Chapter 36
<The Wings of the White Dragon>, part 5 of the immortal series <Chronicles of Livia>.
Its main character: Winter Orcheus.
He was called the savior of the continent, [Igrio], the dragon of winter—titles filled with power and greatness.
But long ago, he was just a boy too.
I suddenly remembered that.
“Winter Orcheus first died during the plague incident in Elahi.”
And after that, he killed himself many times—at just around fifteen years old.
He didn’t go back to just before death like me.
Every time he died, he returned to the moment of his birth and had to start over.
People called it a gift from the gods to the continent,
but to him, it was a cruel curse.
I had experienced just a small part of his endless time loop,
and even that short moment showed me how painful it truly was.
***
“How did I come back looking like this?”
Winter Orcheus muttered while grabbing me by the throat.
“How did this happen? How…?”
Inside his empty blue eyes, I found the answer.
“You… remember?”
He remembered everything.
He remembered the future I had just experienced—
where I killed him, and then I died too.
That future had now become the past, and he remembered it!
Just like Winter Orcheus was confused, so was I.
We looked into each other’s eyes, frozen in place.
Then, Winter was the first to speak.
“You… who I have waited for a very long time.”
A slow smile spread across his lips.
It was so beautiful I couldn’t believe it.
“I don’t know who hid you from me in the endless flood of time…”
Suddenly, a chilling killing aura crept into his smile.
“But whoever it is… I will rip them to pieces.”
But honestly, I didn’t care anymore.
“I’m alive… right?”
Relieved, my vision blurred again.
And then I fainted.
✦
When I opened my eyes again…
“Ugh, cough cough!”
I immediately felt that this was different from when I normally came back to life after death.
I wasn’t standing—I was lying down.
Held in someone’s arms.
“Winter Orcheus…!”
I saw the person with his chin resting above my head and stopped breathing for a moment.
“So… I didn’t die? Just passed out?”
I looked at his face, which didn’t seem human.
He was peacefully asleep, breathing softly like a child.
Looking at him now, he really did seem like an angel.
But how many times had that angel killed me already?
“But… this time, he didn’t kill me.”
Maybe he realized that I was the key to breaking his loop.
Whatever the reason, it looked like I had escaped the curse of being endlessly killed by the story’s main character.
“Still scary though…”
I took a deep breath.
Then, I tried to quietly move away from him.
***
But at that moment…
“Ack!”
His cold arm, which was wrapped around me, quickly tightened.
“Ahhh! Let go!”
His strong grip made me cry out.
He loosened it just a little, but it still felt like my waist would snap in two.
Only after I kicked him hard with my foot did I finally break free.
I hurriedly moved away, pressing myself against the railing,
and glared at Winter Orcheus.
***
“…Come back.”
He raised one arm, still lying in that same position.
His voice was soft, but firm.
“Come back to me.”
Is he crazy?! I wanted to scream.
But I already knew he was crazy,
so shouting that felt like stating the obvious.
Winter wasn’t joking.
He stared at me as if frozen, his posture unchanged.
I got ready to punch him if he moved any closer.
“I need to say something…”
Once I felt like he wouldn’t hurt me anymore,
I remembered that I had something important to tell him.
We had a lot to deal with together from now on.
But where do I start?
This man killed me so many times already…
“Um, Duke. You’ve killed me like… five times already.
You might not remember it, but you did.”
Winter didn’t react.
He wasn’t even surprised by the idea of killing me.
I guess he had planned to do it from the start anyway.
“And… normal people usually feel scared or hate the person who killed them.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
…What?
I suddenly remembered—
from his point of view, the only death he remembered was when I killed him with a pen.
“Is he joking right now?”
I stared at him with wide eyes.
Then, Winter slowly opened his arms wider and said,
“But I don’t want you to be scared of me.
So, how about this?”
“…What?”
“Kill me. As many times as you want.
Until your anger goes away.”
This guy’s insane!!
I shook my head and tried to back away—
but I was already pressed against the railing and couldn’t move farther.
Winter walked toward me.
He was holding a fountain pen, where did he get that?
He came close, gave the pen to me, and raised it to his own neck.
“Go ahead.”
I hesitated.
Then, I tightened my grip and lightly pressed the pen to his throat.
A tiny red mark appeared.
“…”
“…”
I stared into his cold blue eyes.
Even though I was the one holding the weapon,
my hands were shaking like a baby chick.
Then I opened my mouth.
“…The ‘unrecordable crisis’ is asleep at the bottom of the sea.”
“…”
“It’s the god who created the continent—Huerion.
He’s also the evil god, Abilisk.
You have to fight against a god.”
I dropped the pen to the floor.
Then, with trembling hands, I grabbed Winter’s arm desperately.
“I know how to beat him.
Please… listen to me.
I’ll dive into your endless time and pull you out.
But you must save this sinking continent.”
I was begging.
Begging him to return to being the hero I knew.
But then, I realized something.
Winter Orcheus looked at me with pity in his eyes.
Even though it was just a flash of emotion, it felt strong—
because his face was always so emotionless.
“107. Do you know what that number means?”
107?
I searched my memory of the original story.
I didn’t recall anything important about that number.
When I didn’t answer, Winter gave a small smile.
And then he said something that shocked me to my core.
“It’s the number of times I’ve killed Huerion
since being sealed in the sea of Arnim to the west.”
…What?
What is he saying?
Killed Huerion?
“You really don’t know, do you?”
He lowered his eyebrows like he felt sorry for me.
“We… this continent… and all life on it…
We’ve repeated destruction the same number of times.”
“Killing Huerion has nothing to do with stopping the end of the world.”
I couldn’t understand a single word of what he was saying.
I laughed awkwardly, hoping he’d say it was a joke.
“What do you mean…”
“Every time I killed or sealed Huerion,
At some point the entire continent shattered into pieces.
Everything turned to darkness,
and then a new version of the continent appeared again.”
A low, dry laugh echoed in my ears.
“Everyone on the continent will continue to die.
Again and again.
And then, they’ll live again. Over and over.”
What is he talking about?
What is all this?
“And I… no, we…
will remember every single one of those endless destructions.
And live the same time again and again… forever.”
