Chapter 885
The campfire’s flames slowly flicker out as dawn breaks.
As “he” moved at the cliff’s edge, young Lily dusted off her behind and got up from her spot.
“Let’s go. The Master said to gather.”
“Even if we go, he won’t say anything, anyway.”
“I’m here to translate for you, right? Plus, the Master isn’t exactly a quiet type. You just can’t hear him speak.”
“…Hmm.”
Instead of getting up, Yena pulled out a small piece of paper from her pocket.
A letter that Lily had given her before things got weird.
Inside was a short apology, a greeting, and a list of things that Yena needed to do.
There was also some information about “him,” but…
“I’m telling you, it’s strange…”
“?”
“No matter how I think about it, it’s weird. If it’s Lily’s dream, shouldn’t we at least see the ‘Master’?”
In dreams, anything can become reality.
This place, after all, was a kind of distorted dream created by an angel.
It wouldn’t be surprising if five thousand angelic dinosaurs popped out to shoot down an asteroid bent on destroying Earth.
Surely, the Master should appear, too…
“It’s just a light. A light with no face, voice, or shape.”
“Looks normal to me.”
“That’s what’s strange. Why can you see him, but I can’t?”
“Maybe it’s because you’ve never seen the Master? More importantly, we should hurry to the Master…”
“No. From my perspective…”
This place wasn’t Yena’s dream; it was Lily’s dream.
It was just Lily’s background, but that didn’t mean Yena couldn’t see anything.
Yena thought at least that way, and the reason for that was her “sensation of seeing souls.”
The sensation she had when she looked at “him.”
“Definitely…”
A distant light.
An existence that feels like it could overwhelm you just by looking at it, as if you were facing a giant sun right before you…
“He’s not a living person. Right?”
“……”
You can’t feel any “will.”
If he were a soul, he should be filled with emotions like goodwill, malice, and desire… It’s normal to feel at least one of these countless emotions.
Even the young Lily in front of her had feelings of “longing” and “regret.”
This applied to almost all souls, and even the lowly dead had their own desires.
Young Lily’s expression stiffened a bit.
“He’s already dead. Completely extinguished, to the point where he can’t be seen.”
“…Yeah.”
“That’s why you can’t see him; no face, no voice.”
Lily’s Master had died long ago, leaving not even a speck of his soul in this world.
With the power of angels, they may have recreated his appearance in life, but he was an existence that could rival a “star,” maybe even more remarkable.
It would make sense that a mere “dream” wouldn’t be enough to perfectly realize his form.
“That’s why it’s only possible to manifest him as a lump of light like that…”
Young Lily shut her eyes for a moment before shaking her head.
“I can see him. You’re the only one who can’t.”
“Really now…”
“There’s no need to feel sorry for me. The Master… chose to go. Lily might resent it a bit, though.”
“I had a feeling that was the case.”
Yena recalled the moment she faced “him” after descending from the sky with Lily.
Back then, Lily’s expression was difficult to understand even for Yena, who had been with her for nearly two years.
Resentment, anguish, anger, and sorrow—a mix of countless emotions.
Yena couldn’t bring herself to say a word while watching Lily like that; she just decided to comply with her request.
“I mentioned before, but the things you asked for are two-fold. First, if ‘young Lily,’ or something similar, appears after Lily disappears, to cooperate as much as possible.”
“I’ve done part of that.”
“It’s not about ‘part’; I really worked hard, you know?!”
Since it’s a dream, the concept of time is a bit fuzzy, but she had diligently participated in training alongside young Lily.
It felt almost like she might die, as she’d been pushed harder than in any prior training Yena had experienced.
“I really want to smack you once it’s over.”
“Hehe. If you can.”
“And the second is…”
This was the most important one.
While it had been a question before, now that she’d fully awakened her “sensation of seeing souls,” it raised even more questions.
“…‘Erase his existence from the dream’? How on earth am I supposed to do that?!”
“Normally, it’s impossible.”
Even the angelic boss, who had appeared as a disaster, couldn’t even dare to manifest him, only creating a lump of light instead.
Of course, it was just a small part that had been manifested, but for Yena’s abilities, it was beyond her reach.
She probably couldn’t even touch a single strand of his hair.
It was truly a request without an answer.
But Lily wouldn’t have made a request that had a 0% chance of success.
“And one possibility is exactly that…”
“Do it for me.”
“Why for the Master?”
“Do it! If you don’t, Lily will go crazy and smash everything around her, don’t you think?!”
“Isn’t that just how Lily is?”
Right there, the goal is to “persuade” young Lily.
Given Yena’s capabilities, she couldn’t do anything to “him,” but getting young Lily’s help might just create a possibility.
In fact, unlike Lily, young Lily held at least some friendly feelings towards “him.”
“Lily even advised to seek cooperation from young Lily!”
“I worked really hard, alright?!”
“You did, but it’s still not enough.”
“How much longer do you plan to keep this up…? I’ve done quite a bit already!”
“Ah, this amount isn’t much at all.”
“…Please don’t say one day you’ll claim there’s nothing left to do.”
“That’s not the case. Erasing an existence doesn’t necessarily mean hurting them. Lily doesn’t want that…”
“──────.”
“!”
“Master?”
It felt heavy.
A distant light stood tall over young Lily and Yena at some point, and Yena felt as if her very existence merged with the ground.
A true “bug.”
No, that felt like an understatement.
Before “him,” Yena classified as an existence that wasn’t even worth being called a bug.
“I-I didn’t think it’d be like this?”
Shaking, Yena struggled to raise her head.
Clearly, every time she’d encountered “him,” she never felt like she was about to topple over.
In fact, he had probably been considerate enough that even looking at him directly had just dazzled her.
She shouldn’t be feeling this squished━
“────?”
“It must be because your eyes have improved. Yes, yes.”
“Huh?!”
She returned.
Yena dazedly steadied herself and got up, finding young Lily conversing with a massive lump of light.
Little Lily chuckled and gave Yena’s shoulder a playful poke.
“Your eyes have improved so rapidly that it’s causing this. You shouldn’t be looking directly at such an expansive being.”
“Ah…”
“If it really had been the case, you would’ve caught on immediately and balanced it out. But… the Master isn’t normal either.”
“──────.”
“Right? That’s what I said! Ouch!”
The light lump’s hand, or whatever it was, slightly tapped young Lily’s head.
It seemed like a mere touch on her head, but young Lily scratched her head like it hurt, letting a tear fall.
“────.”
“Uh… I’ll be right there. Just finishing up the conversation here. Really, really.”
Young Lily raised her pinky and thumb in a gesture of trust, and “he” nodded before vanishing without a trace.
Young Lily, still scratching her head, helped Yena get up.
“Ugh… Anyway! Once everything’s wrapped up, I’ll do as you said. We’re almost there. Even if it seems time is tight, being hasty isn’t going to solve anything.”
“……”
“Rather, we need to approach slowly. The Master isn’t perfect yet either. Don’t you trust Lily?”
“I trust you.”
“Then just wait a little…”
“It’s the others not trusting that’s the issue.”
Most people wouldn’t understand Lily’s actions.
Of course, it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t, as there weren’t many who could affect Lily, but there were still exceptions.
“There may not be as much time as you think.”
■
“…So, Lady Lily…”
“It’s a complicated situation. Uriel. More than you think.”
Uriel nodded at Gabriel’s words.
Though they were hard to accept, he somewhat understood.
Lily had a rather specific reason for hating angels; it wasn’t simply because she despised them as a “user.”
‘…It was something she actually experienced.’
Despite the misunderstandings, Lily, having lost precious people, would never let angels off easily.
Coexisting with angels was an impossible dream from the start.
From the moment she contracted with angels, the relationship between the angel guild and Lily was already a predetermined outcome.
“Wait a sec. Something feels off here.”
“What do you mean?”
“But in the beginning, Lady Lily treated us quite well, right? Helping out with quests.”
“That’s true.”
“So if that’s the case, isn’t there a chance to return to our previous relationship? If everything has just become strange now?”
“That’s possible, but… is there a proper way?”
Lily had already decided to kill all angels.
And the angel guild was encompassed within that category.
Forget persuasion; just standing in front of her meant certain death.
Gabriel shook her head, seemingly regretting it.
“Now we have to choose. Before the problem gets bigger.”
