A Miraculous Story (2)
The Red Swordsman, Kyle Stroban.
A hero of the continent who led the era of the Heretic Purge, a figure who filled dozens of pages in history with his glory.
The star that reached the highest night sky.
He executed countless dark mages and illuminated the chaotic Empire with brilliant light.
At the end of the war, he even died a valiant death.
This noble path garnered attention within the Empire.
People called him the "Fallen Star," commemorating the hero's tragic end.
It was the typical biography of a great man.
'Of course.'
That wasn't all.
Beyond the screen, there were always stories the audience didn't know.
The same was true for Kyle Stroban.
There were plenty of untold stories.
-I saved the continent... but I couldn't protect the things that were precious to me.
The man had a family.
A beautiful wife and a daughter he cherished more than anything.
The hero had originally taken up the sword to protect them, but that choice had only pushed his happy family into hell.
It was a nightmare.
-I ruined everything.
Kyle, who led the crusade from the very front lines.
He possessed truly overwhelming power.
The black wizards, realizing they couldn't defeat him head-on, devised a scheme to bring down the star.
They kidnapped his beloved family.
-Drop your weapon and surrender.
-If you want to save your wife and daughter, you'd better come quietly.
He couldn't defy their words.
A star collapsing helplessly.
The man was captured without a shred of resistance.
The Heretics imprisoned Kyle in a facility where no one could find him, torturing him and using him as a subject for black magic experiments.
They didn't even tell him whether his family was alive or dead.
Kyle could only endure.
For the sake of his beloved family, who might still be alive.
-How are you feeling now, Swordsman?
-You dared to stand in our way for so long, and now the tables have turned.
-Let's see how well you can hold on.
Painful time passed.
Stabbed, cut, and torn. It was closer to torture than experimentation.
As he was toyed with by those malicious hands, his steely heart began to waver, little by little.
Then, someone appeared.
-I have come to retrieve you, Red Swordsman.
It was a boy with dark blond hair and narrowed eyes.
He infiltrated the facility and massacred the Heretics in an instant, then leisurely approached the cage where Kyle was imprisoned.
His ominous eyes seemed to assess the man's condition.
-You haven't become a monster yet.
-I was worried what would happen if I was too late... Should I say it's fortunate?
-It would be a headache if you were to appear as a stage boss.
Unintelligible mutterings.
The Snake mumbled nonchalantly as he cut through the iron bars, freeing the man.
He quietly helped the collapsed body to its feet.
As if to help him escape from this place.
-Let's go together.
The wounded beast is taken in.
They leave the devastated facility behind.
The boy took the collapsed man somewhere.
There, Kyle was able to reunite with someone he had never dreamed of seeing again.
It was his wife, who had been kidnapped.
-She was in a branch outside the Imperial territory.
-I rescued her while wiping out the Heretic remnants.
-As you can see, she's badly injured... but they say she can recover fully.
-You were lucky.
Kyle sobbed as he hugged his wife.
His heart crumbled in weakness.
The Snake slipped into that tiny crack.
He cunningly tempted the once-brilliant hero.
-Serve me from now on.
-Then I will grant you everything you desire.
A calm voice echoed.
Outwardly, he was a boy of no more than sixteen, but his ominous smile resembled the filth of an adult.
The Snake whispered an irresistible offer into his ear.
-If you wish, your daughter too.
-I don't know how long it will take... but I will definitely get her back.
-The other half of the world you lost.
Kyle couldn't resist.
-I am your master.
From that day forward.
The hero came to serve a new god.
***
The promise was eventually fulfilled.
At a moment he hadn't expected at all.
"The daughter you lost... I have brought her back, as promised."
A faint smile on his narrowed eyes.
Behind him, a massive lump of flesh writhed.
<Ah, ahhh...?>
A bizarre wail flowed from its five-way split mouth.
Hundreds of tentacles sprouted from its torso, and a comparable number of eyes were plastered across its skin.
Sharp teeth protruded like thorns.
It was a horrific sight that made one's brow furrow involuntarily.
However.
Kyle couldn't take his eyes off it.
Instead, he stared blankly, transfixed by the dying monster.
Perhaps it was a kind of intuition.
"······."
No matter how distorted its appearance might be.
Parents recognize their children.
It's like an instinct.
It's not about deducing from given clues, but realizing through the emotions that burn brightly within one's heart.
Kyle, who was once a father, was no different.
<Ugh... Ahhh>
The daughter he loved so much.
The image reflected in his pupils denied the possibility, but the man's heart pounded fiercely.
How could a father not know?
"······Eileen?"
A short word caught in his throat.
A name spoken after a long time, its resonance felt particularly painful.
His breath faltered.
Kyle realized it.
<Ughhh...?>
The monster in his sight was truly his daughter.
His body stiffened as his breath hitched.
The man could only take in the gruesome sight.
"······."
Blinking red eyes.
There were countless eyeballs, but it was the crimson eyes that resembled his own.
He was certain that they were the pupils his daughter originally possessed.
Kyle, who had momentarily frozen, soon took a step forward.
And then, he slowly approached the monster.
Bright red blood dripped from his lips, chewed and torn.
It was an empty walk.
"Eileen... My daughter."
Thud-.
His legs finally gave way.
Kyle knelt before the writhing tentacles.
Dry tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Father missed you so much..."
In truth, he had known.
Since she had been kidnapped by the black wizards, he had anticipated this outcome to some extent.
He had braced himself every night, unable to sleep.
But.
"······How could you come back like this?"
The pain he faced in reality was on a different level.
Standing before his daughter, who was once human but could no longer be called one, Kyle clenched his fists.
It felt as if a cold awl had pierced his heart.
Life was so cruel.
Why had he clung to life so desperately, only to witness this?
"I really... I really missed you."
His voice was tinged with moisture.
It felt as if his sanity would snap at any moment, but Kyle forced his eyes open with all his might.
There was still something he had to do.
A duty that Kyle himself had to undertake.
At the same time, it was a responsibility he couldn't pass on to anyone else.
<Ugh, ahhh...>
Eileen groaned in agony.
It was a particularly pitiful cry, as if she was saying she couldn't take it anymore.
He wanted to put her out of her misery now.
Shing-.
Kyle drew the sword from his waist.
The writhing tentacles were reflected on the cool surface.
The father, who had been speechless for a while, soon raised his sword towards his daughter.
It was a cruel scene.
"It's time to... rest."
My poor child.
You lived a life of punishment for the crime of being alive, how can the world possibly comprehend your pain?
But since you were born because of me.
I will also bring your end with my own hands.
"Don't forgive your incompetent father."
The sword glinted precariously.
Just as that horrific scene was about to unfold.
"Stop."
Someone who appeared from behind interrupted the attack.
A shadow grabbed his arm, preventing it from moving. When he looked back, the Snake was smiling.
The boy asked calmly.
"Why are you so eager to let her go when you've worked so hard to get her back?"
"······Leader."
Kyle replied, suppressing his sobs.
"There's only pain for her like this. I just want my child to be at peace now."
"I share the same wish."
"Then... please let me go."
Transparent crimson eyes stared at the Serpent.
Tears welled up in his pupils, clouded with sorrow.
"I want to end it myself."
"Oh my... It seems you misunderstood what I said."
"Huh?"
"I'm a man of my word. I would never say I kept my promise with such a sloppy ending."
"What do you mean...?"
"Just watch quietly."
The Serpent pushed the man back.
And then, he placed his palm in front of the giant tentacles.
A pitch-black darkness slithered around him.
The scattered shadows soon converged into a single point, hanging on the boy's fingertips as a sharp light.
Simultaneously, the Serpent began to chant.
"Shatter."
Crack-!
A sound like shattering glass echoed.
Immediately afterward, a black crack appeared in the air, densely surrounding the giant monster.
The scenery fragmented into tens of thousands of pieces.
Before anyone could react to the bewildering sight,
The boy snapped his fingers, opening his closed eyes.
"Rewind."
Snap-!
White pupils were revealed between his eyelids.
Following the mesmerizingly shining surface, the entire space was covered in a dark shadow.
The blackout lasted for a few seconds.
One.
Two.
Three.
"Stop."
Snap-!
His fingers snapped once again, and the darkness that had enveloped the surroundings vanished.
The cracks were neatly erased.
"Leader? What did you just do... Huh?"
Kyle, bewildered, looked around and soon made a discovery.
The monster had vanished without a trace.
And a single girl lay before his eyes.
"······."
Delicate features, red hair reaching her shoulders, peacefully closed eyelids.
She was exactly as he remembered.
Kyle stared blankly.
He wondered if he was seeing a hallucination.
The Serpent, who had been smiling serenely, spoke softly to the man.
"I kept my promise."
Eileen was there, unharmed.
Kyle's trembling hand reached out to check his daughter's pulse.
She was alive.
He could feel her warm body temperature through his fingertips.
That intensely vivid sensation told him that the scene he was witnessing was not a dream.
The father embraced his daughter tightly.
"Eileen...!"
The Serpent smiled faintly.
"She's alive, she's alive... Oh my god."
"She's just fallen asleep from exhaustion. She'll wake up healthy in a day."
"Ahh...!"
A miracle story.
The world that had been broken in half was now whole again.
The man bowed his head, tears streaming down his face.
"Ahh, Leader······."
He straightened the sword he was holding.
He knelt on one knee and plunged the tip of the sword into the ground. Then, he raised his hand as if in prayer.
It was the posture swordsmen took when pledging allegiance to their master.
The hero murmured.
"My God."
It was adoration tinged with fervent emotion.
The other members present also knelt, following the man's lead.
They had all witnessed the miracle.
Kyle clasped his hands together.
And in a very clear voice, he recited the meditation dedicated to Him.
Towards the sacred resonance.
"All according to your will."
A hymn that brushed past a fleeting moment.
""All according to your will.""
Even as all the followers chanted their prayers, the god simply stood there calmly.
With a faint smile on his lips.
The boy's only thought was,
'I'm glad it's a happy ending.'
Wishing for the happiness of others.
Perhaps it was a heart that was too soft.
***
Meanwhile.
Irene was watching the scene unfold.
She was lost in thought at the second miracle she had witnessed, but the following scene brought her back to her senses.
It was the Serpent coughing lightly.
"Cough..."
A low coughing sound.
The boy covered his mouth.
A dark red bloodstain appeared on his white glove.
It was none other than blood.
"Huh...?"
The fox let out a dumbfounded sound without realizing it.
She was flustered by the unexpected sight, but the boy calmly wiped the blood from his mouth.
As if he was used to it.
""······.""
The surrounding members didn't seem to notice.
They were all bowing their heads with their eyes closed.
Only Irene noticed.
Snap-!
The Serpent lightly snapped his fingers, erasing the bloodstain.
After briefly checking his surroundings, the boy smiled faintly at Irene.
"Shh."
His index finger rose to his lips.
It was as if he was asking her to keep it a secret.
Irene couldn't react. She just stared with wide eyes.
At the narrow-eyed boy who stood there calmly.
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