Aslan wore a bitter expression, revealing signs of fatigue.
The muscles in his body had turned red with exertion, and his hair was steaming as if it were on fire.
His complexion was weary, and the blood he had shed was substantial, making him appear precarious.
However, Aslan stood firm, neither collapsing nor faltering, gathering his breath.
“Um, ma….”
This was because a deformed giant with a split spine was crawling on the ground, dying.
The white divine power that Aslan held was aimed at the neck of the lesser divinity.
The specters shattered and scattered the instant the lesser divinity fell. Only the lesser divinity remained. Aslan contemplated.
‘Should I finish it?’
The deformed giant showed no will to resist, nor did it have the strength to do so. With its spine split, it could not move.
In the end, Aslan closed his eyes. With the disappearance of his will, his purity faded.
And the sword, which he had held with great effort throughout the battle, crumbled into powder.
As long as will remained, it could be sustained; however, it could not withstand the deformed giant’s overwhelming power twice over. With the purity gone, the sword shattered under the impact it was meant to absorb.
“Um, ma… not, ya….”
As the divine power withdrew, the lesser divinity, seeing things with her soul, spoke hesitantly.
In her eyes, only Aslan’s soul was visible.
Shining in a color she had never seen before, it was Aslan’s soul.
As the beautiful and gigantic soul trembled, the lesser divinity’s hand quivered delicately. Aslan did not evade or fend off that outstretched hand.
The fingertips that touched the place where Aslan’s heart should be trembled lightly.
“Such a pretty color….”
Thud
Aslan killed the evil deity.
A sense of mission was overshadowed by bitterness.
Entering the giant’s body, which felt incompatible, becoming a wild wizard, he had to kill the lesser divinity who had gone mad after understanding souls.
From his limp hand, the hilt dropped and Aslan, with a bitter expression, picked up Ereta’s double-headed axe that he had previously dropped and returned it to his back.
It was something that had to be done.
Thus, he had no regrets.
He simply felt uneasy.
As Aslan trudged along with exhausted limbs, Ereta asked him.
“…Why did you kill her?”
Aslan’s turquoise eyes gleamed as he looked at Ereta.
“Why did you talk to her? You could have ambushed her.”
To Ereta, Aslan’s actions were not convincing.
If he was going to kill her, he could have easily done so with his bow. If he had just ambushed her.
Even without using his bow, if he ambushed her, he could have started the fight on favorable terms.
There was no need to deliberately converse and provoke.
“I wanted to know if she was an evil deity. If I could pass without fighting, I would have liked that. But she was an evil deity. She would kill people, and perhaps she had already killed… so I killed her.”
Aslan’s voice was weary. Ereta did not understand.
She still could not comprehend the reason why he killed the evil deity, but did not kill evil people.
“Why don’t you kill me? I’ve harmed people just the same. I could harm them again in the future. So why did you spare me and kill that ancient deity?”
To Aslan’s silence, Ereta hinted at a semblance of anxiety.
“If you spared me to kill the evil deity, you could have spared that ancient deity too, couldn’t you? Rather, with that power, you could have been a great asset in the future. You could have used it advantageously in a battle against the gods.”
“I know.”
“Then why…? What’s the difference between me and that ancient deity?”
Ereta did not understand the distinction.
She did not wish to die. She merely could not grasp the fundamental difference.
She questioned with skepticism, prompted by such vastly different ways of thinking and unknown behaviors.
Aslan did not respond. He simply gazed at Ereta with deep-set eyes.
Within those cool turquoise eyes swirled a multitude of emotions.
“You are an evil person. And this ancient deity was an evil deity.”
Thus, Aslan finally spoke.
“Evil people cannot change the world. Because they are human. Even I could not change the world in twelve years. It is nearly impossible for one human to change the world. The world is too vast, filled with countless humans. One human cannot change all humans.”
Aslan’s eyes drifted into the void. Within those turquoise depths lingered a subtle sense of longing.
“This world, Geladridion, is undoubtedly wrong. There is no hope for the people. No future. They cannot dream of tomorrow. They think it is inevitable to be taken by the gods, unaware of the concept of living. They would rather succumb than live. As if not resisting the raging storm.”
“…Isn’t that natural?”
Aslan shook his head at Ereta’s response. Raising his firmly shook head, the fatigue in Aslan’s eyes lightened. The shining turquoise eyes remained.
“The evil deities are the ones who created such a world; they are the ones who took everything from the people who should be living normally.”
“That’s not an answer. I….”
“You are an evil person.”
He interrupted her. Ereta opened her mouth to say something, but fell silent under Aslan’s gaze.
“There are sins and punishments for evil people. They may face personal revenge or be punished by others. Perhaps they will wander with the weight of their sins, atoning for a lifetime. However… evil deities have no sins or punishments. No one can punish a god.”
For a god is the very essence of the world. As he said this, Aslan perched himself on a fallen tree. The dawn light pushed the shadows deep into the forest.
“Humans cannot change the world. Thus, they change themselves. They adapt and survive by altering themselves. But evil deities can change the world. So if they are wrong, they correct the world.”
“…. ”
“Evil deities subjugate the world, while humans either submit to it or choose another path. Humans can be persuaded, but gods cannot be swayed. They are incomprehensible. The only way to stop such evil deities is one.”
To kill them.
As the words slipped unwittingly from Ereta’s lips, Aslan glanced at her.
“The reason I don’t kill you is that you are an evil person, a human. A human can accept punishment, be repentant, or be avenged… there is an end to their sins. They can choose freely.”
“Don’t you punish me?”
“I have no right to do so. If you sought to kill me, I would fight to survive, and if you committed evil deeds before my eyes, I would stop you, but… I am merely one human. I have no right to punish another human.”
As he spoke, Aslan stood up. Adjusting the axe on his back, he approached Ereta.
“My task is complete; I have finished killing the saintess of slaughter, the high priest of the evil deity.”
Aslan approached. Meeting his gaze, Ereta felt her pupils tremble slightly. He was incomprehensible. A man more unfathomable than a god.
“Why are you doing such things…? No one does such things. You’re strange. You’re crazy. Strange.”
The incomprehensible frightened her. It was terrifying because she couldn’t understand it. Ereta felt her fear transform into a subtle, different emotion.
“I am the only one who can do it. No one else will even recognize what’s wrong.”
Aslan’s face broke into a slight smile.
“Only I know that this world is wrong.”
As Ereta listened to that bright smile and inconsequential words, she felt the enormity of the hidden purpose within. She merely stood there, dumbfounded.
“I will kill the gods and change the world. This is a task only I can accomplish.”
It was too grand a statement. An ambitious goal. So vast that her mind could not keep up. Ereta clumsily asked. Why?
Aslan seemed to ponder for a moment, then chuckled lightly.
“Do you know what I like?”
“…Huh?”
Ereta blinked at the sudden topic change.
“I like fields of wheat dyed in golden hues.”
Aslan said this while painting a picture in his mind. He spoke as he envisioned it.
Children run through that golden field, and as their little limbs brush against the wheat, it rustles and lays down, standing up again with a swirl of innocence.
The children see smoke rising from chimneys, detecting the mixed smell of food, and they dash home.
Following those children, the people return home, thinking of tomorrow.
With that sentiment, Aslan spoke with nostalgia.
“I like people who live thinking of tomorrow. I love the peace they possess. I long for the peace that does not exist in this world.”
Having smiled brightly, Aslan lifted his gaze.
“If I were to ask someone to return that to me, I would desperately wish for it. So I am merely trying to return it.”
His eyes sparkled.
“For that, I can temporarily set aside good and evil. If you wish to be punished after it’s all over, then do as you wish.”
“You….”
“Help me now. If you have a wish that isn’t evil, I will grant it. Help me so that I can change this world.”
Ereta’s incomprehension gradually crumbled, across the etched cracks flowed the words and landscapes Aslan had spilled.
She thought.
‘This man truly has no intention to kill me.’
Ereta mistook the brilliance in Aslan’s eyes for being dazzling.
She realized that the incomprehensible fear she felt within her and the profound desire for masochism intertwined into an inexplicable impulse.
It was akin to possession.
Ereta stepped closer. She had been gripping the hem of her clothes tightly, and with outstretched hands that repeated retracting and reaching, she placed a hand on Aslan’s shoulder.
Then Ereta embraced Aslan, drenched in sweat and blood.
‘Why am I doing this?’
Pushed by an impulse she could not understand, she buried her face against Aslan without even comprehending why. The height difference was more than a head, and what she felt against her face was a solid chest.
Ereta wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tightly. As she inhaled deeply, between the scents of blood and sweat wafted a subtle fragrance of flesh, tickling her nostrils. A strange feeling as if her brain was melting. A relief of itchiness, an urge being satisfied by the fulfillment of possession left her puzzled.
Without understanding herself, she thought.
‘This is human warmth.’
It felt comfortable. Her heated body was pleasantly warm, and the tingling in her lower abdomen was peculiar, causing her to smile slyly.
With a gentle smile, Ereta said.
“Then… you really won’t kill me, right?”
Aslan also did not understand. He could not fathom why Ereta was suddenly acting like this. The most he had expected were requests based on the dummy data he had on her.
He had not anticipated such behavior, so Aslan fell silent. In the silence, Ereta spoke.
“Your thoughts are interesting. It’s fun and unusual. There won’t be anyone else in the world like you.”
As he had said, what Aslan desired was something that only Aslan could achieve.
Even if he needed help, ultimately, it had to be Aslan himself who accomplished it.
He was a unique man.
Ereta was intrigued by that uniqueness.
“Show me how you live. Even if you play such tricks sometimes… just let it go. That would be enough.”
Aslan hesitated for a moment before responding.
“…If that’s what you want, then fine. As much as you like.”
Ereta closed her eyes at that permission and briefly rubbed her face against his chest.
*
After burying the god of the grave, as they headed back toward the giant’s fortress village, the sky darkened again.
Especially as the moon hung thinly and clouds rolled in, the moonlight offered little illumination.
The return trip wasn’t slow, but due to the distance, it felt inevitable.
It was a long journey, making them weary, and Aslan barely dragged his exhausted body across the desert alongside Ereta.
And as they approached the giant’s fortress village, Aslan noticed the commotion.
‘What’s going on?’
The noise was not that of the giants.
It was closer to the sound generated by countless people. Aslan recognized the waving flags at the fortress entrance, even in the dimness.
Three hill symbols stacked in a triangular formation, with a horned shape drawn on top.
It was the flag of the Helsing Earldom.
Aslan’s eyes widened in realization.
‘They came looking for me.’
The next main quest was simple. In the Vida Kingdom’s Helsing Earldom, the protagonist meets the duke and is offered an alliance.
The duke was a man who had already recognized through the many recent commotions and rumors, the whispers about the ancient deity and the one being pursued by the gods.
He had discerned that from mere rumors and the frantic movements of priests, along with some old texts and a bit of inquiry.
That was the Helsing Duke.
How he had found out that Aslan fled Kardy to the giant’s fortress village was unknown, but it was an unwelcome situation.
“What’s wrong? What is going on?”
Distressed that the main quest had come looking for the player, Aslan clenched his teeth. Ereta, lacking vision through the darkness, squinted at the village, unable to see anything.
Only Aslan grasped the situation, nervously biting his lips. Mocking Aslan, the system notification appeared belatedly.
Aslan anticipated the complicated circumstances from the rising system window.
[Ongoing Main Quest]
[ ! 恁뺤껜 椅녿뒗 蟻뤰隣좊쾶]
‘What is this.’
Broken letters filled the space below the main quest, reminiscent of the effect of purity. He frowned at the sight of utterly incomprehensible main quest objectives.
Following Aslan’s confusion, Ereta whispered.
“Aslan, someone….”
“Finally found you.”
After Ereta’s voice, a deep male voice resonated. Aslan slowly turned his head at the voice of the middle-aged man.
The man, looking at Ereta, who seemed wary and reached for her weapon at her waist, was a striking middle-aged man with long blond hair.
The cloak draped over him was a luxurious item with golden embroidery, and the armor he wore was exquisite.
The clearly noble man bore a sword at his waist and a shield on his back.
Aslan recognized the man; he had often seen that face in the game.
“…Helsing Duke.”
At his murmured words, the middle-aged man nodded as if in affirmation and looked at Aslan, who gazed back at him with an awkward expression. It was a difficult situation.
If they were to propose an alliance like this, things would become complicated, and their plans would go awry.
As Aslan pondered what to do, the middle-aged man spoke in an unexpected tone.
“Please help me, veteran of battles.”
It was a desperate voice.
“…Huh?”
“You alone can save Kardy.”
In the midst of not understanding the situation, Aslan could grasp one thing.
The ongoing main quest was distinctly different from what he knew.
