Saint's Prison - Chapter 124

All You Need Is Insanity

tln: the titles is in english

ーーMadness/Love is everything.

A woman in a blue dress, looking up at the sky.

…The Blue Goddess.

Those words stir up my mind.

“Gu… Ah, ha, agu.”

I can’t breathe. There’s a shrill noise, like hitting iron against a rock. An intermittent sandstorm obscures my vision.

Something is creeping into my head.

In my hazy consciousness, I fall to my knees. I reach out to the flickering sunset between the trees.

A gentle, cool body temperature is transmitted as I’m softly entwined.

Someone’s hand is――

At the same time, my vision turns completely white.

＊＊＊

――I am insane.

My noble blood.

This seal is proof, and I am a descendant of the royal family. Therefore, I must fulfill my role. Reclaim the holy land, restore the honor of my bloodline. That is my mission.

＊＊＊

It was supposed to be a journey to attain honor and glory.

In the name of holy war, we violated, plundered, and slaughtered many heretics. I believed that it was the right thing to do.

Pattering, the blood continues to flow.

Another comrade has died.

How many does this make?

Ah, I see.

I stopped counting after the corpses exceeded a hundred.

A battlefield stained with twilight by blood.

The smell of sticky organs.

Mountains of discarded corpses.

Watching the flies gathering on the corpses, I laughed.

It’s not fun or enjoyable. But, I can’t stop laughing.

Because I realized.

Whether it’s a comrade or a heretic, nothing remains once they become a corpse and rot away. This world is too cruel.

Honor and glory are as fictitious as dreams. What’s the meaning in them?

Ah, indeed, reality is nothing but a nightmare.

＊＊＊

After the battle, I wander through the forest with a few trusted companions. There’s no place to return to. Even if there was, I wouldn’t be able to go there. I, who gained nothing, have no right to. Since the nightmare is reality, I can’t rest in true sleep.

How long have we been walking?

We arrived at a place where large rocks were arranged in a ring. Shall we end it here? I have nothing. I’ve lost even the meaning to live. There’s no salvation in living. But can death be the only salvation?

There was a clinking sound.

Fade in/Fade out

My heart is crying out.

Viscera, brain, all blood vessels are pulsating.

Don’t look, the alarm rings in my mind.

Don’t touch. Don’t talk.

If I do, I’ll go mad.

Yes. Madness is like a contagious disease.

That’s why it must be hidden.

Clink, I hear the sound of hooves. Dancing. Dancing… Really?

Clink, the sound is closer.

Close, no, too close. …As if it’s whispering in my ear.

Ah, yes.

It’s resonating directly in my brain.

The moment I understood that, there was a sizzling sound. It smells good. My brain is boiling. Ah, ah. Hehe, hehehe.

Burning burning madness madness madness madness madness… Sizzle, clink.

―――Oh, what is that lump of flesh…?

The moment it entered my field of vision, I saw a goddess within.

A pure white flower field.

A blue cloth dancing in the wind.

Silver hair shimmering and wavering.

Vivid red eyes reflecting only the universe.

I thought she was beautiful from the bottom of my heart.

In my hollow heart, colors revived. And then, I understood. It was her abyss that led me here.

Indeed, it was destiny. The battlefield of the past, that mountain of corpses, the endless cries of agony were all for the purpose of meeting her here now.

My beloved.

I wish you would smile.

I wish you would turn around.

I want your heart.

If you dream of the universe, I will abandon status and name to become a universe for you. Ah, even if you have a loved one, that’s trivial to me.

Loving the universe through you means loving me, who becomes the universe. Ahahaha, kehehe.

The vessel of the goddess is already cracked, and death is overflowing.

No, that won’t do.

I need to prepare a new one.

For the goddess, I will violate everything, punish everything, kill everything. Any sacrifice is acceptable. She is my absolution.

Let’s dedicate a vessel to the goddess with blood.

Let’s dedicate a vessel as a wedge to tie the goddess to this nightmare.

And, let’s build a stone coffin here.

A stone coffin to protect and hide her.

Yes, Stonehurst.

――Ah, I am madly in love.

Therefore, I can see you.

Therefore, recite the Holy Verse.

Most honorable one.

I will follow you.

I am a sinner.

Please, forgive my sins.

Ah, Great One.

You are my savior from sin.

I dedicate everything to you.

One who is qualified to pay homage to the goddess.

A pilgrim has always been such a person.

―――Ah, you’re one too, aren’t you?