Chapter 96
7. Save Me By Your Name
“…Haah.”
After soaring up hundreds of steps to the very top of the castle, Elia’s body finally collapsed onto the floor. The golden wind that had surrounded her faded away, leaving her utterly alone.
Dragging her half-broken ankle, Elia walked to the very edge of the tower. There, she released a harsh breath. A pitch-black night without a single star was preparing to swallow her whole.
“……”
A sharp, high-altitude wind brushed against Elia’s cheek. Standing at a place where she could almost reach the heavens, she gazed down below.
Before her stretched the land bathed in red flames. It would soon consume her body and reduce it to ash. Around the fire swirled a transparent barrier, enclosing the temple priests and the pope.
“It seems the lady has arrived at the tower.”
The high priest said to Pope Winter, who nodded as if already aware.
To their eyes, Elia appeared like a distant star high above. Burning her body to emit a light so surreal it seemed almost a vision.
Elia simply stared blankly down at the earth. Her once vibrant home where she had dreamed, loved, and breathed. Yet those days were gone, proven by the utter weakness now in her body.
She took one more step toward the edge. Below, a sea of flames roiled. If she threw herself into those burning waves, the blazing fire would envelop her deeply.
“…God, please forgive me.”
She offered a final prayer of atonement as she looked down at the fiery waves beneath her feet. Even this fleeting moment was pressed by the heat rising from the earth. A gust of wind pushed against her back, urging her forward, and she took a final step.
Bang! Bang!
The iron gates of the tower shattered with a thunderous crash. The transparent barrier protecting the pope and the priests cracked open with a sharp snap. The golden light splintered into shards that scattered in all directions.
“Your Holiness!”
“Ugh!”
One of the sharpest fragments pierced the pope’s heart. He retched red blood and collapsed. The flames rising from the altar twisted into a red vortex, shooting skyward. It was so fierce it seemed it could reach the black night itself, ready to turn everything into ashes.
Elia’s trembling hand hovered over the scene below. The holy flame she had offered to God had transformed into the fires of hell. Suddenly, she felt a strange force gripping her ankle. Startled, she turned around.
“…My God.”
Elia’s face turned ghostly pale. Standing alone in the darkness that had reduced the surroundings to ruins was Cyrone himself. His blood-red, grotesque eyes locked obsessively onto Elia.
Cyrone smiled faintly, as if he had finally found her. His lips, which had just spewed black blood, twisted grotesquely.
“Do you think there’s heaven where you ran off to?”
His eerie voice froze Elia in place. A terrifying murderous aura rose around Cyrone. As he took a step closer to her, agonized groans erupted from below. This time, the priests’ chests were pierced, and their heads cut.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Elia shouted as she backed away. The ruthless madness pressed down on her breath, shaking the ground beneath her. Her heels were gradually pushed closer to the edge.
Below, the flames, now transformed into hellfire, gaped wide as if ready to devour her. Gathering her courage, Elia prepared to throw herself forward.
“Ah!”
“If you think burning your body to save Cyrone will make him miss you, how foolish and stubborn humans still are.”
But the devil was quicker. Its grasp turned into a black smoke, binding Elia’s body. Bound by that merciless power, Elia was lifted into the air. The chilling breath emanating from the smoke slithered into her chest and lungs, crawling through her entire body.
“It’s useless now, Elia. Human love is imperfect. It cannot save anyone.”
“A-ah!”
At a slight movement of Cyrone’s fingertips, Elia let out a cry of pain. Her body, already torn, was above the ground.
“Your rightful place is this hell, by my side.”
The devil, watching her condition, let out a cruel, savage laugh. The black smoke now climbed toward Elia’s heart. She struggled, screaming into the sky. The unbearable pain gradually clouded her consciousness.
“God!”
Just as Elia’s cry reached the heavens, a thunderous bang echoed between sky and earth, and radiant light poured from her entire body. Her heart pounded wildly, bursting forth with a power strong enough to erase all pain.
With a sharp tearing sound, the black smoke crushing Elia shattered instantly.
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