Dragging my exhausted body along, I kept walking.

Burning ash drifted up into the sky. I watched it slowly die out as I set one foot forward after another.

“God, I’m tired...”

The words slipped out on their own. It had been a long time since I’d felt this worn out.

Not physically.

Mentally.

And my soul felt exhausted too.

Saying I was nearly at my limit wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

[...]

Yoo Cheongil trailed after me at an easy pace while watching me.

His face looked full of questions he wanted to ask, but he didn’t bother opening his mouth.

There was a reason for that. An unspoken rule between us.

We both knew the other had secrets, so neither of us brought them up for no reason.

If one of us asked something first—

Then I’d have to answer too.

So we didn’t continue with pointless questions. That had become the rule between him and me over the days we’d endured together.

“Whew.”

I steadied my breathing. If even in an inner spiritual space my body felt tired, that meant my soul was exhausted.

Barely enduring that, I kept moving forward, and after a while—

There he is.

I spotted Divine Spear in the distance.

He was still being held by the light I’d seen earlier.

“...”

I stopped walking at the sight. There was no need to go any closer.

Just as I thought.

I could finally make out the identity of the light. It was the woman the foulness had taken the shape of earlier.

Divine Spear’s former fiancée.

The woman Yoo Cheongil had supposedly stolen away.

And at the same time—

It was light.

It was also the light that had existed inside Divine Spear.

The very first moment I saw him,

I’d seen something beyond that distant energy.

It didn’t seem like a guardian spirit.

Too weak for that.

But too ambiguous to call a spirit.

I thought for a moment about what exactly to call it.

And what I finally settled on was—

The dregs of lingering attachment.

Not exactly a pleasant phrase.

The lingering attachment someone had left behind.

Or—

Something Divine Spear could not let go of.

It might have been the lingering attachment he himself couldn’t release.

“Beloved.”

The woman’s voice rang out.

“Please stop now.”

With a gentle voice and gentle hands, she stroked his head.

It looked as though she was touching him, but she wasn’t.

“...”

Divine Spear remained on both knees, unable to say anything.

“You’ve had such a hard time. It’s all right to stop now.”

The woman went on speaking to him as though that changed nothing.

“I’m really all right. So...”

She was continuing, when—

“How could that be?”

Divine Spear finally spoke.

“How could I possibly let you go...”

A faint tremor quivered through his dying voice.

“I am still far... far from being able to let you go...”

“Beloved...”

“So then... why...”

Divine Spear lifted his head and looked at her.

“Why did you leave without even giving me the chance to atone...”

“...”

The woman fell silent.

Atonement.

That word lingered softly in my ears.

“I’m sorry.”

At that short apology, Divine Spear’s shoulders trembled.

“...No... that isn’t it... You’re not the one who should apologize...”

A rough hand rose to cup Divine Spear’s face.

“...I was the one at fault. I was the one who was pathetic and vile.”

“That isn’t true... Beloved...”

“So...”

The hand that had been cradling his face moved carefully to hold her wrist. It didn’t catch anything, of course. It just passed through. Divine Spear’s eyes shook when he saw that.

Maybe I was seeing things wrong, but it looked as if moisture had gathered faintly in his palm.

“...Don’t go just yet... not yet... just a little longer...”

“...”

Deep, desperate lingering attachment.

Watching that, I scratched at my cheek.

“I usually wouldn’t ask, but—”

In the end, I couldn’t hold it in and spoke to Yoo Cheongil.

“What exactly is going on here?”

[...]

Yoo Cheongil was staring at the two of ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ them too, his gaze darker now.

“No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like you just stole her and gouged his eye out. Am I wrong?”

[Everyone has their reasons.]

“So what, you’re telling me not to ask? I feel like I need to know if I’m supposed to help here. If we leave it like this, he won’t be able to come back out.”

He was buried in lingering attachment. That was Divine Spear’s condition.

If left alone, nothing would come of it.

“Right now, the one keeping Divine Spear alive is that woman. But in the end, she’ll be the one who devours him too.”

The body that had been rotting from the foulness.

The reason Divine Spear had endured without dying even in that condition wasn’t just because he was a strong martial artist.

She was the one holding up his soul.

That woman.

The lingering attachment left in Divine Spear’s body.

That was what had been clutching onto the thread of his life and barely stretching it out.

But that, too, had already reached its limit.

If this keeps going, she’ll disappear.

That lingering attachment would vanish soon too.

And yes, Divine Spear would wake up once that happened.

But—

“If we don’t resolve that lingering attachment, there’s a good chance he’ll lose his mind when he wakes up anyway.”

Not guaranteed, maybe.

But the odds were high.

At least, that was how it looked to me.

[And you think you can help with that?]

Yoo Cheongil asked. I shook my head.

“I don’t know. I’m saying it because I might be able to help.”

[......]

It was an ambiguous answer, but it was the most honest one I had. Saying I could definitely help? Ridiculous.

I’d have to hear it first, then decide whether I could do anything.

After I said that, Yoo Cheongil stayed silent for a while before finally speaking.

[Do you know what family that spear bastard comes from?]

“Calling him spear bastard makes that sound really weird...”

[Just answer.]

It sounded important, so Yoo Cheongil pressed me for an answer.

“The Shanxi Jeok Family... I know the basics.”

Not in detail. Just that it was basically Divine Spear’s clan.

[That’s right. His family. And—]

Yoo Cheongil continued in a quiet voice,

[it was also a family that dreamed of rebellion.]

“...What?”

The words that came out were utterly unexpected.

Rebellion?

“What do you mean, rebellion?”

[The family head at the time—his father—joined hands with the evil factions. He meant to push out the Martial Alliance Leader of that era and take the position for himself.]

“That...”

It was the first I’d heard of it. Something that huge had happened, and it wasn’t recorded in history?

[It was never made public. They buried it, one way or another.]

“How is that even possible?”

[Because Blue Moon Sect wanted it hidden.]

“What?”

Blue Moon Sect wanted to hide it?

[It was an age of war back then. Worse than now, if anything. If it became known in the middle of all that that a great family had joined hands with the evil factions and plotted rebellion, the situation would turn ugly very quickly.]

“...”

[There was debate over whether to make a public example of them and wipe them out completely, or hide the disgrace. The latter was chosen.]

“...They chose to cover it up?”

[Yes. The family head could be dealt with by crippling his dantian. As for the young master, the plan was to do the same and then place one of the family head’s illegitimate sons in charge of the Jeok Family.]

“...”

So rather than erase the family completely, they planned to install a puppet and keep using the Jeok Family.

[And that young master was him.]

The one who should have vanished after his dantian was crippled alongside the family head.

That had been Divine Spear.

“But then...”

How was he still alive?

[Originally, his dantian should have been crippled and he should have been disposed of. I was the one who was supposed to do it.]

“...!”

My eyes widened at that. Yoo Cheongil had been the one meant to carry out Divine Spear’s punishment.

[Yes. That was what should have happened.]

He let out a small laugh. Seeing that smile, I narrowed my eyes.

[But then I ended up accepting a request.]

“A request?”

[From some woman who desperately begged me to spare a pathetic man.]

At that, my gaze naturally turned to Divine Spear.

“...So you deliberately acted differently?”

You stole his fiancée, my ass. So that wasn’t what happened at all.

[She asked me to spare him and give him a reason to live.]

“Then what was with pretending to steal her?”

If he wanted to save him, couldn’t he have just tried to save him? Why go around pretending to take his fiancée?

At that question, Yoo Cheongil answered.

[She said she would be dead soon.]

“...What?”

[That she had only a few months left at most. So if she was going to die anyway, she wanted herself to become the reason he would keep living.]

“...That...”

[Taking his eye was the best option at the time. I needed justification too.]

He couldn’t cripple Divine Spear’s dantian, but he’d still had a mission to fulfill, so the most he could do was leave him unable to use one eye?

Hearing that, I let out a crooked laugh.

[Why are you laughing?]

“If you were going to leave half of it unsaid, you should’ve just said nothing properly.”

There were only so many times I could pretend not to notice all the holes in his story.

“Old man.”

[What is it.]

“What did you give up?”

[......]

Yoo Cheongil hesitated at my question.

“If the Jeok Family really did plot rebellion like you said, and if the whole thing was meant to be handled in secret, then taking just one eye would never have been enough.”

He stole the fiancée and took an eye.

Would that really be enough to forgive it all?

“No.”

Absolutely not. And yet Divine Spear had lived.

He had survived and risen all the way to the position of Martial Alliance Leader.

Sure, being a hero of the war had helped.

But would that alone have been enough?

Absolutely not.

For him to rise that high with a past like that behind him, someone must have erased it completely.

“You gave up a lot for him, didn’t you? Right?”

[...Be quiet.]

Yoo Cheongil clicked his tongue and turned his head away.

He had given something up. He must have done something for Divine Spear.

Otherwise, this situation would never have come to exist.

And besides—

That woman too.

The woman Divine Spear couldn’t let go of had surely done the same.

That was why it had ended up like this.

“Beloved...”

“...I am the sinner.”

“That isn’t true. You bear no sin.”

“No... ignorance is a sin as well.”

The sin of knowing nothing.

Looking at that—

Divine Spear knows the truth.

I didn’t know when he found out, but it seemed he did know.

“Do not hold sins you never committed against your own heart.”

The woman smiled gently as she looked at Divine Spear.

“You’ve worked so hard already.”

“...Atonement has no end.”

“......”

At the word atonement, the line between her brows tightened slightly.

“Beloved.”

There was firmness in her voice now.

“What is this atonement for?”

“What...”

“If it is atonement only for the sake of your own feelings... then nothing will ever come of it. Do you truly not see that?”

“......”

“Do not live for the forgotten... It means nothing.”

“Mm.”

Watching that, I ran my tongue across my teeth inside my mouth.

At the same time, I checked how much I had left in me.

...One more time, maybe.

One more. Barely. I could probably manage that much.

WOOOOONG.

With difficulty, I forced power into my hand and formed a talisman.

Then I clenched it tight and crushed it.

Crinkle.

The talisman crumpled and vanished.

SHHHH—!!

Light flowed out from beneath my feet and wrapped itself around the woman.

“...Ah.”

The woman’s eyes widened as if she’d felt something.

Then—

Slide.

“...!!”

Her hand touched Divine Spear’s cheek fully and completely.

Feeling that warmth, Divine Spear hurriedly covered her hand with his own.

“Ah...”

I could feel it. He seemed overwhelmed.

“Beloved.”

The woman spoke.

“I won’t ask you to forget me. I wouldn’t ask that of you when I couldn’t do it myself. But...”

She smiled again.

“Could you be happy for me? Could you smile the way I loved?”

“I...”

“This place is too cold, and too dark. It’s too cruel a place for someone as warm as you. So please, wake up now.”

“Do not live for atonement. Live for yourself. That was what I wanted.”

“...Ah...”

“I’m sorry.”

The woman apologized.

“I’m sorry I left first. I’m sorry I never said it. It was something I truly wanted to tell you.”

“...Don’t apologize... I was the one who didn’t know...”

“Will you forgive me?”

“I... have never resented you.”

“That’s right. That’s the kind of person you are.”

Both of her hands gently cupped Divine Spear’s cheeks.

“I feel the same. I never resented you either.”

“......”

“Be happy. For me. That alone is enough.”

Divine Spear lowered his head.

“Can you do that?”

The woman asked once more.

“...I... will... I... will do that.”

His voice came out thick with tears.

“Thank you.”

Only after hearing that answer did her body begin to change.

The light slowly grew stronger, and little by little she began to scatter.

“Beloved.”

“Ah... ah... Don’t go...!”

Divine Spear tried desperately to hold on to her, but instead she pressed herself into his arms and wrapped both arms around his neck.

“I love you. I did then, and I still do now.”

At those whispered words, Divine Spear’s body froze.

His eyes closed at her confession.

“...I love you too.”

Had that delayed answer satisfied her? The woman gave a small nod.

“Please be happy.”

And with those words—words she had repeated so many times I couldn’t count—

Shhhhh.

She began to scatter.

As I watched that, her gaze suddenly turned toward me.

Her fine features and simple lips moved soundlessly.

Thank you.

That was certainly what it looked like she said.

Shhhhh.

And then, at last, she scattered completely and vanished.

“......”

After watching that, I looked at Divine Spear, now left alone.

His head slowly bowed until it touched the ground.

His face was covered by both hands, as if he didn’t want anyone to see his expression.

And as though the world itself were taking on the feelings of its owner—

Shhhhhhh.

The world was gradually turning white.

“...It’s over.”

The white world came in, announcing the end.

And I let my body go slack with the sensation and closed my eyes.

*****

When I opened my eyes again, a familiar ceiling was there to greet me.

I pushed myself up.

The sunlight streaming through the window made me squint.

“...Mm...”

I rubbed my eyes and sat up, and then—

“You’re awake.”

A voice came from beside me.

I turned my head.

A large old man was looking down at me in silence.

“...Ah, yes.”

Looking at him, I asked awkwardly,

“You woke up?”

The same question.

At that, the old man spoke.

“Yes.”

As he answered, the old man—Divine Spear—smiled faintly.

“It seems I’ve finally awakened.”

It was the expression of someone rising from a very long dream.