Chapter 127
The Repeating Chain of Connections
Wind blew across a dizzyingly high cliff. One more step forward, and I would have fallen for sure.
In front of me was myself. Behind me stood Adrian, transformed into a monster. Neither of them felt real. Doubting my eyes, I instinctively pinched my cheek hard.
“Ow.”
It wasn’t a dream. I had pinched myself too hard—my cheek throbbed. The version of me who had been watching my actions stepped closer. A faint light shimmered around her.
“This has already happened several times.”
The quiet whisper sounded exactly like my own voice. This time, I was meeting my past self. Unlike me now, her tone was calm—far more mature. Tears pooled in her green eyes, trembling on the verge of spilling.
“Are you… really me?”
“Yes.”
She nodded slightly in response to my question.
I never imagined that the glowing secret companion—the bee—was actually me.
I stared straight into her eyes. Until now, I hadn’t been able to look properly because the bee’s eyes had seemed unsettling.
Before long, tears fell steadily from those green eyes identical to mine.
Why was she crying?
“You were in the form of a bee?”
“I was worried you might die. I was scared. I’m relieved—this time, I wasn’t too late.”
She said that similar things had already happened several times. The version of me I had met on the ship had said the same thing. Diane Heist had come to this place multiple times—and disappeared each time.
“I couldn’t finish the story. Because of that lingering regret, you kept coming back.”
Tears streamed down her face as she spoke. While I lived in this world, the bee had saved my life again and again. Whenever I was in danger, she appeared and did her part. She even let Adele tear off her wings. Even then, she never revealed herself.
Why had she risked everything to protect me?
“If you die again this time, you’ll return to the original story. Sola and Zerop will suffer again. And then, the next Diane will come.”
“Return?”
If events followed the original plot, it would only end in their sad ending once more. This had already happened many times.
“This time, you have to break the chain.”
How was I supposed to break it?
“Yes. That’s more like it.”
A sickening chuckle came from behind me—the sound I had forgotten while talking.
The cave shook. Small rocks fell from above. Adrian was using his power. Black energy surged around him.
I had already steeled myself and gone to the edge of the cliff, so one more step and I would have fallen into the sea. The bee collapsed on top of me. I was shoved backward and fell hard onto the ground.
“Are you okay?”
The bee smiled faintly in response to my concern. Although I had been pushed by the force of her fall, I couldn’t feel her weight at all. When I reached out, I couldn’t touch her. She was visible—but she didn’t exist.
At least the version of me I’d met on the ship could be touched.
“So all the Diane Heists who vanished without a trace ended up gathering here.”
Adrian’s mouth stretched to his ears in excitement—not metaphorically, but literally. The monster that Adrian had become slowly approached. Compared to the speed he’d shown when fighting Zerop, his steps were leisurely.
“I’ll take care of it all at once so you can never come back again.”
A black hand stretched out from behind him, flying straight toward my neck. I shut my eyes tightly, bracing myself.
Ping—
The hand bounced off an invisible barrier. A protective shield was guarding both me and the bee. Dark smoke thickened around the pope as he stared at his rebounding hand. The scent of morcho was sickeningly sweet. The dense smoke stung my nose as it drifted around us.
So it blocked physical attacks—but not the smell.
“Die. Die. Just die already!”
Adele’s voice came from Adrian’s body. The two people inside him clashed violently. Each time he shook his head, Adele and Adrian alternated in control.
Adele had once called my ability—the one that burned her body black—Adrian’s power.
“Shut up!”
Enraged that things weren’t going his way, the pope’s form began to change. Not just his hands—his entire body started transforming. It swelled grotesquely. His white priest’s robes were torn to shreds. From his feet upward, his form twisted into something horrific.
Adrian hurled himself at the invisible shield surrounding me.
Ping—
He bounced off again. After ramming into it several times, he began breathing heavily. Without using his powers, he resorted to brute force.
Could it be that he couldn’t use his abilities on me?
This time, he changed tactics—turning everything below his waist into smoke. Each time he swung his arms, black smoke filled the cave.
“Cough!”
Zerop and Lucy began coughing violently. With every cough, blood poured from Zerop’s side. I had to stop this. My safety mattered—but I couldn’t bear to watch those I cherished get hurt.
“Zerop! Don’t move!”
His face—unchanged by smoke—looked at me as if asking whether I’d really just stand there. It was cruel, but undeniably sharp. I couldn’t stay safe while watching them suffer.
The bee tried to stop me.
It was already too late.
I ran straight through the invisible barrier and grabbed the pope’s arm. His grotesque hand grazed the back of my neck.
His nails scraped my skin. A sharp sting followed—and then blood. I’d been seeing far too much blood lately. My thigh was already soaked in it.
“Don’t get hurt.”
Zerop gasped as he tried to stop me. He had been watching me the entire time, struggling to lift himself.
“Esther!”
As Zerop shouted and reached out, a sword appeared in his hand. A beautiful blade gleamed in the light. So that was why they called it a holy sword—it had that kind of ability. I thought it was a magic staff. He raised the sword toward Adrian’s neck. His arm trembled from exhaustion, and the blade shook with it.
“You know a sword won’t work, right?”
The pope caught the blade with his bare hand. Not a single scratch appeared. Instead, he watched Zerop with amusement. Esther pushed the blade closer to his neck. With a sneer, the pope grabbed Zerop—sword and all—and hurled him into the wall. Zerop slammed into the corner and spat blood.
“Stop it! Stop!”
The pope kicked Zerop. Even a strong knight would die from that. I trembled with rage at my own helplessness.
We couldn’t win. Despair washed over me.
Was the original story going to repeat itself again?
No. It couldn’t.
I rushed Adrian again, clinging to his leg as he kicked. I grabbed nearby stones and smashed them against his leg. The sound was like striking solid metal—not flesh. I couldn’t even deal a scratch.
“Diane!”
The bee called out to me in my own voice. The pope shoved me aside, sending me flying into the corner.
If only I had the weapon the first priest spoke of—I could kill him.
If I, as a transmigrator, had some special power, I could save him.
Was my only choice to die? At least if I returned to the original story, I’d survive. My whole body ached. I couldn’t get up. The monster that Adrian had become stepped on my back.
“Ugh!”
Zerop’s eyes widened. He tried to call my name but vomited blood.
I couldn’t let it end like this.
I had to find a way. At that moment, the ring on my left hand began to glow. The light pointed toward one corner. The pressure on my back weakened.
“Ah.”
The books I had brought with me were there—within arm’s reach.
“Let’s end this, Diane. The game is over.”
I grabbed whatever I could and threw it into Adrian’s eyes. Some of it was powder Lucy had scattered earlier. I didn’t know exactly what it was used for, but it seemed effective—he staggered back.
The bee returned to her true form and stood in front of the pope. He flailed blindly, unable to open his eyes properly.
Summoning every last bit of strength, I grabbed the books. When the pope saw them in my hands, he stopped laughing.
I needed something sharp. I had to tear and burn the books. When I’d thrown one before, it had harmed those connected to morcho. It had to work on the pope too.
I slammed the books down where a stone jutted out. My fingers struck with them, but I didn’t feel the pain. I struck again and again. Even as the books were battered, the pope watched without any emotion.
I panicked. The books should have been damaged—but nothing happened.
“Done struggling?”
Why wasn’t it working at all?
The pope looked on blankly, as if watching a child’s tantrum. Blood seeped from my scraped hand.
“My turn now, right?”
As if it hadn’t already been his turn all along.
He grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up.
“Ghk!”
My feet left the ground. Oxygen slipped away. His hard palm tightened around my throat.
I slapped at his hand desperately, trying to pry it off. It didn’t loosen.
So this was how it ended.
“Let… go… ghk!”
Chzzzt—
I grabbed his hand tightly with both of mine. Something sticky clung to my palms—then dried instantly.
“What… is this?”
The flesh where I was holding him began to soften unnaturally.
Why—suddenly?
“Ugh…”
