chapter 227

Chapter 227

“So what were you doing, then?”

Gio answered Yoo Seongun’s question.

“We were sharing opinions on what would be the wise thing for me to do.”

“Doesn’t really look like you were in the middle of such a wholesome activity.”

Look—Juhyeon was already completely drained, sprawled out on the sofa. For the straight-laced Juhyeon, who still hadn’t adapted to the way mysteries think, time spent between two evil gods must have been extremely exhausting.

In Juhyeon’s place, Yoo Seongun took a seat at the table.

“So, to summarize...”

It was that Argio—long since rumored to be an “evil god”—was wondering how he should become close with his friends in the “Animal Kingdom.”

“Right?”

“That’s right.”

Gio nodded.

“Up until the wolf tribe, I didn’t feel any sense of crisis at all. I thought Gargal being afraid of me was simply because that friend is quite a coward, you see.”

“That friend must feel really wronged...”

“Yes, I was mistaken. It wasn’t that Gargal was a coward—the wolf tribe was simply especially tough. Because they accepted my existence so readily, I ended up becoming arrogant about my social skills...”

“And the result was the fox tribe’s terror, is it.”

“If I’d known it would be like this, I should have hidden myself thoroughly from the start.”

Even as he said that, Yoo Seongun knew, and Gio knew, that Gio would never have made that choice. In truth, this situation was closer to a one-dimensional lament than regret.

“Hmm...”

Yoo Seongun rolled his eyes.

“What about trying your specialty—feeding them?”

“O heavens and earth, it did not work.”

“At last, your meal-omnipotence has been shattered like this. I knew you’d get a rude awakening one day.”

“Whether my cooking skills were lacking, or whether there was a problem with the menu selection. No matter how much I tried to coax and soothe them, the fox tribe only grew more terrified and could not set down their fear of me.”

“That’s the normal reaction, though...”

Unless it was Yoo Seongun, who was used to mysteries, or Juhyeon, who was strangely bold, most intelligent lifeforms were right to fear a terrifying evil god from history. At that, Gio felt deeply wronged.

“When I fed Cha Ara, a student from Cha Isol’s family, her wariness toward me clearly eased. I trusted my culinary skill, only to be betrayed.”

“No, back then there was basically no information about you. From the fox tribe’s perspective, they came face-to-face with a living natural disaster from the distant past that ate people, formed rivers with blood, and anyway, committed every evil thing there is... would someone like that give them delicious food and make their guard drop?”

“I’m wronged.”

“In this situation, wouldn’t the ones most wronged be the wolf tribe?”

They were the ones who, by being too tough, made Gio judge, “Ah, this much is fine, hehe.”

Even those who had seemed indifferent to Gio would surely have no idea that Gio had not a single intent to threaten them. Wouldn’t they have thought it was a sliver of mercy an evil god bestowed out of interest?

“...”

“...”

Into the silence, close to a standoff, Sancalute opened his mouth.

“Give up.”

“Who says you get to decide that.”

“Hoping that insignificant creatures will not fear the wicked divinity acknowledged by dimensional time seems, even to me—who does not know well how to interact with intelligent life—like a rather shameless act of tyranny.”

“Strangely, your vocabulary improves every time you slander someone. Is it because your interest and aptitude align, Sancalute?”

“Yes, it’s fun.”

“Wicked divinity, indeed.”

“You as well.”

Hahaha.

How harmonious.

‘Scary.’

Even as he found the conversation between the two divinities awkward, Yoo Seongun sided with Sancalute.

“I think it’s impossible too. Without even going as far as divinity, it’s the same among people. Unless you use brainwashing or a charm skill, you can’t make someone who fears you deep down become comfortable with you in a short time. And if history has proven grounds, it’s even worse.”

“Do you think so as well, Mr. Yoo Seongun?”

“If you get impatient and fail to control distance and approach, you’ll only deepen their fear. I’ve thought this every time, but Gio, you’re kind of... greedy.”

“Isn’t it only natural that it’s better to be able to enjoy anything?”

“You can do anything if you want, but as long as you don’t commit wicked acts like kneading people’s minds, the fact won’t change that it will never be easy.”

“...So in the end, is time the only answer...”

“You look impatient in a way that doesn’t suit you.”

Folding his arms, Yoo Seongun asked.

“Is there a reason? You weren’t originally the type to force intimacy. If they were afraid, you left them as they were; if they became close, you accepted it as it came...”

“As you mentioned, Mr. Yoo Seongun, it is only my greed.”

Argio let out a long sigh.

“It’s because I carelessly thought of my family.”

“...Aha, so that’s why.”

Yoo Seongun also knew Argio’s story from having heard it.

‘He grew up in the Black Forest and spent tender times with his beast family, and so on.’

Even if it was a time when they couldn’t understand speech, there was no way he wouldn’t have loved them. And since the tribes in the “Animal Kingdom” regarded the “evil god” as a kind of parent god, simply put, the internal sense of closeness must have been enormous.

‘If I compare it to humans, it’s like some grandfather who thought he’d lost all his blood relatives learning that he has distant kin. And if I think of that kin as a boy head of household, I can definitely understand why he’s so desperate to dote on them and spoil them... but still...’

Isn’t that grandfather now some loan shark kingpin? It was much more natural to think his favor was just a simple whim rather than true love.

From the standpoint of a distant relationship that is embarrassing to call “family,” to the point of being outright impossible, it was only natural that the words “please grant us merciful alms” would come out. They would think of it as something closer to pets than family or friends.

Even so, since they had to fill the bellies of their own family who were about to starve, they would be desperately acting cute and flattering. How tender must it be, the family that barely survived in that barren world?

“Uh... maybe because at its core they’re animals, it’s even more so. Even if they got intelligence equivalent to humans, in the end they’re wolves and foxes, right? Their reason and emotions might be much more instinctive than humans’.”

“Given that the world ended and only humans all died off, it does seem like that. It’s so strange—being able to do so much, and yet the smarter they get, the stupider choices they make... honestly.”

Clicking his tongue, Argio pulled his body up from where it had been slumped in the chair.

“...It’s also a sorry thing to keep making them afraid, so I, too, will put away my greed. If a scary grandfather who doesn’t even feel like family tries to act close, it’s only burdensome, and they could never become close, after all.”

“Did you read my mind?”

“Oh, it seems our ways of thinking are very similar. How delightful.”

“It feels kind of unsettling.”

Anyway, Yoo Seongun nodded.

“Try some self-objectification. I get what you want to say, but in the end, to them you’re an evil god, not family or a friend. Someday you might become that, but for now it’ll be hard.”

“Let’s do that.”

Gio also acknowledged that he had been hasty.

* * *

The crows were wise.

They remembered the longest history. They excelled at strategy, handled magic most skillfully, and even created various devices to protect their weak, light bodies with equipment.

There was no way they would not know of the “evil god.”

“...”

Perched, holding their breath atop a tree branch, they took that existence into their eyes.

‘If it is not human, then why does it take a human form?’

Crow chieftain Valp was the first among the three to notice “Gio’s” existence. For he had tirelessly flown through the Black Forest, trying somehow to maintain this world that was gradually breaking down.

Unfortunately, crows did not have as keen a sense of smell as wolves or foxes. But their sight was excellent. He knew that the little black-cloaked human holding death amid sunlight and shadow was not human.

‘To the eye, it is no different from a human at all, and yet...’

Valp saw.

“...”

A color thick with the stench of blood.

Within noble skin that imitated a human body, he saw that immense mystery.

‘Ah, he is a god.’

An unexpected guest who had come to this ruined world.

The thick smell of blood that even his insufficient sense of smell could detect, the fierce rage filling even the ends of that red hair. But a gentle voice. A benevolent gesture. A deliberately light step...

The 114-year-old crow Valp, who remembered countless histories, realized that he was the “Erased Wrath.”

‘It will be the end, or the beginning.’

It would be death, or opportunity.

‘What should we choose.’

No—will the chance to choose even come?

Valp knew the “Erased Wrath” in comparatively the most detail. Not only did he chew living beings alive, he also steadily received living sacrifices from humans, and when the mood struck him, he would capriciously go hunting and bring confusion upon the world, they said.

They said he was a cruel beast and a monster who enjoyed taking a human form. And that he crafted battlefields as delicate and beautiful as that. Valp felt fear.

‘We are children born from his wrath, yet there is no guarantee he will regard us as such. The probability that he did not even recognize us is very high. What attachment could he have for life born from a single step?’

If there was any hope, it was that “Gio” had shown quite a long interest in lives that took the form of beasts. What about it was so amusing? That beasts spoke?

“...”

But even that seemed worth enduring.

‘...Even if we become slaves of the evil god, the lives of the present need mercy. Even if it is mercy that mortgages our future, what matters is gaining a chance. Gargal seems to know that well.’

But that was the lesser evil, not the best.

‘If we are lucky, we may be guaranteed a decent future, but we may also end up with a leash around our necks, becoming slaves to wicked divinity. Even if we say it cannot be helped for our generation, when we think of the descendants to be born later, this too is one of the sins.’

Gargal, the wolf tribe chieftain, had said he would place trust because he had been treated as a friend, but the crow tribe was not as stubborn as the wolf tribe. They did not need to bend their bodies in fear like the fox tribe, but it was true they needed to be more cautious.

“...”

“Hey.”

The evil god below the tree called to him.

“Yes, you.”

“Caw.”

“You have many worries indeed.”

“...”

“I don’t know why everyone thinks so much.”

“...What do you want?”

“I wish for you to become my friend.”

The words did feel sincere, but—

‘By what of a god can one see and be certain it is truth?’

He could not.

A god was an immense mystery that mortals could not defy. Whether one did not know, or knew, the fact remained that it would be done as the god desired—yet Valp worried nonetheless. He thought, and sank into contemplation.

For in the end, with a single gesture, the evil god could extinguish their feeble lamps.

“The word ‘friend’ is far too empty.”

“Then what words are you waiting to hear from me?”

“The fact that you seem cheerful in all things makes me afraid. The fact that you took human form and yet are not human made us afraid. The words that come from your mouth are no different from fate, and they make the world tremble.”

“Then how about I make a promise? That I won’t harm you.”

“This insignificant creature cannot believe even that, I’m sorry.”

That kind face and hand could be fabricated as much as one wished. In the end, they had no authority to choose. The fixed fate would approach, and the remaining lives had to prepare accordingly.

And so the crow dared to propose it.

“Please bind us in subjugation.”

“Is that any different from a slave?”

“Bind us to your soul. Handle us with that tongue, crush us with your hand. Bind us in a contract, so that with a single glance of yours we may rejoice and be intoxicated. Please.”

“What frightening words...”

“We earnestly beg for a transaction, not mercy.”

“My, how pitiable. You truly think that is a transaction.”

The evil god laughed thickly.

“I understand your worry. Yes, incomprehensible goodwill only makes the other party more afraid. When I put a price you can understand on my lips, those timid ones like you will feel at ease.”

For he was benevolent wrath.

“So I refuse.”

“...”

“Is there not plenty of time, Valp.”

“...You are saying that we will come to rely wholly upon you.”

“I was born arrogant, and I do not know how to do what I dislike. Since I know I will win in the end, how could I place a move where I lose?”

“O divinity, have you come to rule this place?”

“I came because I know it can become better.”

The evil god narrowed his eyes.

“But yes, if you are so uneasy, I will ask you for one favor. Through that, I will owe you a debt, so even if the disaster you worry about comes in the future, won’t you have at least one thing you can bring up?”

“Please speak. I will do as you wish.”

“Find the one who called me.”

It was the voice of one who ruled.

“Find the one who drew me into this desolate, silent hometown. He may be a beast, or perhaps a human you have not seen, or something that holds its breath and plays dead.”

Who in the world had called this evil god back into this world once more?

‘...That is to say, there is someone who knows this evil god’s true name.’

The name of a cruel beast that even an old crow who had lived 114 years did not know. Someone who knew it had summoned the evil god of war and wrath. And the evil god answered that summons, and was now here in human form.

Is this the end, or the beginning?

“...”

Since the god had given a trial, there was no choice.

“...I will find them.”

“I will look forward to it.”

Sensing the start of calamity, Valp flew up.

* * *

“...”

Gio kneaded his face.

‘It’s true I look a bit scary.’

This darn face of mine.

(To be continued in the next part)