I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 284

“Oh, you’ve brought back the mountain goat!”

 

“Thank goodness!”

 

The priests openly breathed sighs of relief. They seemed worried that Rolland might have actually betrayed them.

 

“Now, now, let’s put it on the altar first!”

 

“Yes! We must perform the sacrifice before it gets any later!”

 

Ingria was dissatisfied, but she kept her mouth shut. In truth, she was relieved too. If Rolland really did betray them, it would cause an enormous number of problems.

 

“We will begin the sacrifice!”

 

The priests gathered around the black altar. When they began chanting their incantation, the altar slowly split open with unpleasant creaking and cracking sounds, as though the lid of a coffin were being opened.

 

“Throw the offering into the darkness of the altar!”

 

Demian walked steadily toward the altar. At the bottom of the altar, whose pitch-black maw gaped open, there was an even darker abyss.

 

“Hurry, offer up the mountain goat!”

 

The floor of the altar was polluted.

 

“Quickly!”

 

Yet at the center of that rotten, pitch-black floor, an amber-colored jewel glittered like the sun floating in the night sky. That was the holy relic. The thing Dana had been searching for so desperately.

 

“Be careful not to touch the contamination!”

 

“Hurry, throw the offering inside!”

 

“After throwing it in, enter the defensive spell we have cast!”

 

The next moment, Adma lowered Dana into the altar. Watching that, Ingria frowned. Why on earth was he treating an offering as precious as a princess? But since it was certain that the offering had been thrown into the altar, cheers erupted. The Somora sorcerers raised their hands high as though they had been waiting for this moment and began reciting their prayers.

 

“O great and holy Somora!”

 

“We offer unto you this mountain goat of noble blood!”

 

“Please accept our devotion and guide us with your blessing!”

 

Ingria’s heart began beating rapidly. Now her favorite sight was about to unfold. Watching the offering struggle as it became stained by the rotten contamination. How entertaining it was! But this would be the last time.

 

Ingria bit down hard on the inside of her mouth. This would truly be the last. After this, she would sever all ties to her past. Because she had Rumie. The most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. She had truly been fortunate to be able to have such a man. So from now on, she would live obediently as Rumie’s wife, doing good deeds and helping others. To do that, Danaena had to die anyway. Because she had seen it. She had witnessed it. As long as she existed, Ingria could never completely sever herself from the past. Therefore…

 

But why…

 

“Lord Adma Rolland! Please enter the defensive spell at once!”

 

“What are you doing over there!”

 

…Is that man insane? Soon, the contaminated Danaena would leap out of the altar and go berserk. If she touched him, he would become contaminated along with her. So why was he still standing there?

 

Ingria shouted. “Adma Rolland! What in the world—”

 

At that moment, light exploded. A powerful wave of light burst from within the altar and spread throughout the room with a deafening resonance. It was as though the sun had risen, illuminating the dark underground chamber, while the shadows hanging on the walls twisted and distorted within the light.

 

The priests instinctively recoiled.

 

“W-What in the world is this!”

 

“What is happening!”

 

And at that moment. Within the blinding white light, Ingria saw it clearly. Adma reached his hand into the altar. Then, grabbing Danaena by the neck, he lifted her into the air. The gesture was immensely threatening, but…

 

“You have purified it splendidly. As expected, you are the light of this world, the one and only saintess who will save this world.”

 

The voice that came from him was tender and affectionate, as though he were speaking to a beloved lover.

 

“Please give me the holy relic, Dana.”

 

* * *

Demian had never been able to give up his desires. In truth, he did not know how to give up.

 

“Hand the holy relic over to me, Dana.”

 

He wanted to be with Dana. He absolutely did not want to hand her over to his father.

 

“Hurry.”

 

And he wanted to live a long life. He had to live a long time if he wanted to remain by Dana’s side for a long time.

 

“I don’t want to do anything harsh to you.”

 

So he made a decision. He would neither hand Dana over to his father nor abandon her. He would live by her side for a long, long time. Fortunately, there was a solution.

 

“Give me the holy relic, Dana.”

 

The holy relic. All he had to do was take the mysterious jewel that Dana would find. He knew very well that the holy relic lay beneath the black altar of the Grand Temple of Somora. However, Godom Island was so dangerous that it was difficult to approach. On top of that, the altar itself was contaminated, so he had never even considered trying.

 

Who could possibly get their hands on that holy relic? Only Dana could get it. Therefore, the moment Dana purified the contamination and obtained the holy relic, all he had to do was take it from her. He intended to use that holy relic to extend both his own and Dana’s lifespans.

 

Of course, Dana would never obediently comply. A little coercion would be necessary.

 

“Hurry.”

 

Just like now.

 

“Give me the holy relic, Dana.”

 

Her nape was slender. It was so delicate and fragile that it fit entirely within one of his hands. If he squeezed it like this, it would simply break. When she entered Danayu’s body. He had grabbed Danayu by the neck as she tried to return to her own time, and ultimately strangled her so that her soul couldn’t leave.

 

A bitter smile crossed his face. There’s no way I’ll ever be forgiven anyway. He knew better than anyone that Dana would never forgive him. What he had done to her was something that could never be forgiven. After all, he had prevented her soul from returning to its original time and trapped it in his own. Then, after she transferred into Danawin’s body, he controlled her mind and made her live as his wife for more than ten years. He turned her into a woman who said nothing but ‘yes’. Whatever he ordered her to do. Whatever he did to her. Only ‘Yes, yes, yes.’

 

Demian knew. That was not something a human being could do. Only a beast could do such a thing.

 

She’ll never be able to forgive me. But she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t forgive. He too. He can’t forgive her either. She did something no human being could do, too. Something only a beast could do. To my son, Viego… How could you run away with my son?

 

The memories experienced by Demian’s soul had all seeped into him, who was merely a fragment of that soul. That was why he knew. Everything Demian had seen, heard, and discovered. Even the fact that she had eloped with his son and ran away to live together. In an instant, anger like molten lava boiled up inside him.

 

Demian managed to speak gently. “Hand over the holy relic, Dana.” But he could not stop the hand gripping her neck from tightening. The jealousy he had been forcibly suppressing all this time surged upward. He wanted to spit out his resentment and accusations at her.

 

You ran away with my son and lived happily ever after, did you? For nearly a whole year, on that damned northern sheep ranch, raising those filthy sheep! Spending a time overflowing with sweetness, like newlyweds. With my son. With my son, of all people, my own son!

 

His fury boiled over. He was so enraged and frustrated that he felt as though he could weep blood. But he would never blame her. She did not seem to remember her time with Viego, so she must have forgotten her love for him as well. Therefore, he intended to swallow all of this fury.

 

Viego Windsor, you filthy b*stard of a son. Whenever he encountered him and Danawin, his son had always watched them gloomily from behind. Viego had merely watched them quietly, like a shadow, silently watching and watching. With that meek expression on his face, he must have been plotting inside to steal the woman in his father’s arms.

 

Had he instinctively sensed it? Demian had always been bothered by his son. No, in truth, he had been wary of Viego. Without even realizing it, perhaps he had secretly been afraid of Viego. Because he had thought that one day his son might steal his wife away from him. And that fear had actually come true. Viego had stolen his wife away and, unbelievably, started a new household with her. They had lived together as husband and wife in all but name.

 

It was fortunate that Demian had died immediately after seeing that sight. If I had continued living after that… he might have put shackles around Dana’s ankles.

 

By a stroke of incredible luck, Demian had finally reclaimed the wife who had once been stolen from him. Now he would never give her to anyone.

 

“Give me the holy relic, Dana. I’ll say it one last time.”

 

Did Demian know? That even the fragment he left behind would ultimately make the exact same choice he had. That it, too, would follow its desires just as he had.

 

Don’t force me to atone for what you couldn’t. Because I am you, and you are me. We’re both the same kind of coward.