chapter 222

Chapter 222

“Strangely, it reminds me of the Four-Legged Rainforest...”

Gio looked around.

“It really does resemble it.”

“Eek.”

“You even respond along with me—you’ve got the makings of a friend.”

“Eeeek...”

“Alright, alright.”

At their back-and-forth, Honey popped out from inside the hood with a boing.

“Oink?”

“You’re my child, Honey.”

“Oink.”

Having accepted that, Honey went back inside the hood.

‘Was I destined to have so many animals?’

Even when he lived in a peaceful little mountain village in Gangwon Province, he would sometimes run into wild boars or water deer, but somehow, it felt like he met animals even more often after becoming a portrait than he did back then.

“This, too, must be the cycle of nature.”

Spouting nonsense, Gio thought.

‘Was the Four-Legged Rainforest perhaps something derived from here? It really does look alike.’

But Argio himself knew best that it was a separate dimension from the Four-Legged Rainforest. He admired the sight of his hometown, destroyed as if painted in a picture, after coming back for the first time in a long while.

“...What on earth happened?”

The dense black forest had always been dense, but that infamous black forest, whose thick trees drank in rainwater and made poisonous rain fall at all hours—by its nature, it was a structure that couldn’t exist unless it touched the sky.

Only more questions kept piling up.

“...”

Gio looked up at the ceiling.

‘...The Four-Legged Rainforest entered a cave during the process of being moved between dimensions, but this case is hard to guess. This place was merely ruined; it shouldn’t have ever moved to another dimension, nor received a moved dimension...’

Would he have no choice but to look around more?

“Will you come with me?”

“...”

The deer tilted its head, then disappeared.

“Hm.”

What a shy friend.

“To leave without even saying goodbye.”

It could have said a word, at least.

“Today, too, it’s just the two of us left, Honey.”

“Oiiink.”

Honey cried as if it didn’t care as long as Dad was there. Gio lightly stroked the small bird that had already returned to sit on his shoulder, as if holding it in one hand, and moved his feet again. He would learn as much as he saw.

The atmosphere was markedly different from the Four-Legged Rainforest, which had at least been green. Befitting the nickname “black forest,” every plant was dyed black and deep blue-green, and the dense leaves created an awful shadow.

“This is the same as back then.”

The black forest, by nature, couldn’t distinguish day and night.

“Back then, at least you could tell time by how cold or hot it was, but now that it’s gone completely underground, even that is hard to tell. Isn’t that so?”

“Oink...”

“Is it going to stay cold forever now? I suppose I’ll only know after more time passes... but now that it’s underground, I don’t even know how it could create heat in the first place.”

Unlike the Four-Legged Rainforest, which had still looked like “plants,” the black forest was filled with bizarre, metaphysically twisted monstrous lifeforms. They were quite familiar friends to Argio.

“How nice to see you.”

If you ate that one, your insides would be damaged and you’d vomit blood.

If that one touched you, hives would rise all over your body, and you’d have to laugh for weeks.

If you didn’t remove that one in advance, it would spread spores and sprout in your airways.

Plants were meant to grow under sunlight, yet seeing them grow so sturdily even in shadow, there were times he’d thought again and again that they must be a kind of demon. Even now, they didn’t seem to have changed much.

“...”

Gio blinked.

“...Still, I can definitely see better than before. There was a similar situation in the jewel’s water vein before too—darkness where you absolutely shouldn’t be able to see, yet it becomes bright...”

“Oink?”

“That’s right. Before, it wasn’t this easy to see. After I obtained wicked divinity, I mixed with various personalities and took hold of diverse authorities, so darkness wasn’t something that could hinder me, but now I thought I was closer to human... was I wrong?”

Hm, is it because I’m a portrait after all?

“It’s good that I can see clearly!”

As always, Gio was bright and decisive.

“If the world went muffled like it used to, I wouldn’t know what to do. Of course, I have you, Honey, but as a parent, it’s not very dignified to always rely only on you.”

“Oiiink...”

Honey grumbled as if to say, “If I’m here, why didn’t you use me?” but Dad had his own dignity too.

‘More than that, there are bomb-like plants that explode if you shine light on them, after all.’

Argio greatly welcomed the world being brighter than when he once lived in the black forest.

“But there’s something strange.”

He had walked quite a bit, yet.

“Why are there no beasts to be seen anywhere?”

“Oiiink?”

“Where did all the black forest’s family go?”

They said it had been ruined—had everything truly vanished, leaving behind only these taciturn plants that couldn’t even answer? He didn’t think so. If that were the case, beasts wouldn’t have been steadily crossing over from beyond the “animal kingdom.”

‘Then are they hiding somewhere?’

But it didn’t feel like a reaction that suited the black forest’s beasts. This was an environment where you had to become stronger and more cruel as quickly as possible to survive, so hiding was nothing but an act that hindered survival.

“...”

It seemed the atmosphere had changed quite a bit while he wasn’t looking.

“This is troublesome.”

Like this, he couldn’t even find who had called Argio. Even if he thought perhaps these pitch-black plants that had gained selfhood called him while the place was ruined, there was no response at all.

‘Something with intelligence definitely called me.’

For some reason, he had even felt a sense of longing.

“For now... it would be best to move deeper in. There’s a house where I once mingled with my family and lived together. It’s full of all sorts of traps and poison, and it’s not a very comfortable place to stay, but back then there was no place like it.”

“Oink?”

“Yes, it was a house. It’s an old ruin that’s been worn down and broken, collapsed long ago, but...”

In any case, if you make it your home, then it’s home.

The path to the saints’ ruins offered to the black forest was harsh, but Argio, who had lived here all his life, and Honey, the small sunshine that purified everything, were together, so it wasn’t all that hopeless.

“Here we are.”

They soon arrived at the ruins.

“Surprisingly, this place is still intact. I thought there might have been trouble during the process of sinking underground, but it must have been sturdier than expected? Well, I suppose that’s why it could maintain this much of its form even after my death...”

For reference, Argio had suffered an arson attack. Even though the entire black forest had been burned, the plants were no different than before—if anything, even hardier—and the ruins still stood firm, which was astonishing.

“Surely heroes were invited after that too, and it must have been destroyed here and there.”

“Oiiink...”

“You seem to like this place too. Yes, it’s a ruin with a taste to look at.”

Argio brushed a pillar that stood firm.

“...”

There were traces left behind of the growth of many human children.

“...I wonder what happened to them.”

Sometimes, when he left the forest to enjoy plunder and amusement, there were living beings offered up to him. There were those who clasped their hands and begged him to take them with him. Or those who were kidnapped because they caught Argio’s eye.

This place was not only the beasts’ den, but also a prison of humans abandoned even by humans.

‘In my memory, it seems they all escaped.’

Those who had barged in had noisily talked about infectious diseases and the like, so it seemed likely they were killed the moment they left the forest. If not that, they might have died without being able to escape the burning forest.

‘They were far too weak to flee while avoiding the forest’s poison and beasts.’

A sad feeling came over him, and Argio made a gloomy face.

“Since I’m here, I should at least make them a grave marker.”

“Oink?”

“Even if those I once knew escaped the forest and the army through heaven-sent luck, in the end they would still have died, trapped in a ruined dimension. Whether it was from the passage of years, illness, or anything else, their lifespan would have ended—so it’s only right that I see to that end as well.”

He lifted the hem of his cloak and called his daughter from the shadows.

“Dana, are you awake?”

“Ack.”

“Find the lost children who couldn’t go home.”

“...”

The cat, blinking eyes like the universe, cried clearly.

“Meow.”

Then it seeped into another shadow and spread through the black forest.

“Then Honey, while your little sister searches for all the lost children, shall we wander around some more? If animals crossed over from beyond the frame, then surely, somewhere, my beast family must still remain...”

“Oiiiiiiiiink!”

Honey cried happily. Exploring Dad’s old hometown was a joyful thing, and of course, making new friends was also a joyful thing. Argio laughed, carried along by that excitement.

“Where could my friends be?”

And then, Gio encountered it.

“...”

“What are you? A fox-tribe?”

“...”

“...No, wait. You’re not a fox...?”

A wolf as big as a house.

“...A ghost?!”

“No, it’s alive.”

“It’s a ghost!!”

And it was even a talking cowardly wolf.

‘Back in my day it wasn’t like this—are beasts these days the sort that can’t live up to their size?’

Without meaning to, Argio ended up thinking something like an old fogey.

* * *

He already knew that the beasts of his hometown had acquired “language.” Even right up until the moment the mass of wicked divinity called “Argio” was sealed by heroes, the beasts laughed and spoke and talked.

‘But I’ve never exchanged words directly, so it feels strange.’

Would divinity gone mad with rage and hatred bother to speak with mere talking beasts? In the first place, it didn’t even have the presence of mind to hold a conversation.

After Argio the human died and became an evil god, if he’d ever done anything like “conversation,” it would have been condemnation toward the heroes who came.

‘That being the entirety of my exchange... even now I think it was truly... foolish.’

Something to be ashamed of, perhaps.

“...”

“...A h-human... you say?”

“Yes, a human. I’m clearly alive, aren’t I?”

“I’m not sure...”

The wolf, with a body as big as an Earth truck, flinched and shrank as it examined Gio. It could come closer and check, yet perhaps it was scared of something, because it stayed far away and only tilted its head.

Watching that, Argio spoke as if dumbfounded.

“If you’re that far away, how would you know whether I’m living or dead? Come closer. I’m not something you need to fear so much.”

“How is that something you get to decide...”

The wolf wore the same dumbfounded expression, yet crept closer.

“...Can I smell you?”

“By all means, do so.”

“Then just a moment...”

The huge wolf lowered its head, pressed its nose to Argio, who was far smaller than it, and sniffed. Then, as if it felt a little relieved—or as if it smelled something delicious—it even nudged in with its nose.

“My, are you going to eat me?”

“...?! N-no! No! I’m not going to eat you!!”

“If you’re not, then you’re not—why are you jumping like that? You’ve got plenty of energy.”

“I-it’s just, it just smells good...”

“A delicious smell?”

“It’s not that!!”

The wolf made excuses as if it were terribly wronged.

“It smelled nutty and sweet. Like, like something soft and squishy... a warm smell.”

“...Ah, are you talking about the smell of sunlight, perhaps?”

“...Sunlight?”

Its tone rose.

For some reason, as if it were delighted, the wolf came closer again, wagging its tail gently. In an instant, the wolf’s sharp eyes rounded wide with surprise and excitement. Argio thought it might be quite young.

Hesitating, the wolf asked,

“Did you, by any chance, come from sunlight?”

“That’s something I’ve never heard before.”

As if asking why, Gio pointed upward.

“Isn’t there a sun floating up there too?”

“That’s fake.”

“Fake?”

“...You really are a ghost!!”

“Can’t you hear a heartbeat either? Are you really a wolf?”

“Then why does everyone know, except you?!”

The wolf looked extremely wronged.

“More than anything, humans are extinct!”

“Ah, as expected...”

He had expected it, but it still tasted bitter.

“What a bizarre creature, the smarter it gets, the stupider it becomes.”

Always, with everyone.

It surely could have been better.

(To be continued in the next part)