Chapter 100

"......Ah."

My head spun.

A nauseating feeling rose in my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath.

'Why me?'

I didn't even have time to feel despair.

I bit my lip hard to prepare for the pain that was about to come.

But it was strange. Why wasn't it hurting at all?

I opened my eyes cautiously.

The first thing I saw was a rusty blue sword piercing my lower abdomen. There was no pool of blood on the floor.

It had just 'pierced' through.

Whirr.

That wasn't all.

A slowly rotating sphere was visible above the sword handle, which emitted a bluish light. The sphere was broken, and soft white threads were tightly wrapped around it, as if protecting it.

I realized it immediately.

"Is this... my soul?"

"Yeah."

What, really?

Lu's golden eyes looked down at the sword piercing my stomach with a dissatisfied gaze.

"That's also why I called you. I felt the need to examine the structure and form of your soul more closely."

I was entranced by the sphere.

'Amazing.'

Could I touch it? I cautiously extended my hand and touched the white threads that were tightly bound like a ball of yarn.

"Ouch."

I clutched my heart and hopped on one foot. Ah, damn. The pain in my heart woke me up completely.

Lu finally showed a bitter smile.

"When are you going to grow up?"

"Hmm. ...So this sword is Lode's, right?"

"Urd modified an old magical artifact. It's a temporary tool for extracting a soul."

"Urd?"

"Didn't you meet him when the alarm went off? I sent him on vacation for a few days as a reward. As soon as there was an intruder in the sanctuary, he rushed back like a monkey with its tail on fire."

Ah, that silver-haired Kalepa. So he made this magical artifact.

Lu gently nodded at my sphere.

"Do you know what these threads are?"

Of course, I do.

"The unknown force that protects my soul from breaking."

"Good."

I'm not sure what I did well, but it was a topic I wanted to bring up.

"Mr. Lu, a few days ago in the basement of Serenye Castle. Do you remember asking me if I had swallowed a heart crystal?"

"I don't know. Did that happen? I don't remember."

I pretended not to notice his feigned ignorance.

"You were also looking for a heart crystal when we met on Queen Island. I thought it must be related to Mephisto."

"Ah."

"The heart crystal you were looking for. Could it be the one I swallowed?"

"Hmm."

His reaction was far from enthusiastic. I asked awkwardly.

"Why? Was I wrong?"

"No. It's just... it's not as fun when you're so smart."

What a weirdo.

Then, Lu extended his hand over my soul.

A powerful energy seeped into the sphere. Soon, the white threads that were wrapped around it began to unravel, forming a small pearl-like shape.

I instinctively realized.

'This... is the original form of the force that protects my soul.'

Looking at it this way, it was just one of many ordinary soul crystals.

Lu, holding the condensed unknown force on his fingertips, said to me.

"Take a good look. This is what caused Mephisto to turn Queen Island into a sea of fire and start the magical war."

"......"

"It's Dian Ket's heart."

What?

At that moment, the condensed force unraveled again.

The force, now back to the form of threads, slowly embraced my soul sphere.

"Tsk."

Lu briefly clicked his tongue and pulled out the magical artifact Urd had made from my body. The extracted sword turned into a handful of black ash and fell to the ground.

"Of course, it's a one-time use? Considering the manpower and cost required to make it, its efficiency is no better than trash."

I didn't hear a word of it. The only thing left in my mind was a shocking sentence.

Dian Ket's heart.

I, had eaten Dian Ket's heart.

'Of course, Lu mentioned that it might be a soul crystal of Kalepa's level...'

Still, Dian Ket?

I ate Dian Ket's heart!

"What, what do I do? It seems important. Is it okay that I ate it? When will it be digested?"

Lu grabbed my collar and pulled me close to him, holding my hand.

"Calm down, Daisy. The important thing isn't that you 'ate' it, but 'when' you ate it."

"When did I eat it? Of course, it was when I first met you..."

Lu smiled slightly.

"The you from when we first met? Even though you're still fragile now, back then you were like a trampled flower. If you had swallowed Dian Ket's heart crystal back then, your body would have exploded."

Ah.

'That's not wrong. Strong power requires a strong body.'

But if I think about it that way, the mystery deepens.

"Then, when did I eat it?"

"I don't know."

What? You don't know?

"You said you were watching me all along. How can you not know when I ate it?"

"Exactly that."

I gasped. It felt like my feet were off the ground, but Lu had already picked me up.

He walked with much quicker steps than before. My slow pace must have annoyed him.

"For 14 years, I only failed to take care of you three times. In the third, sixth, and ninth years of the magical war."

"......So, you mean I must have swallowed Dian Ket's heart during one of those three years?"

"Not three years, but about three weeks. All of them were close to the end of the year, in winter."

Just a week each time.

'But is the time I ate it that important?'

It's already in my stomach. It's digested and become part of my soul. In a situation where I can't spit it out, does it matter when I swallowed it?

"Ask one more thing. Have you ever picked up and eaten something like this? Or did someone force you to eat it?"

...No, it might have some meaning.

'If I didn't swallow it by accident, but someone intentionally fed it to me. Indeed, it would be necessary to determine the time.'

In the third, sixth, and ninth years of winter.

That winter...

The period was about a week...

"Do you remember?"

Do you remember?

"Not at all."

At that time, I just thought I was killing demons or healing wounds in the barracks.

Finally, we arrived at a place with a different atmosphere from the rest of the sanctuary.

Under the bright moonlight, this place, which felt both eerie and clear, had a sinister altar.

The old and grand traces visible everywhere made it feel like an ancient ruin, at least 200 years old. The fallen marble statues and old wooden chairs on both sides of the path exuded a sense of long history.

Lu sat me on the altar. When our eyes met, I felt a tickling sensation in my throat and quickly spoke.

"Where were you for those three weeks?"

"Why? Curious?"

"......"

"Hmm. It's a secret I can't tell just anyone."

"......"

"Even Kalepa only heard it after complaining for over 20 years."

"Am I just anyone?"

"If you're not just anyone, then what?"

What's with that attitude?

My mood slightly sank.

It wasn't that his act of testing whether to tell me a secret was annoying. It was his constant testing of our relationship that annoyed me.

'Ha. I'm really tired of being teased like this all the time.'

I'm really tired.

So tired that I can't help but say it out loud.

"You're not just anyone to me."

"Is that so?"

"......To be honest, I don't really know how to define the feelings I have for you."

Before Lu could make a face like 'What do you expect me to do if you don't know?', I quickly added.

"But one thing is certain. Even if you hadn't taken Dian Ket's diary, I would have come here to meet you."

I thought I was expressing my sincere feelings, but Lu's face looked unsatisfied.

I continued, feeling like I was making excuses.

"Even if I hadn't recovered my memories from Queen Island, I would have come to find you, up to Kalepa."

"......"

"No, in fact, all the other reasons were just excuses. I just wanted to see you..."

"......"

Sigh.

"Again..."

"Alright, that's enough. If you keep talking, you'll hyperventilate and collapse."

"That's a wise decision."

I pretended to wipe away a cold sweat that almost broke out. Leaning on the altar, Lu quietly muttered, looking up at the open sky.

"The divine realm is determined by balance."

Thinking it was a great opportunity to understand Lu, my ears automatically opened wide.

"This balance refers to the balance between the self as a human and the self as a higher spiritual being. Have you heard of 'Ascension' in the Eastern Continent?"

"No."

"Ascension, simply put, means a human transcending their limits to reach the divine realm. When one ascends, they leave the human world and ascend to the heavens, but no one knows exactly where they go. Those who become gods never return."

Those who become gods never return.

I looked at Lu. If he transcended the demigod realm and became a perfect god, would he also disappear somewhere?