Chapter 34: See you again someday

“Ba, Count!!”

Thud.

It was Rayfield, who collapsed right there in the spot.

What does it mean to be obliterated?

It means disappearing—non-existence.

For example, when a person with a physical body is injured, they can feel the pain and are aware of their existence in that area.

The numbness of the mind and the pain when bleeding are like a loud proclamation that they exist in this moment and place.

The fact that one can die is the greatest proof that they exist.

Even in the inevitable death at the end of pain, as long as someone remembers that a person existed here, their soul becomes immortal, as if death is a privilege for those who exist.

However, Rayfield did not die.

No, he could not die.

His soul, which had been contained in the vessel of his body, was obliterated.

So this is not a corpse.

It is not a body that can be a proof of something that once existed, the end of what once was.

This is a shell.

Just a vessel.

Something with the appearance of a human body, but nothing inside.

As the shell fell helplessly to the ground, everyone, even the unbelievers, could not help but understand.

The existence of God—the true meaning of what God does not desire.

To be stripped of even the right to die!

Eirene, staring at this entire scene with a blank expression, slowly turned her gaze to the back of Igon, who stood tall before everyone.

Others might not understand, but Eirene, the one chosen by God, could understand.

[Believe in God.]

It was all possible because she believed.

She realized that by simply ‘believing’ in Igon… this nonsensical event occurred.

“I… I can’t believe this…!! Count…! Please, hold on…!!”

At that moment, the soldier was overwhelmed with the terror of being struck in the head by a hammer.

The Count’s name…

He could not remember.

Instead, his mind was filled with an unknown voice.

The voice of God.

Thhh.

Thhh, thhh, thum, thhh, thhh…

Igon lifted his head and looked at the soldier closest to him.

“Eeek…!!”

The frightened soldier instinctively realized.

He didn’t know what the word Thhh meant.

The creation could never perceive the mind of God.

The moment one understands it, they go mad.

Just like Saint Erin, someone who had not received God’s love or God’s choice would go insane if they came to understand God’s mind… crushed by the unbearable weight of truth.

So, not knowing what it meant was natural.

But there was one thing he could understand.

The moment that man—no, God—uttered the word Thhh…!!

“Run… Run away!!”

“Ahhh!!”

The soldiers immediately threw down their weapons and began to flee.

Igon, his eyes glowing brightly, raised his hand high into the sky and slowly watched the soldiers as they disappeared from view, before slowly lowering his hand.

And—

Thud.

He collapsed right there.

“…Igon!!!”

Eirene quickly ran to Igon, who had fallen.

His face… had turned pale.

“Igon, Igon…!! Please, hold on…!!”

“I… Eirene…”

Igon looked at Eirene and once again smiled a dignified smile.

A smile that seemed like it would shatter if the wind blew too hard.

“I… tricked you, Eirene.”

“What…?”

“Just like you tricked me, Eirene…”

“I too, tricked you…”

“I am not Igon…”

“This is not a matter of using a false name or anything like that. I am—”

• “I am not human.”

“God.”

“I am God.”

“To be exact, I was created in the image of God, a vessel…”

“I share God’s mind, but I can never truly become God… I am a fragment of God, created for the purpose of God.”

Eirene, who would never believe anything without clear evidence, stopped thinking about that now.

She listened carefully to Igon’s words.

“God loves you, Eirene…”

“What…?”

Before she could speak the words questioning why only saints received God’s love…

[The motto is… Mine is mine, yours is mine.]

“Yours and mine… Everything belongs to God… That is God’s will. And in God’s power, there is nothing impossible.”

His words, which almost seemed to read her mind, added further weight to his claim of being God.

“Because He loves you, Eirene… He didn’t want you to go astray…”

“…If you, Eirene, continue to live here, unable to trust anyone, you will suffer…”

“In the end, you will become a sacrificial offering, hated by everyone… You will fall into a state where you must sacrifice yourself to unite everyone.”

Igon, synchronized with God as a fragment of God, knew the fate she would face.

The disaster she would encounter in the Great Hall of the Round Table—the end that awaited her.

If the emperor continued to oppose the religious world, this would be her destiny.

Igon slowly placed his hand on Eirene’s.

And—

In Eirene’s mind, the vision of an untold future appeared.

The future she would face as a fallen leader.

After a new political system, completely different from the old monarchy, replaced the previous regime, she saw herself engulfed in the flames of punishment, paying for the sins of the old age in her final moments.

‘Was Rayfield’s statement, that it was essential for the new era, referring to this?’

Her intuition told her that she was destined to fade away with the old era.

And the only reason she could avoid that fate was because of God’s interest and love.

It was only then that she realized.

The Igon standing before her was an embodiment of God’s interest and love for Eirene.

“And, in the final moments…”

Eirene looked at Igon, who spoke with a faint smile.

“…Eirene-nim, you believed in me.”

Eirene-nim, who had believed in a God no one else could trust, had placed her trust in me.

“In that moment, God’s will was finally fulfilled, and that allowed me to call upon God’s power.”

If she had been taken by Rayfield, Eirene would have certainly endured great suffering.

She knew that well, and that’s why she couldn’t say anything recklessly.

God’s will—since Eirene’s belief in God was realized, Igon, a fragment of God, was able to wield divine power.

“Ultimately, because I am just a fragment of God, I cannot fully comprehend the power. So… this will probably be the last time.”

At those words, blood began to spill from Igon’s mouth.

The price for a mere fragment daring to wield divine power.

Eirene didn’t respond with words like, “What does that mean?” or “Stop saying nonsense.”

Instead, she gently caressed Igon’s face, which was now stained with blood.

“…Igon.”

“Eirene-nim…?”

“I don’t really know what a fragment of God means. I don’t think you are lying to me, or anything like that… even now, I don’t fully understand God’s will. I still can’t comprehend why exposing a woman’s chest is so important.”

But…

“Even so, the fact that you’re here now… and that you believed in me and saved me… that is the undeniable truth. You are Igon. You are the one who trusted me, despite my lies.”

“Even if you are just a fragment, you are someone very precious to me.”

Drip. Drip.

Tears from Eirene fell onto Igon’s face.

His eyes, once glowing with vitality, were now growing dim.

The flame of life, the evidence of existence, was flickering out.

“Do you… love me?”

Igon slowly nodded.

“God loves Eirene-nim.”

“Does God’s will align with your own will?”

“Yes… everything I say is God’s word… even ‘well done’ and everything else. Everything is what God has said to Eirene-nim.”

“Then…”

Eirene, bending down, gently embraced Igon, who had collapsed.

“I love you, too.”

“If you are God, then… I will gladly love you, too.”

“You were the first to tell me that it was okay to trust someone.”

“You were the first to show me what it means to have my heart race.”

“You taught me everything about being a woman and loving.”

“I will believe in God. And I will love God with all my heart.”

Hearing those words, Igon slowly lifted the corners of his mouth.

And he raised his hand…

…to wipe the tears from Eirene’s eyes.

“Eirene-nim… thank you. Thank you for loving me.”

“Thank you for believing in me, for believing in God. This is not a farewell… it’s just the preparation for a future that is yet to come. A moment when Eirene-nim and I will live peacefully together…”

“Someday, when God manifests in this world… we will meet again.”

With those words, Igon’s hand fell to the ground.

The brief life of the divine fragment, having fulfilled its purpose, came to an end.

It was clear.

…Ah… ah…!!!

***

Eirene knew that what Igon had said wasn’t a lie.

The fragment of God had disappeared, but this was not Igon’s true death or end.

Even so, the fragment of Igon, who had extended a warm hand to her, had clearly existed in this place.

As proof… even while struggling, drenched in blood and gasping for breath, it had not given up its role.

As a created being, Eirene couldn’t help but weep.

Even if it was for a brief moment, this was undoubtedly a farewell.

“Igon… Igon…!!!”

Holding the fallen Igon in her arms, she cried and cried for a long time.

Though tears streamed down, her heart no longer felt empty.

She realized that it was because of Igon’s love, and the pure truth from God, that filled her heart.

Now she understood.

‘How much time had passed?’

Exhausted from crying, Eirene slowly stood up and turned to face the monastery.

It was a calling.

It felt as if something absolute was summoning her.

Unconsciously, she slowly began walking toward the monastery.

Passing through the dark corridor of the monastery, she arrived at the grand chapel where she had cleaned with Igon…

And then, only then, did she realize everything.

She understood what Igon had meant.

She understood why her heart was swelling with emotions.

She understood why this had happened.

Why she had been able to trust someone.

In her vision, there was the portrait of God hanging on the wall.

The portrait of the One True God, Igogodon.

The portrait of God that Igon, the fragment of God, had prayed to.

Eirene stared at the portrait as if her soul had been taken away.

The portrait was glowing.

It seemed to shine as if it were the only thing in the world capable of producing its own light.

And the image of Igon, the God she believed in, entered her vision—

Drip.

By the time Eirene realized that hot tears were running down her cheek, she realized that she was sitting on the throne of the Igogodon Empire.

Before her… nothing was visible.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t see.

Something was obstructing her vision.

The Bible. The most sacred book in the world, containing God’s words.

Erin, with a most seductive smile, slowly dropped the Bible from Eirene’s forehead and, in a playful tone, said to Eirene:

“How was it? Igogodon’s pure fact… wasn’t it electrifying?”

Ah…

What have I been doing all this time?

Denying the existence of Igon, the man who was God, Igogodon. What foolishness have I been doing?

Eirene slowly rose from the throne.

She looked up at the Bible that Erin held and knelt before it.

This was a gesture of submission.

Even though she was an unbeliever, she gave a heartfelt response to the one who had shown her the value of love and trust.

Her body and mind were now fully dedicated to God.

“Master.”

Eirene von Einsberg.

At the age of 36, her body and heart have fallen into religious decay.