#762

Oliver (3)

"I'm sorry."

Oliver said.

"I'm sorry."

He spoke, tears streaming from his eyes.

"I'm truly sorry."

He apologized to Unbending Knee.

"······!"

At the sight, Unbending Knee, consumed by the madness of hatred, momentarily regained sanity and loosened the grip on Oliver’s neck.

But, it was just for a brief moment. Once again, he let himself be engulfed by the madness of hatred and began strangling Oliver’s neck.

Isn't that right? Could something like this stop him?

Could such deep hatred be halted simply because this person shed tears?

He had lost all of his tribal people, who were like family, and if that wasn’t enough, even strangled his only surviving younger sibling to death.

So now, stopping the hatred over something like this would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it?

Wouldn’t it make the death of his tribe and sibling meaningless?

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh······!!!”

Unbending Knee, as if to preserve the value of his precious ones, forced out a scream and further fueled his hatred.

Neither gods, demons, nobility, nor greatness could ever be forgiven.

Hatred was all he had left now.

Hatred toward the world that had taken everything from him and given nothing but pain. If he lost even that, he would have nothing left.

Isn’t it the saddest thing of all? For his sibling and tribespeople, who endured nothing but pain, to vanish as if they had never existed in the first place?

It had to be left behind! Proof that they had lived! Evidence of their suffering! In some way, it had to remain in this world!

Squeeze······!

With that singular conviction, Unbending Knee began strangling Oliver’s neck again.

His fractured fingers dug into Oliver’s neck, tightening his airway.

If he couldn’t set the world ablaze like his tribal people had burned, at the very least, he had to kill their god. He had to make them taste the despair he had felt.

As Unbending Knee continued to strangle him.

"I'm sorry."

Oliver, who offered no resistance, looked at Unbending Knee with tearful eyes and apologized.

"Shut up······."

"I'm sorry for not properly asking why you acted that way when we first met."

"Shut up······."

"Back then, I only thought of myself. I only considered the doubts within my heart."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up-!!"

"And because of that, I couldn’t consider anything else. The desperation you must have felt, summoning demons at the cost of burning yourselves alive. Because of my selfishness, I—"

“-Shut up!!”

Unbending Knee tightened his grip on Oliver's neck even harder with his one remaining knee. Despite this, Oliver continued speaking.

“When I met you again afterward, it was the same.”

Unbending Knee, as if his own neck were being squeezed, anxiously observed Oliver. How could he still speak? What kind of trick was this?

“I saw you, having lost everything, drowning in pain. And yet, I placed my burdens on you, even though I had an inkling of what you must have gone through.”

And yet, there was no peculiar sensation. The feeling of a neck being crushed, the purple hue overtaking Oliver's complexion—Oliver’s neck was undoubtedly being choked.

“For my own comfort, I turned away from you and shifted my burden onto you…”

And still, he kept speaking. The reason was—

“…I am truly sorry.”

“Shut up!”

Unbending Knee released Oliver's neck and struck his face.

Even though his fractured hand caused him more pain than Oliver, he didn’t care. In fact, he welcomed it. If only the physical pain could overshadow the agony in his heart.

But physical pain was fleeting. Soon, the torment festering in his heart rose again, suffocating him. Desperate to drown out his pain with more pain, Unbending Knee struck Oliver’s face with his fist once more.

“Die! If you're really sorry, then die!! Why should only I suffer?! Why should it only be us?! If you were going to intervene, why didn’t you act sooner?! Why didn’t you stop me from killing my brother?! Why did I have to kill him?! If you’re sorry, shut up!! And die─!!!”

In his frenzy, Unbending Knee pounded Oliver’s face repeatedly with his fists before grabbing the stone he had dropped earlier, lifting it high above his head.

Seeing this, the surrounding people began to move, but Oliver, who had been motionless, raised a hand to stop them.

“…”

In the silence that followed, Oliver obeyed Unbending Knee’s words. He said nothing more and simply remained still.

Unbending Knee attempted to bring the stone down with all his might.

But he hesitated.

He couldn’t bring it down.

When his eyes met Oliver’s tearful gaze, he found himself unable to strike.

Even as he bit down on his lip so hard it bled, even as he poured all his strength into the arm holding the stone, his resolve wavered like a flickering flame. He couldn’t go any further.

It was then that Oliver gently closed his tear-streaked eyes.

The moment he saw this, Unbending Knee’s strength left him, and his arm fell limply to his side.

Thud.

The stone he had been gripping tumbled weakly to the ground, and Unbending Knee stepped off of Oliver.

The bloodshot eyes filled with hatred lost their focus as he silently looked around.

At the countless people who had miraculously survived when the demon’s descent threatened to bring the world to its end.

The red-haired man, his body mottled with discoloration, gazed at them with hollow eyes before collapsing to the ground.

Oliver rose to his feet and approached Unbending Knee once again.

“Unbending Knee.”

Unbending Knee did not answer.

“I will remember all of you. Your people and your brother—I will remember them all,” Oliver said.

Unbending Knee remained silent, as parts of his body began turning as white as ash.

“And I will save them all. No matter how long it takes… I will save them. So, please…”

Unbending Knee did not respond. His body, now bleached white, began to crumble. The vessel containing the demon had reached its limit and was collapsing.

“So, please… I beg you, confess your sins to me,” Oliver pleaded, tears falling as he grasped Unbending Knee’s hand.

As before, Unbending Knee gave no reply—

Smack.

Breaking the silence, Unbending Knee pushed Oliver’s hand away and finally spoke.

“There’s no need…”

His low voice resonated softly. From it, Oliver could sense the sorrow and despair, as though they were his own.

“I won’t ask for forgiveness.”

“Unbending Knee…”

“All I’ve ever been good at is fighting and hating.”

“…”

“I lived that way, ignoring my brother.”

Unbending Knee’s only remaining leg crumbled, turning into white ash.

“For that hatred, I strangled my only surviving brother with my own hands. It’s all I could do. No—it’s all I thought I could do.”

Starting from his broken leg, his entire body gradually disintegrated into ash.

“But even that… I failed at that too. Because of you… I couldn’t even hold on to my hatred properly.”

“You can stop this sin and move toward something better—” Oliver reached for Unbending Knee’s hand again.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

Unbending Knee pushed Oliver’s hand away once more.

“I couldn’t even hold on to my hatred. Even after abandoning my brother and killing him, I failed to carry out that hatred. I’m just a fool. So don’t try to take my failure and sin away from me.”

A faint emotion flickered across his face, which had been consumed by burning hatred.

It was self-loathing—a deep, unrelenting hatred for himself.

“Taking these failures and sins to the grave is the punishment I’ve given myself for turning away from everything.”

Unbending Knee pronounced his judgment upon himself. As he prepared to close his eyes and let the pain take him, Oliver grasped his hand once more.

Unbending Knee tried to pull away, but Oliver firmly held it with his other hand.

“…I understand. I won’t ask you to confess. I won’t ask you to seek forgiveness. That is your choice… But, please, just let me hold your hand.”

Oliver’s simple request to hold his hand.

Unbending Knee seemed about to say something, but instead swallowed his words and closed his eyes.

Whether from exhaustion or for some other reason, Unbending Knee held onto Oliver’s hand, tears streaming down his face as his body crumbled into ash.

All that remained in Oliver’s hands was a handful of ash.

He gazed at the ash in silence, then clasped it in his hands and began to pray.

“Our Father in Heaven, today, a child who was forsaken by both me and You ascends to You. This child… burdened by horrific sins, refused to forgive himself and departed, carrying his sins to Your side… So please, save him.”

Oliver raised his head to the sky. His expression was a mix of anger and resolute determination.

“I will bear part of his sins. I will carry them… So, please, save him.”

With his hands clasped in prayer, Oliver fell silent for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he rose and looked around.

The people Unbending Knee had once seen stood before him.

“…”

When Oliver looked at them, they froze in place.

Step.

Oliver approached them.

No one spoke. No one dared to kneel.

Step.

In that moment, time seemed to vanish, leaving only the present.

Step.

Then, Oliver spoke.

“A man has just died.”

A man listened.

“He was consumed by hatred, proclaiming himself the prince of hell, and sought to bring about the world’s end.”

A woman listened.

“Before that, he studied black magic, terrorized cities, and attacked people.”

An old man listened.

“To break the chains of unjust discrimination in the world, to defend his rights and dignity, he crossed the line. He crossed it because he had lost everything.”

A child listened.

“But in the end, he stopped himself and died, bearing the weight of his sins.”

Everyone listened.

“…I will say no more. You saw him, you experienced this, and you heard it all. Reflect for yourselves. Why did he harbor such hatred? Why did this happen? What went wrong? And how can things be made better?”

Something immense and heavy pressed down on the shoulders of those gathered.

Conscience. Responsibility. Morality. Duty. The names varied, but the weight was undeniable, something they could feel in their very bones.

It was heavy enough to make them want to kneel and bow.

Amid the crushing weight, a boy stepped forward with courage and approached Oliver.

It was Prince Albert, the sole remaining heir of the United Kingdom. His voice trembled as he asked,

“…Can we do it?”

Oliver knelt on one knee before the boy and smiled.

Then, he turned to look at everyone.

Joanna, Marie, Jane, Joe, Edith, Willes, Philip, Terence, and every other person standing there.

With a firm voice, he answered.

“I will help you.”