The Black Saint is My StalkerCh157 - Not even that was enough

And the air was still.

Wind kissed Graham’s face. There was miasma in his lungs. Hard to breathe. His eyes stung, but he didn’t dare blink. nf9Pds

He stood on the ledge. Just two paces back and Graham would fall, at least six stories. That was only if he didn’t get impaled by rubble on the way down; an unlikely scenario—but he thought about it when itching to take a step back.

Over his long years of life, he had fought many opponents, bested champions, kings, otherworldly beings, demons, and more. Graham couldn’t even recall the last time he paused to kill. Elderly or child, so long as the sin was one that won merit for the greater good of mankind; Graham wouldn’t hesitate.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

He even buried his own wife after she resurrected after those long, long years of absence.

Even Aoibhinn… MPr6sw

And yet, the Saint of Eternity stood there frozen.

Opposite Graham was a demonic being, coarse miasmic fumes slithered off his dark body. A multitude of arms, twelve total, fanned out. The being had eyes not only on his visage but on his chest as well and each of them carefully scrutinized the Saint of Eternity, drinking in his startled state.

Was this Han Li?

No…no. Surely not.

It couldn’t be…

Slowly, a delicate smile formed on those midnight lips. It seemed almost playful. “So even you behold wrath in your heart.” The demonic beast turned, fully facing Graham. A blackened foot took one step forward. There was no space on the ledge for Graham to back up. “But…” the voice was similar to Han Li’s but also not, echoing through the air, disembodied. “Why do you hide it so deeply in your heart?”

Graham did not blink, but he couldn’t see what happened next. The demon had disappeared from where it stood, reappearing not even a pace away. If Graham dared to breathe, their chests could touch. The demon leaned in, breath tickling the shell of his ear.

“So…should I show you? The color of your wrath?” B70hAm

Graham flinched. His footing faltered but he cared not about the fall. Clarent drawn, silver blade brandished, but its divine light was futile. The sacred sword clashed with a clawed hand, just one of many. The blade cut into a ruby eye in the middle of the palm, but otherwise, obsidian fingers held the sword in place. Graham struggled, trying to dislodge his weapon from his foe’s grasp.

He couldn’t. When he let go of the sword hilt, it was already too late. One of those black paws caught him by the throat. He gasped, heaved, and choked. The demon lifted him off his feet with little effort.

“Let’s see here…” Another hand reached up, almost gentle in its touch, and pressed against Graham’s chest. The pain came, knifing, like a gouge that clawed out Graham’s heart. His chest stuttered, eyes wet and his mind went blank from pain.

Graham did not fear death. SDNbpr

Yet at that moment he feared…

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

What he feared for, however, was a messed blur that knotted within the convoluted heap of emotion and pain that flared from within. He thrashed at the thing that held him trapped.

Pa mjwf ab tlw jygeqais, ilxf rfjglcu lgbc qgfrrfv ab rxlc. Ljagfv kfiifv yfcfjat atf vfwbc’r abemt, regulcu ogbw klatlc Xgjtjw’r mtfra jcv atgfjafclcu ab ajxf bnfg tlr wlcv.

No! He could not let something as trivial as hatred end him. Ti9FDJ

Uffilcu bqfc vjwq fsfr, Xgjtjw gfjmtfv lcab tlr vlnlcf qbkfgr.

Klwf agfwyifv jcv gfkbecv.

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Vevvfcis tf kjr rajcvlcu bc atf ifvuf jujlc, jyif ab ygfjatf, Jijgfca sfa ab yf vgjkc. Ktf vfwbc tjv pera aegcfv ab tlw, yea lcrafjv bo rwlilcu, la ogbkcfv.

“Oh? Changing fates, huh? Cheap tricks aren’t going to save you, you know?” The black head tilted playfully, reminiscent of— nAj1oS

Graham didn’t have time to reminisce.

He ignored the tremor in his hands and the biting swell in his heart. Clarent was drawn, once more. The demon stepped forward, again, too fast for the eye to follow. But this time, Graham predicted the distance which his foe would strike. The Saint of Eternity pivoted, silver blade swinging and—

“This is too easy,” the demon laughed. Sword caught once more.

Graham’s head hurt terribly. His vision blurred, breath ragged. He wasn’t aware of the expression worn on his face; the blatant desperation and despair. KOl6vb

Was this the color of his wrath?

No time to think. A shocking blast of divine power rang out. The demon let go and Graham stumbled back, rolled to regain his balance, and reset—

Except the demon caught up in but a split second. Before Graham could swing his sword, a claw came down on his neck and pinned him to the ground. “Caught you.”

Again, Graham’s eyes shone gold. Time rewound. 7nWArj

Again, he turned on that floor ledge, hallway exposed to the wind. Graham drew his sword.

“Oh? Changing fates, huh? Cheap tricks aren’t going to save you, you know?” The black head tilted playfully.

This time, they dueled. Three blows, one pivot, and Graham was knocked off balance. Time had been reset, but his headache only grew. He couldn’t think straight, couldn’t move straight. Couldn’t even make out the jumbled mess of emotion that burned in his heart.

“This is too easy.” Again, the demon caught him by the throat, pinned him to the ground. 0nRFTt

Time Record was called, once more.

Once more, Graham stood, back to the sky on that hallway ledge. He heaved for air. Time Record should have mended his physical state and yet the pain in his heart only grew, his vision turning worse each time.

And each time, he would draw Clarent.

“Oh? Changing fates, huh? Cheap tricks aren’t going to save you, you know?” The black head tilted playfully. H5JTZX

Surely, he’d grow sick of this. And yet the Saint of Eternity held onto—

Whatever it was that he held onto. (He didn’t know.)

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The demon lunged at him again. This time, Graham didn’t even have it in him to move out of the way fast enough.

“This is too easy.” nHfbM5

A black claw had him pinned, Clarent clattered on the ground next to him. A shadow loomed. When Graham looked up, he saw a blurry smile, ruby eyes, and a third, black one bearing down on him.

The grip around his throat wasn’t even that tight; it held him in place and still allowed him to breathe. His voice came out hitched. Graham’s immaculate composure was completely shattered. “H-Han Li—“

“…” The demon tilted its head, still smiling. This monster did not even acknowledge the Saint of Eternity’s call. Instead, it was busy drinking in the sight of Graham’s despair, his trembling hands and his teary ears, and the heart that rapped tirelessly in his chest.

The demon’s nails scraped at Graham’s chest, a sharp claw pressed into fabric, shredding it with ease. “How many times are you going to show me that trick of yours,” the monster singsonged, “before your wrath consumes you whole?” XmbSRl

Wrath? Was this wrath? Graham struggled against the tears in his eyes. What he felt wasn’t wrath but despair. What he felt wasn’t rage, but anguish.

There was still power left on his Time Record, precious minutes he could tap into, and yet Graham found his willpower, once iron, faltering.

What was even the point of rewinding time?

All he had was a measly fifteen minutes total. Fifteen minutes weren’t worth a damn. yRrfMz

He’d have to rewind several days. Several days so that Han Li could be okay. Several days and he wouldn’t have told Han Li to break things off. And that even if Han Li wanted to have physical relationships with others aside from Graham, that was okay too. As long as things didn’t amount to this.

No. But not even that was enough, Graham thought desperately.

He’d have to rewind even more time than that. A whole three, no four years.

Four years so that he’d have more time to spend with Han Li, four years to tell the kid not to tire himself out on hunts and missions back to back. To let Han Li know that he, Graham, cared. DPThRl

But maybe not even that was enough. Maybe he should go back three decades and actually listen to Ruyan for once. After all, it was Graham who sanctioned and protected everything that the NUM—that the DASR stood for. It was he who believed in the necessity of order, and of sacrifice.

Now, he was the fool that reaped the consequences of his own heartless folly.

Graham closed his eyes, unable to fend off the absurdity that swam through his mind. No amount of divine energy was enough to purge him of his own despair now.

Black claws extended, cutting through flesh. The pain was almost welcome. ZIowdX

A crimson arrow cut through the air. The demon’s expression turned dark as he flinched back to dodge the attack. More arrows followed.

Mechanical wasps buzzed as they approached, forming a holographic barrier that carved out a millimeter of space between the demon and Graham. It was an opportune moment to escape.

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However, the Saint of Eternity didn’t move. His limbs felt as heavy as lead, emotions clouding any rational thought. He felt raw, exposed. Caught in the iron clasps of futility, his entire world now askew. The ground rumbled, the wreckage groaned, jostling Graham from his depressive state. His muscles moved when his mind did not, old habits brought him to his feet. It was these old habits that told him to reach for his blade and fight.

But what would he even be fighting for? cYAzpt

For Aoibhinn, who would never wake? No, she was dead for good.

For the Hunter’s Association that betrayed him so? The organization couldn’t even respect the person that he cared so dearly about, despite everything that Graham had done to support its founding.

For mankind? With laws cruel and negligent, that served to protect itself but none else.

He had cut down Aoibhinn because it was the right thing to do. Pm v78

And now—

Graham stood there, dazed. He had his sword in hand, but the weapon was lowered. He watched the demon weave between the rain of crimson arrows with a tranquil expression, like a child that absently played in puddles. The arrows etched deeply into the floor, large cracks ate through the ground. The ledge of which Graham stood creaked, shifting dangerously yet he still did not move.

Ruby eyes craned towards him, gaze locked. The demon smiled, as if encouraging him, or perhaps taunting him. “This is the color of your wrath,” the demon hummed. “What do you think?”

Wrath? Graham did not think he felt any wrath; only crippling despair and self-deprecation. Han Ruyan was right all along. He had changed. C1veXW

The ledge came apart and fell. Graham went down with it.

Author: um. well. yeah. u__u LOL WEEPS. I have nothing to say for myself… *goes and hides in a ditch*