◈ 701. [STAGE 40] C’est La Vie
I was standing in a pure white space without anything.
I muttered calmly, as it was a pattern I had now become accustomed to.
“Is this your mental world?”
When I turned my head to look, I was able to find it right away.
The exact center of this pure white space.
A place where only one throne sits alone.
《….》
The Night Bringer was dying, lying in human form with black energy like ink scattered on the floor right in front of the throne.
I walked towards it, making the sound of footsteps.
The Night Bringer, who was constantly spitting out black blood from the corner of his mouth, looked at me.
The light in his gold was already fading.
《Player…》
Immediately after, a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
《No, should I call you Dawn Bringer now…》
“….”
《Persistent, strong, and above all… never giving up until you get tired of it… You are exactly like your great ancestor… .》
Night Bringer closed his eyes tightly and muttered in a much more relaxed voice.
“I lost.”
“You seem surprisingly cool in admitting it.”
Since I had overturned death so many times and attacked again, I was going to do it even if it meant complaining that I couldn’t accept this result.
Unexpectedly, the Night Bringer calmly accepted his defeat.
“We fought with every means we had, and in the end, I was the one who fell. I have no choice but to admit it.》
After taking a hard breath, Night Bringer raised his head and looked at the sky.
“I am not angry at being defeated by you. What I am angry about is…》
I followed his gaze and looked at the sky.
《It’s just that this world’s repeated tragedies could not ruin their game of destruction.》
Saaaaa….
The white ceiling in his mental world became transparent and the sky of the real world was reflected.
《It is over there. Now that you have achieved divinity, you will see it.》
The Night Bringer growled, glaring at the sky.
《I mean, face the malice of those who enjoy watching my death and your futile struggle…》
In the dazzling morning sunlight, in the veil of darkness that is now completely dispersing.
“…!”
It was clearly visible.
Countless ‘eyes’ opened in the darkness.
The now familiar giant eyes of another world were looking down at us.
《Looking down at the destruction of the world, observing tragedy and feeling joy in the process…》
Night Bringer recited each word with seething hatred.
《The constellation’s tragic admirer who observes foreign media – ‘The Observer’.》
I called after that name.
“Observer….”
《Yes. They are the ones who turned this land into a world on a chessboard, enjoying the sight of us being fooled by fate… the subjects of the game of destruction.》 In the disappearing darkness, countless gigantic eyes gaze desperately
. He was pouring out his eyes and staring at the Night Bringer.
“Look, you who have been newly qualified to sit on the throne. 》
The Night Bringer seemed to have decided to persuade me instead of accepting defeat.
“Look at this world that has become nothing more than entertainment! Are you saying that you are okay with a world where you become a clown and are ridiculed?》
“….”
《If this is a world where you are ridiculed by others for eternity regardless of your will, wouldn’t it be better to disappear?》
Night Bringer The logic was consistent.
From the moment I first met him until now, or perhaps even from the time he was born in that distant mythical era, until now… he seemed to have been running toward one goal.
“In the end, we are just actors dancing on a stage they have set up according to the story they have made. “What a vain, vain, vain life is this?”
“….”
“I wanted to rebel against this fate. That’s why I wanted to close this world. So Dawn Bringer. It is not too late if you have realized the truth of this world.》
It is better to live as a toy of foreign media in this world that is nothing but a playground for foreign media.
He would rather destroy the world with his own hands and end this play of destruction.
A being who came this far with the consistent will to commit suicide if he is to be ridiculed.
That was the Night Bringer.
《You can bring an end to this world full of contradictions, Dawn Bringer…!》 “
….”
But I….
looked up at the sky again.
I faced the eyes that were desperately looking in this direction.
Is it because he gained divinity and was qualified to rise to the same level as them? For some reason, I felt like I knew a little bit about those foreign media.
There was no doubt that they were filled with pure malice, like the eyes of a child looking down at a swarm of ants –
but why?
Those eyes felt familiar to me.
‘ah.’
I realized it right away.
I had no choice but to get used to it.
The way those foreign media see me in this world is…. Because
it is essentially no different from the way viewers felt when ‘Classics Fanatic’ was broadcasting.
‘It is full of malice, but…’
There is also a hint of good intention mixed in.
I could definitely feel it.
Somehow it made me laugh. I smiled without realizing it.
And said.
“What’s wrong with being a pastime?”
《…What?》
Night Bringer wondered. I continued.
“What’s wrong with being a clown and being ridiculed?”
《What are you talking about now…》
My main personality is composed of that of a classics enthusiast.
The streamer who loved games.
The clown who had fun and danced.
“If I’m not ashamed of my life, what’s the point of being a clown or a plaything?”
If someone is happy to entertain me, if they laugh at my clown play.
That’s not bad either.
《… What do you mean…?》
Night Bringer stammered, as if he truly did not understand.
I straightened my shoulders and looked straight up at the sky.
“I don’t care if my whole life is just an empty story shouted by a nameless actor on stage.”
Even if life is nothing more than a funny dance routine performed by a nameless clown on stage.
Okay.
“Because that too is definitely a life.”
No matter what life I live.
My life is beautiful. Because there was someone who recognized it from the beginning.
“Just because you were born as a clown who is ridiculed on stage means that your life is in vain. “Don’t judge your life to be unhappy.”
I looked down from the sky and looked at the Night Bringer.
“I am the only one who can define my life.”
Place your hand on your heart and feel the warm flame pulsating within it.
He said it with confidence.
“And this is beautiful.”
Anger appeared on the dazed Night Bringer’s face.
《You guy…! Dawn Bringer! “So you’re saying you agree with their play on destruction?!”
“That’s not true.”
I shook my head.
“This play of destruction, which destroys the world and only sees tragedy, is flawed from the very beginning.”
《Then why…》
“But your decision to destroy the stage just because the play is wrong is even more wrong.”
I grinned.
“You are too magnanimous, Night Bringer.”
The Night Bringer stuttered, as if he couldn’t follow the context for a moment due to the sudden sound.
《What what…?》
“I’m not on the stage…”
I raised one hand and stopped it in the air.
I clenched my fists tightly.
“We will destroy the system itself, the game of destruction.”
《…?!》
Night Bringer’s golden eyes widened in astonishment. I continued.
“Throughout this universe, the great will that causes all these tragedies to repeat themselves. “I will rebel.”
I ran my fingertips over the leather necklace around my neck… the necklace I received after clearing Stage 0.
[Traitor’s Necklace]
– The necklace of a ‘player’ who rebels against fate.
Why is the player a traitor to fate?
I truly understand what that means now.
Both I and the Night Bringer were traitors.
We were all players who wanted to defy the fate of destruction.
But he and I have different directions.
He tried to destroy this world, which was the stage, in order to ruin the Destruction Game.
I destroy the game of destruction itself.
“So even though we are the same actors and the same traitorous players… you could say that I am a little more magnanimous than you.”
The Night Bringer, who was looking at me blankly with his mouth wide open, stammered.
《How on earth… are you going to destroy Destruction Yugi? “How on earth would you rebel against this universe?”
“It’s a shame I can’t show it to you, Night Bringer.”
Night Bringer’s shoulders shook at my words.
The tips of his hands and feet turned into black powder and began to disappear, and the speed rapidly increased.
The Night Bringer’s end is near.
《We were able to talk for a while before we died due to the resonance between the dragon species, but… it seems to be over now.》
The Night Bringer, who calmly accepted his own death, looked at me with trembling eyes.
《Dawn Bringer. If you truly intend to commit such a great treason. If you want to establish a new dynasty… if you want to walk the path to becoming a true prince.》
He placed his hand on his chest, took out a black flame, and handed it to me.
《Take my flame too.》
“….”
《If your will is true, my blood and my soul… will also help you.》
I looked into the flame given by the Night Bringer for a moment.
He is my enemy.
He murdered my people, destroyed my city, and tried to destroy the world.
I will never forgive him.
But…
I stretched my hand forward and slowly accepted his flame.
It was because I knew that I needed this spark on my future path. I took his spark as a trophy.
The black dragon’s flame was not absorbed into my body, but instead revolved around my body… and combined with the ‘traitor’s necklace’ worn around my neck.
“Let me say one last thing.”
After absorbing his essence like this.
I exhaled dryly.
“Go to hell, evil dragon.”
Night Bringer burst into laughter and muttered bitterly.
《There is no place I can go other than there anyway.》
“….”
《Even though you might hate me, you talked to me until the end… Thank you.》
“There is no need to be thankful.”
I whispered to him coldly… and with a faint hint of pity.
“For me to remain human. And… to get even more clues to conquer this world. “I was just talking to you.”
Night Bringer burst into laughter again.
“I don’t have any regrets in life, but it’s a pity that I can’t watch the path of rebellion you take until the end.”
He muttered with a dreamy, blank face, as most of his body had already turned into black particles.
《Anyway, it’s a strange thing…》
His dark golden eyes slowly closed.
《The woman who said she would follow me soon is nowhere to be seen, even after I was revived and died again…》
Even the last piece of the Night Bringer turned into black powder and disappeared.
In front of the lonely throne in the empty white space, the scepter he had been carrying had fallen.
The throne of the Lake Kingdom… The scepter that symbolized the rights of the king of nightmares.
After picking it up, I slowly raised my head.
The veil of darkness in the sky had now almost completely disappeared. In the last remaining piece of the tent, ‘eyes’ were seen for the last time.
“Look right there.”
Grinning, gritting your teeth and lifting your lips.
“Because I will show you the greatest treason in the universe.”
After saying that, I turned my back on the throne.
And I took steps to escape this lonely space.
***
I was just trying to escape the mental world.
At the edge of this white space that was beginning to collapse… someone was standing.
“….”
I slowly walked towards him.
His entire body was broken into pieces like broken ceramics, with his empty insides clearly visible. White ash was flying all over his body.
A face that is cracked, broken, and full of holes still has an inexplicable, relaxed smile on its face…
a man who has been completely burned white.
I called his name.
“…Bonhater.”
Then the real Ash laughed.
I had a hunch.
It was a time of separation.
