“You… know my… name…”
Dohyuk was almost speechless.
“Of course. I’m not the type to remember names, but how can I not know your name? I mean, I only recently heard it and…”
She scanned Dohyuk’s face.
“You’re the one who can put an end to Casita, right?”
“…”
“It’s hard to believe though. I mean, even if what you did is true, but how did the entire world restart itself? I’ve done this for a long time and I haven’t heard anything like it.”
Silence fell, but it was the president who shifted her expression. She seemed uncertain.
“You don’t seem too surprised.”
“I am a bit surprised, but did you expect me to scream in panic?”
“No, but I expected something more than your current emotionless face.”
“…I expected this kind of situation.”
It was true. Other than the single digit amount of people, everyone throughout the entire world knew what happened. There were so many ways for the gods or angels to obtain the information. Yet Dohyuk did not expect to hear this from her just now.
“Good.”
“Good?”
‘Why?’ The president was even more confused.
“I wasn’t too sure until now.”
If the gods realized that the entire world had returned to the past, how would they react to it? They wouldn’t just try to kill Dohyuk outright, but even he couldn’t guess what might happen.
“I guess I know for sure now.”
“….”
“Yeah, my name is Yoo Dohyuk. I don’t remember, but it seems that I killed Casita once.”
He looked straight into the president’s eyes and spoke.
“If you have something to say, or have anything for me, go ahead. I’m curious.”
“…”
She narrowed her eyes. Her smile disappeared and she turned to the top of the tent. And then…
“Emmanoel.”
She raised up from her seat.
“Emmanoel Kruger-Mukasa. That’s my name. You can call me Emma if you want.”
She then reached behind her with both hands and one of her hands pulled out a cloth rope. And-
“You probably didn’t expect this.”
Her clothes dropped to the floor and her naked body was revealed.
“…!”
“How is it?”
Dohyuk became pale as Emmanoel looked down at him. She was smiling, but it was far from eroticism or anything like that.
“I’m sorry if you expected something else… but I’m a bit glad.” She continued, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone not look away from my hideous body.”
Hideous body. The phrase was not accurate in describing a naked woman’s body, but what Dohyuk saw was much more than just hideous. It was as if thousands of worms had covered her body. These were scars, all red and very distorted; even the surface was still squirming continuously.
“That’s…”
“It’s the evidence of my loss.”
Dohyuk didn’t need to ask ‘who’ she lost to.
“It was centuries ago… but I still remember it clearly. I thought I was prepared, you know. I mean- I was up against the self-claimed ‘almighty god’ after all.”
Emmanoel prepared to the point where she herself thought it was too much: all the strategies, methods, and studies to execute such a feat efficiently.
“But the result… was this.”
“…”
Dohyuk couldn’t speak right away. It wasn’t because of the scars. It was just that-
“Was… it a close fight? Or a complete loss?”
The question was too brutal to ask the woman in front of him.
“How strong were you when you fought Casita?”
Emmanoel became silent for a moment. She raised her hand and grabbed something in air where there was nothing. As she twisted her hand, the surrounding air began to move and churn.
Dohyuk rose up instinctively and put pressure on his legs and knees. It was the right decision as he would’ve been thrown away like the other objects if he didn’t do it. After about ten seconds of the storm, everything in the tent was in mess. Men peeked and walked into the tent in shock, but the president waved them off.
“It’s okay. I did it. Clean it up later. I’m not done yet.”
The men walked out without question. It was because her orders were absolute, but also because her safety wasn’t jeopardized at all. Blood dropped onto Dohyuk’s foot. Dohyuk put down his arms that were blocking his face.
“I’m sorry, was that too much?”
“…No.” Dohyuk shook his head. “I’m the one who asked.”
The answer he got was a very honest one at that. Dohyuk was full of scars from being cut by the storm. It wasn’t too bad, but considering his current body was strong enough to withstand any blade that might cut him, it would’ve been a brutal death for any normal human.
Dohyuk also knew that the storm wasn’t aimed at him by looking at the mess in the tent. She didn’t mean to attack. Just three of her fingers were used to twist the ‘atmosphere’ in front of her.
“I thought- I was strong enough then. There was no one stronger than me in this world and everyone obeyed me.”
She picked up her clothing from the ground and put it on herself carelessly before she took up the water pipe again.
“I thought I was ready too. I studied and prepared long and hard to kill the god. And when I thought I had a high chance of succeeding, I went.”
She wasn’t done yet, but she puffed on the pipe. Dohyuk realized that Emmanoel’s face had sunken without him realizing, and it was now returning back to normal. It seemed that the smoke was her pain reliever.
“Anyway, the result? Yeah, it was a complete loss. He was fitting for the ‘almighty’ title after all.”
“…”
“I couldn’t even scratch him and everyone except me was already dead.”
Needless to say, those people were the finest warriors in her world. Either way, her ‘small rebellion’ was over at that point.
“So, why are you alive? Did he change his mind?”
“No, I threatened him.”
“Threaten?”
“Not everyone in my world fought against him.”
There were people who were left behind because they were too weak to fight against Casita, and Emmanoel prepared something with them just in case.
“If everyone who went to fight Castia died, then all who stayed behind would die also.”
“…!”
“Make no mistake – we just thought it was better to die than to become the monsters that Casita wanted us to be.”
She spoke as she scoffed at herself.
“But isn’t it ironic? He didn’t even ask and I was spouting nonsense when my life was on the line. If he killed me, he’d just kill everyone and leave our world without anything in his hands.”
There was no pride in her voice. That wasn’t a bargain with a god. She was begging for her own life by risking all the lives in her world.
“And… the almighty Lord God bestowed his mercy, you see.”
-As you wish, your world will never be illuminated. Instead-
“Your people shall serve in illumination for eternity.”