The Gatekeeper (3)

When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

That fact alone told me what had happened.

“So I lost in the end.”

There would be no other reason for me to be lying here.

“Kuk……”

Pain surged through me as I tried to get up. It felt like I’d been beaten. No, not just a feeling—I had been beaten.

First, I slowly tried to recall what had happened after the First Apostle exerted his authority.

The moment he pulled out the key, all the holy power around us scattered.

Not just the chains and holy magic I had created, but even his holy magic had disappeared.

In that situation, I should have had the advantage. He was someone who relied solely on holy power.

I had aura as well, so physically and situationally, I should have been in a better position.

But Saint Peter was strong.

The human himself was simply strong.

With just a key in hand, he thoroughly thrashed me.

The key’s power disrupted holy power itself, but that wasn’t its only ability.

The places where I was hit were extremely painful.

Yes, that’s all there is to it. Getting hit hurts. If you don’t get hit, it doesn’t hurt…

“Despite feeling like my bones were breaking, my body shows no signs of injury.”

There weren’t even any bruises, nor were there any broken or swollen parts.

It seems his power struck at something spiritual within me.

There are so many vague stories about the First Apostle that nothing is really clear.

There are many records, but none are definitive. I don’t understand what it all means.

Boom!

Still clutching the lingering pain that wouldn’t fade,

I barely managed to sit up when

the masked man presumed to be Saint Peter kicked the door open and entered.

“……”

“……”

I couldn’t tell what his intentions were.

It seemed like he never intended to kill me from the start, but was he now going to try to persuade me to turn back?

Perhaps he would use somewhat forceful methods. I needed to prepare for any situation.

First, I checked where my sword and weapons were.

The sword was near the door.

The revolver was disassembled on the table. Beside it were other weapons like daggers, knives, and a machete.

“Eat.”

While I was contemplating how to get my hands on those weapons, the man slammed food down on the dining table with a thud.

Now that I looked, his hands had been full, which was why he’d kicked the door.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem hostile toward me.

“I’m not particularly hungry though.”

Of course, I’m not foolish enough to simply eat food given by someone I barely know.

“But you must eat. Even if you’re not hungry, if you don’t take in nutrients, you’ll be expelled.”

“…Are you saying you’ll physically throw me out if I don’t eat?”

If that’s the case, I definitely can’t eat. It suggests there’s something more than just being expelled included in this food.

“No. I mean it literally. See for yourself.”

However, the man shook his head and pointed at me. More precisely, at my hand resting on my knee.

“Don’t you already know?”

“……”

My hand had become so transparent that it looked as though it might disappear at any moment.

I knew that my physical body would start disappearing gradually from the extremities.

Yes, even without the man’s explanation, I should have known.

“…So I did die in the middle of that snowfield after all.”

I clearly remember collapsing in the middle of the snowfield. There’s no way I could freely move through a cold so intense that even maintaining a barrier was impossible.

I had already ended there.

What had been moving through the snow afterward wasn’t me but a ghost of myself.

That explains why no footprints remained, and why I didn’t feel the cold—it was all because of that.

I let out a sigh at the man’s calm explanation of facts I had been desperately trying not to accept.

“No, you’re not dead yet. That’s why you’re not adapting.”

“If I’m expelled, will I return to my body?”

“That’s right.”

Indeed, it seemed strange from the beginning that Saint Peter was here.

According to Biblical verses, isn’t he the gatekeeper of heaven’s gates?

This place is literally a gate.

The space between heaven and earth, a threshold.

It seems I’ve been living in such a threshold all along.

“I feel like I’ve been here for quite some time. If I go back, wouldn’t I already be dead?”

“This is a place where the flow of time has no jurisdiction.”

“Are you saying time is frozen?”

“No. This is a place that can reflect the past, present, and future.”

What I saw while coming here.

Snowflakes suspended in mid-air and others falling upward toward the sky.

All of these were manifestations of time’s distortion.

“…Thank you for your answer. But for me, it means time has stopped, right?”

“If we’re being specific, then yes.”

This means I still have the opportunity to either go back or move forward.

I could evade the man before me, enter the temple, and retrieve what I’ve forgotten.

Then return, rejoin my companions, and deal with Phoenix somehow.

For that, right now…

“Whatever you decide to do, eating first would be best.”

“I suppose so.”

I forced my aching body to sit at the table. The food the man had brought wasn’t bread or soup, but a massive fish roasted whole.

“I caught it myself. It was quite a battle, holding the fishing rod for 20 minutes.”

“Ah, yes… That’s impressive.”

“Hmph.”

I had thought he was a stoic person, but he has more human aspects than I expected.

Despite wearing a mask, I could almost see his proud expression.

Well, it is quite a large fish.

Though I don’t know much about fishing, I can tell it’s impressive.

“Then, I’ll eat well.”

“Yes.”

I picked up the unfamiliar chopsticks and began to cut into the fish.

My hands were already transparent, but they didn’t pose any hindrance to movement.

First, I carved off a large piece of fish flesh and put it in my mouth to prevent my body from disappearing further.

It tasted reasonably good.

“……”

Despite clearly wearing a mask, I could somehow sense his mouth curling into a smile.

But more than that, is he planning to watch me until I finish eating?

It’s a bit uncomfortable, but…

Since we’re in this situation, I decided to continue with the questions I was asking earlier.

“Didn’t you tell me to turn back?”

“I did.”

“Then shouldn’t you have just left me alone instead of giving me food? Naturally, I would have been expelled from this place.”

His words and actions don’t align. My transparent hand did return to normal as I ate, but…

“Do you know the story of the pomegranate of the underworld in Pluto’s tale?”

My chopsticks, which I had been moving half-unconsciously while listening, stopped.

Pluto and the pomegranate.

The legend says that if you eat food from the underworld, you become bound to it.

“…Am I trapped here now because I’ve eaten this?”

“Yes!”

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

My head started throbbing at the man’s cheerful response.

This place is the boundary between life and death. The wall separating heaven from the mortal realm.

A space within that wall.

“Well, that was a joke. You can leave again after some time.”

“How long are we talking about?”

“A day?”

“I was worried for nothing.”

“It was a joke, but you didn’t find it funny, I see.”

“How could I?”

What Saint Peter is essentially saying is that if I don’t eat this food, I’ll be expelled, but if I do eat it, I won’t be able to leave.

Meaning, I’ll remain here while I’m eating.

Wait, didn’t we get off track? What were we talking about?

“Ah, right. You told me to turn back, but by feeding me like this, aren’t you preventing me from doing so?”

“I might wish for that, but if the Son of Man wishes otherwise, what can I do? I simply hope you’d decide that way. Of course, if you try to open the temple doors, I will stop you.”

In other words, he’s just doing his job.

Now I could understand this man’s temperament a bit better.

He’d be a troublesome subordinate to have.

“So you’re saying I should stay here until I can defeat you.”

“Do you think you can?”

“I must.”

“Then finish your meal and come out at your leisure. I’ll be waiting in the same place as yesterday.”

Saint Peter’s purpose became clear.

He hopes I won’t move forward, but he won’t force it. Hence, he’s telling me to overcome him as a wall.

In a sense, he’s asking me to prove my worthiness.

Very well then. If I keep clashing with him, eventually I’ll win.

This is a place where the flow of time has no jurisdiction. Be it 100 years or 1,000 years, I just need to keep challenging him.

“Ah, I almost forgot to say this.”

“Yes?”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Son of Man.”

“…Yes, it’s an honor for me as well, First Apostle. My distant senior.”

*     *      *

A day passed.

I rolled on the ground after being struck by the peculiar key Saint Peter wielded.

This time, I lost far more miserably than when we first fought.

That’s natural considering most of the methods I had at my disposal were no longer surprising compared to when he first saw them.

It’s only to be expected.

Beginner’s luck, after all, only comes once.

When I got up after being knocked down, there were two fish on the table today. Saint Peter seemed somewhat dissatisfied, probably because they were smaller than the one he caught yesterday.

Two days passed.

Today’s result was similar to yesterday’s. Since attacks using holy power would inevitably be neutralized by Saint Peter’s key, I had to face him using only my inherent abilities.

Getting struck by the key made me angry, and I unconsciously used my Master’s swordsmanship, which resulted in cutting off Saint Peter’s arm—today’s greatest achievement.

And then I was beaten to a pulp.

When I regained consciousness after passing out, Saint Peter’s arm was reattached.

I’m not even surprised anymore.

He probably had the ability to reattach it himself, and considering this place is on the boundary between life and death, well, wouldn’t an arm just reattach itself?

On the third day since my arrival here.

“What is it?”

“Haha, it seems I’ve lost.”

I had defeated Saint Peter.

I couldn’t believe I had made such tremendous growth in such a short time.

This result can only be interpreted as Saint Peter, who had been repeatedly blocking my way and beating me, deliberately letting me win.

“Why now, of all times?”

“Yes, this is enough.”

“I don’t understand…”

I had anticipated a long-term battle.

Considering the environment, it wouldn’t have mattered if it took decades or centuries, and I thought he knew that and was training me.

Though he said he’d prefer if I left of my own volition, he still served me food every day.

I implicitly thought he wanted me to grow stronger and defeat him.

“You know, I dislike becoming numb to the flow of time.”

“……”

“I am already in this state, but I don’t want you to become like this. I wasn’t interested in seeing your strength, but rather, I wanted to see you as a person.”

The gatekeeper of heaven, Saint Peter.

There’s no way to know how long he’s been bound to this place.

The man I met displayed remarkable humanity, but how much must he have suffered to maintain that?

Living alone with one’s humanity intact in this world, which is no different from ruins, must have been several times harder than not doing so.

“Dueling with you was like looking into a mirror—enjoyable, but this cannot continue indefinitely.”

Of course, now I’m here.

It would have been easier to endure as two rather than one.

But that’s selfish. Saint Peter must have known this.

“I knew you wouldn’t give up, and you knew I wouldn’t forcibly expel you. Ultimately, this journey can only end in your victory, right? Continuing while knowing this is merely the stubbornness of a fool.”

So he decided to clear the path before it came to that.

Before he started thinking it should never be crossed.

“May I pass through?”

“Yes, of course. The one blocking the path lies defeated here, so fulfill what you set out to do.”

“…Will I be able to do well? Can I remain myself even after reaching the end of this path?”

“That depends on how you handle it. It’s the path you’ve chosen. My role is not to doubt, but to believe, so I shall believe.”

“Thank you.”

Beyond this surely lies the truth about myself that I’ve never known.

Something so vast that it might make me forget who I am.

Even the fragmentary memories I gained from encountering Phoenix contained moments far exceeding the years I’ve lived.

When I remember everything, I worry that all I’ve lived as myself might dissolve into that sea.

It would be a lie to say I’m not concerned about that.

I finally opened the firmly closed temple doors, and

“Welcome, Son of Man.”

There, I faced a woman with light blue hair, covered in a veil.