Chapter 459: The Promise (3)
To live your entire life following a fate written for you by someone else...
I was familiar with the idea .. and I hated it more than anything.
"Is this destiny something the Lord of Light set for you?"
"That’s right."
Uriel nodded. In that moment, I began to realize I wasn’t the only one whose fate was manipulated by the beings above.
In truth, it wasn’t just Uriel. Even Snow... and most of the church, who followed the Lord of Light.
The Ultras who followed the whims of demons.
The Engineer, who played with me—and so many others.
When I thought about it like that, we were no different from chess pieces on a massive board, moved however those players above wanted.
Thinking about it that way... I couldn’t help but feel suffocated.
This life was like a glass cage, trapping us all inside.
And Uriel was one of its prisoners.
"I can see you hate it..."
"Of course I do. That so-called destiny you follow blindly may very well lead you to your grave."
And now, here she was... about to march with us at the frontlines of the war.
It was a death sentence written across the sky .. And all because she was chosen by that wretched being, the so-called Lord of Light, revered and worshipped here as a god.
Uriel didn’t deserve such a fate.
Not by any means.
"Tell me..."
Without warning, Uriel grabbed my hand and asked,
"Would you be sad if I died, Frey?"
Her question was strange... childish... and cursed, to the point that I felt as if it might really happen.
"Yes... I might even cry for you, if it ever came to that."
"Really? I didn’t expect you to go that far for me."
Uriel smiled, wearing that polite, practiced smile she showed most people.
But for some reason, I saw something different in her eyes.
"Do you remember, Frey, the promise you made to me that day?"
She spoke of the countless times she had saved me before, pulling my ass out of life-or-death situations more times than I could count.
"I remember. I promised I’d do anything you asked. No matter what it was."
"I see... so you were serious about that."
For a few seconds, silence fell between us as she tightened her grip on my hand.
Something was weighing on her mind.
She wasn’t acting like herself.
She wanted to say something, but she hesitated.
And so, I gave her that final push she needed.
Gripping her hand, I stepped closer, making the moment between us look awkward to anyone watching from afar.
"Even if your god leads you down a path to your death, know this .. I won’t let it happen."
"Wherever you are in this world, I’ll rush to you. I’ll find you. And I’ll fight the entire world if I have to. So don’t hesitate. Speak your wish, and I’ll grant it ..no matter what it is."
For a moment, Uriel was surprised, showing an expression she rarely revealed to anyone. Then, she laughed softly.
"You’ve become quite the smooth talker, Frey. You’ve really grown during the time we’ve been apart..."
Lowering her head, she could no longer meet my eyes .. not when we were standing this close.
"You’ve become... a wonderful man."
Her last words came out faintly, followed directly by her request, giving me no chance to respond.
Instead, I found myself facing a request I never expected from her.
"Frey... Just once, for once in my life, I want you to come for me."
"When the time comes, I want you to save me, just once. I know I sound selfish right now... but please, promise me."
"Promise me, Frey... promise me you’ll come for me."
Finally, Uriel voiced her request ..
After saving me so many times without ever asking for anything in return,
Now was the time for me to be the one to save her.
But this request...
It wasn’t something I had ever expected from her.
And for some reason...
It didn’t feel like she was talking about the Ultras or the coming war.
She wanted me to save her... but from what?
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was right to promise her.
To make a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep.
But this was Uriel .. Someone I was willing to go to any lengths for.
"I promise. I’ll be there for you .. not just once, but as many times as it takes. So it’s okay to be a little selfish."
She deserved that much.
Even if she asked for the craziest, most impossible thing...
I would never call her selfish.
After hearing the answer she longed for, I saw happiness light up her face, if only for a moment, as she held onto me without even realizing it.
"Frey..."
With a look full of emotion I couldn’t quite define, she stared at me, tightening her grip on my hand.
But then, in that moment, something strange happened.
Something only Uriel experienced.
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Inside the royal hall where the Belgrade Summit was held, Frey and Uriel stood, holding each other’s hands.
They were so close they seemed like they were about to embrace.
Uriel was truly happy in that moment .. he had just spoken the words she had longed to hear.
But in that moment of pure emotion, where her affection had grown stronger, raising her affection points higher than ever...
Something strange happened.
From between their clasped hands, a violet spark suddenly burst forth.
It passed through Frey and struck the Saintess candidate, sending a wave of nausea through her that made her stumble. Frey immediately caught her before she fell.
Uriel couldn’t understand what she was seeing.
The Frey standing before her was still the same...
His white hair, now grown longer, and the maturing features that had begun to take shape on his face.
And that mysterious aura around him...
It was alluring to her.
That was what she saw for a fleeting moment, but in the next moment...
Reality flipped upside down, and the scene before her changed completely.
Now, she stood in the midst of blazing flames and scattered corpses.
She was still there .. with Frey.
The place was terrifying.
Destruction was the only word to describe it.
In the heart of death and despair, Uriel saw countless dead faces strewn across the battlefield.
But one particular corpse caught her attention.
And what she saw froze her in terror.
The dead girl lying there...
Was herself.
Uriel’s body, slaughtered in the most brutal way.
Backing away in fear, she tried to run, clinging to her only hope in that nightmare.
"Frey..."
She grabbed his hand once more .. but it wasn’t the warm hand from before.
It was cold.
Cold, lifeless... and cruel.
A hand stained with blood.
When she raised her eyes to him...
She realized her mistake.
This wasn’t the Frey she knew.
Wearing a strange black mask and clad in a jet-black armor, holding a sword unlike anything she had ever seen...
Frey was drenched in blood...
Her blood.
And the blood of all the dead surrounding them.
"It’s alright, Uriel,"
He spoke calmly.
Coldly.
In a voice she had never heard from him before.
"This is just a nightmare."
With a single touch, he brought her back to reality.
"Just a bad dream."
As his words echoed in her ears...
Uriel found herself back in the royal hall, staring at the Frey she loved.
But in his dark eyes...
She saw his shadow.
And instinctively, she took a step back ...
Gripped by a feeling she never thought she would have for him.
Fear.