EPILOGUE: AN END TO A STORY

***Somewhere in Cherflammen***

With his goblin legion officer’s uniform in tatters, Greg ‘Kuro’ Santos didn’t have time to notice the blood that was smeared all over him.

“…”

His revolver was now broken, and his supply of bullets gone. The last shot he had in his gun was now firmly planted on his enemy—Gaius’—skull. And the Roman was already dead, a victim of Kuro’s combined god-power and gunpowder. He didn’t even expect that the otherworlder would kill him…even Kuro did not.

Nevertheless, Kuro has given his all in that one desperate and final bullet.

“…”

Even in the end, Maddie saved him, Kuro thought. Or at least, she helped him defeat those who wanted her dead. Her god-power of healing proved to be Gaius’ undoing, as it never worked with the powers of the Seductress that tainted him. When he cast that magic on his bullet, it ended the former god’s life…

“…”

But it also greatly weakened Kuro. Their duel was long and hard, and though Kuro had unusual mana reserves within his body, the injuries the Roman inflicted on him—combined with the magic of the Seductress—were fatal. No amount of healing power could sustain the wounds he suffered.

After all, it is his fate to die, and the god-power of the Human Saint will never heal him…no matter how much he tries.

It was a futile endeavor, fighting against a former god possessed by an ancient evil with only his ‘bolt-heater’ revolver as a weapon. His death came as a surprise for both of them! Kuro was prepared to die, but he wouldn’t let himself be killed so easily. And it was a miracle that he pulled off that feat…

“…”

As Kuro fell and lay on the desert floor of Cherflammen, his life flashed before his eyes. His younger days. His classmates that bullied him. The day he passed the licensure examination for teachers in his country. The day he got hired for a teaching job. The smile on his students’ faces. The tears from the same children, mourning for their dead classmate, Alexa.

“…”

Like what others said to him before, when someone was in ‘near-death’, they’d see their lives once again…as if it was a movie, being replayed to show that person’s accomplishments.

Well, while he had no objections over what he was seeing in his final moments, Kuro had another wish.

“M-M-Madelaine…”

The girl who loves him. The saint who did her best to save him. The woman that captured his heart.

At least, he got to see her smile in the end. He secured her safety, her happy days with the man she’d love in the future, and the family she would form with him…and that’s okay for Kuro. He could depart in peace…

“…”

Or can he?

“!!!”

Fuck!

Tears began to fall from Kuro’s eyes. In the dark skies of Cherflammen, he saw the beautiful figure of Maddie from his vision, holding her baby, smiling sweetly at him…

“I…I-I don’t…I don’t want to die…”

With the final ounce of his strength, he tried reaching for her. Maddie’s lovely form, her gentle, sweet smile, as if she was expecting him to come home. Kuro did his best to burn it in his memories. However, it was getting difficult for him to breathe, and his eyes were getting heavy.

“M-Ma…Maddie…”

The apparition disappeared, and once again, Kuro knew he was alone. Then, with that, he closed his exhausted eyes and slept forever under the sands of Cherflammen.

So ends the story of Greg ‘Kuro’ Santos.