Chapter 278: Calm Before the Storm (3)
Lancia’s eyes had sunk into a coldness deeper than ever before.
They were calm and composed—eyes that did not tremble even in the slightest.
Yet there was not the faintest trace of killing intent in the eyes that stared at me.
That was why I instinctively understood something.
The woman now standing before me with her sword drawn would not step back unless she herself was convinced.
“…….”
Professor Windy May merely glanced back and forth between me and Lancia.
Naturally, even though Lancia was pointing the tip of her sword toward us, it posed no threat to Windy May whatsoever.
Even if Lancia were in perfect condition, her chances of victory would already be infinitely slim—and now she was battered and half-destroyed.
And yet Windy May made no move against the woman pointing a sword at her.
She simply looked between the two of us and quietly mulled over the words Lancia had just spoken.
‘Seeing the future, was it.’
I had already sensed long ago that something related to time surrounded me.
Something similar to Popolotuass… something related to a realm so distant that someone like her should never have been able to touch it.
So although Windy May had been surprised by Lancia’s words just now, her surprise stemmed only from the fact that someone other than herself knew about it.
And judging from what she had heard, it seemed that my own mistake had allowed that knowledge to leak.
So she had been about to brush it off—
But the next words Lancia spoke made Windy May involuntarily frown.
“In addition, the aura circling around you. It’s faint, but that is definitely the aura of Demons.”
Lancia shook her head slightly.
“No… perhaps not just ordinary Demons… something… higher.”
“…….”
Hearing Lancia’s murmur, Windy May became certain she had not simply guessed.
‘Even I barely noticed it.’
This wasn’t a simple difference between a Mage and a Cleric.
If Berenistella truly intended to conceal her aura, there would be only a handful of people—whether in the past or the present—capable of tracing even the faintest sign of her presence.
And for some reason, she had shown an oddly obsessive concern for my safety.
That meant she would have taken even greater care than usual to hide the aura she had left around me.
Even Windy May herself had almost overlooked it.
Yet Lancia had sensed that faint sense of incongruity.
Because of that alone, Lancia had already become someone Windy May needed to be wary of.
‘No… now that I look closer, her eye….’
Windy May nodded slightly, as if something had just clicked into place.
Something similar to what I possessed was engraved within her.
‘In that case.’
What should she do now?
Since she wanted to wrap up this matter as quickly as possible, she let out a quiet sigh of impatience.
“Lian.”
“Yes, I know.”
I nodded as well.
We did not have time to be held back here.
Taking a step forward, I looked at Lancia.
“What would you like to hear?”
“The truth.”
Lancia spoke.
“Can you really see the future?”
“Something similar.”
I nodded honestly.
Now that we stood facing each other, I could clearly see it.
One of her eyes was glowing strangely.
At the same time, the Brand engraved near my collarbone throbbed in response.
There was no doubt.
A Brand was engraved within her eye.
That was probably how she had sensed the aura of Demons earlier… in other words, Berenistella’s aura.
A clumsy lie would only make things worse.
“What is the Demonic aura circling around you?”
“……I suppose it was a lie of sorts, but when you and the others were waiting earlier, I actually entered deeper into the Auction House.”
I continued calmly.
“A number of things happened there. The Man without a Head you called your enemy was there… and other people as well.”
“Why are you avoiding the question? My question remains the same. Who is the owner of the aura circling around you? And tell me who else was there.”
“I cannot tell you.”
Lancia flinched at my answer.
Looking at her, I spoke again.
“But there is at least one thing I can tell you, Senior.”
“What is it? If you’re going to give some clumsy excuse—”
I said quietly,
“Your enemy is already dead.”
“…What?”
Lancia muttered blankly.
“Dead…?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“The mask that served as his true body was shattered to pieces, and what remained of his body lost all power and became little more than an empty shell.”
As I spoke, I glanced at Professor Windy May standing beside me.
“…I apologize for bringing up Professor Windy May, but there were people present there who possessed power far greater than hers.”
“…Hmm.”
Windy May coughed awkwardly at my words.
Pretending not to notice, I turned my head back toward Lancia and spoke firmly.
“So he died. He fought against those you asked about—the owner of the aura circling around me and the others. It happened in an instant.”
“…….”
After hearing my words, Lancia simply stared at me blankly.
Was I lying to smooth over this situation?
That was what she first thought.
But her eye told her that I was speaking the truth.
No—even without her eye, she knew.
I was not lying.
“Then… I…”
Clang.
The sword in her hand slowly lowered and struck the ground.
She no longer had the strength even to lift it.
“…No. No.”
She shook her head and muttered.
It was a hollow denial that would not even echo back—spoken by someone who had lost what to believe in and what purpose to live for.
“You still haven’t answered my second question.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb. The aura circling around you… whose aura is it?”
“…….”
I remained silent.
She should have grown angry, but for some reason Lancia hurriedly spoke instead, as though clinging to a final lifeline.
“Why can’t you say it? Think about it—it’s strange! You said you were there when that… that man died instantly. Then why are you perfectly fine? Could it be that the one who killed him—the one stronger than Professor Windy May—was actually on your side?”
“…I cannot answer that either.”
“Why? You don’t want to admit you’ve allied yourself with Demons?”
“That isn’t it.”
I shook my head.
Then, silently, I offered a short prayer.
Immediately, Divine Power gathered into one of my hands and began to emit a faint glow.
“Do you remember? You once said that someone who has allied with Demons cannot use Divine Power.”
“That no longer means anything.”
Lancia trailed off.
Though her sword had fallen to the ground, it still trembled slightly in her hand.
“…Because—even a Cardinal had allied himself with Demons!”
The pain in her voice as she forced out those words was agonizing even to hear.
She took a rough breath and looked at me.
“Tell me. Quickly. Were you deceiving me too? Just like the Holy Sun Church I devoted my entire life to… just like the Cardinal who told me I could avenge my family and my village?”
Then Lancia began pouring out words nonstop, trembling with anxiety like someone making a confession.
“What should I believe now? What should I entrust my life to now?”
“I’ve seen the hidden side of the Holy Sun Church that supported me… and the enemy I vowed to kill, the one I dedicated my life to hunting, was already killed by someone else.”
“Then what about my life? My existence? What about my suffering? What about the family and villagers who died that day…?!”
As she shouted, her breath suddenly caught in her chest.
After several bouts of harsh coughing and retching, she began muttering incoherently.
“If… if the people from the Holy Sun Church in the village back then truly had faith… if faith really created strength like they said… if they had at least been able to buy enough time for people to escape—if they had been strong enough to defeat the one who burned the village that day…”
“If that had happened, the village wouldn’t have burned, the people wouldn’t have been slaughtered, and I wouldn’t have had to lie silent beneath my parents’ corpses.”
“They said God only gives trials we can overcome… but what lies at the end of this trial? My family, my friends, my village… everything is gone, and now even my purpose and faith are gone. Is this truly the reward for faith?”
“I… I…”
After murmuring endlessly, Lancia suddenly raised her head and looked at me.
“…What should I do now?”
“Why are you asking me that, Senior? No…”
I looked straight at her.
“Lancia Jintia.”
“…….”
“You didn’t come here to make a choice.”
I spoke quietly.
In my mind, memories surfaced of Berenistella—of the cold words she had once thrown at me when I, like Lancia now, had lost everything and collapsed without knowing what to do.
‘…Back then, I thought she had no blood or tears.’
Watching Lancia scream after losing her purpose, her reason for living, and her faith, I couldn’t help but see my own past reflected in her.
And so, before I even realized it…
I found myself repeating the words I had once heard—words that had allowed me to stand again.
“If you truly had no choice to make, then how did you decide to come meet me? And how did you come all the way here and clean up the scene while hiding the evidence?”
“…….”
“I’ll say it again. You didn’t come here to make a choice. And you certainly didn’t come seeking an answer from someone else.”
I looked at her.
“You’ve already made your choice. You came here only to find the reason for that choice. And perhaps you thought I might tell you that reason.”
I shook my head.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot tell you that reason.”
“…Why?”
“Have you already forgotten? Isn’t it something the Holy Sun Church always says?”
I spoke quietly.
“The answer always lies within yourself.”
“…….”
“And now we must go find that answer.”
After saying that, I stepped forward toward Lancia.
Windy May silently began walking behind me.
Then the two of us passed by Lancia as if nothing had happened.
Lancia did not stop us.
No—she couldn’t.