chapter 23
23 – Return
“So, don’t go outside where it’s dangerous. “Live here with me for the rest of your life.”
Erde’s voice whispering in my ear.
Let’s live here together for the rest of our lives?
I don’t know why, but I am a beautiful woman who loves me blindly.
She lives here with her all her life….
Words that I don’t think I would have paid any attention to in the past.
But… ….
“Huh?”
Erde leaning her head on my shoulder.
I felt her warm breath.
If it were me before… I wouldn’t have given in to this temptation….
For some reason, her words sounded so tempting.
“It’s dangerous outside. “I don’t want to break up with Hyunwoo again.”
Her hand passing along my spine.
It is an exhilarating feeling.
She could feel her mind becoming increasingly strange and filled with hazy smoke.
Yes.
Even if I leave here, 10 years have already passed.
Ecclesiado. Parents too. A long enough time for everyone to forget me.
If you go out, you will only end up as a lost child with nowhere to go.
And… Isn’t it okay for me to be happy now?
I was taken to another world the day before my military discharge.
I thought I was going to win the war, defeat the devil, and return to Earth, but I ended up returning to another world.
All of his colleagues died and he was left to deal with the demons alone.
After defeating demons and raising the children of his colleagues, he eventually died.
Will I be able to be reincarnated and live a proper life this time? This time, I wondered if I would be able to return home, but I met an evil spirit and a hole was made in my heart.
It feels like the whole world has become my enemy.
Is it the right decision to go into this unfortunate and cruel world?
Wouldn’t it be better to just enjoy a comfortable life here with Erde?
Why do I have to go out and suffer?
“Yes. Hyun Woo. We just have to live happily here. “Hyeonwoo deserves to be happy.”
That’s right.
Don’t I deserve to be happy now?
How long do I have to work as a warrior?
How long do you have to fight and suffer for others?
Why do I always….
“Forget everything about the kids. “Let’s make a new child of our own.”
I…… Field?
At that moment, it felt as if the smoke that had filled my head had completely disappeared.
A refreshed mind.
Jump up
“Tongue, Hyunwoo?”
Yes.
Children.
I forgot about the kids.
Leah. Alia. Huffiness.
My lovely children.
I haven’t even met the children yet.
But you stay here.
“Tongue, Hyunwoo?”
“I guess I have to go out. Go out and take care of our children… “I need to see it.”
“What? But, Hyunwoo, you said that since you are a person from the past, it would be better for you to be forgotten by children. “And you’re still going to go back?”
From the children’s perspective, I am a ghost of a past that was forgotten 2,000 years ago.
Going to them will only cause confusion.
So I tried not to meet them….
I saw the existence of devils and evil spirits.
Wicked people who threaten the safety of our children.
Although Beerje has disappeared, their power still remains.
A situation where our children may be in danger.
I can’t just stay here.
My…… They’re kids.
“Hyeonwoo… ….”
Unlike before, Erde’s voice seemed to have lost some of its strength.
“I see…. I even used ‘implied’… Those children are important to Hyunwoo. Rather than living with me…….”
Allusion?
I felt like I was thinking things that weren’t like me… Were you hinting at me?
“I… I liked it first. I met him first. I thought about Hyunwoo first! “Why is Hyunwoo trying to leave me!”
Her powerful winds swirl around her.
“Erde….”
The holy sword that has been with me all this time.
She is the one who gave me strength until now….
If she, who is a free deity in this space, tries to stop me, I will not be able to resist.
Moreover, since the basis of my power is her, I will not be able to use the hero power that she normally uses.
“Are you going to leave me? If you leave here you will never see me again? Barely… We were able to meet by some miracle… And yet…… Hyunwoo…….”
I saw tears flowing down from her eyes as she looked at me sadly.
Without realizing it, I walked up to her and wiped her tears with my fingers.
“Erde.”
Kkwaak
She held her in her arms.
“Thank you so much.”
“Tongue, Hyunwoo?”
“You gave me strength and saved me all these years… I didn’t even know you existed. “I’m so sorry, Erde.”
I thought of the Holy Sword as just a sword that was useful to me.
Even though all my power came from the holy sword.
If the Holy Sword had not given me strength, I might have been abandoned by the Allied Forces and ended up living the life of a beggar.
“I love you, Erde.”
!!!
Erde opens his eyes wide.
“But… I have to go out. “We have to protect our children.”
Leah. Alia. Huffiness.
“Our children we raised together.”
“Our children….”
“It’s something you have to do as a father, right? Yes?”
“…… Father. Because I’m Hyunwoo’s wife….”
“Even if I go out, we are always together. Because I will always be with the Holy Sword. Even though I can’t hear your voice. Because I will always talk to you. Got it?”
“…… Yes.”
Erde nodded her head, her face blushing.
This is my first time seeing a woman like me this much.
In his previous life, he had never met a woman due to the war, and in his current life, he was only five years old.
Such a beauty there.
The fact that I had to leave Erde behind was weighing on my feet.
But… children.
We have children.
Even if I leave.
I will be with her.
“It’s a portal to the outside. I’m sealed here and can’t get out… “Because Hyunwoo can go out.”
Erde waved her hand in the air and a small portal appeared.
“Erde. ‘Cause I’m always with you “I will go out and find a way to break your seal.”
“Hyeonwoo… !”
“Someday…” . Because the day will come when I will go out on a date with you.”
“Yes! I’ll be waiting. “My Hyunwoo.”
I crossed through her portal, leaving behind Erde, who was smiling brightly and wiping away her tears.
Someday.
I will come back to get you.
* * *
15 Years have passed since Arwen, or rather Hyunwoo, died to save me.
In the meantime, I left only a letter to my parents and focused on building up my power.
Over the course of 15 years, I expanded my power centering around Duke Vissus, whom I had subdued like Hyunwoo, and created a powerful force that controlled the empire from behind.
And I knew.
The existence of countless demons lurking behind this continent.
I tried to build all the demons and find a way to avenge Hyunwoo and bring him back to life….
I never thought I would be caught off guard like this.
A branch of Arabel, an organization I created hidden throughout the continent.
It was the location of the branch that had been hidden for so long… I never thought a devil would break into this place.
How did you find out?
“The famous Devil Slayer of the Empire. Was she such a young woman?”
My office was destroyed.
The devil who bound me with chains summoned in the air by snapping his fingers looked at my face and muttered.
A high-ranking demon who infiltrated here alone and defeated my subordinates and me.
Was I too careless?
“So many devils have been harmed by this woman?”
Magical power that does not move according to my will.
I never thought it would have the ability to seal magical power.
No matter how evil he is, this ability makes no sense.
“It doesn’t look that strong….”
The devil came up to me and grabbed one of my arms.
“So weak.”
Puzzle
“Pfft!”
I broke my arm.
“But I like that one look. That red one too, hehehe.”
The devil came towards me, licking the leaf tassels with his obscenely long tongue and smiling bitterly.
“It will be delicious if you grill it. “No, it might be better to eat it raw.”
Like a devil, he is so evil that there is no trace of dignity.
“After getting pregnant, should the developed mammary glands be pulled out and eaten alive?”
I… To be treated in vain like this?
I, who survived with Hyunwoo’s life, managed to escape from this guy…….
No.
Hyunwoo’s sacrifice cannot be in vain….
However, no matter how hard you try to move, the magical power does not budge.
At that time, Hyunwoo’s Holy Sword, contained in a glass exhibition hall next to my desk, caught my eye.
Hyunwoo… Sorry.
I guess that’s it for me.
If I had died instead of you, it wouldn’t have ended up like this.
I wouldn’t have been treated so vainly by the devil.
If Hyunwoo was here…….
Kwaaang
At that moment, the glass surrounding the holy sword shattered like an explosion.
“Chokkolok. Glass? “Where am I?”
And then I hear…… The voice of my dreams.
I wanted to hear it again… That voice from 2000 years ago.
“Huh? Ecclesia?”
A hero from 2000 years ago.
Hyunwoo was standing.