Chapter 28

Chapter 28

As the situation where I faced Faust unfolded, I finally saw my body.

‘Blood… damn it… I bled too much.’

The broken fragment of the dagger that I wore upside down was the cause.

Faust’s incomplete body had both strength and weakness. It was still an unstable body, so it was not strange to collapse at any time if I fought such a fierce battle.

‘…It’s a backlash.’

Hallucinations and auditory hallucinations.

Backlash, defined as a mental disorder.

When using a demon’s weapon, it was a common worldview that ordinary people would lose their minds to the weapon. It was a weapon that Faust could handle, but even then, I couldn’t handle it perfectly in the early episodes.

That’s why the backlash, a problem that often occurred in the early stages, came to me now. This was not a simple problem.

The battle was still going on, and hearing hallucinations and hallucinations meant that my body was reaching its limit.

But why did Faust come out? Why did he call my name…?

Maybe he’s causing the most fatal disorder for me? Then…

I’m sorry, oppa. I’m so tired. I was on duty, right?

No, it’s okay. Are you tired? I’ll do the rest.

‘…No.’

The memory of Seung-ah flowed like a film on one side.

I had to stop the backlash.

“Why are you doing this? Are you blaming yourself for what happened?”

“Stop…”

“You’re like me in the past. That eye… the eye of the dead.”

“Stop it…”

“It’s not the eye of someone who struggles to live!”

Kim Seo-jin. Is that really enough? If you deceive yourself… is that all?

Shut up.

“Shut up!”

You haven’t changed since you lost Seung-ah. You’re still indecisive and scared.

“Don’t say that name! Don’t say it casually!”

The echo that floats emptily.

“…Is it a mental disorder? Yeah. You’re being swayed by the devil. It’s funny, the end came not to me, but to you.”

I have to focus.

First of all, I have to win this battle.

Why? Why do you want to win?

Because I don’t want to die!

You don’t want to die? Hmm… I don’t think so.

‘What are you talking about…’

Think carefully. Don’t lie to yourself. Look down.

‘Look… down?’

…No.

That can’t be.

This is…

Between the clothes torn in battle, there were clear lines on my wrist.

The traces of self-harm.

Yeah. You did that.

No!

You wanted to die, Kim Seo-jin.

“No!”

No! I have to get myself together.

Cal Curso is…

‘…coming!’

Boom-!

“Kuuk… cough…”

“A guy who can’t even control his own mind, lecturing someone else’s life… what a strange thing.”

“Karl… Kurso.”

“I’d like to sympathize with you, but this is your last chance.”

He smirked.

“Give up the devil. That’s the end.”

“I can’t… do that.”

“Then… die.”

Clang-!

The Lake and Cal Curso’s longsword collided. Every time they collided, my body trembled and blood dripped.

The wound was deep, and death was imminent. But why, why did my stifling heart gradually loosen?

The days when I wandered without knowing why, like a lie, as if the truth that was hidden by the clouds was revealed.

As if I finally faced myself who was stifling…

‘Karl… Kurso…’

Clang-!

Clang!

I looked into his eyes as he crossed swords.

Not the sword, but him.

There was no shaking.

I didn’t feel anything evil or good.

He just fought for his goal.

That eye full of fighting spirit, it looked different from me.

‘…Ah.’

I finally realized.

The reason why I was uncomfortable when I saw Cal Curso was because I envied him.

Because that’s how I wanted to be.

Whether I was a murderer, or a hateful evil to someone, I wanted to be free from being tied down.

For that reason he lived, he devoted everything without hesitation. That made me look back at myself.

Am I better than him?

Squeak…

Squeak…

Clang-!

As I crossed swords with him, the memories I erased popped up like fireworks.

What were you going to say?

That… I decided on a name.

Really? What is it? Can you tell me?

Faust!

That’s a good name.

Hehe… right? I thought you’d like it.

Yeah.

It wasn’t okay.

Seung-ah… my Seung-ah… save my Seung-ah!

Without Seung-ah, I was like a tree with dead roots. I was just a walking corpse, my mind and heart already dead.

That day, that place.

From the accident that took Seung-ah away.

Did I want to die?

Because I had no reason to live?

‘I want to… live.’

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to die.

I wanted to live.

I just wanted to live.

That’s why I cried out every day for someone to save me.

‘I see…’

I remembered everything.

I was the pathetic one who had been lying all this time.

Before I came here, that is, the day when the game called Lemegeton said goodbye to everyone. I was losing the last remaining memory of Seung-ah.

I didn’t have the courage to face the dead Seung-ah.

I couldn’t… accept that reality.

I decided to die.

Because I had no reason to live.

‘I wasn’t asleep. I…’

The last thing I remember was swallowing all the pills in the bottle.

…Did I die in reality? Or am I still alive?

I lived a life of adapting to many things. I didn’t bother anyone, and I had no memory of doing anything that would make anyone frown. I didn’t break the law, I valued morality, and I always treated someone with courtesy.

And yet, I lost Seung-ah.

…Why?

My daughter… let her go. You have to…

I said I’ll pay for it, didn’t I? What’s the problem?

The world hated me.

Even here, it didn’t want me to live.

So… I hated the world now.

Clang-!

Gulp…

“Puhaak…”

“It looks like you’ve reached your limit. I guess so. I’ve never heard of a demon using the power of another demon. You’ll surely collapse soon.”

“Ha… ha… cough…”

“Die, you who don’t want to live.”

To make Faust happy, I had to face a lot of resistance.

If Faust became happy, a lot more people would become unhappy. That was the only reason that had made me hesitate until now.

To live, many people die. I never heard what the end of that was.

I’ll definitely make Faust happy. You join me too!

But still…

The reason to live.

The reason to live.

It was rather here.

As if someone had prepared it for me. As if to say, live even if you’re suffering.

Oh, is that it?

‘Seung-ah… my Seung-ah… was it you…’

Was it you who called me here?

If so, if that’s the case… I’ll accept it.

From today on, I’m Faust.

Even if everything of Kim Seo-jin dies, if that’s what you want, Seung-ah.

I’ll live as Faust.

Faust must be happy.

That promise, I’ll keep it.

…So you can rest easy.

Boom-!

I gasped for breath as I widened the distance.

“Heuk… heuk…”

“Hoo… hoo…”

How much power is left… no, what’s left is…

‘Is that it…’

I can still kill Cal Curso.

This glass body, it seems like it could break at any time, but it’s chillingly sharp.

Cal Curso was strong.

Much more than I expected.

But,

‘…he can’t beat me.’

Faust won’t die here.

Paaang-!

I stirred up the water in the pit.

A curtain of water made of decayed energy spread around Cal Curso.

“Are you there!”

He swung his sword at the signs he felt from the front and back of the spray. The sight that only saw right in front of him, it must have made him more agile than usual.

That was why he swung his sword without hesitation.

Squeak-!

Splash-!

Squeak!

Splash-!

“…What?”

Cal Curso, who cut the miserable clone made of decay, resembling me, and turned the water upside down.

He turned it over twice, so he had no time to spare.

The next attack must be blocked.

“Uaaaaaa!”

I appeared above him, over the spray, and swung my sword down.

I couldn’t honestly tell what kind of spirit I was screaming.

My body was already battered.

“Uaaaaaa!”

I just thought that the beast-like roar that he was screaming would soon be the same as me.

He neatly parried the attack that I swung down with both hands.

Clang-!

Squeak…

This was the situation that had been repeated until now.

The path that I couldn’t go because I hesitated.

Now… I’ll kill him.

“Kuk… It seems that the last blow was the end. Too bad.”

“Ha… ha…”

“I can feel the power draining from you. Be at ease. It’s over now…”

Cal Curso couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Burp…”

He must have noticed by now.

“…Poison?”

“It’s the decayed energy that’s scattered in the air.”

“Impossible… since when…”

From the moment I tried to transform.

I had made Cal Curso inhale the black clouds continuously.

“This, this…”

Sss…

He must have felt it too.

The moment I crossed swords with him, the decayed energy that seeped into my body moved to his arms.

Squeak…

His arms began to crack. The energy that overflowed from the lake where he crossed swords with me invaded his sword and even his arms.

Inside and out, it rotted.

Darkly.

“How can this be… my arm…”

Squeak…

“Ha… ha…”

Blood kept flowing from my nose and mouth.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

Squeak!

Splash!

The sturdy arms of the knight shattered and scattered.

Pss…

Like the petals of a black iron flower that had run out of life.

And what dug into that space was the lake.

Freed from bondage, my free sword cut the world horizontally.

It wasn’t a will to kill.

It was a swing that contained the will to live.

To live on.

“Say…”

Splash-!

Cal Curso’s head flew into the air and rotted.

Pss…

A huge fountain of blood erupted.

The dark blood from his body, like a fallen cup, spilled and soon subsided.

“Ha… ha…”

It was hot.

It was incredibly hot blood.

“Ha… h…”

And tears.

I survived.

Step…

Step…

Someone made a sign behind me.

I turned my waist halfway and looked back.

“…Lord Faust.”

“…”

“You’re smiling.”

My appearance covered in blood.

There were tears on the face with the devil mask.

There was a smile on my lips that I didn’t know.

As if the dam that I had blocked had collapsed, it was a mess. A surge of emotions swept over me.

I had an expression.

The gray world was painted with vivid colors.

Homework.

If this is homework, I’ll accept it.

Where Kim Seo-jin died, Faust was born.

“…Lucifer.”

“Yes.”

Faust must be happy.

“Bring me some tea.”

[Soon, the final episode of Cal Curso in the first act will end.]

[You have stopped a powerful enemy compared to the level of the dungeon.]

[Luck is with you for the loot acquisition.]