Chapter 78: Thank You For Everything Being As Expected
Chapter 78: Thank You For Everything Being As Expected
Cough
She coughed up blood when she regained consciousness.
Despite trying to move, her fallen body only trembled, showing no sign of getting up.
It was an inevitable outcome. No matter how much she braced herself for death for her mission, she had always avoided dangers targeting her through her power to foresee the future.
Even if she was prepared to endure pain, her body being instinctively paralyzed by that pain was not something that could be controlled by will alone.
Is it over already?
Step by step, the frenzied demon entered the collapsed building.
Even at this moment, in those gleaming eyes, there was no trace of mercy towards her.
Try resisting a bit more. Ending it like this after confidently picking a fight is just too boring!
Keuk!
When she needed to spit out the rising blood in her airway, the demon grasped her.
Her body convulsed in agony, but that wasnt enough to escape the demons power.
Even being a demi-god, apart from her prophetic ability, she was merely human, and the demon, though weak, awakened her power according to desire.
As there was a great inherent difference, a direct contest of strength would essentially determine the winner.
No, not yet The opponent is being careless.
Yet, Airi did not give up.
All demons were arrogant, and hence, they tended to be complacent against those they perceived as weaker.
As a race that found pleasure in mocking and trampling such beings, there was no immediate danger of being killed.
Just a little longer, if I can stall
Airi barely moved her eyes while being gripped by the neck.
The crystal ball rolling nearby had been losing its light since it fell from her hand.
It wasnt that the power had vanished.
Rather, the power being emitted outward was being redirected inward, preparing to activate a mechanism set up earlier.
So now what to do? If I kill you like this, Hyo-sung will be sad
She needed to buy time until that device was activated and take advantage of the opponents carelessness.
You just give up on Hyo-sung.
To her, who believed she must endure anything for this.
The demon, believing herself to be in a superior position, began to speak in a whisper, lifting her neck.
Give up
Because in the end, you cant make Hyo-sung happy.
She could break her neck at any time.
Yet, Merilyn loosened the grip on her throat, even managing to relax the constriction.
As a fortune teller, you must have realized long ago that theres no hope in this world. So why do you keep watching him walk into danger?
After all, to this being, there was no longer any chance of defeating her.
Since she already knew her prophecy didnt work on her, she was confident she could fend her off if she attacked again.
Do you really intend to raise him as a savior? In a world filled with dangers greater than me, against someone weaker than you?
But she couldnt look kindly on someone who, with such limited power, would put her love in danger.
He was the only treasure in this world, and a treasure should be used valuably while it remains.
For a world destined to fall apart, he was too precious an existence for her to let be swayed.
Leaving his side.
Feeling the clash of such values, Airi, with difficulty, twisted the wrist of the hand holding her throat and spoke.
Is that all you want?
Yes, if you leave his side and promise never to appear again, Ill spare your life. I dont want to see him sad either
Pfft!
Her words were cut off by a faint laugh.
It was incomprehensible why she would show mockery instead of begging for her life when she was on the brink of death.
Whats so funny?
Isnt it laughable? Believing that once Im gone, he will completely be yours Its so pitifully delusional.
Despite her body being broken and in peril, Airi did not stop feigning mockery.
What did I say again?
The frenzied demon, taking her words at face value, intended to dismiss them lightly.
Of course, even though Ive fallen for him, there must be many other women aiming for him. But its fine. I can fend off whoever comes. In the end, Ill be the one standing by his side
The first one was me.
It was a terrible misconception.
What was being discussed here was not about readiness but about an outcome that had already been determined.
The last one may be you But his first was me. The future can be changed but the past cannot.
What?
Whatever you do with him in the future It will be compared to what Ive already shared with him, like the dinner we had today.
The hand gripping her throat trembled at her words.
It meant that her words had struck a sensitive chord.
Foreseeing her future actions, Airi, with a confident smile, continued to provoke her.
You must have thought, when dining with Hyo-sung, did he do this with her? Did they do something more than this?
Dont provoke me. Even if you say that, the outcome will be!!
Yes, as the winner, I should be prepared to have him all to myself.
Airi Haven, reversing the grip on her wrist, boldly presented her face as if daring her to tighten her hold.
In her eyes, which shook with madness, a stronger determination was evident.
The fact that someone you cherish thinks of someone else before you and compares all the memories he will share with you to those he shared with someone he loved before
Even if she believed her feelings were pure, the one she loves would not be able to return those feelings with the same purity.
What happened had already happened.
That wouldnt change, no matter what happened in the future.
Can you easily overlook that? Is your love so light that it can disregard and move past such things?
Such overlooked facts would become a wedge at this moment, causing cracks in her heart.
The perfect wedge to provoke the despicable woman who dared to aim at the one she loves.
Light? What do you know to say that?
Having already betrayed your master once
Her words stung like a bee, cutting off her breath abruptly.
In that brief silence, confident Airi, foreseeing a drastic change in the future, delivered her final decisive blow.
Yes, already. You betrayed him. The person you hold dearest.
Shut up.
In the end, even you, who long for human love, cant defy your nature. A woman who discards men like old shoes, light in her loyalties!!
Kaboom!!!
Her body was thrown with full force.
Even though she could have easily twisted and broken her neck, she couldnt bring herself to do it.
Shut your mouth!! What do you know to talk like that?!!
Even though she knew logically that it was true, she felt too enraged to do it.
Do you even know what it feels like to prolong a life thats better off dead?! To chase something hopeless and then realize it was a question with no answer from the start?! Do you understand that?!
Even now, such pain has surfaced, and she seeks to soothe it with her obsession for him.
For a demon living in madness, desire was the driving force of life, and unfulfilled desire was a curse.
To lightly define the feelings for the one who freed her from the yoke of such desire was a severe insult to herself, who considered it salvation.
Crack!
Thus, she felt she should tear apart the one who was throwing insults right there.
As she took a step to do so, the crystal ball rolling beside her began to glow faintly.
Yes, I dont know everything. A beng like you, beyond all expectations Probably doesnt exist more than once in this world.
The moment had come for the device she had set up in advance to activate.
As a sense of crisis overwhelmed her, she, looking at her opponent reflected in the crystal ball, spoke earnestly.
Still, Im thankful that at least one thing went as expected.
Uncharacteristically for a demon, your feelings for him are genuine.
Boom!!
The crystal ball shattered into pieces from the final explosion of magic power.
But this attack was not merely an explosion.
The moment the magic power exploded and spread, the scattered crystal shards instantly solidified the surroundings like ice, a technique combining binding.
Why exactly?
As she exerted her strength in the binding, the crystalline constraints soon shattered with a crash.
Why are you interfering with me?
Despite being pierced with crystal fragments and tattered, the demon did not cease to track the blood of the opponent.
Because being restrained would prolong it more. If left alone, she would surely devise something to interfere with her.
Just when I thought I could finally achieve what I desired, why?
All she wanted was to be happy.
She had given up on being rewarded for her efforts thus far, dreaming of the new future she had seized as compensation.
Was it really wrong to harbor such modest hope?
Was it because she had harbored hope, both against her master and him, that she was in such agony?
Here.
The place she arrived at, driven by such obsession, was a ruined house.
The place where she had laid his body on the abandoned bed.
Hyo-sung
He was gone.
Taking advantage of her restraint, she took him and left this place first.
Hyo-sung, Hyo-sung!!
As soon as she realized this, the little sanity she had maintained evaporated, and she focused solely on tracking his trace.
Repeating over and over that she would forsake everything and seize him back, reaffirming the moment she would take him into her hands again.
Hyo-sung, please
At the end of it, resentment towards the world arose, mingling with her sobbing that was beginning to echo through the streets.
Why had she met him in such a broken world?
Having risked her life to settle old ties and return, why had someone filled her vacancy in that brief moment?
Dont abandon me, I, I
If that hadnt happened, she could have been happier.
Having lived in the void until now, she could have been content with the simple times spent with him, satisfied for a lifetime.
Thud!
The steps taken to seize such simplicity abruptly stopped, and then her gaze turned upward.
Something was falling from the sky.
A massive object, with speed and a mass incomparable to anything before, was hurtling towards her.
From the beginning
As she anticipated it crashing right into the center of the path she stood on, a woman appeared on the opposite side of the street.
Her walk was unsteady, but in her arms, she held the man she so desperately longed for.
I had prepared this even before the fight began.
Everything was going as planned.
What would be dropped on this street at this moment was the last resort she had set up to evade pursuit aimed at her, in case she succeeded in rescuing him.
The meteorite dropped from the highest reach of her magic.
Though small, if it hit the ground, it would devastate the impact area.
This time, its better not to take it head-on. If you get hit, even you wont come out unscathed
With that destructive strike falling here, and amidst the ensuing chaos, she planned to escape the scene.
Even if she couldnt handle it, the surroundings would collapse, blocking the path and buying her time to escape.
She might come after her again, but that too could be carefully planned and blocked later on.
Dont go.
But as if to shatter that expectation
The demon, despite her tattered steps, was trying to move towards the opponent.
You, what on earth?!
No, please
Are you insane? If you come here, you will!
There was no hesitation in her steps.
Even though the meteorite would fall within seconds and devastate this area.
That person, I cant
Not even considering the future.
Driven by the impulse to prevent the being she so longed for from leaving her sight, her reason was submerged.
Kabooom!!!!
But whether by intention or mistake, fate was predetermined.
The meteorite, breaking through the atmosphere, struck down, causing not only a crater but also collapsing nearby buildings, pouring over them.