It's Not Night - Chapter 175.2
“What are you going to do with that?”
“I’m going to save you.”
“How so?”
Andra pressed the dagger to her own throat. Dean flinched, watching as droplets of blood began to form at the blade’s edge. He shouted.
“Foolish!”
“I said I’m going to save you. This is the only way. I won’t leave you to do whatever you want. Anat wouldn’t want that.”
Nera is a cruel god. It persisted even now. She had given Andra the dagger, but it was never meant to kill Dean. Only Andra could end Dean’s life, and Nera was pushing her towards this.
So, the dagger was…
‘It was always you, who paid the price and suffered in these tasks.’
It was Andra’s sacrifice.
From the start, all clues to this task lay with Andra. Nera gave nothing to the foolish man, Dean. She had provided only Andra, who resembled her sister, with the means to choose. Would she choose the foolish man as Anat did? Or would she make a different choice?
Yet ultimately, Andra chose the foolish man and passed the task. Now, Nera spoke to her,
‘Finish what you started. Do not hesitate, my child. This is the last trial given to you and him. Stop the disaster.’
To pay the price of her choice.
Since she chose the foolish man.
She has to sacrifice herself again to save him.
It was a sharp rebuke typical of the god of greed and conflict.
“I’ll go with you. I will stop this disaster, and you will go to Anat’s side.”
“So, you’re suggesting we both die now?”
Anat had sacrificed herself to give humanity a new opportunity, and by choosing Dean, Andra was following the same path. She had chosen Dustin out of love, and was now ready to sacrifice herself to prevent the end of this world and save Dean, as Anat had wished.
“You would threaten me with your life just for that?”
“It’s not a bad deal for you, either.”
“….With that tearful face?”
Dean murmured lowly. Despite trembling like a leaf, Andra kept the knife at her throat. Her resolve was so clear in her firm grip on the dagger.
“….Why go to such lengths? You want to live, don’t you?”
“This is my choice, my price to pay. It’s right. So, tell me you’ll come with me.”
“…”
Dean didn’t say anything. He just gazed at the crying Andra. She reached out her hand to him. Despite her fear of the searing heat and pain from the lava below, she knew this was the right thing to do. If she didn’t, Dean wouldn’t stop, nor die. This was the right thing to do.
But there was one thing she regretted deeply.
Dustin. She really regretted not telling him. If she had known, instead of saying she hated and despised him, she should have told him she liked him. That she had forgiven him, that she had come to love him so dearly… She should have told him over and over again. That was what made her hesitate to die. But now, it was too late for any regrets.
Dean still didn’t say anything. But he seemed to make a resolution as he slowly approached Andra at the edge of the cliff. They faced each other. Dean reached out and wiped the tears from Andra’s eyes. For the first time, she felt a warmth in him.
“Don’t cry, my goddess. I don’t know what to do when you cry.”
The man spoke gently, dissipating his guard. Andra lowered the dagger she had held to her throat and looked up at Dean. Just as Dean looked for Anat in Andra, in Dean, she looked for Dustin. She wondered where he might be now, what he might be doing, and if he was safe. She wanted to see him one last time.
As Dean scrutinized her closely, he suddenly asked.
“Do you love that man?”
Andra did not deny it.
“As much as Anat loves you.”
Dean smiled bitterly at her answer. Then, there was a soft thud. Andra looked at her hand. Dean had taken the dagger from her grasp and was plunging it into his own abdomen.
As his clothes began to stain with blood, he closed his eyes.
“What, what are you doing…”
Dean pressed harder, twisting the blade as it tore through his flesh. He spat out a mouthful of blood and said.
“It’s only fair this way. To you and to him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t go with you.”
Andra was unable to say anything more, as she saw someone behind Dean.
“My goddess, stop the last disaster.”
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