CHAPTER 739

[T.L: punisher87]

[My ko-fi link:- https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 ]

Unfathomable actions, incomprehensible words. And a weak look that was incomprehensible.

His legs felt weak, as if they were about to give out. Young Rosa had no trace of any chaos.

She truly was a human.

[What is happening?]

"Jin, this... human is... the evil god."

"12th flagbearer, we must kill her immediately!"

Even the late arriving allies stared at Jin and Rosa, with their eyes wide open.

Octavia, on the verge of fainting, aimed her staff at Rosa.

Hedo lowered the staff with his hand.

"Captain of the Spectres, I am not sure how the situation has unfolded, but Jin has the right to judge."

Cough...!

Jin remained focused on the empty space, saying nothing, but when Rosa coughed up blood, he flinched and locked eyes with her again.

Is this person truly not the evil god?

If this is the evil god's plan, what could she possibly hope to gain by going to such lengths?

'Just to confuse me, it is excessive. If all of this is the evil god's cruel joke, she should have caused chaos and directly struck me and my allies after confusing us.'

However, Rosa, who had broken free from the chains, never attacked Jin even once. The invincibility displayed by the young Rosa couldn't even pose a threat to the group.

On the contrary, Rosa had even protected them while the other members fought the former patriarch.

Moreover, just before breaking free from the evil god's control, the former patriarch had stabbed Rosa instead of Jin.

That meant the evil god had tried to kill itself. Or its own alter ego.

'...alter ego?'

Suddenly, a single assumption flashed through Jin's mind.

What if the dying Rosa right now is a fragment that broke away from the evil god?

As Jin guessed, the young Rosa, who didn't want to be corrupted until the end, was a manifestation of the deepest essence of the evil god, which had once shone the brightest.

Now, in front of Jin's eyes, the dying Rosa was the true identity of that manifestation.

Initially, Rosa had no knowledge that she had originated from the evil god. She perceived herself as a completely separate entity from the evil god.

However, Rosa was aware that she was a twisted existence. This world was not the one she remembered.

Why did she end up trapped in the evil god's chains? Where were Chiron and the other knights of the clan? What was she doing right before being trapped?

Rosa couldn't remember any of it.

No matter how much she appeared to be human, in the end, she was just an unconscious entity separated from the evil god. It was only natural that she had no memories of what happened right before being trapped.

Young Rosa's memories were frozen on a certain day when she was twenty-three.

The day the evil god had longed for the most.

'It seems I am an existence that shouldn't be here, twisted and distorted. Moreover, that knight named Jin, who is probably my son, and everyone else, they all refer to me as the evil god.'

So, does that mean the dark monster that had bound her was her own future?

For some reason, the thought that this could be nothing more than a terrible nightmare never crossed her mind.

With great certainty and swiftness, she understood the situation she was in.

"Hahaha."

Rosa let out a hollow laugh mixed with a metallic sound.

Conflicting emotions surged within her.

She had too many questions. Why did she become such a monster? How was Chiron doing? how many children did she have? How much had the clan been endangered because of her?

From the pierced chest, the chaos spread throughout her entire body like poison.

"Jin, a little closer... Can you show me your face?"

Jin didn't answer and silently stared at Rosa for a few seconds.

"As you can see, I have suffered a fatal wound. It was inflicted by the evil god-controlled knight. It is proof that I am not on her side. Moreover, I could not pose any threat to you and your companions even if I were unharmed. So, release your guard. I don't have much time left."

Rosa concentrated her last bit of strength and spoke with a steady voice.

In the end, Jin knelt down and bowed his head towards Rosa.

As he suppressed his despairing heart and looked up again, the appearance of the young Rosa was both unfamiliar and familiar.

"You're handsome... It feels like my and Chiron's faces are precisely mixed. If you're the 12th flagbearer, are you the youngest?"

"There is one more person."

"Then, combined, we make thirteen? It seems Chiron and I were better than I imagined. What happened to him? I hope I didn't harm Chiron as well."

"He is alive and well."

"In that case, Chiron must be fulfilling his mission elsewhere. You, taking over Chiron's role, have taken on the task of defeating the monster I have become and reclaiming the clan..."

Every time Jin heard the pronoun "you," his brow furrowed.

Rosa faintly smiled while observing that expression.

"Your expression alone shows how terrible of a mother I was. As the hostess of the clan, I must have been the worst in history. It's not like there haven't been villains who crossed the line and committed immorality in Runcandel's history, but among them, I am the only one who became the evil god... or so it seems."

Young Rosa belonged to a completely different person from the Rosa that Jin remembered.

The latter was a demon who would do anything to ensure the prosperity and survival of the clan.

On the other hand, the Rosa before him, who was smiling bitterly, had eyes that were clear and deep, so much so that she could be said to be more suited to Hairan than Runcandel.

"Rosa."

"Speak."

"Why did you do it?"

To Jin's question thrown with malice, Rosa pondered for a few seconds.

"I lacked the qualities and qualifications to become the hostess of the clan."

"No, you were the acting matriarch that everyone revered before becoming the evil god. No one considered you inadequate to lead the clan in my father's place, and the clan members made every effort to gain your approval."

Rosa shook her head. She was losing strength due to bleeding.

"You were the acting matriarch who even enemies and people who despised you couldn't help but acknowledge. I was the same. Until you made a pact with the prophet and became the evil god. Until you became a monster who said that even if the whole world was destroyed, as long as the flag of Runcandel remained, nothing else mattered," Jin said.

"I said those words... and the things I am doing now."

"Through the power of chaos."

Rosa placed her hand on her injured abdomen and spoke.

The spreading chaos, like a tumor, was permeating her entire body.

"Yes."

"So, the reason I became a monster is clear."

It was the result of giving up the struggle.

Rosa spoke with a composed voice.

"I stopped fighting because I was tired, because I couldn't see the path anymore, or because I felt that I had done enough. Becoming the evil god must have been the easiest and most tempting path. Perhaps... among all the paths I have walked before becoming the evil god, it was the most alluring and effortless one."

Transparent tears rolled down Rosa's cheeks.

Remorse for a future she couldn't remember, self-loathing, and despair that the gruesome future had already occurred were chilling her inner self.

Against the real Rosa who had become a monster, there was nothing she could do.

Jin closed his eyes tightly.

"I am going as the clan's 12th flagbearer to make her pay for that. If you have any last words for the evil god, let me know."

"Please... let death not be a comforting escape. Let my wretched soul and body remain trapped somewhere, suffering endlessly, even in death. Let me... be by its side... always, desperately. Above all else, I sincerely..."

The group held their breath for a moment. Rosa's curse, pouring all her heart toward herself, weighed down on the people.

"I will convey it."

Rosa's remaining breath reached its limit.

Jin decided to be by her side until her death.

While Rosa's consciousness repeatedly faded in and out, she spoke to Jin.

"Jin, do you... have a lover?"

"No."

"In the past..."

"I don't know."

"Anyone who loves you… or you love anyone?"

"Why are you asking these things in this situation?"

"Because... you're handsome... like Chiron. I... liked that handsome… Chiron."

Jin couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The children of Chiron and Rosa had never had the memory of engaging in such ordinary and pointless conversations with their parents.

"More than that... there is no one who is handsome or stronger than him... besides Chiron, I haven't had any relationship with anyone else."

"What about Father?"

"If he is still wandering in the Black Sea, then maybe... Chiron, unlike me, is still continuing the struggle."

Rosa exhaled a handful of hot breath.

"Jin... my son, I'm sorry."

Definitely, stop me.

With those words, Rosa took her last breath.

Everything she spoke until just before her death were words that the Rosa Jin remembered could never say.

'Okay, I'll do it.'

Jin silently replied in his mind as he gently closed Rosa's eyelids.

Just as the deceased Rosa regretted an unknown future, Jin was bidding farewell to a mother from a past he did not know.

Silence hung in the air for a while.

"...The deceased Rosa was likely a manifestation or soul that separated from the evil god," Jin said, and the group nodded in agreement. They had also speculated the same while listening to their conversation.

[Perhaps the evil god itself did not desire this or it was an unforeseen separation. I have no memory of experiencing anything related to the hostess when I was bound by the evil god. Furthermore, it was the hostess who was attacked at the last moment through this former patriarch.]

Alpen, who had been kneeling beside Rosa's lifeless body, lifted the unconscious former patriarch and spoke. Neither Jin nor Alpen knew his true identity.

Young Rosa's body was becoming tainted with darkness. The tumor of chaos that had originated in her chest was rapidly growing.

Jin conjured a small flame on his palm.

It seemed he needed to take care of the body before it deteriorated any further and leave.

However, as Jin was about to drop the flame, he suddenly raised his head in surprise.

Unexpectedly, the voice of the evil god reached his ears.

[I wonder how it feels to witness the extinction of my remaining trace of humanity, my youngest. I did hope to see you personally putting an end to it... but this isn't bad either.]

[T/L: You can read more chapters and support me here: https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 & https://bmc.link/punisher87 ]

[T/L: Join $29 membership on my "buymeacoffee" page and read 55 chapters ahead and daily 1 new chapter update. I have introduced new memberships, and you can read upto 75 or 85 chapters ahead.]