Gift

"Fuck your mission!"

Barbara cursed without the slightest restraint.

"You're different from me, Tolina... Your Law wasn't formed of your own free will. All that suffering was forced upon you, so why deceive yourself?"

"But at the very least, suffering in Mr. Gilan's place is something I chose."

Tolina smiled faintly.

Barbara caught the implication in her words and sensed a trace of helplessness and bitterness.

Then Tolina said softly:

"Even if it wasn't voluntary, what could I do? A Holy Mother must act like a Holy Mother. Would I escape suffering just because I refused?"

"From the moment the 'Dark Law' was born, my fate had already been decided."

"I would neither age nor die, forever remaining in dark stillness, silently bearing the unending suffering of the world."

As she spoke, Tolina looked up at the night sky.

"Omer was born in answer to a wish, crawling from the Love God's posthumous womb to raise a torch for the world... And what about me? I, too, was born in answer to a wish, yet I was dragged from Omer's posthumous womb and forced to set myself aflame."

"In this endless void, only Mr. Gilan can feel my pain. And only he has ever said he would take me out to see the sun beyond."

"Yes, he is weak."

"Perhaps only such weakness and ignorance could make him utter such arrogant, unrealistic promises."

Tolina broke into a smile, her clear gaze falling upon her friend Barbara.

"But I believe in him."

"You really are beyond saving, Tolina."

Barbara said in a deep voice.

For some reason, she felt sorrow.

Because their missions and methods of ascension were similar, the two had the best relationship among the Twelve Hour-Gods.

Seeing the changes in her friend now, Barbara was actually uneasy. And