The figure appeared at a completely unexpected moment.
Chesha was so surprised that her eyes widened, and she froze.
Why did Hাইলon appear in Remil’s memory?
And covered in blood, at that…
Chesha carefully examined the scene unfolding before her and suddenly realized.
‘This isn’t Remil’s memory.’
It was a memory left in this bizarre white space.
It seemed to have been awakened by Chesha’s power after being entangled with the fairy’s power and sleeping.
Thump, thump, her heart beat rapidly.
Feeling a slight pain as if her chest was tightening, Chesha looked at Hাইলon’s youthful face.
He seemed to be just coming of age.
He looked younger than he did now.
Hাইলon was standing in the middle of the white space.
He was wearing the Holy Knight uniform, but it was soaked in red blood, and the original pure white color was nowhere to be found.
The silver hair, which used to glow faintly even in the dark, was also stained with blood and turned gloomy.
Whether the blood had not stopped yet, even as Hাইলon stood motionless, the red stain was gradually intensifying.
“……”
The gaze that had been looking down at the floor slowly turned forward.
Under the silver eyelashes, trembling blue eyes were revealed.
It felt like her heart was sinking.
Even knowing that it was a fragment of the past that had already passed.
Even knowing that there was nothing she could do but watch.
The moment she saw the pain etched in his eyes, Chesha wanted to run to him.
‘Hাইলon!’
She called his name, but of course, no sound came out.
Here, Chesha was a powerless spectator who could not intervene in any way.
Hাইলon, standing on the blue pattern, slowly opened his mouth.
“…I can do it.”
The anguish in his voice was unfamiliar.
He, who rarely showed his emotions to others, pleaded with someone.
“I will definitely do it. So……”
“Don’t be stubborn, Hাইলon.”
The voice that cut off Hাইলon’s words was somehow familiar.
The moment Chesha frowned, Hাইলon clenched his teeth.
Clatter!
A sharp metallic sound spread.
White chains stretched out in all directions.
At the same time as the chains filled the wide space, Hাইলon painfully contorted his face.
Blood gushed out from between his fingers, which were hastily covering his mouth.
A white bracelet was visible on his trembling wrist.
It was the Chain of Atonement, a sacred relic of the Holy Empire of Hilderde [a powerful artifact used to bind and control individuals with immense power].
The chains containing divine power shone white.
However, the light was precarious, as if it would go out at any moment.
“…!”
Blood soaked into Hাইলon’s uniform.
New wounds had appeared on his body.
‘Stop it! You idiot!’
Chesha stamped her feet.
His body was being damaged by excessive use of divine power.
She didn’t know why he was being so stubborn when he could just say he couldn’t do it.
‘Is he going to die like this?’
Even though she was anxious and restless, Hাইলon stubbornly stretched out the chains.
But in the end, he couldn’t hold on.
The moment Hাইলon collapsed as if crumbling, the chains shattered into small pieces like glass.
The scattering fragments turned into light and disappeared.
Despair was etched on Hাইলon’s face.
He tried desperately to get up again, but only collapsed again.
A cold command was issued.
“Bring him.”
Eight people wearing Holy Knight uniforms entered the room.
They all looked about the same age as Hাইলon.
The young knights, who had just come of age and still had a youthful air, were all holding daggers.
Chesha carefully examined the knights and found a familiar face among them.
‘Daren……?’
Hাইলon’s adjutant, Daren.
Unlike now, he was not wearing a monocle, and the scar on his face, which he always covered with glasses, was also gone.
The knights were all trembling.
They were all unable to hide their fear, and some even had tears in their eyes.
Nevertheless, they forcibly moved their feet and took their places on the outermost part of the blue pattern drawn on the floor.
Hাইলon, surrounded by eight people, gasped for breath.
His blue eyes met the eyes of each of the knights surrounding him.
Each time they made eye contact with Hাইলon, the terrified knights forced a faint smile.
Daren moved his lips silently.
It’s okay.
However, the corners of his lips, which he barely managed to raise, were pathetically trembling.
A voice like a sentence was dropped.
“It is a small sacrifice for the greater good.”
The Holy Knights simultaneously slashed their palms with the daggers in their hands.
At the same time as the fallen blood was absorbed into the pattern on the floor, an ominous sound echoed through the white space.
Pure white divine power flowed out from the eight knights.
The divine power was absorbed into the pattern on the floor.
The blue pattern began to turn red.
The red color gradually spread from the outermost part to the inside, heading towards Hাইলon, who was in the center of the pattern.
It was around the time when the blue pattern was completely dyed red.
Thud, one of the eight knights collapsed powerlessly.
The light disappeared from her eyes.
The white divine power flowing from her body also disappeared.
Starting with her, the knights fell like broken dolls, thud, thud.
Those who fell were like dried-up wooden blocks.
The lifeless appearance meant only one thing.
Death…….
Each time the lives of the Holy Knights were exhausted, the red light of the pattern became clearer and more distinct.
Hাইলon struggled desperately.
He shed tears of blood and tried to reject the divine power pouring down on him.
However, his already broken body could not even struggle properly.
All he could do was scratch the floor with his broken fingernails.
Before he knew it, seven of the knights had stopped breathing.
The last remaining knight was Daren.
As if accepting his predetermined fate, Daren was about to close his eyes.
At that moment, a dazzling light burst from Hাইলon’s crouching body.
What appeared after the pure white light passed was…….
Eight wings.
The moment Chesha saw the wings unfolded with only pure light, only one word came to her mind.
The proof of divinity.
It was a sacred sight that even the fairies, who were called heretics, held their breath for a moment.
Even while seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn’t believe it. At that moment, a man exclaimed and jumped in.
“Ah!”
Although it was a much younger face than now, she could recognize him right away.
It was the Holy King Sianor.
He was moved to tears as he looked at the wings sprouting from Hাইলon’s back.
“Now I can finally make a sacred relic for myself.”
He rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the wings.
Divine power swirled in his roughly clenched hand.
He seemed to caress the wing bones with his other hand, and then a terrible sound spread along with the smell of blood.
Crack.
The wings were plucked out.
Hাইলon’s body, which had been limp without even moving as if exhausted, twitched greatly.
Sianor offered a prayer praising God and tore off the wings one by one.
Flesh was cut away, and wings were plucked.
The smell of blood tightened her breath and made her feel like she was suffocating.
‘Hাইলon.’
She reached out desperately.
‘Hাইলon……!’
She wanted to reach him.
She wanted to pull Hাইলon out of that terrible moment right away.
She wanted to tear Sianor to death.
But there was nothing she could do.
She just had to watch the time that had already passed.
Hাইলon, who had lost his mind from the pain, clenched his teeth at some point.
He stared ahead with bloodshot eyes.
The only blue eyes in the midst of the red sea of blood fumbled around and looked around.
His stiff body relaxed a little when he confirmed that Daren was alive.
“……”
Hাইলon’s eyes sharpened.
He endured the terrible pain.
He endured even while vomiting blood from the pain.
And the moment Sianor plucked out the last wing.
Pure white chains stretched out in all directions.
“Aaaagh!”
A scream erupted from Sianor’s mouth, who had been praising God and rejoicing until just now.
Chesha saw the blood spurting out like a fountain.
The Holy King’s arms had been cut off.
It was the first judgment of the chains.