Wh-why are you stopping me...
Even if the holy crown is destroyed, the divine wrath won't end. The calamity will still befall the world...
Uriel, severely wounded, clutches the gaping hole in her chest. She leans against the cocoon wall, struggling to breathe.
Wanshi has seen himself confronting Uriel in the Sanctuary in countless nightmares. And now, that nightmare finally reaches its end.
Because you're an angel of eternity, you'll never understand what it means to "live" as a human.
The cylinder in the revolver spins and locks. This time, it's not loaded with ordinary copper rounds, but with bullets crafted from Gray Raven's blood.
Over the past ten years, I've watched countless tragedies unfold at your own hands.
If humanity is truly sinful by nature, and if balance must be preserved, then why do angels never punish the soldiers who extort blood taxes, and instead always swing their scythes at defenseless commoners?
You never cared about any so-called balance of good and evil!
Uriel freezes, her expression clouded with confusion.
You claim that humanity is a plague, that life itself is a sin to be judged by the Sanctuary. So why have you never granted salvation to the innocent?
I understand now. To you, life and death are just currents that flow endlessly. From where you stand, looking down on the world, the survival of any one individual means nothing.
But it's that very indifference that keeps you from understanding why humans have to resist.
Even if you crown a new god, as long as you keep enforcing this foolish doctrine, the spark of rebellion will keep rising, again and again.
Another thirty years. Another hundred. Do you really want this war to go on without end?
The golden light in Wanshi's eyes has faded, but Uriel still kneels silently before him, as if she's once again the young angel kneeling in the Sanctuary, being chastised by the Cardinal Deity.
...So what?
If it weren't for the Supreme Heaven's protection, all of us angels... would've been dead thirty years ago.
She gazes far into the distance, toward where the Sanctuary once stood. Before it fell, she had spent a long, long life within its walls.
Humans lie, scheme, and wound each other over and over. Then, when they can't clean up their own mess, they toss it at the feet of Cardinal Deity, praying for a miracle to fix everything...
And when he can no longer bear the weight of their desires, they repay his kindness with betrayal...
Humanity was never worth saving.
As if mocking herself, she laughs softly while wiping the blood from her face. Slowly, she sinks down against the wall.
I've lost. But I will never agree with your choice.
I believe... that one day, you'll understand everything the Supreme Heaven planned.
Only by moving forward, by ascending, can justice truly be upheld.
...
You, who have been silently watching, now step forward and raise your gun. Together with Wanshi, you take aim at the angel—battered and bloodstained, more corpse than living being.
In the name of the <phonetic=all the innocent victims in the disaster>Pestilence Knight</phonetic>, who fights for all innocents in times of disaster, I pass judgment upon you.
Uriel. This is where your fate ends.
Uriel closes her eyes. Gunshots ring out. Two searing blood-forged bullets rip through her body, burning and corroding her flesh.
The angel's broken figure plummets along the path of falling threads, vanishing into the abyss below, as if returning to the arms of the River Styx.
—BOOM!!!
The ground trembles violently again. This time, even more fiercely than ever before.
The ashen cocoon threads hanging overhead start to dissolve. With the crown and Uriel both gone, the space loses its final support and begins to collapse completely.
Hold on tight!
Wanshi, whose eyes have now lost all their light, grabs your hand. Amid the chaos, the two of you run together toward the exit beyond the cocoon.
The Cardinal Deity's power has already disappeared with the destruction of the holy crown.
He doesn't look back. He just keeps running along the thread-spun path that now teeters on the edge of collapse.
Besides, I've already decided—
I am who I am. Whatever happened before... I won't dwell on it anymore.
Guided by Morigan, the two of you quickly reach the cocoon's edge. In the blinding light, all they can see is a massive hole torn into the wall—and beyond it, an endless blue sky.
Caw! No time to think. Just jump!
Gray Raven, I think this really is the only way.
Wanshi looks back. The path behind them has already crumbled into rot. The cocoon itself groans, emitting deep, heavy creaks as it begins to collapse.
He carefully approaches the edge of the hole, judges the distance to the ground, and begins weaving crimson threads with magic at his fingertips.
The last bit of energy in the cocoon... it's just enough to weave a net to catch us.
Having made up your mind, you no longer hesitate. You turn, entrust your body to gravity, and step out with your eyes shut.
A flood of air pressure rushes past, making your vision blur completely.
As he escapes the giant cocoon, floating in the air, Wanshi briefly links to one final memory.
In that memory, he sees a man with golden eyes and long silver hair sitting on the sacred throne, bathed in the golden glow of dusk.
He immediately recognizes the term Uriel once used: "sacred body."
And in that moment, the man on the throne seems to sense him too, and turns to gaze into the source of the vision.
...Fuse with me. Reforge the divine core. Only then can we suppress divine wrath and bring an end to the catastrophe.
There is no other way. Take my memories. Abandon your life. That is the only path to redemption.
The man's voice is exactly like Wanshi's, as if it came from his own lips. But Wanshi knows the person on that throne could never be him.
So in that brief instant, Wanshi shakes his head without hesitation.
Sorry. Not now, at least.
The moment you two land on the soft bed of fallen leaves, a familiar blade of wind—carrying the scent of herbs—lashes toward you.
The two instinctively dodge aside. Dead leaves whirl in the air. Amid the chaos, a white-haired girl shows up in the distance—reappearing like a ghost that refuses to leave.
When you came crashing down from the sky, I thought your merciful Cardinal Deity had finally shown up to wipe out all outsiders.
But clearly, he figured it'd be more entertaining to let me do it myself.
Wanshi steadies himself and stands up. He takes the bone dagger from you and throws it back to Canary.
...You wanted to know the truth, didn't you? I brought it back for you.
Then your judgment is coming too. It's just late.
The white-haired girl catches the blade tossed her way. She raises an eyebrow, then flips it in her hand and takes a fighting stance.
...Truth? It's just another story people make up to fool themselves.
I don't intend to listen to your excuses.
Wanshi takes a deep breath, lowers his body, and rushes toward her.
Stop pretending you don't see it... You already know. What you've been carrying out all this time was never the Haruka tribe's true oracle.
The oracle was tampered with long ago!
The black handle of the gun smashes into the bone blade, cracking its ancient surface.
What new lies have you borderlanders come up with this time? I won't listen...
She stops halfway through, unable to find a reason even she can believe in. Furious, she howls and swings her dagger again.
No matter what you say, I will never believe a word of it!
Wanshi doesn't fight back. He simply dodges her relentless strikes.
This was all orchestrated by the Sanctuary. They used your sacrifices to revive the Cardinal Deity.
They knew about your hatred for borderlanders. They knew you'd try to decipher the oracle and summon Holy Death.
So thirty years ago, the angels sealed the remains of the Cardinal Deity inside the cocoon, just waiting for the ritual to be completed...
Before he can finish, her blade cuts him off again. Refusing to listen, Canary slashes wildly, as if trying to carve her hatred into his flesh.
Lies! You're still lying!
Her eyes are bloodshot, her strikes chaotic and unthinking, driven only by rage.
Yes, yes, of course. It must be because the blood used in the ritual was too impure...
Her crazed gaze shifts to you, the gray-robed human nearby.
Just wait another thirty years. Our clan will surely give birth to a new Holy Maiden worthy of the task!
—?!
Your words strike her like a bolt of lightning. Canary falters, and for a moment, clarity cuts through her madness.
At the moment she falters, Wanshi closes in and knocks the dagger from her hand.
The already-damaged dagger finally shatters with a loud crack, scattering into ivory-colored shards.
Canary, everything you've believed in up to now was wrong. It's time to face the truth.
You've already become the source of this catastrophe.
Seeing that she no longer has the will to fight, Wanshi steps forward, raising his gun and pointing it at her head.
Let it end here, for your people's sake too. There's no point in any more meaningless sacrifice.
Canary kneels beneath the tree, eyes lifted toward the countless "kin" hanging in the forest canopy. She murmurs to herself.
So... the oracle was a lie from the start. All our sacrifices were for nothing...
Even if everything you say is true, how could angels have infiltrated our altar to change the sacred text? And if they did, how could Ashlar—who gave me the oracle himself—have known nothing? How could he have been willing to give his life for it?
It's impossible... Outsiders, are you still hiding something from me?
She glares at Wanshi, her voice sharp and demanding.
I don't know. But at this point, I won't hide anything from you anymore.
It's true that, back then, the Cardinal Deity ordered the people of the Scorched Borderlands to massacre your kin. You deserve to know the truth.
Then who altered the oracle? Who orchestrated this whole lie?
Who can answer all of this?!
No one replies. The white-haired Holy Maiden has already lost everyone who once followed her.
She collapses to her knees, letting the silence devour her.
After a moment's standoff, Canary opens her hands, signaling she's done resisting.
Kill me, Gray Raven, Wanshi.
Revenge is the simplest kind of justice. Now that I've failed, I'm ready to pay for it in blood. There's nothing left in this world for me.
Wanshi raises his gun, eyes turning toward you behind him.
Countless vengeful spirits echo in Wanshi's mind. In that brief instant, he recalls every life he saw through the lantern.
—BANG!
A brief roar ripples through the forest, stirring hollow echoes in its wake.
But her eyes still move. Trembling, she turns to see where the bullet landed.
A smoking hole in the earth gives her the answer.
I'm not going to kill you.
She lifts her head in shock, as if she'd just been deeply insulted.
Why? Am I not even worth your revenge?
...Death doesn't erase guilt. I just don't want to see this cycle of revenge go on forever.
The outsiders once slaughtered tribespeople for the sake of their absurd beliefs. Now the tribespeople have taken revenge by killing innocent children. We're simply repeating the same mistakes.
But now, we're all under threat from the angels. No one, no matter who they are, should keep walking this bloodstained path.
Trying to end killing with more killing... it only leads to destruction.
...And what gives you the right to forgive them for what they did to my people?
With one final roar, the girl lunges. Like someone dying in a frenzy, she grabs the broken hilt of the dagger and drives it again toward Wanshi. But the cold firearm deflects the strike, and she is thrown back to the ground.
She looks up. You, clad in a gray-black cloak, and the demon knight with the bird-beak mask still stand calmly to the side, watching the Holy Maiden's collapse without a word.
After all this time... now you're telling us that we could have chosen coexistence?
But deep down, she already knows. Everything he says is true. She just can't bring herself to admit that all her faith has turned into nothing.
You think we didn't want to live with everyone else? It was you outsiders, it was the Sanctuary, that never gave us the chance.
I'd already made up my mind. Even if I were the last one standing, I would carry this hatred. I would live for revenge.
That's the only reason I walked this path of no return!
Her whimpers are gradually swallowed by sobs, until nothing can be heard clearly.
...Then let's start over, right here and now.
Wanshi turns and walks toward the light breaking through the trees.
At some point, the mist hanging in the forest started to lift. Golden light now filters through the dense branches and leaves.
Dawn is breaking.
I'm sentencing you to live. You will stay alive and witness how the people of the Scorched Borderland rise up and bring down the Sanctuary together.
And when that day comes, there will be no more dividing lines between <u><phonetic=humans>"outsiders" and "tribespeople"</phonetic></u>. Everyone will share this land equally.
I believe that when that time comes, you'll find your own new path. And the people of that future will be the ones to pass judgment on you.
You have to spend the rest of your life making up for everything you've done. And you'll see, with your own eyes, how people lay down their hatred and walk forward together... That is your punishment.
You'd better prepare yourself. Sometimes, the pain of "living on" is far heavier than you think.
After the cocoon in the forest disappears completely, you and Wanshi follow the clues Canary provided and return to the hidden ritual site. There, you rescue the child left behind on the altar.
When the child is first brought back to the orphanage, she's still scared and anxious every day. But with everyone's care, she soon cheers up and now gets along well with the other kids.
Today is the day you finally visit the orphanage again after a long time.
Wanshi is holding a crying baby in his arms, gently rocking them to soothe the sobs. At the same time, he reaches up toward the top of a cabinet, trying to grab some candy for the other noisy children tugging at his sleeves.
Wanshi has no free hands, so he stretches his neck and jerks his chin toward the kitchen, signaling for you to shut off the screaming kettle.
Caw! And in the end, I still wound up with this whole gang of tiny troublemakers!
Gray Raven, look at this fine mess you helped get us into!
The mechanical raven perches on the windowsill, chattering away as usual. It seems to have taken on the role of commentator for this entire chaotic story.
After turning off the kettle, finishing dinner, and getting all the children to sleep, the two of you sit in the workshop.
The clue boards are all gone now. In the gentle scent of herbal tea, you two stretch and relax your tired bodies.
The serial killings and the cult incident are finally behind you. Wanshi, at last, has a moment of peace.
He allows himself to imagine the future in the quiet moments between caring for the children.
I want to turn this workshop into a classroom, a place where the children can learn about herbs.
When they grow up, they'll have something to rely on. A skill they can use. Another path they can choose.
That's what I have in mind. But right now, I honestly don't know how far I can plan ahead.
Wanshi stretches lazily, sinking into the armchair's soft cushion. He closes his eyes and enjoys this rare peace in a world that's known nothing but chaos and hardship.
At the very least, he has to build this one small pocket of calm.
Even though I refused the Cardinal Deity's memories, the nightmares still won't leave me alone.
If I want to find a way to truly stop the catastrophe, then I'll have to go back out there.
Uriel said that life is the plague of this world. That humans, trying to survive, only spread conflict. And that the catastrophe exists to contain them.
If that's really how it is, then fine. I'll be the one to keep spreading this plague. Let me be the Pestilence Knight.
Hmm... I still remember.
He brushes away the hair that falls across his eyes. A faint weariness starts to show on his face.
There are so many things I still want to do, like teaching the kids at the orphanage how to identify herbs, traveling with you to recover lost memories, and finding a way to end this catastrophe.
Each of those will take time... but I believe we can do it. I really do.
After all, this is how we've made it through everything so far, right?
You stand and walk to the half-open door, place a hand on the knob, then pause.
You stop at the doorway, your tone suddenly serious.
The young man, who had almost closed his eyes, opens them again and silently looks toward you.
A flicker passes through the golden eyes beneath his silver lashes. Emotions churn there, thick and unspoken.
After a very long silence, he finally speaks, in a firm voice.
You're right. I don't know.
His voice carries a deep bitterness, but also a determination that can't be faked.
He looks directly at you, the human with whom he forged the Blood Covenant, and speaks with solemnity.
I swear, I'd never lie to you.
This is the full truth. Everything I know.
You hold his gaze for a long moment. Then, finally, you place your hand back on the door handle.
The wooden door opens. Warm light spills into the room, casting a soft golden glow across the silver-haired young man's face.
Mm...
Wanshi sinks into the soft couch and slowly closes his eyes once more.
Tomorrow... something good is bound to happen in this world.
As his eyes shut, the world falls into silence.
Even the eternal daylight pauses, just for a moment.
No one knows what tomorrow will bring to this land...
But at the very least, the stillness of this moment will never be broken.
Many years ago
Many years ago
In the depths of a lush forest, a man stands atop an altar, placing a yellowed parchment tome back where it belongs.
...Will this truly redeem humanity's sins?
Lord Ashlar, which humans are you referring to?
A calm, enigmatic voice speaks from behind. A figure steps into the center of the altar.
All the common people forced into this war, of course... Even if I had to alter our sacred texts for the sake of salvation, I never wanted my people to meet an even worse end.
The black-robed man pulls back his hood. Beneath the dark veil, a hideous scar slashes across his face.
In the Scorched Borderland, everyone knows his name: Ashlar, second generalissimo of the Iron Army—the one who ordered the Halo Cannon fired at the Cardinal Deity, igniting the long era of disaster and the collapse of divine law.
Yet few know that years after making that decision, he left the Iron Army out of remorse and returned to his tribe, searching for a way to undo it all.
Since then, he has wandered far and wide, trying to repair the damage he caused and return the borderland to what it once was, but without success.
And it is at this time that someone offers him a mysterious piece of information.
Heh... Lord Ashlar, are you afraid that altering the oracle will make your tribe's Holy Death disappear forever?
You needn't worry. From history's perspective, human love and hatred are just ideologies—malleable and easy to change.
Hatred or belief—it all can flip overnight.
Everything you've done today is just one unremarkable reversal in the endless current of time.
But in the name of ■■■■, I swear: this "reversal" will stain the stream blood-red, making it burn with a hundredfold, a thousandfold fury...
Until all rot is burned away, and this decaying world is reborn through flame.
The mysterious figure picks up the torn parchment Ashlar discarded. With a snap of their fingers, it vanishes into ash.
The sacred oracle passed down for ten thousand years in the Haruka tribe is gone in an instant—erased forever, with no trace left in history.
And the one responsible simply smiles.
For the redemption you seek, Lord Ashlar... be ready to choose. And step toward the far shore.
