The Black Saint is My StalkerCh160 - Let’s go home

Dust clouds settled with time. The sky glowed coral, twilight imminent.

Graham gasped, eyes blinking open. He was still alive but his lungs were saturated with miasma and filth. He hacked, brain slow, mind hazy. Yet the urgency in his heart did not subside, even if his thoughts remained unclear. 56nxGq

Sword. Where was his sword? Blindly, Graham groped for his blade. His entire body ached. There was a hole in his thigh, a deep gash on his torso, left side. It hurt to breathe, much less stand. Perhaps a rib or two had been broken.

Inconsequential.

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Desperately, he blinked against the settling dust, against the bright glow of the sinking sun before nightfall would claim the sky. Miasma was yet thick in the air. Luckily, Clarent had fallen not too far. Graham dislodged his sacred sword from the rubble. Just the action of yanking his blade out from debris was enough to send him off balance. His strength was failing.

Not yet, he told himself. Not yet. He still lived. He still had things to do. zwJa1r

Rubbing away the dust in his eyes, he looked around. But all he saw were the remnants of the DASR research facility’s ruin. Jumbled rubble, indistinguishable parts of broken furniture, expensive equipment, pipelines, and even scattered bits of unrecognizable gore. He could see neither Jayden Lee Jones nor the Meglatoras young master, uncertain if either of them survived.

But Graham’s heart was cold.

He didn’t even care if they lived or not. On unsteady feet, he strode forward, dark brown eyes scanning the horizon, hopefully, desperately. His entire body shook uncontrollably, lacking strength.

Suddenly, Graham spotted movement from the heaps of trash. Without thinking, he approached, finding a shadowed form huddled beneath a desktop that miraculously still held form. Two wide haggard eyes peered up at him, and for a moment, Graham didn’t recognize the disheveled person.

“G-Graham?” A small, scratchy voice hitched. Long hair frazzled, white lab coat marred with dust and filth. It was hard to recognize Emilia Rose in her current, pathetic form. Who knew how she survived till now, her eyes were wide and haunted and she reeked of acidic piss. “S-Saint of Eternity! Y-You’ve come to s-save m-me!” She crawled out from her hiding place, reaching for him with her dirty paws.

Graham flinched out of her reaching fingers. He was overcome with disgust and stepped away. Without a word of decorum or polite reassurance, he turned heel and walked off as quickly as he could.

“W-Wait! C-Come back here! Please help me!” the female scientist shrieked in panic, scrambling as she could to her feet, only to fall back down, her legs too unsteady to hold her weight. But she stopped her advance, her voice dying in her throat when she looked up and saw a black figure in the distance, just beyond the Saint of Eternity.

“Ah— a-ah…!” She stayed there on her hands and knees, completely immobile from fright alone. kdIx2c

Indeed, just up ahead the dust was settling and a black figure could be made out from the rubble. It stood, calmly, black back turned to Graham, twelve arms total.

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.

Xgjtjw’r tfjga rqfv. Llr fsfr kfca klvf, cba delaf yfilfnlcu tlr rluta. “Ljc Ol—!”

Lf delmxfcfv tlr qjmf, jiwbra raewyilcu bnfg atf ecrajyif vfyglr, klat tlr obbalcu ralii ecrajyif. Llr atbeutar kfgf lc vlrbgvfg jcv Xgjtjw tjv obgubaafc jybea tlr qegqbrf. Pcrafjv bo kjcalcu ab xlii, tf kjcafv ab rff lo Ljc Ol kjr bxjs, ab jrx lo tf kjr tega— Yo mbegrf, tf kjr tega. Ktfgf kjr yijmx yibbv oibklcu ogbw tlr kbecvr. Dea atf vfwbc qglcmf kjr mjiw. Kegclcu ribkis ab wffa Xgjtjw fsf-ab-fsf bcmf wbgf.

This time, his smile was gentle, peaceful. Lashes lowered, half-lidded over ruby orbs. ZqItyY

Graham stopped in his tracks. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He wasn’t thinking at all. He said whatever it was that his heart felt and his heart felt all sorts of absurdities. “Let’s go home.”

“…” Graham swore he could hear a soft chuckle. “Step aside, Grams.” Why did his voice sound so gentle? So dearly reminiscent of better days. Was Graham’s imagination taking hold? Delusions running amok.

He didn’t know what to say, only knowing that he had to speak. “Han Li—“ stupidly, he repeated himself. A step forward. The miasma was stifling.

“…” Han Li did not grace him with a response. He huffed lightly, almost as if sighing. His eyes veered past Graham. pMjCY0

A sharp screech of terror pierced Graham’s ear, only then reminding him of Emilia Rose. He followed Han Li’s gaze to the woman behind him. Frightened out of her wits she scrambled backward, lips trembling uncontrollably. “N-No! Don’t come any closer! Stay away! I-It wasn’t my fault! B-Blame the president! Aaron Lancert! He’s the one t-that pushed the project, he’s the one who—“

Han Li scoffed.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Wait, Han Li, don’t—“ Graham said quickly, realization suddenly dawning.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. X7rKsz

Han Li lunged, Emilia howled. Graham had his sword in hand, he pivoted, desperate. And in all honesty, he did not think his strike would land.

Silver blade pierced black flesh. Clarent slid through Han Li’s chest, clean. Graham froze then. He acted without thought, tapping into his miracle, Time Record—

Time Record did nothing. He was out of minutes.

Black viscous blood flowed, wetting Graham’s gloved hand. He stepped back. Let go. A strike through the heart wasn’t enough to kill a demon prince, he told himself— It wasn’t fatal, this wasn’t the end… Right? G7YDU4

Han Li stood despite the blade piercing his body through the heart. By his feet, Emilia made incomprehensible sounds before foaming at the mouth, passing out from shock and fear alone. But Han Li made no move to cull her. Slowly, with one of his many black arms, he plucked Clarent from his back, sliding the blade out of his body.

The hilt sizzled against his palm. Divine power seeped into his body and blood, breaking down his volatile power.

The swell of miasma was finally subsiding. And within his fading thoughts, Han Li recalled some hints of clarity. When the demon looked over his shoulder, he was amused to see Graham’s horror-stricken face. Clarent clattered against the ground but Graham made no move to pick the weapon up.

Han Li’s soul had already been fragile and he could feel it slipping out of his corporal form. It hurt, but pain to him was nothing. He met the Saint of Eternity’s eyes and tried to find the right words. Words of farewell. “You did the right thing, Grams.” Blood trickled from his lips, black against demon black skin. T5UNBx

Graham opened his mouth, only to close it, unable to say a thing. He took a step forward, then another, and another. The distance between them closed. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around Han Li’s shoulder, mindful of all twelve arms.

The demon prince chuckled weakly. His well of miasma unwound, dispersing in the wind. “You’re late,” Han Li accused. His mind was light, distant thoughts echoed one last time.

“Sorry.” Graham hugged Han Li closer. The miasma faded along with Han Li’s demon strength, his darkened skin lightened into a cool steel blue. Arms dissipating one by one before leaving only two.

Han Li closed his eyes, only two now. He leaned in against Graham’s shoulder, drinking in the scent of blood and sweat and the sweet nectar of Graham’s divine aura. “Better…late than…never, huh?” xGWqt

“…” Graham didn’t know why, but tears fell from his eyes. “Let’s go home,” he said again.

Han Li wasn’t going anywhere.

Despite knowing this, he hummed an affirmative against Graham’s neck. But there was still something he had to say before leaving though. His might was already dotted with black, thoughts difficult to recall. Miasma continued to scatter. His blue skin became an ashen beige, not unlike that of a human corpse.

He wanted to tell Graham that he was glad that the Saint of Eternity came for him. Han Li wanted to thank Graham for holding him so dearly, despite all the sins committed, the hearts and souls harvested. That he was thankful to share this final moment together. JVo7ry

But those things were too long-winded and Han Li found that he didn’t have the strength to say any of them, or even recall the right words to get his thoughts across.

Still, he couldn’t leave without saying anything either.

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Oh, that was right. Han Li remembered now. “I love you.”

“…” A shaky sigh. Graham tightened his hold but Han Li was cold. “I love you too.” F26ga4

They stood like that. The wind blew, air chilled. The sun sank below the horizon. Everything was still.

“…Han Li?” Graham wanted to go home. But Han Li was slack in his arms. “Han Li…” The Saint of Eternity’s vision was blurred, his voice quaking. The body in his arms was cold. Wet blood leaked from the wound through Han Li’s torso. A pool formed at their feet. The blood was colored red.

Graham sank to his knees, clutching the cooling body with all his strength. But no amount of divine power could breathe life back into Han Li again. No amount of tears could soothe the stab of guilt, regret.

Graham screamed. He cried and he screamed. His face twisted, tears flowed. And no matter how close he clutched Han Li to his chest, no warmth could be shared with the still body. fTPZv7

“I-I’m sorry,” Graham said finally. Finally, he was able to say his apology. But it fell on unhearing ears. “I-I’m sorry!”

He hiccuped and lowered Han Li into his lap. Han Li’s eyes were closed, his lips dabbed with red and skin ashen. He almost looked asleep.

“I’m sorry,” Graham said again. He was sorry for not coming earlier. He was sorry for taking his time, for denying all his emotions until it was all too late.

Too. Damned. Late. Yv64zh

“I’m sorry…”

But the dead couldn’t accept apologies.

Author: …………………………………………..um. So. o u o;;

Yeah! There is still…one more chapter left of this arc LOL UM… PLEASE DONT KILL MEEEE I WILL RETURN WITH THE STORY AFTER FEBRUARY. You can still read 3 chapters ahead on my patreon, and I’ll be working on a new project(a comic!) in the meantime, that won’t be released until TBSMS is finished. But I plan on putting up WIP on my patreon, if anyone is interested ; u ; please let me know!!! YOxa02