My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 164
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 164
“Raphael?”
The black priestly robes fluttered in the wind.
Kanna Adis could not believe her eyes. Why was Raphael here, and how had he come to be?
“You must not follow him.”
Raphael issued a quiet warning.
“They are those who would forcibly extract your blood to exploit it. It is dangerous.”
“Ha! How amusing. To hear the word ‘dangerous’ from your lips. Are you not the most perilous person in this world?”
Yet Raphael ignored Jerome and extended his hand toward Kanna Adis. It was a gesture calling her to him.
“Do not go, Kanna Adis. That man is more dangerous than anyone.”
Jerome’s piercing gaze fixed upon Raphael.
“Do you even know how Divine Spirits are created? They are beings forged from the accumulated lives of men!”
Kanna Adis listened to their exchange in silence. Yet she moved toward neither of them. Her legs remained rooted, immobile.
In that moment, her gaze met Raphael’s.
He was bewildered. Why do you not come to me? His eyes posed the question.
The instant Raphael’s attention fixed upon Kanna Adis, Jerome withdrew something from his garment and hurled it with violent force.
A sickening sound pierced the air.
Kanna Adis blinked.
Raphael’s forearm crossed before her, the black sleeve torn asunder, a blade’s edge protruding sharply. From that pointed tip, crimson liquid flowed, then fell in droplets.
Kanna Adis stared at the stream of blood, then shifted her gaze beyond it.
Jerome was fleeing at desperate speed.
‘Why did he attack me?’
The answer was obvious.
Because he knew Raphael would shield her, and that he himself would be wounded instead of her.
‘I cannot allow him to escape like this.’
If she let him go now, he would surely return in the future, leading other Black Apostles to pursue her. This was the only opportunity.
The moment Kanna Adis tightened her grip on the spell formation she held, Raphael wrenched the dagger embedded in his forearm free. Without hesitation, he cast it.
The blade pierced cleanly through Jerome’s nape. He could not even cry out before he collapsed. He was likely dead.
“When I am at your side, such measures are unnecessary. Do not inflict needless wounds upon yourself.”
Kanna Adis observed his devotion without expression. Then she spoke in a flat tone.
“Yet you yourself are wounded again, Raphael.”
“I am unharmed.”
“It will heal quickly if left alone?”
“Yes.”
“Remarkable. Is it because you are destined to become a Divine Spirit?”
Raphael fell silent. Yet there was no shock in his expression. He had clearly heard every word of Jerome’s and Kanna Adis’s exchange.
So he already knew that his status as the Divine Spirit’s successor had been revealed.
“Do you possess some ability to locate people?”
Otherwise, this made no sense.
Kanna Adis had certainly boarded a small rowboat on Rivensum. Upon that vast sea, there was nothing else.
In other words, it was a place no one could possibly pursue her to.
Yet Raphael had followed me here.
“Yes.”
Raphael stated something extraordinary as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
“That is correct.”
It was I who found myself taken aback instead. I had meant it as sarcasm, yet he possessed such an uncanny ability in truth.
“That means the Divine Spirit knows I’m alive too?”
“No.”
“Why not? If you can do it as the Divine Spirit’s successor, surely the Divine Spirit can as well?”
“I was created with superior specifications.”
Like a product released with better performance than its predecessor, he spoke of himself in such terms.
It was strange. All of it.
His words, his identity, his abilities. Raphael himself.
As I stared blankly into his eyes, a chill suddenly raced down my spine. So Raphael was no ordinary human.
Raphael was an entirely different form of life from me. Like the Divine Spirit, or rather, possessing abilities the Divine Spirit himself lacked—something almost monstrous.
Plink.
In that moment, the sound of a water droplet falling reached my ears. Without thinking, I lowered my gaze.
And I saw it. Raphael’s hand, stained crimson. Blood flowing endlessly from his fingertips.
‘Again.’
Injured once more. Every time I see him, something is wounded.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the tension in my shoulders crumbled away. I exhaled heavily.
“Stop getting hurt. Even if you heal quickly, that doesn’t mean there’s no pain.”
“It is fine.”
“Raphael.”
“Yes.”
“Are you perhaps my blood relative?”
It was an abrupt question. Yet Raphael’s expression remained composed, as if rehearsed.
“That is possible.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Those born in the Divine Temple do not know who their parents are, nor who their siblings are.”
Of course not.
Only by keeping one’s blood relatives unknown could such a horrific system of consanguinity be maintained.
“However, I was designated as the Divine Spirit’s successor from the moment of my birth. Therefore, I believe the probability that I am the Divine Spirit’s son is quite high.”
I see. He was right. The probability was indeed high. If that were the case.
“Then we might be siblings.”
The moment I murmured those words, finally, a flicker of emotion crossed Raphael’s face. His brow furrowed slightly. Displeasure emanated from between them.
Did he hope we were not blood relatives? Yet looking at him again now, his brow was smooth. I must have misread it.
“When did you realize I was the Divine Spirit’s daughter?”
“From the moment I first saw you in the Slum District.”
“Then why did you?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Why did you act like a servant? When I revealed that I was the Divine Spirit’s daughter, you had the chance to say we might be siblings.”
“I could never presume to stand as your equal.”
Raphael answered quietly.
“My life is sordid, and I am a cowardly fugitive. But you are different.”
He gazed at her with unwavering eyes.
“You are someone who saves others even in the depths of despair. You deserve to be revered.”
Good heavens.
Kanna sighed. Raphael truly saw her as a saint.
It was an enormous misunderstanding.
“Raphael, I’m not the person you think I am. I’m selfish, and I’ll do anything for my own survival. If anything, I’m closer to a villainess.”
“That is not true for me.”
Raphael spoke with conviction. His gaze was stern, brooking no argument.
“Had I not met you, my life would have extinguished long ago. I would have ended it myself.”
Kanna’s words caught in her throat. The certainty overflowing from his eyes made it seem like truth.
“But you told me to live. That alone is the reason I still cling to this wretched existence.”
“Don’t say such things!”
I could bear it no longer. Kanna cried out.
“Your devotion makes me uncomfortable and burdened. I don’t even remember you…!”
“I remember.”
“…”
“I do not ask that you remember me. I ask nothing of you.”
He meant it. Raphael wanted nothing from her—not affection, not favor, not even the smallest acknowledgment.
“You need only use me as you see fit.”
That was all he desired.
“Use me as your shield, your spear. When I break, discard me then. Death in your service would be my glory.”
Only then did Kanna truly understand.
Raphael did not know how to live. He knew no joy, no happiness. He had no interest in such things. He was like a bottomless black chasm with no reason to exist.
He had once tried to die, or so he said. There must have been reason enough.
But he said I had stopped him. I had given food to a boy resolved to death, spoken of hope, and healed his wounds.
Thoughtless compassion I no longer remembered.
The consequence of that trivial kindness.
In other words, Raphael was my karma. The karmic debt of carelessly offering life to a man who had chosen death.
“Damn it.”
I could not ignore this past karma that clung to me so persistently. If anything, I pitied him. Like a thorn embedded beneath a fingernail, I could not dismiss him.
“I refuse.”
Yet contrary to my heart, I spoke coldly.
“I’m going to live a new life. Do you know what that means? It means severing all ties with the past.”
“I will help you.”
“You’re an obstacle. You’re being hunted by the Divine Temple.”
Kanna shot back swiftly.
“If you linger by my side, the Divine Temple might discover me. My survival could be revealed. I won’t bear such a risk.”
Silence descended. He regarded her with an expressionless face. Then he spoke with utmost seriousness.
“I am proficient in many things. I can satisfy you in numerous ways.”
He continued rapidly.
“I excel at household tasks—cleaning, cooking, and the like. Whatever you command, I assure you, you will be content.”
“I don’t need that.”
“What if you used me to guard your home?”
“I don’t need that.”
“You could simply place me as a decorative statue.”
Was he jesting?
No—astonishingly, he was more sincere than anyone in this world. Raphael meant every word.
To earnestly request being placed as a statue. Though admittedly, keeping such a handsome sculpture in one’s home would be pleasing to the eye…
“I don’t need that.”
“Am I truly useless?”
“Yes.”
“I understand.”
He finally accepted it. He bowed respectfully at the waist.
“I shall defer to your wishes. I pray you find happiness.”
Then he turned away. His retreating figure showed not a shred of hesitation. That lightness of step startled me.
‘Wait—surely he doesn’t intend to…?’
An ominous premonition made the back of my neck tense. It seemed likely. I clenched my fists and endured.
Yet as he grew distant, that moment became vividly clear.
Raphael’s hands holding me as he ran through the raging inferno, his body completely melted away because of it.
Damn it.
“Wait.”
Raphael turned immediately. The instant our eyes met, I was seized by a bitter sense of defeat.
“…So, before you care for me, live your own life well first. How could you possibly help me when you’re being hunted by the Divine Temple?”
Knowing the answer was wrong, yet having to choose it anyway. The feeling was utterly desolate.
Raphael pondered her words, then asked.
“Would it suffice if I were not hunted by the Divine Temple?”
“That’s the bare minimum!”
Ah, I give up. I exhaled a deep sigh.
“I don’t need a slave who dies in my place. Not a dog to guard the yard, not a decorative statue, not a maid, not a cook.”
“Then what do you need?”
I continued, speaking in desperation.
“A strong person. A protector strong enough to shield me from Adis, from the Imperial Family, from the Divine Temple—perhaps I would need such a one.”
Honestly, it was nonsense. I had long since realized that hoping for someone’s protection was an extremely dangerous gamble.
Therefore, this was purely an attempt to give Raphael a new purpose.
Yet Raphael asked with unparalleled seriousness.
“Then will I be able to stand by your side?”
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”
I replied coldly.
“Until then, don’t think of seeing me. Even if you can find me, don’t. You’ll only be in the way.”
“Understood.”
“If you’ve changed like that in five years, we’ll meet here, today. Until then, don’t approach me.”
With those words, I turned away. Though I had dressed it up in various roundabout ways, it was ultimately a farewell.
This was the end between Raphael and me.
‘It’s naturally impossible, after all.’
Whether it took five years or fifty, it would never happen. But Raphael’s thoughts were different.
“Three years.”
Watching her receding figure, Raphael spoke one last time.
“Three years will be sufficient.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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