Lara could not say anything. Telling her to go back to her first life—the time of regret and pain—meant that if she did not accept her fate as a saintess, he would take back the miracle that had been handed down to her.
"That's cruel."
God did not answer. Lara did not know whether his silence meant that he was admitting to being cruel or he felt that it was not worth answering to Lara.
"You know I can't do that."
She could not go back.
' I need to get a hold of myself.'
Lara looked directly at the statue in front of her and imagined him as a human being just like her, not as an almighty being. A human who had feelings, regretted the past, and repeated mistakes. Only then could they have a proper conversation.
"Please tell me. Will I die on the same day ten years later?"
"I saw my wound heal by itself. Am I not going to die no matter how badly I get hurt?"
"Can't I heal others with your power?"
"Then what kind of God are you?"
Once more, God did not say anything for a while. Lara waited patiently. She was worried that a priest or visitor would appear in the prayer room, but now was the time to focus on God's words.
"Pardon?"
God was speaking in the same tone. But to Lara's ears, it sounded like he was angry. He seemed upset and resentful.
"What do you want from me?"
"What do you…"
Suddenly, the scenery in front of her changed. Everything in front of her became blurry as if it had been rubbed with half-dried paint, and it soon became a different place.
Lara was standing in the square in front of the royal palace, not in the temple prayer room. Her body was like a haze. It was so light that she could not feel her weight and it felt like she could fly anywhere.
'So, this is God's eyes.'
Lara realized by herself. She was looking at the world through the eyes of God.
"Lara!"
Prince Sidhar screamed. He was covered in black blood. In front of him, a woman swallowed poison and died in a terrible way. She was Lara in the past.
The misery of this world began there. After Lara, the fake saintess, swallowed poison and died, the demon who had lost his sacrifice became angry and descended to the square in front of the royal palace. It was a massive demon of fire. All those who shouted to kill the saintess and offered her to the demon were burned to death by the demon's fire. The people whom Lara loved and those who loved Lara became a handful of ashes and disappeared. The same went for the beautiful royal palace and the streets along the Tender River.
Prince Sidhar managed to escape the demon because he was with the black sorcerers. However, he grew to despise the weakness of mankind when he saw the kingdom he was trying to rule over destroyed and burned by a mere demon.
A human was nothing compared to a demon, consequently, the human country was nothing compared to the world dominated by demons. So the Prince dedicated his soul to the demon and became his servant. The kingdom was offered to the demon. Hautean soon became the base for devil worshippers. In the war against demon forces, the fall of Hautean was recorded as the most painful defeat all across the continent for many years.
The world was on the verge of downfall because of this. The demon worshippers who fought sporadically and were scattered throughout the continent gathered together in Hautean as their base. It was a huge army of demonic beasts, black sorcerers, and demons. They proudly formed an army and moved to the lawless area.
The lawless area was a battlefield that the demon worshippers must go through before going to Tarragon Empire. And King of Outlaws, Demian Rhode Drake was there.
The last Barbarian and undefeated warrior; the Demon Slayer.
But Demian was already ruined then. Because the woman he loved with his life and soul committed suicide in a terrible way.
"Lara-!"
Tears of blood flowed from Demian's eyes. His dark blue eyes, which Lara had always looked at as if she was enchanted, were stained with dark red blood.
"Get a hold of yourself! Even if you do this, she won't come back alive!"
No matter how his comrades begged and were angry at him, it was useless. Demian went out to the battlefield, like an emotionless doll, with a sword and slashed Prince Sidhar—who had become the demon's servant—to death first. Then, he continued to move forward without a break, ripped out the heart of the demon that occupied Hautean, and covered himself with the blood.
Demian was quickly broken. His beautiful body that had swallowed the demon was destroyed and twisted. His black hair turned white, he grew Black wings and horns, and his desire to kill continuously boiled up. Demian indiscriminately began to kill the humans and demons at random. The process of such a beautiful man becoming a demon was so devastating and tragic that it was hard to even look at him.
Demian became the demon. There was no love in his heart. He did not recognize his comrades, and there was no justice left inside him. He became the demon lord who hated all living beings.
When the entire continent collapsed into a war against the demon forces, Tarragon Empire became the place where the humans remained and resisted until the end.
Crown Prince Acerus of Tarragon had long prepared for the war against the demon and had won several significant victories. Not only was he called humanity's hero, but he also had the Empire as his strong support. However, the people who were tired of the long war quickly lost their hope. More and more people betrayed the Empire and surrendered to the demon.
"Don't give up! Don't forget that we're human!"
But he did not last long either. Acerus, who held hope and resisted to the end, lost his will when he encountered Demian, who became the demon, on a burning battlefield.
They fought and Acerus was defeated. The Crown Prince—who called the slave his friend and trusted him until the end—was decapitated by the hands of his demon-turned friend.
That day, the hegemony of the continent was completely lost to the demon worshippers. The humans began to be bred like livestock. They were either used as the subject of experiments for the black sorcerers or as meals for the demon. Even the demonic beasts that had been trapped in the remote areas stormed out of their original area. They made the human land their new territory and increased their population.
Demons, demon worshippers, and demonic beasts. Under them were the livestock and slave-turned humans who had quickly become extinct.
It was the downfall of the world which was triggered by Lara's death.
Tears flowed from Lara's eyes. She cried without even realizing she was doing so. Her heart ached so much. Demian's look was stuck in her head. His eyes, which turned dark red with tears of blood, had hardened, and his poor appearance that could not stop fighting even with twisted limbs broke her heart.
"Why…did you show me that?"
She wanted to say that whether the world was destroyed or not had nothing to do with her, but she could not. Demian's ruined appearance was stuck in her eyes like a tattoo. She did not know he loved her that much. Because he had never told her.
Why did you do that? You should have just quickly forgotten about someone like me. Or you should have asked me to run away with you. You should have asked me to stay with you until the day of destruction, without giving a care to the demons at the end of the world.
People were dying and the world burned to ruin. There must have been mother and Sebastian, Konny and Valentine, Eunice and Ximena in there. What should I do now?
When she returned to the past and lived her second life, Lara vowed to live her own life away from the shadow of her father and the Prince. She thought it would be over once she paid back the love she had only received from her mother and atoned for her mistakes to Demian. She happened to rescue Sonnet and Valentine, but that was all. She had never thought of changing the world.
Lara's world was very, very small, consisting of herself and only a few people she loved.
That was all. She was never interested in the world. Even if she hated Prince Sidhar, she never thought of standing on the other side of him to fight a war and intervene in history. She knew demon worshippers would ruin the continent, but she had never thought about fighting them. That was the work of the heroes—the work for someone like Demian or Acerus.
But if she did nothing, the people she loved would die. Everyone will be unhappy. Because they belong to the world. Because they're Lara's world. Eventually, Lara would also be unhappy.
God said. When she begged for a second chance, Lara clearly swore so. She begged, saying that she would do anything, saying to give her a chance.
"I'm weak. I'm not that strong. I'm just an ordinary person."
"I…"
God's voice sounded affectionate. There was also a little warmth. She raised her head to see if she had heard something wrong, but the only thing that had caught her eyes was only a cold statue.