Chapter 239
I walked the island with Sylvia as she guided me here and there.
“That’s a curry restaurant. It’s very popular.”
The island resembled a modern Mediterranean landscape. The peaceful town with its clear blue sea would make you think that it was a replica.
-Sylvia said she killed you!
Thanks to 「The Villain’s Fate」, my death was an annual event. How many times had I died, and how many times had I revived?
“That’s the gallery.”
Sylvia pointed to a small wooden building.
“…”
“…”
After that, a sudden silence fell over us. Sylvia stopped and looked up at me. I asked.
“…Do you have anything to say?”
“The pictures I drew are there.”
“So?”
“…”
Sylvia’s cheeks puffed out.
“Aren’t you curious.”
I looked at the gallery with Vision. There were no special traps.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yeah.”
Sylvia nodded. We approached the gallery.
Stomp-
I took one step inside and quietly glanced around. There were many paintings, ranging from landscapes, portraits, still life, and abstracts.
“What do you think?”
“…”
Sylvia asked. At that moment, I was immersed in a certain old feeling. Sylvia’s paintings, that I felt with my aesthetic sense, were perfect.
“You are a good painter.”
Sylvia shrugged silently. I walked across the gallery carpet and admired a still life of a sunflower. Then a landscape painting of the Magic Tower of the distant Empire. Finally, a self-portrait with golden eyes.
“A long time ago, my dream was to be a painter.”
“You also had a dream.”
Sylvia took a step behind me.
“There is no one without a dream.”
“Dream.”
“Right.”
I turned to Sylvia. She had matured just like these pieces of art, yet it must have been only a year since she left the tower.
“It was my dream to be a painter. So, now I envy you.”
“You envy me.”
Sylvia mulled over my words. I smiled a little and looked at the canvas.
“Aesthetically and artistically, it is a perfect piece of work.”
“…”
“Intuitive brushstrokes. The sense of using color. The method of interpreting an object and expressing it on the canvas.”
I turned my head regarding Sylvia as she looked at her work again.
“I like it all very much.”
“…”
Sylvia nodded. With a glance at me, she created another canvas and easel. She spilled paint over it.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
She was painting while looking at me.
“Sylvia.”
She poked her face over the easel.
“I told you not to call my name with that mouth-“
“Let’s go back.”
“…”
Then, her hand stiffened. She cleared her throat quietly, moving the brush again.
“I can’t go back.”
“The reason is?”
“Because this island is a wave that spreads in one place.”
“…”
There was a very small clue in her words. I thought I knew what it meant.
“I wish you hadn’t come.”
Sylvia put the brush down and turned the easel back up. I examined myself on the canvas.
“So you are the center of the Voice.”
* * *
The wave concept is a phenomenon in which vibration spreads around one place in matter or space. Thus, the Voice was both a phenomenon and a concept at the same time. But the Voice had more ambition than that. It wanted to become a substance, choosing Sylvia as a medium. Sylvia gladly accepted.
In that way, Sylvia became the center of the Voice.
Clap- ! Clap, clap-!
Lights flickered on inside the street lamps on the side of the road. People gathered around them with bright smiles and applause.
“The technological level is still very low. It’s amazing to even have street lights at all.”
Sylvia explained their behavior. Since it hadn’t been long since this island had been born, the residents were happy even with that.
“There must be people who originally lived on the continent.”
“They are busy. They intend to return with the power of the demons that are still on this island.”
“Is it a treasure hunt?”
“Yeah. Magic book. Characteristic book, Undead Secret. Necromancer’s robe. So on, there are plenty all over the island. Are you interested?”
I shook my head.
“I was interested, but I concluded there is no point in getting stronger by borrowing the power of a demon.”
“…”
Sylvia nodded. Then she looked up at me.
“Are you hungry?”
I met her golden eyes holding no emotion.
“It doesn’t sound bad.”
There was a faint change in her eyes. She trembled slightly, as if a bit happy.
“Yeah. Follow me.”
She turned around, leading me down the dark road.
“Sylvia.”
For a moment, she stopped. She looked at me with squinted eyes.
“It’s already the third time. I won’t tolerate it four times.”
“Sylvia.”
“…”
Deculein wasn’t someone who would stop just because someone told him not to do it. Whether it was a command or a threat, it wouldn’t work for Deculein.
“I don’t care whether you tolerate it or not.”
I stepped up to Sylvia.
“Rather, don’t tolerate it.”
Sylvia was still expressionless.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
We didn’t say a word to each other, but Sylvia’s lips twisted as if to laugh with disdain.
“No demon will come out of me.”
At that, I frowned slightly.
“Are you saying you swallowed the Voice, Sylvia?”
“…”
Sylvia shook, but she said nothing more.
“That’s amazing.”
Sylvia confessed in the gallery that she was the center of the Voice. That was why she couldn’t leave this island. She mustn’t leave. The Voice would spread across the continent with every step she took. However, Sylvia had hinted at one more thing.
She had devoured the demon.
“Right. I didn’t lose. I won.”
Sylvia wasn’t a Yukline; she had no purpose in destroying demons. However, Iliade was by no means a simple-minded family. Sylvia accepted the Voice into her body, but she didn’t bow down to it. Rather, she swallowed it up.
“You have nothing to do here.”
Sylvia spoke. I nodded. There was no dark energy on this island. In other words, maintaining this island and reviving the dead were all Sylvia’s power.
“The echo of the continent will soon disappear. I will make that happen.”
“…”
We arrived at the family-style diner. As soon as the door opened, a waitress showed us around.
“Bison veal steak. Glass of red wine.”
“Yes, Sylvia.”
Sylvia ordered as she sat down. She pointed to the employee entering the kitchen.
“She was originally an adventurer who lived on the continent. She settled here.”
“Is that so? She has no ambition.”
“I will not drag in outsiders.”
Sylvia was negotiating. I turned my gaze to her.
“I’ll make sure nothing else happens on this island.”
Suddenly, Epherene’s voice reached my ears.
-Sylvia said she killed you!
Somehow, I felt I knew why.
“So leave me alone like this.”
The food arrived quickly. I could tell how tender the steak was just by cutting into it. However, Sylvia’s knife skill was clumsy. No, that body lacked strength.
I swapped her plate for mine.
“…”
Sylvia looked at me with a slightly surprised look. I cut into the steak again as I spoke.
“This is efficient. If I cut and change plates instead, you can be prepared in case only my food contains poison.”
Sylvia frowned. It was a pretty drastic change in expression.
“Are you crazy? There’s no poison.”
Sylvia ate the steak as if to show me. I also picked up a piece.
“Also, to answer your question.”
I took a bite.
“I can’t do that.”
“…”
“I will surely find a way to annihilate the Voice and take you back to the continent.”
“…No.”
Sylvia shook her head. I interrupted her.
“Sierra is here. Is it because of her?”
“…”
Sylvia’s hand trembled.
“Then let me ask.”
As if she knew what I was going to say, her breath became heavy. She stared at me with eyes full of resentment.
“If I kill her-“
Bang-!
Sylvia banged on the table and stood. Her eyes were already filled with tears.
“…What’s the problem. There are no demons here anymore.”
“No. The demon is still in your body. I will find a way to dismantle him, which will destroy the island and the dead. The death of the Voice and Sierra are naturally part of the process.”
“…”
“Sylvia.”
I looked into her eyes.
“Don’t run away from reality.”
“…”
“Sierra is already dead.”
“You killed her.”
Suddenly, I felt compassion for her. It was true. I killed Sierra, and I had no intention of defending that fact. Sylvia, clenching her teeth, forced the words out.
“You killed her.”
“…Right.”
“It’s your fault. You-“
“Then, continue to live, hating me.”
I interrupted her.
“Why did you run away?”
These were Kim Woojin’s feelings. In her now, I could see Kim Woojin. She was also trying to run away like me back then.
“…”
Her breath trembled. There was sorrow in those deep eyes. The employee closed the kitchen door.
“Didn’t you want to run away?”
“…”
Run away. I pondered for a moment. She was asking Deculein, not Kim Woojin. However, in the end, it was a question for both.
“The person you love died because of Iliade.”
She already knew that. There was no way that this smart girl wouldn’t have known.
“Escape is the easiest way. I know that too.”
I answered. It was something I had never told anyone, but this girl had a similar loss.
“I ran away for a bit.”
It wasn’t long; it wasn’t short. I slept a lot every day. I forced myself to dream of escaping reality.
“However, in the end, I accepted it. I accepted that she was dead.”
“…”
Now, there was someone in front of me who wanted to run away a little longer than me.
“I just watched. And then buried it in my heart.”
I took one step closer to her. However, I didn’t intend to persuade her through conversation.
“Perhaps it was because of me that the demon brought Yuli back here.”
Sylvia trembled.
“Maybe it’s forcing me to make a choice. Just like you.”
I laughed. Then, I shook my head and sneered.
“But Sylvia. I don’t run away. Dozens or even hundreds of times, I will kill my love in memory.”
Sylvia took a breath.
“That’s why I’m going to kill Sierra here.”
She took a step back with fear plain on her face.
“Hold that grudge and live your whole life hating me.”
No.
Her small voice faded away, and I grabbed her by the shoulder.
“So don’t run away.”
“…”
“Listen carefully.”
I shared the very natural truth that I learned while living as Deculein and as Kim Woojin.
“There is no paradise in any world where you are only happy.”