Chapter: 356
“Grrr…!”
“Damn it! We have injured people here! Is there anyone to switch out?!”
“Switching out? Is this a good time for that? Get over here! I’ll support you, so grit your teeth and hold on…!!”
Chaos.
The fight of those remaining behind to send the two to Scarlett and Yoon Si-woo could be summed up in one word.
Even though Scarlett and Yoon Si-woo had dealt with a number of strong enemies, there were still plenty left, and there were simply too few heroes to handle all of them.
Injured and dead bodies piled up everywhere, and even the wounded couldn’t drop their weapons as the situation was precarious.
The heroes persevered with just the faith that the two they sent would defeat the witch.
And just when the fierce and desperate battle continued, it ended abruptly.
“What, what is this…?!”
“The enemies suddenly…?”
The numerous enemies seemed to disperse and vanish before their eyes like a mirage.
The heroes, confused by the sudden disappearance of their attackers, wore dumbfounded expressions.
But that confusion didn’t last long.
“C-could it be…!!”
They realized the reason for the sudden absence of enemies.
“We… we won!!!”
“Wooaahhh!!!”
A roar of victory erupted from those who realized they had won.
“Damn it, hold on just a little longer. You idiot.”
“Cough, Joseph… open your eyes. We won…”
Many heroes lost their lives during the battle, so there were plenty mourning their deaths.
“Well, we won anyway! I was really wondering how this would go!”
“Right! We can mourn the fallen because we survived. So let’s celebrate now!”
However, since this was a victory in a battle crucial for the survival of humanity, most heroes were more in a celebratory mood rather than mournful.
As the battlefield brightened, a shooting star passed overhead.
“Scarlett! Yoon Si-woo!”
It was the starlight created by Sylvia’s flying spell, who had been supporting people from the rear to suppress the witch’s recovery.
She had to take on that role to confront the witch, but that meant she was forced to stay at the back.
Seeing the enemies vanish, Sylvia released the sanctuary and mounted her flying spell.
To check on the safety of her two friends who were fiercely battling the witch out of sight.
After hearing that the two had gone to fight the witch, Sylvia had been anxiously worried and muttering to herself to suppress her growing anxiety.
“It’ll be fine; it’s not like we lost, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
So she thought, forgetting strange thoughts and instead contemplating what to compliment the two who had accomplished something great.
Flying above the battlefield, she headed to the place where the two were set to confront the witch.
“…Huh?”
However, upon arriving by their side, Sylvia had to swallow her breath at the scene before her.
“…Scarlett?”
Why?
The atmosphere of the battlefield was so bright thanks to the victory they accomplished, yet why was the atmosphere where the two were so suffocatingly dark?
There was no need to voice those concerns aloud.
Sylvia had seen it, after all.
“It’s my fault… because of me, Scarlett, you’re like this…”
A boy weeping sorrowfully,
“…It’s alright, I’m fine.”
The girl who had burned away too much for humanity’s victory.
*
Whirrrrrr.
Flames ignited.
From the blade embedded in the heart of the enemy, the Witch of Gluttony.
“Hah, hah…”
It was clearly a decisive blow.
However, having seen her terrifying regenerative abilities, Yoon Si-woo couldn’t let his guard down until the very end.
Just as a moment of silence fell,
“I’m… not hungry anymore…”
Thud.
With a faint mumble of liberation, the witch’s body swayed and crumbled to the ground.
This time, the witch had completely stopped moving.
…We really won, huh.
“Phew…”
Only then did Yoon Si-woo relax and release his grip on the sword he had been holding tightly.
And just as he was about to check on Scarlett’s condition more than anything else,
“We… won, right…?”
A small voice came from behind.
Though it sounded extremely exhausted, it was still the very familiar voice of Scarlett.
Hearing that, Yoon Si-woo let out a relieved sigh inwardly and replied to Scarlett.
“…Yeah, we won. You really worked hard, Scarlett.”
Ever since he realized Scarlett’s abilities, a horrible image had crossed his mind for a moment.
What if the fight ended and Scarlett didn’t wake up like she did the previous day?
That was why, just the fact that such a worst-case scenario hadn’t happened made Yoon Si-woo grateful.
His anger towards Scarlett for concealing the side effects of her abilities was eased just from that relief.
At that moment, he heard Scarlett mumbling again.
“The witch’s energy isn’t sensed anymore, so it looks like that’s the case… I see, we did it. Haha, what a relief…”
In that mumbling, Yoon Si-woo felt something was off.
It felt like the conversation was going awry.
Why wasn’t there any response from Scarlett to his words of encouragement for her hard work?
Moreover, there was one more unusual aspect.
Why hadn’t their helper, Mei, spoken a single word since earlier?
Only then did Yoon Si-woo turn around,
He glanced back.
The helper who assisted them, Mei,
She was staring at him with her mouth covered like someone who had witnessed something shocking.
No, her gaze wasn’t fixed on him.
It was on someone clinging to his back.
“…Scarlett?”
Feeling uneasy, Yoon Si-woo called out to the one on his back.
But, there was no reply coming back from that call.
With trembling hands, he forcibly removed the girl’s arms that were tightly wrapped around his neck.
Slowly, he turned around to see the girl.
“……!!!”
And the sight of the girl filled Yoon Si-woo’s eyes, unleashing a silent scream from his lips.
Yoon Si-woo remembered.
The girl, who was as brilliant as a flame.
The girl who always burned fiercely, covered head to toe in red.
“Scarlett…!!”
However, that appearance was nowhere to be found now.
When flames burn away, ash remains.
So what remained for the girl was gray.
The color she lost, her trademark and personal color, was now replaced by the ash-colored hue left behind when fire burned out.
The girl, who looked as if she would be swept away by the wind at any moment, looked terribly fragile.
“You, what the hell is this…!!”
So Yoon Si-woo, shocked, clutched Scarlett and shouted.
What on earth happened?
Even knowing it was the side effect of using her abilities.
He couldn’t help but ask, given how pitiful that sight was.
But even his outcry drew no response from Scarlett.
As if his voice wasn’t registering in her ears.
And that wasn’t all.
Yoon Si-woo noticed the girl’s eyes had lost their color.
He saw her staring blankly not at him, but past him.
Seeing that, Yoon Si-woo bit his lips and cried out inwardly.
…No, please tell me that’s not true.
But the words that escaped the girl’s lips were far from his expectations.
“…The person holding me right now, it’s you, Yoon Si-woo, right?”
That only confirmed that her state was far worse than he had imagined.
And so, Yoon Si-woo finally unleashed,
“Ah… Aaaah…!!!”
Completely, he crumbled.
“…Yoon Si-woo, I told you before that I had something to confess to you. It was about my abilities. I was planning to tell you once it was all over. But I guess it was revealed midway. Haha…”
She swung the sword.
She knew that every swing would bring her problems.
But she swung the sword nonetheless.
To protect herself from the Witch of Gluttony, she thought that was the only way.
“You must have noticed it when you saw my leg earlier, but there are side effects to my abilities… Because of that, I can’t really hear right now. And I can’t see… either.”
But this was the result.
She could no longer hear sounds.
She couldn’t see anything.
A person needed at least one of those senses intact to survive alone.
She could no longer live in this world by her own strength.
Who was it that swung the sword until she became like this?
Who had wielded the sword to protect her, only to rely on her strength because he couldn’t handle things alone?
If only I had been stronger, if only I had been stronger enough not to need to rely on her.
Scarlett wouldn’t have ended up like this….
Such sorrow and self-blame flowed endlessly from Yoon Si-woo’s eyes.
“…I may have ended up in a pitiful state, but still. I have no regrets. Thanks to this ability, I was able to protect people. So don’t feel bad because of me… Wait, are you crying?”
Maybe it was because she couldn’t see.
Scared, while cautiously feeling Yoon Si-woo’s face with her hands, Scarlett finally realized he was crying when her fingers brushed against the tears streaming down.
Scarlett momentarily panicked but soon managed a weak smile and slowly pulled Yoon Si-woo into an embrace.
“Hey… I was going to warn you not to feel guilty about this. Yoon Si-woo, it’s not your fault, and I’m fine. So stop crying.”
“No, it’s not! I’m sorry… I’m sorry… because of me… because of you, Scarlett…”
Always, when she said she was fine, it stung Yoon Si-woo terribly.
So, clutching Scarlett and whispering endless apologies into her ear, he broke down in tears.
Knowing that those words couldn’t reach her anymore.
