# Chapter 102
But for Levi who had just opened his eyes, he neither knew who she was nor could understand why she was revered as a Holy Maiden or what that meant.
He was only curious about why the girl wished for him to kill fellow humans.
“Why?”
Levi tilted his head. A droplet of water that had clung to his black hair slid down, causing a quiet ripple in the black water surface.
“Hmm—”
The clear golden eyes of the girl who made a nasal sound and lowered her eyes also spread dark ripples.
Then she smiled brightly and grabbed Levi’s black hand.
“I’ll explain that slowly, so let’s go quickly.”
Levi, who had been distracted by his curiosity about the girl’s words, flinched his shoulder greatly as soon as he realized she had firmly grasped his black hand.
But soon he blinked as he saw the girl smiling so nonchalantly.
The girl smiled broadly at Levi, then lifted his black hand and rested it against her face.
“See, I won’t die, so it’s okay.”
Even though most of his memories had disappeared, he could never forget about his own ability.
The ability to take life just by touch.
If she were human, she should have closed her eyes the moment she touched his hand.
Faced with a human who deviated from this perfectly natural formula, Levi couldn’t help but be confused.
The girl stood up while holding Levi’s hand. Whether it was because she was stronger than she looked, or because he was too dazed and relaxed, Levi’s body rose following her.
“Don’t worry. I will never die from you…”
The girl, who was speaking with a gentle face as if to reassure him, suddenly looked down and quickly turned her eyes away.
“Um, well, just to be clear, I didn’t look. I… I saw a little, but I don’t remember well… Probably.”
The girl, whose face had already reddened to the point of obvious embarrassment, looked down at her soaking wet black dress. Then without hesitation, she tore the knee area of her skirt horizontally.
The long dress made of soft, flowing silk material became a short knee-length dress. The ample hem torn away by the girl’s hands was now wrapped around Levi’s waist.
Though it became somewhat shabby-looking since she did it while looking away, she managed to make a narrow small skirt covering Levi’s private parts. Only then could the girl look directly at Levi again, and with a bright smile, she pulled him out of the pond.
“Come with me, Levi.”
“No. I will end up killing humans.”
“Yes, that would happen.”
Instead of arguing with Levi’s words, the girl nodded.
“But I promise. I will never make you use your power for evil purposes.”
Levi tilted his head again.
Taking human lives, or “murder,” being inherently bad was something even Levi, who had just opened his eyes, instinctively knew. The girl’s words were naturally puzzling.
The girl, as if she could clearly see what Levi was thinking, spoke soothingly:
“Your power does take life, but that’s not simply all there is to it.”
The girl’s face suddenly darkened.
“Just as my ability isn’t only about saving lives.”
The girl smiled bitterly and looked at Levi with sad eyes. Pure, clear black eyes met impossibly confused golden eyes.
“My ability takes away ‘complete death’ from humans. Whether they want it or not.”
The girl’s hand holding Levi’s black hand gradually trembled more.
Holy Maiden Claudia asked with a forced smile:
“Everyone extols me as a ‘Holy Maiden’… but the truth is, I’m a ‘Necromancer.'”
❖ ❖ ❖
Necromancer.
In other words, one who commands the dead.
In the distant past when magic was disappearing.
In a historical text from an era old enough to be called ancient, there was a single mention of a “Necromancer.”
When the Great Sage swung his pure white left hand, the wounds of those he touched disappeared as if washed away. People revered the Great Sage as a holy one and proclaimed his power to be God’s blessing.
As time passed, those who had received the power of the left hand could not close their eyes even when their breath ceased.
They wished to follow the Great Sage’s shadow even as undead whose hearts no longer beat, and furthermore, they rejected the inevitable cycle of rebirth to become the Immortal Corps of the kingdom established by their master.
Only the Great Sage, their master, could remove their immortality, and only his black right hand could grant them death and rebirth.
Humans felt a deep fear toward this godlike being who interfered with their lives and reincarnation cycles. They came to call the fearsome Great Sage a “Necromancer,” one who raises and leads the dead.
Levi, who had been led out of the Black Forest by Claudia’s hand, boarded the waiting carriage and pondered the secret story she had shared.
The story recorded in the historical text felt somehow familiar.
No, rather than familiar, it felt as if it was part of his own story.
Levi, who was wearing clothes and a warm robe prepared by Claudia’s attendants, expressed his doubt to her, who had changed into a fresh snow-white dress just like when they first met.
“Is Claudia the Great Sage from the historical text?”
Hearing Levi’s words, Claudia blinked rapidly and burst into laughter.
“No way! The historical text featuring the Great Sage is over a thousand years old. Besides, the Great Sage had ash-gray hair. It doesn’t shine beautifully like mine.”
Then, resting her elbow on her knee and supporting her chin with the back of her hand, she continued:
“But that doesn’t mean I’m unrelated to the Great Sage. Strictly speaking, I have a very close connection…”
Claudia, who had been staring intently at Levi, spoke in a rather heavy voice:
“I possess half of the abilities the Great Sage had.”
Claudia extended her left hand to Levi. Inside her palm, white as jade, there was a golden pattern.
“With this hand, I can heal humans I touch by my will. That’s why I’m called a Holy Maiden who saves people, blessed by heaven, something like that.”
While the content sounded like she was greatly revered, her voice gradually lost strength.
“Saving lives was good. Who wouldn’t like it when people on the verge of death would jump up with reverence just by my touch?”
Claudia, withdrawing her hand, looked down at the pattern on her palm.
“I shouldn’t have healed so indiscriminately…”
Her eyes filled with resentment as she looked at the pattern.
“Those people unknowingly became cursed. Because I used my ability on them and interfered with their ‘lifespan,’ they deviated from the path of reincarnation. It means they must remain trapped in my shadow after death, unable to be reborn.”
Claudia sighed and looked serious.
“I want them to be freed from me and return to their original path.”
Though Levi didn’t fully understand Claudia’s words, he offered a simple and straightforward solution.
“Then you should die.”
“…Are you always this blunt with your words?”
“Huh?”
Claudia, who had been looking at Levi’s innocent eyes, chuckled and brushed up her damp bangs.
“You’re half right.”
With a face devoid of any smile, Claudia reached out her left hand toward Levi.
“As you said, if I die, they will be freed. They won’t need to become puppet-like undead with blind loyalty to me against their will.”
The white hand gently grabbed the contrasting black hand.
“But if this power disappears with my death, all the humans connected to it will melt away too. Moreover… they won’t even have a chance at rebirth.”
Claudia’s voice sounded painful and bitter, as if cut by a sharp blade.
Her golden eyes warmly gazed down at Levi’s black hand.
“So to free them and let them walk the path of rebirth as they originally should, I need your ability.”
“My ability?”
Levi knew that when his hand touched someone, it would take their life as nourishment whether he wanted to or not.
In this world where the food chain exists, it was as natural to Levi as a predator tearing apart a small animal. But Levi also knew that this act and the power of the black hand were terribly frightening to humans.
That’s why it was difficult to understand what the girl before him was saying. Could this ability help humans rather than harm them?
As if to resolve Levi’s doubt, Claudia spoke kindly:
“Your power is the exact opposite of mine. Your right hand gives life the most ecstatic rest and allows them to immediately continue to their next life.”
Claudia’s words gave Levi quite a shock.
Levi, who had only remembered the act of taking life, felt as if he had regained one of his forgotten memories through her words.
“The Great Sage was one who held life in his left hand and death in his right. And that Great Sage was the incarnation of the ash-gray dragon, the last to disappear from this world. According to historical texts, the ash-gray dragon, like the Great Sage’s two hands, had a golden left eye and a black right eye.”
Claudia’s voice gradually became excited.
“When the ash-gray dragon disappeared, its two eyes each gained consciousness while containing the power of life and death. Just like you…”
Although this was clearly the first time he had heard this, Levi felt as if he had seen a blurry image within her words.
A golden bead and a black bead that had been sitting in the position of the eyes inside the skull of a giant lizard with only bones remaining.
The child of the golden bead, stolen away by greedy humans, flickered in his mind.
He recalled that this body he was moving was actually the same as a human who had swallowed the black bead.
The more he recalled, the more confusing it became.
Nevertheless, his instinct kept repeating that all these things that were just beginning to be remembered were true. Scolding him severely for how he could have forgotten this.
“We were originally one, Levi.”
Levi looked into Claudia’s eyes. It was as if the golden bead, which had been the left eye of the ash-gray dragon in his emerging memory, was embedded directly in her.
“So…”
Claudia clasped Levi’s black hand with both of her hands. After taking a deep breath, her face instantly became determined.
“Marry me.”
“…?”
Levi, who didn’t understand the meaning of the two words “marry me,” tilted his head.
