Chapter 117

Roka learned something from me. Of all things, she had to learn the worst one.

There were many things I wished she had learned instead, but for some reason, she picked up the habit of charging headfirst into danger without hesitation.

“Even I sometimes run out of ideas, but why did she have to copy that part of me…?”

When that giant bird turned into a fireball and fell toward Roka, I thought my heart would drop too. Jumping off the Artabus Ship and flying through the sky was the right choice.

Thanks to that, I managed to feed her the Firefly Meringue before she stopped breathing.

It wasn’t a miracle or divine power, but shaping wings with Divine Power to fly was one of the first techniques the Bluebird taught me.

At least because of that, I wasn’t left alone on the ground while the Hero Party was up there. Yurinel, Lucia, and even Parnell knew how to fly.

“Roka… Roka. Sigh.”

Even after eating the Firefly Meringue, Roka didn’t wake up immediately. It wasn’t because her injuries were severe. Rather, it seemed like a significant change was happening in her body. Did she gain something from that intense battle earlier?

At times like this, even the slightest touch could be dangerous. Just like touching a cocoon can deform a butterfly’s wings, periods of transformation are usually fragile.

‘She’s facing a change as drastic as a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.’

The change Roka was undergoing was that intense. I still don’t understand how one battle could cause this, but seeing the shattered Moonlight Blade gave me a rough idea. Enlightenment isn’t just about how long you’ve lived—it’s more about what you’ve done.

If I had stayed in Pumpkin Vine Village even twice as long as I have now, I wouldn’t know half of what I do today.

Roka is younger than me, but I can’t underestimate her anymore. I set her down for a moment and walked toward something glittering in the distance.

What remained was no longer a weapon, just a hilt with the blade melted away.

The metal, infused with the essence of the moon, didn’t seep into the ground or scatter. Instead, it condensed and formed a metallic crystal. Thinking of Roka proudly jumping around with this blade made me chuckle.

It felt like just yesterday she was boasting about it, and well, it *was* just yesterday. Not long after she got it, the famed blade turned back into ore. Until we find a blacksmith to reforge it, Roka is effectively weaponless.

But then again, does she even need a reason to have one?

*Kugugugugu!*

The ground shook again, as if the nightmare wasn’t over yet.

Refusing to end even when it was time, it made one last desperate move. Like how the darkest hour is just before dawn, it flaunted its power as if this was still its world.

*Pukok!*

An egg floated up, wriggling. The rocks it touched melted into lava, and the egg rose above the lava lake, reappearing before me. The bird that had vanished into the sunset was now wriggling inside the egg, mocking me. Or maybe it was mocking Roka.

-*Kee. Hee. Hee. Hee.*

Whatever. Yes, it’s really over now.

What needed to happen had to happen; it was just delayed. I had made up my mind long before coming here. All that remained was to act.

When I smirked at it without reacting, its laughter stopped abruptly. Perhaps it realized it couldn’t intimidate me, and it just stared at me quietly.

The thing inside the egg glared at me with burning anger in its eyes. Does this bird even realize it’s the one provoking such anger?

“You said you’d protect me.”

Ignoring its gaze, I picked up the crystallized Moonlight Blade and returned to Roka’s side. Placing my hand on the still unconscious child’s forehead, I slowly closed my eyes.

*Crack. Crunch.* The sound of the egg breaking kept hitting my ears. It was clear the thing was trying to hatch again, but it didn’t matter. I had already used it.

“At least not today.”

I looked up at the sky. The sun was still shining brightly.

The battle was short and intense, and the sun hadn’t set yet. It wasn’t even time for dinner, but so much had happened in that short time.

Now it was time to end the chaos. *Twinkle.* A star pierced through the sunlight, announcing its presence. Brightly. Even more brightly. It shone brighter than the sun, making its presence known. Even in broad daylight, it was more visible than stars at night.

That one star guided a companion. That companion brought a comet. The comet became a lighthouse, illuminating the stars again.

A constellation slowly etched itself into the midday sky. Now, the sun was no longer the protagonist of the sky. It could no longer chase away the stars with arrows of light.

*Crack! Thud!*

-*Keeeruruk!*

The egg completely shattered, and the fully hatched creature once again engulfed itself in flames, poking its head out of the shell. As it spread its wings, the egg fragments turned to dust.

The creature, which had been glaring at Roka beside me, spread its wings wide and soared into the sky. With white flames in its mouth, ready to spit them out at any moment, it looked at me.

Then it laughed at us. It seemed to want me to be afraid, staring at me with sadistic eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders and pointed beyond the sky. Suddenly, it struck me that people and this creature weren’t so different.

It wanted to kill us immediately to vent its anger, but it had no idea what was descending above it.

One of its eyes followed my finger upward, and finally, it saw.

The countless stars decorating the bright midday sky. Some stars drew curves, others straight lines, all converging at the center of the sky.

A miracle. The Milky Way blooming at night. The stars didn’t move. They stayed in their places.

It was the light emitted by the stars that moved, making it seem like the stars were moving. Finally, the gathered light at the center of the sky formed a crude axe and fell.

I was prepared. I had been since coming here. I came prepared to take someone’s life, so I was also prepared to have my own taken.

Now, it was time to ask that bird. Are you prepared for that much?

Well. The monstrous king, who had driven countless people to death and pushed even more to the brink, seemed to lack the mental preparation. It let out a panicked groan upon seeing the axe.

-*Kee, kook, keek!*

Frantically, it spat the flames it had aimed at us toward the axe in the sky. A pillar of white fire shot up as if to hold up the sky, but the axe didn’t slow down at all, cleaving through the heavens as it approached.

In the blink of an eye, the axe, which had looked like a dot in the sky, grew to the size of a real axe. It was only a moment. After briefly looking like a coin, it now appeared as large as a distant mountain.

The closer it got, the more it resembled its true size. The pillar of flames spat out by the Phoenix couldn’t even melt a single edge of the divine axe.

-*Kwaaaak!*

The massive axe didn’t so much cleave as it crushed the Phoenix. The sound of a pig’s neck being severed echoed as its massive body was completely obliterated.

Yet the axe didn’t stop. The divine axe, imbued with sacredness, dug into the ground and disappeared. Even as the massive thing tore through the earth, the surface remained undisturbed.

I don’t know what it’s trying to cut down there.

But I didn’t want to think about it now. Without realizing it, I reached out and touched my eyes.

-*Crunch.*

A sinister sound came from too close. I had already expected it and prepared for it. The Milky Way blooming at night demanded a great price from me too.

My vision shattered, then went dark. The world made of light was no longer visible.

But instead, another world began to appear. Things I had never seen before. Things I couldn’t see before. The world began to appear as a collection of infinite possibilities.

The human eye shattered, and the eye of an Apostle took its place.

People often say the eyes are the windows to the soul. If the window is broken, does it mean what’s inside can no longer be contained? If so, the shattering of the glass is just the beginning.

Soon, the frame will fall, and the door will break. Cracks will begin to form on the walls. It’s been like that, but it will collapse even more, bit by bit. And yet, and yet, my heart remained unshaken.

I came to where I needed to be and did what I had to do.

That was enough.