each other in the future, what will we do? Will we still joke around like we do now?”
The answer to that question was somehow both chilling and sad, leaving an unforgettable mark on his memory.
Vivian hid his usual playful expression, revealing a bitter smile.
The sorrowful, petal-like eyes, with tears welling up, seemed to fall like cherry blossom petals.
He only now remembered her words.
“Back then, Diarus will kill me.”
The enemy knight, covered in a red armor, attacked the vanguard.
At an unbelievable speed, Diarus’s abdomen was pierced, leaving him stunned.
As his body collapsed, something unknown caught his eye, hanging behind the enemy knight.
He realized what the enemy knight had been protecting all along.
It was a photo of the 76th student council.
And another frame…
“Unnie…?”
It was a childhood photo of Luna.
“I have to protect you…”
The last boss of the 13th floor was the former student council president, Ludwig Persia Vivian.
The target Diager wanted to capture.