The huts were either blown away by the winds or eaten by the bugs and rats.
Snakes roamed here and there before the cold reptiles slithered into the warm beds where once families slept.
The few animals that were domesticated by the village, a couple cows and a few dozen hen, were long dead. Their flesh was eaten and blood sucked, leaving only the bones to be rotten in the open.
North of the village, the square where they gathered for collective meals, always bustled with life. Now, it was empty…except for rolling dust and haunting echoes of the chatter that once filled it.
Carried in his arms, Zenny looked at the sight with a bleak gaze.
"S-Savior, Let me…down…"
Why?
Holding himself back, he released the girl carefully, treating like a delicate glass that would break upon even the slightest excess of force.
Zenny's thin and short frame, a bag of bones coverd up by a blanket of skin, stumbled as it moved forward.
She touched the large pot in which the food was cook with a nostalgic expression before moving to a tree.
'This tree…'
Varian held his breath without realizing.
Zenny's parents died when she was very young.
The day before he fell ill, this was the place where her uncle, the only member she could call her family, talked to her before he left the village.
Noticing the signs of their Savior's worsening health, he volunteered to be the scout for the team that would follow.
Before he left, he requested Zenny to help the Savior if he fell ill. To take care of him as if she would take care of her uncle. To treat him with care and gentleness.
Varian still remembered the words the older man said to his niece.
"Zenny, you're a strong girl, right? That's why I'm entrusting you the responsibility of taking care of his health. This is the most important thing in your life. If he's fine, everyone will be fine. He's our faith, hope and salvation."
"Yes! Leave it to me, Uncle! I will take care of him, no matter what!"
No matter what…
An adult would've mistaken the child's words as a mere exaggeration to sound good, but Zenny meant what she said.
And that's why…
"U-Uncle, he's good now…he's all good now. S-Savior is fine…so, everyone will be fine, right?"
The girl knelt under the knee, touching the soil as if she wanted to trace the past through her fingers.
There was a smile on her face as she spoke to him in broken words and cracked up voice. And her cheeks were flooded with tears that she couldn't stop.
"I did it…I did it…so…come back…please…"
The girl broke clutched her head, pressing her forehead against the crowd and sobbed.
Was life always this fragile?
"Please…please..please…"
The dried leaves floated with the wind, their rustling sounds the only accompaniement to her wails.
Just a year ago, before he stepped into this village and her life, the girl had an entire village to call her home and a future she was hopeful for.
A year later, the Savior took away both the village and her hopes.
Even now, she couldn't blame him. She just cried by herself. Maybe she was trying not to cry but the tears were just not listening anymore.
With a weak body and weaker mind, Varian watched Zenny break down.
'Why…why should I…'
He felt a lump in his throat and his eyes grew moist. It made no sense.
Him feeling so much grief for a stranger?
Why?
He had killed too many people, destroyed an entire satellite galaxy not too long ago.
How many 'innocent' lives were lost in that? Even if he just had to consider the reluctant troops who joined the army for the sake of protecting than killing, the number would be in tens of thousands.
He had long severed the guilt that came from the actions he deemed inevitable.
But why should he still feel so sorry for a girl he's about to kill? What was the heaviness of his hands that should soon end her life?
'Why…Varian…you are a ruthless man. You can do it. You must do it. There is so much work to be done.
I have to convince the Genesis and Mors after Nexus. And that is still only the first step.
I have to prepare for the inevitable confrontation with God Emperor. I don't even know if I can survive.
And if I die…I don't know what will happen to my family...'
But...
'How cruel of me to do all this for myself?'
Varian took a short breath and walked to the sobbing girl in heavy steps.
Kneeling next to her, he said in a hoarse voice, not caring if she was in the mind to listen.
"Zenny, I am not a savior. I have been sent to this place, stripped off my powers to live here for a year and then…kill you all. But the village has died before I needed
to do anything. You are the only one left."
Zenny's wails stopped and she raised her head to look at him.
On the face he expected to see hatred, he only found tranquility. Not the tranquility that would come out of serenity, but the tranquility before the final sleep.
"I…I see…Sav-No, Mister, thank you for telling me." Zenny wiped the corner of her eyes and looked at the tree with fondness. "Uncle, you heard that right? Everything was a lie. There was no savior, no paradise. It was a lie. Since it's all a lie, I don't have to keep fighting anymore."
Her voice grew incrediblyweak but a smile adorned her face for the first time in months.
"It was so painful…so hard…so lonely. It hurt so much. I'm tired…I want to…rest." Zenny muttered and slowly turned to him.
"M-Mister…can you please…put me to rest...so that I can never wake up again? It's too…p-painful."
Varian had to muster all his strenght to give a small nod.
"Thank you so much!" Zenny smiled, a bright, innocent and peaceful smile.
"I…" Varian brought his hand to the back of her neck and tried to say something before the deed. But words weren't leaving his mouth.
He could feel the fragile neck of this girl, her weak breath and even hear the dull sound of her heart.
How fragile…
How fragile she was…
And she took care of him alone for a whole year? With this fragile body?
"I'm s…"
Varian's voice broke and he choked.
"Please...put me to sleep, Mister. I'm tired…too tired." Zenny begged, bringing his arm firmly to the back of her fragile neck.
Varian's chest tightened and it felt like someone punched him in the gut.
"I-It's been so long since I had a good sleep," Zenny whispered.
Yes, how could she have slept properly she woke up in the middle of nights to rush to his care?
"So…please…let me rest…"
Varian opened his eyes wide and looked into her eyes, imprinting her face as his hand suddenly tightened around her neck, breaking it.
It was so sudden that Zenny's last expression was a slight discomfort in addition to the smile on her face.
He burned that sight into his mind, to remember that this was the price he had to pay for the grand mission he was about to undertake.
'I will win, I promise.'
[Time left: 0]
The world shattered.