Chapter 120: Someone’s Memory
Gale suddenly opened his eyes. As if waking from a deep sleep, his consciousness was hazy.
He stood and looked around.
“…Where am I?”
The vast, empty cavern was dark and desolate.
Like a rough cave or an abandoned tomb, it stirred an odd sentiment the more he looked.
It was simply hollow.
Nothing could hold meaning, nothing could fill this emptiness.
“…Guess I’ll move for now.”
Standing still felt like being consumed by endless void.
Desperately trying to think of something else, Gale walked along the straight path.
Then he realized the last scene he remembered was unclear.
“So, what happened to me?”
He was with his comrades on the airship, then suddenly summoned to a strange place and captured.
There was a stunning but clearly unhinged woman. And…
—I’ll apologize in advance. Vessel, you’ll probably die!
—No, no! It’s a noble act to restore His freedom, so be grateful! Die with gratitude!
He was forcibly kissed.
Recalling this, Gale halted.
“Argh! My lips’ purity…!!”
He felt wronged. Being kidnapped was bad enough, but having his lips stolen by a stranger!
“Ugh! My prime bachelor life! My marriage prospects are ruined!”
Gale slumped pitifully, squeezing out fake tears. Wiping them with the back of his hand, he elegantly extended his pinky.
If Calix saw this, he’d scowl, calling it ‘pathetic.’ Sercia would ignore it. Nahrhan would hurl icy insults with a smile.
Elwin… would probably chuckle warmly, saying, ‘Well, that can happen.’
That would hit the hardest.
“Ah.”
Imagining this, Gale suddenly recalled he was alone here.
He scratched his head awkwardly.
“Tch.”
Maybe because he’d been forcibly stuck with the Spero crew almost daily, except when sleeping.
His body moved before his mind, expecting their reactions.
‘Well, the young lord’s reactions are fun. The lady and the butler are subtly amusing too. The kid…’
No one was here. The loneliness he’d forgotten began to resurface.
Shaking his head, Gale stood.
“I need to get out.”
He had to return.
The moment he thought this, the space around him warped.
Rumble.
With a tremor, a building appeared—whether falling from the sky or rising from the ground, he couldn’t tell.
It must’ve once been grand, but now it was old, forgotten, and partially ruined—a temple.
Gale slowly entered. An unconscious step.
Step, step.
In the empty temple, his footsteps echoed like a reverberation.
Reaching the deepest part, Gale instinctively held his breath.
“…!!”
There stood a beautiful statue of a woman.
Cascading hair like a waterfall, draped with a long veil.
Blue, radiant gem eyes—sapphire or topaz—sparkled ceaselessly.
So meticulously carved, it seemed alive.
Gale unwittingly reached toward the statue.
“…Cold.”
Not the coolness of marble, but the chill of a corpse’s skin.
Gale felt ‘death’ in the statue.
—Welcome, ■■■. Did you enjoy your outing?
Yet the faint smile on its gently curved lips seemed profoundly tender.
“Huh? Why am I…”
For some reason, Gale’s eyes grew hot.
His chest tightened painfully.
He wanted to cling to its legs and cry, to act spoiled like a child.
Though he’d never done so.
Was this tied to his lost memories?
Who was she?
Someone I knew before?
He wanted to resolve the surging questions immediately…
But the statue only smiled tenderly, offering no answers.
“Well, of course. A statue can’t talk.”
Muttering, Gale gazed at the statue, lost in inexplicable sentiment.
How much time passed?
RUMBLE!
A far stronger tremor than before shook the ground.
“What? An earthquake?!”
The old temple began to collapse. If he didn’t escape, he’d be in danger.
But…
Pause.
Gale turned back from running to the exit. The statue still smiled tenderly.
Leaving it would likely see it destroyed, reduced to nothing.
Gale gritted his teeth.
‘You expect me to leave you again?’
…Huh.
‘Again?’
Finally, Gale ruffled his hair and turned toward the statue.
“Damn it!”
Do or die!
Leaving it felt like it would leave an indelible regret.
You only live once.
“Urgh! I don’t want to die with regrets!”
Carefully hoisting the heavy statue onto his back, Gale ran toward the exit.
The temple was on the verge of total collapse!
“Huff! Huff! Just a bit more…!”
He could make it out safely. Both he and the statue.
But then—
Swish.
A shadow flickered at the collapsing temple’s edge, forming a human shape.
A man, now holding a long sword.
With unreadable eyes, he watched Gale’s desperate escape, then charged at him.
Whoosh.
The menacing aura made the temple’s candles flicker.
“W-Who’s there…?”
Before Gale could turn at the presence—
STAB—!
The long sword pierced through Gale and the statue simultaneously.
Spitting blood, Gale collapsed. The statue on his back fell to the ground.
THUD! CRACK.
The statue, taking the impact to protect Gale from the unknown assailant, cracked.
Gale’s eyes shook wildly as he saw the damaged statue.
“Urgh…!”
Enduring the pain, Gale crawled toward it.
He reached out desperately.
But ignoring Gale’s desperation, the assailant approached the statue first, raising his sword.
“No, don’t—!”
CRUNCH!
The statue shattered completely.
“Ah.”
Gale’s eyes lost their light as he sighed. He looked up at the approaching presence.
In the dark temple, with even the faint candlelight behind him, the man’s face was obscured.
—Hello, ■■■. Long time no see.
In that moment, Gale felt a wildfire of hatred surge, consuming him. It burned his heart to ashes, leaving only cinders.
“You. I’ll kill you. I’ll definitely kill you.”
Gale spoke emotionlessly. But his blazing eyes gleamed endlessly.
The man smiled, as if satisfied.
—By all means. You’re welcome to try, ■■■.
He raised his sword. Gale stared unblinkingly to the end.
—See you again.
The blade came down. In the final moment, what seared into Gale’s mind…
—Next time, don’t be late to kill me.
The man’s vivid blond hair.
And… when he opened his eyes again, it was a scene of carnage.
“Huh… What’s this place now?”
The world was filled with corpses, blood, poison, and lava.
“I’m alive?”
Feeling it was ‘natural’ he hadn’t died, Gale frowned. The pain of being pierced was vivid.
“What the hell’s going on.”
He clicked his tongue. It felt like he was trapped in a vile nightmare.
Then—
“You’ve finally arrived.”
A strange voice spoke in a space that should’ve been empty.
Gale quickly turned toward the sound.
“To falter in such a trivial nightmare. Pathetic!”
Atop a mountain of corpses, on a grand throne.
A black figure lounged loosely. Its face and form were shadowy, indistinct…
“Horns?”
A pair of massive horns, as if commanding the heavens, and a thorny crown were vividly clear.
The sole white thorny crown was woven in the shape of an ‘inverted cross.’
Gale instinctively knew.
‘Demon.’
That was a demon. A legendary being from scripture. One said to have once defied the gods.
“You dare call me a mere demon? Haha! You… you haven’t just lost your memories through pretense—you’ve truly forgotten! What a farce! A farce like no other!”
The ‘voice’ mocked him brazenly, responding to thoughts Gale hadn’t voiced.
As if reading his mind.
“Not ‘as if’—I am reading them. You and I are bound by fate.”
Heh. The shadowy figure seemed to grin.
A thought inevitably crossed Gale’s mind.
‘…Then, does this ‘voice’ know about me before I lost my memories?’
Gale Garav was desperate to fill his voids.
So he asked, peeling apart his stuck lips, barely squeezing out sound.
“Do you know me?”
“Haha! I’m not unaware! You’re the one who reduced me to this state. Have you forgotten sealing me in your body?”
“Then maybe…?”
“Your thought is correct.”
Gale’s red eyes trembled faintly.
The reason he lost his mind to madness every time he saw blood on the battlefield.
‘It was because of this.’
And simultaneously, Gale realized one more thing. Another instinctive intuition.
‘This thing and I are opposites.’
Like water and oil. Born to be adversaries.
“Too harsh. To someone who’s been with you so long… a companion, in a way.”
Even after coexisting in the same unconscious space for so long, their essences couldn’t merge.
“Well, who knows? You might fall someday. I look forward to it. Your wretched fall.”
The ‘voice’ hummed gleefully. Gale reflexively guarded himself, thinking.
No way.
“Never say never! No one knows! The gods are dead! So the end of all things is unset. Left in a state of infinite possibilities. And you know, don’t you? Or have you forgotten this too?”
The ‘voice’ grew increasingly excited, as if uncontrollably thrilled.
“Even the noblest angel can fall! As your siblings proved.”
“What?”
Gale’s eyes widened. …Siblings?
I have brothers and sisters?
“…Tch. Fun’s over, I guess. Time to return, ■■■. It was amusing while it lasted.”
The ‘voice’ spoke boredly. But for Gale, it was good news.
He wanted out of this strange place as soon as possible.
“One last piece of advice, as part of this shared bond.”
But a demon is a demon.
“That blond by your side. You’d better watch out.”
The demon left Gale with lingering suspicion. The ‘voice’ cackled.
“Unless you want to be betrayed and die again.”
Thud, his heart sank coldly.