I waited patiently, clinging to the hope that some trace of humanity still remained within her.
My lips trembled faintly.
"Are you still in there, Madam?"
Silence.
The serpent stared me down. Her movements were sparse, as though a fragment of her still resisted.
Still, I tried once more.
"I'm called Wildom... but I'm also called Kim Soo-Hyuk."
Another silence.
"If I could at least know your name..."
'HHHISSSSSSS.'
So that was how it was.
My lips pressed into a thin line, and before I allowed her to sink any further into becoming nothing more than a monster...
I smiled.
An expression filled with remorse, guilt, passion, and care.
Then-
The world began to twist.
Her enormous tail coiled around me, slowly wrapping itself around my body until I was completely trapped within her grasp.
The tidal lilies were replaced by dozens upon dozens of serpents, crawling around my legs and slithering past my feet.
The slick texture of her scales brushed against me, while the stench of venom gradually tainted the air.
'SWOOOSHHH.'
The tail tightened.
My breathing grew heavier as I was slowly crushed.
More than that, it weighed upon my wings.
They struggled desperately to break free, beating against the serpent's grip, yet it was useless.
Right after-
The serpent opened her mouth.
A void lay within.
A darkness so deep that I knew escape from it would be impossible.
It was as though she had no jaw at all; her mouth stretched wide enough to swallow me whole.
My fingers tightened around my sword.
Not yet.
A little closer.
Closer.
Closer.
NOW.
At that very instant—
Millions of white lilies erupted around me.
The flowers bloomed like stars in the darkness, forcing the serpent's grip apart.
My wings broke free.
And they carried me upward.
'WOOOSHHHH.'
The giant wings on my back flapped once more.
This time, they shed countless feathers, each one transforming into a blade that rained down upon the colossal creature.
"CCCCREEEEAAAAHHHH!!!"
Her scream echoed across the battlefield.
A cry of pain.
A cry of a monster.
But I did not stop.
Another twist of my ankle.
Another step.
My footsteps resembled the graceful movement of a swan.
My blade swung once more.
And with a gentle touch—
Her head was severed from her body.
'SHHHAAAA.'
Her blood painted the sky.
She was weak.
Or perhaps...
She had been weakened.
From the beginning, there had been no true killing intent within her.
She was merely a sly serpent, one who could only hide behind lies while keeping a straight face.
What kind of love could weaken someone so completely?
To the point where they could barely fight?
I stepped closer to the fallen body.
"Regretfully... I couldn't learn your name, Madam."
Perhaps...
She had never had one.
The stage began to crumble into ash.
The symbols of Yin and Yang faded before my eyes.
And I stood between them.
My left foot rested upon Yin.
My right upon Yang.
Before me, she lay motionless.
But then-
"WHAT?!"
My body trembled.
My thoughts drifted far away.
From beyond the clouds...
Something descended.
A massive trident.
Not from the sky.
But from something far beyond it.
Its mere presence caused the world to tremble.
The remaining lilies withered.
The darkness bowed.
It was the east...the place my Mademoiselle is at the moment.
Please no.
My wings faltered and my body was fatigued all over. The sudden rush of fear swept through me.
The unimaginable thoughts broke me apart. If the light of the world had disappeared my delight, how could I ever live? How could I breathe knowing that you do not see the same sky as me?
Lilies gathered around me, they bloomed on my wings and all throughout my figure. And instinctively, I placed the mask over my face.
The cane in my hand began whimpering and my breaths grew shorter.
I've only managed to call by your name and that even not to you directly....
Please, I beg you. Let me call you once...Just once, by your name.
Ms. Aniel...
No
Aniel, my dearest.