"Madeline and I were both powerful supernatural beings at the time, and the Eros Church always arranged for us to act together. During an ordinary mission, because of suspicions about a certain person living in an orphanage some distance away from the settlement,
People were infected by terrible evil spirits, so we were tasked to kill everyone there. For that era, this was a very common task."
Shade glanced sideways at the orphanage on the hill in the distance:
"Let me guess, is there someone you let go?"
"It's not me, it's Madeleine."
Richard said calmly, as if he was not telling his own story. The sound of the river was rushing, and the atmosphere was indeed suitable for listening to stories:
"That was a child who was only seven years old. Madeleine was very sure that he was not infected, but she was very sure that he was useless. For the safety of the entire settlement, he could not be let go. But Madeleine still let him go.
He. She told me about it after the fact, so I reprimanded her."
"Madeline's judgment was wrong?"
"No, her judgment was right, the child was indeed normal at the time.
But after that, in order to take revenge on us, the 'bad guys' who killed his entire family, he committed himself to violent crimes. About three years later, on the eve of Madeleine and I's upcoming wedding, he appeared again and killed
Most of the family members of everyone who participated in that operation at that time. I was an orphan and had no relatives to die, and Madeleine only survived because her mother came to visit her that night."
"Okay, it's this kind of story again, let's continue. Although it is a tragedy, you shouldn't turn against each other because of this kind of thing, right? Besides, it's not your fault."
He asked, Richard shook his head slightly, his body became more transparent than before:
"No, our love is very deep. We made a tacit agreement not to talk about this matter, but Madeleine's faith was shaken because of this, and she doubted whether benevolence was correct. What happened to her during that period, I still say
It’s unclear, but it must have been during that time that she came into contact with the mermaid.”
Shade sat up a little straighter. This was what he wanted to hear:
"The mermaid seduced her?"
"Or Madeleine, whose faith was shaken, took the initiative to approach our Lord's enemies. Her soul lacked sustenance. I don't know, and it's not important. Maybe she just wanted to find some comfort. During that period, including me, there was no one
We discovered something unusual about her. It wasn’t until another mission two years later that we were once again tasked with clearing out an orphanage. In those days, children and the elderly were the groups most likely to get into trouble."
Shade sat on the big rock, not intending to comment on things he had not experienced in his time:
"You keep talking."
"It was like going back many years ago, but this time the protagonist became me. I met a child who begged me for mercy. Moreover, I was very sure that he was normal."
The man in the robe paused:
"The story is temporarily interrupted. Please allow me to ask a question: If it were you, would you choose to let him go or kill him according to the regulations?"
Shade said without much thought:
"I'm glad that I'm just facing this problem and not really encountering that situation. I choose the latter. After all, the rules are the rules. Besides, Madeleine made a mistake once, and you shouldn't make it again. It's just what I think.
There’s nothing wrong with that child, after all, it’s not insured.”
After speaking, he added:
"Of course, I can understand you if you chose the former. Sometimes, when people take multiple-choice questions, they will find that there is no correct answer among the only options."
"I did choose the latter. I didn't let him go, but Madeleine blocked my sword."
Richard's tone finally showed emotion:
"She asked me at that time, if I gave up insisting on justice because I encountered bad results once, then whether I still really believed in the justice I upheld."
Someone seemed to be sighing under the moonlit night.
"This question is very interesting. Of course, I can't say whether letting the child go is justice. But as I said, no matter what choice you make, I can understand that there is no completely correct option in this question.
We are only mortals after all. So, what happened to the child in the end?"
Shade asked, Richard lowered his eyes slightly:
"I was still killed. This was our action requirement. Afterwards, Madeleine and I had an extremely fierce quarrel, so much so that the planned wedding was postponed. Madeleine thought I had betrayed our vows,
Abandoning the love and justice we upheld. After that, we drifted apart, and other people in the cult finally discovered that she had turned to the mermaid."
Shade raised his eyebrows but did not comment.
"Madeline left us in a long dark night and completely became the messenger of the mermaid. I thought we would never have any chance to meet again, but one time I went on a mission and asked to destroy a remote place.
I found Madeleine's mother at the senior citizen settlement."
Richard paused again. Even though the notebook was about to completely collapse, he was still stuck in the memories of the past and was not in a hurry to finish the story's ending:
"It was still that kind of mission, and I still chose to stick to my principles. So, I killed Madeleine's mother with my own hands."
The night wind blew across Xia De's back. The summer night wind was still a bit cold.
"Soon after, Madeleine's body floated in the sea. After an autopsy, it was found that she died of a broken heart. I don't know why she was angry because I killed her mother after she heard that I executed her mother.
Heartbroken, or heartbroken because I still adhere to those principles. In short, she died because of this, and her soul was not channeled."
Shade and Richard looked at the pink crystal that completely covered the notebook at this time. "Desire" said that Madeline dedicated her soul to her before she died, so she used that soul to cast it.
This dagger is infinitely powerful.
"Although there is no completely correct answer to most things, what is the story of you two after that? You are still alive, and this story is not over yet."
"I think I probably went crazy when I saw her body."
Richard's voice already showed signs of ambiguity:
"I want to prove to her that my idea is right. I want to prove to her that all justice must be served by death. Even if she is no longer here, I have to prove it. Yes, even if she is no longer here.
.I left the cult and ran wildly in the dangerous night as a lone traveler, walking in that dark era. I killed countless villains and monsters with a sword, until one day I could no longer wield the sword.
, so I died too.”
The last few words were trembling, but not because of emotional fluctuations, but because the power of the relic was about to be exhausted.
"Then because of your obsession, your soul failed to reach the end, but was trapped in your own notebook and later turned into a relic?"
After hearing this story, Shade frowned and looked at the notebook pierced by the sword:
"I can't judge who is right or wrong between you and her. Although I want to comfort you with 'this is the tragedy of the times', you probably don't want to hear such words, right?"
Richard did not answer the question:
"I have no intention of evaluating my own past. It doesn't matter who is right or wrong. I have done a lot of things in my long life, and I don't need others to evaluate me. Most people in the cult believe that the mermaid is related to our Lord.
, whose power is the backside of my Lord’s power.”
This is also consistent with the relationship between "Desire" and "The God of Love - the Lock of Hearts" that Shade discovered when he was tracking down information about "Desire" in Green Lake.
"I am telling you this story here specifically, not to arouse your sympathy, but to pass on the information I have. Some information cannot disappear because of my departure. Over the years, I have become
The monster also discovered some truths that are more terrifying than history and myths."
Shade looked across him at the river behind him, and there was no sign of a hand or a head suddenly appearing in it. No matter how he used his mental power to sense the surroundings, he did not feel "a light shot through the air and penetrated Richard."
possibility.
"Some kind of force has obscured the truth of history. The mermaid and our Lord may not be the same person. Before my Lord ascended to God, he may have been just one of the many faces of the mermaid."
Shade's expression finally turned serious:
"Do you know what you're talking about?"
"Of course, desire comes from the moment when the first mortal in this world opens his eyes. Isn't love also the 'desire' of longing to love and longing to be loved?"
The man whose body was almost completely transparent continued to ask:
"How much do you know about her? Do you only think she represents physical desire?"
Indeed, the mermaid herself said that she represented all desires, not simply "lust". Otherwise, what Shade got after eating that mouthful of meat should have been "chains of lust" instead of "chains of sin"
.
"It turns out to be such an ancient existence. That's right, otherwise she wouldn't have shown such a level of power."
After sighing softly, he looked up and thanked:
"Thank you for telling me this. Although you said you don't need others to judge you, I still don't agree with your justice."
"Then do you know that after I died, I possessed the notebook, and then it became a relic and therefore has great power. Because of the obsession of the soul, the whispering element gave me a special damage effect on the mermaid. I am one of the few
, a relic that can directly cause harm to her body."
Richard asked again, but Shade just raised his eyebrows:
"It's useless to say this. You have killed so many people over the years, and it's time to leave. I don't know if your soul will be completely destroyed or will end after this notebook is destroyed. But at least your soul, and
Madeleine’s souls are together. Well, does Madeleine’s love mean this?”