Chapter 117:  If I Embrace You Now (1)

 

Breaking the silence of the festival, I addressed the members.

 

“Everyone, get ready. We have an urgent request.”

 

Realizing the seriousness in my unsmiling face, everyone understood this was no joke.

 

After a brief silence, all the members nodded and began to prepare quickly. It didn’t take them long.

 

They were all elite members, each with exceptional expertise.

 

Only Baran came rushing to me to ask about the situation.

 

“Vice-captain, what’s happening?”

 

“...”

 

In a moment of hesitation, Gale spoke up from beside me.

 

“We need to help the hero party. They’re in trouble. Just need to go to the Jackson family’s territory nearby... the sooner, the better.”

 

Hearing the mention of the hero party, some members slowed their movements.

 

They looked back and forth between me and Gale.

 

Baran, representing the members’ confusion, then asked,

 

“The hero party?”

 

“...”

 

I nodded briefly.

 

“You mean we’re going to assist such high-profile figures?”

 

I nodded again.

 

“Yes. But no one knows what the enemy is or what we’ll be up against. So, everyone must be prepared.”

 

“Vice-captain, didn’t you discuss this with the Captain-”

 

“-I already got a similar message from Hyung. He’s vaguely aware of the issue too.”

 

Hearing this, Baran finally nodded.

 

“Well, your word is as good as the Captain’s.”

 

Baran then turned to start his preparations.

 

A moment passed.

 

The members finish their preparations for departure.

 

Gale, after sending a few letters, borrows a horse from the village chief and approaches us.

 

Also, Arwin brought Ner, who had been staying somewhere in the village.

 

Confusion filled Ner’s expression.

 

“Berg...how is this possible...”

 

Ner, dressed as finely as Arwin, revealed her anticipation for the festival.

 

This only intensifies my feelings of guilt and a similar sense of remorse.

 

...Perhaps even more so because of the uncertain future that lies ahead.

 

“...We have to go, Ner.”

 

I said,

 

“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t go.”

 

If the hero party was in a situation where they could receive help from others... I probably wouldn’t have gone.

 

At this moment, when the seemingly strong relationships with my wives were starting to creak and groan from within...

 

...the intrusion of someone else could be fatal.

 

The feelings I intended to give might not be given at all.

 

There couldn’t be a more inappropriate time than now.

 

But there was no real choice.

 

Arwin’s acquaintance, Sylphrien, had sent an urgent letter, which Gale had received.

 

If we didn’t go, the outcome was uncertain.

 

“I’ll explain on the way. Let’s mount the horses.”

 

I briefly considered leaving my wives here... but that just didn’t seem right.

 

The first problem was their safety, and the second was the issue of waiting.

 

We couldn’t know how long it would take for us to return.

 

In that case, it was better for the two to wait within the Jackson family’s territory.

 

Besides, after the matter was resolved, Adam Hyung would also come to Jackson village.

 

It was out of the question to leave my wives in this village in such circumstances.

 

...Yet, undoubtedly, while heading to help the hero party, the two would start to fall behind.

 

Then, it would be clear that we had to move ahead, leaving behind Burns or another Head Hunter unit member for escort.

 

“...”

 

Ner looked at me and then nodded.

 

In the midst of confusion, she still followed me.

 

I felt both sorry and grateful for her response.

 

I then mounted my horse as well.

 

The dwarf villagers who came out to watch us murmured at the sight.

 

But I had no time to pay attention to them.

 

Having made the decision, the matter was urgent.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

At those words, Baran shouted,

 

“Depart!”

 

And with explosive speed, we began heading towards the Jackson family’s territory.

 

I could see Arwin and Ner struggling to keep up with our pace by my side.

 

Though their struggle made me uneasy, I couldn’t afford to slow down.

 

This was a moment I had vaguely anticipated would come someday.

 

For some reason, I was certain that a day like this would arrive, even without any solid basis.

 

But I never imagined it would be today, or unfold in this way.

 

I thought there might come a time when I would only see her from afar.

 

Wasn’t she the one who said she would live well as a saint?

 

I thought I would reminisce about distant memories while watching her, now a hero, amidst cheering crowds.

 

But things turned out this way.

 

Here I was, rushing to her again.

 

My heart was beating faster than ever before.

 

A mix of anxiety and indescribable feelings was stirring in my chest.

 

What would I see?

 

What would we talk about? Or, would we even be able to have a conversation?

 

How much had she changed? What would she say upon seeing me, now a mercenary?

 

Endless questions swirled inside me.

 

-Rumble...

 

To make matters worse, the sky started to darken.

 

-Drip... Drip-drip...

 

Soon, it even began to rain.

 

...It was a day where nothing seemed right.

 

****

 

The battle had stretched on for two days since yesterday.

 

Not a single moment of rest was available.

 

The relentless rain, starting at some point, kept chilling everyone’s bodies.

 

One by one, soldiers fell in that endless battle.

 

The saintess tried her best to bolster their strength, but even she was wearing thin.

 

Amidst this unending tension between life and death, they endured for what felt like an eternity.

 

They neither ate nor drank. Sleep was impossible. They couldn’t escape the cold.

 

For far too long, they had to stay alert amidst the sudden and critical developments.

 

But now, even that seemed to be drawing to a close.

 

“Cough!”

 

Acran staggered as he collided with a monster charging out of the blind spot.

 

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t falter like this.

 

In the midst of the endless onslaught of monsters, one monster flashed a menacing glare.

 

It leaped at the faltering Acran, baring its teeth.

 

-Crunch!

 

It would have been a fatal blow if not for Felix’s intervention.

 

“Acran, snap out of it!”

 

Felix’s worry came out as anger.

 

Acran swayed and shook his head.

 

He seemed to be fighting his own battle with exhaustion and fierce combat.

 

Even Acran, chosen by the god of war, was reduced to this state.

 

The state of the other soldiers went without saying.

 

Every thud, a dull sound hitting the earth, signified another life departing from their side.

 

It was the last struggle of the soldiers trying to survive.

 

Too exhausted to even scream, they fell silently, like rotting trees.

 

Their quiet deaths were felt in the tightening encirclement.

 

The saintess had to witness it all from the heart of the battlefield.

 

Hope was slowly fading away.

 

There was no sign of escape.

 

“...”

 

Was this the end?

 

Was this how... emptily, she was to die?

 

Never to meet Berg again?

 

Never to touch his face one more time?

 

She has to apologize... but would she even be unable to do that?

 

“No... it can’t be...”

 

The saintess clasped her hands together in prayer.

 

Yet, the bright light that had radiated from her was losing its color.

 

Her consciousness flickered in and out, and each time she realized how shaky her awareness was, her heart was startled.

 

Having used the power of miracles too much, she felt the strain accumulating in her body.

 

-Crash... Thud!

 

At that moment, a monster broke through the encirclement and charged.

 

“Acran!”

 

Felix, engaged with several monsters, shouted upon seeing it, but Acran too seemed to have no leeway.

 

It was a split second that no one seemed able to react to.

 

The monster lunged straight at the saintess, who was kneeling in prayer.

 

She closed her eyes tightly in fear,

 

“...Bell...!”

 

Unwittingly, she called out a name, almost like a cry.

 

-Thud!

 

But with the brutal sound that followed, an arrow lodged itself in the monster’s forehead.

 

“Are you alright, Saintess-nim?”

 

Sylphrien appeared beside her and asked.

 

The saintess nodded, calming her startled heart.

 

“Yes... yes...”

 

But honestly... she wasn’t alright.

 

Especially since calling out Berg’s name, her heart felt like it was crumbling.

 

She missed him so much.

 

The man who always protected her.

 

From their first meeting, he had always been that way.

 

He saved her when she was about to be sold as a prostitute, protected her from adults after her parents passed away, and stood up for her countless times in the orphanage against the strong. Berg had always been there for her.

 

Without him by her side, she felt terrified.

 

So terribly lonely.

 

If only she could see his face just once more... she felt she could pay any price.

 

There were so many memories she regretted.

 

With each thud, she realized another soldier had fallen.

 

The sound began to come more frequently.

 

The encirclement began to rapidly close in.

 

“...Ah...”

 

Sylphrien, at her side, let out a quiet sigh as if sensing the end.

 

An elf, who cherishes life, was facing their final moments.

 

Prin, who had been aiding them, stumbled and fell.

 

Felix appeared in an instant, shielding the fallen Prin.

 

“Cough...!”

 

But even Felix was starting to falter now.

 

Without his comrades by his side, his strength seemed to ebb.

 

Acran’s body was accumulating more wounds.

 

Yet, the number of monsters swarming them showed no signs of decreasing.

 

Maybe she too, should prepare for death.

 

Perhaps it was a relief. Maybe her long-held choice had been right after all.

 

If this was how she was to die... it was a blessing she had coldly pushed Berg away.

 

If they were still in love, he would have been devastated by her death.

 

He would have probably followed her.

 

So, maybe in that regard, it was fortunate.

 

But one regret remained.

 

No, several regrets lingered.

 

There was so much she hadn’t done with Berg.

 

Like watching the waterfall in the Blackwood territory.

 

Or seeing the World Tree in the Celebrien territory.

 

Or the vows they were to exchange in marriage.

 

Or the passionate nights of love they never shared.

 

All of it, now things she had to give up...

 

“...”

 

A single tear rolled down.

 

“...I don’t... want this...”

 

She whispered.

 

It was too unfair not to experience such happiness with Berg.

 

She had lived this way, dreaming of such a future.

 

She had sacrificed herself to live worry-free with him.

 

“I don’t want this... I don’t want it...!”

 

As if complaining to the absent Berg, she continued to speak.

 

Then, she took a deep breath and looked up at the sky.

 

Whispering to the sky amidst the rain,

 

“...Hea... I resent you, Hea...!”

 

She said, holding back her tears.

 

“Just once... it would have been okay to give me happiness...”

 

Her hands weren’t clasped in prayer, but rather gathered as if begging for mercy.

 

Rubbing her hands together, she wished,

 

“...I tried... Just once... Please...”

 

But the sky remained silent, offering no answer.

 

“Cough!!”

 

“Acran!”

 

Sylphrien shot an arrow at a monster pushing Acran back.

 

Hearing the sounds of her comrades dying, the saintess roughly wiped her tears.

 

-Swish, swish.

 

Gathering strength in her hands, she poured all her might.

 

Drawing out all the remaining strength in her body, she performed a miracle.

 

The light brightened again.

 

Prin, who had fallen, staggered to his feet, energized by her power.

 

“...Hic... Everyone... gather your strength...!”

 

The saintess, who had lost all hope for herself, called out.

 

Soldiers thought to be dead rose like corpses at her words.

 

Acran shook off the monster, and Felix pushed them back again.

 

Just when a glimmer of hope seemed to return, another monster lunged through the widened gap in the encirclement.

 

This time, even Sylphrien had no time to react.

 

-Thump!

 

A large dog-like monster struck the saintess.

 

“Ah...!”

 

-Splash!

 

“Saintess-nim!”

 

Having exhausted all her strength performing the miracle, the saintess collapsed into a mud puddle.

 

Sylphrien hunted down the monster too late... the saintess had no more strength left.

 

She tried to move her arms, but they wouldn’t respond.

 

She tried to lift her head out of the mud puddle, but couldn’t.

 

The miracle she had been performing again lost its light.

 

The soldiers, who had regained strength, were pushed back once more.

 

The end felt real.

 

Lying down like this was more comfortable than standing up.

 

At the same time, the saintess’ ears began to dull.

 

Her head throbbed.

 

The sounds of the fierce battle gradually left her.

 

Her vision narrowed.

 

Only the sound of her breathing grew louder.

 

Losing consciousness... she tried to utter her last words.

 

And the words she wanted to say were just one.

 

The name she could never forget.

 

“...”

 

...But her lips wouldn’t open.

 

She couldn’t whisper that name.

 

She lacked even the strength to do that.

 

-.....Woo-woo-woo......Woooooo...

 

In her fading consciousness, a sound akin to a trumpet’s call resonated.

 

With that sound, her body, which had been growing cold, began to regain warmth.

 

Blinking her eyes open once again, she saw the encircling monsters had been pushed back, opening up the space around them.

 

But no monster poured through the gap.

 

Instead... someone approached with a confident stride, slowly walking towards them.

 

In the dim, rainy world, a man shone like a solitary light.

 

‘...Ah.’

 

Was this a dream?

 

Or was she seeing illusions?

 

Or had she met death?

 

Could the trumpet sound she heard earlier have been a celestial instrument?

 

A man who should not be there was walking towards her.

 

The man she had longed to see was approaching with a smile.

 

He had always appeared in moments of danger.

 

He opened his arms, inviting her to embrace him as he always did.

 

‘...Bell.’

 

She whispered that sweet and bitter name to herself...

 

With a smile on her lips, and tears in her eyes.

 

At the same time, her consciousness began to fade.

 

Perhaps it was a blessing.

 

That she couldn’t move.

 

If she could, she would have run to that illusion and embraced it.

 

And that would surely have been problematic.

 

‘...I.’

 

There was only one reason.

 

The Demon King was still alive, but she had become far too weak.

 

‘...If I embrace you now...’

 

Sien closed her eyes.

 

She couldn’t keep them open.

 

His image fades away.

 

‘...I don’t think I can go on.’

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

 

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