Chapter 248

The evil god he had called upon might not be as merciful as he had thought.

'... I considered that possibility long ago. “Evil god” and “mercy” never belonged together in the first place.'

Ater gathered his thoughts as he climbed back up the stairs.

Those beings called gods knew nothing of mercy. Their mercy often became a disaster for humans. How much worse would an evil god be? History had already proven Arjio's wickedness.

'If he were as benevolent as what I saw and experienced, that history would never have happened. He may have been falsely accused, but the number of humans the evil god Arjio devoured and crushed far outweighed that injustice. Whatever anyone says, he is an evil god of wrath and suffering.'

How could Ater, who had been called a champion far beyond his merits, not know that?

'I still remember.'

Tongues spewing curses and eyes filled with hatred. Huge, sharp claws reaching out without mercy, gazes flashing with the thrill of battle. A calamity born from the sacrifice of countless humans.

How many of his companions had died by those hands and tongues?

'Then I should assume that everything I saw of the evil god after this not-quite-resurrection was fabricated or distorted. Or perhaps, out of tens of thousands of wicked faces, he showed me his sole benevolent one.'

One thing was certain: Arjio was an “evil god.”

'He cannot be called a human like me. He is a terrible, wicked calamity capable of pretending to be human. If he were restored to his complete form, the risk of that calamity repeating itself would be far too great...'

By then, Ater had climbed the last of the stairs and returned to the ruins.

“...”

As he emerged from the tomb, bright light touched him like sunshine.

'... But Arjio made this sunlight, too.'

The ruins had no electricity or anything of the sort. Torches alone could never have made the place this bright and pleasant. That was why, Arjio had said, he had summoned sunlight and confined it here.

'The mercy he showed me wasn't a lie, either. So long as I have been saved and enjoy this peace, I must not deny it. Doing so would make me worse than a beast...'

Soon, Ater reached a conclusion.

“Arjio.”

“You called for me then, too.”

The evil god emerged from the shadow a pillar cast in the light of the ruins.

“...”

The jewelry around his bare feet made no sound at all.

Red hair trailing long like a beast's tail, wrapped in a dazzling profusion of gold, silver, and jewels. Skin as pale as a demon's, as though it had never seen sunlight, and a confident smile spreading across his face.

This was the being who had saved Ater from the endless suffering of the thorn prison.

“... You are the only god who always answers my call.”

“Naturally. This place has been abandoned by the Creator.”

“That is a very intriguing story, but I will ask you more about it later.”

“Then there must be something else you wish to ask.”

Once again, he showed Ater mercy.

“I will hear you out. Speak.”

“Thank you for the opportunity.”

Ater took a brief, deep breath and asked,

“Who are you?”

The evil god Arjio, the cruel beast, could not be the person before him.

“Having seen for myself, I am certain now. You are not the evil god Arjio I knew, the one who tried to kill me and my companions. The being bound to me by that deep, horrific history was the one sleeping in the last coffin, in the tomb far below. Not the person you are now.”

“Why do you think so?”

“The cruel beast was born from the wrath and hatred of sacrificed saints. Even the god himself cannot deny that. I remember every record in the royal archives and these ruins, and I know that the moment a god denies himself, he can no longer exist as a god.”

“Therefore, I am not the evil god Arjio?”

“... To be honest, I don't know.”

Just who was he, to deny himself and still exist as himself?

“I can understand your turning me from a slurry of rotten flesh back into a human as a miracle. But an evil god's miracle cannot be this merciful and complete. How could a rebel against providence accomplish such a thing?”

“Then you don't understand it after all.”

“Nor should you have been able to take human form. Humans, after all, are children of providence. You might imitate their appearance, but you eat. You sleep, pass the time, converse with me, and live within the same flow of time governed by providence.”

“And I bleed red blood too, don't I?”

“I don't know how that is possible. And even if I were the strongest and cleverest of all humans, I would still be only human. There is no way I could uncover the truth about you. If I could, it would be because you allowed it.”

“So you intend to ask my permission?”

“If it is something I should know, you will let me know regardless. If I must not know, you will make me live in a lie for the rest of my life, or make me forget this ever happened. But you have shown me so much mercy. Unless it was merely a passing amusement...”

Yes.

“... Unless that is the case, you won't dismiss my question as though I never asked it.”

It fell to Ater to offer him that minimum of trust, as all humans had done when praying to gods throughout eternity. And Ater believed his question would not be ignored.

“...”

Arjio stroked his chin and spoke.

“Even so, would anyone normally ask this bluntly...? Am I not an evil god? I know what you just saw and heard in the tomb, but shouldn't that make you more cautious?”

“I find my own behavior so absurd that I almost despise myself for it, but I've always believed that all conflict and discord stem from a breakdown in communication... I can't help it... I have to do what I can.”

“I really can't tell whether you're wise or simply quick to give up.”

“I'd at least like to hear what role I play in your story.”

“Your role? That's easy.”

He declared cheerfully,

“You're my friend!”

“...”

“Insulting me with your eyes alone? Impressive.”

“Ah, my apologies. I lack self-control...”

“You said you were a royal-library librarian. Did you never learn to control your expression?”

“I was scolded often for the same reason back then. They said I was insufferable.”

“I can picture it without having seen it.”

“Of course. You're an evil god. Surely you don't need to witness the past to know it.”

“Do you have some condition that makes thorns sprout in your mouth if you say something untrue?”

Here was a friend who always spoke his mind, though in a different way from Ju-hyeon.

“Hmm. So you want a more substantial role?”

“That wasn't exactly what I meant.”

“If you insist, I could appoint you the right-hand man of the Demon King who will soon make his appearance.”

“Forgive me, but I truly never wanted anything of the sort.”

“While we're at it, would you consider leading a sham religion?”

“Could you please give me a moment to gather my thoughts?”

“Ten seconds. One, two, three...”

The ten seconds were up.

“Your answer?”

“I'll give it once you tell me who you are.”

“No one will ever make a sucker of you.”

“This may be irreverent, but that sounds odd. What is a sucker?”

“A friend so gullible that he's very useful to exploit.”

“That isn't a friend, is it?”

“You understand perfectly.”

Come to think of it, hadn't he become a royal-library librarian despite being a commoner? Kindness and idealism alone could not have taken him that far. Jio decided to tell his story.

“Do you know what a split personality is?”

“Doesn't that refer to someone with two souls in one body?”

“Think of me that way.”

“... You have two personalities? An evil god?”

“No? There are three so far.”

Close enough, anyway.

* * *

They moved to Ater's quarters, which had a well-appointed sitting area.

“In short, I'm a sample.”

“Now what is a sample?”

“Just what it sounds like. A tiny portion of food prepared to give you a taste before you eat the actual meal.”

“That is difficult to follow.”

“To use an analogy you might find easier, you could call me an experimental model made before the finished product.”

“Are you trying to say you are the result of an experiment...?”

“Certainly not one created by the paltry experiments of those mages you know.”

Had the analogy been a little too difficult?

“Let me explain more slowly. I am currently made up of three beings called 'Jio' merged together. Seo Jio, Giovanni, and Arjio. All three were called Jio.”

“... I'll hear you out for now.”

“Wise of you. As you know, I was an evil god of wrath and suffering. That god was born from the innate mystery and negative emotions of countless sacrificed Adaptors. That 'innate mystery and negative emotions of countless Adaptors' is what sleeps in the tomb deep beneath these ruins.”

“...”

Ater frowned and asked,

“... Mystery and emotions? Not the people themselves, who were once human?”

“If you can call innate mystery and the emotions of a particular time the person himself, that would not be entirely wrong.”

“You mean they are not people, at least.”

“You may think of them that way.”

They were not “humans” in the commonly understood form.

“And this red-haired human form before your eyes, together with the sealed self you met in the last coffin below, is 'Arjio.' The last Adaptor abandoned in the Black Forest. The being who traveled between the forest and the world outside, and was called 'Arjio.'”

After some thought, Ater asked,

“... Are they very different? You, the other coffins in that tomb... and the person called Arjio...?”

“They may be the same, or they may be different. Ultimately, it's only a matter of perspective.”

It was a very minor distinction.

“'Arjio,' the last Adaptor and one component of the evil god, seized a good opportunity. That opportunity was the current me. A chance to merge with the 'Jios.'”

“Merge...”

“The conditions aligned, allowing 'Arjio' to become the person I am now. And with him at the forefront, the evil god Arjio's entire existence and mystery became mine.”

“But you said you hadn't obtained the heart.”

“That is what you just saw.”

“What exactly is that heart?”

“... Hmm...”

This time, Jio pondered.

“How should I explain this?”

“So there are things even an evil god cannot explain.”

“It's a difficult one.”

After some hesitation, he finally came up with a plausible answer.

“If you swallowed a whole fruit with a seed the size of an eyeball, which would be easier to digest?”

“... The flesh, probably? I've never eaten a seed that large, so I can't be sure.”

“That's precisely my situation. The easy part to digest was the personality 'Arjio,' who found pleasure in battles with his life at stake. I've also digested all the fragments of mercy, peace, and happiness the Adaptors possessed. But I haven't digested the most important part, the seed, so it remains in my stomach.”

“And that stomach is the underground tomb, while the seed means the coffins you called your heart?”

“More or less.”

“Uh, so...”

Ater's expression grew peculiar.

“You're saying everything left in that tomb is the very worst sort of troublemaker?”

“You find it remarkably easy to say 'the very worst sort of troublemaker' right in front of the person in question.”

“Even if I'm about to be killed and torn to pieces, I must say what needs saying.”

“Listen to you. Like a loyal minister whose blunt counsel will end with his head on display in the marketplace. But they are no mere troublemakers. They are part of me, and they are indeed my heart. They are indispensable... something I must eventually digest.”

“As a mere human, I'd like to ask whether you couldn't stay as you are and destroy everything in the tomb. But that would be a tremendous insult to you. Am I right?”

“If you know that and keep saying such things to my face, should I take this as a roundabout challenge to a duel?”

“You've misunderstood.”

It was an earnest question, not a provocation.

Then Ater arrived at the conclusion of everything he had heard. His face went white as he grasped its staggering implications. He shouted,

“... Then in the end, you're announcing the apocalypse! You're saying that someday you'll turn back into that horrific evil god Arjio!!”

“Accept the reality you cannot change, my friend! Life never goes the way you want! I never imagined I'd share a body with such stuffy, peaceable fellows, either!”

“Damn it, no wonder you seemed so human! You treacherous Demon King!!”

Ater howled with rage. Arjio was delighted.

* * *

“...”

After hearing the whole story, Ju-hyeon smiled bitterly.

“Another victim over there, too...”

“Victim?”

“So what did he decide to do?”

“Lately, he's been requesting one-on-one combat again and again.”

“Oh, good heavens.”

Ju-hyeon applauded Ater's courage.

“They didn't call him a champion for nothing.”