Chapter 264

Chapter 264

Trapped in the thorn prison, he called the evil god and begged for mercy.

“That is my sin.”

If he had carried himself better, or had been strong enough to ignore all of it, it would not have happened. Then he would not have been trapped in the prison. He should not have dared, drunk on pain, to call the evil god either. Who knew what kind of calamity would come?

And on top of that, he should not have begged for mercy.

“I know. Evil gods are all like that. Even if you beg for happiness, they don’t grant it straightforwardly. They always think about how they can make this person even more miserable, and within the rules they bestow the most dreadful mercy they can.”

“But was that not the mercy you wished for?”

“Yes, it was that mercy. I wanted to suffer pain greater than the pain of that time when I was trapped in the thorn prison. Even that would have been a reward to me. I was already mad, I was too exhausted, and if there was any change at all, that was salvation.”

Even pain, when it becomes an eternity, grows quite boring. That was Ather’s torment. It was the hell he had wanted to escape, so he dared to ask the evil god for mercy, wishing for an even worse hell.

“But what did you give me?”

You truly gave salvation.

“You were merciful. You were kind. That made it even more dreadful.”

“Were you not a friend too precious to kill so simply?”

“On that day, I realized you truly were an evil god. You should have killed me instead. Do you know how much I resent you?”

“I know very well, you foolish one. You resent me and yet you believe in me. Because I have newly shaped your petty world. How can humans be so weak and blind...”

“That day, you became my new god.”

Ather was a wraith of the old era, who had lived in a time where religion could not be separated from life. The first god had been driven out by human hands, and that god had abandoned all of his children, so he thought there was no faith left to follow.

And yet this sly Demon King had extended a hand. Had he not repaired the broken world and become a new faith? Ather did not know how damned much peace that gave him.

“...Where did the Argio I know go?”

At last, shallow hatred spilled out.

“Where did my friend go?”

He already knew this would happen.

“He was a god, but he was human.”

“Why do you think I am not?”

“Because you are not human.”

“...”

The golden eyes shone with an evil light, staring at Ather like a beast’s.

“...Ah, my ugly father’s puppet...”

Crrk...

His nails dug into Ather’s face.

“Human, human, human. Yes, human.”

Ather’s blood ran down along the nails embedded in his face. Red blood.

“Those dreadful spawn that covered the world. Those wicked seeds that twisted and ruined me and burned the forest with my family. You saw well—how could I possibly be human?”

His voice was filled with hatred.

“You abandoned me. I was abandoned and burned, and my throat was torn out by my family. I curse you. I resent you. I love you. I hate you. I loathe you. How lovely you are, you who try to tear out my throat once again.”

“...”

“Are you listening to me? My friend, my little friend. My filthy, shabby puppet.”

A smiling face recites a curse.

“Did you come to kill me?”

“...I assume you already know.”

“Arrogant one. I remember you, but your friend is not me. I want to forget you, but that alone is truly difficult.”

“I see.”

“Why did you call me—you should not have called me. Why did you call me... Do you regret opening the coffin door only now?”

Golden tears of blood fell from the evil god.

“I hate the world. I resent Father. You all treated me so cruelly. Though you are the calamity shaped by your own hands, you did not even care for it.”

“...”

“My brother tore out my throat and conceived me, but did you not give that seed? I am the sprout you made. The tree you made. The fruit you made bear.”

“...”

“Yes, my father. My mother. You, my parents. Ah, you—why did you treat me so cruelly... because I am a beast? Not human? What, exactly, am I?”

His nails dragged down, leaving a long scratch across Ather’s face.

“A toy? No. You are my parents. You shaped me and made me be.”

“I’m sorry.”

“...”

His hand fell away.

“...Why do you make it so I cannot even be angry?”

The brilliant golden eyes were hollow.

“An individual is good, but a crowd is evil. Ah, yes, that’s right. That is you.”

“...”

“I love you. This is inevitable. This is fate. This is human. Dreadful things. Lovely things. Utterly cruel, and yet you make me cling.”

“...”

“It hurts so...”

A pale hand felt along his own face, then put strength into it.

Crack—.

“...”

Just like that, he snapped his own neck and died.

“Ah.”

Ather reached out his hand, then drew it back again before daring to touch that flesh.

Argio’s shadow fell within the prison of hands, and the writhing hands with golden eyes slowly swallowed it like swamp mud. Starting from the grotesquely bent neck, they seized the shoulders, clasped hands, embraced the waist—very slowly...

Soon, only Ather remained within the prison of hands.

“...So that is your will.”

Instinctively loving humans, yet unable to endure their dreadfulness, he chose to die. Thus, he would leave himself filled with nothing but rage and hatred.

“...”

Ather slumped down inside the prison made of hands. The gaunt hands like dead branches would sometimes poke Ather and grasp his shoulder, but they no longer harmed him. They only confined him.

It was so disgusting he could not endure it.

‘...In the end, even this is different...’

It was the same narrow, thorny prison, yet different from the mages’. These were merely playing a prank on him.

Better to hurt me more. Dig into my flesh and crawl into my organs. That seemed like it would be better.

‘If only it were a complete hell.’

Ather, who had been sitting blankly, opened his mouth again.

“...You wished to be recorded in history as evil.”

He wanted to respect that.

“On the day the Black Forest burned, I wanted to give you what you tried to have, but could not have.”

And yet he was still curious.

“That day, you could have fled the forest, and yet you burned with it. If you were that angry, why didn’t you come out and slaughter all humans instead? Isn’t that so?”

But he did not.

“I know the answer.”

He knew nature’s principles and understood human instinct.

“You didn’t want to become ugly.”

Because you knew that no matter how you grit your teeth and endure, the same tragedy would repeat countless times. Since all of it was nature’s providence and history that would repeat, you did not want to be swept along by that futile time.

Ather let out a hollow laugh.

“So a dragon really is a dragon.”

That lofty insight was beyond words. It seemed arrogant, and yet it also seemed rational. It was a dragonlike act—raising his own butcher because he did not wish to remain a wretched wraith.

Perhaps you could have remained in nature as an ideal messenger of god.

“...”

So he felt sorry.

‘...I wanted to respect you for wishing to remain as evil, but...’

And yet did we not dare to be called heroes, to save everyone?

* * *

“There’s something strange.”

Dan Haera continued explaining to her friend Seo Seohui.

“The Sun Religion’s trainee priest Cha Isol, an apostle of the Black Cloak, doesn’t actually hold malice toward the evil god of dreams. He doesn’t even seem to feel much of a sense of crisis—he’s being safely protected within the Sun Religion, they say...”

“Really? He’s doing nothing?”

“They say there are no signs of any impulsive action.”

“That certainly is unusual.”

Seo Seohui, the guildmaster of Justitia, quickly reached an answer.

“Does that mean the Black Cloak is a higher-tier existence than the evil god of dreams?”

“Even more surprising is that the Black Cloak isn’t hostile toward the evil god of dreams.”

“Didn’t the Black Cloak enjoy protecting Earth?”

“The actions of such vast mystery don’t change direction all at once.”

“Then in the end, does that mean it judged that, at least for now, the evil god of dreams won’t have a harmful influence on Earth?”

“It might be a sign that this subjugation will end safely.”

“Could we call it a kind of prophecy? No, perhaps...”

Seo Seohui recalled a certain dark temple.

“It might be the same direction as the God of Death.”

Once, the God of Death had been classified as wicked divinity. Even now, he was defined as an evil god, yet there were hardly any citizens who truly regarded him as a threat. Because death was an inevitable concept.

“That evil god of dreams—more precisely, they said it’s divinity of rage?”

“That’s right. If it’s a case like the God of Death, then the Black Cloak’s attitude makes sense too.”

“Either way, it won’t be something that harms humans. Right now it’s too raw a malice and needs to be gathered up, but still.”

Just as the God of Death had been treated that way once, even if it was divinity of a negative concept, one could not simply deny its existence itself. Those called the Symbols of Eternity knew that very well.

“Do you think we might end up coexisting even with the evil god of rage?”

“It’s possible. People have to live getting angry, after all.”

“...In truth, right now there are practically no people who actually know how to be angry.”

“Now I understand why the Black Cloak is simply standing by in this matter.”

“As a higher-tier existence positioned to clean things up at any time, and because it thinks that in today’s Earth, divinity of rage is needed.”

“And in reality, subjugating it ourselves isn’t exactly impossible, either.”

“No, you really... wow... because it’s not your job...”

“So are you saying you won’t do it?”

“...Good grief.”

Seo Seohui laughed emptily.

“Well, we’ll just have to do our best.”

Wasn’t that what they had ‘promised’ for?

“By the way, why is Guildmaster Bisavol participating in this subjugation at all?”

“He’s giving plenty of support, so just leave him be and let him do what he wants.”

“That old man really is something.”

* * *

Traditionally, the existence of animals that help humans was considered auspicious.

‘Honestly, this is a common element picked everywhere, across East and West and across dimensions.’

Perhaps because of that, in old fairy tales and legends, animals that help humans always appeared at least once: a bird that becomes a guide when you lose your way, a horse that carries an injured human, and so on.

So Aram thought,

“Your roles are important.”

“...We understand, but do we really not have to speak?”

“No. Later, there will be situations where you must speak, but for now, no. If you use language from the very beginning, the sense of mystery the visitors feel will drop sharply.”

“Oh, right, I see...”

Gargal, the wolffolk chieftain, accepted Aram’s words even as he grew very awkward.

“It’s not exactly a difficult thing to do.”

Just keeping their mouths shut and helping humans, at least.

“You look like you were injured here and there getting out of the Demon King’s castle. Is it really okay to proceed with the plan as intended?”

“You need not worry about me. These wounds, this insult and humiliation, will be healed on their own once everything succeeds. What I need right now is the plan to proceed smoothly.”

“Are all humans like you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Um, ah, no. It’s nothing.”

Gargal, looking embarrassed, pinned his ears back and looked over his family.

“Anyway, that’s what she says.”

“Grrrr...”

“We’re not going to kill them, we’re going to help them, so make a more harmless expression.”

“Chieftain, our faces are filthy to begin with.”

“Tsk, hey, no. Didn’t you hear the saintess? She said to be auspicious animals.”

“How are we supposed to look harmless at this size...”

“You can do it. If you scrunch it up, you can do it.”

The foxes mocked those wolves.

“Honestly, being big is all they have, and they don’t know how to act clever.”

“What did you expect from wolves? The greatest merit in this operation will be ours, so know that.”

“Oh dear, so barbaric. With that blunt attitude, how are you going to win humans’ hearts...”

The wolves bristled at that.

“We didn’t get big because we wanted to be big?!”

“Oh my, do you really think it’s only a matter of size?”

As the wolves and foxes started fighting again, Aram turned to the crow Balf.

“...Please take care of them.”

“...I’ll try.”

And so the so-called ‘Auspicious Animals’ operation began.

(Continued in the next part)