203. The Cage
“It’s so hard.”
Reina patted Calysia’s back, or rather,
“I’m in so much pain… Reina, I’m really in so much pain…”
“Don’t be afraid, Calysia. Actually, you can give up.”
Reina comforted her:
“Absorb my power, take my place, and become the Goddess of Light.”
“I…”
Calysia gently bit Reina.
“Are you a dummy?! No, absolutely not!”
“I don’t think you have the strength to save me.”
“Don’t you already have my soul core? Why are you still so cold?”
“I’m also adapting.”
“Dummy!”
Calysia was furious.
“This goddess can’t even live without me, this dummy…”
Reina sighed:
“You could have clearly returned to the second time node, which is after my death, or the third time node, which is when I was resurrected… Why did you return to the very beginning?”
“Because I did something wrong. I had to start over,” Calysia gradually became serious, but her face was still covered in tears.
“But I will never give up on you. I will never give up on you. Watch me, Reina.”
“I will definitely give you a good ending.”
The scene shifted again.
“I’m sorry, Reina…”
“I’m sorry…”
Under the setting sun, before parting, the two stared at each other.
Two years later, they parted, and this time, Reina still hadn’t remembered anything.
“So, we can’t be together in the end…”
“If there’s a next time, I will definitely be your wife.”
“I’m sorry, Reina.”
“It seems that that promise, this time, was not fulfilled.”
Calysia shook her head in despair and committed suicide in front of Reina.
“Ahhh…”
“Ahhh…”
Reina, who had originally wanted to see her off, stared at the dead Calysia with empty eyes.
The power she had seized was instantly restored, and her memory also began to recover.
“This damned world… why not just destroy it?”
The Goddess of Light blamed everything on the world, and now that she had recovered her power, she still couldn’t continue to hand over the key… because Calysia was dead.
Because of her, once again.
And in the next cycle, she would forget everything and continue to let Calysia bear everything.
And each time, Calysia would bear several times more than before.
“[Light]”
Now, I awaken you.
Holding Calysia, Reina said, trembling mercilessly. She had never so clearly experienced her own feelings, her own angry emotions.
What answered her was a bell-like voice: “Goddess?”
“I order you to destroy the world. From the next cycle, I will be incomparably angry.”
“Mmm… why exactly?”
“The entire world is wrong,” the goddess said angrily.
“[The Shadow of God] shouldn’t exist, and the order we believe in doesn’t exist. To achieve eternal peace, we must destroy the world and start over.”
“I will say the same thing next time.”
And then, another cycle.
Again…
To prevent the void in her soul from causing pain, she filled her soul core with obsession, becoming a heart that could only be opened for Reina.
And so, her heart was also filled with only Reina.
“How many times has this been, Calysia?”
“1,326 times.”
“…”
“It seems you can persevere. If it’s already a number, then I don’t need to say anything more… Calysia, what should I do next?”
“Love me,” she caressed Reina’s cheek, feeling every detail of her skin.
Calysia had already begun to descend into a pathological madness.
Until she brought this emotion to Wood Village.
“When she appears, I will wait at the beginning of her journey to punish her, to torment her, until she understands my pain.”
I see.
Everything was because of Reina.
Yes…
When Reina wanted to blame everything on the world, she discovered that the fault was not with the world, but with herself.
It was all my fault.
The one who had turned Calysia into this, the one who had made her experience pain, the one who had made her suffer was me.
“Did you think… you were observing me in the hundred cycles of transmigration? Did you think you saw me commit suicide countless times… you’re wrong, Reina… sob, sob”
These words echoed in her mind.
I see.
The self-righteous one was myself all along.
I don’t deserve to live.
As long as Calysia could become a god, as long as she hadn’t saved me at that time.
Let the reincarnation end here.
…
Her vision became clear again. Under the setting sun of the apocalypse, only Calysia and Reina were left standing.
—Aurora was dead.
The war was won.
Right?
She looked at Reina with eyes that were three parts hope and seven parts despair, as if she had already anticipated something.
“Calysia, I don’t deserve to be a goddess. Now, absorb my soul core and destroy me, completely ending the reincarnation.”
In the clash of thoughts, Reina came to this conclusion.
If there was another reincarnation, even if there was a one in ten thousand chance, even if it happened, Reina absolutely could not accept it.
Calysia lowered her head.
Reina’s voice was calm: “You will forget me, and this world will also forget my existence, losing the concept of the Goddess of Light. Mmm… the only thing to worry about is Agnes and Light. Can you help me take care of them? Incubating an egg alone will be very tiring…”
Saying that, Reina’s voice also wavered. She hadn’t expected to choke up at this time.
“I knew it… this time also failed. I’m sorry, Reina, this time it’s my fault.”
Calysia looked up and cried with a smile.
“You asked me what I would have left if my country, the people I trust, and my enemies all disappeared. I have only you, Reina… I will never forget you, until forever.”
Saying that, the dagger Reina was all too familiar with appeared in Calysia’s hand.
She almost plunged it into her own heart in an instant.
But before that…
“Bang—!”
Reina deflected the dagger with a ray of magic light and then held it in her hand with [space].
“Reina!!”
The next second, Calysia directly pinned Reina to the ground.
“I… give it back, give it back… sob, sob, sob…”
Reina held the dagger tightly, not letting Calysia take it away.
“I don’t know, I don’t know how to achieve a perfect ending… when will the [reincarnation] finally end? When can I escape from the [cage]? I don’t know… sob, sob, sob…”
The reincarnation is over…
It seems that even this life has been experienced countless times.
I must let Calysia have my divine power and erase her memories.
That would be the best ending.
For me, and for her.
“…”
Calysia cried in despair. She gradually stopped resisting, as if she had given up.
“Why… Reina…”
“I want to live with you…”
As if noticing something, suddenly, a glimmer of hope flashed in Reina’s empty eyes.
If… her Dragon Mark reached level 100…
