The Greatest Trace (1)
Justia looked at Vlad and Jean lying on the bed and gently stroked their foreheads.
The feeling of damp cold sweat on your fingertips.
Although the bed was soft, both of their expressions were frowning, and Vlad in particular was twisting his body intermittently.
It was as if he was having a bad nightmare.
“…….”
Justia brushed Vlad’s blond hair as he tossed and turned, and then took one last look at the armor he was wearing.
A phrase he personally wrote for his young squire when the Northern Orthodox Church was still in San Logino.
Even then, Vlad climbed up the tallest church steeple for the children of the village.
And Justia was one of the people who watched it closely.
“Let’s begin.”
“But Justia…”
Looking at Vlad in pain, Justia nodded as if she had strengthened her resolve.
Seeing her like that, the priest next to her opened his mouth as if he was worried, but it could not be helped now.
Even if I fall into deep darkness, I have no choice but to believe that He is with me.
“I’m going in. Please get ready.”
“……All right.”
It was a room full of priests just a moment ago, but now only a few followers of Justia remain.
However, those who remained until the end began reciting prayers as best they could to complete the task.
-He knows when I sit down and when I rise up, and even from afar he will reveal his thoughts for me.
Justia quietly closed her eyes as she listened to the gentle prayer sounding in her ears.
Justia slowly sank into Jean’s dream through their joined hands.
Although she could not become a shining star like Gunther, she decided to move closer and become a brightly shining milestone.
“…….”
As Justia leaves reality and descends into pitch-black darkness, she becomes smaller and weaker.
However, her platinum blonde hair, which shines brighter in the dark, has still not lost its shine.
When she finally broke through the dark clouds and came down to the world of dreams, she was already a free bird.
※※※※
-Get out of here.
Andrea in the dream said, blocking the shaking door with her whole body.
His fingertips, constantly shaking due to the rough vibration, were pointing at the bookshelf right in front of him.
“This isn’t a door?”
[How many times do I have to say this, you idiot…]
Looking at Vlad with his eyes wide open, Quihano beat his chest in frustration.
Even though he said that physical appearances had no meaning, it seemed that Vlad had not yet become accustomed to the world of dreams.
-Take out the Bible. There will be a path in it.
The world of dreams is made up of symbols and meanings.
Just as young Jean’s last refuge was Andrea’s room, the way to escape this crumbling place is not through visible doors and roads, but through a meaning held in one’s heart.
Cluck rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrva
” “……Hi!”
Vlad quickly pulled out the Bible from the bookshelf and stopped being surprised.
The old Bible I was holding in my hand started turning the pages on its own as if it were alive.
Boom boom boom!
-Read it. There will be a path in it.
As the door began to creak, Vlad hurriedly looked at the open page.
There were numerous phrases written in dense letters, but one sentence written in bold, as if telling him to read it, was clearly caught in Vlad’s field of vision.
“It is the light in the darkness that guides the path of the blind. Will it be a song?”
Kugugoogung –
As soon as Vlad stuttered and read the Bible verse, the bookshelf on the wall began to slowly roll up like a piece of paper.
Surprised, Vlad took a step back and looked at the place, which looked like the Milky Way floating above the clouds.
“This is…”
[That’s the exit. [Let’s get out!]
It’s the only way to get out of the dream.
A vague path, like pure white sand sprinkled on the black sea, lay in front of Vlad.
It was as narrow and shallow as it looked, so it was a fragile road that felt like it would break apart with a single breath.
[Hurry!]
“……!”
Vlad, who hastily lifted Jean and knocked him over at Quihano’s urging, looked back one last time.
In Jean’s dream, which is gradually falling apart, Andrea nods as if telling him to go away.
What protected the young deacon’s world until the end was a teaching passed down by his teacher.
“thank you!”
Vlad, hugging Jean closely, followed Quijano and ran out toward the path Andrea had shown him.
The sky above my head was dark, but the starlight that touched my toes was as soft as the sand on a white beach.
Rumbling!
As soon as the group left, Andrea’s room completely collapsed, as if it had been held together forcibly.
It wasn’t just Andrea’s room.
“The church is collapsing!”
[So run!]
The church in Varna shatters like a broken glass bottle.
Behind the collapsing rubble, the trees of Yeokcheon, whose roots had grown fiercely, began to howl.
Kaaaaaa-!
“where are you! where are you going!”
[Didn’t Gunther or something say follow the starlight?]
It is light and song that guide the blind man’s path.
However, although the path I was walking on was bright, the sky I looked up at was completely black with no starlight.
[Over there!]
“…Huh?”
Behind is a howling tree.
The walking path is a pure white sand road scattered by the wind.
The two of them lost their bearings there for a moment and were confused, but soon a light began to come down through the dark clouds.
“bird?”
What Günter told him to follow was starlight, but what Vlad could see now was a small bird.
A canary coming through the darkness with a platinum-haired flag raised.
“……Justia.”
The visible form was a bird, but the being contained was a familiar figure.
Vlad, who recognized the being flying towards him, bit his lip tightly.
The image of a small bird struggling to fly through the darkness looked exactly like the image in the picture that the World Tree priestess had given us.
※※※※
“Holy shit…”
Günther’s eyes were looking towards the sky above the fog.
Even now, there was a man struggling under his feet, shedding black tears, but the only thing that mattered to him now was the unknown woman who had blocked the knights.
Phew!
A man who ends his writhing movements and then slackens.
However, he was desperately calling someone’s name until the last moment when he stopped crying.
-My son… My son Noah.
The name he was desperately calling was the name of the child the man had lost.
The tragedy that no one would recognize eventually stopped with the man’s gesture.
“Who the hell are you?”
“A person without blood or tears. “Aren’t you sad?”
“This is ridiculous. “Wasn’t this all a tragedy of your own making?”
The Holy Knights around Gunther quickly formed a square and began thrusting their swords at the woman floating in the air.
“…….”
They were knights who had cut down all kinds of evil beings until now, but now, facing an unknown woman, they could not hide their nervous appearance.
Her appearance, seen through God’s world, was because she was a being so distorted that it was difficult to even dare to speak out loud.
“But I would have been happy in the end. “Because you will realize what is truly precious.”
“I won’t ask twice.”
A world of God that you can see even without having to close your eyes.
In front of the paladin with both eyes open, there was only an evil being who could not even step on the arms of a god.
“I, Günter, the second leader of the Northern Orthodox Church, will hold you responsible for all tragedies here.”
Before I knew it, Gunther’s cut thumb was filled with his blood.
However, his blood drops, which did not fall even though they had formed, were slowly being drawn into the air as he drew them.
“Saint Loginus, glorious commander of the heavenly army and next to God…”
We are sinners who cannot do anything in the face of this evil being, so please inflict cruel wounds on us. .
“Please open a scar (stigma) that will never end until you destroy the enemy.”
“Ouch!”
“Hmph!”
When the drops of Günther’s blood became a magic trick, cruel wounds began to form on the foreheads of the Paladins around him.
The scars that looked as if they had been drawn with a blade clarified the spirits of the knights, who had been intimidated, and made the aura flowing through the sword they were holding even brighter.
“Knights, do not be afraid. “God is always with us.”
Holy knights who have the blessing of always being with them engraved on their foreheads as stigmata.
Confirming the existence of God once again along with the intense pain they felt, they began to slowly take steps towards the fog.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen this technique. “The man in front of me was a noble knight.”
“Today I will burn you and end this curse.”
The world I live in is God’s world.
This world I am standing on has already been created by His will, so I will see the perfect world without having to close my left eye.
“But do you know what?”
As the Paladins approached, headless knights began to appear.
The Paladins trying to head to the tree in Yeokcheon and the Headless Knights trying to stop them.
“That stigmata technique.”
Two groups standing opposite each other.
But the wounds they had were very similar.
“I made that.”
The woman’s last words were not heard in response to Gunter’s loud charge order, but it did not matter.
You will see it anyway when you get close.
How heartless is the will of God you are following.
Kang-! Kaga river-!
The stigmata of the Holy Knights were shining in the traces of the swords clashing noisily.
However, there were shining scars on the severed necks of the headless knights.
Argh!
Captain! The stigmata is working!
The woman was smiling as she looked at the wound that was slowly burning, fed by God’s blessings.
Knight Commander Günter was a shining star, but the woman floating in the air was someone who had shined even brighter than him.
Even though it has cooled down now.
※※※※
“Whoa whoa…”
I thought I had run far, but the white sand road was still not over.
‘Damn it!’
The weight of Jean carrying him and his tired steps on the endless road were all heavy, but even more impatience was tormenting Vlad.
‘We have to go quickly! hurry!’
Canary becomes noticeably more tired as time passes.
A small bird that resembled Justia’s hair color was brightening the group’s path without ceasing to flap its wings.
As time passed, Justia’s increasingly exhausted Justia and Vlad’s worried expression on her face began to resemble the image drawn by the Goddess of the World Tree.
[excuse me! I can see it!]
“……!”
As if to soothe Vlad’s impatient mind, a faint shape began to appear in front of him.
Golden waves shining like aurora, as if announcing the end of darkness.
Justia’s difficult guidance had led Vlad to the border of the world, and now he had to go as far as he could see in front of him to wake up from his deep sleep.
-……!
However, the little bird starts to stumble at that moment.
“Justia!”
The small canary slowly began to melt into the darkness, with its feathers exploding as if it had been shocked by something.
“no!”
Vlad stretched out his hand to catch her as she fell to the ground, but all he caught was small pieces of feathers.
Vlad was greatly shocked as he watched it slowly melt away.
Exciting-!
“What on earth is this…”
[Run! Vlad! Don’t stop!]
The sound of a heartbeat begins to beat loudly as it ominously disappears.
However, Vlad could not stop even after seeing the symbol of Justia disappear in vain.
[The road is cut off! Now you have to find it yourself!]
“…!”
Looking back, Vlad could see a tree in the distance approaching from the edge of the darkness with great strides.
“Holy shit!”
When he was with Justia, he couldn’t be seen from far away, but as soon as she disappeared, he followed right behind her.
[It’s right in front of you! Close your right eye!]
My world through my closed left eye.
Through my open right eye, I see the real world.
But this time it’s the opposite.
“Hmph!”
There is no point in walking or running anymore.
This is a dream world, and what was touched was only a symbol.
‘Justia!’
Exciting-!
Vlad closed his right eye as he listened to the sound of his heart beating faster and faster.
Vlad lifted Jean forward, who was carrying him on his back, and while concentrating his mind, he began to lead himself and the young deacon to the border of the world.
[……!]
A creepy energy came right behind me.
And the sound of a sword being wielded by someone in front of it.
The tip of the root that had crawled was groping the nape of Vlad’s neck, but Vlad was already able to look at the real world with his closed right eye.
Because she guided Vlad right to the threshold of reality.
“…Big.”
And so, I finally reached my world.
Vlad barely lifted his eyelids and could see the platinum-blonde hair filling his field of vision.
“Justia…?”
As soon as I returned to reality, what I felt was not someone’s welcome, but just a fishy smell that stung my nose.
Exciting-! Exciting-!
And all I can feel is my heartbeat starting to beat uncontrollably.
“Kwaaaa…”
Vlad began to let out a groan-like cry, squeezing his stiff neck forcibly.
Justia is lying down as if covering Vlad.
Bright red blood was still flowing down her back, but Vlad’s trembling hands were not even able to hold Justia, who was falling more and more to the floor.
“Are you awake? “A young dragon.”
“Hmm….”
Now that the focus was on, there was a white-haired man leaning against the window.
On the tip of his sword, there was a clear drop of blood that had just begun to flow.
“You bastard…”
“But you’ll fall asleep right away.”
The voice I heard was all too familiar, but I felt unbearable fear in the man’s hands holding the sword.
However, even though everything they had was pushing each other away, their hearts beating opposite each other were similar, like the same blood.
“Aaaah!”
Justia slowly falls under the bed.
Vlad ended up crying in helpless anger and fear without even being able to catch her.
“I will definitely kill you! You son of a bitch!”
“…It’s a dragon, after all.”
The greatest dragon slayer was smiling as he looked at the young dragon fluttering before his eyes.
Every time Vlad struggled, his heart began to beat and slowly warmed his body.
It was a very old heart that could only beat in the presence of a dragon.
