TFM 246

 I need a moment to process this chapter...

Chapter 246

He clenched the button tightly in his fist and bent over the desk.

Something came pouring down over the ruins that had already collapsed beyond repair. It did not take him long to realize that what was falling was his own soul, utterly destroyed.

Feeling himself crumble away without leaving even a trace, he turned unsteadily. Then he took something from the desk drawer and left the bedroom.

He could feel the servants lined up along one side of the corridor looking at him with startled eyes.

In a composed voice, Varkas gave them an order.

“I’ll be back shortly, so don’t follow me.”

The servants, who had been moving their lips as though about to stop him, flinched at the cold, blade-like look in his eyes and bowed their heads all at once.

He walked down the corridor at an even pace and descended the stairs.

Rain was still falling in the rear garden.

Varkas crossed the path through the now relatively thinner rainfall and went straight to the chapel building. Perhaps because it was early dawn, he could sense no one nearby.

Crossing the main hall, where silent darkness lay heavy, Varkas passed through the rear door and stepped into the back garden.

At last, the burial ground where two gravestones stood came into view.

Varkas stopped before them, his unfocused eyes sliding over the marble being drenched by the rain.

His wife was asleep beside their child, among countless heaps of flowers.

Varkas silently brushed away the raindrops gathered upon it with his hand. Then he took out the dagger he had hidden inside his sleeve.

The white blade was soaked through with rainwater.

He slowly brought it near his throat, when a rustling sound came from somewhere.

Varkas slowly turned his head, and in his sight appeared a giant wolf with a gaunt, haggard form.

It was pitifully thin, as though it had been starving for a long time, but he recognized the beast at a glance.

It was her wolf, the one he had been unable to bring himself to finish off last autumn, the one he had abandoned somewhere in Armund Forest.

The beast, standing so precariously it looked as though it might collapse at any moment, slowly stepped out from between the overgrown bushes.

Varkas silently watched it.

The beast’s eyes wavered with despair, sorrow, and pain.

Reading within them a desperate hatred directed at him, Varkas lowered the blade he had held to his throat.

A moment later, the wolf’s mouth twisted, revealing sharp teeth.

At the same time, the massive beast’s body flew toward him.

Feeling the long, pointed fangs sink deep into the nape of his neck, he let his body fall into the muddy water.

The sound of the direwolf’s enormous jaws crushing the bones of his neck rang vividly in his ears.

With that, every sound disappeared.

With the light fading from his eyes, he stared up at the ink-colored sky.

Cold rainwater endlessly soaked the corners of his eyes.

He wanted to wipe it away, but his arm would not move, as though the nerves had already been severed.

Feeling the blood that had risen past his throat wet the corner of his mouth, he let out one long final breath.

At that moment, the wolf raised its head and looked down into his eyes.

Those sorrowful blue eyes seemed to be desperately pleading something to him.

As he quietly gazed into those sorrow-drowned eyes, the last of his remaining consciousness soon.

Pain, growing distant and unbearable, made him twist violently. But he no longer had a mouth with which to scream.

His arms and legs, too, would not move, as though half-dissolved in blood. All he could do was helplessly watch as his own body was devoured.

Each head consumed his limbs in an instant, then began tearing into his torso. That vivid pain continued until even his head was chewed apart.

Crushed to pieces beyond recognition and flowing into the monster’s belly, Varkas felt his existence slowly melting into the beast’s body.

With that strange and horrifying sensation as the last thing he knew, he sank once more into darkness.

It was only after an unfathomable amount of time had passed that his consciousness rose again to the surface.

He felt something warm surrounding him.

A slow, steady heartbeat and a thin sound of breathing echoed softly through the darkness.

But that peaceful moment did not last long.

Something like a flash of light flared, and then something enormous snatched him up.

Trapped in a narrow, dark space where he could not tell which way was sky and which was earth, he was shaken back and forth. A short while later, a heavy impact struck his entire body.

Before he could even react to the agony that seemed to bleach his vision white, a massive hand descended and began pulling out, one by one, the living creatures that had been in the same space as him.

At the same time, grief-stricken cries, the scent of blood, and savage shouts rang out.

He could not understand at all what was happening.

Only a vague guess passed through one corner of his consciousness—that perhaps he had fallen into purgatory.

In confusion unlike anything he had ever felt in life, he waited helplessly for his turn.

Not long after, a rough hand seized him by the scruff of the neck.

Instinctively, he opened his mouth wide.

Then a bizarre scream, one he could not believe had come from his own mouth, pierced his eardrums.

He forced open eyes blurred as though frosted over and looked around.

Within his strangely widened field of vision, he could faintly make out the shadows of giants clad in iron armor.

He was still overwhelmed by that unreal sight when a cold blade pressed against the nape of his neck.

At the pain of his airway being crushed, a sharp shriek burst out of him on its own.

But the pressure bearing down on his throat only grew worse.

In the end, he gave up resisting and lowered his eyelids.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded, and the force pinning him down vanished.

When he snapped open his eyes, his wide-spread vision caught the sight of a fallen giant.

The massive man in iron armor shouted loudly at someone. But Varkas could not understand what he was saying.

Amid the thunderous sound of rain, several buzzing voices tangled together in confusion.

He wanted to cover his ears at once, but his body would not obey him.

Collapsed in the muddy water, he desperately wriggled his limp, boneless limbs.

At that moment, he felt something warm and soft wrap around his body.

Suddenly, he stopped breathing.

Into his vision, which had been filled only with gray, a dazzling wave of gold came rushing in.

He saw the fine rain soaking her long lashes and pale cheeks as it ran down.

Following those streams upward, he found a world endlessly deep and blue.

Gazing into that clear, transparent light, he pleaded inwardly.

God.

If this is a dream, please…

Before his prayer could even be completed, the scent of heaven wrapped around him.

The woman who had drawn him into her soft, warm embrace whispered in a dreamlike voice.

“From now on, your name is Khan.”

Her deep blue eyes, wet with rain and tears, shimmered with a tender joy.

As he stared at her without even blinking, her cheek, frozen cold, came to rest against the nape of his neck.

With a smile of overflowing happiness resting on her lips, the woman whispered softly,

“Stay with me from now on. Always.”

Hello. This is Kakao Entertainment. As of today, the third act of <Forgotten Field> has come to an end. After that, I would like to have a short story maintenance period. As a result, there will be a temporary hiatus for 2 weeks from 5/21~6/3, and episode 247 will be updated on 6/4 (Thu). I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of our readers for joining us so far, and I will soon greet you again in Act 4. Thank you.