131 Darkness Will Never Disappear

A few days later, everything had returned to normal. The deceased had been buried, and new individuals had taken their place with the responsibility of duty, likely with the illusion of reaping the benefits that a soldier receives.

Staring at the place where the ashes of those killed by the demon had been, Anton simply drank from a bottle of wine while smiling. "Their deaths have not brought about a noticeable change; once again, we could only suppress the evil, as we have been doing all this time."

The importance of duty is something that everyone should have in their blood, but it has recently been discovered that the population has grown weaker. Teenagers now struggle with their gender identity, clamoring for action on climate change, yet they are the first to pollute the world with their senseless protests.

All of this reminded him of his past life. Anton could have related this situation to the one before, but the only difference now is that things do affect him. Before, he could ignore it; he simply enjoyed those screams. But now, it's not pleasant to know that those protected by the now-dead are often left with nothing.

In ancient times, people were strong, hardworking, and fulfilled their duty regardless of what might happen tomorrow. Nowadays, despite mandatory military service for both men and women, protests demanding its end continue to rise.

For those who follow the rules of this world, they might survive. Anton has no one to judge them, but he is aware that if the Association of Light and other organizations fall, humans will be the next to die.

"Priest Anton, wait a moment!"

Anton turned and saw Jayden, who had appeared from who knows where. He now wore common clothes for someone his age, so his appearance was different. "Are you praying for those who died?"

"Yes, they all deserve to ascend to heaven and live for eternity. I am quite proud of them. I want to do the same, and if possible, I would like to learn from you." Jayden looked at Anton with excitement in his eyes.

Anton smiled slightly, but had to decline this time. "You are the guardian of the black eye; maybe you are not very strong yet, but surely you have a mission, and that is to ascend that girl who accompanies you."

"Can you see her too?" Jayden was surprised that Anton could see his friend, who had died.

Anton looked at a silhouette behind Jayden, who was smiling, and after thinking carefully about whether to interfere or not, he believed that it was up to someone else. "Everyone needs care; you have to believe and think that everything you do has value beyond the interests of other people."

"Uh, what do you mean by that?" Jayden was confused to hear those words.

Anton sighed, looked at the birds in the distance happily feeding their chicks, and said, "If you think you're doing this for others, you'll end up like the monk you were with before. If you do this, do it for yourself, not for someone else."

Saying this, Anton walked towards the exit of the cemetery and headed towards the car that was waiting for him.

"Where are we going, Guardian?" A man turned and asked Anton with some doubt.

Anton looked through the mirror and asked, "Is there anything else that requires our attention in this place?"

"Recently, a type of meteorite was discovered falling towards a nearby town with over 190,000 inhabitants. There shouldn't be a problem, but many in that place could benefit from some military training."

Yoshio, who was sitting beside him, said, "That would be a good idea. We could give the kids some military training, and you could clear your mind from everything that has happened in the last few days."

"I'll take you to that place, sir!" Terry, who was driving, said.

Anton smiled slightly. He had planned to return home as soon as possible, but after knowing that he could enjoy a bit of this country, he nodded and said, "Then let's go. It would be good to learn more about this culture."

"We would need to prepare; we can't go in suits and pretend to be military." Terry said it with a happy smile on his face.

Throughout all this time, he had lost loved ones, but truth be told, he wasn't the only one sacrificing, so it was okay to move forward.