I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 220

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“You’re awake.”

 

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw that man’s face. Dana muttered blankly, “Yustio?”

 

At that, Yustio frowned slightly, narrowing his elegant brows in displeasure.

 

Staring at him absentmindedly, she realized she had called his name without permission. “Your Holiness, I apologize.”

 

“Are you conscious?”

 

“Yes. This place is…” Dana realized it immediately. A bedroom with a massive mural of the Sun God painted across the wall. This place was—

 

“My room.” In other words, it was inside the Papal Palace of the Ramun Church.

 

Why was she here? No, more importantly… What is this? Dana stared blankly down at her own body. Are my eyes wrong? No, what was wrong was her body. Half of it was transparent, so that the scenery beyond showed straight through.

 

“You are currently in a state where your soul has separated from your body.”

 

At that moment, memories flashed through her mind. Ah, right. That’s right. There had been an explosion. And Dana had clearly seen her legs being blown away. That was her last memory. No way. “Am I… dead?”

 

“You are still alive.” Yustio glanced down toward her abdomen.

 

Only then did Dana notice the long cord extending from her stomach. What is this…? It looked like an umbilical cord, but it passed straight through the wall and stretched far away somewhere, its end invisible. Yet the instant she saw it, she understood. It’s the thread connecting me to my body. And if she followed this thread, she could return to Danaena’s body. It was an instinctive realization, like searching for water when thirsty.

 

For now, let’s go back. Perhaps because Dana was in a soul state, merely thinking that she should leave caused her body to float lightly and begin moving. However… Crackle! Just as she turned to leave, a strange current flashed. She was violently repelled backward.

 

“…” Dana was so startled she lost her words.

 

That just now… was like some kind of barrier.

 

“You cannot leave yet.” From behind her, Yustio spoke in a low voice. It was an indifferent notice.

 

Did he stop her from leaving just now? No, wait. Is this even possible? Come to think of it, he was the one who brought her here in the first place. How did he move her when she was just a soul?

 

“What did you do to me?”

 

“I placed a barrier so that you cannot leave without my consent.”

 

“…”

 

It was so matter-of-fact, as if he were exercising an entirely natural right, that it left her dumbfounded.

 

Dana sneered. “You criticize Carl Windsor, yet you do the same thing. Aren’t you just another ruffian, no different from him?”

 

“I have never treated someone who tried to kill me with even this much consideration. Be satisfied with that.”

 

It seemed he was quite angry about her shooting him. But she was angry too.

 

“You’re quite capable, Your Holiness.”

 

If this man hadn’t interfered on the Red Ship, things wouldn’t have been twisted into such a mess.

 

“To be able to handle souls. Who knew the pope was a spirit medium who sees ghosts?”

 

“I am not.”

 

“What do you mean, you’re not? Ordinary people can’t see souls, can they? You can see me as a soul, and even communicate with me. You’re brimming with the qualities of a medium.” Her irritation boiled up, bubbling over.

 

Everything was a mess. Everything. Absolutely everything. Her legs were blown up, her soul was knocked out of her body. She hadn’t even gotten a glimpse of the mirror she’d searched for so desperately.

 

Up to that point, Dana could accept it. She’d taken on danger and failure knowingly. But the worst thing of all was that she had said words defending Carl Windsor. Wow. I want to die. Remembering the fox-like smile in Carl’s eyes when he heard he was someone important to her, she wanted to bite off her tongue instead.

 

“So, what are you planning to do with me?” Since she was a soul anyway, he couldn’t strangle her. With that thought, Dana grew bold. “I don’t know why you brought me here, but it’s too bad. I’ve got nothing left to lose. You won’t get my cooperation this way.”

 

“Cooperation?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“There’s no need.”

 

What? At that moment, Dana saw golden strands burst forth from his body, like rays of sunlight. They flew toward her like arrows. Thud, thud, thud. They pierced into her, burrowing deep into her soul, to a terrifying depth.

 

“Ah!”

 

Dana collapsed at his feet. The shock of being pierced through, a dizzying sensation as if the world were flipping upside down, surged over her. Can you even feel this kind of vertigo as a soul?

 

“You said you weren’t a medium… but you are. You even know how to torment a soul like this.”

 

At Dana’s persistent sarcasm, Yustio let out a quiet sigh. “Among demon worshippers, there are sorcerers who command evil spirits.”

 

In an instant, anger flared hot inside her. Because his voice was calm and reverent, as if reciting scripture.

 

“I can invade, control, and destroy the minds of those spirits and those who manipulate them. That is all.”

 

Ah. Uh. Ugh. She was barely holding back these burning groans.

 

“I am currently considering how to handle you, but there is no need to ask for your cooperation.”

 

Panting shakily, Dana barely lifted her gaze. Blue eyes looking down on something far below, something insignificant. It made her feel as though she’d become his slave, her face burning with humiliation.

 

“I will ask you.” A terrifyingly refined voice rang out. “What kind of deal did you make with the leader of the Daiana Church?”

 

Keugh. His power felt like it was drilling into her brain. The answer spilled out on its own.

 

“I agreed, to bear, the Windsor, heir…”

 

“For what reason?”

 

“Because the purification ability… can only, be passed on, through me.”

 

“Do you know about the Book of the True Prophecy?”

 

“I, do.”

 

“When I asked you about its whereabouts a few years ago, why did you say you didn’t know?”

 

“Because, I didn’t want, to continue, being entangled, with you…”

 

“…”

 

After a short while, the force piercing through her body vanished. At last, the torture ended. A wave of crushing fatigue washed over her, and Dana closed her eyes. She wanted to collapse and sleep like this. But a grip like iron seized her arm and forcibly pulled her upright.

 

So he could even grab a soul. For him to still insist he wasn’t a medium was almost laughable.

 

Holding her staggering soul, Yustio dragged her somewhere and laid her down. It was a bed. “You may keep your eyes closed, but do not fall asleep. We have no time to waste.”

 

“…You’re a bad person.” She muttered it.

 

Yustio pretended not to hear and continued calmly. “I have been searching for fragments of the prophecy book for some time. I have succeeded in securing about half of them.”

 

So what? Was he going to tell her to cough up the location of the rest?

 

“The Book of the True Prophecy mainly describes Yeon Dana. Stories about you.”

 

“…”

 

What? Only then did Dana slowly lift her eyelids. As if he’d been watching her the whole time, she met his blue eyes directly.

 

“Who you are, what your life was like, what abilities you possess, and what events you have experienced. It is all written in detail. That is why I know you.” Ever so slightly, he inclined his upper body toward her. “I know you very well.”

 

The confidence etched into his face bordered on arrogance when he said he knew her. It was annoying.

 

“You possess an ability to see the past.”

 

Separately from her irritation, it did seem that he truly knew her.

 

“That ability is not merely seeing the past. Your soul temporarily exists in the past.”

 

But that time, she couldn’t pretend not to hear anymore.

 

“Insight… isn’t just seeing the past?” Had she heard that right? Dana parted her lips and asked, “You mean my soul temporarily exists in the past?”

 

“To be precise, in the present and the past.” Yustio corrected her exactly. “Standing on the boundary of time and existing simultaneously in both the present and the past. That is your ability.”

 

Dana learned then that even a soul could feel chills. Of course, her insight had always been more than simple observation. Whether she was seeing events she herself experienced from within her body, or spying on others from outside it. It had been so vivid, so frighteningly real, as if she truly existed in that moment. To think her soul really did exist there.

 

“I need that ability.” Watching her shock with indifference, Yustio stated his demand. “I’m tracking demons. You will use that ability and become a clue in my pursuit.”

 

“…”

 

“This is not a bad deal for you either.”

 

“I doubt it. Being entangled with Your Holiness already feels like a catastrophic misfortune to me.” She spat the accusation like venom, but he let it flow past him like water.

 

“Once the demon is gone, the rotten land naturally disappears.”

 

Dana wanted to ignore him, but every word he spoke was the kind she couldn’t simply dismiss. “What do you mean? The rotten land will disappear?”

 

“Yes. The rotten land began when demons crawled up into the human realm.”

 

“I heard it started because the Sun God’s blessing disappeared.”

 

“You have the order reversed.” Yustio shook his head. “The power of the seven-headed serpent invaded the land, and the rotten land came into being. Only after that did Ramun’s blessing cease. Because demons trespassed upon Ramun’s domain.”

 

Suddenly, the dying words of the paladin came to mind. That a fragment of the serpent had climbed into human lands and grown obsessed with pretending to be human, so much so that it didn’t even realize it was a demon.

 

“If you remove the cause, the rotten land will vanish. You will no longer need to conceive the Windsor heir, and above all, you can reclaim your body that was submerged in the Ice Lake.”

 

Yustio really did know everything.

 

The Book of the True Prophecy was about it? It was a baptismal prophecy book passed down for over two hundred years. And her story is written in it? She should find the remaining fragments herself someday and read them all.

 

Hiding that resolve, Dana asked, “So, what do you want from me?”

 

“Use your ability to cross the boundary of time. There is something you must find out.”

 

“…”

 

She was dumbfounded. How could he say it as casually as asking someone to pop out to the corner shop?

 

“When, and where?”

 

“June 5, 1811. The sanctuary.”

 

That was the day before Raios was born. Raios’s birthday was June 6. And he was said to have been born in the sanctuary… From the body of Duchess Windsor, Raios was born. Yustio must know that too.

 

“On that day, June 5, a fragment of the seven-headed serpent sealed in the Ice Lake crawled up into the human realm. All you need to do is witness what happened that day.”

 

And the next day, Raios was born. Yet Yustio never mentioned Raios. Even though he surely knew his nephew’s birthday.

 

“It’s impossible.” After a brief hesitation, Dana shook her head. “It’s not like going to a scheduled play. I can’t just pick an exact date and see it.”

 

She had always opened her insight through an event, an emotion, some kind of trigger. It required an intense and genuine inner motivation. If she could see whatever she wanted at will, she wouldn’t be suffering like this.

 

“And more importantly, I’ve never maintained insight for more than five minutes. I can’t be sure I’ll reach June 5 exactly, and there’s no way I could sustain it for an entire day.”

 

“That is when you are bound to a body. You are currently in a soul state.” He spoke while gazing at the long soul-thread. “Because your soul is not bound to a body, you can completely cross the boundary of time.”

 

“…”

 

“Moreover, your soul cannot return to your body for the time being. Not until I permit it.”

 

Ah. Right. He’d said he set a barrier so her soul couldn’t leave. Which meant until Yustio finished what he needed, she couldn’t go anywhere. After criticizing Carl Windsor, he went even further.

 

“I told you it was impossible.” Irritated, Dana snapped. “The sanctuary is as vast as the empire’s territory. If I wander around aimlessly as a soul trying to find the Ice Lake, a year wouldn’t be enough.”

 

“That won’t be necessary. The Duchess Windsor’s body is in the sanctuary.”

 

“…”

 

Of course it would be. Duchess Windsor is said to have spent her entire life recuperating in the sanctuary. She was the one who conceived the imperial heir, Raios.

 

“Danawin Windsor. Or Danawin Geranze.”

 

One of Dana’s many replicas. In other words, a soulless chimera shell. They had impregnated that doll-like body and extracted Raios through surgery.

 

Disgusting Daiana Church b*stards…

 

And now he wanted her to enter that shell? Just imagining it made her want to vomit.

 

“If you enter that body, you will gain considerable authority within the sanctuary.”

 

“That’s not possible. If I enter another body, I lose my memories.”

 

“I know. I can use my holy magic to prevent that from happening. You only need to go and see.”

 

“Isn’t this too cruel?”

 

At that, Yustio lifted his golden brows slightly. “You, of all people.”

 

“What?”

 

“You fired a gun at me with the intent to kill. You even fired two shots, as if to make sure.”

 

“…”

 

That again… Was he really that angry about it…? Feeling awkward, Dana looked at him.

 

Yustio frowned, as if thinking he’d added something unnecessary. Soon, without hesitation, he turned away. He walked to the center of the room and sat down cross-legged. The next moment, golden light flowed out of Yustio’s body. Strange characters flashed across his skin like luminous tattoos carved in light. At the same time, a massive magic circle began to glow on the floor.

 

Dana was overwhelmed by the radiance. With his entire body blazing in golden script, he looked like an incarnation of the Sun God.

 

“What are you doing? Come inside this.”

 

“…”

 

She was sick of it. A spirit medium and now a holy magician? The Sun God must have poured every imaginable rare ability into Yustio. Except for a decent personality…

 

* * *

June 1, 1811.

 

Duchess Windsor opened her eyes.