If you had ever seen a bird’s wing break mid-flight, watching it plummet helplessly to the ground, you could predict the inevitable and pitiable fate of that small creature.
Because you knew the fall would be fatal.
In the same way, foresight (豫知) wasn’t something extraordinary or mystical. Even a child could naturally achieve a measure of foresight if they had enough experience and perception.
And you, someone well-versed in combat.
While you might not have been able to predict whether a stage performance on a sunny day would go off without a hitch—
The crimson-black mace hurtling toward you was another matter entirely. It shimmered with mana compressed to its absolute limit, taking on a tangible density that seemed almost solid.
You knew that such compressed mana could effortlessly reduce a building to rubble while retaining energy to spare. That this impact would be far beyond what human flesh could withstand.
And you knew that only seconds remained until it would collide.
There were ways to block the attack, yes—but doing so would be no different from severing your own final lifeline.
Your hard-earned knowledge made one thing clear: death was inevitable.The story’s end was approaching. Death stood at your doorstep, poised to rip you from every better moment you’d ever known and hurl you into an abyss of merciless nothingness.
In that void, there was only a single period.
Fear crept in. The finality of that singular mark—the punctuation of life—was laden with infinite unknowns. What lay beyond death? Would everything truly end like this⋯⋯?
We didn’t know. No one did. Death remained a mystery, so no one would be able to foresee beyond it.
What you knew was your life, and only your life. The limits of your foresight extended no further than the continuation of that life.
And so, in the face of death, all you could think of was life⋯⋯
Before the curtain falls—
We shall speak of your timid, cowardly existence.
===============================================================
You are a strong person.
Perhaps you consider yourself weak. But that isn’t true. For the ability to push yourself to the brink, to keep going even as you wear yourself thin, is a rare and formidable strength.
To honor your mother’s will, you worked tirelessly—studying, wielding your sword, and dedicating yourself to filling the ‘Wall of Glory.’ Each of these efforts speaks to your resilience.
Because you endured.
How could someone who bore such grueling burdens be called weak or fragile?
And yet.
You never used that strength for yourself. You gave up thinking about your future. You refused to stop and confront your exhaustion, choosing instead to keep running, always running⋯⋯ you are a coward.
In that endless avoidance, you revealed your cowardice to everyone else.
You’ve had countless opportunities—hundreds, maybe thousands of chances—to live for yourself.
Your family did not chain you; you could have explored the world freely and found your own answers. You had ample chances to pursue a life that was truly your own, starting with the smallest moments of happiness.
Didn’t you even have a noble lord who cared deeply for you?
And yet, by obsessively ignoring your own needs and desires, you’ve brought yourself to this point—a moment teetering on the precipice of finality.
Even now, aren’t you staring at that fateful period?
But life isn’t merely a descent from peak to abyss. That’s not where your strength was meant to be spent.
What you should have seen was not the period itself, but the space just to the left of it—the sentence that led you here, and the span between that sentence and its inevitable end. That space is your Wall of Glory , the living testament to your story, and the promise of a future yet to be written.
Cicel Yurensto.
Even if you lived by your family’s will, was your life until now truly meaningless?
‘No.’
Has death ever terrified you as much as life? Has life ever frightened you as much as death?
‘Yes.’
Does the thought of living for the future while nurturing your dreams appeal to you?
‘Yes.’
Did you have fun performing with Karen?
‘Yes.’
──Then, do you know this story?
That some branches, when cut and planted in the soil, can take root and grow anew. That at any time, a branch can transform into a sapling.
You’ve only been staring at the leaves hanging at the edge of the branch. But if you shifted your gaze just slightly to the side, even for a moment—
You’d see that the branch was already a sapling waiting to flourish.
⋯⋯So, Cicel, do you still want to see the curtain fall?
No, Karen.
In the space between the sentence and the period, I want to write countless things—things I can’t even imagine yet.
I will sing, I will dance, even if doubt lingers. And if possible, I hope your name appears often in that paragraph.
I’m still afraid. It’s still difficult to be brave, and I can’t help but question whether I’m truly capable. Please, forgive my weakness. But…
Just as you said, Karen, what if this choice before me isn’t the last leaf, but the first sapling?
I…
===============================================================
Cicel fixed her gaze on the descending mace, her emotions surging like a tidal wave.
Emotion moved faster than thought or object. In a world that seemed frozen, her Metamorphosis began to bloom.
Wooooong ──.
She was awakening, painting her soul ⋯⋯.
Though her emotions remained tinged with gray, streaks of blue emerged—hues that had never appeared before. Her soul, startled by the sudden torrent of unfamiliar feelings, trembled. Yet, there was an absence of the pain she once endured.
You must become a knight worthy of the family.
When the curse shackled her soul…
Will you sing together with me?
Dreams unbound it.
As these interwoven emotions gripped and released her, the soul pulsed rhythmically, like a beating heart. Mana spilled from its surface, cascading over her body like a vibrant paint.
What manifested was 『Heaviness』.
At that very moment, Faceless’s mace came crashing down, aimed directly at her.
Tch.
BOOOOOOM──!!
Concentric shockwaves rippled outward, shaking the earth. The walls of the abandoned warehouse groaned and buckled before it began to collapse here and there. The ground at the point of impact was obliterated, as though struck by artillery fire. Rocks and debris that had been blasted skyward rained down moments later.
Thuddddd.
Amid the chaos, Faceless muttered under her breath.
“⋯⋯Hyper-acceleration? According to my intel, she doesn’t have an ability like that. Never heard of her having artifacts related to it either. Besides, I couldn’t even detect any signs of activation.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
The mace hadn’t hit Sissel.
Only the broken blade of the Zweihänder lay broken at the center of the destruction.
Cicel now stood at the far end of the warehouse. Supporting Karen on her feet, she quickly guided her toward the exit. Her movement had been so fast, it wouldn’t have been wrong to call it teleportation.
She turned back briefly, her eyes meeting Faceless’s as she pointed the halved Zweihänder at her.
“It’s not just heaviness anymore. It’s heaviness… with direction.”
Metamorphosis(羽化), 『Grasp of Life(生挾擧)』.
The overwhelming power that had once chipped away at her soul was gone. In its place, a more tempered ability emerged—one that allowed her to manipulate gravity and apply it to herself.
That instantaneous burst of high-speed movement was achieved as though an invisible hand had lifted and propelled her.
Kaang! Rooooll.
Faceless kicked the broken blade of the Zweihänder and sneered.
“Why did you need to do that⋯⋯ If you had manifested your original gravity blade, you could’ve erased at least half of this body.”
“Because I’ve found my path.”
“Aha, I see! You’ve gotten weaker, haven’t you? So weak that you thought you couldn’t block my attacks. So⋯⋯ you decided to move your body instead. You’re truly sick in the head, aren’t you?”
“⋯⋯It’s no surprise you wouldn’t understand.”
She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again.
Metamorphosis mutation—what a strange sensation it was to experience firsthand. A special phenomenon she had only heard rumors of, as it was incredibly rare.
She knew she could no longer perform as she once had. Yet she felt no regret. While her former abilities had elevated Cicel Yurensto’s reputation, they had ultimately been a double-edged sword, eating away at her very life.
And abandoning that power had been the right choice.
Now, with this newly awakened Metamorphosis⋯⋯ she would defeat the criminal before her. That was all that mattered.
Seupat.
Cicel’s form flickered.
A shallow gash appeared on Faceless’s cheek, hot blood trickling down. The speed was dizzying.
Faceless wiped the blood from her quickly dampening cheek with a look of disdain.
“⋯⋯This feels disgusting.”
Seupat, paat.
With every fleeting afterimage Cicel left behind, the wounds on Faceless increased. A shin was sliced, strands of hair fell away, and yet Faceless spun her mace calmly, thinking.
She couldn’t control it.
If Cicel could perfectly control her speed and direction, she would have aimed for the head first. There was no reason to run around like this, just leaving scratches in non-vital areas.
Instead, this was a desperate tactic—a bullet-like charge with her broken Zweihänder thrust ahead, hoping to hit a vital point by chance.
Seuseuck, seut.
Faceless tightened her grip on the mace. Though the weapon was also half-bent from the previous strike, it could still manage one more full swing. Ignoring the minor wounds accumulating on her body, she bided her time.
Mana surged, crimson-black energy coiling around the bent mace like a living entity.
The opportunity would come. The invisible Lantern was still swaying, signaling that misfortune would eventually strike Cicel. All Faceless needed was for her opponent to charge at the perfect angle, aligning with the arc of her swing⋯⋯.
I’ll send her head soaring, let it become a star in the sky.
Swak-!
This body was just a puppet anyway. It was fine even if its entire skin got shredded. An ear was severed, fingers sliced off, and even her left arm was taken cleanly at the elbow. The precision of Cicel’s strikes was sharpening
But the precision of the Lantern of Foresight also increased. Although the Lantern’s progress was significantly hindered by Cicel’s unexpected Metamorphosis mutation⋯⋯ it could still be built up again.
“⋯⋯Come.”
The afterimages were becoming easier to track. Cicel’s charging speed was consistent. If timed correctly, a counterstrike could be delivered without fail.
Come on. Hurry. Just a little longer.
And then—
Sway.
The invisible lantern shifted.
The trajectory aligned perfectly with the arc of her mace. Faceless gathered all her strength and unleashed a devastating swing, the crimson-black mana flaring violently.
“Annoying bug, die now!!”
Craaaack ──!!
The strike, powerful enough to scatter wooden debris and shake the ground with its aftershock── didn’t reach again. Missed by a mere fist’s breadth.
Because Cicel had stopped mid-air, as if nailed in place.
“⋯⋯Now I know how to stop as well. Unfortunate for you.”
“Father, why? Didn’t the lantern activate──”
“Die and disappear. Forever-!”
Seuack.
The sound of the slash was remarkably quiet thanks to refined skill.
“Eu, gaaack⋯⋯!”
The broken Zweihänder sliced diagonally through Faceless’s puppet, its edge biting deep. From that wound, the force of 『Heaviness』 manifested, crushing the body inward with unrelenting gravity.
Even with its diminished strength, the power was fatal—irreversible, incapable of regeneration. In mere seconds, the puppet’s body would collapse entirely, reduced to little more than a mass of flesh.
The dying puppet grinned wickedly.
Although she was mad because she was unable to achieve what she wanted, she still had many lives left.
“⋯⋯See you, next. Time, then.”
Wishing for better luck next time, Faceless disconnected with the puppet.
Cicel ended the fight by hurling the broken Zweihänder straight at the puppet’s face.
===============================================================
She was, alive.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
The final leaf had not fallen. She had saved Karen, and she had survived. Cicel stood motionless, overwhelmed by a fortune that felt almost unreal.
For a brief moment, it felt like Karen was talking to her.
No⋯⋯ more than that—it felt as if Karen had whispered directly to her heart. And because of that, she had managed to lift the fatal penalty tied to her Metamorphosis.
It was nothing short of a miracle. Could the Goddess have been watching over her?
Shoving debris aside with her foot, Cicel slowly made her way out of the ruined warehouse. In the distance, the arena for the Tournament of 『Courage』 came into view.
Since she had missed the finals, Mysterious Wizard X must have won by logic.
Multiple participation in the tournament wasn’t allowed. Cicel’s opportunity had passed. Her plan to become the Hero and discover a way to extend her life⋯⋯ was over. But it was fine. She wouldn’t die immediately, and the Metamorphosis mutation had stopped the deterioration.
Even though the deep scars already etched onto her soul couldn’t be undone⋯⋯
It was fine. Even if her life remained short, she could be grateful for surviving today. She could focus on what lay ahead. There was still plenty of space left before the period.
She would sing, make friends, and live her life.
A life so full that the emptiness of the period wouldn’t even be worth glancing at.
“⋯⋯Uh, Ms. Cicel? What are you doing here?”
Her resolve was interrupted by a sudden voice. She turned to see Crazy Wizard standing there.
She had received some help from him—mediating her clash with the Champion from the North and offering various support during the tournament.
Black hair and red eyes. If he was the same benefactor who had tracked Karen’s location, she would be even more grateful, but he didn’t feel like the same person at all.
“Ah, Wizard⋯⋯ sir. We met in the carriage with the Prince. By any chance, do you have a twin brother or⋯⋯ no, have you seen a red-haired girl around?”
“I don’t think this is the time to ask such things. Judging by your state, you’ve been through some trouble, but⋯⋯ everyone’s waiting for you right now.”
“Pardon?”
“The finals. X is throwing a tantrum, demanding you be brought over, and everything’s still delayed. My cooperation with the Prince hinges on this—our plan only works if you show up and take your place⋯⋯ so, aren’t you going to hurry?”
Cicel’s eyes widened.
If the tournament finals hadn’t concluded yet…
Then perhaps the chance to heal her soul’s wounds still remained within her grasp.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”
Metamorphosis (羽化), 『Grasp of Life(生挾擧)』⋯⋯!!
With a powerful whoosh , the knight shot into the sky. Perhaps due to hurry, her trajectory was quite crude. For the onlookers, at times she zigzagged erratically and other times drew dizzying straight lines. But⋯⋯ she was still fast.
She would make it. Somehow.
Watching her leave while forming a makeshift visor with his hand, Mima turned away and leisurely left.
It was time to prepare the epilogue.
***
https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken