Chapter 149: The Only Redemption to the Sin of Fear

In a clearing of a moderately dense forest, a man is panting, he is panting so hard that he feels like his lungs will come out of his mouth any moment from now, however, he does not stop inhaling and exhaling gas because of his seemingly never-ending need for oxygen due to the literal life and death fight he has just participated in moments ago.

To say Carrera was exhausted would be an understatement, he had never exerted himself as he did on this day, first, the halo of Aoi Dodomeki almost caught them, but somehow, someway, he and his family were spared from being one of the members of the suicide army of the Urduja Queendom, not only that, while they were running, the whole world literally saw the sun falling down, and for a moment, the sun have successfully conquered the night sky.

The ground shook and the ocean itself threatened to stop the two wars that were happening in Genesis right now, yet again, somehow, someway, the 4 of them survived, however now, they had finally met their bane.

Not only did he get subtly controlled by Momoiro Dodomeki, the disciple and daughter of Aoi Dodomeki, but he also let himself be tranced by an enjoyable fight for someone who makes guarding farmers and killing bandits as a living, because of such, he had endangered his family and for the last two hours, have used all of what he can squeeze from his useless title called "prodigy".

Every move he knew, stab, slash, everything at his disposal, yet here he was, standing in front of his enemy, his knees on their way to give out, countless stabs all over his body, some even in the liver, stomach, and lungs, all of which were bleeding as if there is no tomorrow, causing his sweat and crimson secretions to mix and fall of the ground.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

Carrera panted, blood filling his lungs that were full of holes, causing his breathing to rumble like thunder, yet he did not care.

"Why... why are you doing this...!? Why are you doing everything, even after I stabbed your heart to separate me from my family!? Now... NOW ALL OF THEM ARE DEAD!"

Carrera hollered, causing him to cough a mouthful of blood and for his knees to buckle down another inch, he had already given up on his family, for he never made them train to fight in fear that his children would be weaponized, now his heart is only filled with indignation to the fact that he has to give up on them in the first place.

Thus Carrera shouted to the woman who was kneeling in front of him, she was clutching her chest, just like him, Myra was full of slashes and holes that trickled endless amount of blood, she looked at his opponent, who was, no matter what she did, she cannot overwhelm and in the end even gave him a fatal stab in the heart.

"I... am not doing that... I just want to end my life this way..."

Myra clutched the middle side of her chest in a bid to stop the bleeding, her other hand was braced against the ground, supporting her increasingly weakening body.

"What? You... you want to annihilate an innocent family before you die? Are you out of your mind?"

Hearing this, Myra snickered, her braced hand was now clutching a rock.

_Of course... you can't understand... no one can..._

Hearing the chuckle, Carrera's fury was further amplified.

"Why are you laug-!?"

However, he was destined to not have any last word, for the moment he is about to vent all of his rage to the woman who destroyed his happiness, a rock got embedded in his right eye, causing him to stagger back in pain and shock, and as he did, Carrera saw that the woman who is bleeding in front of him just now vanished.

As he realized the wretched woman's disappearance, he felt a painful stab in his back, and blood once again spurted out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry."

Carrera stared at the woman who was shedding tears, he could not understand, Myra who was so resolutely preventing him from saving his family is saying sorry, and not only did she do so just now, but she apologized for almost every living second of their life and death battle, every time Carrera futilely tried to dissuade her from getting in his way, that will be all she will mutter.

Carrera cannot understand, he really can't. Really, a woman's heart is complicated, more complicated than any kind of sword technique.

_What the hell is wrong with you..._

Such were the last thoughts Carrera had, before he, the unutilized prodigy of the Gjallarhorn family perished in the hands of the swordmaiden that never wanted to become one.

"Huff... Huf..."

Myra gasped for breath as he pulled out her rapier and stabbed it again on the ground, not even caring about her first and last kill as a fighter. She gritted her teeth and let all the blood drip out of her wounds.

"I feel faint..."

Muttered Myra, her eyes started to wane, not even being able to recognize the color of the ground if not for the fact that the mixed blood of Carrera and herself were in it, yet she did not close them completely, she did not dare, for she can hear the hurried rustles of leaves from two people that are supposed to be as silent as an owl at night.

"L-lady Myra..!? You... you did it..."

The two boys looked at the corpse and then at her in alternation, the two of them are seemingly in a dilemma on whether they will carry the corpse back, or abandon it so that they will have a chance to save Myra, of course, the person in question knew what their brains are currently processing, thus she took the initiative to speak.

"Ah... it's you two... can you help me transfer him to the site where you will bury the corpse of his family?"

The two assassins of Urduja were startled, they wanted to rebuke her, yet Myra ignored their impending rejection.

This is her end, and in her end, there shall be no hope.

"...Please go without me... I will just rest here for a while..."

The two assassins, who are supposed to be trained to be stone cold were shaken to their core, they wanted to dissuade Myra, for her to choose a longer time to die, yet they were rejected before even attempting so.

"But... we... maybe we can lift you and the corpse...! We... there are two of us after all!"

One of the twins did not want to give up, causing Myra to look at the boy, there was a smile, tired yet kind, sullen yet thankful for such a concern evident on her face. She wished that, that was her daughter, yet she knew that such delusion would never be fulfilled.

"... No... let me... sleep for a while... I will be right behind you... I'm just really, really tired."

The twins looked at Myra for a while, she was one of the people that made them feel that they were normal, that they belonged to this world.

It's not like Urduja treats them differently, but because of the fact that they were saved from being one of the cannon fooders on the side of their former affiliation and willingly trained for the sake of their benefactor, they often isolated themselves from others, yet Myra did her best to reached out to them.

If they were tired, she would prepare their bed, if they were hungry, she would give them lunches.

They really do not want to see her die, they really don't.

Yet, they also knew of her past, how she loathes herself as a horrible person, they have repeatedly said that she is not, but just like how there is no love greater than a mother's love, there is also no greater guilt than a mother's guilt.

Tears dropped from the duo's eyes as they stared at their mother figure.

"Please hurry up... your elder siblings are waiting for you."

As blood dripped down the increasingly paling body of Myra, the two siblings nodded as they looked at her for one last time, they went to the head and feet of Carrera and in one swift move, lifted him up and disappeared in a flash. The smile on Myra's face was wiped away, a hand still in the hilt of her rapier, but now, she slowly knelt and coughed two mouthfuls of blood.

"Ugh... fighting at full power... as limited as mine is, is really fun... too bad I won't feel it again."

Her breathing started to slow down, and she took a meditative position, looking at the rapier that was embedded in front of her.

"It would have been a wish come true for Sophia to teach me how to use rapiers."

Myra and her fleeting mind imagined it, her daughter behind her, holding her hand, correcting her grip, her stance, her posture, and even sparring with her.

Myra closed her eyes.

And then after an intense session of continuous piercing exercises, they will sit on a bench and will munch on a basket of sandwiches the two of them have created in the royal kitchen, Myra smiled, tears trickling down her cheeks, oh if only she has not done such an impulsive decision if she is not just a coward, then maybe, maybe the two of them will be able to experience all of those things.

"Mom? Mom? I'm about to finish the sandwich, stop daydreaming!"

Sillily enough, Myra seemed to hear the voice of Sophia, and because of such, she could not help but look at her front, and in her shock, she saw her daughter, silver hair, big breasts, nice thighs and all, in a fencer's attire.

Her eyes widened.

"What's wrong Mom?"

Myra wanted to say 'nothing', really, she did, however, at this moment, she knew all of this was a hallucination, a hallucination that may be brought to her by her daughter.

"Even though this is just an illusion, I'm still glad that you really forgave me moments before my death, I am afraid that you won't be able to."

The one in front of her, Sophia looked at her mom strangely but soon, she sighed.

"I am still your daughter... and from where I came from, parents always get a pass on the horrible things they do to their children because, in the end, they are still our parents."

Myra smiled bitterly, somehow, she didn't find the sentence strange, mostly because such a world is her daughter's construct, and in her world, everything makes sense.

"Sophia" ignored the self-mocking smile of her mother and grabbed the last sandwich in the basket.

"Here."

"Sophia" said, giving the sandwich with salmon mayo filling to Myra, Myra hesitated but Sophia coaxed her and thus in the end, she grabbed the sandwich and nibbled on it, it was delicious, perhaps, because it was her daughter who made it.

"You know, I want to explain myself, but I knew that you are already influential enough to know of my past, in blunt terms, I am a whore that finally got her back bitten by all her hookups, and because of that, I abandoned the child in fear, and then later almost got killed by Urduja when I asked for help in saving you because still, I am afraid when I saw that giant who appeared in your forest."

"Sophia" like her mother said, of course, knew it as Eleanor already narrated it a long time ago.

Sophia did not talk for a long time, she stared at the sandwich in her hand, seemingly in thought of what to say next.

"You know."

Sophia said before biting down on the last piece of sandwich in her hand and gulping it down, after which, she continued.

"From where I came from, I was also abandoned, the only difference is that I was left in front of a church and my mother at that time hated me to the brim of her being, that is why I am so angry when I found out that I am once again abandoned in this world and swore to kill my mother, and for that, I am not saying sorry."

Myra, still not finding anything strange about the confession of Sophia that she is from another world nodded, the sadness of being said that it is really her fault is not felt by her, for she is already aware of all that.

"It's a good thing that you have already fulfilled your wish."

Myra smiled, though bitterly, still filled with satisfaction, after all, she was able to make the wish of her daughter come true, maybe her only regret is that she is not able to be with Urduja, her beloved, second to her daughter.

But, as they said, you cannot have it all.

Myra did not say anything, yet it seems like Sophia is not over with her first proper conversation with her mother.

"I know that this may be late, but you have to know before you die that I already really forgive you, in the real world as you close your eyes, you can rest assured that you will leave this world without any grudge or sin against anyone, that I at least knew that you are just afraid of failing to support me and does not hate me like my first mother... please rest in peace."

As the illusion of Sophia said that, Myra's vision once again became blurry, however, she could properly feel a chest that was being nuzzled by her face, it was soft, it was warm, giving endless comfort to her once tumultuous heart, and of course, she knew that this is just all but a lucid dream coming from the person she have sinned against the most.

Yet she cannot help but cherish this warmth for one last time.

"It would be nice if this lasted for a little while."

Such were the final words of the woman who redeemed herself from the sin of fear.

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Author: Did I properly end her character? Any suggestions on how to make scenes like this better?

Also, she won't be an undead, I have other plans for her.